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Silvio Berlusconi, who has died at 86, wanted Israel to join the European Union

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (left) is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the latter's office in Jerusalem on 1 February, 2010.Under his premiership, Israel had become one of Israel’s strongest allies in Europe. His efforts to strengthen ties with Israel followed decades of a pro-Arab tilt by previous Italian governments. "My greatest desire, as long as I am a protagonist in politics, is to bring Israel into membership of the European Union,” said former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as he visited Israel in February 2010.Berlusconi, who died on Monday (12 June) at 86, was considered a true friend of Israel. Under his premiership, Israel had become one of Israel’s strongest allies in Europe. His efforts to strengthen ties with Israel followed decades of a pro-Arab tilt by previous Italian governments.“Not every day do we get the privilege to host one of Israel’s greatest friends, a brave leader who is a great fighter for freedom and an ent...

Messi, Argentina set to pull a big crowd in Beijing exhibition game against Australia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lionel Messi and his World Cup-winning Argentina teammates are expected to draw almost 70,000 fans to Beijing Worker’s Stadium for an exhibition against Australia.With tickets starting at around $80 for Thursday’s game, local supporters are excited to see Messi and continue the World Cup celebrations. Fans have flocked to all opportunities to see the Argentine star since the team arrived in China, with large crowds angling for photographs and chanting his name.Messi’s move to “continue my path” in Miami last week made global headlines after he turned down extremely lucrative offers from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia in favor of Major League Soccer.He said that after winning the World Cup, it was his time to go the United States and “live football in another way.”Before then, he’s with the Argentina squad that is scheduled to play Australia in the Chinese capital and take on Indonesia in Jakarta four days later.Australia coach Graham Arnold said he was looking fo...

Smith and Peralta go deep early to back Gonsolin, Dodgers beat White Sox 5-1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tony Gonsolin’s velocity was down, not that it mattered. He delivered six shutout innings after getting a couple extra days of rest as the result of experiencing body soreness.Will Smith and David Peralta staked Gonsolin to an early lead with two-run homers in the first inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-1 on Tuesday night.Gonsolin (4-1) allowed singles to Andrew Vaughn and Yoán Moncada. The right-hander struck out six and walked two.“The extra couple days really helped me,” said Gonsolin, who was supposed to start last Sunday in Philadelphia but instead the Dodgers went with a bullpen game. “For whatever reason, I just didn’t come out of this last start super great. Just wasn’t bouncing back right away. It was kind of just weird. I hadn’t really experienced something like that but I feel a lot better now.” Smith went deep on his bobblehead night, sending a 413-foot drive to the left-field pavilion that scored F...

Pakistan sees no room for trade revival with Modi’s India

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

Pakistan would welcome a trade revival with India, but State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said she saw no prospect of that because of frosty relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Pakistan is enduring a brutal economic crisis and would benefit from improved trade links as the current cross-border flows are barely a trickle. Indian media cited Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel saying that India-Pakistan trade reached only $1.35 billion between April and December 2022, compared with some $87 billion with China. Khar said she was a proponent of trade as a means of restoring ties but cautioned it was impossible to work with a Hindu nationalist administration in New Delhi whose support was “based on dividing India between Hindus and Muslims.” “I don’t think there’s any scope to do anything with a very belligerent [government],” Khar said in an interview with POLITICO, when asked about...

American University of Beirut president says Cyprus campus key to institution’s global outreach

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus bested 15 other countries as the most suitable to host the American University of Beirut’s first overseas campus, the president of the world-renowned institution said.It’s part of the university’s expansion plan that was initiated in 2018 but was expedited following the catastrophic Beirut port explosion in August 2020. President Fadlo R. Khuri told The Associated Press in an emailed statement Wednesday that Cyprus came out on top because of a string of comparative advantages including European Union membership, a high degree of academic freedom, political and economic stability and close proximity to Lebanon.Khuri was on hand last week in Cyprus’ southeastern coastal town of Paphos for a foundation stone-laying ceremony of the 158-year-old university’s twin campus that will be called American University of Beirut – Mediterraneo.Khuri said the university’s westward expansion was less about Lebanon’s deeply-rooted instability that threa...

Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s south, shelling in east kill at least 6 people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight and shelling destroyed homes in the eastern Donetsk region early Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring more than a dozen others, regional officials said.A Ukrainian military spokesman said Russian forces have stepped up aerial strikes in their 15-month war against Ukraine, just as the country’s troops have reported limited gains in an early counteroffensive.In the east, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram that at least three people died after shelling destroyed seven homes and damaged dozens more in the cities of Kramatorsk and Konstantinovka.In Odesa, three employees of a food warehouse were killed and seven others injured in a strike that damaged homes, a warehouse, shops and cafes downtown, he regional administration said on Facebook. Another six people — guards and residents of a neighboring house — were injured. Searchers were looking...

At least 9 killed in ethnic clashes in India’s northeast, where 100 have died in month of violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Rival ethnic groups fired at each other in fresh violence in India’s remote northeast that left at least nine people dead and some injured, officials said Wednesday.Security forces rushed to Khamenlok village in Manipur state’s Kangpokpi district after clashes broke out Tuesday night between the Kuki and Meitei communities, said L. Sushindro, a state government minister.Police found nine bodies early Wednesday, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.Three people have been reported missing, the officer said.At least 100 people have been killed in severe ethnic clashes in Manipur state since May 3, and thousands of homes have been burned and shops and businesses vandalized.Authorities have moved nearly 40,000 people from troubled areas to safer places. India’s Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state early this month and met community leaders to restore peace.The violence started last month after protests b...

Greece: More than 100 migrants rescued from capsized fishing vessel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A large search and rescue operation has been launched off the southern coast of Greece after a fishing boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized and sank. Authorities said 104 have been rescued so far following the nighttime incident that occurred early Wednesday some 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of Greece’s southern Peloponnese region. Four of the survivors were hospitalized with symptoms of hypothermia.Six coast guard vessels, a navy frigate, a military transport and an air force helicopter, as well as several private vessels, were taking part in the search for others believed to be missing. The Italy-bound boat is believed to have sailed from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya. Greek authorities and the EU border protection agency Frontex were first alerted about the approaching vessel by the Italian coast guard on Tuesday. Smugglers are increasingly taking larger boats into international waters off the Greek mainland to try to avoid local coast gu...

British economy recovers slightly in April but strikes set to keep a lid on growth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British economy bounced back in April amid strong sales at bars and pubs as well as a rebound in car purchases, according to official figures.The Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday that the economy grew by 0.2% during the month. The increase was in line with expectations but failed to fully recoup the 0.3% contraction in March. However, on a longer-term horizon, the British economy is barely growing, hobbled by higher interest rates as well as strike action across an array of sectors, including in health, education and transportation.Samuel Tombs, chief U.K. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said he expects second-quarter growth to be unchanged from the first as the strikes “rumble on.” He also predicted that the extra public holiday in May for King Charles III’s coronation to weigh on economic activity.Further out, he expects lower energy prices for households to boost growth in the second half of the year.“A slow but steady recovery should...

Draining of Ukraine's Kakhovka reservoir offers a reminder of past conflicts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:00 GMT

The draining of one of Europe's largest reservoirs as a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has revealed submerged military objects that offer a reminder of wars past and present on Ukrainian soil.On a drizzly morning near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a team of divers and underwater demining experts from Ukraine's State Emergency service grappled on Monday with the steering element of a S-300 missile. It had fallen in the water since Russia's full-scale invasion and was caked in algae and soil.The missile fragment had been spotted in shallow water on Saturday by a local resident taking a stroll on the newly formed beach. The demining team's leader, Oleksandr Chechko, said the water level at the location had fallen by around four metres.He said the amount of explosive or dangerous items the unit had been called out to deal with had grown several times since the Kakhovka dam was destroyed last Monday.Ukraine's environment minister said the Kakhovka reservoir, which was...