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Germany’s Scholz says he’ll speak to Putin ‘in due course’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was willing to start talking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin again, with relations between the two leaders almost nonexistent as the Kremlin continues its assault on Ukraine. “My last phone call was some time ago,” Scholz said in an interview with the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger published Friday. “But I intend to talk to Putin again in due course,” the chancellor added.The last known phone call between the two leaders took place in December, when they agreed to “stay in touch.” Scholz at the time called for a diplomatic solution to the war, including a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, while Putin said the German supply of weapons to Kyiv was “destructive” and urged Berlin to rethink its approach.In the interview, Scholz said he remained committed to peace talks.“It does not look like the war can be decided on the battlefield,” Scholz said, stressing that the withdrawal o...

Man joins VIP convoy, hugs German chancellor; security breach under investigation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German police have been left red-faced after a member of the public was able to slip into a VIP convoy for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then give him a hearty hug as he prepared to board a plane at Frankfurt Airport.Tabloid newspaper Bild reported Friday that Scholz’s bodyguards only realized their mistake later, and chased the man down.Scholz’s office confirmed the incident, which happened late Wednesday as Scholz made his way back to Berlin following a celebration for the 25th anniversary of the European Central Bank.Nobody was hurt in the incident but an investigation into the security breach has been launched.The Associated Press

Scarred by war, Ukrainian children carry on after losing parents, homes and innocence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — The two children squinted to see through the thick smoke that hung in the air after a deafening blast shook their small home in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.The pair, ages 9 and 10, called out for their father. Only eerie silence followed.Then Olha Hinkina and her brother, Andrii, rushed to the bomb shelter, as they had been taught. When the booms stopped and the smoke cleared, they found their father on the porch — motionless and covered in blood after being struck by a Russian projectile.“Father was killed at seven in the morning,” said Andrii, who now lives in the safer western city of Lviv, near the border with Poland.The two siblings join a generation of Ukrainian children whose lives have been upended by the war. Russia’s full-scale invasion has subjected them to constant bombardment, uprooted millions from their homes and turned many into orphans.Hundreds of kids have been killed. For the survivors, the wide-ranging trauma is certain to leave psycholo...

Japan adopts new sanctions on Russia, criticizes its deal to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday approved additional sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine, including freezing the assets of dozens of individuals and groups and banning exports to Russian military-related organizations.Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters the Cabinet approval shows Japan is in step with the rest of the Group of Seven countries that agreed during their summit in Hiroshima last week to maintain and strengthen sanctions against Russia.He said Japan is committed to working with other G7 countries and the broader international community “to improve the situation” for Ukraine.Matsuno also sharply criticized the signing of a deal between Russia and Belarus on Thursday formalizing the deployment of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons in its ally’s territory as a move that “further escalate tensions.”“As the world’s only country to have suffered nuclear attacks, Japan finds Russia’s threats of nuclear weapons and their use absolutely impermissible,” ...

GOP-led Texas House panel issues 20 impeachment counts against state Attorney General Ken Paxton

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Following years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations, Texas’s Republican Attorney General, Ken Paxton, finds himself on the brink of impeachment, and a GOP-led panel is heading the charge.In an unanimous decision, a Republican-led House investigative committee that spent months quietly looking into Paxton recommended impeaching the state’s top lawyer Thursday on 20 articles, including bribery, unfitness for office and abuse of public trust. The House could vote on the recommendation as soon as Friday. If it impeaches Paxton, he would be forced to leave office immediately. The move sets up what could be a remarkably sudden downfall for one of the GOP’s most prominent legal combatants, who in 2020 asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. Only two officials in Texas’ nearly 200-year history have been impeached. Paxton has been under FBI investigation for years over accusations that he used hi...

Spanish Socialists under pressure in key regional elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain goes to the polls on Sunday for local and regional elections seen as a bellwether for a national vote in December, with the conservative Popular Party steadily gaining ground on the ruling Socialists in key regions.Spain’s 17 regional governments, plus two autonomous cities, have enormous power and budgetary discretion over education, health, housing and policing. Twelve of them and the two cities will be contested on Sunday. Other key battles include the selection of mayors for the country’s two largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona.Polls released on Monday by Spain’s CIS public research institute showed the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, or PSOE, is just 0.3 percentage points ahead of the Popular Party in the regional vote, compared with the 5.14-point gap the party achieved in the last regional election in 2019. Researchers surveyed 4,549 adults across Spain between May 16-18 with a 1.5-point margin of error.Politics professor Sandra León says the...

Chicago Area Drought Intensifies With No Rain in the Forecast; Memorial Day Weekend Outlook...

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

Unseasonably cool in Chicago Thursday—While Winnipeg, Canada reaches 90 degreesContrast the cool weather here thanks to a persistent NE flow off the lake to the 90 degree heat at Winnipeg, Canada.  Only one May 25th in Chicago over the past 20 years has been any cooler: 57 degrees on May 25, 2013.Contrast the cool weather here thanks to a persistent NE flow off the lake to the 90 degree heat at Winnipeg, Canada. Memorial Day Weekend Outlook and beyondA blocking pattern aloft traps the current high pressure over the area well into next week. As its winds, still expected to blow off the lake and keep us cool Friday, weaken in coming days, the air mass will begin to warm in place through the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend.• Warming next week is to take Chicago temps to within striking distance of 90-degrees Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday—away from the lakeshore. • And a modest increase in humidities the back half of next week could lead to some late week showers and t-storms.•...

CCS baseball playoffs: Hillsdale players graduate, then celebrate with a Division V title

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

Hillsdale’s coach William Baroncini needed one more great performance from Nicholas Strezo, and that’s exactly what he got on Thursday night.Strezo had been the unquestioned ace for the Fighting Knights all season, pitching seven complete games for a team that entered the championship matchup against Capuchino one win away from the Central Coast Section Division V title.On the day he and his fellow seniors graduated from the San Mateo school, Strezo pitched a complete-game shutout at Excite Ballpark in San Jose, striking out four as the Fighting Knights ended the night section champions with a 3-0 victory.Hillsdale scored once in the third inning, and then tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Capuchino got eight hits off Strezo, who threw 85 pitches, but the senior found a way to get out of each jam unscathed.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | CCS softball playoffs: Santa Teresa survives TKA rally, advances to Division III final ...

Single family residence in San Jose sells for $2.3 million

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

1296 Norval Way – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 1200 block of Norval Way in San Jose was sold on April 28, 2023. The $2,275,000 purchase price works out to $1,141 per square foot. The house, built in 1965, has an interior space of 1,994 square feet. The property features three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage, and two parking spaces. It sits on an 8,584-square-foot lot, which also has a pool.Additional houses have recently changed hands nearby:On Roycott Way, San Jose, in August 2022, a 1,968-square-foot home was sold for $2,050,000, a price per square foot of $1,042. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.In August 2022, a 3,293-square-foot home on Marlyn Way in San Jose sold for $3,000,000, a price per square foot of $911. The home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.A 2,707-square-foot home on the 1100 block of Roycott Way in San Jose sold in December 2022, for $1,925,000, a price per square foot of $711. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. 

Momentos de terror en un avión de Asiana Airlines: la puerta se abrió mientras seguía en el aire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:16 GMT

(CNN) — La puerta de un avión de Asiana Airlines se abrió cuando se disponía a aterrizar el viernes por la tarde en Daegu, en Corea del Sur, haciendo que el viento azotara la cabina mientras los aterrorizados pasajeros se agarraban a sus reposabrazos, según muestra un video del incidente.Un funcionario de la aerolínea dijo que un hombre de unos 30 años que estaba sentado en el asiento de emergencia parecía haber abierto la puerta cuando el avión estaba a unos 213 metros sobre el suelo y a unos dos o tres minutos de aterrizar en la ciudad ubicada a 240 kilómetros al sur de Seúl.Un total de 200 personas iban a bordo, entre ellas 194 pasajeros, según Asiana Airlines.Según el Departamento de Bomberos de Daegu, 12 personas sufrieron heridas leves por hiperventilación y nueve de ellas han sido enviadas a hospitales de Daegu.El avión fue identificado en el sitio web de seguimiento Flightradar 24 como un Airbus 321.El avión realizaba un vuelo de la isla de Jeju, frente a la costa sur ...