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Moscow police raid gay clubs after high court labels LGBTQ+ movement ‘extremist’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

Moscow security forces carried out raids on gay nightclubs, bars and saunas in the city center on Friday night, according to media reports, a day after Russia’s Supreme Court effectively banned the international LGBTQ+ movement in Russia, labeling it an “extremist” organization. Police searched venues across the Russian capital, including a nightclub, a male sauna, and a bar that hosted LGBTQ+ parties, under the pretext of a drug raid, local media reported. Eyewitnesses said clubgoers’ documents were checked and photographed by the security services. Ostorozhno Novosti Telegram news channel reported that, on the pretext of searching for drugs, police raided a club on Malaya Yakimanka where a party for the LGBT community was taking place.“In the middle of the party, they stopped the music and [the police] started to pass into the halls,” according to the report. ”At the exit, they took passport photos without authorization to do so,” Ostorozhno Novosti w...

EU and Mercosur give up on clinching trade pact next week: Report

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

Mercosur and the European Union have given up on reaching a free-trade agreement next week, CNN Brasil reported.The EU had hoped to finalize a trade deal with the Mercosur countries — Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina — in time for a December 7 summit of South American leaders in Brazil.But Argentina has notified Brazil, the current president of Mercosur, that it will not be able to make new commitments in the negotiations and that it intends to leave decisions to Javier Milei, an anarcho-capitalist outsider who won Argentina’s presidential election in November, according to the CNN Brasil report. The December 7 summit comes days before Milei’s inauguration.As a result of Argentina’s decision, a potential round of negotiations set for Rio de Janeiro during the Mercosur meeting was canceled, according to the report. A visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the Mercosur gathering was also scrubbed, the report said. Milei’s vic...

No bail for Belmont man accused of sexually assaulting child

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

A 59-year-old Belmont man has been ordered held without bail after investigators found evidence he sexually assaulted a child known to him, officials said.Rickland Powell was arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting and photographing the child inside his home in Belmont and has been charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, distributing obscene matter to a minor, four counts of aggravated rape of a child, four counts of rape of a child with force, and posing a child in the nude, according to a joint statement issued by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Belmont Chief of Police James MacIsaac.The allegations were first reported to Belmont police on Nov. 28, who were then granted a search warrant for Powell’s home, where they allegedly located media files, photos and other items. On Nov. 30, police learned Powell was in Andover, and when police approached him, he fled in a vehicle at a high rate of speed. Powell was later found in ...

West Virginia prison inmate indicted on murder charge in missing daughter’s death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia prison inmate whose infant daughter has been missing for more than two years has been indicted on murder and other charges, authorities said.A grand jury in Cabell County indicted Shannon Patrick Overstreet on charges of murder; death of a child by a parent by child abuse, and concealment of a deceased human body, Huntington police said Friday in a news release.Without elaborating, the statement said investigators collected evidence indicating Overstreet was responsible for the death of Angele Nichole Overstreet and for concealing and disposing of her remains.The girl was 3 months old when she last was seen in May 2021. Her disappearance led to an investigation involving the Huntington police department, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and state police and other agencies from West Virginia and Kentucky.Overstreet is serving a sentence of two to 10 years at the Huttonsville Correctional Center after acknowledging that the state had enough ...

7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes southern Philippines, tsunami warning issued

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 struck Saturday off the cost of the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. A tsunami warning was issued.The quake struck at 10:37 p.m. and was measured at a moderate depth of 32 kilometers (20 miles).The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on the magnitude and location it expected tsunami waves to hit the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia, Palau and Malaysia.A Philippine government agency advised the residents of Surigao Del Sur and Davao Oriental provinces on the eastern shores of Mindanao to immediately evacuate to higher grounds or move inland.

BMW recalls SUVs after Takata air bag inflator blows apart, hurling shrapnel and injuring driver

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — BMW is recalling a small number of SUVs in the U.S. because the driver’s air bag inflators can blow apart in a crash, hurling metal shrapnel and possibly injuring or killing people in the vehicles.U.S. auto safety regulators say in documents posted Saturday that the recall covers 486 X3, X4 and X5 SUVs from the 2014 model year that are equipped with air bags made by Takata Corp. of Japan. The recall raises questions about the safety of about 30 million Takata inflators that are under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Most have not been recalled. Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time when exposed to high temperatures and humidity. It can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel.At least 26 people have been killed in the U.S. by Takata inflators since May 2009, and at least 30 have died wo...

1 dead after two-alarm blaze at three-storey home in Forest Hill

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

One person is dead following a two-alarm house fire in midtown early Saturday morning.Fire crews say they were met with heavy smoke and flames from a vacant three-storey home on St. Clair Avenue West, just west of Avenue Road, when they arrived just before 5:30 a.m. Firefighters say an offensive attack was initiated and a primary search of the residence was carried out but they found no one at that time. Several hours later, fire officials confirmed one occupant had been located by firefighters in the house after the main body of the blaze had been extinguished. Paramedics say they did not transport anybody to the hospital.The coroner and the Office of the Fire Marshal have been called in to investigate.

At COP28 meeting, oil companies pledge to combat methane. Environmentalists call it a “smokescreen”

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Fifty oil companies representing nearly half of global production have pledged to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring in their operations by 2030, the president of this year’s United Nations climate talks said Saturday, a move that environmental groups called a “smokescreen.”Methane emissions are a significant contributor to global warming, so sharply reducing them could help slow temperature rise. If the companies carry out their pledges, it could trim one-tenth of a degree Celsius (0.18 degrees Fahrenheit) from future warming, a prominent climate scientist calculated and told The Associated Press. That is about how much the Earth is currently warming every five years. The announcement by Sultan al-Jaber, president of the climate summit known as COP28 and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., comes as he and others have insisted his background would allow him to bring oil companies to the negotiating table. Al-J...

Man charged in shooting of 9-month-old girl in Washington Park: police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

CHICAGO — A man has been charged after a 9-month-old girl was shot in the head in Washington Park, according to Chicago police.Police said 23-year-old Kenneth Mosby is facing felonies of attempted first degree murder and aggravated discharge of firearm.The shooting happened around 10:55 p.m. Tuesday in the 0-100 block of East Garfield. The baby was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition by her mother. Police said they did not receive a report of the incident until 10 a.m. Wednesday. As of Friday morning, the 9-month-old remains in critical condition at the hospital.Hospital officials say they’re looking into why police were not notified about the young gunshot victim until Wednesday morning.  Baby shot in head, critical after Washington Park shooting "That critical time," said community activist Andrew Holmes. "When that 9-month-old baby got to the hospital, nobody called the detective. Anytime a gunshot victim walks into a ho...

Why do we feel colder as we age?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:44:32 GMT

(WGN Radio) — Depending on where you live, you may be experiencing some of the coldest days of the season. If you aren't there yet, don't worry — winter technically hasn't even started yet. As you bundle up before heading outside to face Old Man Winter, you may find yourself adding more layers than your kids or even more than when you were a kid. But why is it that we seem to feel colder as we grow older?There are a few reasons, Dr. Kevin Most, Chief Medical Officer at Northwestern Medicine’s Central DuPage Hospital, told WGN Radio's Bob Sirott. More with Dr. Kevin Most When we're younger, we have more muscle mass and body fat, which keeps us warmer. We also have better circulation than when we are older. It's like having insulation in your home. "As we age, our skin is a lot thinner, so it loses heat a lot easier," Most explained, adding that we also have less fat and muscle mass the older we get. "So that senior who's wearing the sweater, there's reasons for it," he continued....