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EU court upholds sanctions against 7 Russians

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

The European Union’s second highest court on Wednesday upheld sanctions against seven Russian businessmen and women, but ruled partly in favor of a complaint filed by former tech industry boss Alexander Shulgin. The sanctions, which include asset freezes and travel bans, have been wielded by the Council of the EU — the intergovernmental part of the 27-nation bloc — to punish oligarchs and other influential Russians deemed to have supported President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and to have backed the Kremlin’s war machine.The rulings are closely watched by lawyers defending other Russian oligarchs. More than 80 individuals and companies have taken the Council to court over sanctions since the war began, complaining that the sanctions are unjustified or unsupported by the evidence.One of the most high-profile cases was that of billionaire oil trader Gennady Timchenko and his wife Elena, who both lost the cases they had lodged against the Council of...

‘Madness’ to let third countries access EU defense funds, says Italian shipbuilder CEO

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

CERNOBBIO, Italy — Money from the EU’s defense funds should go to European companies, according to Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Italian shipbuilder giant Fincantieri. Allowing third countries access would be “madness,” he told POLITICO on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum economic conference in Cernobbio, Italy. “If we open up and lengthen the supply chain of military national procurement, it’s the beginning of the end.” European companies should also produce as much as possible on the Continent, the CEO added: “One can discuss how much sense it makes to bring back to Europe strategic manufacturing that is gone, but it would be preposterous to take what’s left in Europe out of Europe.” Folgiero’s comments come on the heels of new EU procurement rules that would largely benefit the bloc’s firms. Over the summer, the EU hastily agreed to procure €500 million worth of ammunition from local companies using common budget funds — a taboo-breaking mov...

Searchers trying to ‘stress’ escaped Pennsylvania killer and force a mistake, official says as manhunt enters its 7th day

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

(CNN) — About 200 law enforcement personnel are searching for escaped convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante in eastern Pennsylvania, hoping to “stress him” out of hiding as the manhunt Wednesday stretches into its seventh day, a US Marshals Service official said.“This is a dangerous game of tactical hide and seek,” Robert Clark, supervisory deputy US marshal for Pennsylvania’s eastern district, told CNN’s Laura Coates on Tuesday night. “And it takes time.”The escape has put community members on edge and forced two school districts to close for the second day in a row as police advise residents to keep their doors and cars locked, warning Cavalcante is extremely dangerous.Cavalcante, 34, escaped from Chester County Prison on Thursday, initially launching authorities into a multiday search through a heavily wooded area in Pocopson Township and Chester County within 2 miles of the prison – a rural area around 30 miles west of Philadelphia.The search perimeter ex...

Flamingo sightings are pouring in from states where the birds aren’t usually spotted. Hurricane Idalia may be the cause

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

(CNN) — When you think of flamingos, the images that come to mind are probably of African water holes, the Caribbean, Florida – or almost anywhere else other than Waynesville, Ohio.So, when Jacob Roalef saw Facebook posts about flamingos at Ceasar Creek State Park, near Dayton, last week, he rushed to see them for himself.“I quickly grabbed my gear and told my wife and was out the door,” Roalef, who leads birdwatching tours, told CNN.When he got there, he saw two birds – an adult and a juvenile – in the lake.“The flamingos were just hanging out and sleeping in about a foot of water near the shore,” Roalef said. “They would wake up and drink some water or look up if a gull flew overheard.”He said the birds stayed there until about 6 p.m., when a dog scared them off.Jerry Lorenz, the state director of research for Audubon Florida, says that since Hurricane Idalia blew through, they’ve gotten reports of flamingos from around Florida, as well as Georgia, the Carolinas, Texas, Kentu...

CDC warns that RSV cases may be starting to rise

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

(CNN) — The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning physicians that cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, are rising in the Southeast — and that regional increase may portend a rise in the rest of the United States in the next two to three months.“Historically, such regional increases have predicted the beginning of RSV season nationally, with increased RSV activity spreading north and west over the following 2–3 months,” according to the CDC Health Alert Network advisory. The notices are communications to physicians and other health care providers across the United States.RSV is a virus that attacks the lower lungs. In babies, who have tiny airways, RSV can cause the lungs to fill with mucus, making it difficult to breathe. It’s the leading cause of hospitalization in the United States for infants under 1 year of age.The infection can also be serious for seniors. RSV hospitalizes an estimated 60,000 to 160,000 adults age 60 and old...

Bill Belichick Patriots to have Jack Jones vs. Eagles, won’t confirm status beyond Week 1

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

FOXBORO — With firearms charges dropped against Jack Jones, head coach Bill Belichick expects the Patriots cornerback to be available in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles.Belichick said he was “not going to get into that” when asked if the NFL has told him whether or not there will be upcoming punishment for Jones.“Talk to the league,” Belichick said. “See what they have to say. Anything from them would come from them, not from me.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Callahan: Matt Patricia knows the Patriots better than any ex-coach ever — and they don’t care New England Patriots | Patriots outlook: NFL sources expecting franchise to finish in middle of the pack New England Patriots | Patriots QB Mac Jones reveals that Tom Brady has helped ‘mentor’ him New England Patriots | Patriots OC Bill O’Brien sizes up QBs Matt Corral, Bailey Zappe New Engl...

Gov. Maura Healey raised more than $600K in campaign cash this summer

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

While a relatively sleepy summer set in on Beacon Hill, Governor Maura Healey used the time to pack her campaign war chest.Healey raised more than $600,000 in campaign cash from the start of May to the end of August, according to campaign finance records. Her biggest haul came in June, when she brought in over $274,000.Healey spent more than $216,000 during the same period, with the most expenditures in June. The Democratic governor had nearly $1.1 million cash on hand at the end of August, according to finance records.Healey’s summer featured a multiple fundraisers on the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll raised just over $153,000 for her campaign account during May, June, July, and August, according to state records.$94,533 during the same period and had nearly $313,000 cash on hand.

Carmakers are failing the privacy test. Owners have little or no control over data collected

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

By FRANK BAJAK (AP Technology Writer)BOSTON (AP) — Cars are getting an “F” in data privacy. Most major manufacturers admit they may be selling your personal information, a new study finds, with half also saying they would share it with the government or law enforcement without a court order. The proliferation of sensors in automobiles — from telematics to fully digitized control consoles — has made them prodigious data-collection hubs.But drivers are given little or no control over the personal data their vehicles collect, researchers for the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation said Wednesday in their latest “Privacy Not Included” survey Security standards are also vague, a big concern given automakers’ track record of susceptibility to hacking. “Cars seem to have really flown under the privacy radar and I’m really hoping that we can help remedy that because they are truly awful,” said Jen Caltrider, the study’s resear...

Russian shelling of an eastern Ukrainian city kills 16 and wounds dozens, officials say

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At least 16 people were killed and dozens were wounded Wednesday when Russian shelling struck a market in a city in eastern Ukraine, officials said. The deadly attack came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv and was expected to announce more than $1 billion in new American funding.Associated Press journalists at the site of the attack in Kostiantynivka saw covered bodies on the ground and emergency workers extinguishing fires at market stalls, with blackened and mangled cars nearby.Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at least 16 people were killed. At least 28 were wounded, according to Internal Minister Ihor Klymenko.Emergency service workers extinguished the fire that damaged about 30 pavilions at the outdoor market, Klymenko said. Crews searched the rubble for any trapped civilians.Twenty shops, power lines, administrative building and the floor of an apartment building were damaged, according to the prosecutor general’s office.Blinken’...

The death toll from fierce storms and flooding in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria rises to 12

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 16:11:40 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — The death toll from severe rainstorms that lashed parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria increased to 12 Wednesday after rescue teams in the three neighboring countries recovered five more bodies.A flash flood at a campsite in northwestern Turkey near the border with Bulgaria killed at least five people — with three found dead Wednesday — and carried away bungalow homes. Rescuers were still searching for one person reported missing at the campsite.Another two people died in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, where Tuesday’s storms inundated hundreds of homes and workplaces in several neighborhoods.The victims in Istanbul included a 32-year-old Guinean citizen who was trapped inside his basement apartment in the low-income Kucukcekmece district, Turkish broadcaster HaberTurk TV reported. The other was a 57-year-old woman who died after being swept away by the floods in another neighborhood, the private DHA news agency reported.The surging flood waters affected...