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Italy intends to leave China’s Belt and Road Initiative, defense minister says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

Italy intends to leave the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) “without doing damage” to its relationship with Beijing, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said. “The issue today is: how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations” with Beijing, Crosetto said in an interview with Corriere della Sera. “Because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner.” In May, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the country could enjoy good relations with China even without being part of Beijing’s controversial infrastructure initiative. Crosetto’s comments are the first confirmation of Italy’s intention to leave the Chinese program.“The choice to join the Silk Road was an improvised and wicked act, made by the government of Giuseppe Conte, which led to a double negative result. We exported a load of oranges to China, they tripled exports to Italy in three years,” said Crosetto ...

No cease-fire while Ukraine is on the offensive, Putin declares

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

Vladimir Putin said he does not reject the idea of peace talks over Ukraine, but the Russian president added that there could be no cease-fire while Ukrainian forces are “on the offensive.”Speaking after meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg, Putin told a press conference that African and Chinese peace initiatives could serve as a basis for ending the war in Ukraine, but are “impossible to implement” at the moment. “The Ukrainian army is on the offensive, they are attacking, they are implementing a large-scale strategic offensive operation,” Putin said, according to media reports. “We cannot cease fire when we are under attack,” he said. “We did not reject them,” Putin said, referring to the peace initiatives. “In order for this process to begin, there needs to be agreement on both sides,” the Russian leader said of the possibility of peace talks. African leaders meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg la...

Drones hit Moscow city center in latest attack on Russian territory

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

Several drones attacked the center of Moscow in the early hours of Sunday morning, in the latest assault on Russian territory that the city’s mayor blamed on Kyiv. The drones hit two high-rise buildings in an area called Moscow City, a posh business district in the center of the Russian capital, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram statement on Sunday.“Ukrainian drones attacked tonight. The facades of two city office towers were slightly damaged. There are no victims or injured,” Sobyanin said.Russian media reported that a 50-story building in Moscow City was evacuated. And Russian social media users posted videos of blasts.Russian media channel Astra reported that one of the drones damaged the 10th floor of an office building in Moscow City, where at least three Russian ministries have their offices — the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Digital Development.Ukraine did not officially take responsibility for the attack. “We...

Vice President Harris speaks at NAACP Convention in Boston

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

The 114th annual National NAACP Convention continued Saturday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and featured an address from Vice President Kamala Harris.“We are in a moment when there is a full-on attempt to attack hard-fought rights and freedom and liberty,” Harris said while discussing the state of civil rights in the United States to a crowd of thousands.More than 2,200 local branches will submit what they believe should be the priorities for the convention. Organizers say topics will include AI, the Hollywood writers’ strike, racism, white nationalism, education, reproductive rights for women, and recent Supreme Court rulings.“The Supreme Court just demolished, just basically did away with affirmative action,” she said, “which was all about access to opportunity.” She also discussed gun control and an increase is mass shootings across the country.“It is about mass shootings and every day gun violence that is happening...

Debris, flooding affect communities around the state after powerful storms rolled through

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

(WHDH) — Debris from the storm affected communities in Easton and West Bridgewater, while flooding affected Boston on Commonwealth Avenue and Quincy on Sunday morning. Powerful storms that rolled through the area Saturday night prompted flash flood, severe thunderstorm, and tornado warnings in parts of Massachusetts.The National Weather Service issued the tornado warning for Plymouth and Bristol counties through 9 p.m. on Saturday. It has since expired.A Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued earlier Saturday has also expired.

Q&A: ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ broadcasters on Orioles’ success, trade deadline, World Series aspirations and more

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

In his three decades at ESPN, Karl Ravech has seen Major League Baseball go through many phases.Ravech, the play-by-play announcer for the network’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast, said the sport’s current era favors the Orioles.“It’s a young man’s game,” Ravech said. “There’s no doubt about it. Athleticism plays, and the Orioles have showed it.”Baltimore has spent the past week as the best team in the American League, and Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees is a result of that success. The young Orioles — led by Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and a cadre of other current or former top prospects — are hosting ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” for the first time in nearly five years.The last time Camden Yards hosted the national broadcast was Aug. 26, 2018, when the last-place Orioles played the Yankees, a game Baltimore dropped en route to a 115-loss season. The circumstan...

Search resumes for missing 14-year-old boy in waters off Hamilton

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

Search and rescue crews have resumed scouring the waters of Lake Ontario off Hamilton for a missing 14-year-old.The teen was reported missing near Beach Boulevard, east of Hamilton Harbour after a group of young people took an inflatable out on the water around 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Hamilton police say the boy went under the water and never resurfaced. Ontario Provincial Police along with the Canadian Coast Guard and Hamilton Fire are also assisting in the search.

A bomb at a political rally in northwest Pakistan kills at least 35 people and wounds more than 100

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A powerful bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country’s northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. At least 35 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.Senior police officer Nazir Khan said the workers convention of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam party was taking place on the outskirts of Khar, the capital of Bajur district, when the explosion took place.Initially police said 10 people were killed but later more bodies were moved to a hospital bringing the death toll to 35. He said some of the wounded were taken to the city’s main hospital in critical condition and the death toll could increase.Azam Khan, head of the emergency room at Khar’s main hospital, said 35 bodies were brought to the hospital and some wre taken back by relatives while the number of wounded was now more than 100 as those who earlier went to near small clini...

US mother, daughter, reported kidnapped in Haiti, people warned not to travel there

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

A woman from New Hampshire who works for a nonprofit organization in Haiti and her young daughter have been reported as kidnapped as the U.S. State Department issued a “do not travel advisory” in the country and ordered nonemergency personnel to leave there amid growing security concerns. Alix Dorsainvil, a nurse for El Roi Haiti, and her daughter were kidnapped on Thursday, the organization said in a statement Saturday. El Roi, which runs a school and ministry in Port au Prince, said the two were taken from campus. Dorsainvil is the wife of the program’s director, Sandro Dorsainvil. “Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family,” El Roi president and co-founder Jason Brown said in the statement. “Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus.”A State Department spokesperson sai...

Canadians travelling to Europe in 2024 will need a permit to enter some countries

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:08:14 GMT

Canadian travellers will soon need extra documents to visit 30 popular tourist destinations in Europe. The European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) will be required for Canadians and other visa-exempt countries who want to travel within the European Union to countries such as France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland. The United Kingdom is not included under the new policy following its withdrawal from the EU in 2020.The application can be completed on the ETIAS website or mobile app and will cost 7 Euros – or about $10 Canadian. Most applications will be processed within a few minutes.“Generally it will be your name, your passport number which will be the big key …some details like your address, where you’re going, how long your staying, who you’re staying with, that type of thing,” Wayne Smith, a professor at the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Toronto Metropolitan University tells CityNews. ...