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Macron blocks NATO outpost in Japan amid Chinese complaints

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

PARIS — France is holding up a deal to expand NATO’s reach into Asia, opening a split in the Western security alliance on the eve of a vital summit next week. For months, NATO officials have been discussing plans to open a liaison office in Japan, which would represent the allies’ first outpost in the region at a time of growing tension between the West and China. Next week’s annual leaders’ summit in Lithuania —taking place against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine — was earmarked as a moment for making progress on the plan.But French President Emmanuel Macron has put his foot down, insisting such geographical expansion would risk shifting the alliance’s remit too far from its original North Atlantic focus. “We are not in favor as a matter of principle,” an Elysée Palace official told reporters on Friday. “As far as the office is concerned, the Japanese authorities themselves have told us that they are not extremely attached to it.”The French official ins...

Family travel: Where to learn about historic folk art

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

Lynn O’Rourke Hayes | (TNS) FamilyTravel.comFolk art reflects our cultural identity and often serves as a window into a community’s values and aesthetics. Here are five places where you and your family can learn more about this historic art form.1. Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Welcoming visitors since 1953, this museum houses the world’s largest collection of folk art with more than 150,000 artifacts documenting cultural identity, traditions and aesthetics from around the world. Children are drawn to the Tree of Life lounge, a newly renovated area encouraging imaginative play with discovery boxes, miniature tree houses, puppets, and a make-a-tree activity as well as docent-led art and puppet-making sessions. Throughout the museum, visitors are invited to contemplate, create, and interact with folk art to better understand the treasures within.Admission is free for children 16 and under.Each year the city of Santa Fe also plays host to the International Folk...

US Treasury chief Yellen and China’s No. 2 aim for improved communication after trade disputes

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

By JOE McDONALD (AP Business Writer)BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang expressed hopes Friday for better communication as Yellen appealed to Beijing not to let frustration over U.S. curbs on technology exports disrupt economic cooperation.Both governments used positive terms to describe Yellen’s visit to China’s capital, which was aimed at improving strained relations, and stressed the importance of U.S.-China economic ties.Yellen and Li announced no new plans for more high-level meetings to revive contacts that disputes over technology, security and other irritants have disrupted. Yet, Yellen is the latest of several senior U.S. officials traveling to Beijing to encourage Chinese leaders to revive interactions between the governments of the world’s two largest economies.Treasury officials said earlier she wouldn’t meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and no breakthroughs had been expected.In a one-hour meet...

Cooler hiring in June could help the Fed achieve an elusive ‘soft landing’ for US economy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — Another month, another solid gain for America’s job market.Employers in the United States slowed their hiring in June yet still produced a healthy increase, further evidence of an economy that has defied persistent forecasts of a recession. The pace of hiring by businesses and government agencies — 209,000 added jobs last month — was the smallest monthly gain in 2 1/2 years. But it was enough to reduce the unemployment rate from 3.7% to 3.6%, near a half-century low. The latest evidence of economic strength makes it all but certain that the Federal Reserve will resume its interest rate hikes later this month, ending a streak of 10 rate increases that were intended to curb high inflation.Yet there were also signs in Friday’s government report that the job market is cooling to a more sustainable pace of growth — a trend that, if sustained, could reassure the Fed that its rate hikes are co...

From AI hot sauce to truffle negronis, here’s where world food trends start

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

Matthew Kronsberg | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsNEW YORK — The only way to fully appreciate the Summer Fancy Food Show, the massive gourmet trade expo held annually at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, is to put on your walking shoes and shelve pre-existing opinions you might have about cinnamon churro-flavored pork rinds. With more than 2,000 vendors set up over 300,000 square feet on two levels, it’s the rare occasion where you can simultaneously triple both your daily step count and caloric intake.The show, which just completed its 67th year, is hosted by the Specialty Food Association — specialty food being a broad and somewhat vague category of premium priced items including not just the niche, but also fancy ice creams and confections, and gourmet goods such as artisanal olive oils, cheeses, and charcuterie, and upscale versions of dips and salsas. Pet snacks make appearances, too.In 2022, specialty food sales hit $194 billion, a 9.3% increase from the year before, with sales proje...

Home Showcase: Tasty choice in Sandwich

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

In the prestigious Ridge Club Community, an exquisite Nantucket-style Cape Home awaits, offering golf lovers an incredible getaway in between rounds — and year-round.Crafted by Bayside and built in 1999, the property spans approximately 4,500 square feet, boasting an array of luxurious amenities to keep loved ones and guests entertained all summer long.Step into the chef’s kitchen, a haven for culinary enthusiasts. Decked out with stainless steel appliances, a gas range, Thermador wall oven, and a well-appointed pantry, it’s a powerhouse. The breakfast area seamlessly blends with the living room, featuring skylights, a gas fireplace, and custom built-ins.The first-floor primary bedroom suite creates a quiet sanctuary with its own fireplace to snuggle by. Its luxurious bathroom includes a whirlpool tub and double vanities. A formal dining room sets the stage for memorable dinner parties, while a cherry wood office with cathedral ceilings and French doors adds an elegant backdrop to a...

Recipe: Vanilla Cream Terrine is a fruity dessert as welcome as a summer day

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

My ideal summer dessert uses seasonal fruit, doesn’t involve turning on the oven and leaves me plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the day.Photo by Claudia AlexanderSeasonal fruit, yogurt and gelatin powder is all you need to make Vanilla Cream Terrine, a light summer dessert.British television host and cookbook writer Delia Smith’s Vanilla Cream Terrine is exactly that. Similar to but lighter than a crème brulée, it has more zing than a panna cotta, and the complex flavor and texture make it the perfect finish for an al fresco summer dinner.Variations of this dish have been popular in Europe for a long time— the sweet version as far back as the 18th century. Earlier still the dish is mentioned in the prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales.” This version, called blancmange (‘white food’), was savory and often included meat or fish. In that era physicians believed the dish to be healthy and encouraged their patients to eat it.Unfortunately, ingredients such as almonds, ...

As Quebec gets wetter because of climate change, risks of landslides increase

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

MONTREAL — Climate change is likely to increase the frequency of weather events that cause landslides in Quebec, like the one that killed two people a week ago in the Saguenay—Lac-St-Jean region, said a researcher who studies natural risks. Jacques Locat, a professor emeritus at Université Laval, says climate change models predict that southern Quebec will receive between five per cent and 14 per cent more rain by 2050. His research suggests that increase in precipitation, coupled with an expected rise in extreme rain events, will make the occurrence of landslides in the province more likely.“The impact of climate change on landslides in Quebec will be mainly related to precipitation,” Locat, co-founder of a research laboratory at the university that studies natural risks, said in a recent interview. On Saturday, torrential rain in Quebec’s Saguenay—Lac-St-Jean region contributed to several landslides, including one that led to the death of two people. That landsli...

A drone strike in Syria kills 1 militant with Islamic State links and wounds a passerby

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A drone strike believed to have been carried out by the U.S.-led coalition in northern Syria Friday killed one man with Islamic State links and wounded a passerby, a paramedic group and an opposition war monitor said. The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said the man was killed while riding a motorcycle. It added that a passerby was also wounded.Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the man targeted by the drone was a militant linked to the Islamic State group. The Observatory said the attack occurred on the road connecting the town of al-Bab with the village of Bazaa.The U.S.-led coalition has been targeting militants linked to al-Qaida and IS for years.In May, the U.S. military said it was investigating reports that it had killed a civilian in a strike earlier that month in northwest Syria while targeting a senior al-Qaida leader.On any given day there are at least 900 U.S. forces in Syria, along...

Family of Jared Lowndes sue RCMP over 2021 shooting death in Campbell River

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:51:56 GMT

VANCOUVER — Family members of a man shot and killed by the RCMP have filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court, the day before the two-year anniversary of his death. Relatives of Jared Lowndes say in a notice of civil claim that the Campbell River man was shot and killed by unnamed members of the RCMP at a Vancouver Island Tim Hortons on July 8, 2021. Lowndes’ mother Laura Holland and his daughters Phoenix and Patience say in their lawsuit that Lowndes was in his vehicle the day he was killed, boxed in by multiple police cars and attacked by a police dog that was sent in through a window. The lawsuit says the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia, which is tasked with probing police-involved deaths, referred the case to Crown prosecutors in December 2022, believing charges may be warranted against three Mounties over the use of force. Lowndes’ family say they’ve suffered great anguish since the killing, developing depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic...