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Germany orders Russia to close 4 out of its 5 consulates in tit-for-tat move

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

By FRANK JORDANS (Associated Press)BERLIN (AP) — The German government said Wednesday that it has told Russia to close four out of its five consulates general in Germany in a tit-for-tat move after Moscow set a limit for the number of staff at the German Embassy and related bodies in Russia.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christofer Burger told reporters in Berlin that the measure was intended to create a “parity of personnel and structures” between the two countries.Russia has consulates in Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich, with Moscow deciding which four they will close and which one they will keep open.The Russian government recently said that an upper limit of 350 German government officials, including those working in cultural bodies and schools, can remain in Russia. Burger said that this means Germany will have to shut its consulates in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Kaliningrad by November. Only the embassy in Moscow and the consulate in St. Peter...

Aaron Boone, Nestor Cortes see silver lining in pitcher’s latest fifth-inning jam

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

SEATTLE — Nestor Cortes pitched well overall Tuesday night, but he ran into trouble in the fifth inning again.Cortes began his evening with four scoreless innings in Seattle, but the Mariners were able to plate their first two runs after he took the mound in the fifth at 73 pitches. Cortes allowed two walks — including a four-pitch pass to lead off the inning — and RBI doubles to Ty France and Teoscar Hernandez in what ended up being his final frame of the night.Despite the hiccups, Cortes completed the inning when he got Eugenio Suarez to whiff on a fastball.“I thought Nestor was good again,” Aaron Boone said after the Yankees’ 10-2 win. “Ran into some trouble there in the fifth, but made a big pitch to get out of it, which I was happy to see him do that after the walk to the leadoff hitter on four pitches. That kind of put him in a bad spot in that inning, but he was able to right himself and really make a big pitch when he needed to make ...

Crime Briefs: Miniature ninja knives not allowed on plane, ‘lewd’ man on MBTA bus and woman found floating in Saugus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

The Memorial Day weekend started with an interesting find by security in Boston Logan International Airport.“On Saturday @BostonLogan, @TSA officers detected this Naruto ninja knife set in a passenger’s carry-on bag. Knives should always be placed in checked bags only! #travelfail,” tweeted Transportation Security Administration’s New England spokesman Dan Velez on Tuesday.Naruto is a popular Japanese comic — known as “manga” — character.The TSA image appears to match that of a product marketed on Amazon as “Ninja Tools Weapon Metal Kunai Prop Leaf Village Shinobi 7 Pcs Toy Necklace.”Not only is it described as a “toy necklace” in the product name, but customer images show the knives are smaller than an average hand’s palm, though quite large for necklace pieces.Traveling predatorThe MBTA Transit Police is once again on the lookout for a man suspected of committing “a lewd act” on public transportation, though this time on a bus.The department says that the man first committed...

Federal lawsuit in Massachusetts raises thorny questions about taking children from parents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

By STEVE LeBLANC (Associated Press)BOSTON (AP) — When child welfare workers and police knocked on Sarah Perkins’ and Joshua Sabey’s front door well past midnight one weekend last summer, the parents were shocked to learn the state of Massachusetts had come to take their two young sons.It’s the kind of harrowing scene that plays out daily across the country as social workers motivated by a desire to protect children run up against confused and concerned parents.What followed was emotional anguish, a bureaucratic battle, vindication for the parents and a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a legal advocacy group. The couple hopes for a favorable ruling that will increase oversight of child removals nationwide.The children were taken in Massachusetts because of a child abuse report stemming from a hospital visit. On July 13, 2022, Perkins whisked their 3-month-old son Cal to an emergency room. He had a 103-degree fever.An X-ray checking for pneumonia found a rib fracture the couple had...

Pedestrian hit, killed in City Heights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A pedestrian was fatally struck by a vehicle in the City Heights neighborhood Wednesday morning, authorities said.The San Diego Police Department says a call came in at 4:53 a.m. reporting an individual down on the 4100 block of Home Avenue. Gunman robs Mission Hills restaurant Responding officers found a vehicle collision involving a pedestrian who police described as a man in his 60s. According to authorities, the man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity has not been released.SDPD says the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene and is cooperating with police. There are no further details on the circumstances leading up to the crash at this time.Traffic in the area may be impacted as authorities investigate the scene.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Approaching 'June Gloom' is leaving San Diegans desperate for 'Sunny San Diego'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The "May Gray" sky is impacting the mental health of San Diegans across the county. In fact, we've seen cloudy weather and cooler temperatures for a big chunk of 2023, leaving some eager for the return of "Sunny San Diego."The sun is shy, the coast is cool and the clouds are stubborn, leaving tourists and locals ditching the board shorts for sweatshirts. Loveland Reservoir reopens in Alpine "It's freezing, "it's too cold for me" and "I was prepared for warmer weather" were just some of the many repeated phrases shared with FOX 5 as we asked how locals and tourists were coping. Overcast conditions are standard procedure for this time of year, but the figurative and quite literal low clouds hanging over our heads has begun to put a newfound emphasis on the approaching "June Gloom."“You have to acknowledge too that everything we’ve been through over the past years: social unrest. Our bodies are still feeling a hangover from some of those events. We're still not back to...

Filipino American chefs come into their own with multiple James Beard award nods

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

Like a lot of chefs, Aaron Verzosa has been hustling the past three years to get Archipelago, his Filipino restaurant in Seattle, through the pandemic and its ripple effects. Getting a James Beard Award nomination was a validating moment.“Being able to amplify and showcase stories about the Filipino American culture, the communities here, specifically in the Northwest, and really the immigrant story that my parents came with … I was just very humbled to be able to have the opportunity to showcase what the sacrifice was and be able to represent the region in that way,” said Verzosa, who is up for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific.In the culinary world, the awards are the equivalent of the Oscars. Three Filipino restaurants will be represented at the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards ceremony, on June 5 in Chicago.Abacá, in San Francisco, scored an Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker nod for Vince Bugtong. And Kasama, in Chicago, earned a joint Best Chef: Great Lake...

Canada to start printing health warnings directly on individual cigarettes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

Canada will become the first country to print health warnings directly on individual cigarettes.Carolyn Bennett, the Minister for Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, says the move will be part of the government’s efforts to help adults quit smoking while protecting youth and non-tobacco users from nicotine addiction.Labelling the tipping paper of individual cigarettes, little cigars, tubes, and other tobacco products will make it virtually impossible to avoid health warnings altogether, Health Canada said in a release.The move builds on Canada’s mandate to include graphic photo warnings on tobacco products’ packaging — a groundbreaking policy that started an international trend when it was introduced two decades ago.Canada has required photo warnings since the turn of the millennium, but the images haven’t been updated in a decade.While the exact messaging printed on cigarettes hasn’t been revealed, Bennett said last June that one of the phrase...

Ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie planning to launch GOP presidential campaign next week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to launch a Republican presidential campaign next week in New Hampshire.Christie, who also ran in 2016, is planning to make the announcement at a town hall Tuesday evening at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm Christie’s plans.The timing, which was first reported by Axios, comes after several longtime Christie advisers started a super political action committee to support his expected candidacy.The Associated Press had previously reported that Christie was expected to enter the race “imminently.”Christie has cast himself as the only potential candidate willing to aggressively take on former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the nomination. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, was a longtime friend and adviser to Trump, but broke with Trump over his refusal to accept ...

Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa sets election date as Aug. 23

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:31 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s national elections will take place on Aug. 23, the country’s president announced Wednesday. The vote is expected to be another closely watched affair in a country with a history of violent and disputed elections.The announcement through a government gazette also set Oct. 2 for a presidential runoff vote if required.Opposition parties have already made allegations of violence and intimidation against their supporters in the buildup to the elections, and human rights groups have said President Emmerson Mnangagwa is silencing criticism.The southern African nation has only had two leaders since it gained independence from white minority rule in 1980. Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 37 years until he was removed and replaced by Mnangagwa in a coup in 2017. Mnangagwa had served as a vice president under Mugabe.The last general election was held in 2018, nearly a year after the coup.Once a close ally of Mugabe, Mnangagwa, 80, has tried to prese...