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Here are the key leaders joining the Belt and Road forum and their wish lists to Beijing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China is hosting its third international forum centered around President Xi Jinping’s signature policy, the Belt and Road Initiative, which over the past 10 years has built infrastructure across continents, burdening some smaller countries with debt. The forum brings a flurry of diplomacy to Beijing, including at least 20 heads of state and government, mostly hailing from developing markets in Southeast and South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.Here are some key leaders visiting Beijing and an overview of their countries’ involvement in the Belt and Road projects. RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTINRussian President Vladimir Putin landed in Beijing on Tuesday, on his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for him in March over his alleged involvement in the mass abduction of children from Ukraine. Putin’s visit underscores China’s economic and diplomatic support for Moscow amid the isolation brou...

Commission sends request for information to X under the Digital Services Act

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

The European Commission services formally sent X a request for information under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This request follows indications received by the Commission services of the alleged spreading of illegal content and disinformation, in particular the spreading of terrorist and violent content and hate speech. The request addresses compliance with other provisions of the DSA as well.Following its designation as Very Large Online Platform, X is required to comply with the full set of provisions introduced by the DSA since late August 2023, including the assessment and mitigation of risks related to the dissemination of illegal content, disinformation, gender-based violence, and any negative effects on the exercise of fundamental rights, rights of the child, public security and mental well-being.In this particular case, the Commission services are investigating X's compliance with the DSA, including with regard to its policies and actions regarding notices on illegal conte...

Palestinians report heavy Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza, where they were ordered to seek refuge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians report heavy Israeli airstrikes in southern Gaza, where they were ordered to seek refuge.Source

Justin Herbert, Chargers’ offense come up short again in Los Angeles’ 20-17 loss to Dallas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — On the second snap of the second quarter, Dallas defensive lineman DeMarcus Lawrence swatted Justin Herbert’s throw out of the air. The ball went straight back to Herbert, who alertly caught his own pass and ran 10 yards with it.At several later moments when the Chargers (2-3) needed Herbert to make another exceptional play in their tight Monday night game, the Los Angeles quarterback regretted that he repeatedly dropped the ball.Although his teammates rallied behind him afterward, Herbert realized he had been outplayed by Dak Prescott in the Cowboys’ 20-17 victory.“I think we can do a lot better on offense, and especially at quarterback,” Herbert said. “I can play a lot better.”The Chargers’ $262.5 million QB will remember the yards he didn’t gain and the throws that barely missed while Los Angeles fell back below .500 with yet another hard-luck loss.In each of their three losses by a combined eight points this season, th...

Dak Prescott, Cowboys rally in fourth quarter for a 20-17 victory over the Chargers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Fans and some players might roll their eyes when a Week 6 game is described as a must win. That doesn’t matter to Dak Prescott After playing one of the worst games of his eight-year career last week and with a bye week on the horizon, Prescott went into Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers knowing anything other than victory would be detrimental to the Cowboys’ hopes of contending for an NFC title.Prescott responded by throwing for 272 yards and a touchdown as Dallas rallied in the fourth quarter for a 20-17 victory.“It was a must win. There’s a big difference between 4-2 and 3-3,” said Prescott, who completed 21 of 30 passes and also had a rushing TD. “We talked after last week about not allowing this thing to landslide. When you get this win like we did, we can definitely move on.”The Cowboys — coming off a 42-10 loss at San Francisco on Oct. 8 — continue to prove they don’t let losses fester. They improv...

Poland election results: Opposition secures win, final count shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

WARSAW — Poland’s opposition parties won enough seats in Sunday’s general election to take power from the Law and Justice (PiS) party which has ruled the country since 2015, according to a final vote count released by the National Electoral Commission on Tuesday morning.The election — which ended with a record turnout of 74.4 percent — saw PiS return as the largest party, but without the ability to form a winning coalition in the 460-member lower house of parliament.The final count had PiS with 35.4 percent, followed by the centrist Civic Coalition at 30.7 percent, the center-right Third Way at 14.4 percent, the Left with 8.6 percent and the far-right Confederation with 7.2 percent.That means Law and Justice takes 194 seats in parliament, Civic Coalition gets 157, Third Way 65, the Left 26 and Confederation 18. Civic Coalition, led by former Prime Minster and European Council President Donald Tusk, the Third Way and the Left have pledged to form a coalition government to...

It’s time to hang up on the old telecoms rulebook

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

Joakim Reiter | via VodafoneAround 120 years ago, Guglielmo Marconi planted the seeds of a communications revolution, sending the first message via a wireless link over open water. “Are you ready? Can you hear me?”, he said. Now, the telecommunications industry in Europe needs policymakers to heed that call, to realize the vision set by its 19th-century pioneers.Next-generation telecommunications are catalyzing a transformation on par with the industrial revolution. Mobile networks are becoming programmable platforms — supercomputers that will fundamentally underpin European industrial productivity, growth and competitiveness. Combined with cloud, AI and the internet of things, the era of industrial internet will transform our economy and way of life, bringing smarter cities, energy grids and health care, as well as autonomous transport systems, factories and more to the real world.5G is already connecting smarter, autonomous factory technologies | via VodafoneEurope should be at th...

Sweden players take overnight flight home, start returning to clubs after shooting in Belgium

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

Sweden players were returning to their clubs Tuesday after taking an overnight flight home from Brussels following the suspension of their European Championship qualifier against Belgium at halftime because a gunman killed two Swedish nationals before kickoff.The squad went directly to the airport and flew back to Sweden once they were allowed to leave King Baudouin Stadium, which was locked down for 2 1/2 hours for security reasons before officials began an evacuation process around midnight local time.It was around 4 a.m. local time when the last of the Swedish supporters — totaling about 650, according to the Swedish Football Association — left the stadium under police surveillance, along with some staff from the federation.All hotels where Swedish supporters were staying were also guarded by police, the federation said.The Swedish FA confirmed to The Associated Press that the national-team players were now making their way back to their clubs.The suspect in the shooting was shot...

India’s Supreme Court refuses to legalize same-sex marriage, says it is up to Parliament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court refused to legalize same-sex marriages, with the chief justice of the country saying Tuesday that it was up to Parliament to create such a law. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also urged the government to uphold the rights of the queer community and end discrimination against them. The five-judge bench earlier this year heard 20 petitions that sought to legalize same-sex marriage in the world’s most populous country. Chandrachud said there were degrees of agreement and disagreement among the justices “on how far we have to go” on same-sex marriages.“This court can’t make law. It can only interpret it and give effect to it,” the chief justice said, reiterating that it was up to Parliament to decide whether it could expand marriage laws to include queer unions.Legal rights for LGBTQ+ people in India have been expanding over the past decade, and most of these changes have come through the Supreme Court’s intervention. Tuesday’s judgment comes after...

Police shoot dead suspected extremist accused of killing 2 Swedish soccer fans on a Brussels street

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:57 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Police in Belgium on Tuesday shot dead a suspected Tunisian extremist accused of killing two Swedish soccer fans in a brazen shooting on a Brussels street before disappearing into the night. Hours after a manhunt began in the Belgian capital, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told broadcaster VRT: “We have the good news that we found the individual.” She said that the weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered.The federal prosecutor’s office was more cautious, saying in a text message to The Associated Press: “There are strong presumptions but no certainties” that the man was the shooter. He was shot by police in the Schaerbeek neighborhood where the rampage had taken place.Amateur videos posted on social media of Monday’s attack showed a man wearing an orange fluorescent vest pull up on a scooter, take out a large weapon and open fire on passersby before chasing them into a building to gun them down.“Last night, three people left for what was...