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Recruitment of children by armed groups in Syria is on the rise, even as fighting subsides

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — A 13-year-old Kurdish girl went missing on her way home from a school exam last month, after being approached by a man from an armed group. Her parents immediately feared the worst — that she had been persuaded to join the group and was taken to one of its training camps.The girl, Peyal Aqil, was with friends when she encountered the man who turned out to be a recruiter for a group known as the Revolutionary Youth. She followed him to one of the group’s centers in the city of Qamishli in northeast Syria. Her friends waited for her outside, but she never emerged. Peyal’s mother, Hamrin Alouji, said she and her husband complained to local authorities, to no avail.The group later said Peyal joined willingly, a claim rejected by Alouji. “We consider that at this age, she cannot give consent, even if she was convinced” by the group’s program, Alouji said, sitting for an interview in her daughter’s room, filled with stuffed animals and school texts.Armed group...

Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory, but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

The U.S. Supreme Court shot down a controversial legal theory that could have changed the way elections are run across the country, but left the door open to more limited challenges that could increase its role in deciding voting disputes during the 2024 presidential election.The court’s 6-3 ruling Tuesday drove a stake through the most extreme version of the so-called independent state legislature theory, which holds that legislatures have absolute power in setting the rules of federal elections and cannot be second-guessed by state courts. That decision cheered voting rights groups.“We beat back the most serious legal threat our democracy has ever faced today,” said Kathay Feng of Common Cause, whose lawsuit challenging congressional districts drawn by North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature triggered the case.But for some critics of the theory, the danger is not entirely past.The court found that state courts still must act within “ordinary bounds” when rev...

Kazakhstan and Germany forge deals worth $1.7 billion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

The Kazakh-German Business Forum on 20 June in Astana resulted in the signing of 23 commercial agreements worth more than $1.7 billion, reported the Kazakh Invest national company.The forum was attended by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who arrived in Kazakhstan on June 19 as part of an official visit.The parties agreed to cooperate in the processing of rare earth metals, the production of machine tools, and agricultural machinery, as well as in the textile industry, fisheries, and green energy.One of the major deals is a $22 million agreement signed between Kazenergopower and Siemens to produce medium-voltage distribution devices for the Kazakh energy sector using Siemens technology.Creada Corporation and HMS Bergbau signed a $200 million agreement for the exploration, extraction, and processing of complex rare metal ores in eastern Kazakhstan.The Development Bank of Kazakhstan and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg agreed to finan...

Presidents of Kazakhstan and Germany agree to enhance co-operation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

Kazakhstan intends to deepen people-to-people co-operation with Germany, considering the substantial German diaspora of 226,000 people living in Kazakhstan and over one million former Kazakh citizens residing in Germany, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at a joint media briefing with Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on June 20, the Akorda press service reported.“This is a ‘golden bridge’ that strengthens friendship between our peoples, and we intend to deepen cooperation in this area,” added Tokayev.Steinmeier concurred, saying the two countries have close ties. He noted that over the last three decades of diplomatic relations, Kazakh-German cooperation has only grown more robust thanks to the ethnic Germans living in Kazakhstan, as well as Germans from Kazakhstan living in his country.“They make the exchange between our countries vibrant,” Steinmeier said, expressing his intention for a closer partnership with Kazakhstan and Central Asia.Steinmeier noted that Germany...

Blackburn, Brown lead A’s to 2-1 win over Yankees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

By MICHAEL WAGAMANThe Associated PressOAKLAND — Paul Blackburn pitched into the sixth inning for Oakland, allowing one run on Josh Donaldson’s homer in his return to the lineup and sending the Athletics to a 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.The slumping Donaldson connected in the fifth in his first action since Friday, but that was it for New York. The 2015 AL MVP went 1 for 4 with two strikeouts, raising his batting average to .132 in 22 games.Seth Brown homered for the second consecutive day as the last-place A’s beat the Yankees for the first time this season after they were swept in a three-game series in the Bronx in May.“A great win tonight,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “Tonight’s game was well-played, well-pitched. We gave a couple outs away on the bases but they didn’t end up hurting us.”Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Paul Blackburn #58 throws against the New York Yankees in the first inning of their MLB game against the New York Yankees at the Co...

Magnitude 3.0 earthquake shakes South Bay

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

GILROY – A magnitude 3.0 earthquake jolted the South Bay late Tuesday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The quake struck around 9:40 p.m. nearly 5 miles northeast of Gilroy and a depth of about 3.7 miles, the USGS reported on its website. It was felt as far north as Fremont, in the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and as far south as northern San Benito County.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.The quake occurred along the Calaveras Fault, the USGS said. The fault does not share the notoriety of its siblings, the Hayward and San Andreas faults, but it has unleashed a number of notable quakes in recent years, including a magnitude 5.1 in 2022. A magnitude 6.2 quake was reported in 1984, a 5.4 in 2007 and 4.1 in 2017.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Back-to-back earthquakes shake Southern Colorado Crashes and Disasters | Earthquake rattles Northern California Crashes and Disasters | Why the Hayward Fault...

Mueren 21 personas por ola de calor en Tamaulipas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

(CNN Español) — El Gobierno del estado de Tamaulipas, México, informó este martés a través de un comunicado que se registraron 21 personas muertas por la ola de calor que azota el estado.La gobernación agregó que en los hospitales de la secretaria de salud se encuentran 10 pacientes hospitalizados, de los cuales 4 permanecen en terapia intensiva, 4 en piso y 2 en el área de urgencias.— Fidel Gutiérrez contribuyó con este reporte.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Russia bombs restaurant in eastern Ukraine, killing eight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

Russia bombed a pizzeria in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday night, killing eight people and injuring dozens, Ukraine’s emergency services said Wednesday.“The bodies of eight dead people (including three children … ) were unblocked from the rubble of the destroyed cafe building,” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) said, adding that 56 people were injured in the blast.“Rescuers are dismantling the rubble of the destroyed building and searching for people who are likely to be under the rubble,” the SES said.Several other cities in the eastern Donbas region were targeted in the attack, killing another person, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk military administration.“The Russians fired two missiles” in Kramatorsk, with one destroying the pizzeria building, Kyrylenko said.Located west of the front line in Donbas, in Ukraine-controlled territory, Kramatorsk is a key city in the region.It has been ta...

Gunmen abduct 14 state police officers in the Mexican state of Chiapas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Armed men abducted 14 state police officers in southern Mexico on Tuesday, prompting a heavy deployment of federal and local forces, authorities said.The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection in Chiapas state said in a statement the 14 officers were all men and an air and ground operation was underway to locate them. An official with the state police force, who asked not to be quoted because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the agents were traveling to the capital of Chiapas in a personnel transport truck when they were intercepted by several trucks with gunmen.The women in the vehicle were released while the men were taken away, the official said.The abduction occurred on the highway between Ocozocoautla and Tuxtla Gutiérrez.Violence in the Mexican border region with Guatemala has escalated in recent months amid a territorial dispute between the Sinaloa Cartel – which has dominated the area – and the Jalisco New Generation Cart...

Death toll rises to 8 in Russian attack on a restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:21 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The death toll from a Russian missile attack that struck a popular restaurant in an eastern Ukrainian city has risen to eight, Ukrainian authorities said Wednesday. At least 56 people were also wounded in the attack in Kramatorsk on Tuesday evening. The Russian missile struck a local eatery frequented by journalists, aid workers and soldiers who use Kramatorsk as a base of operations. The city lies only a few kilometers from the front line. Three children were among the dead. The shelling occurred right when people had returned from from work, Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said. He said the three dead children were ages 14 and 17. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said that rescuers continued to clear rubble from the site and search for more survivors. Ukraine launched the early phase of its much anticipated counteroffensive earlier this month and have made minimal territorial gains. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy announced on Tuesday that Ukrainian ...