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Ukrainian ambassador denies German pressure for peace talks with Russia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

BERLIN — Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany on Saturday rejected claims that Berlin may be pressuring Kyiv behind closed doors to reach a peace deal with Russia.The speculation has been fueled by a report in the German magazine Der Spiegel on Friday about a secret “Russia dinner” in the German embassy in Washington in late October, during which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s closest aide, the head of the chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt, reportedly “euphorically praised” a proposal by U.S. think tanker Samuel Charap to end the war in Ukraine through an imposed negotiated settlement with Moscow.In a podcast interview with the German public broadcaster RRB, Oleksii Makeiev, the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, denied the German government was pushing Kyiv to accept peace talks with Russia that could lead to a permanent loss of Ukrainian territory. The pressure was “also not” happening behind closed doors, Makeiev added.An official from the Germ...

Contrary to politicians’ claims, offshore wind farms don’t kill whales. Here’s what to know.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Unfounded claims about offshore wind threatening whales have surfaced as a flashpoint in the fight over the future of renewable energy.In recent months, conservatives including former President Donald Trump have claimed construction of offshore wind turbines is killing the giant animals.Scientists say there is no credible evidence linking offshore wind farms to whale deaths. But that hasn’t stopped conservative groups and ad hoc “not in my back yard”-style anti-development groups from making the connection.The Associated Press sorts fact from fiction when it comes to whales and wind power as the rare North Atlantic right whale’s migration season gets underway:WHERE ARE U.S. OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS?To date, two commercial offshore wind farms are under construction in the United States. Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource are building South Fork Wind, located 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of Montauk Point, New York. Ørs...

Vatican to publish never-before-seen homilies by Pope Benedict XVI during his 10-year retirement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

ROME (AP) — The Vatican next year will publish a collection of never-before-seen homilies delivered by the late Pope Benedict XVI during his private Sunday Masses, most of them penned during his 10-year retirement, officials said Saturday.The consecrated women who tended to Benedict during his pontificate and retirement recorded the homilies as he delivered them, and have now transcribed them for publication by the Vatican’s publishing house.Thirty of the homilies date from Benedict’s pontificate, while around 100 more are from his retirement, said a statement from the publisher, the Joseph Ratzinger Foundation and the Vatican’s communications office. All are in Italian, the German-born theologian’s adopted language.The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, in conjunction with Germany’s Welt am Sonntag, published the first of the homilies Saturday. It is a meditation on the figure of Joseph that Benedict delivered on Dec. 22, 2013, just a few months after he became the...

US tensions with China are fraying long-cultivated academic ties. Will the chill hurt US interests?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the 1980s, Fu Xiangdong was a young Chinese virology student who came to the United States to study biochemistry. More than three decades later, he had a prestigious professorship in California and was conducting promising research on Parkinson’s disease.But now Fu is doing his research at a Chinese university. His American career was derailed as U.S.-China relations unraveled, putting his collaborations with a Chinese university under scrutiny. He ended up resigning.Fu’s story mirrors the rise and fall of U.S.-China academic engagement. Beginning in 1978, such cooperation expanded for decades, largely insulated from the fluctuations in relations between the two countries. Today, it’s in decline, with Washington viewing Beijing as a strategic rival and there are growing fears about Chinese spying. The number of Chinese students in the United States is down, and U.S.-Chinese research collaboration is shrinking. Academics are shying away from potential China...

About 300 Indian travelers are sequestered in a French airport in a human trafficking probe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

VATRY, France (AP) — About 300 Indian citizens heading to Central America were sequestered in a French airport for a third day Saturday after a dramatic police operation prompted by a tip that those aboard might be victims of human trafficking, authorities said.Those aboard included children and families. The local civil protection agency told regional broadcaster France-3 that the youngest passenger is a toddler of 21 months, and that among the children are 13 unaccompanied minors.Local authorities hung white tarps across the soaring bay windows of the small Vatry Airport in Champagne country to ensure privacy for the passengers inside. An unmarked plane near the terminal appeared to be the aircraft grounded since Thursday. Other flights were canceled or rerouted as the airport was transformed into the hub of a vast trafficking investigation.The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight — en route from Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua —...

Israel strikes 2 homes and kills more than 90 Palestinians as troops expand south Gaza offensive

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 90 Palestinians, including dozens from an extended family, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes, rescuers and hospital officials said Saturday, a day after the U.N. chief warned again that nowhere is safe in Gaza and that Israel’s ongoing offensive is creating “massive obstacles” to the distribution of humanitarian aid.Also Saturday, the Israeli military said troops arrested hundreds of alleged militants in Gaza over the past week and transferred more than 200 of them to Israel for further interrogation, providing rare details on a controversial policy of mass roundups of Palestinian men. The army said more than 700 people with alleged ties to the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have so far been sent to Israeli lockups.Israel declared war after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war to destroy Hamas and...

Setting physical and mental goals for the new year?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

It's that time of year where we reflect on our choices and see how we can level up in the new year. Naturopathic doctor Dr. Laura Wollman from the Wellness Club joins WGN Weekend Morning News to share tips.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

How rich was the family in 'Home Alone:' NYT talks to experts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

CHICAGO -- One question begs to be asked when watching the movie 'Home Alone' as a Chicagoan, how rich were the Mccalisters to be able to afford the glorious mansion in Winnetka.The New York Times talked to experts with the Federal Reserve who compared the home to similar ones in Chicago in the early 1990s estimating the Mccaslisters income to afford that home was at least $305,000 a year that would put the in the top %1 od households in the U.S.Adjusted for inflation, the family would need to make at least $700,000 to afford the same house today.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Weekend Gardening with Tim Joyce: Environmentally conscious Christmas trees

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

WGN's Plant Daddy Tim Joyce is back with a holiday edition of Weekend Gardening. Check it out for more on gardening health benefits, how to make environmentally conscious choices with Christmas trees and more.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Oversized Santas take over Northwest Hills neighborhood

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Residents living on Gnarl Drive in Northwest Hills have dubbed their street "Santa Clause Lane" and it's for good reason.Anyone driving down the road will be greeted with multiple oversize inflatable Santas as well as other fun Christmas decorations. Kayla Christie said a neighbor living down the street from her came up with the idea, and from there, the rest was history. Christie said she bought multiple inflatable Santas and handed them out to some of the neighbors as well. "We really dub it "Santa Claus Lane" now," Christie said. "Next year we will probably have a sign up that says "Santa Claus Lane." More and more of the neighbors, as they started coming up, really enjoyed seeing it and wanted to participate. It is just really fun and delightful."Ainsley Christie said she hopes to see this tradition continue for years to come. "I think it is really fun," Ainsley said. "I think it is funny that we are all kind of matching. Most of the time no one really drives do...