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US, Canada sail warships through the Taiwan Strait in a challenge to China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. and the Canadian navies sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, in a challenge to China’s sweeping territorial claims. The USS Ralph Johnson and the Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa sailed through the narrow band of ocean that separates China and self-ruled Taiwan, according to the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunited by force if necessary, and views transits by the U.S. Navy and its allies as provocative actions. The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state,” the Navy statement said.The U.S. routinely sails through the strait in what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations.China has stepped up its military activities around Taiwan, including sending warships and warplanes on a near daily basis. In June, the U.S. released a video in which a Chinese navy ship cut sharply across the path of ...

Prince Harry arrives in Germany to open Invictus Games for veterans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Prince Harry arrived in the western German city of Duesseldorf on Saturday where he will open the Invictus Games, a competition for wounded, injured and ill service personnel and veterans.Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, was welcomed by the mayor, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, and about 100 cheering fans who had come to the old city where he quickly entered City Hall for a reception, German news agency dpa reported.The Invictus Games are being held at Duesseldorf’s Merkus Spiel arena. During the opening ceremony there, Harry will be accompanied by Pistorius.Harry founded the Invictus Games to aid the rehabilitation of service members and veterans by giving them the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.He served in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner in 2012-2013.The Associated Press

Live Updates: Morocco struggles after rare, powerful earthquake kills and injures scores of people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Follow live updates of a deadly, powerful earthquake that struck Morocco:ALGERIA OFFERS TO OPEN ITS AIRSPACEAlgeria has offered humanitarian aid to neighboring Morocco after a powerful earthquake in the kingdom on Friday night left more than 1,000 people dead. In an exceptional move, Algeria offered to open its airspace to allow eventual humanitarian aid or medical evacuation flights to travel to and from Morocco. Algeria closed the airspace when its government severed diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 over a series of issues. The countries have a decades-long dispute involving the territory of Western Sahara. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s office said in a statement Saturday that Algeria is ready to offer humanitarian aid ‘’in solidarity with the brotherly Moroccan people, in case the authorities of the Moroccan kingdom express a wish for this.’’ The statement also offered to reopen the airspace, and condolences for the dead and ‘’deepest compa...

Greek authorities evacuate another village as they try to prevent flooding in a major city

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Another village near a major Greek city was ordered evacuated Saturday afternoon as authorities frantically shored up flood defenses against a rising river following torrential rain earlier in the week.Rescue crews were evacuating stranded residents from already flooded areas in the central region of Thessaly. The death toll still stood at 10, with four people missing.The village of Omorfochori, about 8 kilometers (5 kilometers) by road from the city of Larissa, Thessaly’s capital and largest city, was ordered evacuated by SMS alert due to the rising water of the Pineios river. Residents were directed to a town to the southeast.But the main concern remains that the already overflowing river could inundate Larissa itself, a city of around 150,000. Authorities placed bags full of sand and pebbles along the river’s banks, while opening up diversion channels west of the city.The governor of Thessaly, Kostas Agorastos, who was visiting one of the worst stricken area...

8 suspects wanted in connection with Don Mills stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

Toronto police are still searching eight suspects after a man was stabbed in the back in North York on Aug. 27.Emergency crews responded to reports of someone stabbed near a variety of shops in the area of Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue around 4:40 p.m. on the 27th.The victim was reportedly driving in the parking lot when eight male suspects approached the victim after a dispute over the two suspect vehicles blocking the roadway.A verbal argument allegedly occurred and the suspects assaulted the victim multiple times, produced a knife and slashed the victim in the lower back.Officers located a man in his 30s with a stab wound to his back. He was rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.The suspects then fled the area in the two vehicles.Investigators do not believe this was a random incident.The suspects are described between 17-25 years old.Suspect 1: black hair, wearing a black hoodie with white strings, black shorts, black running shoes and a black si...

Emotions will run high for Virginia as the Cavaliers honor slain teammates ahead of first home game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia will play its first home football game in 10 months on Saturday and the Cavaliers hope it is the high point of a long, emotional journey that started in a horrific way.Tributes and dedications for three players slain last Nov. 13 began Friday with a tree planting and placement of a plaque to honor them as well as another player and a female student who were wounded. The victims will be remembered in an on-field ceremony a half-hour before the noon kickoff against James Madison.“At UVA, we have a tradition of planting trees to mark the tradition and the moments that have shaped our history,” school President Jim Ryan said before those in attendance, including family members of the players killed, were allowed to help encase the roots in soil.The tree, an oak, can grow to as tall as 60 feet and live for hundreds of years. The plaque will serve as a reminder of the lives of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry. Authorities just thi...

Italy’s Meloni meets with China’s Li as Italy’s continued participation in ‘Belt and Road’ in doubt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the G20 summit and vowed Saturday to “consolidate and deepen” relations, as Rome considers abandoning Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative of Chinese-built and -funded infrastructure projects.Neither government mentioned the initiative in brief statements after the meeting in New Delhi, the first between Meloni and Li.Rather, Meloni’s office said the meeting “confirmed the common intention to consolidate and deepen the dialogue between Rome and Beijing on the principal bilateral and international questions.”Italy became the first G7 country to sign on to the initiative in 2019, when the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement was in power. Meloni at the time voiced strong opposition and her right-wing government now in power has indicated it wants to abandon the initiative, which must be renewed by the end of the year. At the same time, though, Italy is keen to pursue an otherwise strong econ...

As Jacksonville shooting victims are eulogized, advocates call attention to anti-Black hate crimes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

The racist motivations of the white shooter who targeted and fatally shot Black people in Jacksonville, Florida, two weeks ago have revived concerns about the threat of hate violence and domestic terrorism against African Americans.Most hate crime victims in the U.S. are Black, and that has been the case since the federal government began tracking such crimes decades ago. But national attention on the rate of Black victimization is heightened in the wake of mass casualty racist attacks, like those in recent years at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a historic Black church in Charleston, South Carolina.Now, as families in Jacksonville eulogize loved ones lost in a hail of bullets at a neighborhood discount store, activists across the nation are calling for better measures to counter the longstanding epidemic of hate violence against Black Americans.“How many people have to die, before you get up, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, and say we got to stop this,” the Rev. Al ...

PFF Walk for pulmonary fibrosis disease takes off next weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

September is Pulmonary Fibrosis Disease Month and the PFF Walk is happeneing to take a step towards a cure. The community walk takes place next week at Montrose Harbor and Amy Wardzala from the organization joins WGN weekend Morning News to talk more about it.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

'Inspired By You' Fest comes to Douglass Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:15:36 GMT

It's a way of paying forward all the things that inspired Muse Coffee Shop in Chicago. The owner, George Davis Jr., joins WGN Weekend Morning News to share more about their family-friendly, all-rounded event happening in Douglass Park Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.