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UN peacekeeping on 75th anniversary: Successes, failures and many challenges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Over the past 75 years, the United Nations sent more than 2 million peacekeepers to help countries move away from conflict, with successes from Liberia to Cambodia and major failures in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Today, it faces new challenges in the dozen hotspots where U.N. peacekeeping has operations, including more violent environments, fake news campaigns and a divided world that is preventing its ultimate goal: successfully restoring stable governments.The organization is marking the 75th anniversary of U.N. peacekeeping and observing the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on Thursday. There will be a ceremony honoring the more than 4,200 peacekeepers who have died since 1948, when a historic decision was made by the U.N. Security Council to send military observers to the Middle East to supervise implementation of Israeli-Arab armistice agreements. The current commander of that mission, which became the United Nations Truce Supervision Or...

Who is Madeleine McCann and what happened to her?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

Portuguese Police searched a reservoir in the vicinity of the spot where Madeleine McCann, a British 3-year-old girl, disappeared in 2007.This was the latest development in the search to find McCann, whose disappearance sixteen years ago sparked a global hunt that attracted huge media attention.WHEN DID MADELEINE MCCANN FALL ABANDONED?Madeleine McCann was three years old when she vanished on May 3, 2007. Her parents Kate and Gerry were eating with friends, who became known as "Tapas 7", at a restaurant nearby.Police in the area concluded that it was a kidnapping after a break-in occurred while Madeleine, her twin babies and their mother were sleeping. The family expressed concern over what they deemed a slow police response at first and the failure to secure a crime scene.WHY IS THIS CASE SO WELL-KNOWN?The case of the missing blonde girl with distinctive blue eyes has been covered in the media around the globe.The McCanns initially turned to the media for help in finding their daugh...

Kazakhstan’s Nonproliferation Model Offers More Security

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

As the war in Ukraine rages, several experts have raised the fear that Russia is becoming more likely to launch a nuclear weapon – writes Stephen J. Blank .  Two serious observers, former Defense Attaché to Moscow, BG Kevin Ryan (USA Ret), and the Israeli scholar Dmitry (Dima) Adamsky, have each argued that the nuclear option, despite diminishing fear of its use by the West, is an increasing likely Russian option.  Suppose Russian President Vladimir Putin does follow through with his nuclear threats. In that case, he will have shown that unsatisfied imperial longings could trigger Armageddon and that conventional war cannot be easily deterred from escalating, breaking the nuclear taboo.These “demonstrations” highlight, inter alia, the perpetual insecurity inherent in nuclear weaponry. Their very existence may compel their use, which leads states to believe they can attack non-nuclear states with impunity since nobody wants atomic war. When pleasant illusions flounder on the rocks of...

Russia's Putin meets Bosnian Serb leader Dodik, hails rise in trade

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik (pictured) in Moscow on Tuesday (23 May) and hailed an increase in trade during a meeting that has angered the European Union.In a transcript released by the Kremlin, Putin told Dodik that bilateral trade with Dodik's Serb Republic region of Bosnia, while relatively small, had increased by 57% last year."This trend should certainly be maintained," he said, adding that Russian and Bosnian Serb companies could achieve even better results.Bosnia receives Russian gas via Serbia and Bulgaria. After the meeting with Putin, Dodik told Russian television that the price the Serb Republic paid for gas would remain low but did not give details.Following a devastating ethnic war in the 1990s, Bosnia was split into two autonomous regions - the Federation shared by Bosniaks and Croats and the Serb Republic, linked via a weak central government. Bosnia has no unified foreign policy.Dodik, a Serb nationalist who has ...

Video captures thief snatching woman's purse from Culver City restaurant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

Video captured the moment a thief swiped a woman's purse while she was dining outside at a Culver City restaurant.Police are searching for at least three suspects involved in the coordinated theft.Officials said the incident happened on May 14 at Akasha where a woman’s purse was stolen from the back of her chair as she was dining.“It was really upsetting,” said Alan Schulman, co-owner of Akasha. “It’s upsetting and it’s a violation. And on Mother’s Day? Really? Come on.”Security video shows the victim dining in the restaurant's front patio with her back facing the sidewalk as her purse hangs on her chair.As a suspect wearing a dark hoodie approaches the woman, he quickly snatches the hanging purse and sprints away.Video captured the moment a thief quickly snatches a woman's purse hanging on a dining chair at a Culver City restaurant on May 14, 2023. (Akasha)Video captured the moment a thief quickly snatches a woman's purse hanging on a dining chair at a Culver City restaurant on May...

CCS baseball playoffs: Valley Christian advances to Division I final as Quinten Marsh blanks St. Ignatius

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

SAN JOSE — Before the game Wednesday night, longtime Valley Christian coach John Diatte had a little advice for his sophomore pitcher, Quinten Marsh.“You’ve just got to be good enough to be you,” Diatte said. “You don’t have to do anything extraordinary.”“And then,” the coach added, “he goes out and does that.”Marsh pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk to lead Valley to a 4-0 victory over St. Ignatius in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs at Excite Ballpark.The top-seeded Warriors, in the hunt for the program’s 11th section crown, will play Hollister on Saturday night at Excite for the title.Valley Christian starting pitcher Quinten Marsh (24) throws against St. Ignatius College Preparatory in the second inning for their Central Coast Section Division I semifinal game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News ...

Mariners’ Bryce Miller hands A’s their seventh straight loss

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

SEATTLE — Mariners rookie pitcher Bryce Miller kept the A’s spiraling downward as he limited Oakland to two hits over six shutout innings to continue his spectacular early success, and the Mariners used a big inning to beat the Athletics 6-1 on Wednesday night.The A’s (10-41) lost their seventh straight game and 15th in 17 games. They are the third team since 1901 to have a winning percentage below .200 after 51 games, joining Boston (.196) in 1932 and Washington (.188) in 1904.Miller added to the misery, allowing only four baserunners to go with six strikeouts. Aledmys Díaz’s single in the third inning was Oakland’s first hit and Ryan Noda’s check swing blooper in the sixth parachuted into the outfield for a single. Miller also walked one and hit a batter.But for the most part the Athletics couldn’t touch Miller. He capped his night striking out Shea Langeliers on a 95 mph fastball to end the sixth inning.Miller (3-1) has pitched at least six innings in each of his five start...

Which companies are leaving Russia and which are staying? Here’s a look

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — More than 500 companies have suspended their business in Russia, and a similar number have withdrawn completely.An additional 151 are “scaling back,” 175 are “buying time” and 230 are “digging in,” according to database kept by Yale University. Chinese companies figure prominently in the last category.Here’s a look at some of the Western companies that have chosen to stay or exit Russia:LEAVE— Volkswagen on Friday closed a deal to sell its Russian business, including its plant in the western city of Kaluga with 4,000 employees, to an entity supported by Russian dealer Avilon. The agreement had been delayed for months by a lawsuit from Russian automaker GAZ. It made cars under contract for VW until the partnership was ended by what the Germany company calls a mutual agreement in May 2022. Though VW has disposed of its Russia business, it still must contend with the lawsuits.— KFC owner Yum! Brands withdrew from Russia in March 2022 and some of the rest...

Top-seeded Stanford powers way to 18-10 win over Cal in Pac-12 Tournament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Carter Graham’s three-run double capped a six-run sixth inning and top-seeded Stanford flexed its muscles late in an 18-10 victory over California in the second round of pool play at the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday night.The Cardinal (38-14) trailed 5-2 before scoring 16 runs over the final four innings.Rodney Green Jr. had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth to help the Golden Bears (24-28) build a 5-2 lead. Stanford opened the floodgates with a six-run eighth and then scored four more times in the ninth.Malcolm Moore had four hits with an RBI and three runs scored for the Cardinal. Alberto Rios collected three hits, scoring four times and driving in a pair. Braden Montgomery and Rios hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth. Montgomery’s was a two-run shot.Caleb Lomavita hit a three-run homer in the eighth for Cal.Brandt Pancer (2-0) came in and got the final two outs of the fifth inning a...

Iran unveils latest version of ballistic missile amid wider tensions over nuclear program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:30 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran unveiled on Thursday what it dubbed the latest iteration of its liquid-fueled Khorramshahr ballistic missile amid wider tensions with the West over its nuclear program. Authorities showed off the Khorramshahr-4 to journalists at an event in Tehran, with the missile on a truck-mounted launcher. Defense Minister Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said the missile could be prepared for launch in a short period. Iranian officials described the missile as having a 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) range with a 1,500-kilogram (3,300-pound) warhead. They also released undated video footage purportedly showing a successful launch of the missile.The Khorramshahr-4 is named after an Iranian city that was the scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. The missile also is called Kheibar, after a Jewish fortress conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century — in what is now Saudi Arabia. Regional tensions likely played a role in Iran’s missile display Thursda...