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Former European parliamentarian fights to avoid paying back €250K after fraud probe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

BRUSSELS — A former member of the European Parliament from Italy is refusing to pay back more than a quarter of a million euros of public money, years after fraud-busters found he had broken EU rules by paying it to a company that never did real work and was owned by someone he became romantically involved with.Crescenzio Rivellini, an MEP who sat with the center-right European People’s Party from 2009 to 2014, was the subject of an investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office, also known as OLAF. It found he had funneled tens of thousands of euros from his office budget to a company owned by Bianca Maria D’Angelo, who was his parliamentary assistant when the contract was signed and later became his partner. Her ownership was not declared to Parliament and thus breached the institution’s conflict-of-interest rules, according to OLAF. Rivellini has sought for years to avoid paying the money back by refusing to acknowledge his debts, most recently launching a lawsuit against...

PMQ scorecard: Swearing and ceasefires dominate as Sunak and Starmer duke it out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from the latest session in POLITICO’s weekly run-through.What they sparred about: This week’s session started out with jousting over who does better on combating the cost of living — with rows over renting, homeownership, and jobs leading a domestic-heavy charge from the two leaders.Labour leader Keir Starmer had an ace up his sleeve after the failed Conservative candidate for the Mid-Bedfordshire by-election shared a post that said out-of-work parents who are financially struggling should “fuck off.” Starmer said the poor chap was “simply following party lines.” Sunak pushed through, pointing to measures he has put in place to help people with energy bills, mortgage payments, and to spur house building.  First bit of shade thrown: In welcoming the actual new MP for Mid Bedfordshire, Labour’s Alistair Strathern, Keir Starmer said...

Biden is worried about wider war in the Middle East. Here’s how it could happen.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

U.S. officials are worried that violence in Israel’s neighbors will spiral into a larger regional war.Missile strikes from Yemen. Killings in the West Bank. Attacks on U.S. troops in Syria. And that’s before Israel officially launches a ground invasion of Gaza, the territory controlled by Hamas militants who killed more than 1,000 Israelis on Oct. 7.Biden administration officials are especially concerned that armed groups backed by Iran are preparing to exact more bloodshed. Aside from Hamas, those proxy forces include Lebanon and Iraq-based Hezbollah and the Houthis of Yemen.“We see a prospect for much more significant escalation against U.S. forces and personnel in the near term. And let’s be clear about it, the road leads back to Iran,” a senior Defense Department official told reporters Monday. The official was granted anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the record.Arab officials are worried, too. They are urging Washington to help defuse the tensions by ...

Portugal backs UN in bitter feud with Israel, which vowed to ‘teach them a lesson’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

Portugal’s Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho on Wednesday said his government supported António Guterres’ position on the Israel-Hamas war, amid an escalating dispute between the United Nations secretary-general and Israeli authorities.“We fully understand and follow the position of António Guterres, who was unequivocal when he condemned Hamas terrorism,” Gomes Cravinho told Portuguese newswire Lusa. “There is no way to say that António Guterres is in any way excusing terrorism.”The Portuguese foreign minister also dismissed Israel’s calls for Guterres — who is Portuguese — to resign.Guterres also received Germany’s support, with a spokesperson for the government in Berlin saying on Wednesday it had confidence in the U.N. chief, according to Reuters.On Tuesday, Guterres said during a Security Council meeting that the violent Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 “did not happen in a vacuum,” triggering furious reactions from Is...

Suspect arrested in 2 sexual assaults at Boston University

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

A person has been arrested in connection with two reported sexual assaults at Boston University on Tuesday, officials said.In a statement, Boston University Police commended the students who came forward to report the incidents, during which a suspect inappropriately touched the reporting person. The person, whose name was not released, was arrested overnight on an outstanding warrant.“With the arrest, the individual is no longer a threat to the community. Our thoughts are with our students that were assaulted and the University has offered them support,” the statement read.Anyone with information is asked to call BUPD at 617-353-2121.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Busy Celtics and Bucks drive NBA betting action, but champion Nuggets getting heavy action

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The offseason moves by the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks got the attention of the NBA world and those who bet on the sport, which opened its season Tuesday night.Boston is the favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook at 37-10 to win the championship and Milwaukee is right behind at 41-10.They are co-favorites at BetMGM at 4-1 each. At Caesars Sportsbook, those teams along with the reigning champion Denver Nuggets are among the top three teams bet on in terms of numbers of tickets and amount of money wagered.The Celtics landed Jrue Holiday and traded for Kristaps Porzingis, and Milwaukee traded for Damian Lillard.“It’ll be interesting to see how both teams gel early on,” said David Lieberman, who handles NBA betting for Caesars. “But both of them ever since that Lillard trade are probably the two most popular futures. The hype is strong for both teams.”Boston has had the team to win it all recently, but fell in...

70s stretch on tap

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

Good morning! Grab the jacket for this morning, but you won’t need it by this afternoon. Temperatures are running 5 to 15 (!!) degrees warmer than this time yesterday. Although don’t let that fool you, it’s still cool out there with temperatures in the 40s and 50s.We’ll have bright sunshine this morning with increasing cloud cover through the day. Expect more mid and high level clouds this afternoon. That won’t stop temperatures from climbing as a southwest breeze is pulling in warmer air. Highs will be in a range of the upper 60s/low 70s. More of a southwest breeze will keep temperatures in the 60s across Cape Cod and the Islands. These temperatures as you’d expect are above average for this time of year! Boston’s average high temperature today is 59. We’ll still stay away from the record high of 80.Overnight, we’ll hold on to cloud cover and it won’t be as cool tomorrow morning. We’ll start tomorrow off in the 50s...

City of Orlando buys Pulse nightclub property to build memorial to massacre victims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The city of Orlando is moving forward with plans to create a memorial on the property of the Pulse nightclub, where 49 people were massacred seven years ago.City leaders agreed Monday night to purchase the property for $2 million. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said they plan a collaborative approach, working with families of the victims to create the memorial.On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen opened fire in the gay nightclub, killing 49 and wounding another 53 people. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But that number was surpassed the following year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 were injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas.A SWAT team killed Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, following a standoff. Plans to build the memorial had been in the works for years, but the nonprofit onePulse Foundation announced earlier this year that it was scaling back plans for a $100...

Five years later, pot producers are growing flowers and veggies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, the promise of untold millions once puffed up the legal cannabis industry to unimaginable highs. Then blunt reality set in. Now, with dreams of fortunes going up in smoke, some producers are entering joint ventures into other industries, hoping to find ways to keep business rolling.Meanwhile, the government’s long-awaited review of the Cannabis Act is still pending, and everyone with money still invested in the industry is hoping the grass will be greener on the other side of that process.Tara Deschamps is reporter with The Canadian Press. “I think the main reason why it’s so far off what they imagined is because we’ve seen so much regulation. We’ve seen the illicit industry still be quite strong. So it’s been difficult for companies to get to sort of where they dreamed,” said Deschamps.Is there still upside in the weed business? Or does the industry have too many chronic problems?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast ...

Russian drone debris downed power lines near a Ukraine nuclear plant. A new winter barrage is likely

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:25 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired 11 Shahed drones against Ukrainian targets, reaching deep into Ukraine while falling debris damaged power lines near a nuclear power plant in the country’s west, officials said Wednesday. Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted all the overnight drones.For the fourth day in a row, the Kremlin’s forces took aim at the Ukrainian region of Khmelnytskyi, injuring 16 people, according to local authorities.Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy Infrastructure said falling drone wreckage in Khmelnytskyi broke windows in the administrative building and the laboratory of the local nuclear plant and knocked out electricity to more than 1,800 customers. The plant is about 200 kilometers (120 miles) east of the border with Poland.Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s air defenses are preparing for another winter of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure as the war enters its 21st month.But Kyiv also plans to take the fight to Russia throu...