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Japan supports Sweden’s NATO membership as defense ministers strengthen ties

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense minister expressed his country’s support for Sweden’s NATO membership during talks Wednesday with his Swedish counterpart, as the two sides called for stronger military ties amid shared concern over threats from Russia and China.Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that Sweden sees the need for European countries to reach out to Asian partners because of the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Japan is especially concerned about increasing military cooperation between China and Russia and their joint exercises around Japan. “Sweden and Japan are meeting many of the similar security challenges. Europe is at war once again, and it is obvious to me that the dialogue between the countries in the Euro-Atlantic community and the Indo-Pacific community has to be intensified,” Jonson said.Hamada, in his brief opening remarks at the beginning of the talks, reiterated Japan’s support for Sweden’s NATO membership “while t...

Missouri prosecutor Wesley Bell vies for GOP Sen. Hawley’s seat

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Black Missouri prosecutor who stepped into leadership in the aftermath of protests over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown is running for Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s seat, the Democrat announced Wednesday. In his campaign announcement, 48-year-old St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell criticized Hawley as divisive while touting his own work in Ferguson, where protests over Brown’s death helped spark the national Black Lives Matter movement. Bell, who now lives in Clayton, lived two blocks from the Ferguson Police Department in 2014. As an angry crowd began to surround officers barricaded in the police parking lot the day after unarmed, Black 18-year-old Brown’s shooting, Bell and a small group of other Black leaders got in the middle and urged calm.Bell at the time worked as a municipal judge and attorney, and his father was a police officer. He has said he understood both sides.“When I faced chaos in Ferguson...

Groundbreaking held for Cambodia’s second expressway, linking capital to Vietnam

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the country’s second expressway, which will link the capital, Phnom Penh, to the eastern border with Vietnam.The road to Bavet city in Svay Rieng province, a total length of 135 kilometers (84 miles), is projected to take 48 months to construct and cost $1.35 billion. It is a project of China Bridge and Road Corp., which is building it under a 50-year build-operate-transfer contract.The road is Cambodia’s second expressway after the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, which opened last year and connects the capital with the country’s main port on the Gulf of Thailand.China is Cambodia’s biggest investor and closest political partner, whose assistance largely underpins the Southeast Asian nation’s economy.Speaking at Wednesday’s ceremony, Hun Sen praised the expressway for being part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, its worldwide infrastructure de...

From swords to fishing lures to “sprinklers,” MLB celebrations have become full-scale productions

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — There are very few things that make Scott Bonnett panic.Spending the last 15 years making sure the Pittsburgh Pirates have whatever they need whenever they need it has taught the longtime equipment manager the importance of being prepared for anything.Well, almost anything.Bonnett found himself in the dugout in Seattle late last month watching Andrew McCutchen round third following a leadoff home run against the Mariners when joy was quickly replaced by panic. The pathologically meticulous Bonnett scanned the end of the bench looking not for a helmet or a glove or pine tar but … a rubber sword and a black suit jacket that looks like it got attacked by an overzealous tailor with an affinity for patches.Welcome to major league baseball in 2023, where an ever-increasing number of homers and big hits aren’t met with simple fist bumps or forearm bashes but a full-on production.In Pittsburgh, they swashbuckle. You know, as Pirates do. In Minnesota, the fish. ...

Canadians want revenge on Paul Bernardo, but that’s not how prison works: ex-official

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

One of the architects of the law that governs Canada’s prison system says it’s understandable people want revenge on killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo, but that’s not what the prison system is designed for.Mary Campbell also says it is regrettable the Correctional Service of Canada has not been more transparent in how it handled the matter — which the law allows it to be.Campbell, a lawyer who retired from her role as director-general of the corrections and criminal justice directorate in the Public Safety Department in 2013, said that without question, Bernardo’s crimes were horrific.Broadly speaking, the corrections system has a mandate to rehabilitate offenders.Politicians from all parties and levels of government have decried Bernardo’s transfer from a maximum-security penitentiary to a medium-security prison in Quebec.News of the transfer was confirmed last week by the lawyer for the families of two of his victims, Kristen French and Les...

New York City goes after Hyundai, Kia after security flaw leads to wave of social media fueled theft

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

New York City has filed a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia, joining a host of other cities beset by a social media fueled wave of car thefts due to a flaw that made some car models highly susceptible to theft.Viral how-to videos on TikTok and other sites show how to start the cars using only USB cables and a screwdriver. The reason is that some models sold by Hyundai and Kia in the U.S. came without engine immobilizers, a standard feature on most cars since the 1990s that prevent the engine from starting unless the key is present.The lawsuit, which was filed with the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York late Tuesday, alleges that Hyundai Motor America and Kia America Inc. failed to keep up with other automakers by not adopting immobilizer technology that ensured car ignitions could not be started without their keys.“Hyundai’s and Kia’s business decisions to reduce costs, and thereby boost profits, by foregoing common anti-theft technology have resulted in an...

US Balkan envoy urges Kosovo and Serbia to deescalate tensions or jeopardize progress toward EU

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A U.S. envoy for the Balkans urged Kosovo and Serbia on Wednesday to deescalate simmering ethnic tensions in the former Serbian province, or both states could jeopardize their proclaimed goal of one day joining the European Union. Gabriel Escobar and EU mediator Miroslav Lajcak have been holding talks with the Serbian and Kosovo leaders on how to resume negotiations between the two former wartime foes. Tensions flared anew late last month in Kosovo, including violent clashes between Kosovo police and NATO-led peacekeepers on one side and local Serbs on the other, leaving dozens injured on both sides.“The European Union, with full support of the United States, has made it very clear that this is a European process. The dialogue and mediation is a European process,” Escobar told reporters in Belgrade, “Turning their back in the process will be turning their back on Europe, with all the consequences that it entails in the failure of closer integration and a clos...

Germany alarmed by detention of Vietnam climate activist, warns on coal phase-out pact with Hanoi

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government said Wednesday that it is concerned by the recent detention of a prominent environmental campaigner in Vietnam, warning that a recent multi-billion-dollar deal to help the country phase out coal use requires the involvement of civil society activists.Hoang Thi Minh Hong was detained by police in Ho Chi Minh City last week and held on a temporary order charged with tax evasion, the United Nations Human Rights Office said, citing credible sources. It said Hoang is the fifth prominent environmental activist arrested in Vietnam for alleged tax evasion in the last two years.Germany’s Foreign Ministry said the arrests of Hoang and others “are an alarming signal for civil society actors across the country, as well as for environmental and climate protection.”“We also view the arrest critically with regard to the upcoming implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) agreed between Vietnam and the G7 countries, Denmark and Norway,”...

Man shot to death in Oak Brook: police

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

OAK BROOK, Ill. — A man was found shot to death inside a vehicle in Oak Brook.Around 12:05 a.m. Wednesday, police said the department received a 911 call of shots being fired into a vehicle near 22nd Street and Camden Court.Upon arrival, emergency personnel discovered a man with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.No one is in custody. Police say the shooting appears to be an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public. 4 women critical after crash involving semi on South Side This case is under investigation and no other information is currently available. Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Sergeant Jason Wood at 630-368-8742.

Liam Hendriks gets a big first in return to White Sox on Tuesday

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 14:55:56 GMT

NEW YORK — While the last eight days have included a number of firsts for the closer after his return to the White Sox having beaten cancer, there was something special about the one on Tuesday.That's because it's what Liam Hendriks does best, and got to do it once again for the first time against the Yankees. He was brought in by manager Pedro Grifol in a save situation for the first time since his return to the team on May 29 after beating Stage IV non-Hodgskin's lymphoma on Tuesday against the Yankees. Despite one bad pitch that allowed a run to come home, Hendriks got the job done, as he held onto the White Sox lead in a 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium. ‘Extremely surreal’: Liam & Kristi Hendriks discuss White Sox return – and effort to help others beat cancer It was his first save attempt of the year and his first completed save since October 3, 2022, when he pitched a shutout ninth inning in a win over the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field. Entering the inning with a two-run le...