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Loyalty above all: Removal of top Chinese officials seen as enforcing Xi’s demand for obedience

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The removal of China’s foreign and defense ministers appears to enforce leader Xi Jinping’s demand for total obedience and the elimination of any potential rivals within the ruling Communist Party, analysts say.State media this week confirmed that former defense minister Gen. Li Shangfu and former foreign minister Qin Gang were “no longer serving in office,” but offered no details.The opacity of China’s one-party authoritarian system creates huge speculation about why the officials left office and whether they will face legal censure. Both Li and Qin were appointed under Xi’s watch, indicating they must have undergone close scrutiny, but later faced doubt over their personal behavior or political alliances.“It’s possible to see the reshuffle either as a manifestation of (Xi’s) weakness or a sign of his strength. I lean toward the insecurity side of the explanation,” said June Teufel Dreyer, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Miami in the U...

Former British police officer jailed for abusing over 200 girls on Snapchat

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A former British police officer was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with a minimum term of 12 years after he pleaded guilty to over 100 child sex offenses, including threatening and blackmailing more than 200 young girls into sending him sexual photos of themselves on Snapchat.Prosecutors say Lewis Edwards, 24, targeted 210 girls between the ages of 10 and 16 by posing as a teenage boy on the phone app. He groomed them into sharing indecent images of themselves, then threatened many of his victims when they refused, blackmailing them into complying out of fear that he would expose them. Edwards, who joined the South Wales Police in 2021, was a serving police officer when he committed the majority of the offenses. He was arrested in February, and has since pleaded guilty to some 160 counts of child sex offenses and blackmail.In one case, prosecutors said Edwards threatened to bomb the house of a victim and shoot her parents if she stopped sending him images.Judge ...

German Cabinet approves legislation meant to ease deportations of rejected asylum-seekers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday that is intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers as Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to defuse migration as a political problem.The draft legislation, which would need parliamentary approval to take effect, foresees increasing the maximum length of pre-deportation custody from 10 days to 28 and specifically facilitating the deportation of people who are members of a criminal organization. It also would authorize residential searches for documentation that enables officials to firmly establish a person’s identity, as well as remove authorities’ obligation to give advance notice of deportations in some cases.Germany’s shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up in recent months as significant numbers of asylum-seekers add to more than 1 million Ukrainians who have arrived since the start of Russia’s war in their homeland. Scholz has signaled a new desire to take charge of migration ...

Tyson Fury continues treading offbeat career path with fight against former UFC star Francis Ngannou

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

Being the best heavyweight boxer in the world isn’t enough for Tyson Fury.Now is the time for the charismatic Brit with a personality as big as his punch to make the most of his ascent to the top of the sport, build his brand and rake in the cash.Appearances in WWE? Sure.A Netflix reality series documenting his home life? Of course.Heading to the Middle East to fight a former UFC star in the latest in a growing number of crossover bouts? Oh, yes, especially if it brings in a reported $50 million paycheck.For Fury, the chance to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion this century can wait, even if that’s a source of frustration for the boxing world and plenty outside it.First of all, he has a lucrative itch to scratch by taking on Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on Saturday in a fight that opens Riyadh Season, the kingdom’s festival of entertainment through the winter months.It’s a 10-round fight and will count as an official bout according to the WBC, for whom Fury i...

Food Banks Canada report paints dire picture of Canada-wide affordability crisis

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

VANCOUVER — There are many heartbreaking tales behind the record number of Canadians using food banks as they struggle with high inflation and mounting housing costs, says a Vancouver food bank executive. “We see parents who are skipping meals so that their children can eat. We see people who haven’t eaten in days. We see seniors who haven’t had produce in months,” said Cynthia Boulter, chief operating officer with Greater Vancouver Food Banks. More and more people are accessing its services each year, and with greater frequency than in the past, Boulter said, as low wages and high rents squeeze people between inflation and other rising costs. Boulter said the “unprecedented, record-breaking times” are being felt by food banks across the country, where nearly two million people visited in the month of March, 32 per cent more than the same month the year before, and a 78 per cent increase compared with March 2019. The numbers, contained in Food Ban...

109 miners escape from gold mine in South Africa but others continue union standoff, official says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

SPRINGS, South Africa (AP) — More than 100 miners escaped from a gold mine in South Africa on Wednesday after being held underground for three days by fellow employees in a union dispute, a company official said.Around 450 workers remain in the mine, the official said, with an unknown number of them preventing the others from leaving as they demand formal recognition of their labor union. The company that runs the mine says it has rough estimates that around 110-120 of the miners underground might be supporters of the unregistered union and were holding the others, although it was not certain.The union – The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union – gave another version of the events and says the miners were staying underground willingly as a protest in support of the union.Police and mine officials have called it a “hostage” situation.The standoff at the Modder East mine in Springs, east of Johannesburg, began early Monday after 562 miners and other workers re...

International terror defendants face longer prison terms than domestic counterparts, new study finds

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

People convicted of crimes related to domestic extremism face far shorter prison terms than those convicted in international terrorism cases, even when the crimes are similar, a new report on the outcomes of hundreds of federal criminal cases has found.The first-of-its-kind analysis, completed by terrorism researchers at the University of Maryland, was provided exclusively to The Associated Press. It comes after federal officials and researchers have repeatedly identified domestic violent extremists such as white supremacists and anti-government groups as the most significant terror threat to the U.S. And it follows scrutiny of the outcomes of Jan. 6 cases, including for some Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who received sentences years lower than what was called for by prosecutors and sentencing guidelines. President Joe Biden has echoed the concerns about domestic terrorism, calling it a “stain on the soul of America” and the “ most urgent terrorism threat ” faced by the country, yet t...

Watch for these 3 Medigap shopping surprises to avoid overpaying

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

Medicare beneficiaries can buy Medicare Supplement Insurance, or Medigap, to help cover certain out-of-pocket costs associated with Medicare Part A and/or Part B. (If you’re shopping during open enrollment, Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, remember that people with Medicare Advantage can’t buy Medigap plans.)For example, depending on which plan type you choose, a Medigap policy could cover the 20% Medicare Part B coinsurance for office visits and the $1,600 deductible before Medicare Part A starts to pay for inpatient hospital care.Medigap policies are sold by private health insurance companies. They’re regulated by the federal government and have certain standard benefits. But shopping for them isn’t always straightforward.Shoppers might expect higher prices to come with more benefits, but that’s not always the case. Here are three scenarios to watch for so you don’t end up paying too much.1. PAYING MORE FOR THE SAME COVERAGENew Medicare beneficiaries in most states can choose from up to eight o...

Police chief’s son who was wanted in shooting of 2 officers is found dead, Tennessee officials say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The estranged son of Nashville’s police chief, who was wanted in the shooting of two police officers outside a Dollar General store, has been found dead, authorities said.Officers responded to 15th Avenue South in Nashville on Tuesday night, where they heard a muffled gunshot from an outbuilding and then found John C. Drake Jr. dead with a gunshot wound that was apparently self-inflicted, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement posted on social media. TBI will investigate Drake’s death at District Attorney Glenn Funk’s request and a full autopsy will be performed as a part of the investigation, the agency said.Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said the younger Drake stole a car at gunpoint from a home southeast of downtown on Tuesday evening, WSMV-TV reported. Drake asked a man and woman in front of a home for a ride and when they were unable or unwilling to give him a ride, he pulled out a gun and demanded the car in the driveway, ...

Security tensions running high in Belgium on eve of EU summit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:02:51 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Security tensions were running high on Wednesday ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels, with police launching a search for a man they wanted to question over reports of unspecified threats.The Brussels prosecutor’s office later said authorities had detained a man in the case and were checking his identity.The police operation came one week after an Islamic extremist shot dead two Swedes and wounded a third. Authorities said the Tunisian suspect died following a police operation trying to arrest him.The search for the man wanted in connection with the unspecified threats came on the eve of the two-day European Union summit, which starts Thursday in Brussels, where the 27 EU leaders will discuss, among other things, the Israel-Hamas war.Last week’s killings laid bare inefficiencies within the government and judicial apparatus, which had allowed the suspect to roam free in Brussels even though Tunisia had actively sought his extradition. The justice m...