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Myanmar’s military government pardons 10,000 prisoners to mark Independence Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government on Thursday pardoned nearly 10,000 prisoners to mark the 76th anniversary of gaining independence from Britain, but it wasn’t immediately clear if any of those released included the thousands of political detainees jailed for opposing army rule.The head of Myanmar ’s military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, pardoned 9,652 prisoners to mark the holiday, state-run MRTV television reported. Min Aung Hlaing also granted amnesty to 114 jailed foreigners who will be deported, MRTV said in a separate report.The prisoner releases were expected to begin Thursday and take several days to be completed. At Insein Prison in Yangon — notorious for decades for housing political detainees — relatives of prisoners gathered at the gates from early morning.The identities of those granted pardons were not immediately available. There was no sign that among the prisoners being released would be Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held virtually incommunicado...

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele takes his reelection campaign beyond the borders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele took his presidential reelection campaign beyond the tiny Central American country’s borders Wednesday night to capitalize on his rising profile across Latin America.During a two-hour forum on the platform X, Bukele accused critics of his controversial policies — including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and international institutions like it — of trying to keep El Salvador and other developing nations down.Bukele was granted a six-month leave from the presidency starting in December to run for reelection — despite a constitutional ban on reelection. Congress approved the president’s selection of his private secretary to be the country’s interim leader.The Supreme Court, stacked with justices selected by Bukele’s allies in Congress, ruled in 2021 that Bukele could seek a second five-year term in the Feb. 4 election.Asked Wednesday if he would seek to change the constitution to allow his indefinite ...

Scenes of loss play out across Japan’s western coastline after quake kills 78, dozens still missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

SUZU, Japan (AP) — His face hidden under a humble straw hat, the man stood silent, watching several helmeted rescue workers carefully lift his wife’s body from the rubble, wrapped in blue plastic on a stretcher.He wiped his weary face with a rag. His eyes were red.This scene in the city of Suzu was tragically repeated across Ishikawa Prefecture and nearby regions on the western coastline of Japan after Monday’s 7.6 magnitude temblor that decimated houses, twisted and scarred roads and scattered boats like toys in the waters, and prompted tsunami warnings.The death toll stood at 78 people as of Thursday. Ishikawa officials said 44 of those who died were in the city of Wajima and 23 were in Suzu. The 11 others were reported in five neighboring towns. More than 330 people have been injured, at least 25 seriously.Those reported missing ballooned from 15 to 80 overnight, including a 13-year-old boy. What exacerbated matters was people visiting to ring in the new year with their lov...

Young mother killed during New Year’s Eve party shooting in downtown Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

Loved ones are grieving after a young mother was killed as gunfire erupted at a New Year's Eve party in downtown Los Angeles.The shooting left two people dead and eight others hospitalized. The party was held at a warehouse on the 2300 block of Porter Street. Los Angeles police responded to reports of a shooting at around 1 a.m. Arriving officers saw a large group of people in the street and heard what sounded like gunfire.One of the victims, Miah Banks, 26, was found dead at the scene. Miah was also the mother of an 8-year-old daughter.“Miah wasn’t an enemy to anyone and someone just took her life,” said Lacherryal Veal, the victim’s aunt. “Miah is a loving person, I don’t care what color you were — she loved everyone.”Miah Banks in a family photo.Miah Banks and her daughter in a family photo.Loved ones contribute to a growing memorial outside the salon where Miah Banks worked as a hairstylist. (KTLA)Miah Banks in a family photo.“We went to the scene and she was on the ground,...

Azarenka, Ostapenko advance to a quarterfinal showdown at the Brisbane International

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka is in familiar territory after reaching the quarterfinals in Brisbane, where she won her first WTA title in 2009 when the tournament was staged for the first time.The 34-year-old Azarenka beat Clara Burel of France 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals for the fifth time in six trips to the key Australian Open tune-up event.The former No. 1-ranked Azarenka and two-time Australian Open champion — in 2012 and 2013 — will next face third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion who beat big-serving three-time Brisbane International winner Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Pliskova went into the match on a 10-match winning streak in Brisbane and was coming off a second-round win over another former No. 1, Naomi Osaka, but was often on the back foot with Ostapenko hitting 50 winners.Azarenka opened Day 5 on Pat Rafter Arena and quickly took a 4-1 lead before withstanding a comeback from the No. 56-ranked Burel. She took ...

2 men charged in shooting death of Oakland officer answering a burglary call at a marijuana business

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Two men were charged with murder Wednesday in the death of an Oakland police officer who was shot while answering a burglary report at a marijuana business, authorities said.Charges were filed against Mark Sanders, 27, of Tracy, and Allen Starr Brown, 28, of Chico. The two remained jailed Wednesday night. They were scheduled for arraignment Thursday and it wasn’t immediately clear whether they had attorneys who could speak for them.Officer Tuan Le, 36, was shot in the head Friday and died at a hospital. He was in plainclothes and driving an unmarked truck when he and other officers answered a report of a burglary in progress at a suspected illegal cannabis grow house near Jack London Square, where another burglary had been reported several hours earlier, authorities said.The arriving officers said they saw several people leaving the business. Prosecutors allege that Sanders opened fire from a car with Brown inside the vehicle.Officers took their wounded ...

The NBA’s wild night: 5 teams score 140 points, 4 teams score 130 in losses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

There had never been a day in NBA history where five teams all scored at least 140 points. And there had never been a day where the league saw four teams all score at least 130 points in losses.That is, until Wednesday — when both events happened.Mark it down: Jan. 3, 2024 was perhaps one of the oddest statistical nights the league has seen. Utah, Detroit, Indiana, Atlanta and Cleveland all topped the 140-point mark.“Obviously, it’s fun to score the ball,” Utah’s Lauri Markkanen said after the Jazz beat Detroit in overtime.True, though some teams had more fun than others. Just ask the four teams that also scored a ton of points on Wednesday but lost anyway.For the Pistons, Oklahoma City, Orlando and Milwaukee, scoring 130 points wasn’t even enough to win. There was one previous instance of three teams scoring 130 in losses on the same day — that being April 10, 2019, when it happened to Utah, Sacramento and Atlanta.“We didn’t have our best night, obviously,” Oklaho...

Madre presuntamente mata a sus dos niños luego que un juez les ordenara pasar Navidad con su padre

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

Un juez había ordenado a tres niños de Colorado pasar la Navidad con su padre antes de que su exesposa supuestamente violara el decreto de custodia y matara a dos de los niños, según muestran los registros judiciales.Kimberlee Singler, una mujer de Colorado Springs de 35 años, fue detenida durante el fin de semana en el Reino Unido y detenida con relación a los asesinatos de su hija menor, de 9 años, y su hijo, de 7, dijeron las autoridades.El 19 de diciembre, la policía respondió a una llamada al 911 temprano en la mañana sobre un robo en el condominio de Singler donde encontraron a los dos niños muertos. Su madre y su hermana de 11 años fueron trasladadas al hospital. La policía finalmente dijo que no había habido robo y emitió una orden de arresto contra Singler, quien ya había huido de la jurisdicción.Singler y su exmarido, Kevin John Wentz, de 38 años, habían estado enfrascados en una batalla judicial de un año por cuestiones de custodia.Singler había acusado recientemente a We...

Ukraine, Russia swap hundreds of prisoners in first POW exchange in months

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war, in the first such swap in almost five months.Russia released 230 POWs, among them 213 soldiers and sergeants, 11 officers and six civilians, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. In exchange, Ukraine released 248 Russian military personnel in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Moscow’s defense ministry said.“We managed to free over 200 of our people from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy announced. “Warriors and — very importantly — civilians.”The UAE said in a statement that it was “one of the largest exchanges of captives between the two sides since the beginning of the war” in February 2022.Kyiv and Moscow have conducted multiple prisoner swaps since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, but no exchange had been announced for almost five months, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of using POWs as a political weapon.“There was a lon...

Lethal Sydney funnel-web spider ‘Hercules’ sets record for largest specimen collected in Australia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:19:54 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — With fangs that could pierce a human fingernail, the largest male specimen of the world’s most poisonous arachnid has found a new home at the Australian Reptile Park where it will help save lives after a member of the public discovered it by chance.The deadly Sydney funnel-web spider dubbed “Hercules” was found on the Central Coast, about 50 miles north of Sydney, and was initially given to a local hospital, the Australian Reptile Park said in a statement Thursday.Spider experts from the nearby park retrieved it and soon realized it was the largest male specimen ever received from the public in Australia. The spider measured 7.9 centimeters (3.1 inches) from foot to foot, surpassing the park’s previous record-holder from 2018, the male funnel-web named “Colossus”. Sydney funnel-web spiders usually range in length from one to five centimeters, with females being generally larger than their male counterparts but not as deadly. They are predominantly found in ...