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Swedish investigator says S. Korea key to her adoption probe

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A Swedish legal expert investigating the country’s international adoption practices said Tuesday she’s trying to determine whether Swedish authorities were aware of falsified child origins as they approved the adoptions of thousands of South Korean children.Anna Singer spoke to The Associated Press during a weeklong trip to South Korea, where she plans to meet with officials from the government and a Seoul-based agency that handled adoptions to Sweden to gather details on how South Korea procured and documented children for foreign adoptions.Many South Korean adoptees accuse their agencies of fabricating documents to expedite adoptions by foreigners, such as falsely registering them as abandoned orphans when they had relatives who could be easily identified, which also makes their origins difficult to trace.Most South Korean adoptees were sent overseas during the 1970s and ’80s, when Seoul was ruled by a succession of military governments that saw adoptions...

Councillor Josh Matlow confirms he is running for Toronto mayor

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

A veteran progressive city councillor and critic of former mayor John Tory has officially entered Toronto’s mayoral race.Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12) says he will run in the June byelection after much speculation. Matlow himself previously saying he was “strongly considering” a run after Tory announced his resignation in the wake of a sex scandal earlier this year.“Toronto is a diverse, vibrant, and beautiful city, filled with inspirational people I have been honoured to work with,” says Matlow in a statement. “I know and believe in the promise Toronto holds for so many. But for far too long, our political leadership at City Hall has held this city back from reaching its full potential.”The 47-year-old cites a decline in public services and a lack of affordable housing options as the biggest issues plaguing the city. He says past leadership has helped deteriorate services by keeping taxes “artificially low.”“Our subways and ...

Biden to designate national monuments in Nevada, Texas

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is establishing national monuments in Nevada and Texas and creating a marine sanctuary in U.S. waters near the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii.The Democratic president is set to announce the measures Tuesday at a White House summit on conservation action at the Interior Department.Biden said in November that he intends to designate Avi Kwa Ame, a desert mountain in southern Nevada that’s considered sacred to Native Americans, as a national monument. The site spans more than 500,000 acres (202,000 hectares) and includes Spirit Mountain, a peak northwest of Laughlin called Avi Kwa Ame (ah-VEE’ kwa-meh) by the Fort Mojave Tribe and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The rugged landscape near the Arizona and California state lines is home to bighorn sheep, desert tortoises and a large concentration of Joshua trees, some of which are more than 900 years old.In Texas, Biden plans to create the Castner Range National Monumen...

Israel repeals 2005 act on West Bank settlement pullout

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli lawmakers on Tuesday repealed a 2005 act that saw four Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank dismantled at the same time as Israeli forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The development could pave the way for an official return to the abandoned West Bank areas and further deepen the crisis.It was the latest move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government, which is dominated by settler leaders and allies, to promote settlement activity in the territory. The international community, including Israel’s closest ally, the United States, considers settlements illegal and opposes construction on occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent state.Israel evacuated the four settlements and unilaterally pulled out of Gaza under the 2005 legislation. The prime minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, argued that Israel would not be able to keep the settlements under a future agreement with the Palestinians. Since then, Isra...

African nations consider swapping debt for climate funding

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — African countries saddled with debt and ravaged by losses and damages from extreme weather events like cyclones, drought and extreme temperatures have agreed to consider swapping debt to invest in climate action in a meeting of finance ministers in the Ethiopian capital.The “debt-for-climate swap” option is an economic tool that allows a country’s debt to be reduced in exchange for commitments on green investments. It was among several green financing alternative models discussed at the ongoing United Nations conference that supporters say would boost funds to adapt to climate harms, protect nature and finance local communities.It comes as many African nations are battling with the effects of extremely costly climate change-fueled weather events like the ongoing drought in eastern Africa that has killed thousands and decimated livelihoods reliant on rain-fed agriculture and the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Freddy that’s left hundreds dead and thou...

Dwayne Killings resolves assault charge in Kentucky

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

RICHMOND, K.Y. (NEWS10) -- UAlbany head basketball coach Dwayne Killings appeared in Madison County district court in Kentucky Monday afternoon, reaching a resolution to his assault case. The charge will be dismissed in one year upon his completion of a corrective thinking program. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Killings was accused of pushing former player Luke Fizulich against a locker and striking him in the face before a game in November of 2021. Killings had previously pleaded not guilty to the charge in January. Killings now has one year to complete the program.Killings released the following statement through Greenberg Public Relations: “Upon recommendation of the county attorney, the Court today approved a resolution of the case in Kentucky, which will be dismissed in one year, upon my completion of an online class in ‘corrective thinking.' The interests of our team, players, families, program, and community alwa...

Play of the Week winner - NDBG's Mia'Rose Wylie

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Congratulations to this week’s winner of our Play of the Week poll, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons' Mia'Rose Wylie! Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Wylie tallied the basket and the foul in Bishop Gibbons' regional win over Seton Catholic Central. Vote here for this week’s Play of the Week poll!

Montenegro President Milo Djukanovic headed for run-off election

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

Montenegro’s veteran President Milo Djukanovic will face a runoff against a pro–Western former minister of economy. According to a projection based upon 99.7% vote sample, no candidate won a majority of the votes in Sunday's (19 March) first round election.Based on results from a statistical sample, the Center for Monitoring and Research polling team (CEMI), Djukanovic was projected to win with 35.3% of the votes.Jakov Milatovic, an ex-economy minister and a pro-European, Western-educated economist who was also the deputy-head for the centrist Europe Now party, was expected to win 29.2%.Milatovic described the victory as "a beautiful and better, just... and European Montenegro".He said: "We have taken a decisive move towards April 2.. and a secured victory."Andrija Mandic was a pro-Serb, pro-Russian politician, and the head the Democratic Front (DF). He finished behind with 19.3%. He supported Milatovic during the run-off."Without the support from the DF in round two, there can be n...

EU’s Borrell slams Israeli Minister Smotrich for his comments on the Palestinian people

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell slammed Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (pictured) for his comments that "there is no such thing as the Palestinian people", writes Yossi Lempkowicz.Smotrich made the comment on Sunday (19 March) as he spoke at a private memorial service in Paris for right wing activist and Jewish Agency board member Jacques Kupfer.He declared that the Palestinian people were “an invention” from the last century and that people like himself and his grandparents were the “real Palestinians”.“After 2,000 years of exile, the people of Israel are returning home, and there are Arabs around who do not like it. So what do they do? They invent a fictitious people and claim fictitious rights in the Land of Israel just to fight the Zionist movement,” he said.He continued: “This truth should be heard here in the Elysée Palace. This truth should also be heard by the Jewish people in the State of Israel who are a little confused. This truth should be heard in the W...

Presale Codes for Måneskin RUSH! World Tour

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:20:25 GMT

I’m beggin’, beggin’ you, to get us tickets for the upcoming Måneskin tour. That’s right, Italian rockers Måneskin are going on a tour dubbed the “Rush! World Tour.” They’ll be hitting dates across the globe, launching last week on March 16 in Bologna, Italy and criss-crossing Europe until late July. Then starting in September 3, they’ll be stateside, starting with a date in Hanover, DE, hitting a date here in Los Angeles October 10 at the Kia Forum, before making their way through North and South America, Australia, Japan, then wrapping December 19 in Manchester, UK — see below for all dates. Passwords and presale codes for Måneskin RUSH! World Tour tickets are as follows:Presale codes for Måneskin RUSH! World TourPresale tickets for Måneskin RUSH! World Tour are on sale today, March 21 and we’ve been told the following presale codes and passwords may work. Details are subject to change, and vary by event date:Live Nation website pres...