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UK’s Liz Truss heads to Taiwan after string of hawkish China speeches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

LONDON — Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss will visit Taiwan next week as she continues a hawkish post-premiership streak on China.Truss, whose turbulent administration collapsed after just 49 days last year, will “deliver a keynote speech and is expected to meet senior members of the Taiwanese government,” her spokesperson said Tuesday.The trip takes her to the site of a key flashpoint in China’s relationship with the West. China claims the self-governing Taiwan as its territory, but the U.S. has promised to arm and defend the island.Truss has repeatedly made her views on Taiwan clear. She said last month that the West “should be doing all we can to make sure Taiwan has the support it needs to defend itself,” and took a direct swipe at French President Emmanuel Macron for warning in an interview with POLITICO that Europeans must not “become followers” of the U.S. on the issue.In remarks briefed out ahead of the visit, Truss said: “Tai...

UN rules useless against China’s forced labor, research shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

The EU’s trade gurus, confronted with concerns over whether Chinese cotton or solar panels are being produced with Uyghur Muslim forced labor, have long turned to the International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines for reference, adopting its rules while urging Beijing to ratify and observe them.Except they might not be that effective in this case.In a new research paper previewed by POLITICO, Adrian Zenz, a leading scholar on Beijing’s repressive policies, casts doubt on the applicability of these rules by the ILO, a U.N. agency, arguing they were mainly drawn up to tackle commercially — not politically — driven exploitation.In other words, Beijing is not looking for cheap labor when its local officials in Xinjiang arrange for Uyghurs to go to work. Instead, it is a top-down political campaign to make these Uyghurs, collectively presumed by the state to be potential secessionists and terrorists, submit to Communist Party rule.That, according to Zenz, a scholar at the...

Police: Arrest made in deadly stabbing at Chelsea apartment building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

An arrest has been made in connection with a deadly stabbing at a Chelsea apartment building, according to police.A spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said a woman was found with multiple stab sounds at a building on Lafayette Avenue. A 7NEWS source said the woman was later taken by ambulance to a local hospital and did not survive.Initially called to the address around 10 a.m., police could be seen going in and out throughout the day, taking photos and gathering evidence.Detectives also talked to residents and neighbors.The building where the woman was found sits up on a hill overlooking the Boston skyline. It is normally quiet and peaceful, according to residents.“You barely see people in there,” said area resident Deolinda Brito. “It’s really nice.”“I just moved here in September and I was remarking to the people I work with how I love my building,” said Pamela Rivera. “I love my apartment. It was so quiet, clean, I never hear any noise.” Detectiv...

Crews battle house fire in Lowell

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

Crews battled a fire at a home on Andrews Street in Lowell Tuesday morning. Firefighters responding to the scene around 4:15 a.m. found smoke shooting from the roof of the three-story building.Officials remained on scene as of 6 a.m. A ladder truck was set up in front of the house. There is no word on the cause of the fire or if there are any injuries.

Red Sox notebook: Surging Sox have chance to make statement in Atlanta

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

One way or the other, this ongoing stretch was always going to set the tone for the rest of the season.Coming out of their last off day on April 27 the Red Sox were 13-13 and looking at a daunting 12-game stretch, with series against the Cleveland Guardians (reigning AL Central champs), Toronto Blue Jays (who owned Boston last year), Philadelphia Phillies (last fall’s World Series runner-ups) and Atlanta Braves (perennial title contenders). It wasn’t hard to imagine the Red Sox losing all four series and looking up at the end five or six games under .500 and well behind the pack in the playoff hunt.Instead the Red Sox won the first three series, ripped off an eight-game winning streak and now head to Atlanta as one of the best teams in baseball.Even the biggest optimist couldn’t have predicted things would be going this well. After going 8-2 over their past three series the Red Sox are now 21-15 and entered Monday with a 1.5-game lead for the third American League ...

Chinese woman appeals in fight for right to freeze her eggs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — An unmarried Chinese woman on Tuesday began her final appeal of a hospital’s denial of access to freeze her eggs five years ago in a landmark case of female reproductive rights in the country. Teresa Xu’s case has drawn broad coverage in China, including by some state media outlets, since she first brought her case to court in 2019. She lost her legal challenge last year at another Beijing court, which ruled the hospital did not violate the woman’s rights in its decision. The upcoming judgment will have strong implications for the lives of many unmarried women in China and the country’s demographic changes, especially after the world’s second-largest economy recorded its first population decline in decades. In China, the law does not explicitly ban unmarried people from services like fertility treatments and simply states that a “husband and wife” can have up to three children. But hospitals and other institutions, in practice, implement ...

1 person dies in single-vehicle crash on Hwy. 403 in Mississauga

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

One person has died in a single vehicle crash on Highway 403 in Mississauga in the early morning hours on Tuesday.Provincial police were called to the westbound lanes near Winston Churchill Boulevard after 2 a.m.A vehicle on fire could be seen on the roadway when the police arrived.WB 403 Ramp to WB 407 CLOSED for a vehicle fire. Emergency crews are on scene.#WB403 pic.twitter.com/fE4LpcihHd— CityNews Toronto Traffic & Weather (@citynews680) May 9, 2023The person was pronounced dead on the scene. No other people were injured in the collision.The highway was closed at Winston Churchill along with he on-ramp to Highway 407 westbound, but it has since reopened.

Ousted Caritas chief denounces Vatican ‘power grab’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s main charitable organization, Caritas Internationalis, is hoping to open a new chapter this week after Pope Francis fired top managers over bullying complaints. But the recently ousted head is fighting back, claiming the Vatican engaged in a “brutal power grab” fueled by a “colonialist” attitude.The drama is playing out as the Caritas General Assembly meets May 11-16 to elect new leaders following more than a decade of turmoil and a damaging sex abuse scandal in central Africa. The gathering is a key step in Francis’ efforts to renew the Vatican-based confederation of 162 national chapters that is one of the most visible aid groups in the world.In an extraordinary display of papal power, Francis last November fired the Caritas secretary general, Aloysius John; the Caritas president, Filipino Cardinal Antonio Tagle; and Tagle’s vice presidents, the treasurer and ecclesiastic assistant. The Holy See said an outside investigation had found ...

Nashville hotel manager charged with aggravated burglary, assault after entering guest's room

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) - A manager at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nashville has been charged with aggravated burglary and assault after he reportedly entered a guest's room and sucked on his toes.According to Metro police, 52-year-old David Neal was the night manager at downtown Nashville's Hilton Hotel, located in the 100 block of 4th Avenue South. PREVIOUS: ‘Why is this person touching me’: Texas man files lawsuit accusing Hilton Nashville employee of sexual assault Police said Neal made a key card and used it to enter the guest's room on March 30 at around 5 a.m. The guest, Pete Brennan, told police he woke up and found Neal sucking on his toes. He immediately confronted Neal and recognized him as the person who had come into his room the day before with another employee to address an issue the guest was having with his TV, according to investigators. Officers arrived at the hotel and spoke with Neal who allegedly admitted to entering the guest's room but said he did so afte...

1M already use Austin toll roads daily, and it could double by 2040

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:30 GMT

Investigative Summary: This story is part of KXAN’s “TxTag Troubles” investigative project launched May 7, 2023. Following related reports in recent years, our team rededicated its resources to this major consumer issue, after hundreds of viewers complained to us about resurfaced billing and customer service problems with the state’s tollway operator and its contracted vendors. During our reporting, the Texas Department of Transportation began reaching out to viewers who had contacted KXAN to resolve their issues, and state lawmakers renewed their approach to fixing future TxTag problems.AUSTIN (KXAN) — Shelley Rutherford remembers struggling with northwest Austin traffic before toll roads were an option."We lived here when there was a four lane road, all these stoplights on (U.S. Highway) 183," she said. "And then they built the new 183, which was amazing, but it took like five years to build."And then came tolls. The first section of the 183A Toll opened in March 2007. Rutherford...