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Russia to seize energy assets from ‘unfriendly’ European countries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed decrees granting his government power to confiscate and forcibly sell off billions of dollars worth of assets belonging to European energy firms to new state-approved owners.In a decree published Wednesday, the Kremlin mandated the creation of new Russian-run companies to take over shares in the colossal Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field, currently owned by Austria’s OMV and Germany’s Wintershall. The two European energy giants, both from countries that Moscow claims are “unfriendly” in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, together hold a 60 percent stake in the drilling site in Russia’s icy far north.While the companies will theoretically be compensated for their investment, the amount they receive from the sale will be determined by the Russian state, in a move that marks the biggest asset seizure in the country’s recent history.Earlier this year, the Kremlin laid out a legal framework for t...

Cambridge man pleads guilty in 2000 rape case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

A Cambridge man is facing prison after pleading guilty to three counts of rape.Roger Reddick Jr., 41, admitted to sexually assaulting a then 13-year-old girl when he broke into a stranger’s home in Cambridge.Officials said Reddick Jr. allegedly snuck into the child’s room early in the morning of Oct. 18, 2000, covering her mouth with his hand and sexually assaulting her. Officials said Reddick then ran out of the house.The DA’s office said police gathered evidence including boxer shorts left at the scene.Years later, the DA’s office said new DNA testing on the boxer shorts helped lead to a break in the case.“In 2022, our cold case unit began looking at this case and working with the crime laboratory,” District Attorney Marian Ryan said in March, after Reddick was charged. “As a result of advances in technology, that profile that had been obtained from the shorts was able to be uploaded and a match to Mr. Reddick as the source of the major profile on those shorts was made.̶...

Winthrop Police see uptick in checks stolen from mailboxes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

Winthrop Police are warning residents to be extra cautious when sending checks by mail.Authorities said they’ve seen an increase in people stealing checks from the mail; thieves then alter the checks and use them fraudulently. According to Winthrop Police they’ve received six reports recently involving checks dropped in blue mail boxes around Hermon and Centre Streets and outside the post office on Michael’s Mall. The United States Postal Service says there are a few tactics individuals can use to help prevent this happening to them, including using only black gel pens when writing checks, because this ink is more difficult to remove than others, dropping off pieces of mail with checks inside the post office, shredding or burning cancelled checks rather than just throwing them away, and checking bank statements often, as some banks will only reimburse funds if the fraud is reported within 30 days.

Boston mayor to apologize for city’s action, wrongful arrests, in 1989 Stuart murder case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is set to issue an apology to two men over the city’s actions during a decades-old murder case that fueled racial tensions in the city.Alan Swanson and Willie Bennett were wrongfully arrested for the 1989 murder of Carol Stuart, who was shot and killed by her husband Charles in Mission Hill in 1989.At the time, Charles Stuart lied to police and said a black man killed his wife.The false accusation led to the wrongful arrests and Wu says it resulted in racial harassment in the neighborhood by city officials and Boston Police.“This dark time in the City’s history exacerbated distrust between Boston’s Black community and the Boston Police Department,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. “Acknowledging this painful moment and apologizing for the City’s wrongdoing is an effort to aid in the healing of those still living with this trauma and our City as a whole.”The case and its aftermath are the subject of the new HBO docus...

Massachusetts Senate to review bill stripping Boston City Council of grant approval authority

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

An “embarrassing” vote by the Boston City Council has led to movement on Beacon Hill, where a bill that would strip the body of its authority to approve public safety grants was referred to a legislative committee for review.State Sen. Nick Collins, a Democrat from South Boston, introduced the bill at an informal Senate session Monday, saying that he filed for a change in state law, after the Boston City Council voted, 6-6, last week to block a $13.3 million counter-terrorism grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.The vote was slammed by outgoing City Councilor Michael Flaherty, who described the Council’s action as “nonsensical and embarrassing.”Funding in the grant would go to not only Boston, but surrounding communities including Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Revere, Somerville and Winthrop, which are all part of what’s known as the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, according to the feds.The legislation was co-sponsored by state Sen. Ryan...

Howie Carr: Paying the price for the blind privilege of Dems

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

“Blinded by privilege.”That sums up the attitude of most of the Beautiful People embroiled in the recent deluge of scandals involving entitled Democrats, members of assorted protected classes who feel they can never be held accountable for anything they do.“Blinded by privilege.”I came across the phrase last week when I was reading up on an earlier antisemite who preceded “Dr.” Claudine Gray as president of Harvard University — A. Lawrence Lowell.Like Gay, the Boston blue-blood Lowell presided over a virulently racist admissions policy, the only difference being that Lowell’s apartheid regime was never struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, as Gay’s was earlier this year.In 1916, Lowell of course objected to the appointment of Louis Brandeis, a Jew, to the Supreme Court. In a private letter after his confirmation, Brandeis wrote a friend that he thought Lowell wasn’t so much an antisemite as that he was “blinded by privilege… (someone) whose environment or innate narrowness have obs...

Car thieves crash stolen pickup truck on Hwy. 401 ramp after being chased by owner: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

Police are searching for suspects after a crash involving a stolen vehicle on a Highway 401 on-ramp in Toronto.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers responded to a collision on the northbound ramp from Victoria Park Avenue to the eastbound 401 around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.Police tell CityNews the owner of a Dodge Ram pickup truck witnessed suspects stealing their vehicle. The owner got into another vehicle and followed the stolen truck until it crashed on the ramp.Police allege the car thieves got out of the truck after the crash and fled on foot.No suspect information has been made available. The owner was not able to see how many suspects ran away, according to police.The pickup truck has been towed away for forensic examination.The northbound Victoria Park to the eastbound 401 remains closed for the investigation.With files from Carl Hanstke

Ethiopia and Egypt say no agreement in latest talks over a contentious dam on the Nile

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia and Egypt said the latest round of talks over a highly contentious hydroelectric dam Ethiopia has built on the Nile’s main tributary again ended with no deal.Both countries blamed each other after three days of discussions in Addis Ababa concluded on Tuesday.Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said the talks were unsuccessful due to Ethiopia’s “persistent refusal” to accept any compromise. The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry accused Egypt of putting up “roadblocks” in the discussions that prevented any consensus.Sudan was also a part of the negotiations.The countries have been trying to find an agreement for years over the $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011. The dam is on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border and Egypt fears it will have a devastating effect on its water and irrigation supply downstream unless Ethiopia takes its needs into account.The Blue Nile meets the Wh...

Former Chelsea owner Abramovich loses legal action against EU sanctions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich lost in his legal attempt to overturn sanctions slapped by the European Union for his role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with an EU court dismissing his claim Wednesday.Abramovich had filed a lawsuit at the EU’s general court against the European Union Council, which imposed punishment on the 57-year-old oligarch in 2022 as part of measures targeting Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s close allies. “The General Court dismisses the action brought by Mr Abramovich, thereby upholding the restrictive measures taken against him,” the court said Wednesday. “The Council did not in fact err in its assessment by deciding to include then maintain Mr Abramovich’s name on the lists at issue, in the light of his role in the Evraz group and, in particular, its parent company.”When it sanctioned Abramovich, the 27-nation bloc said he “had privileged access” to Putin and “maintained very good relations with him,” allowing the tycoon ...

In Milwaukee, Biden looks to highlight progress for Black-owned small businesses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is aiming to use a visit to the battleground state of Wisconsin on Wednesday to spotlight a surge in federal government support for Black-owned small businesses during his White House tenure and to highlight his administration’s efforts to ramp up investment in distressed communities.The Small Business Administration in the last fiscal year backed 4,700 loans valued at $1.5 billion to Black-owned businesses. Under Biden, the SBA says it has more than doubled the number and total dollar amount of loans to Black-owned small businesses.Since 2020, the share of the SBA’s loans going to minority-owned businesses has increased from 23% to over 32%. Joelle Gamble, deputy director of the White House National Economic Council, said the president’s visit to the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce will give Biden a chance to show “how Bidenomics is driving a Black small business boom.”Wisconsin was among the most competitive states in Bid...