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AP News in Brief at 6:09 a.m. EDT

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

Ukraine by rail: Inside Zelenskyy’s efforts to buoy a nationZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — The caravan of unmarked vehicles tears across the muddy grass next to the playground. On the merry-go-round, the children stop swinging and spinning. The curious — parents and other residents of this southeastern town — gather around. Car doors swing open, and heavily armed security guards in battlefield fatigues spill out.And just like that, he is among them: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wartime leader and his country’s chief morale officer.This week, Zelenskyy shuttled across the country on a 48-hour train trip to rally soldiers who are battling Russian forces — and, just as important, to buoy the communities often caught in the crossfire. Here, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the front lines, Zelenskyy came to see for himself the destruction from a Russian attack that damaged dozens of apartments one week ago. The violence hit just steps from the playground and mer...

China renews warnings as Taiwan’s Tsai stops over in US

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — As Taiwan’s president began a stopover in the United States on her way to Central America, China said it was closely watching developments and would “resolutely safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”China claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and portrays the self-governing island democracy of 23 million people as the most sensitive issue in its increasingly fraught relationship with the U.S. On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated China’s furious objections to any interactions between Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. officials. “China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan,” Mao told reporters at a daily briefing. “China will continue to closely follow the situation and resolutely safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”China has particularly warned that a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy planned for April 5 in Los...

Russia arrests Wall Street Journal reporter on spying charge

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

MOSCOW — Russia’s top security agency has arrested an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent was put behind bars on spying accusations since the Cold War.The Federal Security Service said Thursday that Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while allegedly trying to obtain classified information.The Wall Street Journal said it “vehemently denies the allegations” and is seeking Gershkovich’s immediate release. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family,” the paper said.The arrest comes amid bitter tensions between the West and Moscow over its war in Ukraine.Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. He was released without charges 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s U...

Thailand uses helicopters to fight mountain wildfires

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities used helicopters Thursday to try to contain a fire that overnight engulfed two mountains on largely undeveloped forest land in a province northeast of the capital Bangkok.The fire broke out Wednesday night in Nakhon Nayok province, 114 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Bangkok, but firefighters could not directly tackle it because the mountains are too steep to safely climb, especially in the darkness of night, provincial Governor Bancha Chaowarin told reporters.“Apart from the wind’s direction, I also have to look after the lives and safety of those conducting the operation. After reviewing the situation, since it is at a mountaintop, we had to retreat to standby and convene over what we can do,” Bancha said late Wednesday night.At least 10 firefighting vehicles were dispatched to battle the blaze, and they were joined Thursday afternoon by at least two helicopters, which surveyed the situation and dumped water.Initial efforts to contain the blaze h...

King Charles III addresses German parliament, meets Scholz

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — King Charles III became the first monarch to address Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday as part of a high-profile visit aimed at bolstering ties between the two European powers.Charles, 74, is on his inaugural foreign trip since becoming U.K. king. He and Camilla, the queen consort, arrived in Berlin on Wednesday. Crowds of well-wishers and Germany’s head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, greeted the couple at the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate. They later attended a banquet in their honor at the presidential palace.Pomp and royal glamour aside, the three-day visit has a decidedly political purpose. The U.K. government is trying to mend frayed ties with its continental partners following the painful Brexit process.The fallout has been considerable: Britain’s departure from the European Union’s common market has resulted in trade barriers and labor shortages, and locked the country out of key European science programs....

Rachel Weisz’s redo of Cronenberg’s ‘Dead Ringers’ an April streaming pick

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

TORONTO — Here’s a roundup of standout TV series and films debuting on subscription streaming platforms in April: “Dead Ringers”Rachel Weisz acts double duty as identical twins Elliot and Beverly Mantle, both successful New York gynecologists who share numerous similarities but many stark differences in how they approach their jobs. Together, the pair embark on an ambitious project to improve women’s health care and reduce miscarriages, but their innovations come with a clear breach of medical ethics. That doesn’t concern one wealthy woman whose ties to the opioid crisis have made her much richer and willing to pursue an agenda that could alter pregnancies for the elite. Based on David Cronenberg’s 1988 horror film of the same name, the six-episode limited series changes the gender of the lead characters, which sends the storyline on a different trajectory and gives Weisz a pair of twisted and darkly funny characters to dissect. (Prime Video, Apri...

Report: Chinese state-sponsored hacking group highly active

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A Chinese hacking group that is likely state-sponsored and has been linked previously to attacks on U.S. state government computers is still “highly active” and is focusing on a broad range of targets that may be of strategic interest to China’s government and security services, a private American cybersecurity firm said in a new report Thursday.The hacking group, which the report calls RedGolf, shares such close overlap with groups tracked by other security companies under the names APT41 and BARIUM that it is thought they are either the same or very closely affiliated, said Jon Condra, director of strategic and persistent threats for Insikt Group, the threat research division of Massachusetts-based cybersecurity company Recorded Future.Following up on previous reports of APT41 and BARIUM activities and monitoring the targets that were attacked, Insikt Group said it had identified a cluster of domains and infrastructure “highly likely used across multiple campa...

Responding to Indigenous, Vatican rejects Discovery Doctrine

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Thursday responded to Indigenous demands and formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the theories backed by 15th-century “papal bulls” that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands and form the basis of some property law today.A Vatican statement said the 15th-century papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples” and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith. It said the documents had been “manipulated” for political purposes by colonial powers “to justify immoral acts against Indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesial authorities.”The statement, from the Vatican’s development and education offices, said it was right to “recognize these errors,” acknowledge the terrible effects of colonial-era assimilation policies on Indigenous peoples and ask for their forgiveness.The statement was a response to decades of ...

TikTok propaganda labels fall flat in ‘huge win’ for Russia

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A year ago, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, TikTok started labeling accounts operated by Russian state propaganda agencies as a way to tell users they were being exposed to Kremlin disinformation.An analysis a year later shows the policy has been applied inconsistently. It ignores dozens of accounts with millions of followers. Even when used, labels have little impact on Russia’s ability to exploit TikTok’s powerful algorithms as part of its effort to shape public opinion about the war.Researchers at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a bipartisan, transatlantic nonprofit operated by the German Marshall Fund that studies authoritarian disinformation, identified nearly 80 TikTok accounts operated by Russian state outlets like RT or Sputnik, or by individuals linked to them, including RT’s editor-in-chief.More than a third of the accounts were unlabeled, despite a labeling policy announced by TikTok a year ago. The labels, which appe...

1 dead, 5 others injured after crash on Chicago's South Side

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 05:12:46 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was killed and four other people were injured after a crash involving four cars Wednesday night on Chicago's South Side.The crash was reported around 9:15 p.m. near West 83rd Street and West Columbus Avenue.According to the police, a Nissan was traveling northbound on Columbus Avenue and struck a Mazda head on in the intersection of 83rd Street. The driver of the Nissan was taken to the hospital in serious condition. Two men in the Mazda were taken to the hospital in critical condition, where one of them was pronounced dead, according to police.A third vehicle, an SUV, rear ended the Nissan. There were two women in the SUV who were taken to the hospital in fair condition, police said.A fourth car then struck the vehicles at the intersection. The driver of that car was taken to the hospital in good condition.Police are investigating.