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UK moves to ban Russian diamonds, with EU under pressure to follow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan — The U.K.’s decision to impose a ban on Russian diamonds, announced overnight, piles immediate pressure on the EU to follow suit, as G7 leaders gathering in Japan consider new sanctions against Moscow.In announcing the move, the U.K. government said in a statement that it would “legislate later this year to ban imports of Russian diamonds, and end all imports of Russian-origin copper, aluminium and nickel, building on existing bans of Russian iron and steel.”The EU has so far failed to sanction diamonds from Russia — which are playing a part in financing President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine — amid concerns an embargo would hit the Belgian city of Antwerp, which is a major international diamond trading hub.“Russian diamonds are not forever,” European Council President Charles Michel said Friday at a press conference in Hiroshima, the host city of the G7 summit. “We will restrict trade in Russian diamonds,” he adde...

Officials reveal Boston host city logo for 2026 World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

Local leaders were getting ready for kickoff Thursday, unveiling Boston host city branding for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, some of which will be played locally in Massachusetts. Boston was previously selected as one of 16 host cities spanning the US, Mexico and Canada for the 2026 tournament, with Gillette Stadium in Foxboro serving as the actual venue for the games. Boston Soccer 2026 then announced new branding ahead of the tournament, rolling out messages on social media as well as at an event in Boston Thursday afternoon.“We are ready,” Gov. Maura Healey said. https://twitter.com/FWC26Boston/status/16592878159123169282026 will mark the first time the area has hosted men’s World Cup games since 1994. â€œWhen I go back to ‘94 and the world we’re living in now, we need the World Cup more than ever,” New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft said. ...

District Four seat candidates debate homelessness, foster care

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- For the first time, the candidates vying for disgraced District Four Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s seat are battling it out in a forum debate.The candidates focused their debate on addressing homelessness and the county’s foster care system.However, one candidate did not show up as an empty seat where City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe was expected to be was placed between two other candidates also vying to be the next District Four county supervisor.Two of the three candidates showed up were LGTBTQ advocate and Marine Corps veteran Janessa Goldbeck and small business owner Amy Reichert who founded “ReOpen San Diego” to reopen schools and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. They differed on how they would address homelessness.“We really need more crisis stabilization centers. I want to read the county definition to you in case you don’t know what that is,” Reichert said. “They’re called CSUs and they provide emergency mental health assessments and serv...

Iran executes 3 men over violence during last year’s anti-government protests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Friday executed three men accused of deadly violence during last year’s anti-government protests despite objections from human rights groups.Mizan, the judiciary’s website, announced the executions of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, without saying how they were carried out. Authorities say they killed a police officer and two members of the paramilitary Basij group in Isfahan in November during nationwide protests.Rights groups say the three were subjected to torture, forced into televised confessions and denied due process.The protests erupted last September after the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strict Islamic dress code. The demonstrations rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the theocracy that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.The demonstrations have largely subsided in recent ...

Australian police Taser 95-year-old with dementia as she approached them with steak knife and walker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A 95-year-old woman was in critical condition Friday, two days after police shocked her with a stun gun as she approached them with a walking frame and a steak knife in an Australian nursing home.The extraordinary police takedown of dementia sufferer Clare Nowland in the New South Wales state town of Cooma on Wednesday has prompted a high-level police internal investigation.It has also sparked debate about New South Wales state police use of Taser-brand conducted energy devices, or stun guns. They are a less lethal option than firearms, but have occasionally proved more dangerous than other policing options.Two police officers went to Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home that specializes in residents with higher care needs including dementia, after staff reported that the great grandmother had taken a serrated steak knife from the kitchen.Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter declined to say whether he thought a police officer with 12 years experience had ...

Zelenskyy to join G7 at Hiroshima summit as leaders prepare to unveil new Russia sanctions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies huddled Friday to discuss new ways to punish Russia for its 15-month invasion of Ukraine, days before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joins the Group of Seven summit in person on Sunday.Zelenskyy will be making his furthest trip from of his war-torn country as leaders are set to unveil new sanctions on Russia for its invasion. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed on national television that Zelenskyy would attend the summit.“We were sure that our president would be where Ukraine needed him, in any part of the world, to solve the issue of stability of our country,” Danilov said Friday. “There will be very important matters decided there, so physical presence is a crucial thing to defend our interests”. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats against Ukraine, along with North Korea’s months-long barrage of missile tests and China’s rapidly expanding...

Macao further restricts political freedoms with revisions to national security law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Echoing the crackdown on freedoms in neighboring Hong Kong, the former Portuguese colony of Macao has revised its legal system to face “new adverse challenges in terms of national security.” The government of the tiny enclave, heavily dependent on its gambling industry, said changes to the Law on Safeguarding National Security were needed as an upgrade to legislation first enacted in 2009, a decade after Macao’s handover to Chinese rule. “As the country presently faces new adverse challenges in terms of national security, the revision of Macao’s Law on Safeguarding National Security is a compulsory step to respond effectively to risks and threats,” the government said.It gave no details of the changes passed Thursday by the special administrative region’s rubber-stamp legislature. However, the Global Times newspaper published by China’s ruling Communist Party said Friday that the changes target espionage, “foreign interference” and Taiwan independenc...

WestJet pilots, airline reach tentative deal ahead of strike: union

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

The union representing WestJet pilots says it has reached an agreement “in principle” with the company on a new contract.The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) represents around 1,800 members, including some working for WestJet’s subsidiary airline, Swoop.The agreement comes at the 11th hour, as members of the ALPA were set to be in a position to begin strike action as of 3 a.m. MT Friday.The ALPA says the deal with WestJet followed “more than 9 months of negotiations on a new pilot contract.”Capt. Bernard Lewall, chair of the WestJet ALPA, says the deal “goes a long way to recognizing the value and expertise” of the union’s pilots.“This contract will also help solve many of WestJet’s pilot attraction and retention issues, benefiting everyone involved from our company to our passengers and fellow employees,” he said.Related articles: WestJet cancellations announced ‘in anticipation of’ strikeWestJet customers ho...

France's Sarkozy, defending his 'honour', awaits corruption appeal verdict

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

On Wednesday (17 May), the Paris Court of Appeals was expected to rule on Nicolas Sarkozy’s (pictured) attempt to overturn a verdict of bribery, influence peddling and corruption. This is one of many legal battles that the former French president has fought over the past decade.In 2021, a lower court found Sarkozy guilty for trying to bribe an ex-judge and selling influence in exchange of confidential information regarding an investigation into the 2007 campaign finance of Sarkozy.In a shocking fall from grace, he was sentenced to three years in prison with two of those suspended.Sarkozy has always denied all wrongdoing. He served as French president for one term, from 2007 to 2012.In a separate case, the financial prosecutors demanded that Sarkozy be tried on charges of corrupting and financing an election campaign illegally in relation to the alleged Libyan funding for his 2007 presidential campaign.The case that was the subject of Wednesday's ruling by the appeals court -Indirect...

Two more victims of volcano eruption found in Roman ruins of Pompeii

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:40:21 GMT

Two skeletons were found on Tuesday (16 May) in the ruins at Pompeii. The ancient Roman city was wiped out in AD 79 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.A ministry statement stated that the skeletons recovered from the building, known as the House of the Painters at Work, were probably of two men who were in their 50s and died in the earthquake that occurred along with the eruption.The Director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said that they were not killed by volcanic ash. Instead, their bones were fractured by wall fragments.The German archaeologist stated that "modern excavation techniques helps us better understand the inferno which completely destroyed Pompeii city over two days and killed many residents".Pompeii was located 23 km (14miles) south of Naples. It was the home of 13,000 people in 79 AD when it was submerged under ash and pumice stones.According to the Culture Ministry, "at least 15-20% of population" were killed. Archaeologists recovered more t...