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France bans fireworks on concerns about Bastille Day violence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

France banned the sale of fireworks from Sunday through July 15 amid concerns about renewed turmoil around the Bastille Day celebrations on Friday. “In order to prevent the risk of serious disruption of public order during the July 14 festivities, the sale, transportation, and use of pyrotechnic articles and fireworks throughout the country are prohibited until July 15 inclusive,” according to a decree published in the French official gazette on Sunday. The measure came into effect “immediately,” it said.The French government wants to avoid further episodes of violence after the riots that followed the death of Nahel M., who was killed by a policeman in Nanterre. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne anticipated the measure in an interview with Parisien on Saturday, calling the ban part of “massive means to protect the French” during the July 14 weekend.Sales of fireworks will only be allowed to professionals working for municipalities and public shows, ...

Moscow says NATO leaders should discuss Ukraine nuclear power plant

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

Russia said on Sunday that NATO leaders should discuss conditions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant at their summit this week, as an accident at the facility could affect the territories of alliance members.Ukraine warned last week that Moscow could be preparing to blow up the nuclear power station, which could lead to a radioactive disaster, after Russian workers were told to leave the facility. Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday accused Kyiv of “systematic infliction of damage” to the Zaporizhzhia plant and warned of the possible fallout from a catastrophe there. “Key attention should be devoted” to the Zaporizhzhia facility at the NATO meeting starting Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a Telegram post. “After all, the vast majority of the alliance members will be in the direct impact zone” of any potential accident, she said.Leaders of the NATO alliance will meet on July 11-12 in the Lithuanian c...

Zelenskyy brings home Azov commanders from Turkey, angering Moscow

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned to Ukraine on Saturday bringing home with him five former Azov battalion commanders who had fought in the battle over Mariupol. The Kremlin accused Turkey of violating the prisoner-exchange agreement that was signed last year.“We are returning home from Türkiye and bringing our heroes home,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Ukrainian soldiers Denys Prokopenko, Svyatoslav Palamar, Serhiy Volynsky, Oleh Khomenko and Denys Shleha. They will finally be with their relatives.” The Ukrainian president hugged the servicemen at the Istanbul airport and flew them home with him. Upon news of the release, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had not been informed and that Turkey had promised to keep the former prisoners on its home soil. The move “goes against the terms of existing agreements,”Peskov said. “The conditions of return were violated by both the Turkish and Kyiv sides,” he s...

Triple-decker fire in Roslindale displaces 14 residents

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

A fire in Roslindale early Sunday morning displaced 14 people and a pet dog.Boston fire responded to 293 Belgrade Avenue around 12:45 a.m. The fire started in the basement, and crews said the three story building was occupied at the time.There were no reported injuries.https://twitter.com/BostonFire/status/1677907135642968066?s=20

Column: Lucas Giolito wants to stay with Chicago White Sox. He also knows ‘the future is really uncertain’ as the trade deadline nears.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

It wasn’t all that long ago the Chicago White Sox had a young group of starters that seemingly would keep them in contention for years.Lucas Giolito, Dane Dunning, Reynaldo López and Michael Kopech were all top prospects acquired in December 2016, while Dylan Cease joined the organization the following summer from the Chicago Cubs in the Eloy Jiménez-José Quintana trade. Former first-round pick Carlos Rodón had begun to establish himself and was considered a future star if he could stay healthy.Some combination of those six pitchers would be around for years.But plans have been known to go awry, and if the Sox deal Giolito at the Aug. 1 trade deadline, only Kopech and Cease would remain in the rotation with López in the bullpen.Giolito, who starts Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals to end the first half, could be making his final start in a Sox uniform at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Sox open the second half with a nine-game trip and return home only...

One cyclist injured, another fled scene in hit-and-run on Lake Shore Boulevard

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

One cyclist was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a collision with another cyclist on Saturday afternoon.Police attended the scene at approximately 1:12 p.m. after reports that two cyclists collided near The Boulevard Club on Lake Shore Boulevard West.COLLISION:Lakeshore Blvd and The Boulevard Club1:12 pm (July 8)-2 cyclists collided-one cyclist was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries-the second cyclist did not remain on scene-police attended the scene#GO1585792^lm— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) July 9, 2023One cyclist was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries while the second cyclist did not remain on scene.No further details were provided.

German government wants ex-minister to foot $267 million bill for a failed highway toll plan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government is considering whether it can make former Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer foot at least part of the quarter-billion euro compensation it has to pay a private company over a failed plan to introduce highway tolls.Scheuer, who was in office from 2018 until 2021, had insisted on the total despite expert warnings that it would unfairly penalize drivers from other EU countries. A European Union court ruled it illegal in 2019, prompting a lengthy arbitration procedure with the company hired to set up the toll system that ended in a 243-million euro ($267-million) settlement last week.Scheuer’s successor, Volker Wissing, told German weekly Bild am Sonntag that taxpayers shouldn’t have to bear all of the cost of “this serious political mistake.”“We will look the legal situation very closely and carefully examine whether and to what amount compensation claims (against Scheuer) are possible,” he was quoted saying Sunday.Scheuer is a member of...

Los Angeles police arrest suspect in apparent random shootings at 3 locations with 1 person wounded

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police in Los Angeles arrested a suspect following what appeared to be a series of random shootings that wounded one victim Saturday morning, a news report said.The suspect allegedly fired randomly at people in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, with shootings reported between 6:20 a.m. and 7:20 a.m., KTLA-TV reported.The suspect, who was not immediately identified, was taken into custody after the Los Angeles Police Department located an unoccupied vehicle believed to have been used in the attacks. Officers later arrested a man who matched the suspect’s description when he exited a nearby home, KTLA reported.Police found a rifle believed to have been used in the shootings during a search of the vehicle, the station reported.Police said the first shooting occurred around 6:20 a.m. when a man in his 30s was critically injured while walking along a street. A suspect with a rifle was reported to have driven away from the scene. The victim was transported to a ...

Jordanian security forces kill 3, including 2 escaped prisoners, in a gunbattle

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordanian security forces killed three men, including two escaped inmates, in a shootout in a remote part of the country, authorities said Sunday.The Public Security Directorate said that the two prisoners had recently fled from jail, prompting a search that ended with the gunbattle. The third man killed had alleged ties to a militant group and was wanted in connection with unspecified crimes, the directorate said.One of the two escaped inmates was charged in connection with the 2022 killing of a senior police officer.The officer, Abdul Razzaq Abdel Hafez Al Dalabeh, was killed during clashes with protesters that broke out over high fuel prices. Three additional officers were killed while trying to arrest suspects in connection with Al Dalabeh’s death.A statement by the directorate said Saturday’s shootout took place in a rugged area in the kingdom’s southeast. It said authorities were investigating how the two men had escaped from prison.The r...

Snap presidential vote is underway in Uzbekistan and expected to extend incumbent’s rule

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:06:28 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Voters in Uzbekistan cast their ballots on Sunday in a snap presidential election that is widely expected to extend the incumbent’s rule by seven more years. The vote followed a constitutional referendum that extended a presidential term from five to seven years and allowed President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to run for two more terms in office. In 2021, Mirziyoyev was elected to his second five-year term, the limit allowed by the constitution at the time. A set of constitutional amendments approved in April’s plebiscite allowed him to begin the count of terms anew and run for two more, raising the possibility that he could stay in office until 2037. In May, the 65-year-old Mirziyoyev called for a snap election. He is set to win the vote by a landslide against three token rivals.More than 10,700 polling stations opened in Uzbekistan at 8 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) and were scheduled to close 12 hours later. By 11 a.m., more than 33% of voters have cast their ballots, el...