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Turkey’s parliamentary committee approves Sweden’s NATO membership

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

The foreign affairs committee of the Turkish parliament on Tuesday gave its approval for Sweden to join NATO, reported Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.This brings Sweden a step closer to joining the Western military alliance. It also comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delayed action on Sweden’s bid for a year, arguing the country is too friendly toward Kurdish activists regarded by Ankara as terrorists.Erdoğan has also linked the approval of Sweden’s accession to the sale of F-16 fighter jets by the United States to Turkey — something that’s currently pending approval by the U.S. Congress.The general assembly of the Turkish parliament now needs to give its final green light before Sweden can officially become a full NATO member. However, no date for this plenary vote has been set.The unanimous approval of all current NATO member countries is required for any new state to join the military alliance.Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán has also been stal...

‘Turtleboy’ announces he has turned himself in on assault allegation

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney, a blogger who has brought much attention to the murder case against Karen Read and has advocated for her innocence, has purportedly turned himself in to police on a charge of assault and battery for an alleged Friday incident.“Attention: Aidan has been framed for A&B. He can prove his innocence, but he also currently has strict bail conditions. He has handed himself into police and is on his way to Dedham District Court. If you can get there, please do. Media is waiting. – admin,” a post on the Turtleboy Facebook page stated at noon.Kearney, who turned 42 today, was arraigned Friday on 16 counts related to his coverage and advocacy in the Karen Read murder case on in Norfolk Superior Court: eight counts of witness intimidation, three counts of conspiracy to intimidate witnesses, and five counts of picketing a witness. He had been released on personal recognizance with no restrictions in place following his hearing.There ha...

The Chicago Bears have played 9 times on Christmas Eve and twice on Christmas Day. Here’s how they’ve done since 1989.

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

Playing on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day has been a possibility for the Chicago Bears only since the 1980s.Why? From the league’s start in 1920, the NFL season consisted of fewer regular-season games and its championship usually concluded before or avoided altogether the December holidays.That changed in April 1971, when it was announced four playoff games would take place on Dec. 25-26. This arrangement — with two games each day — meant all four games could be broadcast nationally.As the holidays drew nearer, however, fans became vocal.“I enjoy football, but is it really necessary to play on Christmas Day?” an angry caller told Joe McGuff, then the sports editor for the Kansas City Star. “This is a religious day, a family day. But apparently it makes no difference to the people who run professional football.”When NFL executive director Jim Kensil was asked in early December 1971 why the two games scheduled for Christmas Day couldn’t ...

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s home ‘swatted’ on Christmas Day

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

Someone had a mean-spirited idea to target Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Christmas day.A Boston Police Department spokesman told the Herald that the department received information that a violent shooting had taken place at an address matching that of Wu’s Roslindale home Monday.The shooting was a hoax.A spokesman for the mayor declined to comment on the incident.Such calls reporting serious crimes that demand a police response that are placed only to harass or possibly endanger the resident of a home are known as “swatting.”“To ‘swat’ someone is to falsely report a dangerous situation that provokes a police response,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary’s website, which adds that the act is “malicious and harmful.”The harassment trend has been reported by various news outlets to cost tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars for each incident and has at times resulted in the death of the target who had been falsely accused of a violent crime like a homicide, a hostage...

Sweden moves a step closer to NATO membership after Turkey’s parliamentary committee gives approval

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

By SUZAN FRASER (Associated Press)ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee gave its consent to Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Tuesday, drawing the previously nonaligned Nordic country closer to membership in the Western military alliance.Sweden’s accession protocol will now need to be approved in the Turkish parliament’s general assembly for the last stage of the legislative process in Turkey. No date has been set.Turkey, a NATO member, has delayed ratification of Sweden’s membership for more than a year, accusing the country of being too lenient toward groups that Ankara regards as threats to its security, including Kurdish militants and members of a network that Ankara blames for a failed coup in 2016.Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström welcomed the committee’s decision on a message posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.“The next step is for parliament to vote on the...

Biden orders strikes on an Iranian-aligned group after 3 US troops wounded in drone attack in Iraq

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

By AAMER MADHANI, ZEKE MILLER and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the United States military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. service members were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq.National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said one of the U.S. troops suffered critical injuries in the attack that occurred earlier Monday. The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups, under an umbrella of Iranian-backed militants, claimed credit for the attack that utilized a one-way attack drone.Iraqi officials said that U.S. strikes targeting militia sites early Tuesday killed one militant and wounded 18. They came at a time of heightened fears of a regional spillover of the Israel-Hamas war. Iran announced Monday that an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus killed one of its top generals, Seyed Razi Mousavi, wh...

Argentina’s new president lays off 5,000 government employees hired in 2023, before he took office

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The administration of Argentina’s new President Javier Milei said on Tuesday that his government won’t renew contracts for more than 5,000 employees hired this year before he took office. The move was part of a sweeping plan of cutbacks and devaluations announced by the right-wing libertarian since he took office on Dec. 10 to transform Argentina’s struggling economy. The contracts for other government employees, who were hired prior to 2023, will be reviewed, authorities said. The 2023 cutoff is apparently meant to target the practice of outgoing presidents padding the payrolls in their final year.With inflation expected to reach about 200% by the end of the year, Milei has pledged to reduce government regulations and payrolls, and allow the privatization of state-run industries as a way to boost exports and investment.The cutbacks have already drawn protests but Milei has vowed to forge ahead. “The goal is (to) start on the road to rebuilding o...

Here’s what to know about Turkey’s decision to move forward with Sweden’s bid to join NATO

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Sweden edged closer toward joining NATO on Tuesday after the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee greenlighted a protocol for the Nordic country’s membership in the military alliance.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his objection to Sweden’s membership during a NATO summit in July, but it took him several months to send the bill to parliament for ratification and weeks for the parliamentary committee to give its consent.The long-delayed protocol now needs to be approved by the full general assembly and it remains to be seen how quickly the issue will be taken up by the floor.Sweden and Finland abandoned their decades-long neutrality and sought membership in NATO amid heightened security concerns following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Finland became NATO’s 31st member earlier this year, after Turkey’s parliament ratified its bid.Hungary, the only other NATO holdout on Sweden, has not announced when the country’s ratifica...

Mexico’s army-run airline takes to the skies, with first flight to the resort of Tulum

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico launched its army-run airline Tuesday, when the first Mexicana airlines flight took off from Mexico City bound for the Caribbean resort of Tulum. It was another sign of the outsized role that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given to Mexico’s armed forces. The airline’s military-run holding company now also operates about a dozen airports, hotels, trains, the country’s customs service and tourist parks. Gen. Luís Cresencio Sandoval, Mexico’s defense secretary, said that having all those diverse businesses run by the military was “common in developed countries.” In fact, only a few countries like Cuba, Sri Lanka, Argentina and Colombia have military-run airlines. They are mostly small carriers with a handful of prop planes that operate mostly on under-served or remote domestic routes.But the Mexicana airline plans to carry tourists from Mexican cities to resorts like Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Zihuatanejo, Acapulco and Mazatlan. Flights app...

Quebec public sector negotiations resume after Christmas break as strike threat looms

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:57:51 GMT

Negotiations between the Quebec government and unions representing hundreds of thousands of public-sector employees are resuming today after a short Christmas break.Quebec announced a flurry of tentative deals over the weekend with several labour groups belonging to an alliance known as the common front, including unions representing teachers, school support staff and health-care system employees.Those deals only cover work conditions, however, and the parties are still negotiating compensation and benefits.The common front has carried out several multi-day strikes in the last two months and is threatening an unlimited strike in the new year unless it reaches an agreement with the government.Separate unions representing around 66,000 teachers and 80,000 health-care workers were not among the groups that reached a deal with the government before Christmas.The teachers union, Fédération autonome de l’enseignement, has been on an unlimited strike since Nov. 23, closing about 800 ...