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China says it would welcome a visit by US commerce secretary after imposition of investment controls

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China says it would welcome a visit by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo following the imposition of foreign investment controls by her agency that have stung numerous Chinese companies. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting did not offer a date, but said the countries are in “close communication on arrangements,” according to reports Thursday. Media have speculated that a visit could come as early as later this month. Raimondo last met her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, in Washington in May to discuss trade.President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Aug. 9 to block and regulate U.S. high-tech investment in China, reflecting the intensifying competition between the world’s two biggest economies. The order covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence. Senior administration officials said the effort is related to national security goals rather than economic interests and the cat...

More than a ton of endangered pangolin scales seized in Thailand

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities said Thursday they have seized more than a ton of pangolin scales worth over 50 million baht ($1.4 million) that are believed to have been headed out of the country through a land border.The scales that cover a type of anteater were found Wednesday night in the northeastern province of Kalasin, and apparently were meant to be transported out through Mukdahan province, which shares a border with Laos, Thai police said at a news conference in Bangkok on Thursday.Two male suspects, who were on a truck with the scales, were arrested and charged with the illegal possession of carcasses of protected animals, according to Ariyapol Sinsorn, the deputy chief of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division. The two men confessed to the charges, he said.The pangolin scales, which have an estimated price of around 40,000 baht ($1,129) per kilogram, are suspected to have been brought from Malaysia to Thailand, to be transported to Laos. From there, it wa...

Israeli troops kill a Palestinian militant in a gunbattle outside a West Bank bakery

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli forces raided a home above a bakery in a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, killing a Palestinian militant in a gunbattle in Jenin, a city that has seen some of the worst bloodshed in the current round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.Violence has gripped the region since last spring when Israel launched near-nightly raids in response to a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks. It’s become the fiercest fighting in the West Bank in some two decades, and along with increased violence by radical Jewish settlers and settlement expansion by Israel’s far-right government, has fueled tensions in the region.Early Thursday, Israeli troops surrounded a building containing a bakery and a home. In a statement, the Israeli military said special forces were arresting two militant suspects when they came under fire, shot back and entered the building.The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man killed as Mustafa al-Kastouni, 32...

Tim Scott will share the spotlight at massive South Carolina campaign event headlined by DeSantis

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Just a few days after the first GOP presidential debate of the 2024 cycle, two of the contenders will be hitting the same stage in front of the largest annual gathering of Republicans in early-voting South Carolina.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had already been set as the headliner at the Faith & Freedom BBQ, hosted by Rep. Jeff Duncan on Aug. 28. On Thursday, Duncan told The Associated Press that Sen. Tim Scott — invited in his capacity as a South Carolina senator, not presidential hopeful — had also accepted an opportunity to speak, as he has done in years past.The event, which takes place in a massive civic center and attracts more than 2,000 attendees, comes five days after Scott, DeSantis and others in the broad GOP field are set to participate in the first debate of the 2024 cycle in Milwaukee. Former President Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner, has indicated he’s unlikely to attend and may hold a competing event of his own. The debat...

Iran’s foreign minister visits Saudi Arabia on first such trip in years as tensions ease

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister traveled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking the first trip to the kingdom by Tehran’s top diplomat in years after the two nations reached a détente with Chinese mediation.The visit by Hossein Amirabdollahian comes as both Saudi Arabia and Iran try to ease tensions between their nations, which long have viewed each other as archrivals for influence across the wider Middle East. Challenges remain, however, particularly over Iran’s advancing nuclear program, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and security across region’s waterways. Amirabdollahian’s trip to Riyadh comes as the two nations are reopening diplomatic missions in each others’ countries. He was accompanied by Alireza Enayati, Iran’s new ambassador to the kingdom. The last Iranian foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia on a public trip was Mohammad Javad Zarif, who traveled to the kingdom in 2015 to offer condolences for the death o...

Sha’Carri is back, Shelly-Ann never left: Women’s 100 is the race to watch at track worlds

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — When she stamped her name on the long, illustrious list of American sprint champions earlier this summer, Sha’Carri Richardson also set the stakes for the year ahead of her and the rest of the fast pack of 100-meter runners she’s going against.“I’m not back. I’m better,” she declared.Whether that is good enough to win gold medals starting this week at the world championships, then again less than 12 months from now at the Paris Olympics, comes down to whether she can finish in front of defending and five-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and the Jamaican’s teammate, Shericka Jackson.Jackson has the world’s best time this year (10.65 seconds), but has lost to Richardson in their only two head-to-head matchups in 2023. Fraser-Pryce is trying to match pole vaulter Sergey Bubka’s record for world titles in one individual event. Also in the mix is Marie-Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, who joins Richardson and Jackson...

Small plane crashes in Malaysia, with at least 9 bodies recovered

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A small aircraft crashed Thursday in a suburb in Malaysia’s central Selangor state, with at least nine bodies recovered, police said.Shah Alam district police chief Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim confirmed that a jet has crashed. He said it appeared that all the passengers on the plane had perished but couldn’t give further details. Another police officer, who declined to be named as he isn’t authorized to speak to the media, said that at least nine bodies have been found. Civil aviation authorities said there were six passengers and two crew members on board the plane. The Malay Mail online news portal quoted eyewitnesses as saying the airplane exploded upon impact, with some of the debris from the crash hitting a motorcycle.The New Straits Times, an English-language newspaper, said on its website that the plane was believe to be en route from the northern resort island of Langkawi to the Subang airport in Selangor when it was believed to have encountered...

Schools reopening, traffic moving in signs of recovery from Maui fires

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (NEXSTAR) — Public schools on Maui started the process of reopening and traffic resumed on a major road in signs of recovery a week after wildfires demolished a historic town and killed at least 111 people, while the head of the island's emergency agency said he had “no regret” that sirens weren't sounded to warn people about the onrushing flames.At least three schools untouched by flames in Lahaina, where entire neighborhoods were reduced to ash, were still being assessed after sustaining wind damage, Hawaii Department of Education superintendent Keith Hayashi said. Maui boat captain details rescue of two children during fire “There’s still a lot of work to do, but overall the campuses and classrooms are in good condition structurally, which is encouraging,” Hayashi said in a video update. “We know the recovery effort is still in the early stages, and we continue to grieve the many lives lost.”Maui County confirmed the death toll increased to 111. The county also ...

Britney Spears' husband files for divorce, source says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears ' husband, Sam Asghari, has filed for divorce from the superstar 14 months after they were married, a person familiar with the filing said late Wednesday.The person, who is close to Asghari but not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the filing happened Wednesday, hours after several outlets including TMZ and People magazine reported the couple had separated.FILE - Britney Spears and Sam Asghari appear at the Los Angeles premiere of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" on July 22, 2019. Asghari has filed for divorce from Spears, a person familiar with the filing said late Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. The person, who is close to Asghari but not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the filing happened Wednesday, hours after several outlets including TMZ and People magazine reported the couple had separated. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)An email sent to a Spears representative was not immediately returned. Court records in Los An...

Blue Alert issued after Harris County deputy shooting

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:27:55 GMT

HOUSTON (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a Blue Alert late Wednesday night after a Harris County sheriff's deputy was shot and wounded.According to the alert, officers are looking for two men in connection with the shooting:Terran Green, a black man, 34, who is described as 5-feet-4-inches-tall, 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a gray shirt and black shorts. James Green, a black man, 37, who is described as 5-feet-6-inches-tall, 168 pounds, with black and brown eyes. The alert did not describe his clothes.Police were also looking for a Blue 2016 Ford Escape with a Texas License Plate SVJ6590 but said in an update at 5:30 a.m. that the car had been located. Neither suspect was located. Anyone with information should call the Harris County Sheriff's office at 346-286-2192. Blue Alert issued after shooting of Harris County sheriff's deputy. (Courtesy: Texas Department of Public Safety) Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the 29-year-old deputy was c...