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Lucas: Secret negotiations nothing new for John Kerry

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

Memo to U.S. Rep James Comer: John Kerry was secretly negotiating with enemies of the U.S. before you were born.So now you want to haul him before your House Oversight Committee to grill him on making secret “shady negotiations” on climate change with the communist Chinese?Good luck with that.John Kerry’s political career is coming full circle. It began around 1970 when, as a Vietnam War veteran turned anti-war activist, he met secretly in Paris with officials of the enemy Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese to discuss ending the war and the release of captured U.S. servicemen.Comer, 50, of Kentucky was born in 1972.Kerry had no authority to do so, but he did it anyway, which endeared him to Democrats and the anti-war crowd.Kerry at the time was a commissioned U.S. Navy Reserve officer and may have broken the the law by colluding with the enemy, but nothing was officially made of it.However, there were critics who later questioned his honorable discharge from the Navy.And it made no ...

Orioles reset: Adley Rutschman’s first 162 games on Baltimore’s roster show star catcher’s impact

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

Kyle Gibson acknowledges that Adley Rutschman hasn’t quite surpassed the praise he heard about the Orioles’ young catcher throughout his free agency this winter.Doing so might have been impossible.“The reputation that I heard is tough to exceed because there were only good things said about him,” the veteran right-hander said, “but I would say he’s lived up to all of those expectations of just how he is as a person, first and foremost.“You always go through ebbs and flows on the field, but he’s just the same guy all the time.”That steadiness and consistency have paid off for Baltimore. On Sunday, the Orioles played their 162nd game — the length of a typical regular season — since promoting Rutschman, the 2019 first-overall draft pick and then baseball’s No. 1 prospect, to the majors last year. They have gone 93-69 in those games.In the 162 games before Rutschman’s promotion, Baltimore was 51-111. The Oriol...

Portuguese chief vs. American deputy in race to lead UN migration agency

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The 175 member countries of the U.N. migration agency were casting ballots on Monday to choose its leader for the next five years — an unusual contest between its European director-general and his American deputy who’s looking to oust him from the job. International Organization for Migration director-general Antonio Vitorino of Portugal was looking at a possibly tough contest against his Biden administration-backed deputy, Amy Pope.As the two candidates left a cavernous conference hall in Geneva one after the other to let member countries vote behind closed doors in their absence, Pope and Vitorino didn’t speak to each other — but she expressed confidence to a handful of reporters as she passed by. “Gonna be a great day!” she mused, tapping a journalist on the arm and replying “yes” when asked if she had enough votes to win.The Portuguese diplomatic mission in Geneva tweeted that the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, which counts nine...

Pakistan government supporters stage rare sit-in, protest release of former Premier Imran Khan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Convoys of buses and vehicles filled with Pakistani government supporters are flooding the main road leading to the country’s capital on Monday to protest the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Thousands are making their way to the Supreme Court for a rare sit-in against its decision last week in support of Khan, following his arrest in a graft case. The 70-year-old former premier was released on bail and given protection from arrest until later this month. The call to protest is a sign of escalating tensions between the judiciary and the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan after his ouster in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022.Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of 13 political parties affiliated with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, had called for the sit-in. The radical Islamist political party Jamiat-e-Ulema-Islam is leading the protest call.Also as part of the alliance, Pakistan People’s Party led...

Duo in Austria charged with playing Hitler speeches on train intercom

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Two people were charged in Austria for allegedly playing speeches by Adolf Hitler via the loudspeaker system of a train running from Bregenz to Vienna, Austrian news agency APA reported Monday.The two suspects, who were not identified, also blasted the “Heil Hitler” Nazi salute via the train’s intercom several times on Sunday. The authorities tracked them down by analyzing video from the train cameras. Spreading Nazi propaganda is a criminal offense in Austria.The two are also suspected of responsibility for two other incidents last week on trains running from St. Poelten to Vienna, in which recordings were played over the train intercom. It was not clear if those recordings also had a Nazi connotation.The suspects are believed to have opened the train conductors’ intercom cabins with a key all train employees own, and then played the recordings, APA reported.The Associated Press

Norwegian officer found guilty of negligence over sinking of Navy frigate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The duty commander of a Norwegian Navy frigate that sank following a collision with an oil tanker in 2018 was found guilty of negligence Monday by a Norwegian court.The unidentified officer was given a 60-day conditional sentence by the Hordaland district court. He had denied the charge.”He is disappointed with the outcome,” the lawyer for the 33-year-old officer, Christian Lundin, told Norwegian news agency NTB.NTB said the officer had been on duty for eight minutes on Nov. 8, 2018, when the 134-meter (442-foot) KNM Helge Ingstad collided with the Maltese-flagged oil tanker Sola TS, tearing a large hole in the frigate’s side in a harbor in Sture, north of Bergen.The frigate’s 137 crew were evacuated before the vessel sank. Eight people were slightly injured. The duty commander was the only person prosecuted over the incident. The prosecution has claimed that negligent navigation was the main reason for the collision. The officer had denied criminal guilt ...

Powerful cyclone floods homes, cuts communications in western Myanmar; at least 6 dead, 700 injured

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Rescuers on Monday evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 3.6 meters (12 feet) deep along western Myanmar’s coast after a powerful cyclone injured hundreds and cut off communications. Six deaths were reported, but the true impact was not yet clear in one of Asia’s least developed countries.Strong winds injured more than 700 of about 20,000 people who were sheltering in sturdier buildings on the highlands of Sittwe township, such as monasteries, pagodas and schools, according to a leader of the Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association in Sittwe. He asked not to be named due to fear of reprisals from the authorities in the military-run country.Seawater raced into more than 10 low-lying wards near the shore as Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Rakhine state Sunday afternoon, he said. Residents moved to roofs and higher floors, while the wind and storm surge prevented immediate rescue.“After 4 p.m. yesterday, the storm weakened a bit, but the water ...

Europe’s outlook for economic growth brightens – a little

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union’s executive body raised its economic growth forecast, saying Europe had dodged a winter recession that was feared amid an energy crisis but warning that stubbornly high inflation is likely to keep hurting the economy by sapping people’s ability to spend. The outlook for the 20 countries using the euro currency improved to growth of 1.1% this year from 0.9% in the previous predictions in February, the European Commission said in its spring forecast Monday.The European economy “is holding up remarkably well in the face of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” said commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis in a statement.Europe had faced expectations of a winter energy catastrophe after Russia cut off most supplies of natural gas to the continent amid the war in Ukraine. Prices surged to record highs for gas needed to heat homes, generate electricity and power factories — spurring painful spikes in consumer pri...

Government says dogs can dine al fresco but not everyone is on board

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces. But even though nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors, the issue is far from settled, with many diners and restaurants pushing back against the increasing presence of pooches.“I’d like to be able to enjoy my meal without having to worry about fleas, pet hair, barking and entitled dogs and their owners,” said Tracy Chiu Parisi, a food blogger in New York, who was once startled by a dog that stuck its head in her lap while she was reading a menu.Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000’s that a handful of states — including Florida and Illinois — began passing laws allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces, according to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University. Twenty-three states now have such laws or regulations.But the legal land...

The government says dogs can dine al fresco but not everyone is on board

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:43 GMT

Just in time for the summer dining season, the U.S. government has given its blessing to restaurants that want to allow pet dogs in their outdoor spaces.But even though nearly half of states already allow canine dining outdoors, the issue is far from settled, with many diners and restaurants pushing back against the increasing presence of pooches.“I’d like to be able to enjoy my meal without having to worry about fleas, pet hair, barking and entitled dogs and their owners,” said Tracy Chiu Parisi, a food blogger in New York, who was once startled by a dog that stuck its head in her lap while she was reading a menu.Restaurants have been required to allow service dogs for decades. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000’s that a handful of states — including Florida and Illinois — began passing laws allowing dogs in outdoor dining spaces, according to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University. Twenty-three states now have such laws or regulations.Ilana Minkoff check...