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Reports: More Russian Navy ships detected close to Nord Stream blast site

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

Three Russian Navy ships were detected in waters close to the site of the Nord Stream explosions in the months leading up to the pipeline sabotage, according to media reports.The ships included a research vessel, the Sibiryakov, that is believed to be capable of carrying out underwater surveillance, according to an investigation by public broadcasters in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, which focused on ship movements between June and September last year.A Russian tugboat, the SB-123 was also detected, along with a third vessel that the report was unable to identify by name.Last week, Danish authorities confirmed a sighting of a Russian Navy vessel, the submarine-carrying SS-750, near the Nord Stream pipelines four days before the pipeline blasts last September.The three ships identified by the broadcasters’ investigation had their transmitters turned off, but their movements were reportedly tracked by a former British naval intelligence officer using open source informati...

Teenage boy opens fire at Serbian school, killing eight children and a teacher, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

(CNN) — Eight children have died after a 14-year-old boy allegedly opened fire in his elementary school in the Serbian capital Belgrade, officials reported Wednesday.A security guard was also killed, while another six children and one teacher have been hospitalized, Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.The 14-year-old boy allegedly targeted his own school and was arrested in the building’s yard, according to the ministry.The department said in a statement on Facebook that it was informed at 8.40 a.m. local time (2.40 a.m. ET) that a school shooting had occurred at the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School in Vračar, an upscale area of the Serbian capital.“All available police patrols were dispatched to the scene, where they immediately went onto the school grounds and apprehended a minor, a seventh-grader who is suspected to have fired several shots from his father’s gun at students and the school security guard,” the statement said.A schoolg...

University of California students in Davis fearful and rattled as 3 stabbings in 5 days remain unsolved

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

(CNN) — Three brutal stabbings near the University of California at Davis in the span of five days have left two people dead and some students rattled and fearful as authorities dig for clues on who is responsible and whether the attacks were connected.The latest attack happened Monday night near campus and left a woman in critical condition. Just days before, stabbings at two parks near campus claimed the lives of UC Davis senior Karim Abou Najm on Saturday and David Breaux on Thursday.The violence has put the college community on edge and prompted officials to ramp up security measures and urge students to be ultra-vigilant.“Nobody should go into class knowing they have a risk of getting murdered. It’s just not worth it,” UC-Davis sophomore Henry Li told CNN. He added that he’s considering leaving town for the summer or even transferring to another school.Davis Police have stopped short of issuing a curfew, saying it’s an ext...

Man arrested outside Buckingham Palace days before King’s coronation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

(CNN) — London’s Metropolitan Police arrested a man outside Buckingham Palace on Tuesday after he allegedly threw suspected shotgun cartridges into the palace grounds, just days before the coronation of King Charles III.Police attended the palace about 7pm local time and arrested the man on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon. He also had suspicious bag that was destroyed in a controlled explosion, police said in a statement.“There have been no reports of any shots fired, or any injuries to officers or members of the public,” Chief Superintendent Joseph McDonald said in the statement.The items the man allegedly threw into the palace ground are being analyzed, the statement added.Neither King Charles nor Queen Camilla were at Buckingham Palace during Tuesday’s incident.Police and security services are preparing for the coronation of King Charles on Saturday, attended by heads of state and global dignitaries. Authorities expect large crowds to lin...

Keynan Middleton always felt ‘different’ in baseball. The Chicago White Sox reliever wants to provide hope through his story.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

Keynan Middleton typically is quiet and reserved, preferring to spend his free time with his daughters Kamrynn, Karter and Kollynz. But he has found himself moved by injustice and his children to talk a little more.As the Chicago White Sox reliever sat in the home dugout at Guaranteed Rate Field last month, Middleton stared into the distance at the sun reflecting on the field. He had been wanting to talk about his experiences for quite some time.During the civil unrest in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, while he was with the Los Angeles Angels, Middleton attended protests. He worried about whether his participation would draw the attention of the team’s front office and what that might mean for him.“I’m doing all the protests, and that was a real eye-opening situation because it was like, I felt alone down there in Orange County,” Middleton told the Tribune. “I was the only Black person down there. But then once we got in the streets and I seen a...

Orioles hitters are walking at an uncharacteristically high rate. They believe the trend is ‘sustainable.’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

Through the first month of the season, the Orioles find themselves in a position no Baltimore offense this century has been: near the top of the walks leaderboard.The Orioles rank high in several pitch-discipline stats, including fourth in walk rate and pitches per plate appearance — a stark contrast to the free-swinging clubs of yesteryear.But the Orioles aren’t just seeing a lot of pitches for the sake of seeing pitches, co-hitting coach Matt Borgschulte said.“We’re not necessarily trying to see more pitches,” Borgschulte said. “We’re trying to swing at the right ones.”Entering Tuesday, the Orioles walked in 10.2% of their plate appearances and averaged 4.03 pitches in those trips to the plate. The last time the club accepted free passes that often was in 1995. The only three teams in the majors who are walking more often than the Orioles are the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and San Diego Padres — three teams projected to...

Chicago Bears Q&A: Who are some potential options at defensive end? Could Ryan Poles swing a trade for Chase Young?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

Now that the dust has settled after the NFL draft, Chicago Bears fans have questions. Did general manager Ryan Poles make the right selections? Which positions are now strengths — and which ones remain weaknesses? And where will the Bears find a pass rusher?The Tribune’s Brad Biggs reaches into his weekly Bears mailbag and provides some answers.Can you share perspective around what potential options Ryan Poles will explore for defensive end support, including a trade for one in the last year of his contract? Who is in this potential pool of players? — @rgbears69The good thing is there’s no shortage of options with a handful of experienced defensive ends on the market, including former Bears first-round pick Leonard Floyd, Jadeveon Clowney, Yannick Ngakoue, Frank Clark, Justin Houston and Trey Flowers. Floyd might be the best of the bunch, but it’s unknown what kind of contract he’s seeking. Clearly no team was interested in meeting his asking pric...

Palace weapons arrest comes amid coronation security push

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The coronation of King Charles III involves one of the most important and complex security operations in U.K. history, Britain’s security minister said Wednesday, after police arrested a man and blew up a suspicious bag outside Buckingham Palace. A suspect was being questioned by police over Tuesday’s incident, which happened four days before scores of foreign royals, dignitaries and heads of state are expected to attend the coronation of King Charles III.Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said the coronation involves “one of the most important security operations that the country has put into plan.”“This is an enormously important moment for the country,” Tugendhat told Times Radio. “The police are, to put it mildly, all over it, and our intelligence and other security forces are extremely aware of the challenges that we face and ready to deal with them — as the police did quite brilliantly yesterday.”The Metropolitan Police said officers arrested a man on Tuesday ...

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seizes tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the second-such capture by Tehran in under a week amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program. The taking of the oil tanker Niovi renewed concerns about Iran threatening maritime traffic in the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude passes. It also comes amid the disappearance of a crude oil tanker in southeast Asia believed to be carrying Iranian crude oil amid reports it may have been seized by the U.S. The U.S. Navy published surveillance footage shot by an aerial drone of about dozen Guard vessels swarming the tanker around 6:20 a.m. The drone had been on a routine patrol in the area and saw the seizure, though the Navy did not receive a distress call from the Niovi itself, 5th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins said. Those Guard ships “forced the oil tanker to rev...

EU wants to ramp up ammunition production to help Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:57 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union announced fresh plans to ramp up the large-scale production of ammunition, seeking to both benefit Ukraine while the country is at war with Russia and to improve the bloc’s geopolitical credentials.Ukraine is poised to launch a planned spring counteroffensive to recover Russian-occupied territory, but the country has burned through ammunition at a furious rate, according to analysts. Western allies have provided ammunition, and the government in Kyiv has asked them to supply much more.“Let’s give first, let’s deliver first, what Ukraine needs immediately. Because again, we know exactly what’s happening on the ground,” Thierry Breton, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said. He wants to use at least 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to fund the Act in Support of Ammunition Production, or ASAP, with the goal of providing Ukraine with ammunition and replenishing the stocks in member countries. EU funds would provide half of the money, with the ...