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White House, Republicans reach agreement in principle on US debt limit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

White House and congressional Republican negotiators have reached an agreement in principle to avert a debt default. Now they have to get it to President Joe Biden’s desk in time.Hill leaders will now race to draft and pass the deal as quickly as possible — through both the House and Senate — ahead of the June 5 deadline. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he expected the bill text would be finalized Sunday and that the House would vote on the legislation Wednesday.And both Biden and McCarthy still have to sell their respective parties on the agreement, navigating fraught votes in both chambers. McCarthy immediately hosted a call with members after the deal was announced, calling it a “big win” and claiming Democrats didn’t get “one thing” that they wanted out of the negotiations on a member-wide conference call, according to three people on the call.While conservative Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) vocally criticized the agreement — saying he was “extremely disappointed” that the deal didn’t...

‘That’s legendary.’ Derrick White’s incredible buzzer-beater saves Celtics’ season in wild Game 6 win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

MIAMI — More than an hour after the final buzzer sounded, after the Celtics’ season was saved under improbable, unfathomable circumstances, Jayson Tatum sat up on a podium and buried his face in his hands.He still couldn’t believe what had just happened, what he had just witnessed.“Ooh-whee. Oh, my God,” he said. “That was incredible. …“I’m still like in disbelief. That s— was crazy.”The Celtics’ season looked suddenly lost in the final seconds of Game 6 on Saturday night in Miami. They needed a miracle after they had just blown yet another double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, after Jimmy Butler rose from the dead to put his Heat in front and on the cusp of the NBA Finals, after a wild sequence.But these Celtics thrive when they’re counted out.With three seconds on the clock, the Celtics trailing by one, Derrick White inbounded the ball to Marcus Smart, who heaved a last-second 3-pointer. It rattled in and out. But White didn’t give up on the play, he didn’t quit on ...

Modi opponents boycott opening of new parliament building as PM reshapes India’s power corridor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s major opposition parties Sunday boycotted the inauguration of a new parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a rare show of unity against his Hindu nationalist ruling party, which has spent nine years in power and is seeking a third term in general elections next year.Modi inaugurated the new parliament in the capital of New Delhi by offering prayers as Hindu priests chanted religious hymns at the start of the ceremony. Opposition parties criticized the event saying the prime minister had sidelined President Droupadi Murmu, who has only ceremonial powers but is the head of state and highest constitutional authority.“May this iconic building be a cradle of empowerment, igniting dreams and nurturing them into reality,” Modi tweeted shortly after the inauguration.Senior ministers from Modi’s party and leaders from its alliance partners attended the inauguration but at least 19 opposition parties skipped the event, which coincided with the birth an...

In Nigeria’s hard-hit north, families seek justice as armed groups seek control

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

Associated Press (AP) — Christian Jonathan’s mother was holding the 9-month-old boy in her arms when she was shot dead during an attack on their village in northwestern Nigeria. The assailants cut off one of Christian’s finger and abandoned him by the side of the road with a bullet wound in his tiny leg.“They left him on the ground beside his mother’s body,” said Joshua Jonathan, Christian’s father. “They thought the boy was dead.”The late-night attack in April in Runji in Kaduna State left 33 people dead, most of them burned alive or shot dead. Many more have been killed since in the continuing clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farming communities in northwest and central regions of the West African nation, including more than 100 this month in Plateau state.The decadeslong violence is becoming more deadly, killing at least 2,600 people in 2021, according to the most recent data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Once armed with sticks, ...

Asylum-seekers say joy over end of Title 42 turns to anguish induced by new US rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The day that President Joe Biden’s administration ended a public health measure blocking many asylum-seekers at the Mexican border during the coronavirus pandemic, Teodoso Vargas was ready to show U.S. officials his scars and photos of his bullet-riddled body.Instead, he stood frozen with his pregnant wife and 5-year-old son at a Tijuana crossing, feet from U.S. soil. He was unsure of the new rules rolled out with the change and whether taking the next few steps to approach U.S. officials to ask for asylum in person could force a return to his native Honduras. “I can’t go back to my country,” said Vargas, a long scar snaking down his neck from surgery after being shot nine times in his homeland during a robbery. “Fear is why I don’t want to return. If I can just show the proof I have, I believe the U.S. will let me in.”Asylum-seekers say joy over the end of the public health restriction known as Title 42 this month is turning into anguish with the uncert...

US, Saudi Arabia call for warring sides in Sudan to extend ‘imperfect’ cease-fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States and Saudi Arabia called on warring sides in Sudan to extend a cease-fire due to expire Monday.The Sudanese army and a rival paramilitary force, battling for control of Sudan since mid-April, had agreed last week to the weeklong truce, brokered by the U.S. and the Saudis. However, the cease-fire, like others before it, did not stop the fighting in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.In a joint statement early Sunday, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia called for an extension of the current truce which expires at 9:45 p.m. local time Monday.“While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people,” the statement said.The statement also urged Sudan’s military government and the rival Rapid Support Forces to continue negotiations.The fighting broke out in mid-April between the military and the powerful RSF. Both military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Bu...

Soler homers in 5th straight game, Marlins beat Angels 8-5 in 10 innings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Although the Miami Marlins survived Shohei Ohtani’s latest start and traded the lead with Los Angeles down the stretch, they were pretty much out of relief pitchers when they headed into the 10th inning.Thanks to two big hits and two bad defensive plays by the Angels, the Marlins had just enough pitching to keep up their recent road surge.Jorge Soler homered in his fifth consecutive game, and pinch-hitter Garrett Cooper had a tiebreaking double during the Marlins’ four-run 10th Saturday night in their 8-5 victory over Ohtani and the Angels.Cooper hit a long fly to left-center off Jaime Barria (1-2), and Mickey Moniak couldn’t make the tough catch after sprinting to get under it. Miami scored another run when video review determined catcher Matt Thaiss hadn’t touched home plate while turning an inning-ending double play, and Garrett Hampson added a two-run single to punctuate the Marlins’ third win in four games.“It’s a testa...

Reportan tres muertos y cinco heridos en un tiroteo en una concentración de motociclistas en Nuevo México

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

(CNN) — Tres personas murieron y otras cinco resultaron heridas en un tiroteo en una concentración de motociclistas celebrada el fin de semana del Día de los Caídos en Red River, Nuevo México, según informó a CNN la alcaldesa de Red River, Linda Calhoun.No existe “ninguna amenaza para la seguridad pública”, según la Policía Estatal de Nuevo México (NMSP).El tiroteo mortal se produjo el sábado durante el Rally de motocicletas del Día de los Caídos en Red River (Red River Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally), informó la Policía de Nuevo México. El rally anual atrae a decenas de miles de personas a la calle principal de la ciudad para el fin de semana del Memorial Day, según el sitio web del evento.“Todos los individuos implicados eran miembros de bandas de motociclisyas”, dijo Calhoun a CNN.Uno de los heridos “fue trasladado por aire a un hospital de Denver”, dijo la policía estatal.Pistolas, sangre y miedo: dentro del tiroteo entre motociclistas en...

China’s 1st domestically made passenger plane completes maiden commercial flight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s first domestically made passenger jet flew its maiden commercial flight on Sunday, as China looks to compete with industry giants such as Boeing and Airbus in the global aircraft market.The C919 plane, built by the Commercial Aviation Corporation of China, carried about 130 passengers on the flight, according to state-owned newspaper China Daily. The jet took off Sunday morning from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and landed less than two hours later in Beijing.The flight was operated by state-owned China Eastern Airlines and the side of the plane was emblazoned with the words: “The World’s First C919.”The inaugural flight comes as COMAC looks to break into the single-aisle jet market in a direct challenge to Airbus and Boeing. Airbus’s A320 and Boeing’s B737 jets are the most popular aircrafts typically used for domestic and regional flights.While COMAC designed many of the C919’s parts, some of its key components are still sourced from the West, including it...

Margot Robbie quería originalmente a Gal Gadot para interpretar a la icónica muñeca de Mattel gracias a su ‘energía Barbie’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:09:13 GMT

(CNN) — A medida que crece la expectativa por la película “Barbie”, los cinéfilos se sorprenderán al saber que una de las primeras opciones de casting para el papel titular de la icónica muñeca no resultó.Margot Robbie, protagonista y coproductora de la película, declaró a Vogue en una entrevista publicada esta semana que su elección para el papel no era otra que la estrella de “Wonder Woman” Gal Gadot. Pero aunque no estaba disponible, la estrella israelí acabó sirviendo como una especie de plantilla por la que Robbie y Greta Gerwig –que coescribe y dirige “Barbie”– tomaron otras decisiones de casting.“Gal Gadot es la energía de Barbie”, dijo Robbie. “Porque Gal Gadot es tan increíblemente bella, pero no la odias por serlo porque es tan genuinamente sincera y tan entusiásticamente amable, que es casi ridícula. Es como justo antes de ser una tonta”.Barbie y Ken exploran el “mundo real” y cómo es la vida co...