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Top US and Chinese military officials speak for the first time in over a year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

(CNN) — The top US and Chinese generals spoke on Thursday for the first time in over a year, marking the end of a strained silence between senior US and Chinese military officials that had deeply concerned the Pentagon.Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., had a video conference call with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, Joint Staff spokesperson Capt. Jereal Dorsey said.Brown spoke with the People’s Liberation Army of China Chief of the Joint Staff Department Gen. Liu Zhenli, also marking the first time the two have talked since Brown became chairman.“Gen. Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication,” Dorsey said. “Gen. Brown reiterated the importance of the People’s Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings.”

Can an improving Chicago Bears defense provide an emphatic finish to the season? 12 numbers and nuggets for Week 16.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

The Chicago Bears are headed for a Christmas Eve date with the Arizona Cardinals, looking to rebound after blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Browns. The Bears’ status as “in the hunt” in the NFC playoff chase was promptly revoked after that collapse.Now they must manufacture new motivation and energy to finish out another losing season. The Cardinals (3-11) are one of three teams worse than the Bears in the conference. That creates an opening this weekend for Matt Eberflus’ team to get back on track. To help set the stage, here are a dozen eye-catching numbers and nuggets.24-23Score of the Bears’ 2006 victory against the Cardinals on “Monday Night Football” in the now-iconic “The Bears are who we thought they were” game. The Bears trailed 23-3 late in the third quarter but somehow rallied to win without scoring an offensive touchdown. On a night during which quarterback Rex Grossman th...

Callahan: How much of this Patriots season can be blamed on injuries?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

FOXBORO — Let’s leave the dead horses be.The Patriots are a bad team playing out a lost season. So are a half-dozen other teams.Bill Belichick’s future is uncertain. Whose isn’t?But what of the past, and what could have been?After last weekend’s loss, Belichick admitted losing three starters to injury factored into the offense’s decision to turtle in the final minutes against Kansas City.“I would say we didn’t feel like we were able to do probably what we should have done in that situation,” he said.So were it not for Hunter Henry, Cole Strange and Conor McDermott going down, how would the Pats have played? Stepping back, might that question apply to the entire season?Belichick could – and maybe will in his end-of-year meeting with Robert Kraft – try to pin the Patriots’ season on poor injury luck. Their offense and defense have both been devastated by injury. It feels like a hard sell, but let’s play it out.The Patri...

Scooter service Bird Global steers into bankruptcy protection

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Electric scooter company Bird Global announced Wednesday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection in an attempt to stabilize its wobbly finances.The move marks a sobering comedown for a formerly high-flying startup that was trying to make it easier to get around big cities in an environmentally friendly way with its fleet of electric scooters. The concept attracted about $500 million in investments from prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners before becoming a publicly traded company in 2021.Now, the Miami-based company finds itself struggling to survive after losing more than $430 million since the end of 2021.Bird has lined up $25 million in financing from MidCap Financial, a division of Apollo Global Management, as it tries to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida.Michael Washinushi, Bird's interim CEO, predicted the company will be able to bounce back and continue its “mission to make cities ...

Crescent Point Energy completes deal to buy Hammerhead Energy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

CALGARY — Crescent Point Energy Corp. says it expects average production of 198,000 to 206,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2024 now that it has closed its deal to buy Hammerhead Energy Inc. The guidance includes development capital expenditures of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion for the year.The company says it plans to spend 45 per cent of its 2024 budget in Alberta’s Montney region where it expects average annual production of 97,000 boe/d. Thirty-five per cent of the budget will go to the Kaybob Duvernay region where production is expected to average 50,000 boe/d.Crescent Point says it plans to spend the remaining 20 per cent of its 2024 budget on its assets in Saskatchewan, which are expected to generate annual average production of 55,000 boe/d.The company announced a deal in November to buy Hammerhead Energy and its assets in the Montney region of northwest Alberta for a total of $2.55 billion, including approximately $455 million of Hammerhead’s net debt. Th...

Spain’s leader lauds mended relations with Catalonia. Separatists say it’s time to vote on secession

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Barcelona on Thursday in an effort to show that his pledge to push through an amnesty for Catalonia’s separatists was paying dividends with the leaders of the politically restive region.After meeting with Catalan regional president, Pere Aragonès, in the medieval palace housing Catalonia’s government, the two emerged with a handful of deals that Sánchez said would “affect the daily lives of Catalans.”Sánchez has been harshly criticized by Spain’s conservative opposition for his decision to grant an amnesty that, once it is passed by Parliament next year, would sweep away the legal troubles of potentially hundreds of people involved in Catalonia’s unsuccessful 2017 independence bid.That amnesty deal was critical to Sánchez winning the parliamentary support of Catalan separatists parties that he needed to form a new government last month, following inconclusive national elections in July.Sánchez underscored on Thursd...

Philadelphia news helicopter crew filmed Christmas lights in New Jersey before fatal crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

The crew of a Philadelphia television news helicopter had filmed a Christmas lights display before crashing into the forest in southern New Jersey, an investigator said Thursday.Todd Gunther, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters near the crash site that WPVI’s Chopper 6 took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport Tuesday night and “had flown over to report on some Christmas light activity, and then they were returning back to base when the accident occurred.”He did not specify the precise location the crew was filming, but the station previously reported the crew had been sent to a story assignment in Galloway Township, just outside Atlantic City.One of the main attractions in Galloway is Historic Smithville, a tourist attraction that in winter includes a lavish holiday light display with over 120 Christmas trees decorated with more than 50,000 lights on a lake.The federal agency, which investigates fatal accidents involving transporta...

Florida State to discuss future of athletics, affiliation with ACC at board meeting, AP source says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

Florida State announced it will hold a Board of Trustees meeting on Friday and a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press the future of the athletic department and its affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference will be discussed.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school had not yet published an agenda for the meeting.Florida State leaders have made it known they are displeased with the school’s current situation in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where revenue distributions lag behind in the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten. That gap is likely to grow substantially in the near future as new media rights deals kick in for the SEC and Big Ten while the ACC is locked into a deal with ESPN that still has more than a decade left.Earlier this month, Florida State won the ACC football title game but became the first Power Five conference champion to finish with an undefeated record and still be left out of the College Football Playoff...

Man convicted of human trafficking after woman escapes, calls 911: police

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

An Ontario man was convicted and sentenced to prison time in a human trafficking case after a woman escaped her captor and contacted police in Markham, leading to a second victim being located.York Regional Police said an investigation was launched in Sept. 2023 after a victim escaped from her alleged trafficker’s residence on Pond Drive near Hwy. 7.Authorities identified the male suspect as Sherifdeen Tokumboh Fashola, and through the investigation, a second victim was located.On Nov. 20, Fashola was convicted of deriving material benefits from sexual services and was sentenced to 120 days in jail and probation for two years. On Jan. 3, 2024, police said the accused will return to court to face additional charges, including human trafficking, receiving material benefit, deriving material benefit and procuring, among other related offences.Fashola uses the aliases of Adam and Leo and is believed to have additional locations near the Ottawa area, police said.Officers have relea...

Toy retailer Mastermind to stop accepting gift cards after Christmas Eve

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:11 GMT

TORONTO — Mastermind says it will stop honouring gift cards after Christmas Eve.The distressed toy retailer says in court filings that gift cards won’t be accepted at its stores after Dec. 24.The filings made with Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice show the chain’s customers hold about $5.6 million in outstanding gift cards.However, Toronto-based Mastermind recently stopped selling and activating new cards.The company filed for creditor protection last month, citing increasing competition and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, which have become too significant to overcome. It plans to close at least 18 of its 66 stores as part of the filing.In early December, a trio of retailer names including Joe Mimran banded together to buy the bulk of the company’s assets.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2023.The Canadian Press