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Provocative Putin makes surprise trip to occupied Mariupol

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

A provocative Vladimir Putin made a surprise weekend visit to Russian occupied Mariupol, one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance.Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast and this is the Russian president’s first trip in the region since the start of his war against Ukraine in February 2022. Mariupol fell to Russia last May, after the Kremlin failed to seize Kyiv. The battle for Mariupol was one of the war’s longest and bloodiest, as Moscow’s troops carried out some of their most notorious strikes. The Russian assaults included an attack on a maternity ward, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was a war crime, and the bombing of a theater that was clearly marked as housing children. It is the closest to the front lines Putin has been since the yearlong war began. The move is likely to be seen as particularly provoking to Ukrainians. The trip to Mariupol came after Pu...

US House speaker calls for probes as Republicans slam potential Trump indictment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday said he would direct House committees to investigate the Manhattan district attorney’s potential prosecution of former President Donald Trump.Trump on Saturday predicted on Truth Social that he would be arrested next week in the probe over his handling of a hush-money payment during his 2016 presidential campaign, prompting a slew of Republican allies to express their outrage.McCarthy said the Manhattan DA’s move would be “an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,” and said that he is “directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”Rep. Chip Roy said an indictment of the former president would be “politically-motivated” — a symptom of what Roy called a “politicized ‘justice’ system that will be (i...

Howie Carr: Massachusetts House leadership gets huge payoffs with their inflated titles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

I hope that if new Auditor Diana DiZoglio does get to audit the legislature, she will take a long hard look at the proliferation of phony-baloney jobs in “leadership,” and the huge payoffs that come with the absurdly inflated titles.It’s not as out-of-control as what’s been going on at the University of Massachusetts. But then, there are only 200 solons who must be paid off on Beacon Hill.Base pay now for legislators is $73,655 (plus the travel allowances of $15,000–20,0000). But only the most hopeless lames (even by state-rep standards) subsist on the minimum.Just about every hack is getting bonus money for their “leadership,” even Republicans. For instance, Rep. Brad Jones, the leader of the ever-dwindling GOP minority, made $85,212.64 extra last year on top of his then-base pay of $70,537.22.Then there’s the House Speaker, Ron Mariano, age 76. His “bonus” will be $109,163 this year, up from $90,893 last year. Plus the travel dough. For sure, Mistah Speakah is staying ahead of Bid...

NFL Notes: Breaking down the Patriots, AFC East

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

The AFC East proved to be one of the best and most competitive divisions in the conference last season.That distinction is not likely to change given how the teams have already managed to reload and fortify less than a week into free agency.What could change, however, is the pecking order from top to bottom.The Bills, while still the favorite, aren’t a lock to win their fourth straight division title as all of the teams below have their sights on making a move and unseating the champs.For starters, the second-place Dolphins have strengthened their defense, most notably with the acquisition of cornerback Jalen Ramsey and linebacker David Long, while the Jets are in the process of seriously upgrading the one position that held them back last season – quarterback.Aaron Rodgers is headed to the Big Apple if and when the Packers and Jets can work out the details on trade compensation.The Patriots?They’ve made some moves, and added some nice players on the offensive side of the ball, alth...

Qatar charges ex-finance minister with bribery, embezzlement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar announced Sunday the nation’s former finance minister faces charges including bribery and embezzlement from his time in the post.Ali Sharif al-Emadi was arrested in May 2021, with little about his case being made public. In a short statement on the state-run Qatar News Agency, prosecutors accused al-Emadi of the crimes and said he would face trial in a criminal court. It wasn’t immediately clear if al-Emadi had a lawyer. The state news report also did not elaborate on how much money the former minister is accused of stealing. Al-Emadi rose to prominence in the Gulf Arab emirate as the current emir ascended the throne and after overseeing the transformation of Qatar National Bank into the largest lender in the Middle East. Once one of Qatar’s most powerful officials, al-Emadi also served as chairman of the bank, on the board of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and as president of the executive board of long-haul carrier Qatar Airways....

19 die, over 20 injured in bus crash in central Bangladesh

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A speeding bus fell into a roadside ditch in central Bangladesh on Sunday apparently after the driver lost control, leaving at least 19 dead and more than 20 others injured, police said. The bus was travelling to the capital, Dhaka, from the southwestern city of Khulna. The accident took place when the bus reached Shibchar area in Madaripur district, highway police official Abu Nayeem Mofazzal Huq said.He said 14 people including the driver of the bus died at the scene. Another three people died later, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. Road accidents are common in Bangladesh because of lax enforcement of traffic law, rough driving and overspeeding. Some 8,000 people die each year from road accidents in Bangladesh.The Associated Press

Palestinian militant group: commander assassinated in Syria

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

DAMASCUS (AP) — A commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad was killed in Syria on Sunday in what it described as an assassination by Israeli agents.The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad group, said in a statement that Ali Ramzi al-Aswad, 31, was killed Sunday morning in the Damascus countryside in a “cowardly assassination with bullets bearing the fingerprints of the Zionist enemy,” referring to Israel.There was no immediate statement from Israel on Sunday’s alleged assassination. The Islamic Jihad said in a statement Aswad’s family had been displaced from the city of Haifa in 1948 and settled in the refugee camps in Syria, where he joined the organization as a young man.In 2019, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at the home of Akram al-Ajouri, a member of Islamic Jihad’s leadership living in exile. Ajouri was not harmed, but his son was reportedly killed in the attack.Last month, airstrikes on residential areas in Damascus that Syrian official...

Better late than never: Trudeau finally gets a home-turf visit from U.S. president

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s last official visit to Canada came with a palpable sense of foreboding. Change was in the air. Authoritarian leaders in Syria and Turkey were consolidating power. Britain had voted to leave the European Union. And Donald Trump was waiting in the wings to take over the White House. “Genuine leaders” were in short supply, and Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be called upon to step up, said the U.S. vice-president, who was on a farewell tour of sorts in the waning days of the Obama administration.Six years later, Biden is coming back — this time as president — and the world is very different. His message likely won’t be. “There’s a seriousness to this moment in America,” said Goldy Hyder, the president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, who spent much of last week meeting with U.S. officials in D.C. Chinese spy balloons are drifting through North American airspace. Russian MiG fighter jets are down...

Norad, Haiti, critical minerals expected to top Trudeau-Biden talking points

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden will spend two days in Canada beginning Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and speak to a joint session of Parliament, his first visit north of the border since taking the oath of office in 2021. Visits to Canada have historically been a popular first foreign trip for new presidents — Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump being the rare exceptions — but COVID-19 intervened twice in the years since Biden’s inauguration to prevent one from happening. Here are some of the issues the two leaders are likely to discuss.Modernizing Norad: Until last month, the binational early-warning system known as the North American Aerospace Defence Command might have been best known for tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. But a February flurry of unidentified flying objects drifting through North American airspace, most notably what U.S. officials insist was a Chinese surveillance balloon, exposed what Norad commander Gen. Glen VanHerck described...

Readers and writers: Three novels that are out of the ordinary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:42 GMT

Three novels, including the big PEN prize winner, are our good reads today.“Sometimes Creek”: by Steve Fox (Cornerstone Press, $24.95 paperback).And it occurs to you that somehow this man can move the dark. Like pushing a coin across the table with only your thoughts, he can grasp darkness between his fingertips … you’re convinced he got there by opening a crack in the blackness and stepping out to join you in your mutual exile. Greet you and share a drink and set you straight. And that soon he’ll disappear back inside. You know it. — From “Sometimes Creek”Steve Fox, award-winning Wisconsin writer, offers 17 stories in his debut collection. Reading some of these Midwestern pieces is like looking in a cracked mirror — everything seems slightly off-center.A 10-year-old who just threw a hockey game because he hates the kid who would have scored is visited by a homeless man with a dark face who offers the boy some wisdom. In another ...