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On a visit to Taiwan, Australian lawmakers call for warmer relations with self-ruled island

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — On a visit to Taiwan, a delegation of six Australian lawmakers called Tuesday for warmer relations with the self-ruled island increasingly threatened by Beijing. The visit comes as Australia has been working at recalibrating its relationship with China, which had been tense in the past few years over disputes on the origin of COVID-19. China in response had imposed tariff barriers on several Australian exports, such as barley.Paul Fletcher, a lawmaker with Australia’s Liberal Party, lauded the fact that the lawmaker delegation crossed party lines. “The two major parties in Australia are both represented and we are here to further the warm relationship between Australia and Taiwan,” Fletcher said.They also discussed strengthening economic cooperation with Taiwan, particularly in clean energy, and expressed an interest in Taiwan’s semi-conductor industry. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory.Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared to China’s 1.4 ...

What to know about Elijah McClain’s death and the criminal trial of two officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

DENVER (AP) — The trial of two Denver-area police officers charged in Elijah McClain’s death resumes Tuesday as prosecutors press their case that excessive force transformed the late-night stop of the Black man in the summer of 2019 into a fatal encounter.Criminal charges were brought in 2021 after a national racial reckoning in the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police galvanized criticism over law enforcement abuses against Black people and revived interest in McClain’s case.The officers put McClain in a neck hold during the stop, and McClain can be heard on body camera footage saying he’s having trouble breathing. Defense attorneys argue the officers were correctly performing their duties before paramedics gave McClain an overdose of a powerful sedative that led to complications causing his death.Here’s what you need to know about McClain’s death and the trial in state court:HOW DID ELIJAH McCLAIN DIE?Police stopped McClain on the night of Aug. 24, ...

New cars are supposed to be getting safer. So why are fatalities on the rise?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alyssa Milligan was someone who intuitively knew when another person needed help, encouragement or a kind word. Although she was new to Tennessee, the 23-year old physical therapy student, whose mother called her “Sweet Alyssa,” had already made many close connections, especially within the tight-knit cycling community around Nashville — before she was killed this month, struck by a pickup truck while cycling with a friend.Roadway deaths in the U.S. are mounting despite government test data showing vehicles have been getting safer. While the number of all car-related fatalities has trended upward over the last decade, pedestrians and cyclists have seen the sharpest rise: over 60% between 2011 and 2022.It coincides with a steep increase in sales of SUVs, pickup trucks and vans, which accounted for 78% of new U.S. vehicle sales in 2022, according to Motorintelligence.com.Current U.S. ratings only consider the safety of the people inside the vehicle. The Nationa...

Philadelphia officer to contest murder charges over fatal shooting during traffic stop

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lawyers for a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver will press to have murder and other charges lodged against him dismissed when the jailed officer appears in court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Officer Mark Dial is also charged with manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts in connection with the Aug. 14 death of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry. Dial’s bail was revoked earlier this month after prosecutors argued the charges made him ineligible for release.Police bodycam footage shows Dial firing his weapon at close range through the driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a vehicle stop. Dial shot Irizarry about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and walking over to his car, the video showed. He fired a total of six rounds.Defense lawyers call the shooting justified. They said the officer, also 27, thought Irizarry had a gun. The bodycam footage shows the driver holding a knife by his right leg. “When ...

New report: Keep the small fish plentiful to ensure ocean health

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

Only one in six forage fish populations in the Northeast Atlantic is both sustainably exploited and in a healthy state, according to a report published by Oceana. The marine conservation organisation is urging Northeast Atlantic countries to improve their management of these small fish, in advance of negotiations on fishing limits later this year.Many marine species – from marine mammals and seabirds to commercially important fish – depend on forage fish such as sandeel, sprat, and herring as a primary source of food.However, Northeast Atlantic countries are fishing them at unsustainable levels. Of the 32 forage fish populations analysed in Oceana’s report, only a fraction (16% or 5 populations) is both sustainably exploited and in a healthy state. The rest are either subject to overfishing, at worryingly low abundance levels, or their state is unknown due to data limitations.Oceana in Europe Deputy Vice President Vera Coelho said: “The poor state of these fish populations shows tha...

Traffic at stand still after pursuit ends in crash on 605 freeway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

A pursuit suspect in a possibly stolen vehicle who was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer crashed on the 605 Freeway in Irwindale Monday night and was taken into custody.  Officers with the Bell Gardens Police Department initiated the chase, which was traveling in northbound lanes of the 605 Freeway when the suspect somehow lost control of the vehicle and the crash occurred, just north of the 210 Freeway.  Officers with the California Highway Patrol arrived on the scene to assist Bell Gardens PD.  Initially, the suspect refused to surrender to authorities. He then jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to flee police on foot before being taken into custody.  Traffic backed up on the northbound 605 Freeway in Irwindale after a pursuit suspect crashed on Sept. 25, 2023. (KTLA)A pursuit suspect crashed on the 605 Freeway in Irwindale on Sept. 25, 2023. (KTLA)CHP and first responders of the scene of a pursuit that ended in a crash on the 605 Fre...

L.A. model fears for her safety after deaths of 2 models

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

As authorities investigate the mysterious deaths of two models in downtown Los Angeles, a third model living in the area is frightened and worried about her own safety. Brittany Mason, 26, a successful model working in the fashion and beauty industries, lives at Skye at Bunker Hill luxury apartments on Figueroa street, the same complex where model and real estate agent Maleesa Mooney was brutally killed. She wants to move as soon as possible, but says the landlord is refusing to cooperate. Mason says she doesn’t feel safe after the murder of Mooney in her apartment on September 12. She says she’s seen people sleeping in the stairwells and other activity in the complex that makes her uncomfortable. "Initially, the unit across from me, people were subleasing it so I was seeing different people coming in and out every day and the other thing was, at one point, people were having big parties and there were tons of men coming through here,” she said. According to Mason, th...

Westside residents hit by string of car burglaries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

A series of window-shattering car burglaries in Brentwood and Marina Del Rey have many residents in the area wondering if it might be the same thief or thieves committing the crimes.  Barns Lau and Jas Singh live several miles apart, but both were victims of car burglaries overnight. Singh, a resident of Brentwood parked her Mercedes outside her apartment on Federal Avenue, near Wilshire, around midnight.  “I wake up like normal Monday at like 5:30 a.m. and go to work at 6 a.m. I’m walking to my car, and I realize the door was open,” she told KTLA’s Omar Lewis. Shirtless man in golf cart leads police on chase The Brentwood resident said she then realized other cars on the street had also been broken into. “You can actually see the trails of glass over 10 cars maybe,” she added.  Car after car was broken into with windows smashed in and belongings stolen. Nearly a dozen cars were broken into overnight on Sept. 25, 2023, in Marina Del Rey and Brentwood as they w...

NorCal school district responds to allegations of teacher assaulting 5-year-old autistic student

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

(FOX40.COM) -- During a public call to action on Monday Folsom Cordova Unified School District responded to a parent who said a teacher physically assaulted her 5-year-old nonverbal autistic son at Williamson Elementary School.In a post shared on Facebook on Sept. 21, Ebone McNeal said that she was notified by the superintendent of the district that her son was physically assaulted by his teacher on Sept. 11. FCUSD teacher accused of assaulting a special needs student “I was told she was performing an illegal restraint on him and she struck him across his face. This was reported by the aide 2 days later,” the parent said. “Nothing was immediately reported as required by law. So my son was subjected to being around this abuser for multiple days after she harmed him.”Since learning of the alleged assault, McNeal said she pulled her son out of the school and won't be bringing him back. After not receiving sufficient information from FCUSD about what happened to her son, she said she ...

Polish government whips up hate against director over migrant film

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:41 GMT

WARSAW — Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has launched a vitriolic campaign against acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland for making a harrowing film that centers on how Poland handles — and maltreats — migrants trying to cross its border with Belarus.In a febrile pre-election atmosphere, Holland has faced such an onslaught of invective from PiS leader (and Poland’s de-facto ruler) Jarosław Kaczyński, the president, the prime minister, justice minister and other top officials that she’s paying a security company to protect her. In one of the more caustic attacks, President Andrzej Duda described her film as “anti-Polish.” He then went on to quote a protesting border guard union that used a World War II resistance slogan leveled against Poles who went to see Nazi propaganda films: “Only pigs sit in theaters.”“I’m not afraid but I’m not stupid, either,” Holland told POLITICO, referring to her need for protection. “They’re fueling hate and ...