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Putin and Kim sit down for talks at Russia’s biggest domestic space launch center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un began on Wednesday at the Vostochny cosmodrome, Russian state news agency Tass reported. The talks, which included their delegations, began shortly after Putin and Kim toured various facilities at the cosmodrome, including two launch pads.The leaders met at the remote Siberian rocket launch facility for a summit that underscores how the two leaders’ interests are aligning in the face of their separate, intensifying confrontations with the United States.The two men began their meeting with a tour of a Soyuz-2 space rocket launch facility, at which the North Korean leader peppered a Russian space official with questions about the rockets.Kim’s meeting with Putin came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea, extending a highly provocative run in North Korean weapons testing since the start of 2022, as Kim used the distraction caused by Putin’s w...

Kim Jong Un meets Vladimir Putin in Russia. What do Pyongyang and Moscow want from each other?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with President Vladimir Putin at a cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on Wednesday for talks that are likely to focus on Russia’s desire to buy ammunition to refill reserves drained by its war in Ukraine. The meeting underscores deepening cooperation as the two isolated leaders are locked in separate confrontations with the United States. In return for providing ammunition, North Korea will likely want shipments of food and energy and transfers of sophisticated weapons technologies.The meeting with Putin is Kim’s first with a foreign leader since North Korea closed its borders in January 2020. They met for the first time in April 2019, two months after Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with then-U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, in July and asked Kim to send more ammunition to Russia, according to U.S. officials. Shoigu said Mosc...

Connecticut mayor who regained office after corruption conviction wins another primary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who went to prison for corruption and then regained his old job back eight years ago in a remarkable political comeback, has won the Democratic nomination for another term.Ganim, 63, defeated John Gomes, the city’s former chief administrative officer, by a narrow margin Tuesday in a party primary.Gomes declined to concede and could possibly run again in the general election, but the Democratic nominee is expected to have a big advantage. Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city, hasn’t had a Republican mayor since 1991.Ganim’s campaign claimed victory late Tuesday, crediting his win to the “remarkable transformation” of Bridgeport under the mayor’s leadership. The campaign said Ganim had helped the city become more financially stable and developed it as an entertainment hub.First elected mayor in 1991, Ganim was in office 12 years, then quit when he was caught accepting bribes and kickbacks. Convicted of racketeering, ex...

A Crimean shipyard is on fire after a Ukrainian attack with 2 ships damaged and 24 people injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

The Sevastopol Shipyard in Russian-annexed Crimea was on fire early Wednesday after a Ukrainian attack with two ships that were being repaired there sustaining damage and 24 people injured, Russian authorities reported. The attack on the shipyard appeared to one of the biggest in recent weeks, even though the Crimean peninsula, annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, has been a frequent target in the 18-month old war. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine launched 10 cruise missiles at the shipyard and three sea drones at Russian ships in the Black Sea. Seven missiles were shot down and all the sea drones have been destroyed, the military said, but some of the missiles damaged two ships that were being repaired in the shipyard.There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who almost never acknowledge Kyiv’s responsibility for attacks on Crimea or Russian regions that have become regular in recent months. Mikhail Razvozhayev, Moscow-appointed governor of the p...

Higher investment means Hyundai could get $2.1 billion in aid to make electric cars in Georgia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The state of Georgia and local governments are on track to give $2.1 billion in tax breaks and other incentives to Hyundai Motor Group after the South Korean automaker and a partner announced last month that it will invest an additional $2 billion at an electric vehicle complex it’s building in Georgia.Associated Press calculations show projected incentives will rise by more than $290 million from the $1.8 billion deal originally announced last year. Only $2.75 million of that represents additional cash from the state. The rest will come from increases in tax breaks.The deal calls for Hyundai and battery maker LG Energy Solution to invest $7.6 billion in the Georgia plant and hire 8,500 workers by the end of 2031. That’s up from the original job projection of 8,100 at the sprawling electric vehicle and battery complex being built in Ellabell, west of Savannah. It’s the largest economic development deal in Georgia history, and comes with the largest i...

Former leaders of Israel’s security services are speaking out against Netanyahu’s policies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

HERZLIYA, Israel (AP) — They contended with bloody uprisings, destabilizing wars and even the assassination of a prime minister during their service. But for dozens of former Israeli security commanders, the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government are the biggest threat yet to the country’s future.In unprecedented opposition, more than 180 former senior officials from the Mossad, the Shin Bet domestic security agency, the military and the police have united against steps they say will shatter Israel’s resilience in the face of mounting threats from the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran.“We were used to dealing with external threats,” said Tamir Pardo, a former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and a leader of the new group. “We’ve been through wars, through military operations and all of a sudden you realize that the greatest threat to the state of Israel is internal.”Netanyahu’s government, made up of ultranationalist and ultra-religious...

Bill Richardson is mourned in New Mexico after globe-trotting career, lies in state at Capitol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Friends and admirers of former Gov. Bill Richardson are mourning the hard-charging politician whose career spanned the globe, from mountain villages of northern New Mexico as a youthful congressman, to the United Nations and a litany of countries on unofficial diplomatic missions that often helped free imprisoned Americans.Richardson’s casket was scheduled to lie in state Wednesday in the rotunda of the New Mexico Statehouse astride a giant inlay of the New Mexico state seal and an ancient Zia Pueblo symbol of the sun.Richardson died in his sleep at his home in Chatham, Massachusetts, earlier this month at age 75.Final memorials and funeral services were scheduled in Santa Fe, the state capital city where Richardson served two terms as governor starting in 2003 and is still remembered for innate political skills, ambition and an ability to both clash and reconcile with rivals.“He admired legislators who showed spunk and integrity and didn’t give in ...

Dozens of prominent European Rabbis condemn Armenia’s leaders for using Holocaust rhetoric

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

The letter was signed by 50 leading rabbis from 20 European countries including, France, England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Gibraltar, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Malta, Cyprus, Estonia, and Ukraine. Picture from RCE, writes Yossi Lempkowicz. The Rabbis also expressed their concern over Armenia’s close ties with Iran, “a country which incessantly openly and publicly calls for its destruction of the only Jewish country in the world.”“Expressions such as ‘ghetto’, ‘genocide’, ‘Holocaust’ and others are (…) inappropriate to be part of the jargon used in any kind of political disagreement”, wrote the rabbis in the letter, addressed to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Vahagn Garniki Khachaturyan.The Rabbis are also expressing their concern over Armenia’s close ties with Iran, “a country which incessantly openly and publicly calls for its destruction of the only Jewish country in the world”, according to the letter...

Neighborhood council collapses after new member is suspected of being a registered sex offender

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES - Studio City’s neighborhood council has imploded after members found out that they may have voted in a convicted sex offender - even after they alerted Los Angeles city leaders, KTLA has learned. Ian Mitchell King, a self-described a “non-practicing lawyer” and business consultant, joined the council in mid-August. At the time, he told councilmembers that he had served in the U.S. Marine Corps. and U.S. Navy. What councilmembers did not yet know, however, is that there is an individual who is listed on California's sex offender registry with an identical name and address as the new council member. Another council member first made the connection after finding an online article about an Ian Mitchell King who served 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting a young woman while on duty as a school resource officer who was listed on California’s sex offender registry. KTLA reviewed government documents, the sex offender registry, and contacted...

L.A. fashion student fights FIDM's partnership with fast-fashion retailer Shein

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:58:00 GMT

A Los Angeles fashion student is taking a stand against one of the largest fashion producers in the world after Shein announced a partnership with the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise.Lexy Silverstein, a 20-year-old student at FIDM, is speaking out against her school’s collaboration with Shein, saying the move marks the antithesis of much-needed sustainability in the fashion industry.As one of the largest fast-fashion companies in the world, Shein, among others, is known for producing a large amount of clothing and accessories with cheap materials and oftentimes, questionable labor practices.  "I was just shocked,” Silverstein said. “The biggest thing for me is, how can a fashion institute that markets itself as one of the Top 10 most sustainable fashion schools in the world partner with Shein, one of the biggest fast fashion contributors in our industry today?”Lexy Silverstein, a 20-year-old student at FIDM, is speaking out against her school’s collaboration with Sh...