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Today: January 19, 2025
Today: January 19, 2025
The Los Angeles Post

The Los Angeles Post

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World

Bill Gates visits China as leaders try to revive foreign business interest

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates says he is in Beijing, joining a series of foreign business figures who have visited China as the ruling Communist Party tries to revive investor interest in the country. Gates, who stepped down as Microsoft chairman in 2014, said on Twitter late Wednesday that he would meet partners who have worked with his charitable foundation. However, Gates is revered in China as an entrepreneur, giving Chinese leaders a chance to show their interest in foreign business by publicizing any meetings with him. CEOs of global companies including Elon Musk of Tesla Ltd.

Bill Gates visits China as leaders try to revive foreign business interest
Arts

Bill Cosby sued by 9 more women in Nevada for alleged decades-old sexual assaults

Nine more women are accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault in a lawsuit that alleges he used his “enormous power, fame and prestige” to victimize them. A lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Nevada alleges that the women were individually drugged and assaulted between approximately 1979 and 1992 in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe homes, dressing rooms and hotels. One woman alleges that Cosby, claiming to be her acting mentor, lured her from New York to Nevada, where he drugged her in a hotel room with what he had claimed to be non-alcoholic sparkling

Bill Cosby sued by 9 more women in Nevada for alleged decades-old sexual assaults
World

Chinese premier meets with Palestinian president in effort to increase Middle East presence

Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday in a drive by Beijing to elevate relations and increase its overall presence in the Middle East. Li, who took office just this spring with little foreign policy experience, called Abbas “an old friend of the Chinese people” who has made “important contributions to the promotion of China-Palestinian relations.” The meeting came a day after Abbas was greeted with full military honors by Xi Jinping, China’s president and head of the ruling Communist Party. The sides then announced the formation of a “strategic partnership,”

Chinese premier meets with Palestinian president in effort to increase Middle East presence
World

MLB teams welcome LGBTQ+ fans with Pride Nights, but wait continues for 1st out active player

When it comes to baseball and LGBTQ+ inclusivity, Billy Bean often flashes back to his playing days. Ending his career without telling his parents about his life as a closeted gay ballplayer. Shielding his secret from teammates like Brad Ausmus and Torey Lovullo. The regret of not sharing his “full self,” he says. It’s a message Bean has delivered in clubhouses, and it resonates with today’s ballplayers — hyper-focused on staying in the majors, and being a good teammate. It’s also the lens through which Bean views baseball’s ongoing LGBTQ+ issues. “There’s some parts of my job

MLB teams welcome LGBTQ+ fans with Pride Nights, but wait continues for 1st out active player
World

Visually impaired people in Ukraine struggle to cope during Russian missile attacks

Sunlight filters through shattered windows, casting a glow upon the dusty furniture and fragments of glass strewn across the floor of the office belonging to Oleksandr Vinkovskyi, director of a Kyiv business where visually impaired people worked. Vinkovskyi is blind, and can’t see the scale of damage caused by debris from one of many Russian-fired drones on the Ukrainian capital last month. But he knows that 80 people, including 54 with a disability who used to work there manufacturing circuit breakers, sockets and hangers, are now out of work. Most of the windows have been shattered,

Visually impaired people in Ukraine struggle to cope during Russian missile attacks
World

India, Pakistan brace for winds, flash flooding as Cyclone Biparjoy heads for evening landfall

A vast swath of western India and neighboring southern Pakistan that suffered deadly floods last year are bracing for a new deluge as fast-approaching Cyclone Biparjoy whirls toward landfall Thursday. Rain was falling and skies were darkening in western India and in southern Pakistan along the Arabian Sea, where dusty storms were hampering the evacuation and rescue work. Authorities expect conditions to worsen for two or three days after the cyclone makes landfall in India’s Gujarat. Officials from the two South Asian countries stood on high alert as the cyclone approached. It’s expected to make landfall

India, Pakistan brace for winds, flash flooding as Cyclone Biparjoy heads for evening landfall
World

Stock market today: Asia shares mixed after Fed holds rates steady and hints of hikes ahead

Asian shares were trading mixed Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady. Data from China showed consumer and factory activity weakened in May and record-breaking unemployment among young people in cities rose as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed. Consumers, uneasy about possible job losses, have returned to shops and restaurants less quickly than expected. In Japan, machinery orders for April, released Thursday, showed the first growth in three months. Trade figures for May showed a deficit for 22 months in a row, as import costs rose with the rising

Stock market today: Asia shares mixed after Fed holds rates steady and hints of hikes ahead
World

NATO debates ways to boost ties with Ukraine as war against Russian invasion drags on

NATO defense ministers gathered Thursday to discuss future relations with Ukraine as Russia’s war on the country thwarts its hopes of joining the world’s biggest security alliance soon. The ministers were also due to take part in a separate meeting at NATO headquarters of the U.S.-led Ukraine Contact Group — the forum Ukraine’s supporters routinely join to try to drum up weapons and ammunition to help Kyiv fight the Russian invasion. The NATO meeting comes just under a month before U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts gather for a summit in Lithuania in a symbolic show

NATO debates ways to boost ties with Ukraine as war against Russian invasion drags on
World

New Zealand's economy dips into recession as higher interest rates bite

New Zealand’s economy has dipped into recession as higher interest rates take their toll, new figures released Thursday show. Gross domestic product fell by 0.1% in the March quarter, following a revised 0.7% fall in the previous quarter, Statistics New Zealand said. That fulfils the nation’s definition of a recession, which is at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The slowdown comes after New Zealand’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate 12 straight times to 5.5% as it tries to tame inflation. The rate is at its highest level since 2008, making it

New Zealand's economy dips into recession as higher interest rates bite
World

Report finds Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over 'partygate' during COVID lockdown

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament about the lockdown-flouting parties that undermined his credibility and contributed to his downfall, a committee of lawmakers said Thursday after a year-long investigation. A scathing report from the House of Commons Privileges Committee found that Johnson’s actions and his response to the committee were such a flagrant violation of the rules that they warranted a 90-day suspension from Parliament. While a condemning indictment of the former prime minister’s conduct, the recommendation is largely symbolic because Johnson angrily quit as a lawmaker Friday after the committee informed him of

Report finds Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament over 'partygate' during COVID lockdown
World

The Fed has paused. How long will Europe's central bank keep raising rates in a shaky economy?

The U.S. Federal Reserve may have hit “pause” on interest rate hikes, but the European Central Bank still has its finger on “fast forward” as inflation plagues consumers with higher costs for everything from groceries to utility bills and summer vacations. Analysts say an increase of a quarter-percentage point is a foregone conclusion when the ECB’s governing council meets Thursday, a day after the Fed took at least a temporary breather after 10 straight hikes. The Fed made no change in its key rate Wednesday as it waits to see the impact of sharply higher rates

The Fed has paused. How long will Europe's central bank keep raising rates in a shaky economy?
World

2 men who helped run popular pirating website Megaupload sentenced to prison in New Zealand

Two men who helped run the once wildly popular pirating website Megaupload were each sentenced by a New Zealand court on Thursday to more than two years in prison. The sentencing of Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk ended an 11-year legal battle by the men to avoid extradition to the United States on more serious charges that included racketeering. The men last year struck a deal with prosecutors from New Zealand and the U.S. in which they pleaded guilty to being part of a criminal group and causing artists to lose money by

2 men who helped run popular pirating website Megaupload sentenced to prison in New Zealand
Political

Biden targets junk fees with executives from Live Nation, SeatGeek and Airbnb

President Joe Biden is hosting executives from Live Nation, Airbnb and other companies at the White House on Thursday to highlight his administration’s push to end so-called junk fees that surprise consumers. Biden prioritized the effort to combat surprise or undisclosed fees in his State of the Union address and has called for legislation, regulation and private sector action to end them. Biden, at Thursday’s event, was set to announce actions by companies that have eliminated or plan to eliminate those surprise fees. The consumer advocacy push is part of the Democratic president’s pitch to voters ahead

Biden targets junk fees with executives from Live Nation, SeatGeek and Airbnb
World

Jesuits expel prominent priest Rupnik after allegations of abuse against adult women

Pope Francis’ Jesuit religious order said Thursday it has expelled a prominent Slovenian priest from the congregation following allegations of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses against adult women. A statement from the Jesuits, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, said the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik was dismissed from the Jesuit order by decree on June 9 “due to stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.” Rupnik is one of the most celebrated religious artists in the Catholic Church, whose mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the world, including at the Vatican. Late last year, the

Jesuits expel prominent priest Rupnik after allegations of abuse against adult women
World

Pope visits children's cancer ward in sign he may soon be discharged from hospital

The Vatican on Thursday released the first images of Pope Francis since his June 7 abdominal surgery, showing him in his wheelchair visiting the children’s cancer ward in a sign he is getting ready to be discharged soon from the hospital. Francis appeared in good health in the images, in which he is seen in the corridor of the pediatric oncology ward of Rome’s Gemelli hospital, meeting with children, their parents and medical staff. In one photo, he is shown elsewhere speaking with a couple in a private room, the man in a wheelchair. The Vatican said

Pope visits children's cancer ward in sign he may soon be discharged from hospital
World

UN atomic watchdog chief visits Ukraine nuclear plant threatened by war with Russia

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog visited Europe’s largest atomic power plant Thursday in southern Ukraine, where a recent dam burst and the start of a counteroffensive in the war by Kyiv’s forces have heightened safety risks. The visit was announced by Ukraine’s national nuclear energy company, Energoatom, in a Telegram post. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, met Tuesday in Kyiv with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss concerns about the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The IAEA has repeatedly expressed alarm about the facility, which is one of the

UN atomic watchdog chief visits Ukraine nuclear plant threatened by war with Russia
World

South Korea says North Korea has launched ballistic missile toward sea

North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Thursday, hours after South Korean and U.S. troops ended a fifth round of large-scale live-fire drills near the Koreas’ heavily fortified border. The North Korean launch is its first since it failed in an attempt to put its first spy satellite into orbit in late May. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch occurred Thursday evening but gave no further details. Japan’s Defense Ministry also said it detected a possible ballistic missile fired by North Korea. The launch came after North Korea’s

South Korea says North Korea has launched ballistic missile toward sea
World

NATO sees no change in Russia's nuclear posture despite Belarus leader's claims

NATO sees no sign that Russia has changed its nuclear posture, the head of the military alliance said Thursday, after President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Belarus has already received some tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow. In an interview on state television on Tuesday, Lukashenko brashly warned that he wouldn’t hesitate to order their use if Belarus faced an act of aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the weapons will be deployed to Belarus next month and will remain under Moscow’s exclusive control. “We are, of course, closely monitoring what Russia is doing. So far, we haven’t

NATO sees no change in Russia's nuclear posture despite Belarus leader's claims
World

Two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson, who mixed acting with politics, dies at 87

Glenda Jackson, a two-time Academy Award-winning performer who had a second career in politics as a British lawmaker before an acclaimed late-life return to stage and screen, has died at 87. Jackson’s agent Lionel Larner said she died Thursday at her home in London after a short illness. He said she had recently completed filming “‘The Great Escaper,” in which co-starred with Michael Caine. Born in 1936 in Birkhenhead, northwest England, Jackson trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She became one of the biggest British stars of the 1960s and 70s, and won

Two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson, who mixed acting with politics, dies at 87
World

Donor nations scramble to find billions of dollars of funding for Syrian aid

Donor nations from across the globe were scrambling Thursday to find billions of dollars to extend their aid commitment to millions of Syrians who have been battered by hunger, poverty, civil war and a massive earthquake. Amid pressing needs across the globe from Ukraine to Sudan, the annual donor conference hosted by the European Union in Brussels has even more political overtones as Syrian President Bashar Assad is slowly carving his way back from being an international pariah to the regional mainstream. Finding hard cash, though, remains key. “My appeal is simple: Help us help the Syrian

Donor nations scramble to find billions of dollars of funding for Syrian aid
Environment

When homes flood, who retreats and to where? We mapped thousands of buyouts and found the average move is only 7 miles, and race plays a role

After Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans in 2021, Kirt Talamo, a fourth-generation Louisianan, decided it was time to go. He sold his flooded home, purchased his grandmother’s former house on New Orleans’ west bank, which hadn’t flooded, and moved in. It felt good to be back within its familiar walls, but his mind was on the future. “My other house wasn’t supposed to flood, and now insurance costs are going through the roof; it’s bad,” he told us. “I wanted to keep my grandma’s place in the family, but I don’t know how much longer I can stay. I’d love

When homes flood, who retreats and to where? We mapped thousands of buyouts and found the average move is only 7 miles, and race plays a role
Environment

When homes flood, who retreats and to where? We mapped thousands of FEMA buyouts and found distance and race play a role

After Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans in 2021, Kirt Talamo, a fourth-generation Louisianan, decided it was time to go. He sold his flooded home, purchased his grandmother’s former house on New Orleans’ west bank, which hadn’t flooded, and moved in. It felt good to be back within its familiar walls, but his mind was on the future. “My other house wasn’t supposed to flood, and now insurance costs are going through the roof; it’s bad,” he told us. “I wanted to keep my grandma’s place in the family, but I don’t know how much longer I can stay. I’d love

When homes flood, who retreats and to where? We mapped thousands of FEMA buyouts and found distance and race play a role
World

Spain sets out migration, industry as priorities for EU presidency

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Thursday he believes the European Union will finalize a controversial pact on migration while his country holds the bloc’s rotating presidency. Sánchez set out his nation’s key priorities for the presidency at a speech in Madrid, and said he believed outstanding issues on shared responsibility for migration across the EU would be resolved by the end of Spain’s six-month term that starts on July 1. Spain has a particular conundrum to face during its EU presidency as a snap general election will be held on July 23, which polls show could

Spain sets out migration, industry as priorities for EU presidency
World

American arrested for pushing 2 US tourists into ravine at German castle, leaving one woman dead

An American man has been arrested in the death of a U.S. tourist and an assault on another near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany after he allegedly pushed the two women down a steep slope, authorities said Thursday. The incident near the popular tourist attraction happened on Wednesday afternoon near the Marienbruecke, a bridge over a gorge close to the castle that offers a famous view of Neuschwanstein. The 30-year-old man met the two female tourists, ages 21 and 22, on a hiking path and lured them onto a trail that leads to a viewpoint, police said

American arrested for pushing 2 US tourists into ravine at German castle, leaving one woman dead
Arts

How the Unabomber's unique linguistic fingerprints led to his capture

Ted Kaczynski was arrested after the longest and most expensive investigation in the FBI’s history. Rich Pedroncelli/AFP via Getty Images Can the language someone uses be as unique as their fingerprints? As I describe in my forthcoming book, “Linguistic Fingerprints: How Language Creates and Reveals Identity,” that was true in the case of Theodore Kaczynski. Kaczynski, who was known as the Unabomber, died in a North Carolina prison on June 10, 2023, reportedly by suicide. Kaczynski had been a math prodigy and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, before he withdrew from society and declared war on the

How the Unabomber's unique linguistic fingerprints led to his capture

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