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Russia warns US that Ukraine will be its ‘second Vietnam’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

The Kremlin’s spy chief Sergei Naryshkin warned the U.S. that Ukraine will turn into its “second Vietnam,” amid disagreement in Congress over funding for Kyiv. “Ukraine will turn into a ‘black hole’ absorbing more and more resources and people,” Russian foreign intelligence chief Naryshkin said Thursday in a written statement published by his agency’s house journal, the Intelligence Operative. “Ultimately, the U.S. risks creating a ‘second Vietnam’ for itself, and every new American administration will have to deal with it,” he added.The warning comes after U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to further support Ukraine with funding. “We can’t let Putin win,” Biden said. Biden is trying to push through a $61.4 billion emergency funding request for Kyiv, but opposition against further aid to Ukraine has grown among Republicans in the House of Representatives. The U.S. was engaged in th...

‘Fuck you Daily Mail,’ raged Daily Mail’s Boris Johnson

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

LONDON — Well, this’ll make for an awkward Friday news meeting.Boris Johnson — the former U.K. prime minister — launched into a four-letter tirade against Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper over its coverage of coronavirus rules, the country’s official pandemic inquiry heard Thursday.It’s an awkward one for Johnson, whose current employer is … the Daily Mail. The paper snapped him up for a handsome sum earlier this year as its star columnist.Diary extracts from Britain’s then-Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance, dated September 2020, describe Johnson raging about the way his coronavirus “rule of six” restrictions — designed to limit the size of social gatherings without opting for more stringent lockdown measures — landed with the right-wing, middle-market paper.Vallance quotes Johnson as lamenting: “everyone says rule of 6 so unfair, punishing the young, but FUCK YOU Daily Mail – look this is all about stopping deaths. W...

Alleged attacker in Dedham stabbing identified, victims remain hospitalized

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

One man is dead and two women are being treated for stab wounds after a stabbing incident in Dedham Wednesday night, officials said. The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident. Police responded to a call around 6 p.m. Wednesday reporting that an individual had stabbed two people he was related to in a Dedham home.According to authorities, Samuel Pattillo, 36, of Dedham, was then seen walking “in obvious distress” on Country Club Road, a short distance from the stabbing location on Jackson Pond Road. Multiple additional parties called 911 to report his behavior.The district attorney’s office said initial information indicates that Pattillo was approached by multiple officers and turned combative when the officers attempted to interact with himOfficers deployed both pepper spray and a Taser to subdue the individual. After taking him into custody officers “recognized signs of physical distress and began providing life support meas...

West Africa court refuses to recognize Niger’s junta, rejects request to lift coup sanctions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — West Africa’s top court on Thursday rejected a request by Niger’s junta for a lifting of coup-related sanctions imposed by its neighbors, ruling that the junta is unconstitutional and therefore lacks the authority to make such a request.Following the July coup that toppled Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS imposed sanctions including shutting borders with the member country, suspending financial transactions and freezing Niger’s assets. Neighboring Nigeria cut off power that supplied 70% of Niger’s electricity.Niger challenged the sanctions at the ECOWAS Court of Justice in the Nigerian capital Abuja arguing they were causing severe hardship for Niger’s citizens, including by curtailing supplies of food and medicine. Niger’s coup leaders asked for a provisional halt to the sanctions pending a final judgement on the issue. Delivering the ruling Thursday, Justice Dupe Atoki called Niger’s junta t...

La Scala’s gala premiere of ‘Don Carlo’ is set to give Italian opera its due as a cultural treasure

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Italian melodrama’s official recognition as a global cultural treasure is getting trumpeted Thursday with La Scala’s season premiere of Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” an opera that hits hot-button topics of power and oppression.In keeping with a La Scala tradition of off-stage melodrama, the issue of who would occupy the royal box at the Milan opera house on opening night spawned a pre-performance kerfuffle. La Scala’s unions protested the institutional seat of honor going to Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa in the absence of Italy’s president and premier. La Russa, a far-right politician whom the unions claim has not condemned Italy’s fascist past, will sit in the front row of the adorned royal box with Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, a left-wing politician who invited 93-year-old senator-for-life and Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre to join him. “Fascists are not welcome at Teatro alla Scala,’’ the labor organizations for theater workers said in a statement. “We will not ...

A Danish court orders a British financier to remain in pre-trial custody on tax fraud

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A British hedge fund trader extradited from the United Arab Emirates to Denmark where he was wanted for allegedly orchestrating a more than 9 billion kroner ($1.3 billion) tax fraud, was ordered Thursday to remain in pre-trial custody until Jan. 3.Sanjay Shah was convicted in May in Dubai of masterminding a scheme that ran from 2012 to 2015 in which foreign businesses pretended to own shares in some of Denmark’s largest companies, including pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, shipping company A.P. Moeller, windmill maker Vestas and the Carlsberg brewery. He claimed tax refunds for which they were not eligible. The Glostrup District Court in suburban Copenhagen said Shah should be remanded in custody because he’s a flight risk. His lawyer, Kåre Pihlmann, said Shah has not decided whether to appeal. During Thursday’s court session, Shah, 53, refused to talk. He has said he used a loophole in Danish law and has denied fraud. The case is considered ...

79-year-old woman dead after being struck by car in Whitby

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

A 79-year-old woman is dead after she was struck by a vehicle in Whitby — one of two serious crashes involving pedestrians that occurred minutes apart in the town Wednesday evening.In one incident, officers with the Durham Regional Police Service were called to Thickson Road near Applewood Avenue around 5:20 p.m.Police say a driver in a Chevrolet Cobalt was travelling north on Thickson when they struck the woman who was attempting to cross the street.The woman died as paramedics were taking her to hospital.Police say the driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators. It is not yet known if they will be facing any charges.Police investigating separate Whitby crash that left man critically hurtFifteen minutes earlier, around 5:05 p.m., police say they were called to the intersection of Thornton Road North and Rossland Road West after a 28-year-old man was struck by the driver of an Acura RDX heading north on Thornton.The man was rushed to a hospital in Toron...

Denmark’s parliament adopts a law making it illegal to burn the Quran or other religious texts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A new law was passed in Denmark’s parliament on Thursday that makes it illegal to desecrate any holy text in the country, after a recent string of public desecrations of the Quran by a handful of anti-Islam activists sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.The Scandinavian nation has been viewed abroad as a place that facilitates insults and denigration of the cultures, religions and traditions of other countries. The purpose of the law was to counter “the systematic mockery” which, among other things, has contributed to intensifying the threat of terrorism in Denmark, the justice ministry has said. The Folketing, or parliament, adopted the law in a 94-77 vote, with eight lawmakers absent. The new legislation will make it a crime “to inappropriately treat, publicly or with the intention of dissemination in a wider circle, a writing with significant religious significance for a religious community or an object that appears as such.” Works of ...

Japan pledges $4.5B more in aid for Ukraine, including $1B in humanitarian funds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged $4.5 billion to Ukraine, including $1 billion in humanitarian aid to help support the war-torn country’s recovery effort in an online summit of leading industrial nations.Kishida made the announcement late Wednesday in Tokyo while hosting his last Group of Seven summit as this year’s chairperson.The $1 billion humanitarian and recovery aid includes funding for generators and other power supplies for the Ukrainian people to survive the winter, as well as measures to clear mines planted by Russia, the Foreign Ministry said. The remaining $3.5 billion includes funding for credit guarantees for World Bank loans to Ukraine. “This is significant support for the recovery of Ukraine and our economy, said Japan stands firmly with Ukraine and our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his message posted on X, formerly Twitter, “We will keep working together to bring our common victory closer.”J...

OnlyFans has a new content creator: tennis player Nick Kyrgios

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:06:09 GMT

Tennis pro Nick Kyrgios is setting up a free-to-access OnlyFans page.Kyrgios is a 28-year-old Australian who was the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022 but was sidelined by injuries for nearly all of this past season. He played in just one official singles match in 2023.The plan to interact with the public on OnlyFans was announced Thursday via a news release and confirmed by Evolve, the talent management agency formed by Naomi Osaka that represents Kyrgios. He is one of the most prominent male athletes to join the platform.“They are revolutionizing social media and I wanted to be a part of that. Athletes can no longer just show up on the court or the field. We have to show up online too. I want to create, produce, direct and own content. That’s the future,” Kyrgios was quoted as saying in the announcement. London-based OnlyFans is a subscription site where people can pay creators for photos and videos. It includes sexually explicit content, something Kyrgios will not ...