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Vice President Harris to visit Africa in latest US outreach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will spend a week in Africa at the end of March as the United States deepens its outreach to the continent amid global competition, notably with China. “The trip will strengthen the United States’ partnerships throughout Africa and advance our shared efforts on security and economic prosperity,” said a statement from the vice president’s spokesperson, Kirsten Allen.Harris’ plans follow visits by first lady Jill Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going this week, and President Joe Biden is expected to travel to Africa later this year.However, Harris will be closely watched as the first Black vice president in U.S. history and the first woman to hold the position. She plans to be in Ghana from March 26 to 29, then in Tanzania from March 29 to 31. Her final stop is Zambia, on March 31 and April 1. Harris has a personal connection to the third country on her itinerary. Her maternal gr...

US, UK try to stem fallout from Silicon Valley Bank collapse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Governments in the UK and U.S. took extraordinary steps to stop a potential banking crisis after the historic failure of Silicon Valley Bank, even as another major bank was shut down.The UK Treasury and the Bank of England announced early Monday that they had facilitated the sale of Silicon Valley Bank UK to HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, ensuring the security of 6.7 billion pounds ($8.1 billion) of deposits.British officials worked throughout the weekend to find a buyer for the UK subsidiary of the California-based bank. Its collapse was the second-largest bank failure in history.U.S. regulators also worked all weekend to try to find a buyer. Those efforts appeared to have failed Sunday, but U.S. officials assured all depositors that they could access all their money quickly.The announcement came amid fears that the factors that caused the Santa Clara, California-based bank to fail could spread. In a sign of how fast the financial bleeding was occurring, regulat...

Oscars recap: Everything Everywhere All At Once dominates, Canadians shine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

The metaphysical multiverse comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” wrapped its hot dog fingers around Hollywood’s top prize Sunday, winning best picture at the 95th Academy Awards, along with awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis.Though worlds away from Oscar bait, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s anarchic ballet of everything bagels, googly-eyed rocks and one messy tax audit emerged as an improbable Academy Awards heavyweight. The indie hit, A24’s second best picture winner following “Moonlight,” won seven Oscars in all. Only two other films in Oscar history — “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Network” — won three acting Academy Awards.Fifty years after “The Godfather” won at the Oscars, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” triumphed with a much different immigrant experience. Its eccentric tale about a Chinese immigrant family — just the second feature by the Daniels, as the filmmaking duo is known — blended science fiction and alternate realities in the st...

UN chief: ‘Cold, hard facts’ should guide climate policy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The head of the United Nations called Monday for scientists to serve up “cold, hard facts” to push governments into making policies that curb climate change before a key global warming threshold is passed.His comments came as experts and officials from around the world gathered for a week-long meeting in the Swiss Alpine town of Interlaken to finalize the last of seven reports issued by the global body’s panel of top scientists since the Paris climate accord was forged in 2015.In a video address to delegates, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “could not come at a more pivotal time.”“Our world is at a crossroads — and our planet is in the crosshairs,” he said. “We are nearing the point of no return; of overshooting the internationally agreed limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) of global warming.”That threshold, agreed in Paris almost eight years ago and measured against av...

Iran-Saudi Arabia deal casts China in unfamiliar global role

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — An agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to re-establish diplomatic relations has cast China in a leading role in Middle Eastern politics — a part previously reserved for longtime global heavyweights like the U.S. and Russia. It’s another sign that China’s diplomatic clout is growing to match its economic footprint.Under strongman leader Xi Jinping, Chinese diplomacy has become known for angry outbursts against the West, threats against Taiwan, aggressive moves in the South China Sea and a refusal to condemn Russia over Ukraine. The deal reached in Beijing Friday, under which the sides agreed to re-open their embassies and exchange ambassadors after seven years of tensions, shows a different side of Chinese diplomacy. Xi appears to have played a direct part in the talks by hosting Iran’s president in Beijing last month. He also visited the Saudi capital Riyadh in December for meetings with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations crucial to China’s energy supplies.The...

US government ponders the meaning of race and ethnicity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

Nyhiem Way is weary of people conflating African American and Black. Shalini Parekh wants a way for South Asian people to identify themselves differently than East Asians with roots in places like China or Japan. And Byron Haskins wants the U.S. to toss racial and ethnic labels altogether.“When you set up categories that are used to place people in boxes, sometime you miss the truth of them,” said Haskins, who describes himself as African American.Way, Parekh and Haskins’ voices are among more than 4,300 comments pending before the Biden administration as it contemplates updating the nation’s racial and ethnic categories for the first time since 1997. There’s a lot to consider. Some Black Americans want their ancestors’ enslavement recognized in how they are identified. Some Jewish people believe their identity should be seen as its own ethnic category and not only a religion. The idea of revising categories for ethnic and racial identities, both in the censu...

GasBuddy: Albany gas prices see slight uptick

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — On Monday, March 13, GasBuddy gave a weekly update on Albany gas prices. The Albany-based data comes from GasBuddy’s daily survey of 546 stations in Albany. Get all of the latest news, weather, sports, and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Average gasoline prices in Albany have risen 1.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.49/g today, according to GasBuddy's survey of 546 stations in Albany. Prices in Albany are 5.5 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 93.0 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.1 cents in the last week and stands at $4.30 per gallon.According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Albany was priced at $3.11/g yesterday while the most expensive was $3.79/g, a difference of 68.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.79/g while the highest was $4.49/g, a difference of $1.70/g. New York declares March Colorectal Cance...

Second half gets away at Vermont

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

BURLINGTON, VT (NEWS10) -- After taking an early lead and being within striking distance at halftime, it got away from Siena Women’s Lacrosse as the Saints were outscored 12-1 in the second half en route to a 20-6 defeat at Vermont on Sunday afternoon. Get all of the latest news, weather, sports, and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Siena (4-3) played on their heels as the Saints were outshot 35-20 including 29-14 for shots on target as Vermont won 20 of 29 draw controls to take the possession advantage. It appeared to be a different game from the first to second half.  The Saints even took an early 2-1 lead when Grace Dobrzynski and Mary Soures got Siena on the board in the opening five minutes.  But, the Catamounts responded by reeling off four consecutive goals before Rebecca Gilhooley struck back with a nifty behind-the-back shot that found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 5-3 early in the second quarter. Vermont answered with three str...

Larson and Smith lead Women's Lax past MSMC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Juniors Audrey Larson and Anna Smith netted a game-high four goals apiece to lead the Union College women's lacrosse team to a dominating 18-2 victory over Mount St. Mary College in the team's 2023 home opener on Sunday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium. Get all of the latest news, weather, sports, and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Larson and Smith both had big games to lead the Union offense, with Smith scoring four goals on four shots and Larson needing only six shots to record the highest-scoring output of her career. Senior Katie Julien led all players with a career-high five points on a goal and four helpers, while senior Dana Truini added four points thanks to two goals and two assists. Union (2-1) had complete control of the game from the opening draw, with senior Sydney McPartlon opening the scoring 2:08 into the contest. Smith and junior Dana Nelson followed soon after off feeds from Julien to tr...

EU releases €1 million in emergency aid for people affected by fire in Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:26 GMT

Following the fire outbreak in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar on 5 March, and its devastating consequences on people living in the most affected areas, the EU has released €1 million in emergency humanitarian assistance.The funding will focus on shelter and stabilization of slopes, repair of damaged water and sanitation facilities, emergency health interventions and prevention of disease outbreaks in the camp. Thanks to its already ongoing EU-funded disaster preparedness programme, the International Organisation for Migration was able to immediately deploy response teams at the outbreak of the fire, to support the affected communities and prevent further damage.Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič (pictured) explained: “EU support has been essential to the immediate response to the widespread fire in the Cox's Bazar refugee camp. Right after the outbreak, EU-supported emergency units and volunteers were deployed on the ground to contain the fire and prevent even mor...