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IMF officials and Pakistan’s prime minister hint at deal on $6 billion bailout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A senior official with the International Monetary Fund and Pakistan’s prime minister indicated Tuesday a deal could soon be reached on a much-needed $6 billon bailout package for the impoverished south Asian country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF on Tuesday, according to a government statement. The two also met last week, on the sidelines of a global finance meeting in Paris.Later, the IMF’s mission chief to Islamabad suggested that the sides were close to reaching an agreement.Talks between Pakistan and the IMF stalled in December, after the global lender delayed the release of a crucial tranche of $1.1 billion from the bailout. The deal was originally signed in 2019 by Sharif’s predecessor, Imran Khan. The deal envisioned a deadline and if the IMF by Friday decides that Pakistan has not met the terms of the agreement, the fund could cancel the whole bailout package. Hours after Sharif sp...

Italian soccer players banned from wearing No. 88 on jerseys in campaign against antisemitism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

ROME (AP) — Soccer players in Italy will be banned from wearing No. 88 on their shirts as part of an initiative combatting antisemitism announced Tuesday.The No. 88 is a numerical code for “Heil Hitler.”In March, a fan wearing a Lazio shirt with the name “Hitlerson” and the No. 88 on it was banned for life from attending matches of the Roman club.The initiative, which is being coordinated between the Italian government and the Italian soccer federation, includes the addition of a code of ethics in accordance with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.The initiative also calls for games to be suspended in case of antisemitic chants or acts — similar to the way cases of racism are supposed to be handled.Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the moves are “an adequate and efficient response to intolerable prejudice that too often arises in our stadiums.”Soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina adds, “Soccer’s credibility, which gets hurt and damaged by discriminatory ...

‘What’s a Uyghur?’: Miami mayor and 2024 GOP hopeful Suarez fumbles question on China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

CNN (CNN) — Miami mayor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Francis Suarez indicated in an interview on Tuesday that he was unfamiliar with the plight of Uyghur Muslims, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority in China whose treatment has been the subject of worldwide condemnation for years.In an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, the Republican presidential candidate was asked, “Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?”Suarez responded, “The what?”“The Uyghurs,” Hewitt said, prompting Suarez to ask, “What’s a Uyghur?”At the end of the interview, Suarez told Hewitt, “You gave me homework, Hugh. I’ll look at – what was it? What’d you call it, a weeble?”In a statement to CNN Tuesday afternoon, Suarez denied that he was unaware of the Uyghur situation and the human rights abuses China is accused of committing.“Of course, I am well aware of the suffering of the Uyghurs in China. They are being enslaved because of their faith. China has a deplorable rec...

11 people have died in rip currents in less than two weeks along Gulf Coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

(CNN) — Rip currents have claimed the lives of 11 people within two weeks along the Gulf Coast, amid warnings from officials about the hazardous water conditions, according to preliminary data from the National Weather Service.The deaths have spanned the Gulf of Mexico between Fort Morgan, Alabama, and Panama City Beach, Florida, the weather service said.A rip current is “a relatively small-scale surf-zone current,” according to the weather service. It forms as waves disperse across the beach, “causing water to become trapped between the beach and a sandbar or other underwater feature” so, “the water converges into a narrow, river-like channel moving away from the shore at high speed.”Contrary to popular belief, a rip current won’t pull you under water, but they can pull even the strongest swimmer away from the beach beyond breaking waves, the weather service said. Rip currents often form at breaks in sandbars and close to piers and rock groins.In the United States, the 10-year...

US imposes new sanctions related to gold dealing to fund Wagner Group

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

(CNN) — The US Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four companies involved in “gold dealing” and one person they say made “weapons deals” tied to the Wagner Group.The announcement of the sanctions comes days after the short-lived mutiny led by the head of the mercenary group’s leader, Yevegny Prigozhin.They target companies in Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Central African Republic that “have engaged in illicit gold dealings to fund the Wagner Group to sustain and expand its armed forces, including in Ukraine and Africa.”The targeted individual, Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov (Ivanov), is a Russian executive in the Wagner Group who “worked closely with Prigozhin’s entity Africa Politology and senior Malian government officials on weapons deals, mining concerns, and other Wagner Group activities in Mali,” according to a Treasury Department release.“The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries l...

Recipe: Take advantage of apricot season by making this dessert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

If I was granted the ability to change life spans, I’d start with dogs and apricots. In my book, dogs have far too few years. Most dog lovers would agree that 10 to 13 years is not enough. And as for apricots, perhaps my favorite stone fruit, the season is way too short. OK, maybe not a life span, but they disappear too soon. Each year,  I make the most of them in the short time they are available.Apricot’s juicy flesh looks like deep-pile velvet. The taste, enhanced by flowery perfume, is a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors. They are delicious paired with blueberries in a delectable galette.Galettes are much easier and faster to prepare than pies. The dough, quickly prepared in a food processor, is rolled out and roughly folded over the sides of the sugar-coated fruit. Easy peasy.Easy Apricot and Blueberry GaletteYield: 6 servingsINGREDIENTS1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more flour for rolling dough1/2 teaspoon salt10 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch ...

Europe dealing with flight disruptions as strikes impact air travel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

Donald Wood | TravelPulse (TNS)Europe remains one of the most popular summer travel destinations for 2023, but potential strikes among security officers, air traffic controllers and pilots could impact travel through July and August.According to Reuters.com, the United Kingdom avoided potential issues early in the summer season as the Unite union postponed a strike at Heathrow Airport in London after a more lucrative contract was offered.In addition, around 100 security officers and terminal technicians at Birmingham Airport were considering strike action, a move that could “severely impact the airport’s operations.”In France, strikes by air traffic controllers led to delays and limited flights, including airlines canceling a third of their scheduled services on a day early in June due to a planned strike. As a result of the uncertainty, the number of flights to top French destinations like Lyon, Marseille and Nice have been reduced by as much as 20%.The Italian aviation sector is d...

Trump aide unable to make Miami court appearance on documents due to flight delays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

By David Lyons, South Florida Sun SentinelWaltine Nauta, the only co-defendant of Donald Trump in the federal government’s classified documents case against the former president, missed his scheduled arraignment in Miami on Tuesday because bad weather caused cancellation of his flight to Miami, his lawyer said before a magistrate.Washington, D.C.-based attorney Stanley Woodward also informed the judge that his client has yet to hire a local lawyer, which will allow him to proceed in the Florida case, and the judge set a new arraignment date of July 6.Woodward told the court that he himself had a difficult time booking a flight back to Washington, where he is based. The short hearing unfolded before an audience mostly of news media.Nauta, 40, had appeared in a Miami federal court June 13 with Trump, who pleaded not guilty to charges of improper handling of classified papers and obstruction of justice in a 37-count indictment. But Nauta did not enter a plea because he lacked a local l...

Trump and DeSantis trade barbs while staging dueling New Hampshire campaign events

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, HOLLY RAMER and WILL WEISSERT (Associated Press)HOLLIS, N.H. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump traded barbs on Tuesday as the two leading Republican White House candidates staged dueling events in the critical early voting state of New Hampshire. Addressing a town hall in Hollis, DeSantis vowed to “actually” build the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Trump tried but failed to complete in his first term while pledging to tear down Washington’s traditional power centers in ways that Trump fell short.Speaking later at a Republican women’s luncheon in the state capital of Concord, Trump countered that DeSantis was being forced to settle for second place in the primary and accused the governor of supporting cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs as a way to tame federal spending.Beyond the rhetoric, the conflicting events demonstrated each candidate’s evolving strategy. DeSant...

9 books that combine reading and the outdoors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:14:28 GMT

Today we’ve got suggestions for books that combine reading and outdoor activities and a roundup of nature guides that help your family explore our natural environment and its inhabitants.“Busco: We are all just mutts after all”: by Robert J. Kowalski, illustrated by Larisa Ivankovic (Independently Published, $14)Busco is a mutt who escapes from an animal shelter and wanders far away to a place where he sees big and small dogs happily playing in a park. Sleeping in the forest every night, Busco wishes he could join the fun but he’s afraid he won’t be accepted because of his mixed-color coat. Then the dog angels help him meet a little girl who’s also lonely. Together they enter the park, and Busco frolics in the water with the other dogs, who don’t care what Busco or any other of their friends looks like. Kowalski, a St. Paul native, made his writing debut with “Jaycee: A Heroine’s Journey,” a novel about what the world would be like if Jesus had been born a woman. After Kowalski comp...