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Former Australian soldier to be charged with Afghan’s murder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Police on Monday charged the first Australian veteran for an alleged murder in Afghanistan three years after a war crime investigation found that 19 Australian special forces soldiers could face charges for illegal conduct during the conflict.A 41-year-old man was arrested in New South Wales state and charged by police with the war crime of murder, an Australian Federal Police statement said.“It will be alleged he murdered an Afghan man while deployed to Afghanistan,” the statement said.He is expected to appear before a Sydney court within days, when a magistrate will likely consider whether he can be released from custody on bail.The man was identified by Australian Broadcasting Corp. and News Corp as former Special Air Service Regiment trooper Oliver Schulz.ABC broadcast helmet camera video in 2020 of a soldier it said was Schulz shooting an Afghan man in 2012 in a wheat field in Uruzgan province.He faces a potential sentence of life in prison if convict...

Thousands protest in Portugal to demand higher wages, cap on food

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

Thousands of protesters filled downtown Lisbon on Saturday (18 March) to demand higher wages and pensions, as well as government intervention to cap soaring food prices they say are strangling already tight budgets.Metalworker Paula Gonçalves, 51, said people were "protesting against low wages, precariousness and for more justice" for workers."We, the workers, are the ones who produce, we give everything we have... and the profit is all for employers and nothing for us," she said.Portugal is one of Western Europe's poorest countries and official data shows that more than 50% of Portuguese workers earned less than 1,000 euros ($1,067) per month last year, while the minimum wage is only 760 euros per month.According to Eurostat data, the minimum wage in Portugal - measured in purchasing power parities and not at current prices - in 2023 is 681 euros a month, the 12th lowest of the 15 European Union countries that have minimum wages. It compares with 726 euros in Poland, 775 euros in G...

Bruce Willis' family celebrates actor's birthday with moving social media posts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

As Bruce Willis celebrated his 68th birthday Sunday, the actor’s family and loved ones, including wife Emma Heming and ex-wife, actress Demi Moore, took to social media to celebrate the icon who is suffering from frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD).  In 2022 the “Die Hard” star’s family revealed that that he would be stepping away from acting, following a diagnosis of aphasia. Then, in February of this year, it was announced that Willis’ condition had progressed and he had been diagnosed with FTD, a form of dementia.  On Sunday, Heming shared an emotional message on social media about the difficulty of having a loved one suffering from such a serious illness.  “Today is my husband’s birthday. I have started the morning by crying,” she said in video posted to her verified Instagram account. “I always get this message where people always tell me that, ‘Oh, like, you're so strong. I don't know how you do it.' I'm not given a choice. I wish I was but I'm also raising t...

Magic come back from down 16 but fall to Lakers to close out road trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

The Orlando Magic came back from a 16-point deficit to tie the game late in the fourth quarter but fell to the Los Angeles Lakers 111-105 Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena to close out their West Coast trip.The Magic (29-43) had a strong start, jumping out to a 20-11 lead behind strong play from the starters.But their bench didn’t match the early production of the Lakers’ second unit led by Austin Reaves, who scored a career-high 35 points to go with 6 assists and 6 rebounds in 30 minutes.The Lakers’ bench outscored the Magic’s 61-26.Los Angeles’ bench helped to build a 47-31 lead in the second quarter, a 59-49 edge at halftime and an 84-81 advantage heading into the fourth.The Magic kept chipping away at their deficit, and Cole Anthony’s 3-pointer with 2:39 remaining tied the game at 101.One minute later, Paolo Banchero (21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) fouled Reaves on a 3-pointer. Reaves hit 2 of 3 free throws to give the Lakers a 103-101 lead ...

Global stocks sink after Credit Suisse takeover

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets sank Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes.Hong Kong’s main index slid more than 3%. Market benchmarks in Frankfurt and Paris opened down more than 1%. Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney also declined. Wall Street futures were off 1%. Oil prices plunged more than $2 per barrel. Swiss authorities on Sunday announced UBS would acquire its smaller rival as regulators try to ease fears about banks following the collapse of two U.S. lenders. Central banks announced coordinated efforts to stabilize lenders, including a facility to borrow U.S. dollars if necessary.Investors worry banks are cracking under the strain of unexpectedly fast, large rate hikes over the past year to cool economic activity and inflation. Prices of bonds and other assets on their books fell, fueling unease about the industry...

Ukraine: Volunteer specialist doctors run clinics near front

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

KHRESTYSHCHE, Ukraine (AP) — In a cramped municipal building in this former front-line village, its front window boarded up with plywood, a team of volunteer specialist doctors have set up a mobile clinic. For the residents, it’s a lifeline. Even before Russia’s war, access to specialist medical help was available only to those who could get to the city, but the village near the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk did have a primary care doctor. Now, with the village health clinic damaged by the war, its residents have been left with little access to health care, and in particular to specialist care. “There is no doctor. We are without a doctor. They left us alone,” wept Mariia Hrebenko, 79, as a doctor took her blood pressure and tried to calm her, gently patting her hand. “No one is helping us.”The limited availability of health care has led to an exacerbation of existing illnesses that could be easily treated with regular medical attention, said Bohdan Avramenko, a 27-year-...

New Zealand’s foreign minister to visit counterpart in China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will visit her counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing this week in the first trip by a New Zealand minister to China in four years, officials said Monday.But the visit comes at an awkward time, with Chinese President Xi Jinping planning to visit Moscow this week, giving a diplomatic boost to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the International Criminal Court announced it wants to put him on trial for alleged war crimes.New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said New Zealand’s position on Russia remained unchanged.“We are emphatically opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Hipkins said. “We are also very opposed to any suggestions that other countries might support Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.”But Hipkins said it was nevertheless time to reestablish in-person ties with China after the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions. “China is a very important relationship to New Zealand and obvi...

Millions of rotting fish to be removed from Outback river

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Contractors are being hired to remove millions of rotting fish from a river in the Australian Outback after a unprecedented die-off following floods and hot weather, police said on Monday.The fish started dying in the Darling River near the New South Wales town of Menindee on Friday. Officials say the die-off likely occurred because fish need more oxygen in hot weather, but oxygen levels in the water dropped after recent floods receded.Police Assistant Commissioner Brett Greentree said keeping the town’s water supply pure was the main priority and removing the dead fish was the next most pressing issue. Trained contractors had been contacted about removing the fish with nets, but dates for the work haven’t been set.“I’m certainly not making promises that all the millions of fish will be removed by contractors because that is really a logistical nightmare,” Greentree said.“I understand and acknowledge the smell and sights on the river — nobody wants t...

UN science report to provide stark climate warning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A major new United Nations report being released Monday is expected to provide a sobering reminder that time is running out if humanity wants to avoid passing a dangerous global warming threshold.The report by hundreds of the world’s top scientists is the capstone on a series that summarizes the research on global warming compiled since the Paris climate accord was agreed in 2015.It was approved by countries at the end of a week-long meeting of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in the Swiss town of Interlaken, meaning governments have accepted its findings as authoritative advice on which to base their actions.At the start of the meeting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned delegates that the planet is “ nearing the point of no return ” and they risk missing the internationally agreed limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) of global warming since pre-industrial times.That’s because global emissions of carbon dio...

Their world was the oyster: Oldest pearl town found in UAE

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:10:47 GMT

SINIYAH ISLAND, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Archaeologists said Monday they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates. Artifacts found in this town on Siniyah Island in Umm al-Quwain, likely once home to thousands of people and hundreds of homes, date as far back as the region’s pre-Islamic history in the late 6th century. While older pearling towns have been mentioned in historical texts, this represents the first time archaeologists say they have physically found one from this ancient era across the nations of the Persian Gulf. “This is the oldest example of that kind of very specifically Khaleeji pearling town,” said Timothy Power, an associate professor of archaeology at the United Arab Emirates University, using a word that means “Gulf” in Arabic. “It’s the spiritual ancestor of towns like Dubai.” The pearling town sits on Siniyah Island, which shields the Khor al-Beida m...