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Ethnic Serbs in Kosovo gather again, threaten to take over northern municipality

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

ZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — Troops from the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo on Wednesday placed metal fences and barbed wire barriers in a northern town following clashes with ethnic Serbs that left 30 international soldiers wounded.Hundreds of ethnic Serbs began gathering in front of the city hall in Zvecan, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of the capital, Pristina, in their repeated efforts to take over the offices of one of the municipalities where ethnic Albanian mayors took up their posts last week.NATO has decided to send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after the clashes on Monday. The confrontation unfolded last week after ethnic Albanian officials who were elected in a vote overwhelmingly boycotted by Serbs entered municipal buildings to take office. When Serbs tried to block them, Kosovo police fired tear gas to disperse them in Zvecan, leading to clashes with NATO-led troops that left 30 international soldiers injured. Ethnic Serbs have insi...

China’s industry minister, Tesla’s Musk meet, discuss electric cars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s industry minister met Tesla Ltd. CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday and the two discussed development of electric and “intelligent networked” vehicles, the ministry said.The ruling Communist Party is trying to revive investor interest in China’s slowing economy. Foreign companies are uneasy following raids on consulting firms and given the strained Chinese relations with Washington.Jin Zhuanglong and Musk “exchanged views on the development of new energy vehicles and intelligent networked vehicles,” said a statement by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It gave no details.China accounts for half of global electric vehicle sales and is the site of Tesla’s first factory outside the United States.On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Qin Gang told Musk during a meeting that China’s EV market “has broad prospects for development,” according to a ministry statement.Tesla opened the first wholly foreign-owned auto factory in China in 2019 after Beijing eased owners...

New Zealand airline is asking passengers to weigh in before their flights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s national airline is asking passengers to step on the scales before they board international flights.Air New Zealand says it wants to weigh 10,000 passengers during a monthlong survey so pilots can better know the weight and balance of their planes before takeoff. But the numbers from the scales won’t be flashing up for all to see. There will be no visible display anywhere, the airline promised, and the weigh-in data will remain anonymous even to airline staff. “We weigh everything that goes on the aircraft — from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold,” said Alastair James, a load control improvement specialist for the airline, in a statement. “For customers, crew and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.”Indeed the numbers are required by the nation’s industry watchdog, the Civil Aviation Authority.Under the authority’s rules, airlines have various...

China warns of artificial intelligence risks, calls for beefed-up national security measures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party is calling for beefed-up national security measures, highlighting the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence.A meeting headed by party leader and President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence,” the official Xinhua News Agency said.Xi, who is China’s head of state, commander of the military and chair of the party’s National Security Commission, called at the meeting for “staying keenly aware of the complicated and challenging circumstances facing national security.”China needs a “new pattern of development with a new security architecture,” Xinhua reported Xi as saying. China already dedicates vast resources to suppressing any perceived political threats to the party’s dominance, with spending on the police and security personnel exceeding that devoted to the military.While it relentless...

Japanese knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida plays on her own ‘Field of Dreams’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

OYAMA, Japan (AP) — Eri Yoshida sat in the dugout of an all-dirt baseball field in rural Japan, surrounded by rice paddies, narrow roads, and traditional Japanese houses.The scene recalled instantly the 1989 film “Field of Dreams” — Asian style — and Yoshida certainly has her own.The 31-year-old Japanese woman is a knuckleball pitcher with a sidearm delivery that she hopes might carry her to the big leagues in the United States or Japan.“I know it’s a really difficult challenge, but I have a dream in my heart that I really want to stand on a mound in the majors with a knuckleball,” Yoshida told the Associated Press, speaking in Japanese and showing off her knuckleball grip. “So I’ve decided to challenge myself.”Even Yoshida acknowledges that it’s a far-fetched fantasy. But it’s also very real and reminds of another film, the 1992 classic “A League of Their Own” that celebrates a women’s baseball league in the United States during World War I...

Takeaways from AP’s report on legislative reforms to victim compensation programs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

Across the country, violent crime victims are using their stories to push for changes to state compensation programs meant to help them with medical bills, relocation, funerals or other expenses. Vanessa Martinez, who survived a gunshot wound to the head, has turned to speaking at rallies supporting legislation to fund a pilot trauma-recovery center in Arizona that would lead to more people getting help. Dion Green, whose father was killed in a mass shooting at an Ohio bar, testified in Ohio and served on a committee giving input on changes to federal victim compensation guidelines, pushing for removing existing barriers. Bernice “Tammi” Ringo, whose son died of gunshot wounds in 2019, testified before lawmakers in Michigan, which subsequently passed legislation that boosts money available to victims, eliminates police reporting deadlines and makes other changes. Their advocacy has spurred numerous changes in recent years when dozens of states passed bills changing their compensatio...

Man sentenced to 27 years in prison for role in 2019 South San Francisco robbery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO – A 30-year-old Vallejo man has been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for his role in the 2019 armed robbery of a married couple in South San Francisco, prosecutors said.Handed down Friday, the sentence follows a nine-day trial in March that ended with a jury convicting James Louis Brisker IV of five felony charges including robbery and burglary, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.On March 31, 2019, Brisker and two accomplices followed the 62-year-old husband and 61-year-old wife from the Lytton Casino in San Pablo and blocked them in when they stopped at a drugstore on Westborough Boulevard in South San Francisco, prosecutors said. Brisker put a gun to the wife’s head and demanded her money.One of Brisker’s accomplices also confronted the husband and demanded his money.Prosecutors said Brisker and his accomplices made off with the wife’s purse and $400 from the husband, but they were stopped a short time later on Interstate 280...

A’s walk off on Braves error for second straight win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

By MICHAEL WAGAMAN | Associated PressOAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — During a season that has been one of the most tumultuous in franchise history, second-year Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay has worked overtime to keep his players positive.It’s starting to pay off.After losing their first nine series at home — one shy of the Oakland record — the A’s are finally stringing together victories.Seth Brown scored on a fielding error by Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley in the ninth inning, and the A’s beat the Braves 2-1 on Tuesday night, recording consecutive victories for the second time this season.“Kots talked to us last week about just taking the small victories when you get them,’ starting pitcher JP Sears said. “I think guys bought into that. Just trying to win each game, each pitch and just kind of keep our head down and not look at the outside and the distractions around us.”Like all 12 of the A’s wins this season, this one didn’t come easily.Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias (1-2) ...

NorCal softball regionals: Willow Glen erases early deficit to reach D-II semifinals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

SAN JOSE — It didn’t look good for Willow Glen early on. Down 2-0 before even coming to bat. And then facing another scoring threat from Casa Grande in the second, one out with a runner on second.That’s when Alanna Clincy came in to pitch and restored order.Clincy threw 5 ⅔ innings of scoreless relief and top-seeded Willow Glen rallied for a 5-2 victory in the Northern California Division II regional playoffs.The Rams (21-7) advance to play host to fourth-seeded Bullard-Fresno, a 4-3 winner over Monterey, on Thursday in the NorCal semifinals.“I’m very happy for the girls, very happy for the seniors to have the opportunity to do this,” Willow Glen coach Don Spingola said.Casa Grande (25-5) came in with some gaudy offensive stats — 37 home runs as a team, and a North Coast Section Division II championship. But Willow Glen, down 2-0 so early, was unfazed.“We’re a good hitting team, I don’t think two runs is anything for our te...

Charges reduced against group who vandalized San Rafael church statue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:50:47 GMT

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KRON) – Catholics in Marin County marched in protest Tuesday afternoon over the district attorney’s decision to reduce charges for people who vandalized a church statue. Several people were arrested back in 2020 for the vandalism at Saint Raphael Church, but they won’t be facing any jail time. The Father Junipero Serra statue was destroyed by five people during a protest in October 2020. Churchgoers say they’re enraged to learn that charges have been reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor by DA Lori Frugoli. Man who allegedly killed 16-year-old at Livermore Taco Bell extradited from Mexico, arrested “We are very upset that the statue was torn down,” one churchgoer said. “We consider that a hate crime.”Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish-born priest, helped establish California’s Catholic mission. Today, he is today considered a controversial figure.“It represents not only catholic history, but also Native American Indian history,” Frugoli said. “It’s history. It h...