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Ukraine ends year disappointed by stalemate with Russia, and anxious about aid from allies

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

The year started with high hopes for Ukrainian troops planning a counteroffensive against Russia. It ended with disappointment on the battlefield, an increasingly somber mood among troops and anxiety about the future of Western aid for Ukraine’s war effort.In between, there was a short-lived rebellion in Russia, a dam collapse in Ukraine, and the spilling of much blood on both sides of the conflict.Twenty-two months since it invaded, Russia has about one-fifth of Ukraine in its grip, and the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has barely budged this year.A crunch has come away from the battlefield. In Western countries that have championed Ukraine’s struggle against its much bigger adversary, political deliberations over billions in financial aid are increasingly strained.Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing a waiting game two years into a war that proved to be a costly miscalculation by the Kremlin. He is wagering that the West’s support will gradually crumbl...

5 more boats packed with refugees approach Indonesia’s shores, air force says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities detected at least five boats packed tight with refugees approaching shores of Aceh province, officials said Thursday.The boats are the latest in a surge of vessels that have arrived in Aceh, most carrying Rohingya refugees from southern Bangladesh, where the persecuted Muslim minority fled in 2017 following attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar.Indonesia intensified patrols of its waters after a sharp rise in Rohingya refugees arriving since November, said Aceh’s Air Force Base Commander Col. Yoyon Kuscahyono. He said air patrols detected at least five boats Wednesday entering Indonesian waters, likely carrying Rohingya refugees. They were spotted entering the regencies of Lhokseumawe, East Aceh, Pidie, Aceh Besar and Sabang in north Aceh province.Indonesia appealed to the international community for help on Dec. 12, after more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees arrived on its shores since November. Muslims comprise nearly...

Taylor Swift’s new romance, debt-erasing gifts and the eclipse are among most joyous moments of 2023

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A romance that united sports and music fans, a celestial wonder that drew millions of eyes skyward and a spiritual homecoming for some Native American tribes were just some of the moments that inspired us and brought joy in 2023.In a year that saw multiple wars, deadly mass shootings, earthquakes, wildfires, sexual harassment stories and other tragedies, these events were among those that broke through the tumult of 2023 and made people feel hopeful.As Taylor Swift would say, “Hold on to the memories.” Here are a few of them:___A FRIENDSHIP BRACELET WITH A PHONE NUMBER That’s how Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce planned to woo superstar Taylor Swift when he went to her Eras Tour concert stop in the Missouri capital. It didn’t work — at first.But the romantic gesture, and public admission of defeat on his “New Heights” podcast, caught the Grammy Award-winner’s attention. After the power pair took their relationship public — she went to a Chiefs game a...

After 2 grisly killings, a small Nebraska community wonders if any place is really safe

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) — The grisly killings of a retiree and then a priest has shocked everyone in tiny Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, including Sheriff Mike Robinson.He’s lived in the community just north of Omaha for 62 years and can’t recall a single homicide before these two.“It really is out of character,” Robinson said. “It’s a good town, good place to live, good place to raise your family.”Robinson says people have been troubled not only by the killings, but by the awful details of how their neighbors died in what appear to be random attacks.Linda Childers, 71, was killed Aug. 13, when she was shot with a crossbow three times and her throat was slit at her isolated home near a creek about a mile north of Fort Calhoun. Less than four months later, on Dec. 10, the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, 65, was fatally stabbed during a break-in at the rectory next door to St. John the Baptist Church, where he had been set to lead Mass later that day.The brutal killings have shaken residents who have...

Key takeaways from an AP investigation into how police failed to stop a serial killer

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — DeAngelo Martin killed four women and raped two others over a 16-month span before he was captured.Only now, a year after Martin was sent to prison, is it clear that police failed repeatedly to follow up on leads or take investigative steps that may have averted the killing spree, despite receiving repeated warnings that Martin was a violent predator, an Associated Press investigation has found.The AP found myriad failures. Here are some key takeaways from its investigation:Killings put Detroit on edgeDeAngelo Martin lured four women in 2018 and 2019 into vacant homes and murdered them, leaving their nude or partially clothed corpses amid cheap booze pints, crumbling walls and hypodermic needles. The killings rattled Detroit, prompting authorities to dispatch crews on overtime to scour thousands of abandoned houses for more bodies. Police caught Martin in June 2019. He pleaded guilty in 2022 to killing four women — Annetta Nelson, 57; Nancy Harrison, 52; Trevesene Ell...

US is engaging in high-level diplomacy to avoid vetoing a UN resolution on critical aid for Gaza

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States, key allies and Arab nations engaged in high-level diplomacy in hopes of avoiding another U.S. veto of a new U.N. resolution on desperately needed aid to Gaza ahead of a long-delayed vote now scheduled for Thursday morning.The U.S. has been struggling to change the text’s references to a cessation of hostilities in the Israel-Hamas war. Another sticking point is the inspection of aid trucks into Gaza to ensure they are only carrying humanitarian goods. The current draft proposes a U.N. role, an idea Israel is likely to oppose.U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on his way back from Milwaukee, Wisconsin late Wednesday afternoon that “we’re negotiating right now at the U.N. the contours of a resolution that we may be able to agree to.”Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, which sponsored the Arab-backed resolution, said earlier that high-level discussions are underway to try to reach agreement on a text that can be adopted.“...

‘Total systemic breakdown’: Missteps over years allowed Detroit serial killer to roam free

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — The serial killer lured women one by one into vacant homes to be murdered, posing their nude or partially clothed corpses amid cheap booze pints, crumbling sheetrock and hypodermic needles.The slayings set Detroit on edge, prompting authorities to dispatch crews on overtime to scour the city’s decrepit stock of abandoned properties for more bodies. When the killer was charged in 2019, the police chief at the time told reporters that his department had been “very diligent, relentless” in solving the crimes.But now, a year after DeAngelo Martin was sent to prison for committing four murders and two rapes, it’s clear that police were hardly diligent or relentless.Over 15 years, Detroit police failed to follow up on leads or take investigative steps that may have averted the eventual killing spree, despite having received repeated warnings that Martin was a violent predator, an Associated Press investigation has found.“It’s astonishing,” said Jim Trainum, a retired Washin...

Custom made by Tulane students, mobility chairs help special needs toddlers get moving

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — At 19 months old, Elijah Jack, born with no femur bone in one leg and a short femur in the other, is unable to walk on his own like most toddlers his age. Another 19-month-old, Freya Baudoin, born prematurely at 28 weeks and delayed in her mobility, has finally taken her first step. Special needs children like these often take longer than most to become independently mobile, which can be a hardship for parents and others who care for them. Elijah is often carried because of his limb difference and clubfeet, meaning that instead of being straight, his feet are twisted inward and his toes point downward. As a result, getting around on his own is a challenge. That was until this past Spring. Elijah was one of the first recipients of a specially designed rolling chair built by a team of biomedical engineering students at Tulane University. Today, Elijah has mastered getting around on wheels – turning, stopping and steering all on his own.“He loves his chair,” said Cry...

Meet the Russian professor who became mayor of a Colombian city

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

TUNJA, Colombia (AP) — Mikhail Krasnov walks along the steep streets of the Colombian city of Tunja just like any other resident — except he’s no longer just another neighbor.Now people greet the newly elected mayor as he makes his way around town and stop him for pictures. One woman hugs the man known here as the “Russian professor” and poses for a selfie.Krasnov, a 45-year-old university professor from Russia, was one of the unexpected winners in Colombia ’s regional elections in October. He prevailed by promising to stamp out corruption and embrace more meritocracy in the city government, where jobs often go to those with political connections.He’s also trying to reduce the city’s debt.“We are not here to promote my face,” said Krasnov, who has been interviewed by dozens of national media outlets and also a Russian network, since he won the election. “We want to send the message that Tunja exists, that we are competitive and want to attract investors.”The blond and green-eyed pro...

Biden needs a new approach to Black voters based on Georgia and Michigan, group of strategists says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:13:59 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Some top Democrats are worried that a dip in Black voter turnout, along with other challenges, could doom President Joe Biden and his party in 2024.A group of Democrats is offering a new analysis of the most recent campaigns in Georgia and Michigan, pitching those battlegrounds as models for drawing in more Black voters next year and beyond. They argue that Democratic power players need to think — and spend money — in new ways, going beyond efforts that can be last-minute or superficial as they try to reassemble Biden’s 2020 coalition.“The days of the symbolic fish fry and one-time church visit are over,” wrote the authors of the analysis by strategists widely credited for helping flip Georgia and Michigan to Biden. “Black voters have always required an approach to voter engagement as diverse as the Black voting coalition.”Biden has long depended on Black voters — first as a Delaware senator and most notably in the 2020 South Carolina primary, which delivered him a de...