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Iran, Saudi Arabia agree to resume ties, with China’s help

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after years of tensions between the two countries, including a devastating attack on the heart of the kingdom’s oil production attributed to Tehran. The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a yearslong war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched. The two countries released a joint communique on the deal with China, which brokered the agreement. Chinese state media did not immediately report the agreement. Iranian state media posted images and video it described as being taken in China of the meeting. It showed Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Secur...

Oscars vs. ‘The Last of Us’: What are you watching Sunday?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

Will Joel and Ellie finally reach the doctors in “The Last of Us”? Will Michelle Yeoh take home the Oscar for best actress?Both questions will be answered this Sunday, but viewers will have to make a choice about which answer they want in real time. The season finale of the HBO hit is up against the live telecast of the Oscars on ABC.Of course, there’s an opportunity to see both. The Oscars begin at 8 p.m. Eastern; “ The Last of Us ” airs at 9 p.m. Viewers could begin their night watching the Oscars, click over to “The Last of Us,” and return for the ceremony’s last hour. That’s when the biggest categories are usually handed out, but that plan comes with the risk of missing any buzzy, unscripted moments. And if you choose to stick with the Oscars throughout? You risk spoilers on the fate of Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal’s characters.The debate essentially boils down to zeitgeist, says Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University specializing in media and dir...

UK drops decade-long fraud case against security firm G4S

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. authorities on Friday dropped fraud charges against three former executives of security firm G4S, saying it’s “no longer in the public interest” to continue the decade-old case.The Serious Fraud Office opened an investigation in 2013 into allegations the company had overcharged by millions of pounds on contracts to monitor offenders using electronic tags. In 2020, the company accepted responsibility for three counts of fraud and agreed to pay a financial penalty of 38.5 million pounds, plus legal costs. Shortly afterwards, three G4S executives were charged with fraud.They pleaded not guilty and had yet to stand trial. Then on Friday, prosecutors dropped the case.“The defendants have been under suspicion for 10 years and the prosecution are only too aware of the impact the proceedings will have had on them and their families,” prosecutor Crispin Aylett said. “We recognized the potential unfairness of asking that this should go on for a substantial period of f...

Cypriot president pledges 2% of GDP on defense spending

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus will earmark 2% of gross domestic product to defense spending in line with other European Union member states as a means to strengthen the east Mediterranean island nation’s foreign policy bargaining power, the new Cypriot president said Friday.Nikos Christodoulides told reporters after a visit to a Special Forces training camp that he aims to put Cyprus, along with other countries including Greece and France, “at the core” of a recent EU push to bolster its deterrent capabilities and defense infrastructure.“I also served as foreign minister and I know that without a strong deterrent force, without a strong defense, your say in foreign policy matters is clearly limited,” Christodoulides said.According to official figures, Cyprus’ GDP in 2022 was estimated at 27 billion euros. A 2% of GDP target would mark a slight increase in current expenditure on ethnically split Cyprus’ military. It’s also reflective of NATO members’ commitment to spend 2% of their G...

Hitting technology could help baseball’s struggling lineups

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Tim Anderson wanted to study his swing. After a season hampered by groin and hand injuries, the Chicago White Sox shortstop wanted to build a more fluid approach at the plate.That work brought him to Driveline Baseball, first at the company’s main facility in Washington, and then at its outpost in Arizona.“They showed me a lot of stuff. Just break it down all the way from ground up,” Anderson said. “Really anything that you want to see, they got it.”At places like Driveline and the Baseball Performance Lab in Louisiana, and behind closed doors in unlabeled buildings around the major leagues, the race is on. Some of baseball’s brightest minds are working on the gap between the technology available to Anderson and other big league hitters, and the technology behind a pitching renaissance.Forget about tinkering in the batting cage, looking for a lost swing. Hitters now have high-speed cameras to inform subtle mechanical adjustments. They&#...

La economía de EE.UU. sumó 311.000 empleos en febrero, superando las expectativas

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

(CNN) — La economía de EE.UU. sumó 311.000 empleos en febrero, según la instantánea mensual de empleo del Departamento de Trabajo, publicada este viernes.Eso es un retroceso del exitoso informe de empleos de enero, cuando se agregaron 504.000 puestos revisados, pero muestra que el mercado laboral todavía está evolucionando.La tasa de desempleo subió al 3,6% desde el 3,4%.Los economistas esperaban una ganancia neta de 205.000 puestos de trabajo para febrero y una tasa de desempleo del 3,4%, según Refinitiv.La Reserva Federal ha estado luchando durante casi un año para desacelerar la economía y aplastar la inflación más alta en 40 años, pero el mercado laboral continúa desafiando esos esfuerzos.Noticia en desarrolloThe-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

US employers added a robust 311,000 jobs in February in sign of a still-strong labor market despite Fed rate hikes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — US employers added a robust 311,000 jobs in February in sign of a still-strong labor market despite Fed rate hikes.Source

Will new apartments lower Denver area rents this year?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Upcoming construction projects should take some pressure off Denver area renters this year. Rent in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area spiked to one of the nation's most expensive in 2021 and 2022. Prices have been falling lately, however, and the new apartments may deepen a yearlong trend of emptier apartment buildings. Denver-area home prices nudge up for the 1st time in a year Denver area apartment vacancies have been rising for well over a year through February 2023, along with national rates, but that has not yet translated into substantially lower rent prices. The market is dealing with distortions sparked by the COVID pandemic. Shortly after the COVID pandemic began, the Denver area vacancy rates plummeted by nearly half. Renters across the country were forming new households - swapping a roommate situation for a lone apartment. From July 2020 through September 2021, the Denver area vacancy rate fell from just under 8% to 4.62%, according to Apartment List dat...

Volleyball player who lost both legs after being hit by car returns home

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — The Tennessee teenager who was injured in a violent crash in downtown St. Louis on February 18 is now recovering back at home.The Edmondsons previously disclosed that 17-year-old Janae Edmondson had undergone five surgeries and will still need three more before she can be discharged and the family can return to Tennessee.During a hearing in late February, a St. Louis judge denied bond for 21-year-old Daniel Riley. He’s charged with three counts of assault and is accused of causing the accident that injured Janae, leading to the amputation of both her legs.Janae’s parents, James and Francene Edmondson, spoke during that hearing, urging Judge Rochelle Woodiest to withhold bond and keep Riley in jail. The couple also recalled the horrific details of the accident and of her struggles since.James Edmondson said he remembers hearing the roar of car engines, and he said Janae shouted for him to get back. Then, he said, “The car was going so fast it took h...

Florida man accidentally cremated before funeral

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:04:35 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WJXT) – A father, barber, and jokester, Kevin Witherspoon died unexpectedly last week.“They took care of my mom really good so I was expecting them to do the same thing with my brother,” Frank Chapman, the brother of Witherspoon said about Corey-Kerlin Funeral Homes & Crematory in Jacksonville. His family paid more than $2,000 for an hour-long visitation for family and friends.Witherspoon was supposed to be cremated after the fact. Instead, they ended up with more grief.“I went down there yesterday to check on the clothes for him and they didn’t say anything. They said everything was fine but later on around four they called me and told me they accidentally cremated him,” Chapman said. The news was extremely shocking for loved ones who traveled from all around the country to say goodbye.Witherspoon’s brother-in-law Ronald Jackson said the most painful part was not being able “to sit there and look at him, you kn...