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Cambodia’s leader returns to Facebook weeks after an acrimonious breakup with the platform

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reactivated his Facebook account Thursday, three weeks after announcing he was forsaking the social media giant in favor of posting on Telegram, a popular messaging app that also serves as a blogging tool.Hun Sen’s return to the Facebook fold came three days before a general election in which his ruling Cambodian People’s Party is virtually guaranteed a landslide victory.Hun Sen said at the end of June that he would stop posting new material on his Facebook page but leave the account online. He said he was switching to Telegram because he believed the app provided a more effective way to communicate. But when a Facebook watchdog criticized the language in one of his videos and recommended suspending the prime minister’s account for six months, Hun Sen took down the page.Duong Dara, who manages the 70-year-old leader’s social media accounts, posted a message Thursday saying he had asked Hun Sen to reactivate his...

The female suspect in a 2022 fire at a Wyoming abortion clinic is set to take a plea deal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A judge is set to consider a plea deal Thursday for an abortion opponent who investigators say burned Wyoming’s first full-service abortion clinic in years.Lorna Roxanne Green, 22, told investigators she broke in and used gasoline to set fire to the Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper because it was giving her anxiety and nightmares, according to court documents.Green is scheduled to appear in court for a change-of-plea hearing Thursday before U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne. Details of her proposed deal with prosecutors have been off-limits to the public pending Johnson’s approval of the agreement.Charged with arson, Green faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, though a plea deal could bring a lighter sentence. Green has been free from jail since March while her case proceeds, and she pleaded not guilty at a court hearing in June.Her deal with prosecutors, revealed by court documents filed last week, suggests sheR...

Live updates | Spieth tied for 5th early at British Open, held by double bogey and late bogey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

SPIETH HELD BY DOUBLE BOGEY, LATE BOGEYHOYLAKE, England (AP) — Jordan Spieth was tied for fifth early at the British Open after finishing with a 2-under 69 that included a double bogey and a late bogey on the closing par 5.Spieth’s chances of a good score at the 18th hole ended when he hit his driver into the fairway bunker and could advance the ball only some 30 yards back to the fairway. He then found the rough to the left side of the green and two-putted for his bogey.The 2017 champion, Spieth had two early birdies offset by the double bogey at the par-4 eighth, when he took a penalty after driving into the right rough. He made his other birdies on the 11th, 15th and 16th holes.South African amateur Christo Lamprecht was the early leader after closing with a 5-under 66.___WHAT TO KNOW— A brown British Open turns green— Rasmus and Nicolai first set of twins playing the British Open— New hole on an old links getting all the attention at Royal Liverpool— Niemann among LIV players wo...

Shakira se enfrenta a una segunda investigación por presunto fraude fiscal en España

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

(CNN) — Un juez de Barcelona abrió una segunda investigación por presunto fraude fiscal de Shakira en 2018, mientras la cantante colombiana espera el juicio por una supuesta evasión fiscal de U$S 16,2 millones por los años 2012, 2013 y 2014, informó este jueves un tribunal español.Un juez de instrucción del barrio barcelonés de Esplugues de Llobregat “abrió una investigación a partir de una denuncia presentada por la fiscalía contra la cantante Shakira por dos presuntos delitos” de fraude fiscal en 2018, indicó en un comunicado la oficina de prensa del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cataluña.Shakira luce un llamativo vestido con la palabra “No”: ¿qué mensaje quiere transmitir?Tras conocerse la noticia, Shakira reiteró este jueves su inocencia, informó su equipo de relaciones públicas en un comunicado.“Como se ha manifestado en numerosas ocasiones, Shakira defiende haber actuado siempre en cumplimiento de la ley y bajo la guía de los mejores expe...

Gunman kills 2 people in New Zealand hours ahead of first game in Women’s World Cup

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — A gunman opened fire on terrified workers on a construction site in downtown Auckland early Thursday, killing two people hours before New Zealand hosted the first game of the Women’s World Cup. The man was found dead, and authorities said his motive appeared to be connected to his previous work at the site.New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the shooting was an isolated act, and the FIFA tournament opened as scheduled with a game between the home team and Norway, though with tighter security and many jarred in a country where such attacks are rare. A large crowd, including the prime minister, still showed up at the stadium, and a moment of silence was held for the victims of the shooting, which also left an police officer and four civilians injured.“I want to reiterate that there is no wider national security threat,” said Hipkins. “This appears to be the action of one individual.”Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said the gunman was a 24-year-...

1 dead, 1 injured, 3 in custody after shooting at Florida City Walmart; customers describe chaos inside store

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

A man was killed and another person was injured after a shooting occurred inside a Walmart in Florida City that led police to take three suspects into custody. According to 7News sources, the shooting suspect was identified as 25-year-old Steve Lestin. Miami-Dade Police have taken over the investigation into the incident, which occurred just before 3 p.m., Wednesday at the large retailer located at 33501 S. Dixie Highway. Investigators said two people suffered gunshot wounds during the incident.According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, a third person required medical attention for a panic attack resulting from the incident.Investigators said a woman drove herself to the hospital to be treated for a head injury she suffered when she slipped and fell. Paramedics treated five other people at the scene for minor cuts and scrapes. Witnesses inside the store said the shooting took place near the nail salon.“When I went, like, to exit in the front, I saw a family crying, and I saw the guy...

Jury awards Florida girl burned by McDonald’s Chicken McNugget $800,000 in damages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida jury awarded $800,000 in damages to a little girl who received second-degree burns when a hot Chicken McNugget fell on her leg as her mother pulled away from the drive-thru of a McDonald’s restaurant.Lawyers for the family of Olivia Caraballo, who was 4 when she was burned in 2019, were seeking $15 million in damages. Jurors reached their verdict after deliberating for less than two hours on Wednesday, the South Florida SunSentinel reported.The jury’s verdict form allotted $400,000 in damages for the past four years, and another $400,000 for the future from the McDonald’s USA and its franchise operator, Upchurch Foods. A separate jury decided in May that the company and franchise owner were liable for the injury, which occurred outside a McDonald’s in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale.“I’m actually just happy that they listened to Olivia’s voice and the jury was able to decide a fair judgment,” Olivia’s mother, P...

Wisconsin mother and her boyfriend are charged in child neglect case that prosecutor calls ‘like something out of a horror movie’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

(CNN) — A Milwaukee mother and her boyfriend were charged with chronic neglect of a child and false imprisonment after authorities found them allegedly holding two children in their home against their will.Katie Koch, 34, and Joel Manke, 38, both face four felony charges in the case.Koch is also charged with two misdemeanors, for which her public defender entered a not guilty plea on her behalf in court, according to online court records. Manke and Koch did not enter pleas for their felony charges, the records show.The alleged victims are Koch’s sons, ages 9 and 7. Neighbors called police after they saw the children walking around naked outside their home on July 13.Witness Christine Eder told CNN affiliate WDJT that the children looked as though “they had never been outside before. If they have been, it’s been a very long time.”According to the charging documents obtained by CNN affiliate WTMJ, the children were kept in a filthy room that was locked from the outside.Koch acknowledg...

Inside Britain’s ‘frantic’ bid to stop EU endorsing ‘Malvinas’ name for Falklands

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

BRUSSELS — Don’t mention the Malvinas!A leaked memo has revealed the “frantic” last-ditch efforts of the U.K. government and its highest-ranking diplomat to prevent the EU signing a declaration with Latin American nations which refers explicitly to the ‘Islas Malvinas’ — the Argentine name for the British-owned Falkland Islands.London and Buenos Aires fought a 10-week war over the islands in 1982. The remote archipelago, located less than 500 km off Argentina’s coast, remains a U.K. territory, though Argentina continues to claim it as its own.Britain took exception to the use of the ‘Islas Malvinas’ name in a new communiqué signed in Brussels this week by 60 EU and Latin American nations. It was the EU’s first summit with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) since Britain left the EU in 2020. Previously, the U.K. would have been able to veto language it did not agree with.In Britain’s self-enforced absence, Arge...

UK cuts King Charles’ funding — because he’s coining it from offshore wind

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:15:25 GMT

The U.K. government has more than halved the rate of public funding it gives King Charles III — because the monarch is making such big profits through offshore wind projects on the Crown Estate.The Sovereign Grant — the yearly payment made by the government to the royal household — will be reduced to 12 percent of Crown Estate net profits in 2024/25, down from 25 percent.The actual payment will remain flat at £86 million, but the change means Charles III and his household will receive nearly £300 million less over the next three years than they would if the rate had stayed the same.Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the cut reflected “the unexpected significant increase in the Crown Estate’s net profits from offshore wind developments.”“For almost 300 years, kings and queens have surrendered the profits from the Crown Estate to the British people, and in return the government has provided a fraction of that to properly support the king in undertaking his official duties,” Hunt ad...