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In Estonia, backing Ukraine isn’t controversial … but gay marriage is

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

Over the past year, Kaja Kallas has developed an image as a strong supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. The next battlefield for the Estonian leader is closer to home … same-sex marriage.Currently non-existent throughout the former Soviet nations, same-sex marriage has emerged as one of the major issues in coalition talks led by Kallas, the Estonian prime minister whose party won the most votes in elections in early March.For the liberals, this could be their best chance to get gay marriage on the statute books. While the registered partnership act of 2014 did grant some limited rights to gay and lesbian couples, it was never implemented as there was always a conservative party in government blocking its adoption. This time, with Kallas inviting two liberal parties into the coalition, Estonia could be on course to become the first Baltic to allow same-sex marriage.“For almost a decade, there has been little to no progress when it comes to the rights of same-se...

Mass. man pleads guilty to trying to hire someone to kill wife

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man who tried to hire a contract killer to kill his wife after she sought a restraining order against him instead asked an undercover federal agent to do the job, authorities said.Massimo Marenghi, 56, faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing after pleading guilty on Thursday in federal court to murder for hire, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said.Authorities started investigating in January 2021 when someone went to law enforcement and reported that Marenghi had complained about the restraining order and asked for assistance in killing his wife, prosecutors said.Federal investigators directed that person to introduce Marenghi to an undercover agent posing as a contract killer.Marenghi met with the agent in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, discussed a price of $10,000, and provided the agent with a photo of his wife’s home and explained how to evade surveillance.At a second meeting, he provided the agent with a $1,500 deposit, ...

Boston man arrested for threatening MBTA passengers with his pet rat

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

A 57-year-old Boston man was arrested Thursday for threatening MBTA passengers with his pet rat, according to transit police. Officers arrested the man at Oak Grove station around 4 p.m. Police say he was also consuming alcohol and refused to leave the scene.Police say the man is “well known” to the department for “causing disturbances” with his pet rat, Jerry. Jerry the rat was turned over to animal control. https://twitter.com/MBTATransitPD/status/1636702630591311874

7 deputies charged with murder in the death of Irvo Otieno

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

DINWIDDIE, Va. (AP) — Video from a state mental hospital shows a Black Virginia man who was handcuffed and shackled being pinned to the ground by seven deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, according to relatives of the man and their attorneys who viewed the footage Thursday. Three people employed by the hospital have also been charged.Speaking at a news conference shortly after watching the video with a local prosecutor, the family and attorneys condemned the brutal treatment they said Irvo Otieno, 28, was subjected to, first at a local jail and then at the state hospital where authorities say he died March 6 during the admission process.They called on the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the case, saying Otieno’s constitutional rights were clearly violated.“What I saw today was heartbreaking, America. It was disturbing. It was traumatic. My son was tortured,” said Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko.Otieno’s case marks ...

Several people, dogs escape North County house fire

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Several people escaped a house fire in North County on Friday, said the Oceanside Fire Department. According to fire officials, units were dispatched to a single-story house located on Guinevere Street shortly after 1 a.m. Arriving firefighters found heavy smoke and flames at the front of the home and quickly made entry to search for potential victims while also extinguishing the blaze. Westbound SR-78 closure to last into weekend for emergency sinkhole repairs Oceanside firefighters also used a ladder truck to perform roof ventilation strategies to allow smoke and heated gasses to be released. The department said this improved search conditions for inside crews.Fire officials say seven occupants of the home, along with four dogs, made their way out of the house without assistance. One adult victim was located in the backyard suffering from smoke inhalation and was transported to a local hospital by a Carlsbad Fire Department ambulance.The victim, who's ident...

European team ends questioning of Lebanon Central Bank chief

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A European legal team on Friday wrapped up two days of questioning of Lebanon’s Central Bank chief in Beirut in a money-laundering probe linked to the governor, officials said.Several European countries are investigating Gov. Riad Salameh, who in recent years has been charged with corruption-related crimes, in a case of money laundering of some $330 million. Salameh, 72, has been the head of Lebanon’s Central Bank since 1993.He was questioned for two hours on Friday and six hours the day before, according to Lebanese judicial officials. The European delegation — with representatives from France, Germany, and Luxembourg — questioned Salameh through a Lebanese judge, acting as a go-between. Under Lebanese laws, the representatives cannot directly question Salameh.On Thursday, Salameh was questioned about an apartment in Paris rented by Lebanon’s Central Bank and Forry Associates Ltd, a brokerage firm owned by Salameh’s brother, Raja Salameh, the officials tol...

Wall Street opens a bit lower as worries about banks persist

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is opening modestly lower as worries persist about the banking industry despite the lifelines it’s been getting. The S&P 500 was down 0.3% in early trading Friday. The Dow lost 0.6% and the Nasdaq was little changed. This week has been a whipsaw for global markets as concerns worsen about banks following the second- and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history. Markets had rallied a day earlier after two banks on both sides of the Atlantic tapped into tens of billions of dollars of cash to bolster their finances. But on Friday, both were lower. Treasury yields sank.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street drifted lower early Friday as a wobbly banking sector continued to be the focus in the U.S. and abroad.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials fell 0.8% and futures for the S&P slipped 0.7%. Despite a tumultuous week of wild swings spurred by the failure two U.S. banks, markets could still finish with gains fo...

Japan PM praises SKorea leader; biz groups vow to boost ties

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said hats off to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for “making a difficult decision and action” by overcoming the troubled history between the two countries, pledging to work with him toward better future relations.“I want to express my heartfelt respect to President Yoon for making a difficult decision and action by overcoming various (troubled) background and history between the neighbors Japan and South Korea,” Kishida told a news conference Friday, one day after the two leaders held talks in their first formal summit hosted by Japan in 12 years. The two sides seek to turn the page on the longstanding row that has divided the United States allies and form a united front driven by shared concerns over North Korea and Russia. During Thursday’s talks, the two leaders agreed to make the Japan-South Korea summit a start in resuming their “shuttle diplomacy” of regular visits, which had stalled since 2011. They als...

CP Rail, Kansas City Southern Rail to combine next month under new name

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. says it will officially combine with Kansas City Southern Railway Co. on April 14 under a new name, Canadian Pacific Kansas City.The Calgary company says CP’s president and chief executive Keith Creel will helm the new company with CP’s Nadeem Velani to serve as the merged business’s chief financial officer.KCS president and chief executive Pat Ottensmeyer will become an advisor to Creel through the remainder of 2023 to foster continuity.CP says the new company will operate the first single-line railway connecting the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It is expected to shift about 64,000 truckloads annually from North America’s roads to rail.CP and KCS got approval for the takeover from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board earlier this week, clearing the final hurdle for the US$31 billion deal signed in December 2021 to close.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:CP, ...

Italy’s far-right premier addresses country’s oldest union

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:36 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Premier Giorgia Meloni on Friday became the first Italian leader in nearly 30 years to address the annual meeting of the nation’s largest, oldest and most left-wing CGIL union confederation. Meloni, who heads post-war Italy’s first far-right led government, was met with a chorus of vocal protests as she took the podium, but the audience remained silent during her nearly 30-minute remarks that included her government’s plans to create jobs and ease the overall tax burden on workers. She received one round of applause, when she mentioned extreme-right attacks against CGIL offices, but immediately followed that up with a reference to left-wing attacks on Italian diplomatic targets abroad. Meloni told the gathering in the Adriatic seaside city of Rimini that despite their different views “we are working with the same goal, which is the for the good of our nation. If this is the spirit, then the confrontation is necessary, fundamental, inevitable and useful.” Meloni said sh...