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Western leaders accuse Russia of war crime over dam destruction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

Damage to Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam, which unleashed massive flooding in the Kherson region, could be a potential war crime, EU and Ukrainian leaders said Tuesday.“The destruction of the Kakhovka dam today put thousands of civilians at risk and causes severe environmental damage,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference from the Bucharest Nine (B9) summit in Slovakia. “This is an outrageous act, which demonstrates — once again — the brutality of Russia’s war against Ukraine.” He added that the damage to the dam demonstrated that the war Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed on Ukraine “is totally unacceptable and a blatant violation of international law.”German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he saw the attack as a “new dimension” of Russia’s war. While he avoided explicitly saying the Kremlin’s forces had destroyed the dam, he said the attack “fits...

PGA Tour announces shock reconciliation with Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

(CNN) — The US-based PGA Tour is set to merge with the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf, ending a feud that has dogged the men’s professional game for the past year.PGA made the shock announcement on Tuesday, saying a new partnership between LIV and the DP World Tour would “unify the game of golf.”“The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity,” the statement read.The LIV Golf series, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), officially launched in June 2022, with participating players subsequently barred from competing in PGA Tour events.The two rival tours have since been involved in a series of legal disputes, with all pending litigation mutually ended under the new agreement. “After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we ...

No one hurt after car crashes into daycare in Quincy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

A driver crashed into a building housing a daycare in Quincy Tuesday, drawing an emergency response and prompting an evacuation of the building, according to Quincy police. Police said the crash happened Tuesday morning at My Learning Center on Adams Street. While preschool classes were going on at the time, police said no one was near the area where the car hit the building and no one was hurt. The car involved in this crash appeared to have been removed from the scene as of around 9:30 a.m., leaving behind some visible damage to an outside building wall and window. In an update around 9:40 a.m., police said emergency crews were in the process of clearing the scene after the city’s building department found the building was “not compromised.”

Jets cancel next week’s mandatory minicamp in favor of extra rest ahead of Hall of Fame game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

The Jets were scheduled to hold a mandatory minicamp next week but have opted to take an early vacation instead.Jets head coach Robert Saleh told the media on Wednesday morning that Gang Green will skip the three-day session next week. Basically, the Jets will not hold the mandatory minicamp next week because the team (along with the Cleveland Browns) will report to training camp a week earlier than the rest of the league since they will be playing in the annual preseason Hall of Fame game on Aug. 3.“Guys need to get away,” Saleh said. “We’ve been here, they’ve put in a really good offseason, all the guys have since April. So, they’ve been here.“Just to give the guys an extra week of rest. You need a week off and you gotta rev back up and get ready for the season. Having an extra week, taking a week off, there’s a lot of things that can mess up the flow.”It makes sense why the Jets are skipping next week’s session. They wou...

PGA Tour, Europe to merge with Saudis and end LIV Golf feud

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)The PGA Tour ended its expensive fight with Saudi Arabia’s golf venture and now is joining forces with it, making a stunning announcement Tuesday of a merger that creates a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour.As part of the deal, the sides immediately are dropping all lawsuits involving LIV Golf.From the golf side, still to be determined is how players like Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson can rejoin the PGA Tour after defecting last year for signing bonuses reported to be in the $150 million range.From the commercial side, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund joins the PGA Tour board of directors and leads the new venture as chairman, though the PGA Tour will have a majority stake.The announcement comes a year after LIV Golf began. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was at the Canadian Open that week and said pointedly about any player who joined LIV or was thinking about it: “H...

LGBTQ+ Americans are under attack, Human Rights Campaign declares in state of emergency warning

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM (Associated Press/Report for America)The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday and released a guidebook summarizing laws it deems discriminatory in each state, along with “know your rights” information and resources to help people relocate to states with stronger LGBTQ+ protections.Sounding the alarm about the current political environment, the nation’s largest organization devoted to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans said advisories warning against travel to dangerous places aren’t enough to help people already living in so-called hostile states. Just a few days into Pride Month, the campaign said it’s taking action in response to an “unprecedented and dangerous” spike in discriminatory legislation sweeping state houses this year, with more than 525 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced and more than 70 signed into law so far in 2023 ̵...

Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. settles civil sex abuse case, averting trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

By LARRY NEUMEISTER (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Just as a trial was to begin, it was revealed Tuesday that Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled accusations that he raped a woman in a New York City hotel a decade ago, according to court records. The actor had insisted through lawyers that his encounter with the woman was consensual after the two met at a nearby restaurant.The trial was to start with jury selection in New York federal court as the Oscar-winning “Jerry Maguire” star faced allegations that he met the woman in Manhattan, persuaded her to join him at a hotel, and convinced her to stop at his room so he could change clothing.Minutes after jurors were to begin assembling in a courtroom, a calendar entry in the official court record said: “TRIAL OFF.” It added: “Reason for cancellation (on consent): the parties have resolved the matter.”The woman had proceeded anonymously until last week, when Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled that she would ...

What are the takeaways from Prince Harry’s day in a London court?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — It was a rare sight — a senior British royal testifying in a court of law.What Prince Harry said, both during cross-examination in the witness box Tuesday and in his written witness statement, was just as unusual. By turns defensive, frank and accusatory, his testimony shone a light on life as a royal and on Harry’s bitter personal feud with the press.Here’s what to know after a historic day at the High Court in London.A LIFETIME OF INTRUSIONHarry, 38, is suing the publisher of the Daily Mirror over 33 articles published between 1996 and 2011 that he says were based on phone hacking or other illegal snooping methods.The stories represent a fragment of decades of press coverage that Harry says has warped his life and those of his friends and loved ones.In his witness statement, Harry claimed that during his adolescence and young adulthood, tabloids cast him in a role — “the ‘thicko,’ the ‘cheat,’ the ‘underage drinker,’ the ‘irresponsible drug taker.’”“I ended up feelin...

US sanctions group of people and firms from Iran, China and Hong Kong tied to Iran ballistic program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. said Tuesday it is sanctioning a group of people and firms from Iran, China and Hong Kong associated with the alleged development of Iran’s ballistic missile program.The network of seven people and six firms “facilitated procurement of sensitive and critical parts and technology for key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile development,” including Iran’s defense ministry and its affiliated firms, according to the Treasury Department. Among the sanctions targets are the China-based firm Zhejiang Qingji, which has allegedly sold centrifuges and other materials to an Iran-based firm affiliated with the nation’s defense ministry. Also designated for sanctions were several executives at Qingji and the Hong Kong-based Lingoe Process Engineering Limited, which Treasury said served as a front company for the Chinese firm. Also named is Iran’s Defense Attaché in Beijing, Davoud Damghani, who is alleged to coordinate purchases from China for Iran end-users....

US-Apple-Podcasts-Top-Podcasts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:50 GMT

Top New Shows (US):1. The Broski Report with Brittany Broski, Brittany Broski & Audioboom Studios2. Pretty, Not Smart with Louie and Yoatzi Castro, Louie and Yoatzi Castro & Studio713. The Smylie Show, SiriusXM4. Queen Havoc and Her Murder Cult, iHeartPodcasts 5. Oversharing with Colleen Ballinger & Trisha Paytas, Colleen Ballinger & Trisha Paytas6. Codependents, Ciara Miller & Mya Allen7. The King Road Killings: An Idaho Murder Mystery, ABC News8. The Overcomers with Matt Chandler, Matt Chandler9. Jen Rubin’s Green Room, Politicon10. Keep it Positive, Sweetie, Crystal Renee HayslettThe Associated Press