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UK official visits Hong Kong in years after strained ties

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — The first British minister visiting Hong Kong in five years said his country will not “duck” its historic responsibilities to people living in its former colony while engaging with China in areas they share common interests. The remarks by Dominic Johnson, minister of state in the Department for Business and Trade, were published in an opinion piece in the South China Morning Post on Tuesday. He wrote that the U.K. will be clear about its right to act when China breaks its international commitments or abuses human rights.Johnson’s trip this week came after relations between Hong Kong and Britain became increasingly tense following the enactment of a Beijing-imposed national security law, which the U.K. earlier called “a clear breach” of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. The declaration included a promise to retain Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms for 50 years after it was returned to China’s rule in 1997. Following the introduction of the sweeping securi...

Rangers finally get to Gilbert, top Mariners 2-1 behind Gray

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Marcus Semien ended Logan Gilbert’s bid for a perfect game with a leadoff single in a two-run seventh inning, and Jon Gray pitched the Texas Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.Semien scored the tying run on Josh Jung’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly, and Jonah Heim chased Gilbert (1-2) with a two-out RBI single.Ty France homered in the first off Gray (2-1), who gave up four hits over seven innings. He struck out eight and walked none as Texas won its third straight.Seattle (17-18) had won six of seven and was trying to move over .500 for the first time since winning on opening day.One night after the Rangers put up 16 runs against the Los Angeles Angels on the road, Gilbert mowed down their high-scoring lineup for six innings. He struck out seven consecutive batters from the second through the fourth, matching a franchise record held by Mark Langston (1984) and teammate Luis Castillo (2022).Gilbert needed only 72 pitches to retire his...

Irvin’s first MLB win helps Nationals beat Giants 5-1

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rookie Jake Irvin struck out five in 6 1/3 innings and earned his first career victory, leading the Washington Nationals to a 5-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.Making his second career start and first on the road, Irvin didn’t give up a run in a dominant outing for the Nationals, who are in last place in the NL East. The 26-year-old right-hander limited the Giants to four hits and was backed by a defense that turned double plays in three of the first four innings. He walked three and lowered his ERA to 0.84.The outing was in contrast to Irvin’s MLB debut against the Chicago Cubs, when he hit a batter with his first pitch and got a no-decision after walking four in 4 1/3 innings.Luis García singled twice and had a multi-hit performance in his fourth consecutive game and CJ Abrams drove in two runs. Alex Call, the Nationals’ new everyday center fielder after Victor Robles was placed on the injured list earlier Monday, had an RBI dou...

Pickleball players fight plans to close Congress Park courts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — What used to be a popular spot for pickleball is now gated off and under construction. On April 3, Denver Parks and Recreation closed the pickleball courts at Congress Park and halted plans to relocate the courts farther away from homes. The department also canceled construction plans for new courts at Sloan's Lake Park."It just felt a bit capricious for them to shut down play when there was already an established plan," said pickleball player Deborah Saint-Phard. Colorado passes property tax bill According to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, moving the courts farther away would help with noise but would increase park conflicts because of an increase in pickleball usage. Here's the full response from the board:"The proposed redesign of moving pickleball courts farther from residences might address noise violations, however, the redesign’s addition of courts would increase park conflicts due to the increase in pickleball usage. With a lack of perimeter ...

2 HVAC collapses at Aurora pools in recent months

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — Questions surround the occurrence of two HVAC collapses over pools in Aurora within the past seven months. Aurora Fire Rescue said six people were hurt, two of them with life-threatening injuries, when firefighters and paramedics responded to the collapse at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center on Saturday morning. One guest, Ashley Richter, told FOX31 she was in the pool when she heard what sounded like twisting metal. “There was black sludge that smelled like sewage that was falling from the ceiling," Richter said. Gaylord Rockies will investigate itself for HVAC collapse at indoor pool Neither Aurora Fire nor any other city agency has jurisdiction to investigate what went wrong on private property. The FOX31 Problem Solvers found RK Mechanical installed the HVAC system at the Gaylord Rockies Resort approximately five years ago. The company issued the following statement to FOX31: “RK Mechanical was one of the contractors that installed mecha...

Congressional leaders issue letter to Border Patrol on migrant crisis

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Congressional leaders are now stepping in to address the migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico Border.Now, three U.S. representatives are demanding more answers from Border Patrol.Hungry, cold and begging for blankets, hundreds of migrants say they’ve been waiting between the two border walls for days.“I think having hundreds of people sit in rows like this is inhumane,” said volunteer Thomas Jefferson Kline, who has been giving migrants food and supplies. “I don’t know what I would do if I were Border Patrol, but it looks like just a prison.”U.S. Representatives Juan Vargas, Robert Garcia and Delia Ramirez sent a letter to Border Patrol saying in part:"As U.S. Members of Congress, we are appalled by the mistreatment of any individuals seeking asylum. No one can be subjected to ill-treatment and held in life-threatening conditions." 5 ‘glamping’ sites for wary campers near San Diego The representatives pointed out Border Patrol guidelines migrants shouldn’t be held in cus...

Killing of alleged collaborator exposes Palestinian tensions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — There was no mourning tent for 23-year-old Palestinian Zuhair al-Ghaleeth. There were no banners with his portrait, no chants celebrating his martyrdom.Instead, a bulldozer dropped his bullet-riddled body into an unmarked grave, witnesses said.The day after six masked Palestinian gunmen shot and killed al-Ghaleeth over his suspected collaboration with Israel, his family and friends refused to pick up his body at the morgue, the public prosecution said. He was buried in a field cluttered with discarded animal bones and soda cans outside the northern West Bank city of Nablus.It was a grim end to a short life. The April 8 killing in the Old City of Nablus — the first slaying of a suspected Israeli intelligence collaborator in the West Bank in nearly two decades — riveted the Palestinian public and cast a spotlight on the plight of collaborators, preyed on by both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The case has laid bare the weakness of the Palestinian A...

China expels Canadian diplomat in tit-for-tat response

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China has announced the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat in retaliation for Ottawa’s ordering a Chinese consular official to leave over alleged threats he made against a Canadian lawmaker and his family. The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said China was deploying a “reciprocal countermeasure to Canada’s unscrupulous move,” which it said it “firmly opposes.” It said the Canadian diplomat based in the business hub of Shanghai has been asked to leave by May 13 and that China “reserves the right to take further actions in response.” Canada earlier on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is expelling a Chinese diplomat whom Canada’s spy agency alleged was involved in a plot to intimidate an opposition lawmaker and his relatives in Hong Kong. A senior government official said Toronto-based diplomat Zhao Wei has five days to leave the country. The Associated Press

UN report: Female Afghan UN employees harassed, detained

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Some Afghan women employed by the United Nations have been detained, harassed and had restrictions placed on their movements since being banned by the Taliban from working for the world body, the U.N. said Tuesday. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers informed the United Nations early last month that Afghan women employed with the U.N. mission could no longer report for work. “This is the most recent in a series of discriminatory – and unlawful – measures implemented by the de facto authorities with the goal of severely restricting women and girls’ participation in most areas of public and daily life in Afghanistan,” the U.N. said in a report on the human rights situation in the south Asian country.Taliban authorities continued to crack down on dissenting voices this year, in particular those who speak out on issues related to the rights of women and girls, the report said.The U.N. report cited the March arrest of four women who were released the following day during a prot...

1 dead in possible road rage shooting in Marina Del Rey; suspect on the run

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:23 GMT

A man in his 20s was found dead following a possible road-rage shooting that happened at a busy intersection in Marina Del Rey Monday afternoon.It happened around 12:15 p.m., near the intersection of the 90 Freeway and Lincoln Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.Video from Sky5 showed a dark-colored Volkswagen sedan parked in the roadway with a white investigation tent partially covering the vehicle. Those tents are often seen at the site of homicides. Several cars damaged in Woodland Hills road-rage incident (video) "The Los Angeles Fire Department responded and after attempting life-saving measures, the man was determined dead at the scene," LAPD Detective Sean Kinchla said. "The suspect vehicle is described as a dark Kia and was last seen leaving the scene northbound Lincoln." Detectives believe both vehicles were traveling northbound on Lincoln Boulevard when they stopped in traffic just south of the 90 Freeway. They think that both drivers got out of the...