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Inside the EU’s military crash course for Ukrainian troops

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

KLIETZ, Germany — Fifteen of 17 targets hit with the first shot.That’s the score for a Ukrainian crew on a Leopard 1A5 main battle tank on a training ground in Germany. They’re part of an international effort to train thousands of Ukrainian troops on Western weapons before they’re thrown back into battle against Russian invaders.“I am very impressed with what the Ukrainian comrades have shown here,” said German Lieutenant General Andreas Marlow, commander of the Special Training Command of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM UA). The four-man Ukrainian crew did miss two moving targets and a colleague of Marlow’s added that they need to work on their speed in the Leopard, a 42-ton behemoth that’s now helping equip the Ukrainian military.Berlin has authorized the export of as many as 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine, most from stocks held by Germany and Denmark. Kyiv is also due to receive a smaller number of more a...

New Hampshire sheriff accepts paid leave after arrest on theft, perjury charges

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire sheriff accused of stealing county funds and lying to a grand jury has agreed to be put on paid administrative leave.Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave was charged Thursday with eight felonies including perjury and theft of about $19,000. County commissioners planned to draft a petition for his removal if he didn’t accept their offer of a paid leave of absence by Tuesday. In a social media post Monday night, Brave said he had made the “difficult decision” to take leave from Strafford County Sheriff’s Office.“While I maintain that I am innocent, and none of my spending of out of state line items was due to deceive the county or the people of Strafford County, I do want to make sure that the wonderful team at SCSO is able to function without added stressors to their already difficult positions,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.The charges allege that Brave used his county credit card to pay for travel to fictitious business meetings wi...

Dan Rodricks: John Angelos keeps trying to take the joy out of a joyous Orioles season | STAFF COMMENTARY

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

When your family owns the Baltimore Orioles and your team is having a great season with young stars, when excited fans are coming back to Camden Yards after five dismal years, what you want to do is cast doubt on everything.You want to say it probably won’t last.You want to rain on your own parade.That’s the ticket, right?Business 101.You’re John Angelos, the CEO and chairman of a team your elderly and ailing father acquired 30 years ago — 30 years and 19 losing seasons ago — and you should be having the time of your life.You should be beaming with happiness. The general manager you hired has assembled the best team in the American League — on the cheap, too — and the Orioles are the talk of the baseball world. Fan attendance is up by more than 30%. The state of Maryland has offered to invest another $600 million in Camden Yards. Your team is worth something like $1.7 billion.Plus, there’s a Springsteen concert at Oriole Park on Sept. ...

Pedestrian hit, killed by trash truck in downtown

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

SAN DIEGO — One person was hit and killed by a trash truck Tuesday morning in the downtown area, San Diego Police confirmed.The crash happened around 5:22 a.m. near the intersection of C Street and Sixth Avenue. Boulders ‘about as big as a school bus’ fall onto I-8 As of 6:15 a.m., police were on scene conducting traffic control near the scene of the crash as officials investigated the incident.The circumstances that led to the crash were not immediately available.No information was available regarding the pedestrian who was killed in the crash.

Greek authorities say the bodies of 18 people have been found in an area struck by a major wildfire

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

ALEXANDROUPOLIS, Greece (AP) — Firefighters scouring the area of a major wildfire in northeastern Greece burning out of control for a fourth day found the bodies of 18 people, authorities said Tuesday. They were examining whether the group might have been migrants who entered the country through the nearby border.The discovery in the Avanta area of the city of Alexandroupolis came as hundreds of firefighters battled dozens of wildfires breaking out across the country, fanned by gale-force winds. On Monday, two people died and two firefighters were injured in separate fires in northern and central Greece.With their hot, dry summers, southern European countries are particularly prone to wildfires. Another major blaze was burning across Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands for a week, although no injuries or damage to homes was reported from that blaze.European Union officials have blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe, noting that ...

Poland’s leader says Russia’s moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, shifting regional security

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday that Russia already is in the process of shifting some short-range nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus, a move that Duda said will shift the security architecture of the region and the entire NATO military alliance.Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko said last month that Moscow already had shipped some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus after announcing the plan in March. The U.S. and NATO haven’t confirmed the move. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg denounced Moscow’s rhetoric as “dangerous and reckless,” but said in July that the alliance hadn’t seen any change in Russia’s nuclear posture.Tactical nuclear weapons are intended for use on the battlefield and have a short range and a low yield compared with much more powerful nuclear warheads fitted to long-range missiles. Russia said it would maintain control over those it sends to Belarus.D...

Who’s in, who’s out, who’s boycotting: The 8 candidates expected on-stage for the first GOP debate

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The stage is set for the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, with the Republican National Committee saying late Monday that eight candidates had met the qualifications to be on stage in Milwaukee.To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates needed to satisfy polling and donor requirements set by the RNC: at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.To appear onstage, candidates needed to commit at least 48 hours before the Wednesday evening debate, according to RNC criteria, which also required participants to sign a pledge promising to support the party’s eventual nominee.A look at who’s in, who’s out and who’s decided not to participate:WHO’S IN RON DESANTIS The Florida governor has long been seen as former President Donald Trump’s top rival, finish...

Knicks sue Raptors, accusing rival of using ex-Knicks employee as ‘mole’ to steal scouting secrets

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks sued the Toronto Raptors, their new head coach and a former Knicks scouting employee on Monday, saying the defendants conspired to steal thousands of videos and other scouting secrets over the past few weeks.The lawsuit in Manhattan federal court seeks unspecified damages and a ban on the further spread of the Knicks’ trade secrets. The lawsuit claimed that secrets including scouting and play frequency reports, along with a prep book and a link to valuable software, had been downloaded thousands of times by Raptors employees.“This material consists of secret, proprietary information critical to the Knicks’ efforts to maintain a competitive advantage over their rivals, including the Raptors,” the lawsuit said.The Knicks said the theft occurred in recent weeks after the Raptors hired and recruited “a mole” within the Knicks organization. The lawsuit identified him as Ikechukwu Azotam, who since August 2021 had directed the planning, orga...

Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher in early trading, led again by Big Tech

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is ticking higher in early trading, on track for its first back-to-back gain in what’s been a miserable August. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% early Tuesday, coming off a gain powered by Big Tech stocks. The Dow was little changed and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.6%. Stocks have struggled this month as yields shot higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding steady, a day after reaching its highest level since 2007. Tech stocks were again helping to lead the market ahead of what could be a pivotal earnings report from chipmaker Nvidia on Wednesday. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street pointed toward gains early Tuesday as markets digested more earnings from retailers while waiting for any hints about interest rates from the Federal Reserve at this week’s conference.Futures for S&P 500 rose 0.6% before the bell Tuesday, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0....

Some states reject federal money to find and replace dangerous lead pipes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:07:41 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — As the Biden administration makes billions of dollars available to remove millions of dangerous lead pipes that can contaminate drinking water and damage brain development in children, some states are turning down funds. Washington, Oregon, Maine and Alaska declined all or most of their federal funds in the first of five years that the mix of grants and loans is available, The Associated Press found. Some states are less prepared to pay for lead removal projects because, in many cases, the lead must first be found, experts said. And communities are hesitant to take out loans to search for their lead pipes.States shouldn’t “shrug their shoulders” and pass up funds, said Erik Olson, a health and food expert at the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council.“It’s troubling that a state would decide to take a complete pass on the funding because part of the reason for the funding is to figure out whether you even have lead,” Olson said.The B...