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Russia must be held to full account for its aggression

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

Andreas Umland is an analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.Today, when it comes to Russia, the main aim Kyiv and its friends have is to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Yet, on its own, a battlefield victory would be no cause for celebration — and would hardly be a source of pride for the Western world.For even after the full restoration of Ukraine’s borders, cracks within the international system would remain.For one, a satisfactory end to the war would mainly be the result of Ukraine’s military efforts, and it certainly wouldn’t undo the embarrassing saga of Western sanctions against Russia and their limited effects.True, the scope of these sanctions has been unprecedented, with repercussions for the Russian economy. Yet, they have changed the course of the war only little. And in 2022, the year most of the Western sanctions were introduced, Russia overtook Germany in terms of its gross domestic produ...

Is Rishi Sunak too tetchy to win an election?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak has taken offense again. His troops are getting worried.With a U.K. general election looming next year, some Tory MPs and strategists fear the British prime minister might not have the temperament to charm the electorate.Sunak’s decision Monday to abruptly cancel a meeting with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, angrily claiming the Greek prime minister reneged on assurances he would not speak publicly about the disputed Parthenon Sculptures during his three-day U.K. visit, has reignited Tory fears about a petulant streak which surfaces in the heat of political battle.It’s almost unheard of for a British prime minister to cancel a meeting with an European ally who has specifically traveled to see them in No. 10 Downing Street, and Sunak’s decision has caused outrage in Greece. A government spokesman in Athens called the decision “unprecedented” and “disrespectful.”Plenty of Tory party figures agree.“It’s just strikes me as very odd to kind of throw you...

Jaylen Brown scores 30 points as Celtics pound Bulls 124-97 and advance in the In-Season Tournament

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Jayson Tatum had 21 and the Boston Celtics routed the Chicago Bulls 124-97 on Tuesday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament.The Celtics won a three-team tiebreaker with Orlando and Brooklyn via point differential to take Group C and earn the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. They will visit the No. 2 Indiana Pacers next week.The Celtics made a season-high 21 3-pointers, getting four each from Al Horford and Jrue Holiday. All five Boston starters scored in double figures.Horford finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Holiday, who returned after missing two games with a sprained right ankle, had 14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.The Celtics extended the Bulls’ losing streak to five straight. They outrebounded the Bulls 51-38 and shot 52% (47 of 90) from the field.Although the Celtics began the day with the best record in the NBA, Boston needed a win and a huge scoring night to have a ch...

Celtics clinch spot in In-Season Tournament quarterfinals after strange win over Bulls

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

Joe Mazzulla said all the right things. Asked before Tuesday’s game against the Bulls – which the Celtics needed to win by at least 23 points to have a chance to win their group in the In-Season Tournament – if he felt any obligation to win by a certain point differential, he was clear.“Zero,” Mazzulla replied.Mazzulla and the Celtics have continued to insist that their focus in these IST games is to win and create good habits first, and let the chips fall where they may in terms of making the tournament’s quarterfinals.They got both.Behind a big third-quarter surge, the Celtics did what they needed to do and emerged with a 124-97 victory – a 27-point margin – over the Bulls. Combined with the Nets’ 115-103 victory over the Raptors, the Celtics won Group C of the tournament and clinched a berth in the IST quarterfinals, though it didn’t get there without some late chaos.The Celtics are expected to visit the Pacers next week in the IST quarterfinals, with the winner headed to Las Veg...

RV fire leaves family displaced, 2 dogs dead

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A man is injured, a family is displaced and two dogs are dead after an RV caught fire early Tuesday in Chula Vista.The blaze was reported around 5 a.m. in the 1600 block of Fresno Avenue. Fire breaks out along I-8 in Mission Valley Firefighters from the Chula Vista Fire Department told FOX 5 that two adults, two young children, and four dogs were living in the RV. Two of the dogs were found in the RV after the fire was doused. A man was taken to the UCSD Burn Center with burn injuries. Two nearby vehicles were also damaged by the fire. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

December Nights: What to know about the two-day event at Balboa Park

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Balboa Park is preparing to celebrate the holiday experience with December Nights.The two-day festival will take place from 3-11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1 and from 3-11 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, the City of San Diego said in a press release Tuesday.Known as the city's largest free event, December Nights consists of more than 1,600 performers, 200 food and retail booths and museum venues open to the public for free during the evening hours.“Our December Nights celebration is a joyous and beloved annual tradition that helps San Diego kick off the holiday season,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said. “I want to thank our City of San Diego staff and everyone who bring this event to life every year.”  Experience snow at these places within driving distance of San Diego Guests will be able to use the December Nights mobile-friendly website to make their way through the event, whether it is information about parking, entertainment, vendors, food and more. Those coming to Balb...

Arrest made after Mater Dei Catholic High School receives shooting threat

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A 15-year-old was arrested on Tuesday after Mater Dei Catholic High School received an anonymous school shooting threat, according to Chula Vista police.Entry to or exit from the school was briefly suspended with the implementation of the "secure campus" protocol shortly before 12:30 p.m. The pause was initiated after CVPD was notified by a staff member that a caller threatened to commit a shooting at the school, authorities said.Police were on scene and had support from a DFR drone to search for any active threats, CVPD said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. At about 1:35 p.m., officers determined the campus was safe and lifted the closure.Preliminary investigation findings identified the possible individual that called in the threat as a 15-year-old juvenile in Chula Vista, who was not a student at the school. According to CVPD, he was arrested at about 3:05 p.m."At this point in the investigation, it appears the call was a hoax and the students and staff at ...

Maple Leafs win 2-1 shootout thriller after Panthers goal overturned

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 in the shootout on Tuesday, but not without some last-minute drama. After Auston Matthews and Sam Reinhart exchanged shootout goals in rounds three and six, Evan Rodrigues appeared to win it in round 10 after he snuck it past Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll’s pads. But upon further review from the referees, the replay showed that Rodrigues double-tapped the puck on a slight rebound, overturning the goal. WELL UH THAT WAS SOMETHING ????Evan Rodrigues and the Florida Panthers thought they won this game in the shootout. After review the goal was called back. pic.twitter.com/OMblrPZDxN— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 29, 2023Woll and some other Leafs had left the ice as the Panthers celebrated what the team thought was a 2-1 shootout win. However, after the announcement, everyone — including several Scotiabank Arena fans — made their way back. Noah Gregor, who scored Toronto’s lone regulation goal in the...

Coal power, traffic, waste burning a toxic smog cocktail in Indonesia’s Jakarta

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Against the backdrop of smokestacks from a nearby coal power plant, the sky above Edy Suryana’s village stays grey for months at a time, while ashes and the stench of smoke hang in the air.Suryana has spent more than three decades living in the shadow of the power plant in northern Java, just 60 miles from Jakarta, Indonesia’s most populous city. She and other villagers have watched as their loved ones suffered from coughing fits, itchy skin and other health problems that many believe are partly because of the ever-present smog. Pollution is causing a rise in respiratory illnesses and deaths in northern Java, including Jakarta, experts say. Smog in the metropolis of 11.2 million people comes from a combination of the coal-fired plants, vehicle and motorcycle exhaust, trash burning and industries, and many in the city are demanding that the government take action. Emissions from coal-fired power plants contribute to greenhouse gases that rise into the atmosp...

Book on tribalism in the modern world wins Balsillie Prize for Public Policy

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:36:17 GMT

TORONTO — Anthropologist David R. Samson has won the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy for his book about how tribalism can be harnessed for good and ill.The Writers’ Trust of Canada awarded the prize to “Our Tribal Future: How to Channel Our Foundational Human Instincts into a Force for Good.”The $60,000 award goes to a book of non-fiction that advances policy debates.Samson’s book posits that the desire to form “tribes” is behind some of the division in today’s society, but that it shouldn’t be eliminated outright and can instead by used to make things better.Jurors praised the book as essential reading with “deep and enduring implications.”The runners-up, which each receive $5,000, are “Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada’s Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade” by Ryan Manucha; “Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence” by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Ga...