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Jill Biden touts efforts to bring better internet to Alaska Native villages

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — For years, when the tiny Alaska Native village of Rampart’s awful internet service would go down, the only way to reach the outside world was to await the small airplane that touched down daily with supplies and the occasional visitor.“We had no way of getting ahold of anybody out of Rampart other than going to the airport and telling the pilot,” said tribal administrator Margaret Moses. The pilot would relay messages — including word of medical emergencies — after flying 100 miles (161 kilometers) to Fairbanks.The Koyukon Athabascan village of about 50 people eventually upgraded to a satellite company, at a hefty price of $3,000 a month. It’s one of scores of Alaska Native villages where spotty and expensive internet coverage is the norm — if it’s available at all. And such service can be the only lifeline for remote communities, many of which can be reached only by boat or plane. Now, efforts to address inequities in a longstanding digita...

China asks Australia to increase search for 39 aboard capsized boat as 2 bodies reportedly found

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A Chinese envoy asked Australian authorities on Thursday to increase efforts to find survivors in the search for 39 crew members who were aboard a Chinese fishing boat that capsized in the Indian Ocean, as Chinese media reported two bodies had been recovered.“We wish that they could send more — more aircraft, more ships and more staff,” Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian told reporters. “We wish that our Australian colleagues would coordinate with other international or foreign vessels or ships near that area … to help the search and rescue to save as many lives as possible.”Xiao said China wanted to coordinate with “friendly countries,” including Australia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, in the search and rescue effort.The search coordinator, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said three aircraft and seven ships including three Chinese navy ships were involved in the search in the center of the Indian Ocean on Thursday. A Sri Lankan navy shi...

Top leaders of Pakistan, Iran inaugurate border market in their first meeting in 10 years

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The top leaders of Pakistan and Iran on Thursday inaugurated the first border market as relations warm between the two countries, officials said.Located in the remote village of Pashin in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, the marketplace is the first of six to be constructed along the Pakistan-Iran border under a 2012 agreement signed by the two sides.Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also inaugurated an electricity transmission line, which will provide some of Pakistan’s remote regions with Iranian electricity. In a televised meeting, Sharif, sitting next to Raisi, assured him Pakistan would do its best to improve security along the Iranian border. He added that both sides agreed to enhance trade and economic ties, and extended an invitation to Raisi to visit the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Iran-Pakistani relations have been contentious because of cross-border attacks by Pakistani militants along their s...

Biden consults with Japan’s Kishida ahead of Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Thursday and greeted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida by saying, “When our countries stand together, we stand stronger” — a sign of how the economic and national security alliance between the two countries has grown.The U.S. president began his remarks by noting that Kishida said during a January Washington visit that the world faced one of the “most complex” security environments in recent history. “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Biden said.“We very much welcome that the cooperation has evolved in leaps and bounds,” Kishida told Biden about Japan’s relationship with the U.S. in their meeting ahead of the Group of Seven summit that begins Friday.The Kishida family’s home city of Hiroshima will host the gathering of major industrialized nations known at the G-7. The setting of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the first nuclear bomb in 1945 during World War II, carries newfound resonance. T...

Leader of Thai opposition party that won election announces 8-party coalition plan to take power

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The leader of the progressive opposition party that won a stunning victory in Thailand’s national election said Thursday that eight parties have agreed to form a coalition government with him as prime minister, despite fears among supporters that his military-aligned opponents may use the unelected Senate to block them.Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat said at a news conference that the proposed coalition would have a total of 313 seats in the House of Representatives, a solid majority of its 500 members.But under Thailand’s Constitution, drafted under military rule after a 2014 coup, the lower house and the 250-seat Senate must vote together to select a new prime minister. All of the senators were appointed by the military junta that took power after the coup. Because of the joint vote, Sunday’s election victor is not certain to take power.“The key message of today’s news conference is to assure the public that my coalition is firmly taking shape,” sa...

84-year-old climber rescued from mountain in Nepal while seeking record

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — An 84-year-old climber attempting to become the oldest person to summit all the world’s highest peaks was rescued Thursday from a mountain in Nepal where he was injured.Spanish climber Carlos Soria was attempting to scale Mount Dhaulagiri but was hurt on his way to the top. He was flown from the mountain by a rescue helicopter and brought to a hospital in Kathmandu for treatment. Sherpa guides and fellow climbers had helped him down the mountain to base camp after he was injured on Wednesday.Soria had scaled 12 of the 14 highest mountains in the world above 8,000 meters (26,240 feet) including Mount Everest, which is the tallest of them all.Hundreds of climbers and their guides try to scale the highest peaks in Nepal during the popular spring mountaineering season when the weather conditions on the mountains are most favorable. The season begins in March and ends in May after which the weather deteriorates, making it dangerous to remain on the mountain....

SUV smashes into restaurant in downtown Toronto, police investigating

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

Police are investigating after a vehicle crashed into the front doors of a restaurant in downtown Toronto.Officers were called to Yonge and Wellington streets around 4:30 a.m. Thursday for reports of a collision.Images from the scene show a BMW SUV with significant front-end damage and the smashed-in front doors of a Subway restaurant.Police say one person suffered minor injuries. It’s unclear what caused the crash.Yonge Street was closed from King to Wellington for the investigation but the road has since reopened.Toronto police are investigating after a vehicle crashed into the front of a Subway restaurant in downtown Toronto. CITYNEWS/Bertram Dandy

UK telecom company BT plans to shed up to 55,000 jobs in latest tech layoffs

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. telecom company BT Group said Thursday that it plans to shed up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade as part of an overhaul aimed at slimming down its workforce to slash costs. BT, which has 130,000 workers including both staff and contractors, said in its latest earnings report that its number of employees would be reduced to between 75,000 and 90,000 by 2030. “By the end of the 2020s BT Group will rely on a much smaller workforce and a significantly reduced cost base,” CEO Philip Jansen said. “New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future.”Tech and telecom companies have been cutting jobs as the industry undergoes a painful shakeup amid flagging economic growth and surging inflation. U.K.-based wireless carrier Vodafone, which operates in Europe and Africa, said days earlier that it’s laying off 11,000 workers as part of a major revamp.BT, a former state monopoly previously known as British Telecom, said that once its fiber-optic b...

New Zealand police arrest, charge man in connection with hostel fire that killed at least 6

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand police said Thursday they arrested a man and charged him with two counts of arson in connection with the fire at a Wellington hostel that killed at least six people. Police said the investigation is ongoing and they could file more serious charges in relation to the deaths at the scene.Earlier, police said they had launched a homicide investigation.Police Inspector Dion Bennett said Thursday they are confident they’re not seeking anybody else in connection with the fire.The suspect, who was not immediately named by police, is scheduled to make his first appearance Friday in the Wellington District Court.Earlier, police removed the first two bodies from the Loafers Lodge hostel and said they planned to remove the next two on Friday. Bennett said it’s possible they could find more victims as officers continue their scene examination.“The damage on the third floor is significant,” Bennett told reporters. “The debris is piled high, ...

Man indicted in theft of ruby slippers from 'Wizard of Oz'

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:23:33 GMT

A man has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” federal prosecutors in North Dakota say. The shoes were stolen in 2005 and recovered in a 2018 FBI sting operation, but no arrests were made at the time.Terry Martin was indicted Tuesday with one count of theft of a major artwork, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The indictment did not provide any further information about Martin and online records do not list an attorney for him.A pair of ruby slippers once worn by actress Judy Garland in the "The Wizard of Oz" sit on display at a news conference on Sept. 4, 2018, at the FBI office in Brooklyn Center, Minn. Federal prosecutors say a man has been indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, on charges of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz.” The FBI recovered the slippers in 2018. (AP Photo/Jeff Baenen, File)The Minneapolis Star-Tr...