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China drafts new rules proposing restrictions on online gaming

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — China released draft guidelines Friday aimed at curbing excessive spending on online gaming in the latest move by the ruling Communist Party to keep control of the virtual economy.The proposal caused shares in the biggest Chinese gaming companies, Tencent and NetEase, to plunge in Hong Kong. China’s gaming regulator, the National Press and Publication Administration, issued guidelines saying online games cannot offer incentives for daily log-ins or purchases. Other restrictions include limiting how much users can recharge and issuing warnings for “irrational consumption behavior.”Shares in Tencent, China’s largest gaming company, dived about 16% before recovering some ground to close 12% lower. Rival NetEase’s stock price lost about 25%.Beijing has taken various measures against the online games sector in recent years.In 2021, regulators set strict restrictions on the amount of time children could spend on games to just three hours a week. A state media news outlet ...

Foreign nationals among 14 killed after gunman opens fire in a Prague university. Over 20 wounded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Foreign nationals were among at least 14 killed after a student opened fire at a university in Prague, authorities said Friday. More than 20 others were also wounded in one of the Czech Republic’s worst mass shootings.The bloodshed took place on Thursday in the philosophy department building of Charles University, where the shooter was a student, Prague Police Chief Martin Vondrasek said. The gunman also died, authorities said. His name has not been released.Vondrasek said in the evening that 14 people had died and 25 were wounded, after earlier reporting that 15 had died and 24 were hurt. He didn’t explain the change. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise.Police gave no details about the victims or a possible motive for the shooting at the building located near the Vltava River in Jan Palach Square. Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan said investigators do not suspect a link to any extremist ideology or groups.Vondrasek said police believe the gunman kille...

Vatican prosecutor appeals verdict that largely dismantled his fraud case but convicted cardinal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s chief prosecutor has appealed a court verdict that largely dismantled his theory of a grand conspiracy to defraud the Holy See of millions of euros but found a cardinal guilty of embezzlement.Prosecutor Alessandro Diddi filed his appeal earlier this week, days after the three-judge tribunal issued its verdict in a complicated financial trial that aired the Vatican’s dirty laundry and tested the peculiar legal system in an absolute monarchy in the center of Europe.While the headline from Saturday’s verdict focused on Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s 5 1/2-year sentence for embezzlement, the meat of the ruling made clear that the judges rejected most of Diddi’s 487-page indictment. Diddi had accused Becciu and nine other people of dozens of counts of fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion, corruption, abuse of office and witness tampering in connection with the Vatican’s bungled investment in a London property.He had sought prison terms of up ...

No snow in sight as temps surge into the 50s, with two rain systems ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

Weekly temps are to average more than 8 degrees above normal in Chicago by the end of this week—and will surge nearly 16 degrees ABOVE NORMAL next weekTemps are to turn colder (though STILL ABOVE NORMAL) later next week and heading into the following week. PROLONGED ARCTIC COLD isn't in sight at this point through the coming week, though we'll enter the New Year the week after next with daytime highs in the 30s and nighttime lows in the 20s.Next week's system will slow to a crawl locking clouds and sporadic rain in through Wed night and into Thursday, when colder (but STILL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS) will arrive and could introduce a few mixed snowflakes.

Clean energy initiatives advance at the EU Energy Council

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

On the margins of the Energy Council of 20 December, Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson supported a series of energy transition initiatives for the EU and its regions.Following up on the European Wind Power Action Plant abled by the Commission in October, 26 member states and representatives of the EU wind sector agreed on a European Wind Charter setting out a series of voluntary commitments for the development of the sector. The signatories committed to ensure a predictable project pipeline, improve auction design, and scale up manufacturing capacity in the EU. They will also ensure that business processes, governance, products and services comply with high qualitative standards related to environment, innovation, cybersecurity and labour. 21 Member States also made voluntary pledges to boost wind power capacity in the next 3 years. More information is available on this webpage. Commissioner Simson's speech is available here.The Commission and member states also signed a Joint Declar...

Dear Abby: I want to have a talk with my wife’s co-worker, but she says she’s handling it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I am a 42-year-old male, married for 19 years with three teenage children.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: Am I awful for living well while my daughter flounders? Advice | Dear Abby: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I don’t know what to do Advice | Dear Abby: I’m sure it’s the bride who made this hurtful decision Advice | Dear Abby: My sister doesn’t know it, but my husband’s demand is non-negotiable Advice | Dear Abby: I’m not sure I can spend the rest of my life with babyman in tow My wife recently decided to return to work after staying home with the kids as a full-time mom. She’s an elementary school teacher and has a male co-worker.For six months, this co-worker has been texting her constantly, sometimes every day for several weeks at a time. Along with work-related texts, he asks for advice regarding his recent breakup ...

Sale closed in Danville: $2.4 million for a five-bedroom home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

60 Shelterwood Drive – Google Street ViewA 3,596-square-foot house built in 1998 has changed hands. The spacious property located in the first block of Shelterwood Drive in Danville was sold on Nov. 28, 2023, for $2,425,000, or $674 per square foot. This two-story house offers a capacious living environment with its five bedrooms and four bathrooms. In addition, the house features an attached two-car garage. The property’s backyard additionally features a pool.Additional houses that have recently changed hands close by include:On Shelterwood Place, Danville, in October 2023, a 3,596-square-foot home was sold for $2,282,000, a price per square foot of $635. The home has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.In November 2023, a 3,335-square-foot home on Shelterwood Court in Danville sold for $2,450,000, a price per square foot of $735. The home has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.A 3,186-square-foot home on the 1400 block of Menton Street in Danville sold in August 2022, for $2,150,000, a price per s...

Lo que sabemos sobre el tiroteo en una universidad de Praga, República Checa, que dejó al menos 14 muertos y 25 heridos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

(CNN) — Al menos 14 personas murieron y otras 25 resultaron heridas en un ataque con armas de fuego en Praga, según informaron los servicios de emergencia de la capital checa. Se trata del tiroteo masivo más mortífero que la República Checa haya visto en décadas.Las autoridades creen que el atacante, un hombre de 24 años, se suicidó, dijo el jueves por la noche el jefe de la policía checa, Martin Vondrášek, pero añadió que aún no se había confirmado. El atacante, que según la policía era un estudiante de la Facultad de Artes de la Universidad Charles, no ha sido identificado formalmente debido a la gravedad de sus heridas, dijo el jefe. Las autoridades no lo han nombrado.Las autoridades todavía están investigando el motivo del ataque, que tuvo lugar en el edificio de la Facultad de Artes de la Universidad Carolina, en el centro de la capital. La zona es popular entre los turistas y está cerca de las principales atracciones, justo al otro lado del río Moldava desde el Castillo ...

Howie Carr: Bad echo in the Harvard president’s office

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

I have so many reactions to the current plight of anti-Semitic uber-plagiarist Harvard president Claudine Gay.My heart feels like an alligator.It would take a heart of stone not to laugh.After all, it is not enough to succeed, others must fail.Of course those above three comments aren’t mine. In fact, they are quotes, or paraphrases, from, respectively, Hunter S. Thompson, Oscar Wilde and Gore Vidal.You see, Dr. Gay, is it really that hard to credit people who do the grunt work?But for her, it apparently is. And now she is hoist with her own petard (Shakespeare), twisting slowly, slowly in the wind (John Ehrlichman).Maybe she’ll still be able to ride this out. Probably not, but you’ve heard of the old phrase, “Too Big to Fail.”Claudine Gay may be Too Black to Fail.To quote Gore Vidal again, “No talent is not enough.” For Claudine Gay, though, it may indeed be more than enough.At first Harvard said Gay’s research problems only amounted to a few cases of “inadequate citation.”Now it’s...

DeSantis spread false information while pushing trans health care ban and restrictions, a judge says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:25:55 GMT

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON (Associated Press)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge hearing a challenge to a transgender health care ban for minors and restrictions for adults noted Thursday that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly spread false information about doctors mutilating children’s genitals even though there’s been no such documented cases.The law was sold as defending children from mutilation when it is actually about preventing trans children from getting health care, Judge Robert Hinkle said to Mohammad Jazil, a lawyer for the state.“When I’m analyzing the governor’s motivation, what should I make of these statements?” Hinkle asked. “This seems to be more than just hyperbole.”Hinkle said he will rule sometime in the new year on whether the Legislature, the Department of Health and presidential candidate DeSantis deliberately targeted transgender people through the new law. He raised some skepticism about the...