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Germany arrests 2 Syrians, one of them accused of war crimes related to a deadly attack in 2013

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Two Syrian men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of membership in extremist groups, and one of them is suspected of involvement in a 2013 attack in eastern Syria in which more than 60 Shiite fighters and civilians were killed, prosecutors said Thursday.The suspects, identified only as Amer A. and Basel O. in line with German privacy rules, were arrested on Wednesday, the federal prosecutors’ office said. Both are accused of membership in a foreign terrorist organization — Liwa Jund al Rahman, or Brigade of the Soldiers of the Merciful God, an armed rebel group that prosecutors said Amer A. formed in February 2013 and led.Amer A. is also accused of committing war crimes by means of forced displacement and of membership in the Islamic State group.The war crimes charges relate to a June 2013 attack on Hatla, in Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zour province, that killed about 60 Shiite residents. At the time, the attack underlined the increasingly sectarian na...

Lainey Wilson leads the 2023 Country Music Award nominations for the second year in a row

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s another landmark year for breakout country superstar Lainey Wilson, who tops the CMA Awards nominations for the second year in a row.Wilson was a first-time nominee in 2022, which means she’s made history in 2023 — becoming the first and only artist to top the nominations list in her first two appearances on the ballot.Last year, she claimed six nominations. This year, Wilson is up to nine, for album, song, music video, entertainer and female vocalist of the year, as well as two separate nominations in both the single of the year category (for “Heart Like a Truck” and her contributions to HARDY’s “wait in the truck”) and the musical event of the year category (once again for “wait in the truck” and her feature on Jelly Roll ‘s “Save Me.”)She now ties Merle Haggard and Miranda Lambert for scoring nine nominations in one year — just behind Alan Jackson, who set the record at 10 nods in 2002.Wilson is followed by first-time nominee ...

Russia attacks port area of Izmail for 4th time in a week as Blinken visits Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked the Ukrainian port city of Izmail for the fourth time in five days, Ukrainian officials said Thursday, in what has become a sustained campaign to target Ukraine’s ability to export grain. The Danube River port area was attacked with Shahed drones aiming at civilian and port infrastructure, the governor of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper said. A truck driver was wounded and grain silos were damaged, he said. Ukrainian war crimes prosecutors inspected the wreckage at the scene close to port infrastructure on Thursday, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office. The Ukrainian military said it shot down 25 out of 33 drones launched by Russia overnight, most of them at the Odesa region, Ukraine’s agriculture export hub, as well as the northern Sumy region, the military said. Russia has escalated attacks on Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure since mid-July, when it exited a U.N.-backed deal that had allowed for the safe...

Hundreds of military promotions are on hold as a Republican senator demands end to abortion policy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top defense officials are accusing Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville of jeopardizing America’s national security with his hold on roughly 300 military promotions, raising the stakes in a clash over abortion policy that shows no signs of easing. Tuberville brushed off the criticism, vowing he will not give in. “We’re going to be in a holding pattern for a long time,” he said, if the Pentagon refuses to end its policy of paying for travel when a servicemember goes out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care.It’s a classic Washington standoff with rippling effects across the country, placing the lives of servicemembers effectively on hold as they await what has traditionally been routine Senate approval for their promotions. Frustration mounting, the secretaries of the Navy, Air Force and Army wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post this week saying Tuberville’s efforts were not only unfair to the military leaders and their ...

Police comb the UK and put ports on alert for an escaped prison inmate awaiting terrorism trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A former British soldier awaiting trial on terror charges who appears to have escaped from a London prison by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery truck remained at large Thursday as police stepped up security checks across the United Kingdom amid concerns he may try to flee the country.Opposition parties linked the escape to years of austerity while Britain’s Conservative government said an independent investigation will take place “in due course” into how Daniel Abed Khalife managed to slip out of the medium-security Wandsworth Prison. His escape has prompted extra security checks at major transport hubs, particularly at the Port of Dover, the main boat crossing from England to France.Britain’s justice secretary told lawmakers that “no stone must be left unturned in getting to the bottom of what happened” as he confirmed an “independent investigation into this incident.” Alex Chalk also said “urgent” reviews into prison categorization wou...

AI used to alter imagery or sounds in political ads will require prominent disclosure on Google

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

Google will soon require that political ads using artificial intelligence be accompanied by a prominent disclosure if imagery or sounds have being synthetically altered.Starting in November, just under a year before Election Day, Google said in an update to its political content policy that disclosure of AI to alter images must be clear and conspicuous and be located somewhere that users are likely to notice it.Though fake images, videos or audio clips are not new to political advertising, generative AI tools are making it easier to do, and more realistic. Some presidential campaigns in the 2024 race — including that of Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis — already are using the technology.The Republican National Committee in April released an entirely AI-generated ad meant to show the future of the United States if President Joe Biden is reelected. It employed fake but realistic photos showing boarded-up storefronts, armored military patrols in the streets, and waves of immigrants creati...

Chinese Premier Li Qiang takes a test ride on Indonesia’s new high-speed railway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang took a test ride Wednesday on Southeast Asia’s first high-speed railway, which connects two Indonesian cities as part of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.Li is visiting Jakarta for two days of talks with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations and other countries.The $7.3 billion rail project, funded largely by China, connects Jakarta and Bandung, the heavily populated capital of West Java province. It is to begin commercial operations on Oct. 1 and will cut travel time between the two cities from the current three hours to about 40 minutes.Li rode the train from Halim station in eastern Jakarta to the next station in West Java’s Karawang city, a 40-kilometer (25-mile) distance that took about 11 minutes. He was accompanied by Indonesian officials including the coordinating minister for maritime and investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.“This is clear proof of modern, high-quality cooperation between the tw...

Man remains missing after jumping off boat into Lake Michigan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

CHICAGO — The search for a missing man in Lake Michigan has turned into a recovery effort.Bryan Jackson, 38, left 31st Street Harbor on a boat with a group of people around 3 a.m. Tuesday, according to his girlfriend Sarah Virani. The U.S. Coast Guard report witnesses on board said Jackson jumped into the lake around 7:45 a.m., about a mile off 31st Street Harbor, and never resurfaced.Rev. Tanya Lozano Washington, who is the mother of Jackson's children, reported him missing Tuesday on Instagram. Bolingbrook 8-year-old dies after ATV catches fire in Pembroke Township "Please help us find @itsbjack the father of my 2 kids went missing after jumping off a boat near 31st harbor, if you have any information please contact me," her post says.Lozano Washington asked the public to help family and friends search for Jackson at 31st Street Harbor on Wednesday.The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an hour long search Wednesday morning, but couldn't locate him and suspended that search.The Chicago...

Hundreds of military promotions on hold as GOP senator demands end to abortion policy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top defense officials are accusing Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville of jeopardizing America's national security with his hold on roughly 300 military promotions, raising the stakes in a clash over abortion policy that shows no signs of easing.Tuberville brushed off the criticism, vowing he will not give in. “We're going to be in a holding pattern for a long time,” he said, if the Pentagon refuses to end its policy of paying for travel when a service member goes out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care. Navy secretary says Tuberville ‘aiding and abetting’ communist, autocratic regimes It's a classic Washington standoff with rippling effects across the country, placing the lives of servicemembers effectively on hold as they await what has traditionally been routine Senate approval for their promotions.Frustration mounting, the secretaries of the Navy, Air Force and Army wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post this week saying T...

'That '70s Show' actor Danny Masterson to be sentenced Thursday for rape conviction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:40:28 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson could get as much as 30 years to life in prison at his sentencing Thursday for the rapes of two women two decades ago.Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo is set to sentence the 47-year-old actor after ruling on a defense motion for a new trial that she’s very likely to reject, and after hearing impact statements from the victims.A jury of seven women and five men found Masterson guilty of two counts on May 31 after seven days of deliberations. Both attacks took place in Masterson’s Hollywood-area home in 2003, when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom “That ’70s Show.”The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson also raped a longtime girlfriend.The verdict came in a second trial after a jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of forcible rape in December and a mistrial was declared. Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years in prison...