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Bedbugs are making France anxious ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

PARIS (AP) — They creep, they crawl, they feast on your blood as you sleep. They may travel in your clothes or backpacks to find another person worth dining on — on the subway, or at the cinema. Bedbugs go where you go, and they have become a nightmare haunting France for weeks.The government has been forced to step in to calm an increasingly anxious nation that will host the Olympic Games in just over nine months — a prime venue for infestations of the crowd-loving insects.Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called a meeting of ministers for Friday to tackle the bedbug crisis. The country’s transport minister, Clement Beaune, met this week with transportation companies to draw up a plan for monitoring and disinfecting — and to try to ease what some have called a national psychosis inflamed by the media.“There is no resurgence of cases,” Beaune said, telling reporters that 37 cases reported in the bus and Metro system and a dozen others on trains proved unfounded — as did viral vid...

German customs officials raid properties belonging to a Russian national targeted by sanctions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A special unit of police and customs officials have raided several properties of a Russian national in the southern state of Bavaria, officials said Thursday.The unidentified Russian is subject to sanctions and asset freezes by the European Union, German customs officials said. The European Union, the United States and other western nations have imposed sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow’s war against Ukraine. These include travel bans and asset freezes of a number of Russian government members and certain Russian businesspeople. “Due to tactical reasons related to the investigation no further information can be provided,” German customs officials said.Several luxury cars have been confiscated from a villa on the Tegernsee lake in Rottach-Egern, German news agency dpa reported.In September 2022, a special unit of about 250 police officers raided two dozen properties across Germany linked to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a close ally of Russian President...

Zimbabwe announces 100 suspected cholera deaths and imposes restrictions on gatherings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe has recorded 100 suspected deaths from cholera and more than 5,000 possible cases since late last month, prompting the government to impose restrictions to stop the spread of the disease, including limiting numbers at funerals and stopping some social gatherings in affected areas.The health ministry announced the death toll late Wednesday and said 30 of the deaths had been confirmed as from cholera through laboratory tests. It said 905 confirmed cases had been recorded, as well as another 4,609 suspected cases.Cholera is a water-borne disease that can spread rapidly in areas with poor sanitation and is caused by the ingestion of contaminated water or food. Zimbabwe struggles with access to clean water.Large gatherings at funerals, which are common in the southern African country as people flock to mourn the dead, have been stopped in some of the most affected areas in parts of the Manicaland and Masvingo provinces. No more than 50 people are allowed ...

1 dead, more than 300 injured as Typhoon Koinu sweeps parts of Taiwan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Koinu swept southern Taiwan on Thursday, killing one person and injuring more than 300 as it brought pounding rain and record-breaking winds to the island, leading to school and office closures.One person was killed by flying glass in the central city of Taichung and at least 304 were injured around the island, Taiwan’s fire department said. Gusts of wind downed trees and caused damage to some buildings.Koinu, which means “puppy” in Japanese, made landfall early Thursday in Cape Eluanbi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan, and is expected to weaken as it moves west toward the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of southern China.The typhoon brought the fastest wind ever recorded in Taiwan as it approached on Wednesday night. A weather monitoring station on the outlying Orchid Island, southeast of the main island, measured a gust of 342.7 kph (212.9 mph) at 9:53 p.m., as well as sustained winds that reached 198.7 kph (123.5 kph) at 9:40 p.m. Both values set...

Trump’s lawyers seek to postpone his classified documents trial until after the 2024 election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have asked a judge to postpone his classified documents trial until after next year’s presidential election, saying they have not received all the records they need to review to prepare his defense.The trial on charges of illegally hoarding classified documents, among four criminal cases the Republican former president is facing, is currently scheduled for May 20, 2024, in Florida. In a motion filed late Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers urged U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to push back the trial until at least mid-November 2024. The presidential election is set for Nov. 5, 2024, with Trump currently leading the GOP field in the months before the primary season.The defense lawyers argued that a postponement was necessary because of scheduling conflicts — another federal trial is scheduled for March 2024 in Washington, and one of Trump’s attorneys, Christopher Kise, is also representing him in an ongoing civil ...

Uganda briefly detains opposition figure and foils planned street demonstration, his supporters say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan security forces on Thursday briefly detained opposition figure Bobi Wine and foiled a planned street demonstration by his supporters who intended to welcome him at the airport.Wine, a singer and former lawmaker whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, was driven under police escort to his home outside Kampala after his arrival from a trip abroad, police said.Wine’s political party said he had been unlawfully detained at the airport.“The cowardly regime has arrested our President upon arrival at Entebbe Airport,” Mathias Mpuuga, the leader of the opposition in parliament, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, referring to Wine. “We set out to receive him today, but the panicky regime security could not even allow him into immigration.”Ugandan police frequently detain opposition figures in “preventive arrest” measures they say are necessary to preserve public order. Opposition rallies are rarely allowed in the East African country. Wine...

Scottish authorities sign extradition order for US fugitive accused of faking his death

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Scottish authorities have signed an extradition order for an American fugitive accused of faking his own death to avoid a rape charge in Utah.In response to a freedom of information request, the Scottish government on Thursday said an extradition order for the man local officials refer to as Nicholas Rossi had been signed on Sept. 28. The government provided no other information.The suspect has fought a prolonged court battle to prevent his return to the United States since he was arrested in December 2021 at a Glasgow hospital, where he was being treated for COVID-19. Rossi, who insisted he was an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight and had never set foot on American soil, repeatedly appeared in court in a wheelchair using an oxygen mask and speaking in a British accent. The government signed the order after Judge Norman McFadyen of Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Aug. 2 ruled that the suspect could be extradited, saying he was “as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and...

Heavy rain through morning commute

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It's here! It's here! Our first real fall cold front is making its way through Central Texas... and boy, does it feel good. Austin & Central Texas Local Radar Widespread storms and showers will make for a messy morning commute as heavy rain will give way to slick roads and low visibility. Well-developed storms are capable of strong winds gusts of 50-60 mph, but most storms are not likely to reach severe levels.Storms will gradually fade midday through late afternoon, but the cooler weather will remain. Afternoon highs will warm into the upper 70s to low 80s today -- below normal for this time of year.Rainfall AmountsMost of the area will be favored for 0.25"-1.5" of rain with isolated pockets of more. While widespread flooding is not expected, ponding on streets and water over roadway is certainly possible. Austin area rainfall amounts Dry soil conditions and very low creek and river flows due to months of heat and drought will work in our favor if heavy rai...

Person killed in rollover crash on SH-71 near AUS

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A person has died after a rollover crash on State Highway 71 near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Austin-Travis County EMS said on social media at 5:07 a.m. that medics had pronounced an adult patient dead on the scene. The westbound lanes of the highway are shut down near Brandt Drive due to the crash. Drivers should expect delays or choose alternate routes. REAL-TIME TRAFFIC MAP It's unclear how many vehicles were involved in the crash. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

St. Paul police say 3 teens shot, 1 fatally, on East Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 21:34:21 GMT

Three teenagers were shot, one of them fatally, on St. Paul’s Greater East Side on Wednesday night.Multiple 911 callers and an officer on patrol reported hearing gunshots in the area of Hazelwood Street and East Maryland Avenue, police said early Thursday. The calls led officers to the 1200 block of Hazelwood Street, and they found three females who were injured.Paramedics took them to Regions Hospital, where one of the victims died. The injuries to the other two teens are not considered life-threatening, according to police.Police were looking for witnesses and surveillance video to help determine what happened, and didn’t immediately announce an arrest or arrests. Investigators asked anyone with information to call 651-266-5650.The police department plans to release the homicide victim’s name after the Ramsey County medical examiner’s office confirms her identity. Her death was the 27th homicide of the year in St. Paul, which matches the number of homicides...