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Lithuanian president calls Orbán a Russian ‘flirt’ after Putin handshake

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

BRUSSELS — Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda hit out at Viktor Orbán for having met with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, calling out the Hungarian prime minister for flirting with Moscow just before the two men were about to sit around the same summit table.“It’s really strange to see that we start to flirt with a regime who is committing … very cruel atrocities on the territory of Ukraine,” Nausėda said as he arrived for a summit of EU leaders on Thursday. “It sends a very wrong message to … international society and also to Ukraine who is fighting for their freedom.” Orbán has been criticized by some in the EU after shaking hands with Putin at a summit in China last week, and doubling down on his continued close ties with Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine. While Budapest has signed up to the EU’s 11 rounds of sanctions on Moscow, Orbán has continually held up talks and called on the bloc to immediately stop supplying arms to Kyiv, all while ...

UK Tory MP Crispin Blunt arrested on suspicion of rape

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

LONDON — Veteran Conservative MP Crispin Blunt has been arrested on suspicion of rape, he confirmed Thursday night.In a statement, Blunt named himself as the MP at the center of earlier media reports on an arrested lawmaker.He expressed confidence he would be cleared, and has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.Under English law, suspects are not routinely named before charges, if any, are levied by prosecutors.But in a statement, Blunt said: “It has been reported that an MP was arrested yesterday in connection with an allegation of rape. I am confirming that MP was me. The fact of the arrest required a formal notification of the [House of Commons] speaker and then my chief whip.”He added: “I have now been interviewed twice in connection with this incident, the first time three weeks ago, when I initially reported my concern over extortion.“The second time was earlier this morning under caution following arrest. The arrest was unnecessary as I re...

Greek government defangs probe into its spying on politicians and reporters

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

ATHENS — The government of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is being accused of trying to neutralize the regulators that have been pursuing it over a scandal involving the wiretapping of politicians and journalists.Greece’s espionage scandal — dubbed “Predatorgate” — exploded in the summer of 2022 when Socialist leader Nikos Androulakis discovered an attempted wiretap on his phone with malicious spyware, followed by the revelation he had also been under surveillance by the state spy service.Since then, the saga has morphed into a labyrinthine espionage thriller that involves malicious spyware Predator being planted on the phones of an ever-expanding network of politicians and journalists. The government denies using the illegal spyware.In the latest twist in the scandal, a magistrate has summoned former and current members of the independent watchdog (ADAE) as suspects for leaking classified information, according to several officials.ADAE has been conducting a ...

Maine’s governor says at least 18 people killed, 13 injured in shootings in Lewiston

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Authorities carried out a multistate search on land and water Thursday for a U.S. Army reservist who they say killed 18 people and wounded 13 in a mass shooting at a bowling alley and bar that sent panicked patrons scrambling under tables and behind bowling pins and gripped the entire state of Maine in fear.Schools, doctor’s offices and grocery stores closed and people stayed behind locked door in cities as far away as 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the scenes of Wednesday night’s shootings in Lewiston.President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff as condolences poured in from around the nation and at home, including from Maine native and author Stephen King, who called it “madness.” The attacks stunned a state of only 1.3 million people that has one of the country’s lowest homicide rates: 29 killings in all of 2022.The shooting suspect, Robert Card, is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached, aut...

The US economy grew at a blistering rate despite high interest rates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

Washington, DC (CNN) — The US economy expanded at a remarkably strong pace in the third quarter, despite interest rates at their highest level in 22 years.Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and services produced in the economy, grew at an annualized 4.9% rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. GDP is adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings.That’s well above the second quarter’s 2.1% pace and faster than economists’ expectations of a 4.3% rate.Robust consumer spending fueled growth in the third quarter, a sign of the economy’s surprising resilience in the face of tougher borrowing costs and persistently high inflation. Spending grew from July through September by an annualized rate of 4%, its strongest pace since the fourth quarter of 2021. Americans splurged both on goods and services.Indeed, packed Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concerts and record tickets sales for the “Barbie” film were a hallmark of this year’s...

Israel conducts raid in Gaza as Netanyahu says ground incursion will come

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

Jerusalem and Gaza (CNN) — Israel conducted a “targeted raid” using tanks in northern Gaza before withdrawing, its military said Thursday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned a ground incursion into the besieged enclave will take place.Video published by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday showed tanks and armored vehicles, including a bulldozer, moving on a road near a fence in northern Gaza. The tanks fired artillery, and some destruction could be seen nearby.Speaking to CNN, IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner said the raid, which he described as large but limited in scope, was “a clear and sweep operation intended to create better terms for ground operations if and when that comes in.”“We actually engaged the enemy, killing terrorists who were planning to conduct attacks against us with anti-tank guided missiles,” he said.“The soldiers exited the area at the end of the activity,” the IDF statement concluded.The raid comes as new satellite images revealed...

A pioneering gene therapy aims to free patients of blood disease. Is a cure at hand?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

Faith in God called Clint and Alissa Finlayson to adopt two sick girls from an orphanage in China. Faith in medicine called them to Oakland.Born with a deadly blood disease, the Finlayson’s daughters — Ada, 9, and Lily, 12 — are the first patients on the West Coast to receive a new gene therapy offered by UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.Already, Ada is already feeling better 10 weeks after receiving her stem cell transplant. Lily started treatment last week. Both have 90% chance of a permanent cure.“It’s science, and it’s a miracle,” said their mother Alissa, sitting in the small yard of their guest home in downtown Oakland, far from their small mountain town of Kalispell, Montana.Alissa Finlayson, left, along with her daughters Lily, 12,, Ruby, 10, and Ada, 9, create art with Foil Fun in the patio at Ronald McDonald House create art with Foil Fun in the patio at Ronald McDonald House where Ada and Lily are being monitored after gene therapy for beta thalassemia by UCSF Ben...

Bruins notes: James van Riemsdyk a bargain so far

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

Just what the Bruins could expect from James van Riemsdyk was anyone’s guess.The 34-year-old Van Riemsdyk, a seven-time 20-goal scorer, was coming off an injury-marred season in Philadelphia in which he was held to 12-17-29 totals in 61 games. That, combined with a depressed NHL economy last summer, allowed the B’s to sign him to a low-risk one-year, $1 million contract.So far, it’s looking like quite a bargain. Van Riemsdyk is third on the B’s in scoring with 3-2-5 and is one third of the only line that has become a relative constant in the B’s forward group.Aided by the fast start, the former UNH standout is starting to feel at home in Black and Gold.“My experience so far has been great, the way I’ve been treated by the coaching staff, management and the guys in the room. It’s been a great group. It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of it so far,” said van Riemsdyk after Thursday’s morning skate. “I’m trying to find a way ...

Just seeing a sick person can trigger your immune system, Chapman professor finds

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

You’re in an elevator with someone sneezing and dripping and hacking and coughing. You back into a far corner, horror on your face and revulsion in your gut.That’s normal!As cold, flu and COVID season sets in, we chatted with Chapman University’s Patricia Lopes, an assistant professor of biology, who studies how sick individuals impact those around them. It’s not as clear-cut as it may seem. Turns out that simply observing a sick individual triggers not only that familiar behavioral response — get away! — but a complex biological response as well.“The really interesting aspect is, it also changes your physiology,” she said.Her own experiments and reviews of scientific studies find that, when healthy animals interact with animals showing symptoms of illness, molecular pathways related to immune responses activate. Egg composition changes. And all without those animals actually being sick themselves, as if their bodies are prepping for a fight.Consider one of the experiments that galv...

Proposed homeless shelter near Liberty Station faces pushback

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:00:18 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A newly proposed homeless shelter has been identified near San Diego International Airport, known locally as H Barracks. The dilapidated former military barracks was abandoned decades ago and now the city wants to raze the area to create a camping site for as many as 700 homeless people. The area is bordered by Harbor Island and Esplanade Canal just along the Liberty Station community. "When there's women walking their dogs, feeling perfectly safe to get some exercise along the waterway, and then envision what that will look like when you put 700 homeless population right next door. The benches are going to be taken over, there's possibly going to be paraphernalia in the playgrounds. I just think it will completely change the dynamic of this incredible community,” said Jennifer Senn, a resident of Liberty Station. Neighbors in the area are pushing back, creating a petition at Change.org to alter the planned homeless shelter site. So far, the petition has gathered over 2...