Today: September 25, 2024
Today: September 25, 2024

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World

NATO members Greece and Turkey pledge to 'reset' ties and bypass longstanding disputes

Greece is ready to “reset” relations with neighbor Turkey in an effort to bypass decades-old disputes between the two NATO members, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday. Mitsotakis held an hourlong meeting Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and told reporters they had agreed to continue high-level contacts. “Our problems have not been magically resolved,” Mitsotakis said. “But today’s meeting confirmed my intention and that of President Erdogan to reset Greek-Turkish relations.” Cabinet ministers from the two sides are due to meet after the summer

July 12, 2023
NATO members Greece and Turkey pledge to 'reset' ties and bypass longstanding disputes
World

Canada’s Indigenous women forcibly sterilized decades after other rich countries stopped

Decades after many other rich countries stopped forcibly sterilizing Indigenous women, numerous activists, doctors, politicians and at least five class-action lawsuits say the practice has not ended in Canada. A Senate report last year concluded “this horrific practice is not confined to the past, but clearly is continuing today.” In May, a doctor was penalized for forcibly sterilizing an Indigenous woman in 2019. Indigenous leaders say the country has yet to fully reckon with its troubled colonial past — or put a stop to a decades-long practice that is considered a type of genocide. There are no

July 12, 2023
Canada’s Indigenous women forcibly sterilized decades after other rich countries stopped
World

Article 5: NATO's common defense pledge that stands in the way of Ukraine's admission while at war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may have gotten support and vague assurances from NATO leaders in Vilnius this week, but he ultimately returns home without a clear commitment that his country will be joining the club any time soon. Instead, the alliance leaders said they were removing obstacles on Ukraine’s membership path so that it can join more quickly once the war with Russia is over. For many, that argument gives Russia’s president a pretext to prolong the war, which President Vladimir Putin ostensibly launched to keep Ukraine from joining NATO. But if Ukraine joins NATO in

July 12, 2023
Article 5: NATO's common defense pledge that stands in the way of Ukraine's admission while at war
World

NATO summit results in brief: Mixed news for Ukraine, hope for Sweden and a response to Russia

U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts wrapped up a two-day summit Wednesday with pledges of long-term support for Ukraine but no offer of the country’s protection under the alliance’s security umbrella. Results from the meeting in Lithuania, a nation on NATO’s eastern flank that borders Russia, were mixed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky was grateful for the pledges of more arms and ammunition but disappointed that his country has no clear time frame for joining the world’s biggest security alliance. After an evening of pre-summit intrigue, Sweden took a big step toward becoming NATO’s 32nd

July 12, 2023
NATO summit results in brief: Mixed news for Ukraine, hope for Sweden and a response to Russia
World

Anchor Brewing halting operations after 127 years citing faltering sales, tough economic conditions

San Francisco’s 127-year-old Anchor Brewing Co. will shut down and liquidate after years of declining sales, citing tough economic conditions. Anchor was been a trailblazer in the U.S., brewing craft beers when most Americans were loyal to one of the few major breweries. The brewery teetered on insolvency in the 1960s, when it was acquired by Stanford grad Fritz Maytag, according to Anchor Brewing. Maytag implemented new brewing practices such as dry hopping, and began bottling the beer in 1971. By the mid 1970s Anchor Brewing had assembled a solid portfolio of respected brews including Anchor Porter, Liberty Ale, Old

July 12, 2023
Anchor Brewing halting operations after 127 years citing faltering sales, tough economic conditions
World

Suspect arrested in killing of a former Russian submarine captain who reportedly attacked Ukraine

A 64-year-old man has been arrested in southern Russia for the shooting death of a former submarine commander who is alleged by some in Ukraine to have killed more than 20 civilians in a long-range missile strike last year. Sergei Denisenko was detained on suspicion of shooting former 2nd Capt. Stanislav Rzhitsky, reportedly during a morning jog in the city of Krasnodar on July 10. Denisenko was found in possession of a pistol and silencer, officials said. Some Russian media outlets identified him as a native of Sumy, a city in Ukraine. Rzhitsky, 42, was attacked near the city’s Olimp

July 12, 2023
Suspect arrested in killing of a former Russian submarine captain who reportedly attacked Ukraine
World

Former Mozambique finance minister is extradited to the US to face trial over $2 billion scandal

A former Mozambique finance minister who has been held in prison in South Africa for nearly five years was extradited Wednesday to the United States to face a fraud and corruption trial over a $2 billion scandal involving fraudulent government loans. South African authorities said that Manuel Chang, who was Mozambique’s finance minister from 2005 to 2015, was handed over to U.S. authorities after his last-ditch court effort to avoid extradition failed in May. Chang is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Chang’s attorney, Adam Ford, said his client is “relieved to

July 12, 2023
Former Mozambique finance minister is extradited to the US to face trial over $2 billion scandal
World

U.S. Department of Agriculture to invest $300 million in monitoring agricultural emissions

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Wednesday that his department will invest $300 million to improve the measurement and reporting of planet-warming emissions by the country’s agriculture and forestry sectors. The investment — which comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S.’s climate law — will create a research network to monitor carbon levels in soil, which is crucial for understanding how much of the greenhouse gas is stored in the ground. It will also expand the agency’s data management capacity and improve the research methods used to quantify and analyze greenhouse gases. Agriculture contributed about 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas

July 12, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture to invest $300 million in monitoring agricultural emissions
World

Holmgren continues strong return with 25 points and five blocks in Thunder's Summer League win

Chet Holmgren made it two big nights in a row for No. 2 picks. A night after Brandon Miller had his best game in Las Vegas, Chet Holmgren was dominant on both ends to lead the Oklahoma City to a 98-87 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night. Holmgren had 25 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, continuing his strong return after missing the 2022-23 season following surgery on his right foot. The No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft got back on the court when the Thunder played in the Salt Lake City Summer League, then

July 12, 2023
Holmgren continues strong return with 25 points and five blocks in Thunder's Summer League win
World

Iowa's new abortion ban is challenged in court, a day after it was passed by GOP lawmakers

A legal challenge was filed Wednesday to block Iowa’s new legislation banning most abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, launching what will likely be a lengthy and emotional court battle just hours after the Legislature’s late-night vote. The bill was passed with exclusively Republican support in a rare, one-day legislative burst lasting more than 14 hours. That’s despite the vocal — and sometimes tense — objections from Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocates protesting at the Capitol. Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will sign the bill, which would take immediate effect, on Friday. The challenge,

July 12, 2023
Iowa's new abortion ban is challenged in court, a day after it was passed by GOP lawmakers
World

Ja Morant's lawyers cite 'stand your ground' law, self defense in pickup basketball lawsuit

The future of a lawsuit accusing Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant of assaulting a teenager during a pickup basketball game hinges on whether Morant will be allowed to say that he was acting in self defense and can receive immunity under Tennessee law. A judge on Wednesday ruled that Morant’s lawyers can proceed for now with their argument that Morant was acting in self defense when he punched Joshua Holloway during a game at the All-Star player’s Memphis-area home in July 2022. Morant’s lawyers have acknowledged he punched Holloway one time after Holloway threw a basketball

July 12, 2023
Ja Morant's lawyers cite 'stand your ground' law, self defense in pickup basketball lawsuit
World

IMF approves much-awaited $3 billion bailout for Pakistan, saving it from defaulting on debt

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved a much-awaited $3 billion bailout for Pakistan, the global lender said, a move that’s likely to save the impoverished Islamic nation from defaulting on its debt repayments. The IMF said its executive board approved an agreement to release the funds over a nine-month period to support Pakistan’s economic stabilization program. The announcement comes less than two weeks after Pakistan and the IMF agreed to the nine-month plan following a series of meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and other officials. “The arrangement comes at a challenging

July 12, 2023
IMF approves much-awaited $3 billion bailout for Pakistan, saving it from defaulting on debt
World

The Pittsburgh synagogue gunman should be eligible for the death penalty, prosecutor argues

The gunman who committed the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history should be deemed eligible for the death penalty because he intentionally planned the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and preyed on vulnerable victims as they were beginning Sabbath worship, a prosecutor urged jurors on Wednesday. “On Oct. 27, 2018, this defendant violated the safe, holy sanctuary that was the Tree of Life synagogue. He turned it into a killing ground,” prosecutor Soo Song told jurors in the sentencing phase for Robert Bowers, who was convicted last month in the attack that claimed 11 lives. But Bowers’ defense

July 12, 2023
The Pittsburgh synagogue gunman should be eligible for the death penalty, prosecutor argues
World

Russia's Defense Ministry says Wagner mercenaries are surrendering their weapons to the military

Mercenaries of the Wagner Group are completing the handover of their weapons to the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a move that follows the private army’s brief rebellion last month that challenged the Kremlin’s authority. The disarming of Wagner reflects efforts by authorities to defuse the threat it posed and also appears to herald an end to the mercenary group’s operations on the battlefield in Ukraine. The actions come amid continued uncertainty about the fate of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and the terms of a deal that ended the armed rebellion by offering amnesty for

July 12, 2023
Russia's Defense Ministry says Wagner mercenaries are surrendering their weapons to the military
World

Police say there's no sign of crime by BBC presenter who allegedly paid teen for sexual photos

There’s no evidence a BBC presenter who allegedly paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos committed a crime, London police said Wednesday as the broadcaster’s wife publicly identified him for the first time as veteran news anchor Huw Edwards. Metropolitan police said it made its decision after speaking with the alleged victim and that person’s parents. The parents told The Sun newspaper last week that the presenter had been allowed to remain on air after the mother complained to the BBC in May that he paid the youth 35,000 pounds ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the person

July 12, 2023
Police say there's no sign of crime by BBC presenter who allegedly paid teen for sexual photos
World

Suspect in Larry Nassar stabbing said ex-doctor made lewd remark watching Wimbledon, AP source says

A prisoner suspected of stabbing Larry Nassar at a federal penitentiary in Florida said the disgraced former sports doctor provoked the attack by making a lewd comment while they were watching a Wimbledon tennis match on TV, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The inmate, identified as Shane McMillan, was previously convicted of assaulting a correctional officer at a federal penitentiary in Louisiana in 2006 and attempting to stab another inmate to death at the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado in 2011, court records show. McMillan attacked Nassar in his cell Sunday

July 12, 2023
Suspect in Larry Nassar stabbing said ex-doctor made lewd remark watching Wimbledon, AP source says
World

Patrick Mahomes is more focused on improving and winning more Super Bowls than his legacy

Patrick Mahomes already is a two-time Super Bowl MVP and AP NFL MVP before turning 28, compiling an impressive Hall of Fame-worthy resume in only six seasons. If any player is ever going to challenge Tom Brady for GOAT — greatest of all time — status, Mahomes has the best chance. Like Brady and other superstar athletes, Mahomes still works to improve, aiming to keep the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl contention. “I think everybody thinks about legacy and how they’re remembered, but you have to think about that at the same time, valuing every day and how you

July 12, 2023
Patrick Mahomes is more focused on improving and winning more Super Bowls than his legacy
World

Prosecutors won't seek death penalty against men charged in Whitey Bulger's prison killing

Federal prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty against two men charged with the prison killing of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, according to court papers filed Wednesday. Prosecutors said in a court filing that in the event Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a former Mafia hitman, and Paul J. DeCologero, a Massachusetts gangster, are convicted of murder in Bulger’s killing, they will not seek a death sentence. Geas also faced a possible death sentence if found guilty of an additional charge of murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence. But prosecutors said they would not

July 12, 2023
Prosecutors won't seek death penalty against men charged in Whitey Bulger's prison killing
World

Sarah Silverman and novelists sue ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for ingesting their books

Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book. Does that mean it effectively “read” and memorized a pirated copy? Or it scraped so many customer reviews and online chatter about the bestseller or the musical it inspired that it passes for an expert? The U.S. courts may now help sort that out after Silverman sued ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for copyright infringement this week, joining a growing number of writers who say they unwittingly built the foundation for Silicon Valley’s red-hot AI boom.

July 12, 2023
Sarah Silverman and novelists sue ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for ingesting their books
World

Estate of anti-fascist shot and killed by police in Washington state files wrongful death lawsuit

A federal lawsuit alleges police in Washington state had no plan other than to use deadly force against a fugitive who was on the run in 2020 after shooting a supporter of a far-right group during clashes between supporters of then-President Donald Trump and Black Lives Matter in the streets of Portland, Oregon. “The actions of the officers, before, during, and after the shooting, show that they either had no plan to arrest the man without injury, made no effort to follow such a plan, or planned to use deadly force from the start,” said the

July 12, 2023
Estate of anti-fascist shot and killed by police in Washington state files wrongful death lawsuit
World

Manhattanhenge fans hope cloudy weather won't obscure NYC's famed sunset phenomenon

Wednesday and Thursday are the last two days of Manhattanhenge, the biannual alignment of the setting sun with the city’s east-west streets that brings New Yorkers out of their apartments to watch it bathe the urban canyons in a rosy glow. With forecasters predicting gloomy weather, fans of the spectacle will have to hope the clouds part at the right time. “We have had luck in the past when the weather clears,” said Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History whose sold-out lecture on Manhattanhenge on Thursday will be followed by a

July 12, 2023
Manhattanhenge fans hope cloudy weather won't obscure NYC's famed sunset phenomenon
World

Labor rift deepens between Republican governor and dockworkers in South Carolina

Dockworkers and the governor in the state with the lowest percentage of unionized workers are digging in their heels over a labor dispute that has left the newest container terminal at the East Coast’s deepest harbor largely inactive. Pending before a federal appeals court is a National Labor Relations Board decision that upheld unionized dockworkers’ right to exclusively staff the cranes at Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in Charleston, South Carolina, under a 2012 master contract. The alternative is a so-called hybrid model implemented by other South Carolina terminals backed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster where loading

July 12, 2023
Labor rift deepens between Republican governor and dockworkers in South Carolina
World

Women's tennis tour program provides education, exposure for female coaches

On a hazy, 80-degree afternoon in April, Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette practiced with Julia Grabher about 24 hours before each would win a second-round match on the green clay of the WTA’s Charleston Open. While one of Linette’s two coaches, Iain Hughes, offered her instruction, the other, Mark Gellard, stood in a corner, keeping an eye on the workout while chatting with Lan Yao-Gallop. She is one of 10 members of the women’s professional tennis tour’s Coach Inclusion Program, which is in its first full year of trying to help female coaches break into the

July 12, 2023
Women's tennis tour program provides education, exposure for female coaches
World

Messi mania engulfs Miami ahead of Argentine soccer superstar's arrival

A hamburger and drink combination called the Lionel Messi. A huge sketch of the soccer star’s smiling face on a restaurant wall beside a viral meme from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. A beer with a pink label matching the color of the Inter Miami jersey he will wear. Wherever you turn in Miami these days something reminds you of the imminent arrival of the Argentine soccer legend. There is no hiding the euphoria generated by Messi in Miami as he begins the new Major League Soccer phase of his career in one of the most

July 12, 2023
Messi mania engulfs Miami ahead of Argentine soccer superstar's arrival
World

North Korea's Kim vows to boost his nuke capability after observing new ICBM launch

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further bolster his country’s nuclear fighting capabilities as he supervised the country’s second test-flight of a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the mainland U.S., state media reported Thursday. Kim’s statement suggested North Korea would ramp up weapons testing activities to expand its arsenals in response to recent U.S. steps to enhance its security commitment to ally South Korea. “The present unstable situation in which the security environment on the Korean peninsula is being seriously threatened by the hostile forces every moment,” Kim said, according to

July 12, 2023
North Korea's Kim vows to boost his nuke capability after observing new ICBM launch

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