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Marcos says China showing interest in South China Sea atolls closer to coast of the Philippines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines said the situation in the South China Sea “has become more dire” as China expands its presence in an area where multiple nations have competing territorial claims.China has showed interest in atolls and shoals that are “closer and closer” to the coast of the Philippines, with the nearest atoll about 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) away, Marcos said. “Unfortunately, I cannot report that the situation is improving,” Marcos said Sunday. “The situation has become more dire than it was before.”Marcos spoke during a question and answer session after he delivered a talk at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu. The Philippines president stopped in Hawaii to meet with U.S. military leaders and the local Filipino community on his way home from a regional summit meeting in San Francisco.The visit held both geopolitical and personal significance for the leader. Marcos’s father, the la...

Jets’ Saleh non-committal on his starting QB after Wilson was pulled for Boyle vs. Bills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Zach Wilson is running out of opportunities and a key backer in his bid to keep his starting job with the New York Jets.After spending weeks defending Wilson against growing criticism, coach Robert Saleh was non-committal regarding his starter moving forward following the Jets’ latest offensive dud in a 32-6 loss to the AFC East-rival Buffalo Bills on Sunday.“We are going to watch the tape and we’ll make a decision (Monday),” said Saleh, whose Jets (4-6) face a short week in preparing to play division rival Miami (7-3) on Friday. “We’ll look at all of it. I’m not really answering those questions yet.”The coach opened the door for a quarterback change by benching Wilson and replacing him with backup Tim Boyle with 2:17 left in the third quarter. Neither was effective in an outing New York finished with season lows in total yards (155) and points, and finished 0 for 11 on third-down conversions against a Bills defense that began the game mis...

Cryer, Shead lead No. 6 Houston to Charleston title with 69-55 victory over Dayton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — LJ Cryer had 18 points and Jamal Shead had 16 as No. 6 Houston ran past Dayton 69-55 to win the Charleston Classic tournament title on Sunday night. Shead scored his season high and had seven of the Cougars first nine points as they opened a 14-4 lead less than six minutes in. They are 6-0 to open for a second straight season. It’s the first Charleston title for Houston and its 35th regular season tournament crown all-time. Shead, the senior who started his 66th straight game for Houston, also added six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Cryer, the Baylor transfer, had four of Houston’s eight 3-pointers. The Cougars took advantage of Dayton’s cold start — the Flyers made just one of their first seven shots — to open an early double-digit lead. The Flyers (3-2) came as close at 19-15 after that until Houston responded with an 11-3 burst to restore the large margin. The Cougars, as Cryer and Shead combined for six 3-pointers, were able to ...

32 killed in an attack in the Abyei region, which is disputed between Sudan and South Sudan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Heavy fighting Sunday in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan killed at least 32 people, including a U.N. peacekeeper, authorities said.The civilians and a Ghanaian soldier serving with a peacekeeping force died when unknown gunmen attacked two villages in the southern part of the Abyei administrative region, local media reported.A South Sudanese radio station, Eye Radio Juba, quoted Abyei information minister Bolis Kuoch as saying 32 people were killed and 20 others wounded, “but the clashes have now stopped and the situation calmed down.” Inter-communal and cross-border clashes have escalated since South Sudan deployed its troops to the contested territory in March. The peacekeeping mission there condemned the troop deployment, saying it would create “untold suffering and humanitarian concerns” for civilians.International solders were sent to Aleel and Rum Ameer counties as part of the U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei to help que...

Wilson, Sutton hook up for winning TD as Broncos rally to end Vikings' 5-game winning streak, 21-20

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Courtland Sutton's leaping 15-yard touchdown catch with 1:03 remaining powered the Denver Broncos to a 21-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, ending the NFL's longest winning streak at five games.The Broncos (5-5) now own the league's longest winning streak at four.Sutton outleapt cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, who had his eyes on an interception of Russell Wilson's high throw. Danielle Hunter's tackle of Javonte Williams on the 2-point try kept the Vikings within a point and needing a field goal to win it.The Broncos' defense — which produced three more takeaways, giving Denver a dozen over its last three games — didn't allow the Vikings to get out of their own side of the field. 7-year-old donating Thanksgiving turkeys to those in need Denver forced Joshua Dobbs into an intentional grounding that brought up fourth-and-25 before Dobbs threw one final incompletion with from the Vikings 21 with 16 seconds left.Dobbs threw for 221 yards and a touchdown a...

Littleton mother prepares to honor her son with 22,000-foot climb

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

LITTLETON, Colo. (KDVR)-- A Littleton Mother is preparing to make a powerful journey in honor of her son Jake, a fallen Marine.Krista Meinert and her daughter Randi plan to climb the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, Aconcagua in Argentina. 7-year-old donating Thanksgiving turkeys to those in need "I think the whole thing is about the process," Krista said. Walking a mile in her shoes would give you the kind of perspective most of us couldn't imagine."Losing a child, you can't put words into it."Her son, Jake, was a fire team leader with the Marine Corps was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2010."He stepped on an IED they couldn't get to him right away. So he ended up dying in the helicopter on the way to the hospital," Krista told FOX31.It's a moment Krista said she will never forget. "I saw the two marines coming and I knew, I knew what was about to happen," she said. "I yelled 'Don't open that door' because I didn't want to be told.After Jake's death, Krista we...

Oil industry rides into climate summit bigger than ever

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.WASHINGTON — Eight years after Paris, the oil business is bigger than ever.Profits are soaring. Production is climbing — and marking a record year in the United States. The industry is even poised to gain from the crusade to rein in climate pollution, including the billions of dollars in incentives that U.S. President Joe Biden is offering for wind farms, battery minerals and carbon-carrying pipelines.It’s not necessarily the future that appeared to be dawning in 2015, when nations gathered in the French capital to pledge an assault on the fossil fuel pollution that’s warming the planet. But it’s the reality that advocates and governments will confront when the next climate summit dawns Nov. 30 in Dubai’s Expo City, a showpiece of the United Arab Emirates’ petroleum wealth — hammering home the reality that oil and gas producers are thriving, not shrinking, during the era of ambitious green ...

Anti-green backlash hovers over COP climate talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.LONDON — World leaders will touch down in Dubai next week for a climate change conference they’re billing yet again as the final off-ramp before catastrophe. But war, money squabbles and political headaches back home are already crowding the fate of the planet from the agenda.The breakdown of the Earth’s climate has for decades been the most important yet somehow least urgent of global crises, shoved to one side the moment politicians face a seemingly more acute problem. Even in 2023 — almost certainly the most scorching year in recorded history, with temperatures spawning catastrophic floods, wildfires and heat waves across the globe — the climate effort faces a bewildering array of distractions, headwinds and dismal prospects.“The plans to achieve net zero are increasingly under attack,” former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who set her country’s goal of reaching climate neutrality into ...

They’re talking, but a climate divide between Beijing and Washington remains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.Last week’s surprise deal between China and the United States may provide a boost to the climate talks in Dubai — but the two powers remain at odds on tough questions such as how quickly to shut down coal and who should provide climate aid to developing nations.The world’s top two drivers of climate change are also divided by a thicket of disagreements on trade, security, human rights and economic competition.The good news is that Washington and Beijing are talking to each other again and restarting some of their technical cooperation on climate issues, after a yearlong freeze. That may still not be enough to get nearly 200 nations to commit to far greater climate action at the talks that begin Nov. 30.The two superpowers’ latest detente creates the right “mood music” for the summit, said Alden Meyer, a senior associate at climate think tank E3G. “But it still is not saying that the world’s...

Who’s who at COP28

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:42 GMT

This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.The annual U.N. climate summit that starts November 30 has become one of the biggest diplomatic setpieces in the global political calendar. Organizers are expecting more than 70,000 people to descend upon Dubai’s Expo City: activists, billionaires, presidents, Indigenous leaders, business executives, monarchs and diplomats from every corner of the world. A few will hold sway over the outcome of the talks. Some will make noise on behalf of vulnerable ecosystems and island nations. Some are looking to make side deals or burnish their images back home.The world’s two biggest climate decision-makers — U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping — are not expected to show up. But their emissaries will. This is POLITICO’s guide to the most important people to watch. Sultan al-Jaber, the oil man in chargeIs he the least ideal person to lead an international climate conf...