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German government presents 1st national security strategy to address growing threats

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government said Russia is the greatest security threat “for the foreseeable future” and advocated a balanced approach to China as it unveiled its first comprehensive national security strategy on Wednesday.The strategy was part of an effort to address what Germany viewed as growing military, economic and social risks to the country.Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the new strategy, which his three-party governing coalition pledged to draw up when it took office at the end of 2021, has gained added importance since Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has heightened anxiety in Germany about the preparedness of its own armed forces, prompting Scholz to announce a “turning point” on military spending. It has also raised questions about how Germany responds to hybrid threats from disinformation, cyberattacks and economic pressure from major powers such as China.“Three things are important,” Scholz told reporters at a news conference in Berlin, alongsi...

Russia steps up aerial strikes on Ukraine, killing at least 6 amid Kyiv counteroffensive

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa and shelled the eastern Donetsk region early Wednesday, killing at least six people and damaging dozens of homes, regional Ukrainian officials said.Russian forces have stepped up aerial strikes in their nearly 16-month war, a Ukrainian military spokesman said, while the country’s armed forces have reported limited gains in the early stages of a counteroffensive to take back the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory that is under Russian control. In Odesa, three food warehouse employees were killed in a strike that also damaged homes, shops and cafes in the city’s downtown, the regional administration said on Facebook. Another 13 people were injured.Search teams were looking for possible survivors under the rubble of the warehouse, it said.The attack on the port city, launched from the Black Sea, was the second in a week and involved four Kalibr cruise missiles, three...

Police investigating spray attack in Japanese department store restroom, suspect at large

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Police in the western Japanese city of Osaka said Wednesday they are searching for a suspect who sprayed an unknown liquid on several women inside a department store, causing pain to their faces and eyes.One of the victims was 85-year-old woman who was sprayed inside the ladies room on the 9th floor of the Hankyu Department Store in Osaka, a local police official said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. The woman complained of pain in the cheek and was taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.At least six other people also had the unidentified liquid sprayed on their faces and had eye sores and other minor irritation, but none of them was seriously injured, police said.Police are searching for the suspect, believed to be in their 30s. Kyodo News reported that the suspect is believed to be a woman.Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press

It might seem tempting to not pay your student loans. Here’s why that’s a bad idea

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — After three years, the pandemic-era freeze on student loan payments will end in late August.It might seem tempting to just keep not making payments, but the consequences can be severe, including a hit to your credit score and exclusion from future aid and benefits.More than 40 million Americans will have to start making federal student loan payments again at the end of the summer under the terms of a debt ceiling deal approved by Congress.Millions are also waiting to find out whether the Supreme Court will allow President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan to go ahead. But payments will resume regardless of what justices decide.That means tough decisions for many borrowers, especially those in already-difficult financial situations.Experts say that delinquency and bankruptcy should be options of last resort, and that deferment and forbearance — which pause payments, though interest may continue to accrue — are often better in the short term. WHAT HAPPENS IF I ...

Edmunds Compares: 2023 Kia EV6 GT vs Tesla Model Y Performance

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

The electric car market is speeding up as consumer interest in EVs grows and a steady stream of new models arrive to fill different niches. Speed is the operative word when it comes to describing the 2023 Kia EV6 GT and Tesla Model Y Performance. These vehicles blend the acceleration and agility of a sports car with the packaging of an electric SUV. They also maintain a practical side thanks to their roomy second rows and a long roster of tech features. The automotive experts at Edmunds put these performance-themed EVs to the test to determine which is the better buy. PERFORMANCEThe Tesla Model Y Performance name provides an obvious hint that speed won’t be in short supply. The Performance trim sits above the base and Long Range versions of Tesla’s most popular model. Tesla doesn’t provide official horsepower ratings for the Model Y but the output is certainly prodigious. At Edmunds’ test track, the all-wheel-drive Model Y Performance needed only 3.7 seconds to zing its way from zer...

Russian court sends an associate of Kremlin foe Navalny to prison for 7 1/2 years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Russia on Wednesday convicted an associate of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on extremism charges and sentenced her to 7 1/2 years in prison, the latest step in a yearslong crackdown by the Kremlin on opposition activists. Lilia Chanysheva, who used to head Navalny’s office in the Russian region of Bashkortostan, was found guilty of calling for extremism, forming an extremist group and founding an organization that violates rights. The charges against Chanysheva, who was arrested in November 2021, stem from a court ruling earlier that year that designated Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his regional offices as extremist organizations. In addition to the prison sentence, Chanysheva was fined 400,000 rubles (about $4,700). Her trial was conducted behind closed doors and she has maintained her innocence, rejecting the charges as politically motivated. Navalny himself is facing a new trial on extremism charges that c...

Abortion rights protests planned across Poland after death of pregnant woman

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Women’s rights advocates have called for protests in dozens of Polish cities on Wednesday under the slogan “Stop killing us,” after a woman in her fifth month of pregnancy died of sepsis, the latest such death since a tightening of Poland’s abortion law.The protests demanding a liberalization of the abortion law are scheduled to take place in the capital and nearly 50 other cities in the afternoon and evening.The 33-year-old woman died last month in the John Paul II hospital in Nowy Targ in southern Poland. It is a hospital in a deeply conservative region of the mostly Catholic nation. The hospital contains relics of the late Polish pope and Polish media have reported that it never performs abortions on principle.The woman, Dorota Lalik, arrived there after her waters broke and was told to lie with her legs up, as the medics hoped her fluids would be reconstituted. She developed sepsis and died three days later on May 24.Under the current law, women...

Greece: 32 migrants dead, more than 100 rescued after fishing vessel capsizes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — At least 32 people have died off the coast of southern Greece after a fishing boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized and sank, authorities said Wednesday.A large search and rescue operation was launched in the area. Authorities said 104 people have been rescued so far following the nighttime incident some 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of Greece’s southern Peloponnese region. Four of the survivors were hospitalized with symptoms of hypothermia. It was unclear how many passengers might remain missing at sea after the 32 bodies were recovered, the Greek coast guard said.Six coast guard vessels, a navy frigate, a military transport plane, an air force helicopter, several private vessels and a drone from the European Union border protection agency, Frontex, were taking part in the ongoing search.The Italy-bound boat is believed to have sailed from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya. The Italian coast guard first alerted Greek authorities and Frontex about the ...

Scottish charity Mary’s Meals wins Spain’s Princess of Asturias award

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Scottish charity group Mary’s Meals won a prestigious Spanish prize on Wednesday for its work feeding schoolchildren facing extreme poverty across the globe.The jury that decides the Princess of Asturias Awards gave Mary’s Meals its Concord Prize for “its exemplary dedication to helping resolve some of the world’s most pressing problems.”The charity, based in the Scottish village of Dalmally, started as Scottish International Relief in 1992 before taking on its current name in 2002 with its first school meals program in Malawi. It now helps more than 2.4 million schoolchildren eat every day in 18 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.The 50,000-euro ($54,000) Concord Prize is one of eight awards, including for the arts, sciences and sports, handed out annually by the foundation named for Spanish Crown Princess Leonor.Previous winners of the Concord Prize include Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, Spanish chef Jo...

Chicago Park District expected to vote on Riot Fest permit as some object

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 11:14:35 GMT

CHICAGO — Riot Fest is expected to take over Chicago’s Douglass Park in September. And while the event is expected to draw in huge crowds, people in the neighborhoods surrounding the park say they don’t want it to happen there anymore.On Wednesday, the Chicago Park District will vote on a $705,000 provisional permit for the festival.Close to 50,000 people are expected in the North Lawndale community when the festival takes place September 15- 17. Acts this year will include The Cure, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. See the 2023 Riot Fest lineup Riot Fest has been held at the park for the last eight years but people have complained and say the millions made on the event doesn’t get reinvested into the community.Community members have also complained about the conditions Douglass Park facilities are left in after the fest is over.Some also have issues with the noise a large festival like Riot Fest can bring to the neighborhood. Some people say this type of festival with it...