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Companies skeptical about Egypt’s push to ease industry ties

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — In Egypt, state-owned companies bottle water, make dry pasta and cement, and run gas stations and fish farms. Two of the most powerful economic players in the North African country have long been the government and military. For years, they have faced criticism from economists and international lenders that this approach is stifling economic growth.Increasing pressure, brought on by high inflation and a currency crisis, led Egypt to vow things would finally change.The government said it started to sell stakes in March in some of the 32 state-owned companies it’s promised to privatize, from petrochemical firms to banks. The policy announced in December is part of reforms linked to a loan from the International Monetary Fund but still allows the state to work in key sectors like health, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, oil and gas, insurance and more.Business leaders and analysts are skeptical. Several told The Associated Press that they expect the government and milit...

Firing in Indian army station kills 4 soldiers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A firing incident inside a military station in northern India killed at least four soldiers early Wednesday, an army statement said.The statement didn’t give details, saying only that quick reaction teams were activated, and the area cordoned off and sealed. Indian media reports quoted state police officers as saying that the incident in the army camp in Bhatinda in Punjab state bordering Pakistan did not appear to be a terror attack.The shooting took place as the state was on a high security alert a day ahead of Baisakhi, a major Sikh and Hindu festival marking the start of the harvesting season.Punjab had suffered a bloody insurgency in 1980s that led to the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards at her official residence in New Delhi in 1984. It triggered deadly violence against Sikhs in northern India by her Hindu supporters. India accuses neighboring Pakistan of supporting the insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir an...

Wolves’ playoff hopes dwindle to one do-or-die game after offense goes cold late in play-in loss to Lakers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

An offense that started so strong for Minnesota went so cold at an inopportune time Tuesday.After scorching the nets for three quarters, the Timberwolves went mind-numbingly cold in the fourth quarter, squandering a double-digit lead to fall 108-102 to the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime of a play-in game in Los Angeles.Minnesota will now return home, where it will meet either Oklahoma City or New Orleans on Friday. If the Wolves win that game, they’ll be the No. 8 seed with a first-round playoff date with Denver. If they lose it, their season will be over.“It’s disappointing. I feel like we put a lot of effort in. I thought we fought, we put a lot of effort in, we were very scrappy,” Wolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns told reporters. “It’s difficult when you leave without a win and you feel you played good enough to win.”LeBron James found Dennis Schroeder for a corner triple with 1.4 seconds to play to break a tie and put the Lakers up three...

Two killed in Russian strike on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

Authorities in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, reported that a father and son, aged 50 and 11, were killed when Russian forces attacked a residence building in Zaporizhzhia, a south-eastern Ukrainian city.The State Emergency service of Ukraine also reported that a 46-year-old woman was pulled out from the wreckage. It identified her as the mother and wife of the victims.Anatoliy Kurtev, secretary to the city council, stated that two missiles had struck one building and caused damage to dozens more during the overnight strike.He wrote that "severe punishment for occupiers for their criminal war is inevitable" on Telegram.Rescuers sorted through piles of concrete and other debris Sunday morning, amid the resounding sound of air-raid sirens.The family's living room was left with charred walls. A television was still hanging from the wall, despite being smashed into pieces.Local residents claimed that a body was the victim of the murder. It was found wrapped in a blanket near the scene.Viktor Hr...

Foreign direct investment inflow in Kazakhstan hits record high in 2022

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

The gross foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in Kazakhstan reached $28 billion in 2022, a record-high in the past ten years, reported the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.FDI inflow went up by 17.7% since 2021 when it reached $23.8bn. In 2012, this figure stood at $28.9bn.The top investing countries in Kazakhstan are the Netherlands with $8.3bn, the United States – $5.1bn, Switzerland – $2.8bn, Belgium – $1.6bn, Russia and South Korea with $1.5bn each, and China – $1.4bn.The largest inflows were directed in such sectors as mining – $12.1 billion (a 25 percent increase), manufacturing – $5.6 billion (2.7 percent), wholesale and retail trade – $5.1 billion (36 percent), professional, scientific, and technical activities – $1.2 billion (2.2 times), transport and warehousing – $1.2 billion (13.5 percent).The Atyrau Region received most of the investment – $8.3 billion (a 48.3 percent increase), followed by Almaty city with $7.6 billion (10.9 percent), Astana – $2.2 billion (107.2 percent), t...

4.4 earthquake strikes in Lake County

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

(KRON) -- A 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck in Lake County Tuesday night. The quake was followed by two aftershocks of 2.8 and 2.5 magnitudes. The earthquake's epicenter was measured about seven miles northwest of Cobb, CA. It happened at 10:39 p.m. This is a developing story. Stick with us for updates.

AP PHOTOS: Desperate for new lives, they took to the sea

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

Every year, hundreds if not thousands of West African migrants disappear trying to reach the Canary Islands and, they believed, better lives in Europe. The real death toll is unknown, and so many people and boats are never seen again. But in 2021, something strange happened. The boats, boats from the Atlantic coastal nation of Mauritania and other African nations, believed to have been used by migrants, weren’t making it to the Canaries. They were emerging on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Caribbean and even as far as Brazil. All carried a sad cargo — the bodies of young men and women who dreamt of a new life in Europe. Few were ever identified.They had drifted to death.For nearly two years, Associated Press journalists traced the origins of one boat and the people who died in it. Their remains were found aboard a white and blue pirogue — a Mauritanian fishing boat — drifting near the Caribbean Island of Tobago on May 28, 2021.As they traced what became of the me...

Elon Musk: ‘I should not tweet after 3am’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

Billionaire-entrepreneur Elon Musk acknowledged he has made mistakes on social media, in an at-times bizarre interview with the BBC overnight.“Have I shot myself in the foot with tweets multiple times? Yes,” Musk said. “I think I should not tweet after 3 a.m.”Revealing the scale of the job cuts at Twitter since Musk bought the company for $44 billion last October, Musk said around 1,500 people currently work for the social media platform, down from “just under 8,000,” after a series of what he described as “painful” layoffs.Musk defended the job cuts, claiming they were necessary to stave off bankruptcy. “This is not a caring, uncaring situation. It’s like if the whole ship sinks then nobody’s got a job,” Musk said, claiming that he had been “under constant attack” since buying Twitter. The “pain level has been extremely high” since buying Twitter, Musk said. “Were there many mistakes made a long the way? ...

German police seize cooked bats from van on Belgian border

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German police seized cooked bats and nearly a ton of unrefrigerated fish when they stopped a van that had entered the country from Belgium, authorities said Wednesday. Federal police said a patrol on Monday stopped the vehicle at a highway exit on the edge of the border city of Aachen, and found the bats under the fish. A vet from the local consumer protection office was sent to the scene and ordered the bats and fish confiscated. Police seized the van, which was uninsured.The 31-year-old driver, an Ivorian citizen, faced a criminal complaint for traffic offenses and unauthorized entry because he entered the country without papers or a driver’s license, police said in a statement. He also faces administrative proceedings for violations of food hygiene rules, and local authorities were looking into whether he violated conservation laws relating to the bats. A court in Aachen on Tuesday ordered the driver held in custody pending his handover to authorities in Italy...

Work to be done, PM Sunak says 25 years after Northern Ireland peace deal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:20:16 GMT

A quarter of century since the signing of a peace deal that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said efforts had to be intensified to restore the power-sharing government central to the accord.Signed in Belfast on 10 April, 1998, the Good Friday agreement is considered one of the most significant peace deals of the late 20th Century, seeking to end three decades of sectarian strife that killed more than 3,600 people.But peace has come under strain following Britain's exit from the European Union and other political crises have overshadowed this week's commemorations.US President Joe Biden will fly into Northern Ireland on Tuesday to attend events marking the 25th anniversary of the deal, a reflection of the role the United States played in brokering the agreement."This is an agreement born of partnership between the British and Irish governments and, as we will see from President Biden’s visit this week, it continues to enjoy huge internati...