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Indian, Pakistani coasts on high alert a day before Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

MANDVI, India (AP) — The coastal regions of India and Pakistan were on high alert Wednesday with tens of thousands of people being evacuated a day ahead of a cyclone’s expected landfall.The India Meteorological Department said Cyclone Biparjoy was packing sustained winds of up to 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph) and was projected to make landfall near Jakhau port in the Kutch district of India’s Gujarat state on Thursday.Residents living within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the coast in Gujarat were evacuated, and those living within 10 kilometers (6 miles) may also have to leave, officials have said. Five people have been killed so far in incidents related to the cyclone, including three boys who drowned off Mumbai’s coast and a woman who was killed in an accident caused by strong winds in Gujarat. Rescuers were searching for another person who drowned off Mumbai.Experts say climate change is leading to an increase in cyclones in the Arabian Sea region, making preparations for na...

Turkish leader says his economic views are same but he’ll accept finance minister’s approach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his economic policies have not changed but he suggested in comments published Wednesday that his finance minister will have leeway to move away from an unconventional approach that many have blamed for a worsening cost-of-living crisis.Erdogan, who was reelected to a third term last month, appointed Mehmet Simsek, an internationally respected banker who served in the Cabinet previously, as treasury and finance minister. He also picked Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former U.S.-based bank executive, to head the central bank, the first woman hold the role. While the appointments signaled a shift in the longtime Turkish leader’s views on how to stimulate the economy, lingering uncertainty over Erdogan’s position and an apparent move to loosen government controls of foreign currency exchanges led Turkey’s currency to plunge to record lows against the U.S. dollar last week.Erdogan said he had accepted Simsek’s request for a fresh ec...

Germany says climate measures will narrow but not fully close the country’s emissions gap by 2030

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German officials said Wednesday that an array of climate measures being introduced by the government will bring the country closer but not all the way toward meeting its national goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.Germany’s Climate Ministry said measures already in place or soon to become law will reduce emissions by about 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide for the period from 2022 to 2030.An “emissions gap” of about 200 million tons of CO2 will remain and needs to be closed through additional steps over the coming years, largely because of persistent high emissions in the transportation sector.Germany aims to reduce its emissions of planet-warming gases by 65% from 1990 levels by 2030. The target for 2040 is an 88% reduction on the path to ”net zero” emissions by 2045.A sharp increase in wind and solar power, energy efficiency improvements and subsidies for industry to reduce fossil fuel use are among the measures taken or planned by...

Federal judge hearing arguments over Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge is scheduled Wednesday to hear arguments in a lawsuit seeking to block an Indiana law banning doctors from providing puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries to minors.The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has asked the judge in Indianapolis for a preliminary injunction that would stop the law from taking effect July 1. The group filed its lawsuit on behalf of four transgender youth and an Indiana doctor who provides transgender medical treatment just hours after Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill April 5.The organization argues the ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantees, federal laws regarding essential medical services and wrongly prohibits Indiana doctors from communicating with out-of-state doctors about gender-affirming care for their patients younger than 18.Indiana’s ban was enacted amid a national push by Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights. At least 20 sta...

Kansas doctor dies saving his daughter from drowning on Colorado raft trip

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas doctor saved his daughter when she became trapped by their overturned raft in a rushing Colorado river, but was unable to save himself.Dustin Harker, 47, a neurologist from Hutchinson, was on a whitewater rafting trip Friday with friends from church and four of his 13 children when the accident happened in the Sunshine Falls area on the Arkansas River.The family had rafted the same river in previous years but the rapids were more turbulent than usual due to high amounts of rainfall, Harker’s sister-in-law, Sharon Neu Young, said in an email to the Hutchinson News.A raft carrying Harker and three of his children capsized.“Everyone struggled to get above water,” Young wrote. “In the tumult, Dustin threw the capsized raft off his youngest daughter who was trapped underneath.” She did not disclose the girl’s age.Everyone made it to shore and Harker was even able to speak, but he “had already taken on too much water” and soon became unresponsi...

Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch because it has women pastors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Southern Baptist Convention has refused to welcome Saddleback Church back into its fold, rejecting an appeal by the California megachurch over its February ouster for having women pastors.Southern Baptist church representatives at their annual meeting here also rejected a similar appeal by a smaller church, Fern Creek Baptist of Louisville, Kentucky, which is led by a woman pastor.The results of the Tuesday votes were announced Wednesday morning on the concluding day of the the two-day annual meeting here of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, whose statement of faith asserts that only qualified men can serve as pastors.The convention hall packed with about 12,000 Southern Baptists was quiet after the announcement, appearing to have listened to the earlier urging by SBC President Bart Barber for them to show restraint.“I know sometimes there are churches where people wind up in biblical divorce,” he said. “But we don’t throw divorce parties at church...

Agribusiness giant Cargill not doing enough to fight deforestation, protect human rights, group says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

An activist group and researchers tried to increase pressure on agribusiness giant Cargill on Wednesday to do more to fight deforestation and human rights abuse, releasing a report that accuses the company of not following through on commitments to help end such practices.The report argues that the family-owned company has been misled by its managers and now should take the lead in ensuring it carries out its promises to fight forced child labor in the cocoa industry and protect forests and other natural resources. As one of the world’s largest privately held companies and by far the largest grain distributor, Cargill is in a unique position to force positive changes, especially in ending deforestation, the groups said in the report.“The destruction of the natural world is driven by agribusiness and agribusiness is driven by Cargill,” said Todd Paglia, executive director of the environmental group Stand.Earth, at a news conference in Wayzata, Minnesota, a Minneapol...

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts higher ahead of Fed decision on rates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting higher Wednesday, as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve’s latest economy-moving decision will be on interest rates.The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in midday trading after riding a winning streak to its best level since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 85 points, or 0.2%, at 34,126, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.Some stocks were making sharp moves, including drops for several health insurers after UnitedHealth Group flagged how many customers were getting knee procedures and other outpatient services done. That’s something that could raise costs for insurers, and UnitedHealth fell 7.2%. Humana dropped 13.7%.Stocks of companies that make products used in hip replacements and other health procedures, meanwhile, were at the front of the market. Stryker rose 5.8%, and Edwards Lifesciences gained 5.3%.But the majority of Wall Street was quiet, with the main event coming lat...

Detroit-area city bans LGBTQ+ Pride flags on public property

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area community has banned LGBTQ+ flags from publicly owned poles after a tense hourslong meeting that raised questions about discrimination, religion and the city’s reputation for welcoming newcomers.In protest, a woman speaking during the public comment portion of the Hamtramck City Council meeting kissed a woman standing next to her Tuesday night.“You guys are welcome,” council member Nayeem Choudhury said. “(But) why do you have to have the flag shown on government property to be represented? You’re already represented. We already know who you are.”Some members of the all-Muslim council said the Pride flag clashes with the beliefs of some members of their faith. Businesses and residents aren’t prohibited from displaying a Pride flag on their own property.“We want to respect the religious rights of our citizens,” Choudhury said.Hamtramck, population 27,000, is an enclave surrounded by Detroit. More than 40% of residents were born in ot...

Turkey’s Erdogan says Sweden shouldn’t expect to join NATO any time soon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:45:20 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that NATO should not bet on his country approving Sweden’s application to join the Western military alliance before a July summit because the Nordic nation has not fully addressed his security concerns. Sweden and Finland applied for membership together following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April after the Turkish parliament ratified its request, but Turkey has held off approving Sweden’s bid.NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time the leaders of member nations meet for a summit in Lithuania’s capital on July 11-12. Speaking to journalists on his way back from a state visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Erdogan said Turkey’s attitude to the accession was not “positive.”Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported Erdogan’s comments as senior officials from NATO, Sweden, Finland and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday. The...