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China says Biden comments likening leader Xi to a dictator are ‘extremely absurd and irresponsible’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday called comments by U.S. President Joe Biden referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible.” The clash of words comes just over a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing that sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historical low. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Biden’s comments at a fundraiser in California “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.” “It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition,” Mao said at a daily briefing. “The U.S. remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible,” Mao said. Blinken’s visit, during which he met with Xi, was aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers but appeared not to have achieved any solid results.Biden...

Chicago Bears Q&A: Any regrets with Chase Claypool? Who could surprise at training camp — and which battles will be ones to watch?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

Brad Biggs answers your Chicago Bears questions weekly, except when the mailbag is on vacation. This is the final installment until after training camp opens.I keep hearing the Bears are getting increasingly frustrated with Chase Claypool and are having deep regrets. He hasn’t exactly fit in with the Bears or before that with the Steelers, who got an amazing deal in the trade. What did GM Ryan Poles see in this guy? He didn’t set the world on fire in Pittsburgh. What do you think the Bears will do with him? — Michael K.All of the chatter in regard to Claypool this offseason — positive, negative and otherwise — will be moot when the season begins. There were many mailbag questions about the wide receiver this week and the best thing I can tell you is Claypool’s production on the field will tell the story. Yes, the Steelers wound up with a good haul for a player they selected No. 49 in 2020. They got a pick back that turned out to be 17 slots higher...

London Series 2023: What to know about the Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals games — including how (and when) to watch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

The Chicago Cubs are headed to London. Finally.Initially scheduled to play the St. Louis Cardinals in the London Series in 2020, the rescheduled games will take place Saturday and Sunday at London Stadium.Our Cubs reporter Meghan Montemurro is headed across the pond to document it all. Follow her on Twitter at @m_montemurro, keep up with the daily sights on our Instagram and read it all at chicagotribune.com/cubs.Here’s what to know about the London Series, including how — and what time — to watch the games.Why were the games delayed three years?One word: COVID.The pandemic forced the cancellation of the series in the shortened 2020 baseball season.When the games were first announced in 2019, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant were photoshopped as Paul McCartney and George Harrison on the iconic “Abbey Road” cover to promote the London games. But Bryzzo is now gone, as is former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who had the John Lennon spot in the photo, reti...

Israel’s Netanyahu approves plans for 1,000 new homes in West Bank settlement after deadly shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government has approved plans to build 1,000 new homes in the West Bank settlement where four people were killed by a pair of Palestinian gunmen.“Our answer to terror is to strike it hard and to build our country,” Netanyahu said.The new homes are to be built in Eli — the site of Tuesday’s deadly attack.The international community overwhelmingly opposes settlement construction in the occupied West Bank as obstacles to peace.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military on Wednesday deployed additional forces across the occupied West Bank and prepared to demolish the homes of two Palestinian gunmen who killed four Israelis in one of the worst attacks in the past year of violence. The families laid to rest the victims in the deadly shooting in the West Bank settlement of Eli, in which two Palestinian militants opened fire at a gas station restaurant.Israel...

With Wembanyama a player like few others, there’s no debate at the top of this NBA draft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama’s towering shadow has hung over this NBA draft for months, blocking much of what is usually part of the process.There has been no debate about who the San Antonio Spurs should take with the No. 1 pick Thursday night, no discussion of which player might be a better fit, no real attempts to raise any red flags about the presumed selection.When a player like Wembanyama comes along — and maybe none ever has — there’s no real reason to drum up any drama. The Spurs are not going to pass up someone who is listed at 7-foot-4 but has the skills of a player much smaller.The 19-year-old from France has been called the best prospect since LeBron James came out of high school 20 years ago, perhaps with some physical gifts that even the NBA’s career scoring leader didn’t possess.Expectations from the outside world are sky-high. Wembanyama insists that won’t bother him.“I have such high expectations for myself and I’m so determined th...

7 Pakistanis arrested for alleged key role in migrant ship that sank off Greece, leaving 500 missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities said Wednesday they have arrested seven alleged key figures in a human trafficking ring following last week’s sinking of an overcrowded smuggling vessel off Greece that left more than 500 migrants missing, including Pakistanis.Police told The Associated Press that the ring was engaged in smuggling Pakistanis into Europe and that the arrests took place over the last two days, as part of a government crackdown on traffickers.Thirty other suspects were arrested over the past few days in Pakistan and were being questioned for their role in facilitating smuggling activities.Police continued raids across the country on Wednesday, in an attempt to arrest all involved in the migrant ship disaster. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies are also helping local police in tracking smugglers who went underground.Each of those who tried to make the perilous journey to Europe — hoping for a better life — paid the smugglers between $5,000 to $8,000, Paki...

Indian leader Modi will start his US visit with yoga on the UN lawn, a savvy and symbolic choice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — There will be plenty of time to discuss global tensions during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. this week. But he’s starting his day Wednesday by highlighting a pursuit of inner tranquility.After arriving in New York on Tuesday afternoon and holding private meetings, the leader of the world’s most populous nation kicks off his public schedule Wednesday with a group yoga session on the United Nations’ north lawn. U.N. General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and many other diplomats and U.N. officials are expected to attend the event. It honors the International Day of Yoga, which Modi persuaded the U.N. to designate in 2014 as an annual observance. The yoga-themed U.N. visit is a savvy and symbolic choice for a premier who has made the ancient discipline a personal practice and a diplomatic tool. First practiced by Hindu sages, yoga has now become one of India’s most po...

Poland’s conservative ruling party leader Kaczynski joins the government as deputy premier

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s powerful conservative ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, rejoined the government on Wednesday as the only deputy prime minister in the Cabinet, a move that gives him an enhanced position as the country heads toward a general election this fall.To make way for Kaczynski, four other deputy prime ministers resigned from their positions.Kaczynski’s party, the right-wing populist Law and Justice, appears to be losing some of its momentum with elections four months away. Though it remains the country’s most popular party, opinion polls suggest some of its campaign pledges are failing to gain traction with voters. Meanwhile the main opposition party has been energized after organizing a massive anti-government protest earlier this month.President Andrzej Duda appointed Kaczynski to the post of deputy prime minister in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw. Duda, an ally of Law and Justice, thanked Kaczynski for his return to ...

Summer arrives today. Environment Canada reveals weather outlook through August

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

Summer officially arrives on Wednesday and it appears Ontarians should be ready for a sweltering few months.The new season will officially begin at 10:57 a.m. — and it will feel like summer in Toronto as humidex values hit 31 this afternoon.“It’s another very warm, humid day,” says CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor. “It’s not an oppressive humidity, but you may feel it. The wind will be brisk again out of the east.”Sunny start to summer! If officially arrives 10:57am! pic.twitter.com/fEnGmCTRh5— Jill Taylor (@JillTaylorCity) June 21, 2023The CityNews guaranteed high for Wednesday is 26 C. Taylor says we will see increasing clouds starting Thursday and some unsettled weather for the first weekend of summer, with some sunny breaks.Rain could move in on Friday ahead of the weekend. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be warm with a highs in the upper 20s, but there could be some thunderstorms.“One of those weekends where you ju...

German woman convicted of keeping Yazidi woman as a slave in Iraq

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:50:20 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German woman was convicted Wednesday of keeping a Yazidi woman as a slave during her time with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and sentenced to nine years and three months in prison.The state court in the western city of Koblenz convicted the 37-year-old of crimes against humanity, membership in a foreign terrorist organization and being an accessory to genocide, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have identified her only as Nadine K. in line with German privacy rules.The court found that the defendant for three years abused a young Yazidi woman “in her own interests as a household slave.” It said that her husband brought the woman to their home and regularly raped her, and that the defendant enabled those assaults and should have intervened.Prosecutors have said that the defendant traveled to Syria with her husband in 2014 and joined IS. In 2015, the couple moved to the Iraqi town of Mosul, where they allegedly kept the Yazidi woman.The defendan...