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No Russia sympathizers: Ukraine eyes postwar elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

BRUSSELS — Ukraine might still be at war, but it’s already gearing up for elections in peace time — and weighing how to deal with Russian infiltrators.Hundreds of miles from the battlefield, Ukrainian officials were in Brussels last week to discuss how to organize the country’s first postwar elections — which will be closely watched within the European Union — and in this sphere too, fear of Russian interference looms large.In an interview with POLITICO, Ukraine’s top election official Oleh Didenko said his country needed to prepare for the risk that Russia would try to “install their representatives, their agents, in Ukrainian authorities.”Ukraine was set to hold a parliamentary election in October, and a presidential election next year — but preparations for both of these have been put on hold because of the war.“I understand that Ukraine should ensure democratic standards when conducting postwar elections in terms of the rights of being elected...

Saudi Arabia welcomes Venezuelan leader Maduro, reaching out to yet another US foe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia has welcomed Venzuelan President Nicolas Maduro on an official visit, reaching out to yet another U.S. foe as the oil-rich kingdom engages in a flurry of diplomacy.Maduro arrived late Sunday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, where he was greeted by Saudi officials, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. It did not give a reason for the visit or elaborate on his schedule, but Saudi Arabia is hosting an international conference on combating extremism later this week in the capital, Riyadh. The gathering will be co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.Saudi Arabia has been a close U.S. ally for decades, but relations have been strained in recent years. Over the last few months, the kingdom has restored relations with Iran’s theocracy and Syria’s President Bashar Assad — both seen as pariahs in the West.Last month, the Saudis welcomed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a close Western ally, to an A...

Israel’s Netanyahu appoints new media advisor, journalist who had called Biden ‘unfit,’ report says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a new media advisor who has tweeted critically against President Joe Biden, the daily Haaretz reported. The appointment comes at a time when U.S.-Israel relations are strained.Gilad Zwick, a journalist with a conservative Israeli TV station, has in his tweets called Biden “unfit” to rule and said that he was “slowly but surely destroying America.” He also posted tweets suggesting he supported President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged. The tweets were still online Monday.Both Netanyahu’s office and Zwick did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zwick previously worked for Israel Hayom, a pro-Netanyahu daily.Zwick’s appointment comes as ties between Israel and its closest ally, the United States, are fraught over a contentious Israeli government plan to overhaul the judiciary and over the government’s ultranationalist character.B...

‘It was tough’: WWII veterans return to Utah Beach to commemorate D-Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

ON UTAH BEACH, France (AP) — Looking at the vastness of Utah Beach, its sand blowing in strong wind and bright sunshine, made Robert Gibson’s memory of D-Day even more vivid.“It was tough,” the 99-year-old veteran said of the moment when he landed there on June 6, 1944 alongside more than 150,000 other Allied troops.Gibson was among dozens of World War II veterans, mostly Americans and British, who traveled to Normandy this week to mark the 79th anniversary of D-Day, commemorating the decisive assault that led to the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi control.He remembered “lots of casualties. We had almost run over bodies to get in the beach. Never forget we were only 18, 19 years old. … I’m glad I made it.”Gibson landed on Utah Beach on D-Day in the second wave, after the assault troops. He survived to continue fighting in Normandy and eventually into Germany.The first job of his battalion, he said, was “to guard an ammunition dump and the first ni...

US defense secretary discusses upgrading ties with India to counter China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday discussed upgrading partnership with India, a major arms buyer, as both countries grapple with China’s economic rise and increased belligerence, officials said.Austin met with India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, with both sides emphasizing technology partnerships including defense, clean energy and space. India is working to promote its domestic defense industry by acquiring technology and reducing reliance on imports, particularly from Russia, its largest supplier of military hardware despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. “I’m returning to India to meet with key leaders for discussions about strengthening our Major Defense Partnership. Together, we’re advancing a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Austin tweeted after his arrival in New Delhi on Sunday.Austin, who is on his second visit to India, was expected to lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington on June 22, w...

Shootout between Pakistani troops and insurgents in border region kills 2 soldiers, 2 militants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani troops and militants exchanged fire in a northwestern region along the border with Afghanistan in a shootout that killed two soldiers and two militants, the army said Monday.The shootout took place late Sunday in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.According to an army statement, two militants were also wounded and troops seized a cache of weapons at the site. A search operation was underway in the area, it said.Although the Pakistani military claims it has cleared North Waziristan of militants, occasional attacks and shootouts continue, raising concerns that the Pakistani Taliban are regrouping in the area.Though a separate group, the TTP remains a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seizing power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, during the last weeks of the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the ...

Biden aide expressed concern in calls with Kosovo and Serbia leaders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

A senior aide to US President Joe Biden expressed concern about events in northern Kosovo in calls with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the White House said on Friday (2 June).A political crisis that has spiraled into violence in Kosovo's north has intensified since ethnic Albanian mayors took office in the region's Serb-majority area, a move that led the U.S. and its allies to rebuke Pristina. The majority Serb population had boycotted the April election, allowing ethnic Albanians to be elected.On Thursday, Biden's principal deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer, spoke with Kurti and called for Kosovo "to enable newly elected mayors to carry out their duties from alternative locations and to withdraw police forces from municipal buildings," the White House said.He also welcomed "Kurti's willingness to work towards conditions for new elections," it said.The Biden aide spoke with Vucic on Friday and pushed for Serbia to "to withdraw its armed ...

Dear Abby: Nobody else sees how scary my sister is, and I want to cry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I’m living in my father’s home along with my younger sister. I’m currently looking for work so I can move out.My plan had been to look for roommates online, but my sister wants us to get a place together. Everyone else in our life agrees that this would be the best idea. I do not want to do this.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: They seem to be hinting my illness is imaginary Advice | Dear Abby: I was shocked to see this behavior at a funeral Advice | Dear Abby: He learned things in kindergarten that made him cry Advice | Dear Abby: My husband is upset that I find his new look mortifying Advice | Dear Abby: I have news about my co-worker that his girlfriend should know I am honestly afraid of my sister. She has a hair-trigger temper that she keeps in check for other people but will fully unleash on me.I try to have fun with her, and sometimes I do, but I inevitably become t...

US Navy says Iran Revolutionary Guard fast-attack boats ‘harassed’ ship in Strait of Hormuz

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy said Monday its sailors and the United Kingdom Royal Navy came to the aid of a ship in the crucial Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard “harassed” it. Three fast-attack Guard vessels with armed troops aboard approached the merchant ship at a close distance Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Navy said in a statement. It offered black-and-white images it said came from a U.S. Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon overhead, which showed three small ships close to the commercial ship. The U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul and the Royal Navy’s frigate HMS Lancaster responded to the incident, with the Lancaster launching a helicopter. “The situation deescalated approximately an hour later when the merchant vessel confirmed the fast-attack craft departed the scene,” the Navy said. “The merchant ship continued transiting the Strait of Hormuz without further incident.”The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persia...

This Week: Campbell Soup earnings, jobless claims, mortgage rates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 19:14:51 GMT

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:M’M! M’M! GOOD?Campbell Soup Co. reports third-quarter financial results before the bell on Wednesday.Wall Street analysts expect the soup and snack maker to post profit of 65 cents per share in the period on $2.24 billion in sales. Campbell’s beat expectations in the same period last year with 70 cents-per-share profit on $2.13 billion in revenue.A LOOK AT LAYOFFSOn Thursday, the government gives its weekly tally of applications for unemployment benefits.The Labor Department reported that U.S. applications for jobless claims ticked up slightly to 232,000 last week. The numbers are considered a proxy for layoffs. Americans have enjoyed unusual job security in recent years, despite high inflation and rising interest rates.Initial jobless benefit claims, weekly, seasonally adjusted:April 21: 229,000April 28: 242,000May 5: 231,000May 12: 225,000May 19: 230,000May 26: 232,000Source: Fa...