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China’s Xi to meet Putin as Beijing seeks bolder global role

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday, an apparent show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin amid sharpening East-West tensions over the war in Ukraine and the latest sign of Beijing’s emboldened diplomatic ambitions.Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is expected to dominate Putin and Xi’s discussions. China has refused to condemn Moscow’s aggression and sought to project itself as neutral in the conflict even while Beijing declared last year that it had a “no-limits” friendship with Russia. Both China and Russia announced Xi’s trip to Moscow on Friday. The visit offers a diplomatic shot in the arm for Putin as Western leaders have sought to isolate him over the war, which is now in its 13th month. China’s refusal to condemn Russia while denouncing Western sanctions and accusing NATO and the United States of provoking Putin’s military action has irked Washington as it competes with Beijin...

Cambodia celebrates return of ‘priceless’ stolen artifacts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Centuries-old cultural artifacts that had been illegally smuggled out from Cambodia were welcomed home Friday at a celebration led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who offered thanks for their return and appealed for further efforts to retrieve such stolen treasures.Many, if not all, of the items displayed at the government’s offices Friday had been looted from Cambodia during periods of war and instability, including in the 1970s when the country was under the brutal rule of the communist Khmer Rouge. Through unscrupulous art dealers, they made their way into the hands of private collectors and museums around the world.A statement from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts described the returned artifacts as embodying the “priceless cultural heritage and the souls of generations of Khmer ancestors.”The statement credited the items’ return to “tremendous cooperation and support” from public and private institutions, national and international experts, and close...

US envoy ‘optimistic’ about upcoming Serbia-Kosovo summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A United States envoy of Friday urged Serbia and Kosovo to implement a European Union-facilitated agreement on normalizing their relations, calling it the best option to preserve peace and security in the region. Envoy Gabriel Escobar was in Pristina ahead of Saturday’s summit meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Ohrid, North Macedonia.“We think that this European proposal, facilitated through the EU dialog, offers a tremendous opportunity to create a peaceful, sustainable and productive relationship between two countries, two important countries of the region,” Escobar said after talks with Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani.Last month in Brussels, Vucic and Kurti gave their tacit approval to the EU plan to end months of political crisis and help improve ties. The summit will tackle the most contentious issue on which the two sides fundamentally disagree – the recognition of Kosovo’s stat...

Elite officers in Israel’s military plan Sunday walkout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of elite officers in Israel’s military reserves say they will not show up for duty starting on Sunday in protest over the government’s plans to overhaul the judicial system. The firm date is the first time set for an unprecedented political protest within the security services. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial legal overhaul has sparked weeks of mass protests across Israel amidst a deteriorating security situation in the occupied West Bank and rising tensions with Palestinians. In two separate letters published Thursday, about 750 elite officers from the Air Force, special forces, and Mossad threatened to stop volunteering for duty. The typically taboo talk underlines how deeply the overhaul plan has divided Israel and is now tearing at what Israeli Jews see as their most respected institution, the military.After completing three years of mandatory service, many Israelis continue in the reserves until their 40s, when service bec...

Protests erupt in France over Macron’s retirement age push

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Protesters disrupted traffic in Paris on Friday as angry critics, political opponents and labor unions around France blasted President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to force a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote.Opposition parties were expected to start procedures later Friday for a no-confidence vote on the government led by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The vote would likely take place early next week. Macron ordered Borne on Thursday to make use of a special constitutional power to push the highly unpopular pension bill through without a vote in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament. His calculated risk infuriated opposition lawmakers, many citizens and unions. Thousands gathered in protest Thursday at the Place de la Concorde, which faces the National Assembly building. As night fell, police officers charged the demonstrators in waves to clear the Place. Small groups then moved through nearby...

Will Americans end up footing the bill for bank failures?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government’s response to the failure of two large banks has already involved hundreds of billions of dollars. So will ordinary Americans end up paying for it, one way or another? And what will the price tag be?It could be months before the answers are fully known. The Biden administration said it will guarantee uninsured deposits at both banks. The Federal Reserve announced a new lending program for all banks that need to borrow money to pay for withdrawals.On Thursday, the Fed provided the first glimpse of the scale of the response: It said banks had borrowed about $300 billion in emergency funding in the past week, with nearly half that amount going to holding companies for the two failed banks to pay depositors. The Fed did not say how many other banks borrowed money and added that it expects the loans to be repaid.The goal is to prevent a broadening panic in which customers rush to pull out so much money that even healthy banks buckle. That scenario w...

WGN Morning News is at Bourbon Street for St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza!

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

CHICAGO — The WGN Morning News team is taking their show on the road Friday for a St. Patrick's Day Extravaganza!Join us for a LIVE broadcast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. at 115 Bourbon Street, located at 3359 West 115th Street, in Merrionette Park.Lots of fun is planned from Chicago cops in kilts, the Trinity Irish Dancers, Comedian Pat McGann, The Shannon Rovers, Boy Band Night, the Jesse White Tumblers —  and more! Paul’s list of 6 fun events for the St. Patrick’s Day party Call Bourbon Street at 708-388-8881 to reserve a table.Hope to see you all there!

Bears add 3 more players in free agency Thursday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

LAKE FOREST - Earlier in the day, he was introducing a new crop of free agents to the media at Halas Hall, but Ryan Poles was hardly done adding to his team.As it turns out, he was pretty busy the rest of the day.Before Thursday was over, the general manager signed a running back, a tight end with local ties, along with a defensive lineman to his 2023 squad hoping to make a jump after a 3-14 season in 2022.Another running back is in the fold as the Bears signed D'Onta Foreman to a one-year, $3 million contract after his best season as a pro with the Panthers last fall. He rushed for 914 yards (4.5 per carry) with five touchdowns in 17 games for Carolina, which was easily his best during his five seasons in the NFL.Foreman is on his sixth team in the NFL since the Texans drafted him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, rushing 1,901 yards and ten touchdowns in 43 career NFL games.McHenry native Robert Tonyan is also joining the Bears on a one-year contract as the former McHenry ...

TABC tries to prevent underage drinking during spring break

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — With Spring Break, South by Southwest and Saint Patrick's Day underway today, agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission will be trying to crack down on businesses that sell to minors.The annual underage compliance operations during the month of March are part of an ongoing effort to empower businesses to prevent illegal alcohol sales, including sales to intoxicated persons and customers under the age of 21.According to data from the Texas Department of Transportation, underage drivers accounted for 575 alcohol-related crashes in 2021, including 66 fatal crashes.“The vast majority of underage alcohol-related accidents and fatalities can be prevented simply by cutting off the source of alcohol to the minors,” TABC Executive Director Thomas Graham said. “Our primary goal during this operation is to work with retailers to ensure they have the practices and policies in place to prevent illegal alcohol sales. In the relatively few cases where we observe a violati...

There are nearly 10,000 books banned from Texas prisons. Here's why.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:20:32 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Marshall Project worked for a year to establish a list of books banned in prisons across the U.S. The number of titles banned varies from state to state. Keri Blakinger, a journalist with the nonprofit, found in Rhode Island only 68 books were banned, but in Texas, there were nearly 10,000. Other states were unable to provide any data on which books are banned and others did not keep a list at all. In total, Blakinger found there are 54,000 recorded books incarcerated people across the country cannot access in prisons. Banned Book Library highlights challenged, revoked titles in public libraries, schools "One of the sort of striking trends was how much variation there is," Blakinger told KXAN. "There are some states that have fairly punitive prison systems, some southern states that can be fairly aggressive that actually had fairly small banned book lists," she said. "And then you have Florida that bans somewhere around 20,000." Blakinger said through her work ...