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Thai high court suspends prime minister candidate and will rule on whether he broke election law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday agreed to suspend Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, a candidate to become prime minister, from his duties as a member of Parliament pending its ruling on whether he violated election law.The court’s announcement came on the verge of a likely second vote in Parliament whether to confirm Pita as prime minister. His party was the top finisher in May’s general election and assembled an eight-party coalition that won 312 seats in the House of Representatives. However, the coalition failed to win enough support in an initial vote last week from the Senate, which votes together with the lower house to name the new prime minister.The court’s announcement still would allow Pita’s nomination and selection as prime minister, at least until a ruling.Thailand’s state Election Commission had referred Pita’s case to the court, saying there was evidence he had violated election law over his alleged undeclared ownership of media ...

Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed after Wall St logs 15-month high close on AI hopes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday after Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial intelligence and stronger-than-expected profit reports from big financial companies helped pushed U.S. stocks to their best level in more than 15 months.Shanghai and Hong Kong fell on selling of property shares after troubled developer China Evergrande reported its total debts rose in the past two years to about $340 billion.In Hong Kong, New World Development fell 2.2%, Country Garden declined 0.7% and China Resources Land gave up 0.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.2% to 18,782.40 while the Shanghai Composite index declined 0.3% to 3,189.81. The property market, a major driver of growth in China, has languished after regulators reined in lending to try to bring debt in the industry under control In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% to 32,759.60 while the Kospi in Seoul lost 0.1% to 2,604.12. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6% to 7,324.00. Shares rose in India and Ba...

‘Oppenheimer’ stirs up conflicted history for Los Alamos and New Mexico downwinders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — The movie about a man who changed the course of the world’s history by shepherding the development of the first atomic bomb is expected to be a blockbuster, dramatic and full of suspense.On the sidelines will be a community downwind from the testing site in the southern New Mexico desert, the impacts of which the U.S. government never has fully acknowledged. The movie on the life of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the top-secret work of the Manhattan Project sheds no light on those residents’ pain.“They’ll never reflect on the fact that New Mexicans gave their lives. They did the dirtiest of jobs. They invaded our lives and our lands and then they left,” Tina Cordova, a cancer survivor and founder of a group of New Mexico downwinders, said of the scientists and military officials who established a secret city in Los Alamos during the 1940s and tested their work at the Trinity Site some 200 miles (322 kilometers) away.Cordova’s group, the Tular...

No winner in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing. Jackpot reaches $720 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $720 million after no winning ticket was sold — again. It’s now one of two national lotteries with enormous jackpots but equally enormous odds against winning them.No ticket for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing matched the white balls 19, 22, 31, 37, 54 and the gold Mega Ball 18.The new jackpot is Mega Million’s 7th largest-ever, the lottery said in a news release. On Monday, the nation’s other big lottery game — Powerball — also went without a winner, and its jackpot now stands at an estimated $1 billion, the third-largest ever for that game.For Mega Millions, the estimated $720 million jackpot in the next drawing would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all grand prize winners opt to take a cash payout, which for Tuesday night’s drawing was an estimated $369.6 million.The largest-ever Mega Millions jackpot was $1.537 billion won by an anonymous player in South C...

Mothers hope for answers as authorities announce ‘person of interest’ in deaths of 4 women in Oregon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The announcement that authorities are holding a person of interest in the case of four women found dead this year around Portland has mothers of the victims hoping they may finally get answers about what happened to their daughters. One of the victims was Charity Lynn Perry, 24, whose body was discovered April 24 in a state park along the Columbia River Gorge. Her mother, Diana Allen, said Tuesday that she learned the news about the person of interest from traditional and social media, although she is in communication with a detective on the case. “I’m in the dark about a lot,” Allen told The Associated Press. “But the detective and I understand why this is required. We don’t need anything messing up this investigation.”Allen said she knows Charity died in April, but she has not been given an exact date and authorities were unable to tell how she died just from looking at her. The state medical examiner has not determined the cause or manner of death for Charity o...

Police shoot suspect during tactical operation in Englewood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

An investigation is underway after a tactical operation escalated to a police shooting in Englewood Tuesday evening.The Englewood Police Department put out a tweet at 3:11 p.m. about a tactical operation in the 4100 block of South Cherokee Street. A department spokesperson told Denver7 that officers went to arrest a wanted party when they barricaded themselves.Englewood Police are currently engaged in a tactical operation in the 4100 Block of S. Cherokee Street. A reverse 911 has been sent out to neighbors to shelter in place. Please stay out of the area until further notice. No further information will be released at this time. pic.twitter.com/sJdVjXfigO— Englewood Police Department (@PoliceEnglewood) July 18, 2023Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Greeley police officers cleared of wrongdoing after fatally shooting man in April Crime and Public Safety | Man shot dead by Adams County sheriff deputy at Lakeside Inn on Federal Boulevard Cr...

Teen girl missing for nearly 2 months found safe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

A teenage girl from Long Beach who had been missing for nearly two months was found Tuesday night after a Good Samaritan who saw a KTLA 5 News report on the teen provided information to the police.  Diana Rojas, 15, was last seen near her home in the 1000 block of Raymond Avenue just before 8 p.m. on May 29 in Long Beach. Surveillance video showed the teen getting into a BMW on Raymond Avenue, near 10th Street, with a man that the family said appeared to be an unknown adult.  The family of 15-year-old Diana Rojas, who had been missing for nearly two months, seen embracing her on July 18, 2023 after officers with the LAPD returned brought her home to Long Beach. (Moses Castillo)After the Good Samaritan’s call on Tuesday, officers with the Los Angeles Police Department located the teen and returned her to her family in Long Beach.  It’s unclear where the teen was found or what happened to her, but video of the reunion showed relieved family members embracing the 15-year-old....

Pair of 3.0 magnitude earthquakes hit Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

A pair of preliminary 3.0 magnitude earthquakes hit Southern California Tuesday evening.  According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the first quake struck at 9:37 p.m. with a second coming in at 9:40 p.m., both just 0.4 miles west of Bell in Los Angeles County.A shake map of the quake shows they could have been felt throughout much of the East Los Angeles area. There have been no immediate reports of damage.  Tens of thousands of earthquakes are recorded in California each year, but the vast majority of them are extremely minor. Only several hundred are greater than magnitude 3.0, and only about 15 to 20 are greater than magnitude 4.0, according to the USGS. In the continental United States, only Alaska records more quakes per year than California. According to the California Department of Conservation, the strongest quake ever recorded in the Golden State measured 7.9 magnitude and struck Fort Tejon on Jan. 9, 1857. 

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch from Southern California base aborted

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

SpaceX had plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California on Tuesday night before the mission was aborted.The rocket was aborted five seconds before a scheduled lift-off time of 10:25 p.m. PDT.The rocket was carrying a group of Starlink satellites into orbit. Takeoff had already been pushed back from the initial 9:34 p.m. time before the mission was officially ended."The vehicle is safe and we are proceeding with the offloading sequence," the launch director was heard saying moments after the abort was called."Keep in mind that the purpose of the countdown is to help us catch potential issues prior to flight and there are thousands of ways a launch can go wrong and only one way it can go right," said the launch host. "Given that, we are overly cautious on the ground and if the team or the vehicle sees anything that just looks even slightly off, they'll stop the countdown."The vehicle and the payload are "in good health," the host said b...

Oakland: Shooting on I-980 sends one to hospital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:20 GMT

OAKLAND – A shooting Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 980 in Oakland sent a person to the hospital, the California Highway Patrol said.The Oakland CHP area office received word around 3:15 p.m. that a person had arrived at Highland Hospital with a gunshot wound. The injury was not considered life-threatening.The victim told hospital personnel the shooting happened on I-980 near 18th Street.The circumstances that led to the shooting remained under investigation Tuesday night. The motive was undetermined and no suspects had been identified, the CHP said.All lanes of eastbound I-980 were closed for an investigation for about 30 minutes.Anyone with information related to the case can call the CHP investigation tip line at 707-917-4491.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Suspect arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Brentwood shootout that killed 17-year-old Crime and Public Safety | Person shot in Union City Crime and Public Safety | ...