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Russia summons Armenian ambassador over Ukraine aid pledge

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia — Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hauled in Armenia’s ambassador for a dressing down over what it says amount to a string of hostile steps that have seen the country, formally an ally of Moscow, distance itself from the Kremlin in recent days.In a statement on Friday evening, officials said Vagharshak Harutyunyan had been called in for “difficult” talks after Armenia signed off on the “transfer of humanitarian aid to Kyiv’s Nazi regime.” Yerevan announced earlier this week it would provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as Russia steps up its strikes against infrastructure and civilian targets, while Anna Hakobyan, the wife of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, made an official visit to the country in a rare show of support.At the same time, Armenia — which is a member of the Moscow-led CSTO defense pact — recalled its envoy to the military bloc on Tuesday. In another decision condemned by Moscow’s s...

Horizon Brexit row fixed? Now let’s sort electric vehicles, Rishi Sunak tells EU

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

The U.K. rejoining the EU’s flagship Horizon science funding program could pave the way for an agreement to delay damaging post-Brexit tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs), Rishi Sunak suggested.The U.K. prime minister, speaking to reporters traveling with him to India for the G20 summit, said this week’s deal to rejoin Horizon after years of being frozen out post-Brexit showed that relations with the EU were now “positive” and “constructive.”The British government announced on Thursday that it was rejoining the Horizon and Copernicus programmes, giving British researchers access to grants from the €96 billion schemes.Next on the list of post-Brexit headaches are looming new European tariffs on EV trade, due January 1 next year, which will slap a 10 percent tax on U.K.-EU trade in electric vehicles if a majority of key parts, such as batteries, aren’t made in either Britain or the EU.The U.K. is pushing for an extension of the deadline to give carmakers the chance to meet ...

Jimmy Fallon apologized to staff over allegations of difficult work environment on ‘Tonight Show’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

(CNN) — Jimmy Fallon has apologized to his colleagues over allegations outlined in a Rolling Stone story published Thursday about a difficult work environment at “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” CNN has learned.During a Zoom call with staff of “The Tonight Show” held after the story published, Fallon reportedly said he did not intend to “create that type of atmosphere for the show,” according to a follow-up story by Rolling Stone, citing unnamed employees who were on the call.CNN has reached out to representatives for Fallon.An NBC representative referred CNN to the network’s statement printed in Rolling Stone’s original report.“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” the employees claim Fallon said, according to the Rolling Stone article.“Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends… I feel so bad I can’t even tell you,” the article quotes Fallon.“I want the show to be fun, [it] should be inclusive to everybody,” Fallon also reportedly said...

Georgia special grand jury recommended charges against 39 people, including Sen. Lindsey Graham

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

By KATE BRUMBACK (Associated Press)ATLANTA (AP) — The special grand jury investigating efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results recommended indictments against twice as many people as the 19 prosecutors ultimately charged, leaving South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham among those not indicted.The grand jurors’ lengthy report released Friday showed they recommended charges against 39 people, including Graham, former U.S. Sens. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.The report, released at the request of the special grand jury, provides insight into one of the most expansive investigations into Trump, who is also facing multiple federal indictments along with unrelated state charges in New York City. While Republicans have accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of launching an unwieldy, overly broad case, the report indicates she used her discretion to s...

Biden and Modi working in ‘warmth and confidence’ to build ties as Chinese leader skips G20

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — President Joe Biden opened his visit to India on Friday by meeting privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indian leader’s home in a session the White House said was marked by “undeniable warmth and confidence” in one another going into the annual Group of 20 summit where climate, economic security and more will dominate the weekend’s talks.Biden spent 52 minutes with Modi after a lavish welcome ceremony at the airport, and Kurt Campbell, a Biden adviser on the Indo-Pacific, told reporters afterward that warm sentiments have replaced a sense of distrust and uncertainty that previously defined relations between the two countries. “What I have seen grown over time is an undeniable warmth and confidence between the two leaders,” Campbell said.Another adviser, Eileen Laubacher, senior director for South Asia at the White House National Security Council, added that Biden and Modi were “so comfortable discussing, really, the breadth of t...

Toronto secondary teacher bargaining team doesn’t support deal to avoid strikes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

The largest local bargaining unit of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has told members it opposes a tentative agreement between the provincial union and the government that would avoid the possibility of strikes.The OSSTF reached a deal last month with the province that would see the parties keep bargaining for a new contract until Oct. 27 and then send any remaining issues to be settled by arbitration, which would eliminate the chance of a strike by high school teachers.But the proposal must first be ratified by members, and there were signs of potential trouble as voting on the deal began Friday.The OSSTF Toronto teachers’ bargaining unit executive sent its members a memo saying they were not directing teachers on how to vote, but were expressing their concerns about entering into binding arbitration and removing the right to strike.“The ability to strike or withdraw services is one of the cornerstones of the labour movement and has been ...

Panama to increase deportations in face of record migration through the Darien Gap

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama will increase infrastructure in the jungle area along its shared border with Colombia known as the Darien Gap — as well as ramp up deportations — to contain a record-breaking flow of migrants passing through there this year, Panama’s immigration chief said Friday.National Immigration Authority Director Samira Gozaine said President Laurentino Cortizo had authorized hiring charter flights to increase deportations. Some 350,000 migrants have crossed the dangerous Darien Gap so far this year, shattering last year’s record of fewer than 250,000, which was also a record.“We will increase these deportations so that the required impact is felt,” Gozaine said.Authorities also said installations would be constructed in the border areas where migrants will be registered but kept separate from the local communities.There was no immediate comment from Colombian officials. Panama will also tighten requirements for some foreigners arriving by air. The country will ...

Artists want complete control over their public exhibitions. Governments say it’s not that simple

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — If things had gone as originally planned, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum would be launching its fall exhibition Friday. But officials postponed the show six weeks before the opening over concern that a painting by activist-artist Shepard Fairey could be seen as “disparaging toward some City of Mesa employees.” Now, the Phoenix suburb is ready to move forward and debut the show in October, albeit with a prominent disclaimer that the artwork represents only the artist’s views. All the original artists have been invited to remain in the exhibition. Thomas “Breeze” Marcus will not be one of them. And he says he won’t be displaying any of his work, which focuses on Native American life, in Mesa in the future. The whole ordeal, in his view, is rooted in censorship.“I’m happy to walk away from that situation,” said Marcus, who sent some of the paintings intended for the show to other venues after the postponement. “I think artists working with institutions in gene...

Child victims are the forgotten voices of Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship from 1973 to 1990

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Yelena Monroy was 3 years old when she was imprisoned for more than a year along with her younger sister and her mother, a socialist activist targeted by the regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet after he came to power in Chile in a military coup in September 1973.“We were scared, we were crying,” recalled Monroy, now a 53-year-old commercial engineer and one of more than 1,000 children and adolescents who were detained in the name of fighting communism and leftist guerrillas during Chile’s military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990.When Pinochet installed himself as leader, the age of majority in Chile was set at 21 years. But being a minor was no protection from the dictatorship’s crackdown. Children were detained, tortured, killed, and even used as decoys to apprehend their parents.The trauma of that period has made many of the young victims of the military regime reluctant to speak out, and the process of prosecuting that era’s crimes and making r...

Nancy Pelosi says she’ll seek House reelection in 2024, dismissing talk of retirement at age 83

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she will run for reelection to another term in Congress as Democrats work to win back the majority in 2024. Pelosi made the announcement before labor allies in the San Francisco area district she has represented for more than 35 years.“Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,” Pelosi, 83, said in a tweet. “Our country needs America to show the world that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for ALL. That is why I am running for reelection — and respectfully ask for your vote.”Pelosi’s decision comes with Republicans now in control of the House — but just narrowly, with a 222-212 majority and one vacancy. Democrats believe they have a chance to recapture the chamber as President Joe Biden runs for reelection to the White House.The Pelosi announcement quells any talk of retirement for the long-serving leader, who, with the honorific title of speaker e...