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Biden to tout economic growth as dividend of N Ireland peace

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — President Joe Biden is in Northern Ireland on Wednesday to participate in marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to this part of the United Kingdom, as a new political crisis tests the strength of that peace.On his first presidential visit to Northern Ireland, Biden was stressing that American investment can help fuel economic growth – especially if the fractious politicians in Belfast resolve a new political crisis that has rattled the Good Friday peace deal and put Northern Ireland’s government on pause.In a speech at Ulster University’s new campus in downtown Belfast, Biden will focus on “Northern Ireland’s vast economic potential,” said Amanda Sloat, the Democratic president’s top adviser on European affairs.She said Biden will talk about “how the last 25 years were focused on peace but the next 25 years should be marked by growth and economic prosperity.”U.S. involvement was key to negotiating the Go...

Taiwan’s ruling party taps VP as presidential candidate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s pro-independence ruling Democratic Progressive Party nominated Vice President Lai Ching-te as its candidate in the 2024 presidential election, two days after China concluded large-scale wargames around the self-governed island. At a nominating event Wednesday, Lai said he would continue to assert Taiwan’s right to international recognition while boosting its high-tech economy and promoting an efficient government. “We must definitely continue to improve Taiwan’s investment environment,” Lai, also known as William Lai, told reporters. His most challenging task, however, will be dealing with threats from China, which considers Taiwan its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. “A war over Taiwan would be a global disaster,” Lai said. “As long as China maintains its military threats against Taiwan, we must continue to strengthen our national defense.” Originally trained as a physician with a master’s in public health from Harvard, Lai, 63...

EPA pollution limits aim to boost US electric vehicle sales

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is proposing strict new automobile pollution limits that would require as many as two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032, a nearly tenfold increase over current electric vehicle sales.The proposed regulation, announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, would set tailpipe emissions limits for the 2027 through 2032 model years that are the strictest ever imposed — and call for far more new EV sales than the auto industry agreed to less than two years ago.If finalized next year as expected, the plan would represent the strongest push yet toward a once almost unthinkable shift from gasoline-powered cars and trucks to battery-powered vehicles.A look at what the EPA is proposing, how the plan serves President Joe Biden’s ambitious goal to cut America’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, and whether the auto industry can meet the new EV targets:Q. What is the EPA proposing?A, ...

Volcano spews ash cloud for 2nd day on Russia’s Kamchatka

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A volcano spewed out ash for a second day Wednesday on Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, throwing clouds of dust high into the sky and blanketing wide areas.Shiveluch, one of Kamchatka’s most active volcanoes, started erupting early Tuesday, spewing dust over 500 kilometers (more than 300 miles) northwest and engulfing several villages in grey volcanic dust in the largest fallout in nearly 60 years.The Kamchatka branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Geophysical Survey said the eruption continued Wednesday, spewing clouds of dust 10 kilometers (more than 6 miles) into the sky.Since the start of the eruption, the area has been closed to aircraft and residents have been advised to stay indoors.The villages located about 50 kilometers (some 30 miles) from the volcano, were covered by a 20-centimeter (nearly 8-inch) layer of dust. Residents posted videos showing the ash cloud plunging the area into darkness.Shiveluch has two parts — the 3,283-meter (10,771-foot)...

US names veterinary drug, fentanyl mixture ’emerging threat’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

The U.S. has named a veterinary tranquilizer as an “emerging threat” when it’s mixed with the powerful opioid fentanyl, clearing the way for more efforts to stop the spread of xylazine.The Office of National Drug Control Policy announced the designation Wednesday, the first time the office has used it since the category for fast-growing drug dangers was created in 2019.Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the drug policy office, said xylazine (pronounced ZAI’-luh-zeen) has become increasingly common in all regions of the country.It was detected in about 800 drug deaths in the U.S. in 2020 — most of them in the Northeast. By 2021, it was present in more than 3,000 fatalities —with the most in the South — according to a report last year from the Drug Enforcement Administration.“We cannot ignore what we’re seeing,” Gupta said. “We must act and act now.”Xylazine was approved for veterinary use in 1971. Sometimes known as “tranq,” it’s been showing up in supplies of illic...

Pope evokes cold-war replay, says leaders should avoid arms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis urged world leaders Wednesday to use reason and not arms to resolve differences, evoking memories of the 1960s Cold War between Washington and Moscow, .At his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square, Francis noted that Tuesday marked the 60th anniversary of the issuance of a Cold War-era encyclical by Pope John XXIII. The “Pacem in Terris” encyclical, intended for both the Catholic Church and the world at large, was issued several months after the Cuban missile crisis, which had fueled fears of nuclear war between the United States and what was then the Soviet Union. Francis recalled the world then as “full of tensions between two opposing blocs in the so-called Cold War” and said his predecessor’s message, which encouraged peace efforts, “is very current today.” The encyclical “opened horizons in which you could speak of peace, construct peace,” Francis told thousands of faithful gathered in the square. He called the document issued April 11, 19...

US envoy: Balkans ‘poisoned’ by Russian disinformation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — A U.S. special envoy on countering global disinformation says that countries in the western Balkan region have been “pretty seriously poisoned” by Russia’s influence campaigns. James P. Rubin, who heads the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, traveled to North Macedonia on a tour that also includes stops in Montenegro and Albania. “The main source of the threat in this part of the world is Russian-generated disinformation, often repeated and acting as a hub through Serbian media platforms and then repeated and promulgated here in the Western Balkans,” Rubin told a group of reporters late Tuesday in the capital, Skopje. “I would say that (this region) is pretty seriously poisoned by primarily Russian disinformation.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the appointment of Rubin, a 63-year-old veteran diplomat, last December, worried that disinformation campaigns engineered by Russia had intensified due to the...

Mario, Mariah, Madonna added to National Recording Registry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mario, Madonna and Mariah have entered the national audio canon. Madonna’s star-making 1984 album “Like a Virgin,” Mariah Carey’s 1994 holiday perennial “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and the original 1985 theme from Super Mario Bros. are now in the U.S. National Recording Registry as part of “the defining sounds of the nation’s history and culture,” the Library of Congress announced Wednesday. In all, 25 albums, singles and other sound artifacts spanning more than a century are being inducted into the registry, from the first known recording of mariachi music in 1908 and 1909 by Cuarteto Coculense, to 2012’s “Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra” by composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The Super Mario Bros. music, officially known as the “Ground Theme,” written by young Nintendo composer Koji Kondo, becomes the first music from a video game to enter the registry, which called it in a news release “the most recognizable video game theme in history.”...

Protester detained as Macron visits Amsterdam university

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Police tackled and detained a protester Wednesday after he ran, shouting, toward Emmanuel Macron as the French president arrived at a University of Amsterdam science campus on the second day of his state visit to the Netherlands.It was the second straight day that protesters targeted Macron, who is facing angry unrest at home over his pension reforms. On Tuesday, demonstrators shouted and held up banners at the start of a speech in The Hague.The incident Wednesday happened as Macron arrived with Dutch King Willem-Alexander at the university’s science park to visit its Quantum Gases and Quantum Information Lab to discuss quantum technology.The protester was tackled by a military officer and police before being restrained and taken to a nearby police vehicle. Macron’s visit continued after the man and another protester were detained.Earlier, French and Dutch ministers signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in moves to develop digital technology and ...

GasBuddy: Albany gas prices continue to increase

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:52 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Average gasoline prices in Albany have risen 8.1 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.56/g on Wednesday, according to GasBuddy's survey of 546 stations in Albany. Prices in Albany are 8.1 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 62.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 1.6 cents in the last week and stands at $4.15 per gallon. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Albany was priced at $3.27/g on Tuesday while the most expensive was $3.69/g, a difference of 42.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state Tuesday was $2.85/g while the highest was $4.19/g, a difference of $1.34/g.The national average price of gasoline has risen 8.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.57/g on Wednesday. The national average is up 13.0 cents per gallon from a month ago and stand...