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Blinken and Xi pledge to stabilize deteriorated US-China ties, but China rebuffs the main US request

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

By MATTHEW LEE (AP Diplomatic Writer)BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to “stabilize” badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries.After meeting Xi, Blinken said China is not ready to resume military-to-military contacts, something the U.S. considers crucial to avoid miscalculation and conflict, particularly over Taiwan.Still, China’s main diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, Yang Tao, said he thought Blinken’s visit to China “marks a new beginning.”“The U.S. side is surely aware of why there is difficulty in military-to-military exchanges,” he said, blaming the issue squarely on U.S. sanctions, which Blinken said revolved entirely around threats to American security.Yet Blinken and Xi pronounced themselves satisfied with progres...

Fiercest fighting in years erupts in West Bank camp of Jenin, at least 5 Palestinians killed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

By ILAN BEN ZION and MAJDI MOHAMMED (Associated Press)JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israeli military forces raided a refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday, igniting the fiercest day of fighting in years as Palestinian militants detonated roadside bombs and Israeli helicopter gunships struck Palestinian gunmen to rescue troops trapped in the hourslong firefight. At least five Palestinians were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and over 90 others were wounded, Palestinian health officials said. Seven Israeli soldiers were also wounded, the army said. The Israeli military said forces stormed into the Jenin refugee camp in the early morning to arrest two wanted militants. They faced fierce resistance. Palestinian militants said they ambushed Israeli armored vehicles with explosive devices, disabling several vehicles with troops trapped inside. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht described Palestinian militants’ use of at least one powerful ...

A search is underway for missing submersible that takes people to see Titanic

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

A search is underway for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic, according to media reports.The U.S. Coast Guard told BBC News that a search was underway Monday off the coast of Newfoundland. OceanGate Expeditions confirmed it owned the missing vessel. “We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely,” the company said in a statement to BBC News. “Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.”The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston did not immediately return messages sent by The Associated Press. However, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said a Canadian military aircraft and a Canadian Coast Guard vessel are assisting the search effort, which is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard.In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions began what it expected to become an annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the iconic ocean liner that struck an iceberg and san...

UN complains Russia blocks aid workers from area of Ukraine dam collapse; Moscow says it’s unsafe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

By SUSIE BLANN (Associated Press)KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Kremlin’s spokesman said Monday that U.N. aid workers who want to visit areas ravaged by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine can’t go there because fighting in the war makes it unsafe.The United Nations rebuked Moscow on Sunday for allegedly denying aid workers access to Russia-occupied areas where residents are stranded amid “devastating destruction.” The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement that her staff were engaging with both Kyiv and Moscow, which control different parts of the area, in a bid to reach civilians in need. They face a shortage of drinking water and food and a lack of power.Brown urged Russian authorities “to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law” and let them in.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t explicitly admit that Russia had blocked U.N. access, but told a ...

Everett girl, 14, standing in Chelsea pot shop parking lot was struck by vehicle; Watertown driver charged after crash

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

A 14-year-old Everett girl was critically injured in a crash Sunday night when a Watertown man behind the wheel of a Mercedes Benz allegedly drove through a metal fence and struck her as she was standing in a Chelsea pot shop parking lot.Massachusetts State Police and Chelsea Police are now investigating the crash that caused life-threatening injuries to the 14-year-old girl shortly after 8 p.m. on Sunday in the parking lot of RISE Recreational Marijuana Dispensary Chelsea on Beacham Street.The girl was transported to a Boston hospital after the crash, and she was in critical condition on Monday, police said.Ceserino Borelli, 44, has been charged with numerous motor vehicle offenses by Chelsea Police, and additional charges against the suspect are possible depending on the results of the investigation.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Suffolk DA Hayden gives quarter million in seized funds to nonprofits At around 8:10 p.m. on Sunday, Borelli was allegedly d...

Search on for tourist sub that takes people to see the Titanic

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

A search is underway for a missing submersible that carries people to view the wreckage of the Titanic, according to media reports.The U.S. Coast Guard told BBC News that a search was underway Monday off the coast of Newfoundland. OceanGate Expeditions confirmed it owned the missing vessel.“We are exploring and mobilising all options to bring the crew back safely,” the company said in a statement to BBC News. “Our entire focus is on the crewmembers in the submersible and their families.”The U.S. Coast Guard in Boston did not immediately return messages sent by The Associated Press.In 2021, OceanGate Expeditions began what it expected to become an annual voyage to chronicle the deterioration of the iconic ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank in 1912.The company said at the time that in addition to archaeologists and marine biologists, the expeditions also would include roughly 40 paid tourists who would take turns operating sonar equipment and performin...

Guatemala prepares to vote after a tumultuous presidential campaign

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — This has been one of the most turbulent election seasons in Guatemala’s modern history.Some of the most popular aspirants will be on the sidelines in Sunday’s voting because electoral authorities and courts blocked some from running and cancelled the candidacies of others who were initially allowed to enter the race. There is no re-election in Guatemala, so President Alejandro Giammattei is not among the 22 permitted presidential candidates. Guatemalans will also elect all members of congress and hundreds of mayors across the country.HOW ARE GUATEMALA’S ELECTIONS CONDUCTED?Guatemalans age 18 and older can vote in elections held every four years, and some 9.2 million are registered — more than half of them women. Voting is not compulsory.At polling places, voters will receive five ballots covering the various races in their districts.In the presidential contest, the ballot will feature the faces of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on...

Mobile home fire kills 5 in North Carolina, including a couple, their friend and his boys

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

BROADWAY, N.C. (AP) — Authorities have identified five people who died in a mobile home fire in a rural North Carolina town Sunday as a husband and wife, a family friend and his two young sons.The Harnett County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as homeowners Michael Breymeyer, 74, and his wife, Tammy Breymeyer, 58; Daniel Garner, 39, and Garner’s two sons. Their names and ages weren’t immediately released.Kayla Gonzalez, who works in town, said the deaths will have a impact in the close-knit community, where everyone knows each other.Tammy Breymeyer “was there for anybody if you needed it. She always had something positive to say and a good outlook on what’s to come,” Gonzalez told WTVD-TV. “It happened so unexpectedly. Life is precious and time is really short.”The sheriff’s office told news outlets that the fire marshal’s office has joined its investigation into the cause of the fire in the Broadway community, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Raleigh....

Search underway for sub missing near Titanic wreck off Newfoundland

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

HALIFAX — A search is underway off the coast of Newfoundland for a small submersible reported missing near the wreck of the Titanic.The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax says a research submarine was reported overdue around 9:13 p.m. Sunday, about 700 kilometres south of St. John’s, N.L.Lt.-Cmdr. Len Hickey says an Aurora military aircraft and the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Kopit Hopson are assisting the search effort, which is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard in Boston.Chief Mi’sel Joe, who is head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Mi’kmaq band that owns the ship from which the small submarine is launched, confirms it is operated by OceanGate Expeditions.Joe couldn’t say how many people were on board the submersible, which can seat up to five people.Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey tweeted that he is thinking of those affected and hopes the U.S. Coast Guard finds “the sub and those on it very soon.”This report by The Canadian Press w...

UN calls on Middle East and European nations to raise money for the humanitarian crisis in Sudan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:15:32 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations called on countries in the Middle East and Europe on Monday to ramp up aid efforts in Sudan to address the deepening humanitarian crisis.Sudan has been rocked by fighting for more than two months as the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces battle for control of the country. Sudan’s Health Ministry said Saturday that more than 3,000 have been killed in the conflict, which has decimated the country’s fragile infrastructure and sparked ethnic violence in the western Darfur region.“The scale and speed of Sudan’s descent into death and destruction is unprecedented,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said at the opening of a U.N.-sponsored meeting co-hosted by Egypt, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the African Union in the Swiss city of Geneva.Guterres said the organization’s emergency aid program launched after the war broke out on April 15 has received less than 17% of the required $3 billion in aid.As the meeting progressed, nu...