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India’s Modi faces a no-confidence vote over silence on ethnic violence tearing at remote Manipur

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — His social media accounts suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is launching high-speed trains and rubbing shoulders with foreign leaders as a powerhouse on the global stage and the face of an ascendant India. But that carefully crafted image, followed by millions, sits uncomfortably at odds with his silence on what’s come close to a civil war engulfing India’s northeastern state of Manipur. For three months, the strongman leader has been absent on arguably the worst ethnic violence ever seen in the remote state, where Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is in power. Modi’s role, or lack thereof, has sparked a no-confidence motion against him in Parliament, where his government holds the majority. He will almost certainly defeat the effort this week. But proponents of the motion are betting that just bringing it up will force Modi to address the Manipur crisis from the floor of Parliament.MODI’S SILENCEMore than 150 people have died...

Messi sparkles again on free kick with tying goal, Inter Miami beats FC Dallas 5-4 in shootout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Lionel Messi scored on another mesmerizing free kick in his third consecutive two-goal game for Inter Miami, a tying tally that led to a 5-4 victory over FC Dallas on penalty kicks in a Leagues Cup elimination game Sunday night.Messi’s goal in the 85th minute was reminiscent of the game-winner in his Inter Miami debut, both on free kicks from just outside the penalty box in the waning moments and sneaking past the goalkeeper into the upper corner of the net.This time, the left-footed superstar, was to the right of the net, and beat FC Dallas’ Maarten Paes to the near post the same way he did from the left side in a 2-1 win over Mexican club Cruz Azul in his Inter Miami debut.The victory in the round of 16 sent Inter Miami into the Leagues Cup quarterfinals against the winner Monday night between Charlotte FC and Houston.Messi’s first goal outside of Florida for his new U.S. club was another left-footed strike outside the penalty area in the six...

Ohio election that revolves around abortion rights fueled by national groups, money

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Supporters of a ballot question in Ohio that would make it harder to change the state constitution and could determine the fate of abortion rights there say a yes vote will provide a “defense against out-of-state meddling.”Opponents argue that a yes vote would give “special interests the winning advantage.”But an analysis of campaign finance data shows that as both sides lambast out-of-state interests, they are largely funded by such donors. Even outside of the official coalitions for and against the measure, money, celebrity and influence from afar are fueling much of the last-ditch campaigning and misinformation about the measure, known as Issue 1, on Tuesday’s ballot.The coalition supporting the measure, called Protect Our Constitution, is funded almost entirely by billionaire Illinois business owner Richard Uihlein, who contributed $4 million of the campaign’s $4.8 million, according to campaign filings. The campaign’s largest Ohio-based d...

Father charged with helping suspect in July 4 shooting obtain gun license to ask judge to toss case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A father will ask a judge Monday to dismiss his case in which authorities say he helped his son obtain a gun license three years before the younger man fatally shot seven people at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago.Illinois prosecutors charged Robert Crimo Jr. under a unconstitutionally vague law, his lawyers are expected to argue at a hearing in Waukegan, north of Highland Park where the shooting occurred. If Lake County Judge George Strickland allows the case to proceed, Crimo Jr.’s bench trial would start Nov. 6. Crimo Jr. has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of reckless conduct, one for each person killed. Each count carries a maximum three-year prison term. Prosecutors said he helped his son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license even though the then-19-year-old had threatened violence. The four-sentence section of the state law invoked to charge Crimo Jr. says “a person commits reckless conduct when he or she, by any means lawful or unlaw...

Trump’s attack on ‘filth and decay’ in nation’s capital just the latest in his personal feud with DC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington has never been a particularly friendly place for Donald Trump. And after pleading not guilty to federal charges that he had tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Trump was quick to show that the feeling was mutual.“It was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti,” he said on the tarmac of Reagan National Airport in Virginia, just a few miles away. “This is not the place that I left. It’s a very sad thing to see it.”Trump’s comments drew some skepticism due to the fact that he basically was on two blocks of the district’s streets. His route to and from the airport took him past one of the district’s larger shelters for homeless people, but “filth and decay” drew some eye rolls from longtime Washington defenders. “He’s just talking off the top of his head and angry to be back in D.C.,” said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, ...

What to stream this week: Gal Gadot, ‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ and ‘Only Murders in the Building’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

The return of the mystery-comedy “Only Murders in the Building” and Gal Gadot getting her “Mission: Impossible”-style action film with the international espionage thriller “Heart of Stone” are among the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near youAmong the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are “Superfan,” a new one-hour game show that features music superstars crowning their biggest fan, and a royal rom-com adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s bestseller “Red, White and Royal Blue” lands on Prime Video.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— Gal Gadot gets her “Mission: Impossible”-style action film in the international espionage thriller “Heart of Stone.” The film, debuting Friday, Aug. 11, on Netflix, stars the “Wonder Woman” actor as a superspy for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency called the Charter. “Heart of Stone,” directed by Tom Harper, boasts plenty of stunt sequences and international locales, with Gadot star...

Today in History: August 7, allies land at Guadalcanal during World War II

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

Today in History Today is Monday, Aug. 7, the 219th day of 2023. There are 146 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Aug. 7, 1942, U.S. and other allied forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II. On this date: In 1789, the U.S. Department of War was established by Congress. In 1882, the famous feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky erupted into full-scale violence.In 1963, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave birth to a boy, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who died two days later of respiratory distress syndrome.In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces. In 1971, the Apollo 15 moon mission ended successfully as its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. In 1989, a plane carrying U.S. Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, and 14 others disa...

Stock market today: Asian benchmarks mostly slip after Wall Street’s losing week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading mostly lower on Monday after U.S. employment data had Wall Street close out a losing week. Investors are also closely watching earnings reports due later this week, including from Disney in the U.S., Alibaba Group in China and Sony and SoftBank in Japan.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped losses earlier in the day and was down less than 0.1% at 32,190.31 in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 7,298.60. South Korea’s Kospi inched down less than 0.1% to 2,602.49. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3% to 19,488.09, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.6% to 3,267.44. “Local stocks appear to be latching onto the U.S. downswing from Friday as investors are still absorbing a down week for most markets,” Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management said of Asian trading. On Friday last week, the S&P 500 sank 23.86, or 0.5%, to 4,478.03. It was the fourth straight drop for Wall Street’s main measure of hea...

Tens of thousands of young scouts to leave South Korean world jamboree as storm Khanun looms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea is preparing to evacuate tens of thousands of scouts from a coastal jamboree site as Tropical Storm Khanun looms, world scouting officials said Monday.The World Organization of the Scout Movement said it received confirmation from South Korea’s government of the early departure for all participants in the southwestern county of Buan. That means quickly moving about 40,000 scouts from 158 countries, mostly teenagers, out of the storm’s path.South Korea’s weather agency said the region will be affected by the storm as early as Wednesday. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said he called for “contingency” plans to protect the scouts from the storm, which could include relocating them to hotels and other facilities in the country’s capital, Seoul, and nearby metropolitan areas.Hot temperatures have already forced thousands of British and American scouts to leave campsite made on land reclaimed from sea. The Associated Press

Rahul Gandhi, Indian opposition leader, reinstated as lawmaker days after top court’s order

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:15:21 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament on Monday reinstated top opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker three days after the country’s top court halted his criminal defamation conviction for mocking the prime minister’s surname.His reinduction as a member of Parliament is likely to strengthen the opposition’s effort to corner Narendra Modi’s government ahead of a no-confidence motion this week over deadly ethnic violence that has roiled India’s northeastern state of Manipur for more than three months.A fierce critic of Modi and his main challenger in the 2024 polls, Gandhi was ousted from Parliament after his conviction by a magistrate’s court in March. The Supreme Court stayed his conviction Friday, which means it is temporarily halted while the court goes into Gandhi’s appeal in detail before issuing a final ruling.The court’s order also means that Gandhi will be able to contest next year’s general elections unless a final court decision goes against him.The defamation case invo...