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NATO chief tells Turkey’s Erdogan that ‘the time has come’ to let Sweden join the alliance

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he has told Turkey’s president that “the time has come” to let Sweden become a member of the military alliance.Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not yet formally approved Sweden’s accession bid.Stoltenberg told The Associated Press that he urged Turkey to finalize the process as he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.“I met with President Erdogan this morning and I reiterated my message that the time has come to finalize the accession process for Sweden,” he said.Turkey has delayed ratification for more than a year, accusing Sweden of not taking Turkey’s security concerns seriously enough, including its fight against Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers to be security threats.An apparent breakthrough happened at a NATO summit in July when Erdogan said he would submit accession documents to Parli...

Vacuum tycoon Dyson loses a libel case against a UK newspaper for a column on his support of Brexit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Billionaire vacuum cleaner tycoon James Dyson lost a libel lawsuit Friday against the Daily Mirror for a column that suggested he was a hypocrite who “screwed” Britain by moving his company’s headquarters to Singapore after supporting the U.K.’s breakup with the European Union.A High Court judge in London said the article was opinion and rejected Dyson’s claims that it was a “vicious and vitriolic” personal attack that damaged his reputation and harmed his philanthropic work encouraging young people to become engineers.Mirror columnist Brian Reade wrote that Dyson had “championed Vote Leave due to the economic opportunities it would bring to British industry before moving his global head office to Singapore.”Dyson, 76, who is listed as the fifth-richest person in the U.K. by The Sunday Times, advocated in support of Brexit in 2016, arguing that it would create more wealth and jobs by being outside the EU.In the column, Reade pretended to address child...

New York Times report says Israel knew about Hamas attack over a year in advance

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military was aware of Hamas ‘ plan to launch an attack on Israeli soil over a year before the devastating Oct. 7 operation that killed hundreds of people, The New York Times reported Friday.It was the latest in a series of signs that top Israeli commanders either ignored or played down warnings that Hamas was plotting the attack, which triggered a war against the Islamic militant group that has devastated the Gaza Strip.The Times said Israeli officials were in possession of a 40-page battle plan, code-named “Jericho Wall,” that detailed a hypothetical Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities. It was unclear how the document was obtained by Israel, but the article said that it had been translated — indicating it may have been in Arabic and directly intercepted from Hamas. The Israeli military declined to comment on the report, saying it was “currently focused on eliminating the threat from the terrorist organization Hamas.”“Questions of this ...

In Romania, tens of thousands attend a military parade to mark Great Union Day

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Tens of thousands of people turned out in Romania’s capital on Friday to watch a military parade that included troops from NATO allies to mark the country’s national day.The annual parade at the Arc de Triomphe in Bucharest brought together thousands of marching soldiers as dozens of combat jets and helicopters flew overhead. Many spectators waved Romanian tricolor flags: red, yellow, and blue.Friday’s ceremony celebrated the 105th anniversary of Great Union Day of 1918 when modern-day Romania was formed after its unification with the neighboring regions of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina. After communism ended in 1989, Dec. 1 was declared a national holiday to commemorate the ethnic Romanians in Alba Iulia who declared a union of Transylvania with Romania.In a reception held at Cotroceni Palace after the parade, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis described the day as a holiday “that brings Romanians together, no matter where we are, reconnectin...

AP Exclusive: America’s Black attorneys general discuss race, politics and the justice system

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The American legal system is facing a crisis of trust in communities around the country, with people of all races and across the political spectrum.For many, recent protests against police brutality called attention to longstanding discrepancies in the administration of justice. For others, criticism of perceived conflicts of interest in the judiciary, as well as aspersions cast by former President Donald Trump and others on the independence of judges and law enforcement, have further damaged faith in the rule of law among broad swaths of the public.Yet many Black attorneys understood the disparate impact the legal system can have on different communities long before the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police. Many pursued legal careers and entered that same system to improve it, with some rising to one of its most influential roles, the top enforcement official: attorney general.There is a record number of Black attorneys general, se...

Santos’s fate hangs in limbo as expulsion vote nears

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

For Rep. George Santos, the clock is ticking dangerously close to midnight.The House is set to vote Friday on a resolution to expel the embattled New York Republican, marking the third and most serious attempt to boot Santos from Congress amid his mounting legal and ethical troubles. The first-term Long Islander easily survived the first two votes aimed at closing the book on his short congressional career. But momentum for his removal has been building on both sides of the aisle following the release of a damning Ethics Committee report last month, raising the real prospect that this week will mark the final chapter in a Capitol Hill saga that has captivated Washington since even before Santos was sworn in.It remains unclear if Santos will also survive the third expulsion measure, which would require the support of scores of Republicans to meet the high threshold — two-thirds of the House chamber — to be successful. But the controversy has created an early heada...

'Mass casualty event' halted after man makes threats toward Tesla event, report says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just one day before Tesla’s Thursday Cybertruck delivery event a man was arrested and accused of making online threats aimed at the company’s big day.According to the arrest report, Paul Ryan Overeem, from Orlando, Florida, was arrested on a charge related to making threats on Instagram.Court documents said on Nov. 10, the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) received an email notification for a suspicious activity report from Tesla.That report highlighted messages sent in a group chat from an Instagram user. Some of the messages in the report said phrases like, “I sure am crazy though,” “I plan on killing people,” “I wanna die,” “I need to be stopped” and “If I’m saying I’m gonna kill people then you should take this seriously.”According to the report, law enforcement used the Flock Safety camera search to confirm a sighting of the 2015 black Chevy Tahoe registered to Overeem, which confirmed a sighting on Nov. 28 on Highway 290 in Sunset Valley.Cellular data ...

Peppermint Parkway lights up COTA for 4th holiday season

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Circuit of the Americas is glowing for the holiday season. Austin's premier, multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue turned on its 6 million lights this week, transforming into Peppermint Parkway for the fourth year now. Peppermint Parkway began in 2020 to "bring more holiday magic to Central Texans and give back to the local community," according to a release from COTA. During the event, COTA is illuminated by millions of holiday lights and plays host to fun, holiday-themed experiences.This year, the event includes a drive-thru experience to see the holiday lights on Tunnel Road, an opportunity to drive on the track, and the iconic 25-story Observation Tower is lit up in candy cane colors.The Peppermint Plaza is also filled with holiday shopping, themed food and drink, rides, character meet and greets, and more.Ticket details and pricing can be found online. Peppermint Parkway is returning to Circuit of the Americas for the 2022 holiday season. (Courtesy: C...

TxDOT wants families to check out equipment at major project

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Department of Transportation said Thursday it wants to give families an up-close view of the equipment that is building a major highway project in southwest Austin. The agency will host a touch-a-truck event Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Colorado River Constructors which is the lower parking lot of the former ACC Pinnacle Campus at 7748 US 290. TxDOT said the event will display the machines used the build roads, bridges, walls and shared-use paths along the Oak Hill Parkway project.Local first responder vehicles will also be on display, including a fire truck and ambulance, according to TxDOT. People with the Oak Hill Parkway project will be there to talk about the equipment and the project, TxDOT said. Nov. 2022: Traffic pattern change coming soon to Oak Hill construction project Construction at the "Y" at U.S. 290 and State Highway 71 broke ground in July 2021. At that time, TxDOT said the project would improve safety and mobility along six miles...

Firefighters fall from 2nd floor battling blaze in downtown Los Angeles area

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:19 GMT

Two firefighters are OK after falling through the second floor of a two-story office building that erupted in flames in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles Friday morning.Crews responded to a fire burning outside the structure in the 1000 block of West Sunset Boulevard around 1 a.m.Firefighters respond to an office building blaze in Echo Park on Dec. 1, 2023. (OnScene.TV)The flames eventually extended into the building, believed to house medical offices, and traveled to the second floor, the Los Angeles Fire Department stated in a news alert. "There was a partial floor collapse on the 2nd floor which impacted two firefighters," the Fire Department posted. The firefighters were not injured but were taken to a local hospital as a precaution, LAFD Assistant Chief Steve Hissong said.Nearly 70 firefighters continued to battle the blaze aggressively and extinguished the fire in just under an hour, the fire department stated. Arson investigators were sent to the scene. “The arson inv...