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China disavows diplomat’s comments questioning sovereignty of ex-Soviet states

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

China distanced itself on Monday from statements made by its ambassador to France, who caused an uproar by questioning the independence of nations that had previously been a part of the USSR.Beijing said Monday that it respects the “sovereign status” of all ex-Soviet countries, contradicting Ambassador Lu Shaye’s remarks suggesting that such states have no “effective status” in international law.Lu’s comments in a French television interview on Friday triggered a diplomatic incident with Baltic countries over the weekend, which demanded the Chinese government clarify where it stands on the issue.“China respects the sovereign state status of the participating republics after the dissolution of the Soviet Union,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters Monday in Beijing.She added: “After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with relevant countries.”China’s embassy in Paris issued a se...

Transit Police: 25-year-old man arrested after smashing window at Aquarium MBTA station

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

A 25-year-old East Boston man was arrested last week after attempting to gain entry to the Aquarium MBTA station by smashing through the window using a metal chair, according to Transit Police. Police say the incident happened Tuesday, April 18 around 2:30 a.m.No additional information has been released. https://twitter.com/MBTATransitPD/status/1650495461038456835

An ancient Roman bust purchased for $34.99 at Texas Goodwill is headed back to Germany

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

(CNN) — From its time in Germany during World War II to the shelves of a Texas Goodwill, a 2,000-year-old Roman bust is making its way back home.In 2018, Laura Young purchased the bust for just $34.99 at an Austin-area Goodwill, unaware of its ancient history. “I was just looking for anything that looked interesting,” Young told CNN last May.The bust was lent out from Munich’s Glyptothek to the San Antonio Museum of Art for the past year and next month it will be returned to Germany.“It’s been really bittersweet,” Young told CNN on Thursday. “I’m a little in denial, but I do plan on visiting him in Germany.”When researching where the bust came from last year, Young was put in contact with Sotheby’s, which confirmed that the bust was estimated to be about 2,000 years old.The identity of the bust is not certain yet, but the team at SAMA told CNN they believe it resembles the Roman military leader Sextus P...

Oh, brother: Heat’s stable ‘Psycho’ changing the face of Bucks playoff series

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

From the stands, Cody Martin noticed the look, the energy, the relentlessness to appreciate his brother was activated.Because sometimes it takes a Psycho to know a Psycho.With his Charlotte Hornets left to a lottery fate, Cody Martin has been at Kaseya Center to watch his twin brother, Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin, take on the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference playoffs.Doing it with a knowing nod of his brother relishing the high-stakes Heat moment with his high-energy approach.“I mean, he’s just competitive,” Cody Martin said ahead of the Heat’s Game 4 against the Bucks on Monday night at Kaseya Center. “Once his back’s against the wall, and he feels like he just needs to step up, that’s what he does.”Caleb Martin did that with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the Game 3 victory Saturday night that gave the Heat a 2-1 series lead.“He’s been like that forever,” Cody said of Caleb, as he waited for his brother o...

Wall Street wavers in the early going ahead of earnings news

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Major U.S. stock indexes are drifting in early trading as Wall Street remains hesitant to make big moves amid questions about where the economy, interest rates and corporate profits are heading. The S&P 500 wavered between small gains and losses in the early going Monday after barely budging last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1% while the Nasdaq composite was just barely lower. Coca-Cola was up 1% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the first three months of the year. More than 170 other companies in the S&P 500 are on deck to follow this week. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks and Wall Street futures declined Monday ahead of a U.S. economic update that is expected to show growth slowing.London and Frankfurt opened lower. Shanghai and Hong Kong declined while Tokyo advanced. Oil prices fell.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.1% on Friday but ended w...

Serbian leader lashes out at the West over Kosovo vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The Serbian president on Monday sharply criticized Western officials who are mediating talks on normalizing ties with Kosovo, calling them liars and fraudsters, and said the Serb minority in the former Serbian province will no longer tolerate foreign “occupation.”Aleksandar Vucic spoke a day after local elections in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo that were overwhelmingly boycotted by the Serb voters there. As a result, ethnic Albanians were elected.Vucic praised the vote boycott by the Kosovo Serbs, saying that it represented “a peaceful political uprising” against their “occupiers.” Serbs are claiming harassment by Pristina authorities and are demanding autonomy for their regions.“Our people in Kosovo have shown in which country they want to live,” said Vucic, the populist leader who is known for his frequent anti-Western outbursts. He is apparently angry at the European Union and the U.S. for allowing Pristina to hold the vote when the Serb boycott, called ...

No fines issued by hospitals under Ontario’s new long-term care law: province, OHA

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

No one has been fined in Ontario so far under a new law that can require patients to pay a daily $400 penalty if they refuse to move from a hospital to a long-term care home not of their choosing, the province and its hospitals say.But families and advocates argue the threat posed by the law is pushing patients into nursing homes they wouldn’t otherwise choose.The law, which went into effect in September, can move discharged patients into nursing homes they didn’t consent to. Patients in southern Ontario can be moved to homes up to 70 kilometres away, while those in northern Ontario can be moved up to 150 kilometres away.The legislation is aimed at so-called “alternative level of care” patients who no longer need to be in hospital and are awaiting spots in long-term care. The government has said the law can free up much-needed hospital beds.Hospitals say they’ve been reticent to employ the law, but placement co-ordinators incorporate discussion of it in...

Which countries are evacuating citizens from Sudan?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — As continued fighting raises fears that Sudan could plunge deeper into chaos, foreign governments are scrambling to get their diplomats and other citizens safely out of the country. Most countries deployed military transport aircraft to fly people out, including France which used its airbase in neighboring Djibouti for the airlift. But not all is going smoothly – about 2,000 British nationals remain in Sudan, and many complain that their government isn’t giving them enough information about evacuation plans.Although some flights included people of various nationalities, here’s a country-by-country accounting of evacuation efforts based on information available so far:UNITED STATES:U.S. special operations forces used helicopters to ferry 70 U.S. embassy personnel out of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, early Sunday. The U.S. government has told some 16,000 US citizens in Sudan that they need to fend for themselves and that there won’t be mass evacuations. UNITED...

Spain exhumes fascist party founder from Madrid mausoleum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The body of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of Spain’s fascist Falange movement, was exhumed from a Madrid mausoleum on Monday and transferred to a city cemetery.The fascist political leader was executed by Spanish Republicans in November 1936, after Gen. Francisco Franco led an uprising of soldiers in July of that year to bring down Spain’s democratically elected government. The ensuing civil war ended in 1939 with hundreds of thousands dead and the country left in ruins. Primo de Rivera’s death was exploited by Franco. He was exhumed in line with updated legislation that bans the glorification of Spain’s dictatorship and fascist legacy. His body lay for six decades in a huge complex known as the Valley of the Fallen, which was built with forced prison labor to commemorate the fascist victory in the civil war.The leader of the Falange was disinterred in a private ceremony in presence of his family, away from public scrutiny. His casket was ...

Review: Laura Dern, mom Diane Ladd exchange intimate stories

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:47 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding),” by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd (Grand Central Publishing)When actor Diane Ladd was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and given six months to live, her only daughter and fellow actor, Laura Dern, set out to help Ladd rebuild her lung capacity through doctor-prescribed walks.Inspired to turn the difficult daily chore into a “creative challenge” for her storyteller mother, Dern decided to record their conversations and encouraged Ladd to share personal stories about anything and everything, from life in show business to intimate domestic details and even coveted family recipes.Those conversations form the basis for “Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding).”Though Ladd was apparently misdiagnosed and ultimately overcame the sickness that doctors thought would take her, she and Dern said the honesty the pair cultivated on those walk...