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Russia used sabotaged dam as ‘weapon of mass destruction’ says Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and the natural world suffered catastrophic damage after the destruction of Nova Kakhovka dam unleashed heavy flooding across southern Ukraine, the country’s energy minister told POLITICO on Wednesday.German Galushchenko said Russia deliberately destroyed the hydroelectric dam, creating “the largest man-made disaster in Europe in decades.”“People have lost their homes. The nature, unique ecosystems have suffered irreparable damage. About 20,000 households in the Kherson region are cut off electricity, have limited access to clean food and water,” he said, adding: “It is a war crime and can be qualified as the use of weapons of mass destruction under the Geneva Convention. They must be punished for all their crimes.”Ukrainian authorities worked through the night on Wednesday to evacuate thousands of people from flood-hit areas of Kherson region, in the south of the country. As many as 16,000 res...

Court says no, Polish government says go on coal mine permit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

WARSAW — The Polish government said it will ignore a court ruling suspending an environmental permit for one of the country’s largest lignite coal mines.The ruling was issued by a Warsaw court on May 31 and made public on Tuesday. The case had been filed by Polish, Czech and German environmental groups, complaining about an environmental permit issued last year for an expansion of the Turów mine located near the Czech and German borders in southwestern Poland.The court found that the permit — valid from 2026 to 2044 — was issued in breach of EU environmental regulations. “It should be pointed out that the probability that the [permit] is defective cannot be ruled out,” the court said, adding: “Further mining under the conditions set out in the permit … may lead to irreversible damage not only to the environment, but may also have a negative impact on the health of the inhabitants of nearby towns.”That set off a storm of protest from the Polish government.“We’re def...

The 2 killed in mass shooting after Virginia high school graduation ceremony were an 18-year-old graduate and his stepfather

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

(CNN) — An 18-year-old graduate and his 36-year-old stepfather were killed in a shooting after a high school commencement ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, Tuesday evening, police confirmed Wednesday.A gunman opened fire after the ceremony Tuesday, killing two and injuring five, as terror spread among hundreds who had gathered to celebrate, police said.A suspect – a 19-year-old man – is in custody, and police are seeking second-degree murder charges against him, interim Police Chief Rick Edwards told reporters Tuesday night. Edwards said other charges could follow.A 9-year-old girl was struck and injured by a car in the chaos among guests and graduates after the shooting in Monroe Park, across the street from the Altria Theater, where Huguenot High School held the ceremony, officials said.“This should have been a safe space,” Edwards said. “It’s just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community.”The shooting mar...

Pope Francis will have intestinal surgery and stay in the hospital for several days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

By NICOLE WINFIELD and MARIA CHENG (Associated Press)ROME (AP) — Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital for surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his intestine, the latest malady to befall the 86-year-old pontiff who had part of his colon removed two years ago.Francis was expected to be put under general anesthesia for the open abdominal surgery and remain at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for several days, the Vatican said. While hernia operations are rarely performed on an emergency basis, the procedure appeared somewhat urgent, scheduled just a day after Francis went to the hospital for tests. The pontiff’s doctors no doubt also wanted to give him ample time for recovery ahead of a busy travel schedule later this summer.The pope was suffering from a “painful and worsening” hernia that formed over a previous scar, presumably from his 2021 colon surgery. Experts said the formation of the hernia, called a laparocele, is a known complication from intestina...

Man pleads guilty to assisting in plot to kidnap Michigan governor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

BELLAIRE, Mich. (AP) — A man accused of assisting the leaders in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor pleaded guilty Wednesday, the ninth conviction in state and federal courts since agents broke up an astonishing scheme by anti-government rebels in 2020.Shawn Fix said he provided material support for an act of terrorism, namely the strategy to snatch Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in Antrim County. Prosecutors agreed to drop a weapon charge. Prosecutors have said they had evidence that Fix trained with a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, for “politically motivated violence” and hosted a five-hour meeting at his Belleville home where there was much discussion about kidnapping Whitmer.Fix, 40, helped plot leader Adam Fox pinpoint the location of Whitmer’s second home, key information that was used for a 2020 ride to find the property in northern Michigan, prosecutors said in a court filing.Fix appeared in an Antrim County court, one of five people charged in that leg of th...

Security guards at London’s Heathrow Airport to escalate strikes over pay into busy summer months

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Security guards at London’s Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest, will escalate their strike action over pay into the busy summer months, the U.K.’s largest trade union said Wednesday.The Unite union said more than 2,000 of its members will walk out for 31 days from June 24 through to Aug. 27, a move that could wreak havoc for the millions of people going through Heathrow during the summer travel season. Security guards have already been striking in recent months, including during the Easter break and the coronation of King Charles III.“Unite is putting Heathrow on notice that strike action at the airport will continue until it makes a fair pay offer to its workers,” Unite general-secretary Sharon Graham said. “Make no mistake, our members will receive the union’s unflinching support in this dispute.”Security officers at Terminal 3, which is the base for many international carriers, including American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, will be joining ...

Greece seeks assistance from rival Turkey over migration spike along border river

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek officials have launched a series of high-level contacts with the newly elected government in Turkey in an effort to counter a surge in attempted crossings by migrants over a river that divides the two countries.Defense Minister Alkiviades Stephanis spoke on a call Wednesday with Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler, officials in Athens said, a day after the foreign ministers of the two countries also spoke. Guler and other members of the new Turkish government were appointed following the recent reelection victory of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Patrols along the Evros River on the Greek side of the border have been intensified following a recent drop in the water level that makes migrant crossings easier.The two NATO members have a number of longstanding disputes, including sea boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean and efforts to curb illegal migration to the European Union.Greece in the past has accused Turkey of “instrumentalizing” migration to ...

Wildfire smoke expected to linger in GTA for remainder of week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

The smoke continues to linger across the GTA and it is even more pronounced today than earlier in the week. Bluer skies are not in the forecast until we get a change in the wind direction later this week.The smoky haze is still suspended in the atmosphere and is coming from the wildfires that continue to rage on in northern Ontario and in Quebec. A Special Air Quality Statement is in place for the Cities of Toronto and Hamilton along with areas well to the north. The gusty northerly and northeasterly winds are shipping the smoke into our area, which can impact everyone’s health, especially for those with respiratory sensitivities.The smoke may dissipate a little bit during Wednesday afternoon and evening but the smoke will return and be even more thick by the overnight hours of Thursday and last through most of the day. The smoke is still expected to be around for Friday but improvements may be on the way for the weekend with the winds shifting to the southeast, that essentially wil...

Bank of Canada raises key interest rate amid stubbornly high inflation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada announced a quarter-percentage point rate hike Wednesday, the first interest rate increase since January, as high inflation persists.Its key interest rate now sits at 4.75 per cent, the highest it’s been since 2001.“Based on the accumulation of evidence, governing council decided to increase the policy interest rate, reflecting our view that monetary policy was not sufficiently restrictive to bring supply and demand into balance and return inflation sustainably to the two per cent target,” the Bank of Canada said in a news release.It says excess demand in the economy appears to be more persistent than it had anticipated, citing a tight labour market, better-than-expected economic growth in the first quarter as well as “surprisingly strong” consumption growth.Inflation also came in hotter than expected in April, the central bank said, noting prices for a “broad range” of good and services rose might than anticipated.The decision to raise interest rates com...

Prince Harry to tabloid newspaper’s lawyer: ‘Nobody wants to be phone hacked’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:33:09 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry entered a London courtroom on a mission to prove that the publisher of the Daily Mirror tabloid had hacked his phone and unlawfully snooped on his life. He left the witness box Wednesday having shown that he was highly suspicious of how Mirror Group Newspapers obtained information for stories about him, but without offering phone records or much other evidence to support his hacking claim.“I believe that phone hacking was at an industrial scale across at least three of the papers at the time,” the Duke of Sussex asserted in his second day of testimony in London’s High Court. “That is beyond any doubt.”Phone hacking is central to his case against Mirror Group and two related lawsuits against other British tabloid publishers that he claims invaded his privacy by eavesdropping on emails and using other illegal methods to report on the smallest details of his life, causing him great emotional turmoil.Harry is the first senior member of the royal family t...