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Estonia re-ups entry ban on head of Russian church

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

Estonia’s Foreign Ministry banned 58 Russians from entering the country on Friday, including the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, one of the most ardent supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.“Patriarch Kirill is one of the greatest adherents and proponents of Putin’s ideology,” said Margus Tsahkna, the country’s foreign minister, in a press statement. “It was about time he was blacklisted. He has justified and abetted the war against Ukraine.”The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the statement, on Friday renewed the recently expired Magnitsky list, which allows Estonia to ban foreigners they found guilty of human rights abuses. In 2022, the Ukrainians and the British imposed sanctions on Kirill, while a European Union effort in June 2022 was blocked by Hungary. But the European Parliament did adopt a resolution condemning Patriarch Kirill’s role in “providing theological cover for Russia’s war...

EU countries reject making non-consensual sex a criminal offense across the bloc

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

Brussels’ plan to class all non-consensual sex as rape across the EU was rejected by national governments.In March 2022, the European Commission presented a draft law aimed at protecting women from violence ranging from female genital mutilation to cyberstalking. It also sought to make all EU countries classify non-consensual sex as rape punishable with a maximum penalty of at least eight years in prison. But after over a year of divisive talks, EU governments on Friday rejected the rape proposal. More specifically, while they backed the law as a whole, they removed the provision about rape. Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council, had managed to clinch agreement among countries a week ago that moves the EU closer to ratifying the 2011 Istanbul Convention — an international treaty meant to reduce violence against women across Europe. Those negotiations exposed a cultural war between Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, and ...

Arise, Sir Jacob! Boris Johnson doles out knighthoods to top Brexiteers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

LONDON — Jacob Rees-Mogg and a series of arch-Brexiteers are to be given knighthoods and damehoods as a part of Boris Johnson’s newly-released resignation honors list.Several aides closely connected to the COVID rule-breaching Partygate scandal were also nominated for gongs, after months of speculation.Resignation honors allow an outgoing British prime minister to draw up a list of people they believe should gain knighthoods, damehoods, seats in the U.K.’s unelected House of Lords, and other titles.Former ministers and close Johnson allies Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel, Simon Clarke, Conor Burns and Amanda Milling were among those to be nominated for knighthoods and damehoods by the ex-prime minister.They join backbench Tory Brexiteers Michael Fabricant and former Conservative Party chair Ben Elliot, the nephew of Queen Camilla, in the queue for knighthoods — meaning they will be able to style themselves “Sir.”Former senior No. 10 civil servant Martin Reynolds, a top...

Officials: Worker falls from 2nd floor at construction site, suffers serious injuries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

A worker is in serious condition after falling from the top of a construction site’s second floor in Norwood, according to officials.The Norwood Fire Department said it was around 10 a.m. on Friday when crews received multiple calls for a construction accident at the site of Norwood Hospital at 800 Washington Street.First responders arrived at the scene five minutes later, according to officials, where a police officer working a detail nearby directed crews to the injured worker.“The patient was treated and packaged by Norwood Fire paramedics and transported to Boston Medical Center in serious condition,” the fire department stated in a news release. “Norwood Police is currently handling the investigation into the accident.”No additional details were given.

Trump indictment: Live updates on documents case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Follow along for live updates on former President Donald Trump, who has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate. The indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president faces criminal charges by the federal government he once oversaw. Trump faces the possibility of prison if convicted.___What to know:— Trump faces a string of inquiries in various states and venues as he campaigns for a return to the White House— Trump’s case differs from those of other politicians known to have been in possession of classified documents— Who is Jack Smith, the special counsel probing Trump’s role in the retention of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election?— In spite of legal woes and a crowded GOP field, Trump has remained Republicans’ frontrunner for 2024— Does the indictment stand to damage Trump’s standing with voters?___INDICTMENT ALLEGES TRUMP SHARED PENTAGON ‘PLAN OF ATTACK,’ SHARED CLASSIFIED MA...

White House says Iran is helping Russia build a drone factory east of Moscow for the war in Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

By AAMER MADHANI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House on Friday.National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that U.S. intelligence officials believe a plant in Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone could be operational early next year. The White House also released satellite imagery taken in April of the industrial location, several hundred miles east of Moscow, where it believes the plant “will probably be built.”President Joe Biden’s administration publicly stated in December that it believed Tehran and Moscow were considering standing up a drone assembly line in Russia for the Ukraine war. The new intelligence suggests that the project, in the Yelabuga region of Tatarstan, has moved beyond...

Suspect in 1984 murder arrested in San Diego

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

A suspect who was on the run for nearly 40 years has been arrested in connection with the 1984 murder of a Florida woman, authorities confirmed.According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Donald Michael Santini was arrested in San Diego, California on Thursday for the murder of Cynthia Ruth Wood back in 1984.Donald Michael Santini. (Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office) Wood's body was found in a ditch in Riverview on June 9, 1984. An autopsy revealed Wood had been strangled to death. ‘If you kick my door in, in the middle of the night, I will kill you graveyard dead’: Sheriff Judd says after Polk Co. home invasion Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said detectives with the agency are heading to California to interview Santini, and that he awaits extraction to Tampa.No other information has been released.Cynthia Ruth Wood. (Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office) This is a developing story. Stay up to date on the latest from News Channel 8 ...

Trump indictment unsealed in case involving mishandling of classified information

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — An indictment charging former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents has been unsealed. The document marks the Justice Department’s first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump arising from the retention of hundreds of documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Trump disclosed the existence of the indictment in a Truth Social post Thursday night as well as in a video he recorded.People familiar with the matter have told The Associated Press that the indictment includes seven separate charges.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.MIAMI (AP) — Donald Trump has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, a remarkable development that makes him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw.The Justice Department was expected to make public an indictment ahead of a historic court appearance next we...

Montana gas power plant can resume construction, judge rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — NorthWestern Energy will resume construction of a natural gas power plant along Montana’s Yellowstone River following a two-month delay, a company spokesperson said Friday, after a state judge revived a pollution permit for the project despite lingering concerns over its climate-changing emissions.Work on the $250 million plant near the town of Laurel was largely halted in April when Judge Michael Moses cancelled its permit and said officials had failed to adequately consider the 23 million tons of greenhouse gases it would emit over several decades.But Moses reversed his earlier order late Thursday while an appeal from NorthWestern is pending before the Montana Supreme Court. The judge cited a “changing legal landscape” that includes a new state law that eliminated a requirement for state officials to look at climate impacts from emissions.Moses said restoring the permit also could help avoid future cost increases to customers of Sioux Falls, South Dako...

Maine expansion of abortion laws, which would be among the country’s broadest, passes committee

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:58 GMT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A committee of the Maine Legislature signed off Friday on a proposal from Democratic Gov. Janet Mills that would give the state one of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country.Maine’s current laws allow abortions until a fetus becomes viable, which is generally considered to be about 24 weeks. The governor’s proposal would change state law to allow abortion after fetal viability if it’s deemed necessary by a physician.The Democrats control the state Legislature and its committees, and used that advantage to pass the bill through a judiciary committee. The measure could make it to the Maine House of Representatives as soon as next week.The measure is likely to pass the full Maine Legislature, but has encountered heavy resistance from conservative lawmakers and residents, and Christian groups in the state.The Maine Medical Association testified in support of the law change, and said in its testimony that “it is extremely unlikely that the bill as ...