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North Korea’s leader is in Russia to meet Putin, with both locked in standoffs with the West

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s Kim Jong Un rolled into Russia on an armored train Tuesday to see President Vladimir Putin, a rare meeting between isolated leaders driven together by their need for support in escalating standoffs with the West.Kim is expected to seek economic aid and military technology for his impoverished country, and, in an unusual twist, appears to have something Putin desperately needs: munitions for Russia’s grueling war in Ukraine.This meeting is a chance for the North Korean leader to get around crippling U.N. sanctions and years of diplomatic isolation. For Putin, it’s an opportunity to refill ammunition stores that the war has drained.Any arms deal with North Korea would violate the sanctions, which Russia supported in the past.North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim boarded his personal train bound for Russia on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by members of the ruling party, government and military.His final destination is u...

Stock market today: Wall Street slips ahead of new data on inflation and a big week for Big Tech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street drifted modestly lower early Tuesday ahead of a highly anticipated update on U.S. consumer prices later this week. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.2% before the bell, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%.The Federal Reserve is weighing whether to keep raising interest rates steady in its effort to get inflation back to 2%. On Wednesday, the U.S. government will offer the latest monthly update on prices consumers are paying across the economy, and the forecast is they were 3.6% higher in August than a year earlier.“Upcoming U.S. data will be crucial leading up to the Federal Reserve’s decision next week,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said.The Fed has already hiked its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades, and it has said it will make upcoming moves based on how inflation and other parts of the economy perform. Inflation has come down from last year’s peak above 9%, but economists warn the last bit of improvement to get to th...

Author Sandra Cisneros receives Holbrooke award for work that helps promote peace and understanding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Author Sandra Cisneros is this year’s winner of the Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award, honoring writers who help foster “understanding between and among people.”Cisneros, best known for her million-selling novel “The House on Mango Street,” has often drawn upon her Mexican heritage and her childhood community in her own work and supported other writers through her nonprofits the Macondo Foundation and the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation.The Holbrooke award, named for the late U.S. diplomat, is presented by the Ohio-based Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation. In 1995, Holbrooke helped broker the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the Bosnian War, a conflict Cisneros has thought of often.“I witnessed a war’s effects personally with the 40-year friendship of my hermana-amiga (sister-friend) from Sarajevo. And what I learned was this; the casualties of a war are not simply those killed in warfare. Civilians and unborn genera...

Rubiales summoned by Spanish judge investigating his kiss of player at Women’s World Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Luis Rubiales, the former president of Spain’s soccer federation, has been ordered to give testimony to a Spanish judge investigating his kiss of a player at the Women’s World Cup.Judge Francisco de Jorge ordered Rubiales to answer his questions on Friday at Spain’s National Court in Madrid, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.Rubiales kissed Spain forward Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia. He said she had consented to the kiss, but Hermoso has denied that.Spanish state prosecutors formally accused Rubiales last week of alleged sexual assault and an act of coercion when, according to Hermoso, he pressured her to speak out in his defense immediately after the scandal erupted.Rubiales announced on Sunday that he was resigning from his post, from which he had already been provisionally suspended by FIFA.De Jorge is carrying out the preliminary invest...

The final battle in the return to office war?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

This summer, a whole bunch of companies—including, ironically, Zoom—announced return-to-office mandates, with few exceptions. Some of those companies have since backtracked, while others have held firm. This is, however, the third September to feature these attempts to lure employees back to downtown office buildings, and it hasn’t really worked so far.Dr. Catherine Connelly, a professor of Human Resources & Management at McMaster University, says that firing people for non-compliance with back-to-work policies may not be in a company’s best interest. “You will lose your best people, because they have options anywhere,” says Connelly.Will tougher measures get it done where snacks and perks have failed? Will anything convince employees who have options to give up their work-life balance for a pointless commute? What have we learned about in-person vs. remote work over the past few years, anyway? Is there really any reason this fight is still going?You can subscribe to The B...

Court renews detention of 5 Israelis in Cyprus police custody after U.K. woman accuses them of rape

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

PARALIMNI, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus court on Tuesday extended the detention of five Israelis for another six days after a British woman accused them of gang-raping her in a hotel room during a pool party in the coastal resort town of Ayia Napa.Famagusta District Court Judge Petros Theophilou ruled that there’s “reasonable suspicion” that the Israeli nationals may be implicated in the case and should remain in detention until police can complete gathering more evidence, including checking their cellphones for video or images relating to the incident.The suspects — three aged 19 and the other two 20 — are expected to plead to charges including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and abduction at their next court appearance.Yiannis Habaris, a lawyer for three of the defendants and lawyers from the firm Gabriel Kaimakliotis representing the other two, said they had no objections to the remand renewal.Two of the suspects weren’t present in the courtroom because they were in isolation r...

Chicago fire truck crashes into home on South Side; 2 displaced

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

CHICAGO — Several firefighters are hospitalized after a Chicago fire truck crashed into a home on the city's South Side.The crash happened just before 10 p.m. Monday at the intersection of 77th Street and Damen Avenue in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.According to police, the fire engine was traveling south of Damen when the driver lost control. The fire truck crashed into the side of a home.The two people inside the home at the time of the crash were uninjured. However, they are now displaced.Five firefighters were transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition. Joliet rodeo accused of animal abuse Police have not said what caused the driver to lose control of the truck.

1-month-old girl dies after being found unresponsive on West Side: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

CHICAGO — A death investigation is underway after a baby girl was found unresponsive on the city's West Side.Police said the 1-month-old girl was discovered unresponsive in the 1400 block of South Sawyer in the North Lawndale neighborhood. She was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Chicago fire truck crashes into home on South Side; 2 displaced Pending autopsy results, Area Four Detectives will conduct a death investigation.

Red Cross declares national blood shortage 'in wake of back-to-back climate disasters'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- The national blood supply has reached critically low levels, the American Red Cross announced Monday.The organization is in urgent need of blood donations "in (the) wake of back-to-back climate disasters," the Red Cross wrote in a news release.According to the Red Cross, its national blood supply levels have dropped nearly 25% since August. This could threaten the care of patients with cancer or sickle cell disease, or anyone with an emergency need for blood. Person in Pasco County among 4 deaths related to Hurricane Idalia, officials say "Back-to-back months of worsening climate-driven disasters have further strained the blood supply, resulting in blood drive cancelations and reducing much needed blood and platelet donations in affected areas," the release stated. Hurricane Idalia caused more than 700 units of blood and platelets to go uncollected, according to the Red Cross. This exacerbated the 30,000-unit shortfall caused by low donor turnout in August. “...

Texas' State of Education: 'It's not about us'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:40 GMT

Editor's Note: Watch the State of Education special on KXAN at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Read a sneak peek of what to expect below. AUSTIN (KXAN) – State and school leaders from across Texas speak with KXAN Investigative Reporter Kelly Wiley and Education Reporter Nabil Remadna about some of the most important challenges facing our schools: from the governor’s push for Education Savings Accounts to school safety in the wake of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting.The panel includes veteran Del Valle ISD teacher Cristela Rocha, rural Rockdale ISD principal Cheyenne Miller, Pflugerville ISD Superintendent Dr. Douglas Killian, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Mandy Drogin, and from the Capital: Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin; Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R- New Boston; and Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie. School SafetyThe mass shooting at Robb Elementary sparked action inside the Texas legislature – leading to hearings to figure out what happened and several bills to address gun violence on school c...