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Indonesia suspects human trafficking is behind the increasing number of Rohingya refugees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s government blames a surge in human trafficking for the increasing number of Rohingya Muslims that have entered the country over the past few weeks, the Indonesian president said Friday. President Joko Widodo said in a televised news conference that he received “reports about the increasing number of Rohingya refugees entering Indonesian territory, especially Aceh Province.” “There are strong suspicions that there is involvement of a criminal human trafficking network in this flow of refugees,” he said, adding that the ”government will take firm action against perpetrators of human trafficking.”Police said they arrested three Aceh residents for human trafficking on Friday. They are suspected of helping 30 Rohingya refugees leave their camp in the city of Lhokseumawe. The suspects were given 1.8 million rupiah ($115) to smuggle the refugees from the camp to the city of Medan in North Sumatra province, said Henki Ismanto, the Lhokseumawe poli...

French police address fear factor ahead of the Olympic Games after a deadly attack near Eiffel Tower

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The bar was already high, but the security challenge ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games only grew with a knife attack last weekend that killed a tourist near the Eiffel Tower. Still, the assault at the hand of a suspected Islamic radical, a kind of invisible enemy, left law enforcement undaunted.The attack quickly raised concern in France and abroad about security for the Games that begin July 26 — in just over seven months. But law enforcement officials appear eager to push back the fear factor and show off a security-ready Paris. “We are trying to make the invisible risk visible,” said Bernard Bobrowska, inspector general of local police for the French capital. “We are ready.”Police evaded questions about possible terror attacks from an Associated Press team following a patrol at the Eiffel Tower on Thursday, insisting that all systems will be “go” for the Olympics. But Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said after the attack that about a third of suspected radicals...

Tony Shalhoub returns as everyone’s favorite obsessive-compulsive sleuth in ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fourteen years ago, Tony Shalhoub said goodbye to one of his most beloved creations — the obsessive-compulsive private detective Adrian Monk. Monk’s last TV appearance in 2009 was even called “Mr. Monk and the End.”There was talk over the years of a potential reboot and some possible scripts were floated. But Shalhoub said there wasn’t enough of a compelling reason to return to his phobia-obsessed character.Then the pandemic hit. Monk suddenly wasn’t the only germaphobe wiping down their groceries, stocking up on antibacterial wipes and shuddering at the sight of crowded places.“Monk, in a way, was the canary in the coal mine,” Shalhoub tells The Associated Press. “He seemed so out of touch and so neurotic and so forth. The pandemic was the great equalizer. Everybody got to sort of see the world through Monk’s eyes.”Viewers have caught up with Monk and so fans get another goodbye with the 90-minute “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” hi...

Slovak president says she’ll challenge new government’s plan to close top prosecutors office

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

Slovakia’s president said Friday she would seek to block the new government’s plan to return the prosecution of major crimes from a national office to regional ones, using either a veto or a constitutional challenge. But the governing coalition could likely override any veto.The government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico plans to change the penal code to abolish the special prosecutors office that handles serious crimes such as graft and organized crime by mid-January, and return those prosecutions to regional offices, which have not dealt with such crimes for 20 years.President Zuzana Caputova said in a televised address Friday that she thinks the planned changes go against the rule of law, and noted that the European Commission also has expressed concerns that the measure is being rushed through. The legislation approved by Fico’s government on Wednesday needs parliamentary and presidential approval. The three-party coalition has a majority in Parliament. President Ca...

Police suspect vandalism of vehicle at Jewish school was hate-motivated, woman arrested

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

Toronto police have arrested a woman in a hate-motivated mischief investigation after a car that was parked at a Jewish school and community daycare was vandalized.Officers were called to the school in the Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue area at around 1:08 a.m. on Saturday, Nov., 25 after reports that a vehicle in the parking lot was damaged with a rock.The incident was captured on security video and police say they were able to identify a suspect.On Wednesday, Dec. 6, an arrest was made.Madeleine Folk, 33, of Toronto has been charged with mischief under $5,000 and two counts of fail to comply with probation.“This investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence,” a police release states. Related: 11 charged in hate-motivated investigation after vandalism at Toronto Indigo Man arrested in alleged hate-motivated assault with knife in North York Man wanted in alleged hate-motivated assault after woman punched ...

On sidelines of COP28, Emirati ‘green city’ falls short of ambitions, but still delivers lessons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A bold, innovative project begun nearly a generation ago to erect a “green-city” in the United Arab Emirates has run into realities and largely missed its mark, offering a cautionary tale about the risk of overblown environmental ambitions even for an oil-rich, future-minded sheikdom.Now 17 years and billions of dollars in the making, Masdar City next to Abu Dhabi’s airport was first envisioned as a sustainable city of tomorrow with features like no cars, subway “pods” to ferry commuters, and solar-powered buildings rising from the desert sands.Those things exist, but not nearly to the extent or in the timeframe once imagined. Masdar City has been a pet project of Sultan al-Jaber, the head of the UAE’s national oil company and the president of the ongoing COP28 climate conference in nearby Dubai, who has sought to cast himself as a promoter of renewable energy transition.It was launched as a $22-billion, state-funded project to create “th...

Biden is launching a Hollywood fundraising blitz to tap into star power with strikes over

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Here’s a Hollywood ending that President Joe Biden wants to bring to life: an incumbent facing tough polling numbers and questions about his advanced age overcomes a brash opponent to win a second term at the White House.With strikes by writers and actors now over, Biden is beginning to make that pitch to the Southern California set in person. He and First Lady Jill Biden plan to attend six fundraising events and meetings between them this weekend in the Los Angeles area, asking some of the glitziest names in town to open their checkbooks for his reelection campaign.Some of the events will be public and others private over roughly 36 hours in California. But organizers say Biden should raise more this weekend than in any similar time frame since announcing his campaign in April. He may also potentially take in more than any presidential candidate has in greater Los Angeles this far out from Election Day.“The pent-up excitement, enthusiasm is really unpreceden...

Mrazek makes 37 saves in first Bedard-Carlsson bout; 'Hawks beat Ducks 1-0

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Petr Mrazek made 37 saves in his 25th career shutout, and the Chicago Blackhawks stopped a four-game slide with a 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.Philipp Kurashev scored for last-place Chicago, which had dropped 10 of 12 overall. It was the Blackhawks' first win this season when they scored fewer than four goals.“It was a great, I think, game overall — especially the special teams and Petr,” Kurashev said. “It was nice to get a win again.”Connor Bedard picked up an assist while Leo Carlsson was mostly quiet in a matchup of the top two picks in this year's NHL draft. Bedard went No. 1 overall to Chicago, followed by Carlsson going to Anaheim.Bedard and Carlsson became friends in the run-up to the June draft. Bedard said they were on the ice at the same time for one shift, and he asked Carlsson what he thought of his first experience with the United Center crowd cheering along with the national anthem.“He said it was pretty cool. So that's it. ...

Michigan school shooting victims speak as teen faces possible life sentence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Parents of students killed at Michigan's Oxford High School described the anguish of losing their children Friday as a judge considered whether a teenager will serve a life sentence for a mass shooting in 2021.Crime victims in Michigan have a right to speak in court, and the final hearing in suburban Detroit was tense and emotional.Ethan Crumbley, 17, could be locked up with no chance for parole for killing four fellow students and wounding others, a punishment sought by the Oakland County prosecutor. But because of the shooter's age, Judge Kwamé Rowe also could order a shorter sentence — anywhere from 25 years to 40 years at a minimum — that would eventually make him eligible for release by the state parole board.“We are miserable. We miss Tate,” said Buck Myre, the father of Tate Myre. “Our family has a permanent hole in it that can never be fixed — ever.”Nicole Beausoleil recalled seeing the body of her daughter, Madisyn Baldwin, at the medical examiner's of...

Funding talks stalled in Congress

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:02:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are scrambling to come up with a border security solution both sides can agree on.The border talks have delayed the passage of President Joe Biden’s $106 billion supplemental funding request for aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.Senate Republicans are demanding tougher border security policies in exchange for their support for the supplemental funding request that includes aid for Ukraine and Israel.“I will help all of our allies, but we've gotta help ourselves first,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).Republicans blocked a procedural vote on Wednesday to advance the president’s national security plan because they believe the package doesn’t adequately address border security. “We found something that provides us the opportunity to force the administration to do something that they’ve been unwilling to do until this point,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).Republicans are pushing for sweeping policy changes at the border ...