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Plan to return decommissioned Leopard 2 tanks to Germany wins backing of Swiss executive branch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s executive branch on Wednesday threw its weight behind a proposal to decommission 25 out-of-service Leopard 2 battle tanks that Germany’s government wants returned to the German manufacturer to help plug gaps in Berlin’s arsenal after it shipped tanks of its own to Ukraine.The Federal Council, the Swiss seven-member executive body, said it backs a proposal from a key parliamentary security-policy committee to decommission the tanks and re-export them to Germany. Defense Minister Viola Amherd is expected to endorse the plan a speech to the lower house of the legislature next month. Any such re-export would also require the backing of the upper house at its session in September, and a subsequent go-ahead from the Swiss economy minister. The tanks would be sent only on condition that they would be returned to manufacturer Rheinmetall — and not go to Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led Switzerland to grapple with its longtime,...

Stock market today: Wall Street dips as markets drop worldwide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A worldwide swoon for financial markets is carrying over to Wall Street, and stocks are slipping further. The S&P 500 was 0.5% lower in early trading Wednesday, a day after dropping 1.1% as the U.S. government creeps closer to a possibly disastrous default on its debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also fell. Other markets around the world were hit even harder as discouraging figures piled up on the economy. Kohl’s jumped 15% after reporting a surprise profit for its latest quarter, helped in part by momentum at its Sephora beauty shops. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.U.S. markets followed global stock markets lower early Wednesday as the U.S. government crept closer to a catastrophic debt default.Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined more than 0.3%.The longstanding Washington debate over the size and scope of the federal government now has just days to be resolved, ...

South Korea experts say Japan carefully answered questions on plan to release radioactive water

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The head of a South Korean team of experts said Wednesday they saw all of the facilities they had requested to visit at Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and Japanese officials had carefully answered their questions about a contentious plan to release treated but still slightly radioactive water into the sea, a sign of a further thawing of ties between the countries.During their two-day visit, which was closed to the media, officials from the Japanese government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, showed the 21-member delegation facilities related to treatment, safety checks, transport and dilution of the waste water. The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing communities concerned about safety and reputational damage. Neighboring countries, including South Korea, China and Pacific Island nations, have also raised safety concerns.The water release has particularly been a sensitive issue between Tokyo and Seoul, which a...

Authorities capture 1 inmate who escaped Ohio prison, but convicted murderer still on the lam

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

LIMA, Ohio (AP) — One of two inmates who escaped from an Ohio prison was captured early Wednesday in Kentucky after a police pursuit of a stolen car the men were believed to be in ended in a crash and a foot chase, authorities said.James Lee, 47, was captured at the scene but Bradley Gillespie, 50, remained at large. Gillespie has been imprisoned since 2016 for murder, while Lee was serving a sentence he received in 2021 for burglary and safecracking.The two men were reported missing from the Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio on Tuesday, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Officials have not disclosed further details, including how the escape occurred or when the men were discovered missing.The vehicle chase in Henderson, Kentucky, began when officers spotted a car the men were believed to be traveling in and tried to stop it. A chase ensued and the crash occurred a short time later. Both inmates then fled the scene on foot.Residents...

US announces $524 million in new aid for Horn of Africa drought, climate crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States announced at a U.N. conference on Wednesday nearly $524 million in additional humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa that aims to put a spotlight on the extreme effects of climate change and the worst drought in the region in 40 years — and the need for more than $5 billion.The U.N. has appealed for $7 billion and has received just $1.6 billion — far from enough to help the 43.3 million people in need of assistance in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya or even just the 21 million among them who don’t have access to enough food.The United States is the largest provider of humanitarian aid to the region, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the pledging conference that the $524 million in new funds will bring the total U.S. humanitarian contribution to the region to $1.4 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.When Thomas-Greenfield visited the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in September, she said she heard firs...

Statistics agency: Migration from Russia to Finland at record levels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Migration from Russia to neighboring Finland was at record levels last year, higher than figures seen after the collapse of the Soviet Union over 30 years ago, the Finnish statistics agency said Wednesday.Citing official 2022 immigration data, Statistics Finland said just over 6,000 people immigrated from Russia to the Nordic country of 5.5 million last year. Some 94% of those had Russian citizenship and the figure was almost equally divided between males and females.When the Soviet Union was brought down at the end of 1991, some 5,500 people migrated from the fallen empire to Finland that year.The number of migrants Finland received from Russia hovered between 1,700 and 2,600 annually in 1992-1995, the agency said, adding that the yearly figure remained below 3,100 until 2021.Senior statistician Juhana Nordberg from Statistics Finland said there was a temporal connection between last year’s migration figure and Russia’s war in Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24...

Biden judicial nominee Wamble withdraws from consideration, cites nearly 2-year wait for action

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal prosecutor tapped by President Joe Biden to become a U.S. district judge in Kansas has withdrawn from consideration, citing the nearly two-year wait for action on his nomination. Jabari Wamble is Biden’s second judicial nominee to withdraw this month. Attorney Michael Delaney backed out of consideration for the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week in a rare judicial defeat for the Democratic president. Delaney did not have enough support in the Senate Judiciary Committee to send his candidacy on to the full Senate for confirmation.Wamble wrote to Biden that he had been “humbled and honored by the faith you placed in me with this nomination” but said he was withdrawing his name from consideration for appointment to the U.S. District Court for Kansas. “My path to this nomination began more than 18 months ago and after careful thought and consideration I feel that it is best for me to continue my work at the United States Atto...

Mayor Johnson to preside over his first Chicago City Council meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

CHICAGO — Newly inaugurated Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson will preside over his first Chicago City Council meeting Wednesday; a meeting with a packed agenda.In addition to officially organizing the councils many committees, to include chairperson appointments, a discussion and vote is expected on a $51 million aid package to assist migrants being moved into the city. If approved, the money will be used for staffing shelters, providing meals, and supporting the migrants in other ways such as with legal assistance. Retired Chicago officer shot while attempting to stop carjacking on West Side WGN plans to livestream the city council meeting, to include any pre-council press conferences and Mayor Johnson's expected post-council availability, within this story beginning at approximately 9:30 a.m.

DHS unveils body camera guidance for agencies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

(The Hill) -- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday announced the first department-wide policy requiring its law enforcement officers and agents to wear body cameras when interacting with the public in specified settings. The guidance issued instructs DHS agencies with law enforcement officers to develop agency-specific policies that meet or exceed the standards outlined in the department-wide policy. These agencies — including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — must develop their policies within the next 180 days.The new policy would require law enforcement agents to wear body cameras when responding to emergency calls, during planned arrests and when executing search warrants. The policy specifies agents are not permitted to wear body cameras “for the sole purpose of recording individuals engaged in First Amendment activity.” Box truck driver said ...

WATCH: Clouds of midges swarm across Northeast Ohio

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:17:07 GMT

WICKLIFFE, Ohio (WJW) - Midges are back in swarms across Northeast Ohio, especially over the past several days.The small insects, which resemble mosquitos, have been known to mass together in groups visible to the human eye. At first thinking it was smoke, a WJW photographer spotted "dark clouds" of the bugs flying just the station Tuesday evening. Earlier, a viewer sent video of the midges swarming over their community in Wickliffe, Ohio: The midges were even showing up on weather radar over the weekend as they made their return to the lakeshore. Clouds of midges were also seen on Saturday. The National Weather Service in Cleveland tweeted out, “They’re Baaaaack! The CLE Weather radar is picking up on some of those midges west of #CLE near the lakeshore of Lorain and Huron Counties this evening.” ‘Cringeworthy:’ Radar catches moment swarm of mayflies arrive on shores of Lake Erie Experts say, midges, also known as muckleheads (and mayflies, whi...