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German court convicts, fines Jesuit priest over climate protest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A German court on Tuesday convicted a Jesuit priest of coercion in connection with a climate protest last year and ordered him to pay a small fine.The district court in Munich handed down its verdict in the case of the Rev. Joerg Alt after he participated in a road blockade in the Bavarian capital on Oct. 28. Also appearing in the proceedings were Cornelia Huth, a biologist and member of the group Scientist Rebellion, and Luca Thomas, a student.The court convicted all three of coercion and imposed fines in line with their income. In Alt’s case, that was a 10-euro ($10.85) fine; the court said the other two defendants’ fines added up to a “low to mid-three-digit” sum.Numerous similar protests have taken place across Germany and other countries recently as climate activists try to draw attention to the urgency of tackling global warming. The public and political response to such road blockades has been mixed. So far, most courts have acquitted the protesters ...

US senate takes aim at DC police reform bill that would ban chokeholds, increase bodycam footage access

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

D.C.’s police reform measures that aim to increase accountability could be blocked in the Senate as early as Tuesday.Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance introduced the disapproval resolution last week. It is the companion to the resolution passed by the House on Apr. 19.“It’s a disgrace that the capital of the most powerful nation on earth has become so dangerous, but this sad reality is exactly what we should expect when far-left activists are calling the shots,” Vance wrote in a statement. “For the good of every American who lives in or visits this town, I urge my colleagues to support my disapproval motion.”He and other Republicans point to staggering crimes rates, specifically homicides which are up 7% over the same time last year and carjackings, which have seen a 114% rise since last year, according to recent D.C. police data.The Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 was passed by the D.C. council in December. On Jan. 19, it was submitted for co...

Atención: retiran del mercado casi 220,000 Jeep Cherokee por riesgo de incendio

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

DETROIT— Stellantis les está diciendo a los propietarios de casi 220,000 SUV Jeep Cherokee en todo el mundo que los estacionen al aire libre y lejos de otros vehículos porque las puertas traseras eléctricas pueden incendiarse incluso cuando los motores están apagados.La compañía está retirando ciertos Cherokees de los años modelo 2014 a 2016. Puede entrar agua en la computadora de control de la compuerta levadiza, causando un corto eléctrico que puede provocar un incendio.La compañía dice que aún no ha desarrollado una solución. Los propietarios recibirán cartas de notificación a partir del 30 de junio. Stellantis dice que el problema se detectó en una revisión de rutina de los datos del cliente.No está claro cuántos de los pequeños SUV se han incendiado. Stellantis dice en documentos publicados el martes por la Administración Nacional de Seguridad del Tráfico en Carreteras de EEUU que tiene 50 registros de asistencia al cliente, 23 reclamos de garantía y 21 informes de campo debido...

CoStar commits $18M to new VCU arts and innovation building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

D.C.-based commercial real estate analytics company CoStar Group has committed $18 million to the construction of a new Center for Arts and Innovation Academic Building for Virginia Commonwealth University. (Courtesy Virginia Commonwealth University)D.C.-based commercial real estate analytics company CoStar Group has committed $18 million to the construction of a new Center for Arts and Innovation Academic Building for Virginia Commonwealth University.The building would be named the CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation, if approved by the school.The planned 213,000-square-foot building will be built on a one-acre site at the intersection of Richmond’s Broad and Belvidere Streets. The building will have flexible classroom spaces and performance venues. It is expected to be home to opera, quantum computing, integrating studies in engineering, cinema, theater, immersive media technology, gaming and more.Groundbreaking for the project, now an estimated $253 million undertaking, i...

For Panthers coach Paul Maurice, this Florida run is no everyday fish story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Paul Maurice never considered himself retired. He was good.Here’s what that means: When Maurice stepped down as coach of the Winnipeg Jets in December 2021, it wasn’t clear if he would take another job. Some teams called. He’d listen. He’d then hang up the phone still convinced that his time would be better spent continuing to fish for walleye on Lake of the Woods, where he has a little spot.And then the Florida Panthers called.“Pardon the pun,” Maurice said. “I was hooked.”This is no wild fisherman’s tale anymore. The Panthers are in the NHL’s final four for the first time in 27 years, set to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final starting Thursday. They’re eight wins away from their first Stanley Cup. So is their coach, someone with the sixth-most regular season wins in NHL history but who has yet to hoist the grandest silver chalice in all of sports over his head.“I think he’s got a phenomenal feel for what we have in our ...

Illinois girl found safe in North Carolina nearly 6 years after being allegedly kidnapped by her mother

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSVN) – A nine-year-old girl was found safe in North Carolina, nearly 6 years after she was allegedly kidnapped by her mother in Illinois. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said Kayla Unbehaun was “abducted by her non-custodial mother, Heather Unbehaun from South Elgin, Illinois on July 5, 2017.” Heather Unbehaun (Courtesy NCMEC)On May 13, the Asheville Police Department responded to a business located at 26 Westgate Parkway in Asheville, North Carolina to a report of a kidnapping. Police said a witness believed she had recognized a woman who kidnapped a child in 2017. APD was able to confirm the identity of Heather and Kayla with the South Elgin Police Department. Kayla’s father, Ryan, said he was “overjoyed that Kayla is home safe,” and thanked those who helped share her story.“I want to thank the South Elgin Police Department, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and all of the l...

Man arrested after stealing K-9 police cruiser in Winter Haven

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (WSVN) — A man was arrested in Winter Haven, a city east of Lakeland after he stole a police cruiser with a K-9 inside.Police said the ordeal occurred on Saturday night after 20-year-old Menylek Jarrett threw a rock at the door of Amscot Financial. When officers showed up to investigate, Jarrett ran to one of the cruisers that still had the ignition on but was locked. He busted through the driver’s side window, jumped in, and took off.Then the situation turned chaotic when he took the cruiser and crashed into other cars.As he drove recklessly through a busy intersection and slammed into other cars along the way, Logan the police K-9 was stuck in the back.Officers eventually caught up with Jarrett when they tased him and then took him into custody. The cruiser was left with significant damage, while the K-9 was not hurt.As for the suspect, he was arrested and charged with business burglary, reckless driving and tampering with a police K-9.

Trapper says 12-foot alligator captured after attacking dog in Oviedo was not biggest he encountered

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

OVIEDO, Fla. (WSVN) — A dog was attacked by a 12-foot-long alligator in the Econ River Wilderness Area in Oviedo, a city northeast of Orlando, but trappers said it was not even the biggest they have encountered in the area.Alligator trapper Jerry Flynn said the econ, short for Econlockhatchee River, seemed to hold many massive gators as he tracked another large one before. His nephew, who works for him, was the one who took down the nuisance gator.“It seems like the Econ does hold a lot of alligators,” said Flynn. “A lot of them are in the neighborhoods and when the retention ponds get low or hot, then they tend to go back into the Econ. So, we stay kind of busy.”As the giant reptile lurked when a couple was walking their dog, the alligator targeted its prey and snatched the canine. Flynn said the gator could have easily taken down a human.“We knew that it was a dangerous alligator, a very large alligator,” said Flynn.In a situation like thi...

EU on Chinese spy balloons: Nothing to see (up) here

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

Ninety-nine spy balloons, but none over Europe.EU countries did not flag the presence of any Chinese spy balloons to the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch has told the European Parliament. “Air surveillance and in particular military air surveillance, does not fall under EU competence and is a matter of national competence of each individual member state,” Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean said in a written reply to Renew Europe MEP Engin Eroglu dated Tuesday. “The EU has not been informed by any member state of the detection of a Chinese surveillance balloon over its territory,” she added. In February, the U.S. shot down what it identified as a Chinese surveillance balloon, heightening tensions between Washington and Beijing. After the incident, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a visit to China. At the time, EU institutions acknowledged the U.S.’s right to defend its airspace, and Estonia was one of the few European...

Ukraine Supreme Court chief held in corruption probe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:40:00 GMT

The head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court has been detained as part of a $2.7 million bribery inquiry, anti-corruption authorities said Tuesday.Supreme Court President Vsevolod Kniaziev and an unnamed lawyer were detained as part of the investigation, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said in a statement.The lawyer is suspected of acting as an intermediary on behalf of a billionaire Ukrainian iron oligarch, Kostyantyn Zhevago. Zhevago is accused of bribing officials, including Supreme Court justices, with “about $2.7 million” to influence a ruling in favor of one of his companies, the Finance and Credit group, the statement said.“This is the biggest-ever case” involving the Ukrainian judiciary, the head of NABU, Semen Kryvonos, said at a press conference in Kyiv, AFP reported.Several high-level Ukrainian officials have been linked to corruption cases over the last few months as Kyiv attempts to crack down on graft to comply with the EU&#...