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South Korean dog meat farmers push back against growing moves to outlaw their industry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea (AP) — The dogs bark and stare as Kim Jong-kil approaches the rusty cages housing the large, short-haired animals he sells for their meat. Kim opens a door and pets one dog’s neck and chest.Kim says he’s proud of the dog meat farm that has supported his family for 27 years, but is upset over growing attempts by politicians and activists to outlaw the business, which he is turning over to his children.“It’s more than just feeling bad. I absolutely oppose these moves, and we’ll mobilize all our means to resist it,” Kim, 57, said in an interview at his farm in Pyeongtaek city, just south of Seoul.Dog meat consumption is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula and has long been viewed as a source of stamina on hot summer days. It’s neither explicitly banned nor legalized in South Korea, but more and more people want it prohibited. There’s increasing public awareness of animal rights and worries about South Korea’s international image. The ant...

Stock market today: Asia shares gain after Wall St rally as investors pin hopes on China stimulus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Monday after Wall Street got back to climbing following more encouraging profit reports and the latest signal that inflation is loosening its chokehold on the economy.Sentiment also has been boosted by revived hopes for more stimulus from Beijing for the sluggish Chinese economy. Chinese factory activity contracted in July as export orders shrank, a survey showed, adding to pressure on the ruling Communist Party to reverse an economic slowdown.A purchasing managers’ index issued by the national statistics agency and an industry group improved to 49.3 from June’s 49 on a 100-point scale but was below the 50-point level that shows activity contracting.“The PMI surveys suggest that China’s economic recovery continued to lose momentum in July,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a commentary. “Looking forward, policy support is needed to prevent China’s economy from slipping into a recession, not least because external...

Trump could be indicted soon in Georgia. Here’s a look at that investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks in her investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating more than two years ago, shortly after a recording was released of a January 2021 phone call Trump made to Georgia’s secretary of state.Willis has strongly hinted that any indictment would come between July 31 and August 18. One of two grand juries seated July 11 is expected to hear the case.If Trump is indicted by a Georgia grand jury, it would add to a growing list of legal troubles as he campaigns for president. Trump is set to go to trial in New York in March to face state charges related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. And he has another trial scheduled for May on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents. He has pleaded not guilty ...

China factory activity shrinks in July, adding to pressure to reverse economic slump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese factory activity contracted in July as export orders shrank, a survey showed Monday, adding to pressure on the ruling Communist Party to reverse an economic slowdown.A purchasing managers’ index issued by the national statistics agency and an industry group improved to 49.3 from June’s 49 on a 100-point scale but was below the 50-point level that shows activity contracting.“China’s manufacturing PMI remained in contraction, albeit a softer pace, as the drag from the external sector deepened,” Erin Xin of HSBC said in a report. That puts “more pressure on Beijing to support growth through both fiscal and monetary measures.”Chinese leaders are trying to revive economic activity by promising to support entrepreneurs who generate jobs and wealth. But they have yet to give details possible tax cuts or spending and have avoided announcing a large-scale stimulus.Demand for Chinese exports weakened after U.S. and European interest rates were raised to cool record-brea...

Mar-a-Lago worker charged in Trump’s classified documents case to make first court appearance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — An employee of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Carlos De Oliveira, is expected to make his first court appearance Monday on charges accusing him of scheming with the former president to hide security footage from investigators probing Trump’s hoarding of classified documents. De Oliveira, Mar-a-Lago’s property manager, was added last week to the indictment with Trump and the former president’s valet, Walt Nauta, in the federal case alleging a plot to illegally keep top-secret records at Trump’s Florida estate and thwart government efforts to retrieve them. De Oliveira faces charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to investigators. He’s scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge in Miami nearly two months after Trump pleaded not guilty in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The developments in the classified documents case come as Trump braces for possible charges in another federal investigation int...

As work begins on the largest US dam removal project, tribes look to a future of growth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border — a process that won’t conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives.But in some ways, removing the dams is the easy part. The hard part will come over the next decade as workers, partnering with Native American tribes, plant and monitor nearly 17 billion seeds as they try to restore the Klamath River and the surrounding land to what it looked like before the dams started to go up more than a century ago.The demolition is part of a national movement to return the natural flow of the nation’s rivers and restore habitat for fish and the ecosystems that sustain other wildlife. More than 2,000 dams have been removed in the U.S. as of February, with the bulk of those having come down within the last 25 years, according to the advocacy group American Rivers.The removal of four hydroelectric dams along the Klamat...

Idaho mom Lori Vallow Daybell faces sentencing in deaths of 2 children and her romantic rival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell faces up to life in prison without parole Monday as she is sentenced in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife. The husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell also faces two other cases in Arizona — one on a charge of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and one of conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece’s ex survived an attempt later that year.Monday’s sentencing will take place at the Fremont Co...

Simi Valley neighbors get in violent brawl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

Two Simi Valley neighbors have been arrested after getting into a violent fight that left each man seriously injured, authorities announced Sunday.  Officers with the Simi Valley Police Department responded to the 300 block of Aristotle Street on reports of a “neighbor dispute” in which one of the men had been stabbed, officials said in news release. At the scene, officers found 41-year-old David Corralejo outside the location. He was bleeding from the head and told police that he had been hit on the head with a shovel.  The 41-year-old was taken to a local hospital to receive treatment for a serious, but non-life-threatening head injury.   Wrong-way driver dies after crashing into tree The second neighbor, identified as 22-year-old Adam Mathison, was uncooperative, refusing to come outside of his home, police said. Over the phone, the 22-year-old told authorities that he had been stabbed in the upper chest by Corralejo. After 40 minutes, Mathison surrendered h...

Multiple explosive devices found at Fremont business: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

(KRON) -- The Fremont Police Department located several explosive devices at a business in the area of Industrial Place and Industrial Drive around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, the department said. Officers responded to a domestic violence incident at the business, which resulted in a suspect being placed under arrest and his registered firearms set to be seized. The firearms were learned to most likely be in several safes within the business, police said. After police obtained search warrants, they opened the safes and founds several explosive devices. Officers immediately evacuated nearby industrial businesses in the area and contacted the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad around 3:45 p.m. They are currently in the process of destroying the explosives as of 8:12 p.m., police said. Deputies discover man covered in blood, two women with stab wounds at Redwood City home No injuries have been reported, and there is no threat to the community. The area is still active with pol...

San Francisco small business burglarized 7 times since pandemic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:11:57 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Kung Food, a small business near Alamo Square, was broken into recently. This incident marks the seventh time the San Francisco business has been vandalized or broken into since 2020. Why one small business owner is leaving San Francisco Despite reaching out to local leaders and police, owner Andy Yang has not received any help. The business has signs posted outside letting potential criminals know there is no money inside. "Posting a sign in front of our door is really our last resort. As a way to express our frustration and our discontentment with our city officials," said Yang.The store's video surveillance shows a man breaking the door open and heading straight to the cash register. He managed to get $100 from the register, along with two iPads."The repair cost us about $500," said Yang. "There's a bus stop right next to us. If people spot that it's open, they're just going to come in and trash the place."According to Yang, the break-ins have been an o...