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UN aid enters opposition-held Syria from government territory for first time since deadly earthquake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — A convoy carrying United Nations aid entered opposition-held Idlib from government-held Syria Friday, the first such shipment to cross battle lines since a deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria in February.The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, announced that an aid convoy carrying humanitarian supplies crossed from Aleppo to northwest Syria. The last U.N. aid shipment to cross battle lines into the northwest was on Jan. 8.In the wake of the earthquake that struck Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6, causing widespread destruction, “cross-line” aid convoys had been prevented from entering Idlib from government-held areas by the formerly al-Qaida-affiliated rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which dominates the area. An administrative arm of the group accused the government of Bashar Assad in a statement at the time of trying “to benefit from the aid intended for victims of the earthquake.”In the wake of the ea...

UK elections watchdog says new voter ID law stopped thousands from casting ballots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s electoral watchdog said Friday that about 14,000 people were prevented from voting in last month’s local elections because of a new law requiring voters to show photo identification.The Electoral Commission said 0.25% of people who went to polling stations were unable to cast ballots because they didn’t have the right ID, and “significantly more” than that likely did not show up at all.Craig Westwood, the commission’s communications director, said there was “concerning” evidence that disabled and unemployed people were more likely than other groups to give a reason related to ID for not voting.“We don’t want to see a single voter lose the opportunity to have their say,” he said. “We are working to understand the challenges people faced, and will make recommendations that, with the engagement of government and wider electoral community, will support the participation of all voters.”The government says ID is required to vote in many democracies, and the move wi...

The Olympic flame for the 2024 Paris Games will be carried for 68 days before the cauldron is lit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The Olympic flame for the 2024 Paris Games will pass through 64 departments — including five overseas — and 400 towns over 68 days before the cauldron is lit.Organizers announced the route for the torch relay on Friday at a Paris university.“Paris 2024 is the greatest collective project in our history,” organizing committee president Tony Estanguet said. “The torch relay plays an important role because it has the capacity to touch so many people.”The torch will be lit by the sun’s rays on April 16 in Ancient Olympia, Greece. It will then be carried around the nation before its handover in Athens.The flame will leave Athens on April 27 aboard a three-mast ship named Belem for the French port of Marseille — a former Greek colony founded 2,600 years ago.The Belem was first used in 1896, the same year the modern Olympics came back. It will be skippered by French navigator Armel Le Cléac’h, winner of the solo around-the-world race Vendée Globe in 2017. The crew will re...

A US aircraft carrier will make a rare Vietnam port call as countries compete for favor in SE Asia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — An American aircraft carrier was due to make a port call in Vietnam on Sunday — a rare visit by one of the U.S. Navy’s biggest ships that comes as Washington and Beijing both step up efforts to bolster ties with Southeast Asian nations.The USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was scheduled to arrive in Da Nang on June 25 and stay through June 30, making use of a port that was modernized and expanded by the United States during the war in Vietnam, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced. It will be only the third such visit by an American aircraft carrier since the end of the hostilities.The visit comes about a month after a Chinese navy training ship made its own port call in Da Nang as part of what it called a goodwill tour that also took it to Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines. Japan’s largest destroyer, Izumo, made a port call in Vietnam over the past week, following exercises in the South China Sea with the Reag...

Cambodian lawmakers approve changes to election law that disqualify candidates who don’t vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Pro-government Cambodian lawmakers unanimously approved changes to the country’s election law on Friday that will ban anyone who fails to vote from running as a candidate in future elections, a move critics say is aimed at crippling the opposition’s chances in the polls.The measure was approved with minimal debate by all 111 lawmakers present in the National Assembly. All members of the assembly belong to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party.Hun Sen, who has been in power for 38 years, declared last week that the law would be amended ahead of July’s general election to compel candidates for public office to prove their civic responsibility. The amended law will take effect after approval by the Senate, a formality.Hun Sen’s critics say the action as his latest tactic to marginalize his political opponents, some of whom are considering an election boycott. He announced the plan less than a month after the main opposition party was barred from ...

Interim Supt. Fred Waller to discuss plans to tackle weekend violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

CHICAGO -- Interim CPD Supt. Fred Waller is expected to discuss plans to tackle weekend violence ahead of the Chicago Pride Parade set to take place Sunday. Last weekend, 75 people were shot with 13 fatalities in the city of Chicago. Ahead of the following weekend, police have responded to eight people shot overnight. A 17-year-old boy suffered a graze wound to the back of the head in Gage Park around 9:22 p.m. He was transported to the hospital in serious condition. Body recovered from Lake Michigan near where woman went missing Another shooting happened near the Loyola University campus in the 1200 block of West Columbia Street around 8:09 p.m. A 24-year-old man self-transported to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the buttocks. He is listed in good condition. Police reported that a 13-year-old boy was also shot in the arm near the 1300 block of South Morgan Street around 11:28 p.m. He as transported to Stroger Hospital in good condition. Interim CPD Supt. Fred Waller acknow...

2 Chicago breweries are finalists in a major beer competition - and it's helping them toward their main goal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

CHICAGO — Two Chicago companies have been named finalists in a major competition involving craft beer as they each do their part to diversify the brewing industry.Azadi Brewing Company and Funkytown Brewery, both based in the city, have been chosen to take part in Samuel Adam's "Crafting Dreams Beer Bash" in New York on Friday. As one of six breweries chosen from 50 applicants, it gives each the chance to win a brewing & business "experienceship" in which one of the companies can work side-by-side with Samuel Adams to learn more about the business. As part of that, the brewery would get the opportunity to make a collaboration beer with the Boston-based brewer.Azadi and Funkytown will get the chance to share their own unique stories at the event, one that's not only about the beer they produce but also their mission in brewing.Bhavik Modi & Gator Schrand of Azadi Brewing (Courtesy Azadi Brewing)Azadi Brewing was started in 2020 by friends Bhavik Modi and Gator Schrand, partne...

Leftover food going from would-be trash to ice cream and pizza

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

LOS GATOS, Calif. (AP) — At Tyler Malek's ice cream parlors, one cook's trash is another chef's frosty treat.The head ice cream maker at the Portland, Oregon-based Salt & Straw uses the whey leftover from yogurt makers in upstate New York to make his lemon curd flavor. For chocolate barley milk, he mixes in the remnants of rice and grains from beer brewing to give it a light and creamy taste.“Instead of calling this food waste, we need to call it wasted food and start decreasing how much wasting we're doing,” Malek said.Malek’s ice cream chain is among those at the forefront of the upcycling movement, the process of creating high-quality products from leftover food. Malek's shops from the Pacific Northwest to Miami now feature flavors like “Cacao Pulp & Chocolate Stracciatella Gelato,” which is made from leftover cacao pulp from chocolate production that otherwise would have gone to waste.It's a trend gaining ground as consumers spend more time reading packaging labels and m...

Motorcyclist dead after crashing into center Median in Rogers Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

CHICAGO -- A Motorcyclist is dead after crash that took place on Sheridan Road in Rogers Park Thursday night. According to police, the crash took place around the 7700 block of North Sheridan Road around 9:15 p.m. when the motorcyclist, a 36-year-old man was found unresponsive. Interim Supt. Fred Waller to discuss plans to tackle weekend violence He was travelling south on Sheridan Road on a motorcycle before he struck the center median. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. There were no vehicles involved.

How animal sedative adding new pain to opioid drug crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, scrambling longstanding methods for reversing overdoses and treating addiction.Xylazine can cause severe skin wounds, but whether it is leading to more deaths — as suggested by officials in Washington — is not yet clear, according to health and law enforcement professionals on the front lines of efforts in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. In fact, early data suggests the drug may inadvertently be diluting the effects of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid behind most overdose deaths.There is broad agreement, however, that much more information is needed to understand xylazine’s impact, to craft ways of disrupting illegal supplies and to develop medicines to reverse its effects.“We don’t know whether xylazine is increasing the risk of overdose or reducing the risk of overdose,” said Dr. Lewis Nelson of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who advises federal ...