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The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict explained

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

Fierce firefights and heavy shelling echo once again around the mountains of Nagorno-Karabakh, an isolated region at the very edge of Europe that has seen several major wars since the fall of the Soviet Union.On Tuesday, the South Caucasus nation of Azerbaijan announced its armed forces launched “local anti-terrorist activities” in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan’s borders but is controlled as a breakaway state by its ethnic Armenian population.Now, with fighting raging and allegations of an impending “genocide” reaching fever pitch, all eyes are on the decades-old conflict that threatens to draw in some of the world’s leading military powers.What is happening?For weeks, Armenia and international observers have warned that Azerbaijan was massing its armed forces along the heavily fortified line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh, preparing to stage an offensive against local ethnic Armenian troops. Clips shared online showed Azerbaijani vehicles...

EU lawmakers step back from fight with ECB over Buch nomination

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

EU lawmakers look set to back down in their battle with the ECB and vote through Germany’s Claudia Buch as the bloc’s next top banking cop — in a move that could clear the way for Spain to win the more coveted job of running the European Investment Bank.MEPs had been considering flexing their muscles over the appointment to chair the European Central Bank’s Supervisory Board, which they have the power to block, after Frankfurt last week defied their wishes by supporting Buch. The Parliament instead wanted Spain’s Margarita Delgado, who lawmakers viewed as more experienced and tougher.But ahead of a hearing and committee vote on Wednesday, Parliament officials now say the big political groups are leaning toward supporting the ECB’s pick after all.“It’ll be a tough hearing, but in the end there will not be significant arguments to disapprove,” said one official, granted anonymity to speak freely because the discussions are confidential.The job ...

Nordstream trauma leads Berlin to draw up fresh Huawei bans

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

The German government is drafting a new plan to impose further restrictions on using Chinese equipment for the country’s telecoms networks, according to a strategy paper seen by POLITICO.“It is obvious that there are considerable structural dependencies on Huawei and ZTE,” the document reads. Germany has “an urgent need for action … also to prevent a second Nordstream case — but in the area of even more critical telecommunications with far more serious consequences. After all, the 5G mobile network is the ‘central nervous system’ of Germany as a business location,“ it added.Berlin officials are considering requiring telecom operators to stop using equipment by the Chinese telecom vendors for the core part (or backbone) of telecom networks by January 1, 2026, and to phase out reliance on Chinese kit in the radio access network (RAN), which is the wider network of masts and base stations, within three years.Two industry officials and on...

This historic US landmark has just been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

(CNN) — A huge prehistoric structure in Ohio has become the 25th US landmark to be awarded a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List.Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which is made up of eight monumental earthworks built around 2,000 years ago, was among the sites to be added on Tuesday as the UNESCO World Heritage Committee continues to review nominations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The collection of earthen mounds built by Indigenous peoples is described as the “most representative surviving expressions of the Indigenous tradition now referred to as the Hopewell culture,” with some believed to be used as lunar or astral observatories.“The earth walls of the enclosures are among the largest earthworks in the world that are not fortifications or defensive structures,” says the official UNESCO website.Historic site“Their scale is imposing by any standard: the Great Pyramid of Cheops would have fit inside the Wright Earthworks.”The inclusion of Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks marks...

How to create scary Halloween costumes and decorations from secondhand stores

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

The Halloween spirit began to possess Goodwill Southern California back in August.In Lincoln Heights, a creepy doll with blood-red tears and a stuffed animal in a Grim Reaper cloak posed amongst the seasonal tchotchkes. At the regional flagship store in Glassell Park, a witch and a flapper were amongst the mannequins dressed in their Halloween party finest to welcome shoppers.“Halloween is like Christmas for us,” says Marla Eby, director of marketing and media relations for Goodwill Southern California, which covers Los Angeles County north of Rosecrans, as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties.While seasonal items might pop up at one of the 80+ stores in Goodwill Southern California’s territory throughout the year, staffers often save Halloween donations for the two months leading up to the holiday. It’s a popular spot for costume shopping; in fact, that’s the focus of Goodwill Southern California’s September and October lookbooks. But like most thrift, vintage and antique ...

5 grab-and-go breakfasts that get kids ready to learn

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

Gretchen McKay | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)School is back in session and, for some parents, that means learning how to get a quick and nutritious breakfast into their children’s stomachs before they head out the door.I don’t have school-aged kids anymore, but I sure remember how difficult it was after getting them dressed, readying their backpacks and making them brush their teeth to get them to eat something, anything! (Please!) And it only got harder as they entered their teens and timed rolling out of bed, pulling on clean clothes and running out the door to the last possible second.A quick bowl of whole-grain Cheerios or banana slices smeared with peanut butter — my granddaughter Greta’s favorite preschool breakfast — are two easy solutions, but they come with a catch as the kids grow older: You have to actually get them to sit down to eat it.Sadly, breakfast skipping among children and adolescents is more prevalent than you might hope. The latest figures from the Centers for...

Sacramento prosecutor sues California’s capital city over failure to clean up homeless encampments

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Sacramento prosecutor is suing California’s capital city over failure to clean up homeless encampments.Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho says his office asked the city to enforce laws around sidewalk obstruction and to create additional professionally operated camping sites.He announced the suit Tuesday during a news conference in Sacramento.Ho said the city is seeing a “collapse into chaos” and an “erosion of every day life.”Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point in Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population is unsheltered.Homeless tent encampments have grown visibly in cities across the U.S. but especially in California, which is home to nearly one-third of unhoused people in the country.The prosecutor had threatened in August to file charges against city officials if they didn’t implement changes within 30 days.At the time, Sacramento May...

South Carolina women senators who fought abortion ban to receive JFK Profile in Courage award

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Five women state senators from South Carolina who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state have been chosen to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year.A special International Profile in Courage Award will honor South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for working to improve relations between their countries despite domestic opposition.During the filibuster the senators – Republicans Katrina Shealy, Sandy Senn, and Penry Gustafson, Democrat Margie Bright Matthews, and independent Mia McLeod — took turns “describing the complexities of pregnancy and the reproductive system, the dangers of lack of access to contraception, and inadequate privacy laws,” award officials said in written release.Officials noted that members of the coalition, who became known as the “sister senators,” were heckled by anti-abortion activists and the three Republicans were also met...

Colombian leader summons intense oratory for a bleak warning: that humanity is making itself extinct

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro delivered an ominous prophecy with grandiose language on Tuesday, painting a grim picture of what lies ahead if nations fail to swiftly redesign the way humans live on this planet.“It has been a year in which humanity lost and without hesitation has advanced the times of extinction,” he said in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly. “It would seem as though the global leadership has made enemies with life.”Eloquent oratory is a skill Petro often deploys. Lately, he has done so to project himself as a global leader on climate change — and to reproach others for failing to fully heed its peril. He stole the show at Brazil’s Amazon Summit in July, calling on his oil-producing neighbors to abandon fossil fuels, and asserting that allowing continued drilling while calling for a green transition is tantamount to being in denial.At the U.N., he said that what he called “the crisis of life” has already begun, as signaled by mi...

Did your kids buy gear in Fortnite without asking you? The FTC says you could get a refund

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:35:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Parents whose kids bought virtual gear without their knowledge on the popular Fortnite video game could soon be able to get a refund.U.S. regulators are starting to notify more than 37 million people by email that they may be eligible for compensation as part of a legal settlement with Fortnite’s maker, Epic Games Inc. The Federal Trade Commission announced late last year that Epic Games would pay $520 million in penalties and refunds to settle complaints revolving around children’s privacy and its payment methods that tricked players into making unintended purchases. Part of that $520 million consists of $245 million in customer refunds, as part of a settlement finalized in March. It’s meant to cover some of the costs of unwanted V-Bucks, the game’s in-game currency, or virtual items such as outfits or cartoonish purple llama loot crates.Consumers have until Jan. 17 to submit a claim.Epic Games also agreed to pay a $275 million fine for collectin...