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Ex-Finnish PM Alexander Stubb warns of attempts to ‘intimidate’ NATO allies after pipeline leak

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

The possible sabotage of a pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia may be part of a campaign designed to intimidate Ukraine’s allies — and Helsinki should be braced for further destabilization attempts, former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb told POLITICO.“We are pretty sure it’s not the Swedes,” said Stubb when asked who or what could have caused a leak in the 77-kilometer-long Balticconnector pipeline. “We knew that when the war began in Ukraine, we knew there would be hybrid and cyber intimidation. This is part of it.”Stubb stopped short of accusing a particular actor, Russia or anyone else, of being behind the pipeline leak, which was discovered on Sunday. The director of Finland’s intelligence service, Antti Pelttari, said Thursday that Helsinki hasn’t ruled out the leak being the result of sabotage by a “state actor.”Yet the former prime minister, who’s held several other posts in government including for...

10 takeaways from Orioles GM Mike Elias, manager Brandon Hyde at end-of-season news conferences

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde both expected to hold their end-of-season news conferences under different circumstances, but, as Elias noted, “sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way.”On the heels of the Orioles’ sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series, Baltimore’s general manager and skipper both spoke with the media Thursday morning to wrap up the 2023 season and look ahead to 2024.Here are 10 takeaways from what they said.Elias and Hyde are back for 2024 and ‘100% in’Elias and Orioles Chairman and CEO John Angelos have both declined to answer specifics about how long the general manager or Hyde are signed for.Elias once again declined to provide such details, noting he doesn’t believe it’s “beneficial” for the organization to do so. However, when asked specifically if he and Hyde would be returning for 2024, Elias laughed and said, “We’re back nex...

Whaley House Museum: A look inside 'most haunted house in America'

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Whaley House Museum in Old Town, known as “the most haunted house in America,” has a new exhibit in celebration of Thomas Whaley's 200th birthday.FOX 5 took a guided tour through the 1856 home that unveiled a new exhibit last week of the San Diego pioneer's valuables including Whaley's top hat, vest, globe, pocket watch, adder (early calculator device), telegraph he sent to his secretary in San Diego, business card and glasses. The exhibit will remain open for the next five weeks.However, the house has an eerie history. In 1856, Whaley built his dream home on San Diego Avenue. Museum officials say he was "unfazed by the location's grim history," which was the site where James “Yankee Jim” Robinson was hanged in 1852 following his conviction of stealing horses. Parents sue Hyatt Hotels Corporation over wrongful death of 1-year-old son A serious of tragic events then started to take a hit on the Whaley family.“Over the years many descendants of the Whaley family l...

Many who struggled against Poland’s communist system feel they are fighting for democracy once again

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Dariusz Stola began working with Poland’s anti-communist Solidarity movement in 1983. He was just 19 but already appalled by the way the regime imposed its harsh censorship, not just on political thought but culture as well.A member of his church choir would give him a stack of 200 opposition newspapers with uncensored texts on culture and history for distribution to locations where flowers in windows or other signs signaled that it was safe.Now a historian specializing in the communist era, he sees strong parallels with the current populist government, particularly the way it spreads “systematic lies” and propaganda against its political opponents, using taxpayer-funded public media.“I have déjà vu,” Stola said in an interview from his home in Warsaw. “I recognize the patterns which I remember from communist Poland.”Since the Law and Justice party came to power in 2015, it has sought to imprint its nationalistic, ultra-conservative viewpoint on the country, th...

Stock market today: Asian markets slip as rising yields in the bond market pressure stocks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian markets slipped on Friday following a decline on Wall Street driven by mounting pressure from rising bond market yields.U.S. futures rose slightly, and oil prices gained.China’s consumer prices in September remained flat compared to the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday, indicating persistent deflationary pressures and weak domestic demand. Meanwhile, China’s producer price index, which measures prices that factories charge wholesalers for their products, declined for the 12th straight month.The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 2% to 17,875.33 from a five-week high, and the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.6% to 3,087.88.Singapore’s economy expanded faster than expected in the third quarter, according to the preliminary government data on Friday. The central bank decided to maintain its current monetary policy settings for the second consecutive meeting, as core inflation remains low and concerns about economic growth per...

Shooting at Philadelphia International Airport garage kills 1 police officer and wounds another

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed and a second officer was wounded Thursday night when they confronted people breaking into cars at Philadelphia International Airport, police said.A person who was brought to a hospital privately and died there may have been involved in the shooting but investigators haven’t confirmed that, interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a late-night news conference.Stanford said the officers were heading to work when they saw several people breaking into a vehicle in the parking garage area.As the officers approached, “the suspects opened fire,” hitting one officer several times in the upper body and the other in the arm, Stanford said.One officer died shortly after 11:30 p.m. at a hospital. His name wasn’t released but he was 50 years old and had 22 years with the force, Stanford said.The married officer had one child, Stanford said. “They are here at the hospital, as you can imagine, heartbroken,” Stanfo...

Man charged with stealing ‘Wizard of Oz’ slippers from Minnesota museum expected to plead guilty

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man charged with the museum heist of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the “The Wizard of Oz” was expected to change his plea to guilty in court Friday, pulling back the curtain on a whodunnit mystery dating back 18 years. Terry Jon Martin, 76, was indicted in May on one count of theft of a major artwork. The shoes from the film were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in the actress’ hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and recovered in 2018 by the FBI. No one was arrested in the case until Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, was charged earlier this year. Martin’s attorney, Dane DeKrey, said his client, who is in poor health, has been cooperative with authorities.“I think Terry is facing his own mortality and I think when people are reaching that point in their life, they cut through the pleasantries and talk turkey,” DeKrey said in an interview ahead of Friday’s scheduled hearing.The one-page indictment gave no details of th...

How all three phases, “boneheaded mistake” from Broncos coach Sean Payton before halftime conspired to make comeback vs. Chiefs even more difficult

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Beating the Chiefs here any time is difficult enough.Thursday night or Sunday afternoon. October or January. Pristine weather, persistent wind or pelting snow.The job becomes essentially impossible if a visitor fails in all three phases of the game.That’s exactly what happened for the Broncos at the end of the first half in a 19-8 loss Thursday night.Overall, the defense played well, the offense stunk and the special teams checked in somewhere in between. But they all had a hand in allowing Harrison Butker’s 60-yard field goal to end the half. And head coach Sean Payton played a key role, too.Consider this: The Broncos started their final possession of the half with just 47 seconds left on the clock.Russell Wilson followed an ideal drive-starter — a 15-yard screen to running back Samaje Perine out to the Denver 39-yard line — with an incompletion and a low throw to Courtland Sutton that prompted Payton to take his first timeout.On third-and-5 from his own 44...

New call worth €96.6 million for doctoral training and postdoctoral fellowship programmes thanks to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

The Commission opened a new call of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions' (MSCA) co-funding of regional, national and international programmes (COFUND). With a budget of €96.6 million, this call will co-finance doctoral training programmes and post-doctoral fellowship programmes of outstanding quality. Through MSCA COFUND, any kind of organization, including universities, research centres, companies, or regional or national authorities can receive funding to develop and support their own training programmes, which can have a regional, national or international component, to attract international talent and increase their research and innovation capacities. Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Iliana Ivanova, said: “Thanks to this initiative, European organizations that perform, fund or support research have an excellent opportunity to receive co-funding for their new or existing programmes on training, career development and mobility of researchers. This wil...

Long Beach man sentenced to 17 years for attempted burglary

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:28:34 GMT

A Long Beach man was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Wednesday for attempted residential burglary earlier this year. On January 9 at approximately 2:15 a.m., Simi Valley police responded to a report of an attempted break-in on Township Avenue. Shawn Hernandez, 31, of Long Beach and other unidentified co-conspirators shattered a rear glass sliding door in an attempt to burglarize a home. When officers arrived, the driver of a Dodge Charger, later identified as co-defendant Karenga Williams, fled the neighborhood, leaving Hernandez and others at the scene and leading police on a short, high-speed pursuit before he crashed the car. Authorities recovered personal identifying information that belonged to Hernandez after searching the car. They also found evidence at several residences surrounding the victim’s home, including a black ski mask, sweatshirt, gloves, and a bag in a neighbor’s backyard.Detectives identified Hernandez as a possible participant after they discovered his DNA m...