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Austin hopes Turkey will act on Sweden NATO bid before July

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

MUSKO NAVAL BASE, Sweden (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday it’s important that Turkey makes its decision to allow Sweden to join NATO “sooner versus later,” and said he “feels confident” it will happen before the alliance summit in July.He declined, however, to say whether a recent U.S. deal to provide fighter jet upgrades to Turkey will provide enough incentive for Ankara to finally vote.Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said he is hopeful Sweden will gain admittance by summer, and his country feels more secure with the additional U.S. military exercises and involvement with his nation.“We look forward to continuing to advocate for your swift admission to NATO, and we’ll work hard to get that done before the summit,” Austin said. The NATO summit will be in Lithuania in early July.Sweden’s bid to join NATO remains stalled by opposition from Turkey and Hungary, even weeks after both nations finally approved Finland’s application. Sweden and neighboring...

Ukraine: US-made Patriot guided missile systems arrive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s defense minister said Wednesday his country has received U.S-made Patriot surface-to-air guided missile systems it has long craved and which Kyiv hopes will help shield it from Russian strikes during the war. “Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet.Ukrainian officials have previously said the arrival of Patriot systems, which Washington agreed to send last October, would be a major boost and a milestone in the war against Moscow’s full-scale invasion. The Patriot can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles. Russia has used that weaponry to bombard Ukraine, including residential areas and civilian infrastructure, especially the power supply over the winter.Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said late Tuesday that delivery of the system would be a landmark event, allowing Ukrainians to knock ...

Police: Maine man fired randomly on highway after killing 4

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

BOWDOIN, Maine (AP) — A Maine man killed four people in a home and then shot three others randomly on a busy highway, state police said, the latest in a string of mass shootings across the country that have shaken communities large and small.The shootings in Maine began in the small town of Bowdoin, where four people were killed Tuesday. Then a chaotic scene developed in which shots were fired at vehicles on an interstate highway over 20 miles away in the community of Yarmouth, police said. Three people were shot there, and one remained in critical condition Wednesday.“This is an active investigation with a lot of moving parts,” Shannon Moss, state police spokesperson, said Wednesday.The gunman, identified as Joseph Eaton, 34, of Bowdoin, was charged with four counts of murder but was not immediately charged in the highway shootings, she said. He was jailed while awaiting a court appearance. The names of the victims were not released, and state police didn’t discus...

Charges put focus on Jehovah’s Witnesses’ handling of abuse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

YORK HAVEN, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania grand jury in recent months accused nine men with connections to the Jehovah’s Witnesses of child sexual abuse in what some consider the nation’s most comprehensive investigation yet into abuse within the faith.The sets of charges filed in October and February have fueled speculation the jury may make public more about what it has uncovered from a four-year investigation.A similar grand jury investigation into child sexual abuse by Catholic priests culminated in a lengthy 2018 report that concluded hundreds of priests had abused children in Pennsylvania over seven decades and church officials had covered it up, and more recently a similar report was issued in Maryland.But documents made public so far include nothing about what critics have long maintained has been a systemic cover-up and mishandling of child molestation within the Jehovah’s Witnesses.Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, at a news conference in February announcing charge...

Inside Toronto’s confusing, chaotic, wide-open mayoral race

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

In today’s Big Story podcast, there are currently almost 50 candidates running to become Toronto’s next mayor. And with no incumbent, or clear front-runner, that means that at this point anyone’s got a shot.Momin Qureshi is a City Hall reporter for CityNews. He joins us today to walk us through some of the more notable candidates, and outline their respective visions for the future of Canada’s largest city. “One of the things that you’re going to hear again and again, regardless of what issue we’re talking about, whether it’s housing, mental health issues, homeless supports, transit, is that the city is in a real hole financially,” he said, “we have more than a billion dollar deficit in this city that they have to fill, because they can’t have an unbalanced budget in this city, by law.” So who’s in the race? Who might join them? And what issues will decide the fate of Canada’s largest city?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Go...

Poet Sandra Lim wins $85,000 Jackson Poetry Prize

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — An $85,000 literary prize has been awarded to Sandra Lim, a poet who has published three collections. Lin is this year’s winner of the Jackson Poetry Prize, given to an American poet of “exceptional talent.” The award was announced Wednesday by Poets & Writers, a nonprofit organization that publishes Poets & Writers Magazine and helps support hundreds of writers each year.“Wielding a striking combination of cool detachment and sly humor, Lim constantly points to the mundane aspects of the world and to how we nevertheless cling to them, always expecting something more,” the judges’ citation reads in part. “It’s a poetry of interrogation, whose fierceness lies, paradoxically, in its quiet steadiness and precision.”Lim’s books include “The Curious Thing,” “The Wilderness” and “Loveliest Grotesque,” and her work has appeared in a numerous publications. Joy Harjo, Henri Cole, Sonia Sanchez and Claudia Rankine are among the previous wi...

Man, woman dead in UTV crash in Antioch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

UNINCORPORATED ANTIOCH, Ill. — A man and a woman were killed in a crash in Unincorporated Antioch.Police said the accident happened around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of West Dressel Road and Douglas AvenueLake County Sheriff’s deputies arrived to the scene and located a Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) with major damage.According to a preliminary investigation, a 56-year-old man was driving the UTV and a 50-year-old woman was in the front passenger seat. The man of the UTV was traveling westbound on West Dressel Road just west of Douglas Avenue and for unknown reasons, the driver veered off the roadway and struck a large tree.  Deputies said neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt or helmet, and both were partially ejected from the vehicle. They sustained major injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene.  Chicago woman charged after altercation, crash at gas station in Forest Park Their identities have not yet been released.An autopsy is scheduled for both th...

Derrick Rose's next venture - a chess tournament

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

LAS VEGAS — One of the most popular basketball players ever to come out of Chicago is venturing into another form of competition in 2023. This week, Englewood native Derrick Rose announced that he's starting a new chess tournament called "Chesstival" that will be staged in Las Vegas this summer. It will take place July 7 and 8 at Resorts World and will coincide with the NBA's Summer League stop in the city. Per the Chesstival website, a total of $147,500 of prize money will be awarded over the two days, with the winner of the event taking $50,000. The entry fee is $7,500.So why chess?Rose said it's an activity that he was first introduced to during seventh grade and began playing during his early days with the Bulls in the NBA. He said that his love for chess grew during his recovery from injuries when he was looking for mentally engaging activities.“The game of chess is something I’ve been passionate about since high school,” said Rose in a news release. “Chess is undeniably compet...

Mayor Lightfoot to preside over final scheduled Chicago City Council meeting Wednesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor Lori Lightfoot will preside over her final scheduled Chicago City Council meeting Wednesday.Along with Lightfoot, several members of city council will also be attending the last scheduled meeting, with a number of speeches expected honoring those who are leaving.This was certainly not how Lightfoot wanted this to go. She did not make it to the run-off after finishing third in the February election.Lightfoot is leaving Brandon Johnson's administration, however, in a better place budget-wise than previous outgoing mayors have done for their predocessors.She reportedly passed along some advice to Johnson's administration — don't screw this up.Lightfoot will likely be remembered for her combative style of politics and guiding the city through COVID-19.Along with Lightfoot about a dozen city council members will enter the chamber for the last time Wednesday as sitting alderpersons, barring of course any emergency meetings. Brandon Johnson makes first trip to state Capi...

Brandon Johnson makes first trip to state Capitol as Chicago's mayor-elect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:10 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson is traveling to Springfield Wednesday where he'll meet with legislative leaders and speak to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly.Johnson has a day filled with spending time with lawmakers and addressing the needs of Chicago.This trip will be his first as mayor-elect, but it's not an unfamiliar territory.After addressing the Illinois General Assembly, Johnson will hold a press conference with Illinois House Speaker Chris Emanuel Welch. He was also hold meetings with Welch and Senate President Don Harmon, as well as with the Black, Asian, Latino and moderate caucuses. Johnson said his time at the statehouse is about building a better, stronger and safer Chicago by establishing a strong foundation for collaboration.Now, Johnson has already built relationships with lawmakers. He has spent time working with Don Harmon as his constituent service director.He was also the chief of staff for former state representative Debo...