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China’s new defense chief ghosts the US, but meets with Europeans 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

SINGAPORE — Europe emerged as a key interlocutor with Beijing on Sunday as the British, German and EU security policy chiefs managed to meet with China’s new Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who refused to go beyond a handshake with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin.Apart from giving a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Li also held bilateral meetings with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and British Secretary for Defense Ben Wallace, marking his first contacts with European counterparts since he was promoted to minister in March.Beijing has refused a meeting between Li and Austin due to Washington’s personal sanctions against the Chinese official. Li also refused a meeting with Canada’s Anita Anand, two Western diplomats told POLITICO, amid reports over the weekend that U.S. and Canadian warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait together, a rare move, prompting the Chinese navy to approach within 150...

This could be Apple’s biggest product launch since the Apple Watch

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

(CNN) — Apple may be just one day away from unveiling its most ambitious new hardware product in years.At its Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off Monday at its Cupertino, California, campus, Apple (AAPL) is widely expected to introduce a “mixed reality” headset that offers both virtual reality and augmented reality, a technology that overlays virtual images on live video of the real world.The highly anticipated release of an AR/VR headset would be Apple’s biggest hardware product launch since the debut of the Apple Watch in 2015. It could signal a new era for the company and potentially revolutionize how millions interact with computers and the world around them.But the headset is just one of many announcements expected at the developers event. Apple will also show off a long list of software updates that will shape how people use its most popular devices, including the iPhone and Apple Watch.Apple may also tease how it plans to incorporate AI into m...

Chuck Todd leaving NBC political panel show ‘Meet the Press’ and being replaced by Kristen Welker

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

By DAVID BAUDER (AP Media Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Chuck Todd said on Sunday that he’ll be leaving “Meet the Press” after a tumultuous near-decade of moderating the NBC political panel show, to be replaced in the coming months by Kristen Welker.Todd, 51, told viewers that “I’ve watched too many friends and family let work consume them before it was too late” and that he’d promised his family he wouldn’t do that.Todd has often been an online punching bag for critics, including Donald Trump, during a polarized time, and there were rumors that his time at the show would be short when its executive producer was reassigned at the end of last summer, but NBC gave no indication this was anything other than Todd’s decision. It’s unclear when Todd’s last show will be, but he told viewers that this would be his final summer.“I leave feeling concerned about this moment in history but reassured by the standards we’...

No breakthrough in NATO-Turkey talks about Sweden joining

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made no breakthrough on Sunday in talks about Sweden’s membership in the military organization with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with officials from the two countries to meet in just over a week to try to bridge their differences.NATO wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and other allied leaders meet in Lithuania on July 11-12, but Turkey and Hungary have yet to endorse the move. All 31 member countries must ratify a candidate’s accession protocol for it to join the trans-Atlantic alliance.Turkey’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient on terror organizations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt. Hungary has also delayed its approval, but the reasons why haven’t been made publicly clear.“President Erdogan and I agreed today that the permanent joint mechanism should meet again in the week starting on ...

Yankees rave about another ridiculous Aaron Judge catch: ‘What a blessing to have him on my team’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

LOS ANGELES — With the Yankees up, 5-3, and a runner on first in the eighth inning, the Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez ripped a Michael King sinker to right field on Saturday.The ball looked destined for a hit against the wall at Dodger Stadium, but a racing Aaron Judge tracked it down — and then crashed into the barrier that doubled as the door to the Yankees’ bullpen. Judge stumbled through the gate as it flew open, but he kept control of the ball and prevented momentum from shifting in what became a 6-3 win for the Yankees.“I thought I had a chance off the bat,” Judge, who also homered, said after the game. “But you never know, especially with a guy like J.D. Martinez, who has such great power to the opposite field. I knew it was going to be close to the wall there, but luckily, we were able to come down with it.”Max Muncy, the runner on first, moved up an extra base because the Yankees captain left the field of play through no fault of his...

Far-left protesters clash with German police in Leipzig after trial verdict

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Far-left supporters of a young woman given a lengthy prison sentence for participating in attacks on neo-Nazis and other extremists clashed with police in the eastern German city of Leipzig over the weekend, leaving 50 officers and a number of protesters injured.Saturday’s planned demonstration among backers of Lina E., whose full name wasn’t released because of privacy rules, was banned by the city of Leipzig. Police said that around 1,500 protesters showed up despite the ban.What started out as a largely peaceful rally eventually led to clashes between protesters and police, in which some demonstrators threw stones, bottles and fireworks as police attempted to clear certain areas of the city. Leipzig police chief Rene Demmler said Sunday that 50 officers and an unknown number of protesters were injured, according to German news agency dpa.Authorities are now investigating individuals for serious disturbance of the peace and attacking police officers. Around 30 people...

Halifax-area wildfire 100 per cent contained, but Shelburne fire still out of control

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

HALIFAX — A wildfire that tore through homes and businesses in the Halifax area is 100 per cent contained, but a historic fire in southwestern Nova Scotia remains out of control.The province’s natural resources department says the Tantallon fire northwest of the capital’s city’s downtown is now under control, meaning it is not expected to grow but is not yet out.The blaze broke out a week ago, forcing 16,000 people from their suburban homes and destroying some 200 structures, including 151 homes.In Shelburne County, however, the Barrington Lake wildfire — the largest in the province’s history — continues to burn out of control. The blaze covered 250 square kilometres as of this morning and has destroyed at least 50 homes and cottages.Canadian soldiers and firefighters from abroad are now on the ground helping the effort to extinguish the blazes that have been burning in several parts of Nova Scotia for the past week.This report from The Canadian P...

Four dead in Missouri after car crosses center line, strikes motorcyclists

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

AURORA, Mo. (AP) — Four people died and seven others were seriously injured when a car crossed the center line of a Missouri highway and struck five motorcycles.The accident happened Saturday afternoon on Missouri Route 39 near the southwestern Missouri town of Aurora. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said a Toyota Corolla crossed the center line of the two-lane highway and struck the motorcycles, ejecting the drivers and passengers on each motorcycle. One of the motorcycles caught fire.All four people killed were from Aurora. They were James Olmsted, 59; Kameron Hale, 28; Linda Anderson, 61; and a 17-year-old girl whose name was not released. The patrol said Olmstead and Hale were drivers of motorcycles; Anderson and the girl were passengers.The 51-year-old woman who was driving the Toyota was arrested on suspicion of impairment, the patrol told KYTV-TV. As of Sunday, no charges had been filed.The Associated Press

7 shot, 1 fatally, in Chicago when gunfire erupts amid remembrance for man killed in car crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A 25-year-old woman was fatally shot and six other people were wounded early Sunday when gunfire erupted in Chicago during a remembrance for a man who died in a car crash, police said.A large group of people had gathered about 1 a.m. to mark four years since a man’s fatal crash when there was an altercation and shots rang out, said Deputy Chief Adnardo Gutierrez of the Chicago Police Department, WLS-TV reported.Seven people were wounded and one of them, a 25-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at a hospital, he said. The six other shooting victims were hospitalized, one in critical condition.“They were out there celebrating and then something happened and a verbal altercation occurred and somebody began shooting, or multiple people began shooting,” Gutierrez said at a Sunday briefing.He said it’s still under investigation how many people opened fire, but he said the gunshots were fired by a person or persons who were taking part in the remembrance.Gutierre...

US, Saudi Arabia urge Sudan’s warring parties to agree to a new cease-fire, fighting continues

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:21 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia and the United States urged Sudan’s warring parties Sunday to agree to and “effectively implement” a new cease-fire as fighting showed no signs of abating in the northeastern African nation.Sudan descended into chaos after fighting broke out in mid-April between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.For weeks, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been mediating between the warring parties. On May 21, both countries successfully brokered a temporary cease-fire agreement to help with the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to the war-torn country. Their efforts, however, were dealt a blow when the military announced on Wednesday it would no longer participate in the cease-fire talks held in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.Following the military’s decision, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia said they were suspending the talks “as a result of repeated serious violation...