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Thai police arrest 2nd teenager for defaming monarchy amid renewed debate over rigorous law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Authorities in Thailand have charged a 16-year-old girl with defaming the monarchy for two messages she allegedly posted on Facebook two years ago, adding to an increasingly active debate over whether the law allowing her arrest should be reformed.Police charged the girl in the northern province of Phitsanulok on Monday with violating the lese majeste law and the Computer Crime Act, according to a statement from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, a legal advocacy group. It said on Wednesday that police originally summoned her in 2021 when she was 14 years old, which appears to make her the youngest person in Thailand to face the charge.The lese majeste law, also known as Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code, makes insulting the monarch, his immediate family and the regent punishable by three to 15 years in prison.It has long been controversial, especially because anyone, not just the royal family, can file a complaint with police. Critics say the law is often used as a...

Ford recalls 310,000 trucks to fix problem with driver’s front air bag

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 310,000 trucks in the U.S. because the driver’s front air bag may not inflate in a crash.The recall covers certain F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 Super Duty trucks from the 2016 model year. The company says dust can accumulate in a cable inside the steering wheel, interrupting the electrical connection. Ford says it’s not aware of any crashes or injuries caused by the problem.Dealers will replace the steering wheel wiring assembly at no cost to owners, who will be notified starting July 5.Owners may hear popping or clicking noises inside the steering wheel, or steering wheel switches and the horn might not work. They may also see an air bag warning light notifying them of the problem..The Associated Press

Russia freezes bank accounts of Finland’s diplomatic missions, prompting cash payments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Russia has frozen the bank accounts of Finland’s diplomatic representations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, disrupting money flow and forcing the country’s missions to resort to cash payments, the Finnish foreign minister said Wednesday.Pekka Haavisto said Moscow’s move at the end of April breaches the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Helsinki has delivered a diplomatic note on the matter to Russia.“We’re not alone with the money traffic problem,” Haavisto told reporters during a news conference. “Also some other European Union nations have encountered problems with money traffic in Russia. But according to our information, restrictions on Finland are among the tightest.”He said Moscow’s measure affects, among other things, payment of rents, electricity and water bills by the Finnish Embassy in Moscow and the Consulate General in St. Petersburg, which now have to rely on their cash assets.The move does not, however, affect salary payments to staff an...

Automaker warns over UK operations and calls for Brexit trade deal renegotiation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The world’s fourth-biggest carmaker by sales has warned of a potential existential threat to large parts of the British car industry unless the government moves to alter the terms of its Brexit trade deal with the European Union.In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry into the supply of batteries for electric vehicles released Wednesday, the parent company of Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall said it may not be able to keep its commitment to manufacture its new fleet of cars in the U.K. without changes to the terms of the deal.Stellantis said the deal represented a “threat” to its export business and the “sustainability” of its manufacturing operations. The company employs around 5,000 people in the U.K. and committed to make electric vehicles in the country two years ago.The stark warning is likely to pile pressure on the Conservative government to seek changes to the trade deal that came into force at the start of 2021 when the U.K. forma...

Formula One’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix canceled because of deadly floods in Italy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

IMOLA, Italy (AP) — This weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in northern Italy was canceled Wednesday because of deadly floods in the region.Formula One said it made the decision for safety reasons and to avoid any extra burden on the emergency services, after consulting with Italian political figures.“The decision has been taken because it is not possible to safely hold the event for our fans, the teams and our personnel and it is the right and responsible thing to do given the situation faced by the towns and cities in the region,” F1 said in a statement. ”It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.”Formula One personnel had earlier been told to stay away from the track after floods affected large parts of the Emilia-Romagna region. Some residents of the nearby city of Imola were warned to move to higher floors of their homes. The Santerno River runs right next to the track.Matteo Salvini, ...

SIU to investigate use of officer’s gun in deadly Bourget, Ont., shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

Ontario’s police watchdog says it will investigate evidence suggesting an officer fired his gun during last week’s deadly incident in Bourget, Ont., east of Ottawa.The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said it has invoked its mandate to investigate the police firearm discharge during a shooting that left one Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer dead and two others injured.According to OPP, 42-year-old Sgt. Eric Mueller and two other officers were “ambushed” and shot at when they responded to a call for a disturbance at a Bourget home on May 11. Mueller died in hospital after the shooting.Court documents show that Alain Bellefeuille, 39, has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.Related: OPP officer dead, two others injured in ‘ambush’ shooting east of Ottawa: policeThe SIU said it was notified by an OPP forensic team that one of the surviving officers may have discharged his firearm during the shooting.The pol...

Danish Supreme Court says newspaper did not violate copyright of Little Mermaid statue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s Supreme Court on Wednesday overruled two lower courts, saying a cartoon depicting Copenhagen’s The Little Mermaid statue as a zombie and a photo of it with a face mask did not violate the copyright of the famous bronze.The Berlingske newspaper published the cartoon in 2019 to illustrate an article about the level of debate in Denmark and used the photo in 2020 to represent a link between the far right and people fearing COVID-19.Copenhagen’s district court and the Eastern High Court found in 2020 and 2022 that the cartoon and the photo were infringements of the Danish Copyright Act, and ordered the newspaper — one of Denmark’s largest — to pay the heirs of Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen thousands of kroner in compensation.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said “that neither the caricature drawing nor the photograph of The Little Mermaid with a mask on, which was brought to Berlingske in connection with newspaper articles, infringed the copyri...

Heat wave in Asia made 30 times more likely because of climate change, scientists say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — A searing heat wave in parts of southern Asia in April this year was made at least 30 times more likely by climate change, according to a rapid study by international scientists released Wednesday. Sizzling temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded in monitoring stations in parts of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Laos last month — which was unusually high for the time of year. The climate change-fueled heat caused deaths, widespread hospitalizations, damaged roads, sparked fires and led to school closures in the region. The World Weather Attribution group uses established models to quickly determine whether climate change played a part in extreme weather events. While the studies themselves are not yet peer-reviewed, which is the gold standard for science, they are often later published in peer-reviewed journals.In Thailand, high temperatures mixed with humidity meant some parts of the country felt above 50 degrees Celsi...

Tunisian journalist sentenced to 5 years in prison for counterterrorism reporting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A Tunisian appeals court has sentenced a journalist to five years in prison for revealing details of a counterterrorism operation and refusing to reveal his sources, according to his lawyer, prompting outcry from media rights advocates.Khalifa Guesmi’s lawyer said he would appeal to Tunisia’s highest court. More than 30 rights groups issued a statement denouncing the conviction and expressing concern about a growing crackdown on dissent.It appeared to be the worst sentence against a journalist in Tunisia since the 2011 Arab Spring revolution pushed out a long-serving autocrat and ushered in a new democratic system with more media freedom.Guesmi had been sentenced to one year in prison by a lower court. Counterterrorism judges at the Tunis appeals court on Monday upheld the conviction and toughened the sentence to five years, Guesmi said in a Facebook post Tuesday.Guesmi was convicted of intentionally divulging sensitive security information in an article about ...

Russia poised to decide if Ukraine’s grain deal survives. That’s a risk to global food security

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:29:52 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations is racing to extend a deal that has allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, helping ease a global food crisis exacerbated by the war Russia launched more than a year ago.The breakthrough accord that the U.N. and Turkey brokered with the warring sides last summer came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertilizer that Moscow insists hasn’t been applied. Russia set a Thursday deadline for its concerns to be ironed out or it’s bowing out. Such brinkmanship isn’t new: With a similar extension in the balance in March, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for just 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement. The last ship participating in the deal left Ukraine on Wednesday hauling corn to Turkey. No vessels have been cleared to enter the country’s three open ports since May 6.U.N. officials and analysts warn tha...