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Swiss LGBTQ+ rights groups hail 60-day sentence for polemicist who called journalist a ‘fat lesbian’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — LGBTQ+ groups hailed the 60-day jail sentence a court in Switzerland gave to a writer and commentator for deriding a journalist as a “fat lesbian” and other critical remarks.The Laussane court sentenced French-Swiss polemicist Alain Bonnet, who goes by Alain Soral, for the crimes of defamation, discrimination and incitement to hatred on Monday. He was ordered to pay legal fees and fines totaling thousands of Swiss francs (dollars) in addition to the time behind bars. Soral lashed out at Catherine Macherel, a journalist for Swiss newspapers Tribune de Geneve and 24 Heures, in a Facebook video two years ago. He called her a “fat lesbian” and said Macherel’s work as a “queer activist” meant she was “unhinged,” according to Swiss public broadcaster RTS. “This court decision is an important moment for justice and rights of LGBTQI people in Switzerland,” Murial Waeger, co-director of the lesbian activist group LOS, said in a statement. “The conviction of Al...

A deal to expedite grain exports has been reached between Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania have agreed on a plan they hope will help expedite Ukrainian grain exports, officials said Tuesday, with needy countries beyond Europe potentially benefitting from speedier procedures.The deal means that grain inspections will shift from the Ukraine-Poland border to a Lithuanian port on the Baltic Sea, according to a statement from the Ukrainian farm ministry.The move seeks to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian exports through Polish territory, the statement said, without providing further details.From the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda, where the inspections for pests and plant diseases will take place from Wednesday, the grain can be exported by sea around the world.While the stated goal is to hasten Ukrainian grain exports, the agreement may also help defuse tensions over grain prices between Ukraine and Poland a time when some international support for Kyiv’s efforts to throw back Russia’s invasion may be fraying.Agric...

UK court says the government’s routine housing of unaccompanied child migrants in hotels is unlawful

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government acted unlawfully when it routinely housed newly arrived unaccompanied child asylum seekers in hotels, the High Court ruled on Thursday. A child protection charity brought legal action against Britain’s Home Office and local authorities in Kent, on England’s southern coast, over their treatment of unaccompanied migrant children, saying the temporary housing arrangements deny the youngsters the statutory child protection safeguards to which they are entitled. Justice Martin Chamberlain ruled that authorities breached legal duties of care owed to all children who require looking after, irrespective of their immigration status. “Ensuring the safety and welfare of children with no adult to look after them is among the most fundamental duties of any civilized state,” the judge said. Every Child Protected Against Trafficking, the charity that brought the lawsuit, said hundreds of children who arrived alone had gone missing, with ma...

Stock market today: Unrelenting rise in Treasury yields drags Wall Street lower

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

BANGKOK — Wall Street turned lower early Tuesday as pressure from rising bond yields continued to undercut stocks.Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.5% before the bell Tuesday, while the Dow Jones industrials dipped 0.4%.After a sizzling first half of 2023, stocks have shed about 40% of their gains since the end of July amid growing acceptance that interest rates will remain elevated for longer than previously thought as the Federal Reserve tries to trim inflation to its 2% target.That in turn has pushed Treasury yields to their highest levels in more than 16 years.The yield on the 10-year Treasury continued its ascent early Tuesday, climbing to 4.74% from 4.69% late Monday. It’s near its highest level since 2007. High yields send investors toward bonds that are paying much more than in the past, which pulls dollars away from stocks and undercuts their prices. The yield on the 2-year Treasury inched up to 5.12% from 5.11% late Monday. Any relief rally from a compromise spendin...

Police say suspect slapped and threw rocks at someone in downtown Toronto

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

Police are looking for a man who they say assaulted someone in downtown Toronto over the weekend.Officers were called to the area of Yonge and Dundas streets around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday for reports of an assault.It is alleged a suspect threatened someone and then threw rocks at them. The suspect then allegedly went on to slap the victim before running from the area.Police have identified the suspect as 20-year-old Tibor Orgona of Toronto. He is wanted for uttering threats, assault and assault with a weapon.Anyone with information is asked to contact Toronto police.

A government shutdown in Nigeria has been averted after unions suspended a labor strike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian government workers on Tuesday continued working after last-minute efforts by authorities averted a nationwide strike to protest growing hardship that could have shut down government services in Africa’s most populous country.The indefinite strike by Nigerian labor unions scheduled to start Tuesday is being suspended for 30 days, while meetings and talks with the government will be held over the coming days, said Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, or NLC, which is the umbrella body of the unions.A joint statement issued late Monday by senior government officials and the leadership of the labor unions noted several resolutions including a monthly wage increase of 35,000 naira ($46) for all workers, payment of 25,000 naira ($33) for three months to 15 million vulnerable households as well as the provision of 100 billion naira (nearly $130 million) for gas-powered buses to be rolled out for mass transit in Nigeria starting from Nov...

Juvenile shoots, injures 2 children following altercation at Pop Warner football practice in Florida

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

APOPKA, Fla. (AP) — A juvenile retrieved a gun from a vehicle and shot two other young people following an altercation that began during a Pop Warner football practice in central Florida, police said.The juvenile fired one shot on Monday night, hitting one child in the arm and the other in the torso, Apopka police Chief Mike McKinley said during a news conference.The shooting happened about 8:20 p.m. and officers arrived at the scene about four minutes later, McKinley said.They took the gun from the juvenile, and he was detained. The ages of the shooter and the victims was not released. The injured children were taken to a hospital for treatment and were both in stable condition on Monday night, he said.“It’s unbelievable that young kids, out here to play football and have a good time, would get into an altercation,” McKinley said. “Plenty of adults around. In my day, we would have run and talked to our parents about it and let our parents handle it.”McKinley did not say what the al...

India tells Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country, official says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

India has told Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country, an official familiar with the matter said Tuesday, ramping up a confrontation between the two countries over Canadian accusations that India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver.The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly ahead of public reaction from the Canadian government later Tuesday. The official confirmed an earlier report from the Financial Times.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood up in Parliament two weeks ago and said there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a 45-year-old Sikh leader who was killed by masked gunmen in June in Surrey, outside Vancouver. For years, India has said Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, has links to terrorism, an allegation Nijjar denied.RELATED: India suspends visa services in Canada, rift widens between countriesArran...

Driver killed in Park Ridge car crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

PARK RIDGE, Ill. — A person was killed in a crash in Park Ridge early Tuesday morning.The accident happened around 2:38 a.m. on the 1000 block of Oakton Street. Police said one person was killed and there were no other occupants inside the vehicle at the time.The victim's identity has not yet been released.According to police, Oakton Street will be closed between Greenwod and Cumberland for several hours Tuesday morning. 2 injured after crash involving bicyclist along Lake Shore Drive The fatal crash is under investigation. No further details have been provided.

Donald Trump returning to court as fraud trial gets down to business after fiery first day

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — After a fiery first day of opening statements, lawyers in Donald Trump's business fraud trial in New York will move on Tuesday to the more plodding task of going through years of his financial documents in what's expected to be a weekslong fight over whether they constitute proof of fraud.An accountant who prepared Trump’s financial statements for years is expected to be back on the witness stand for a second day.Trump, who spent a full day Monday as an angry spectator at the civil trial, said he'll be back at the defense table.“See you in Court on Tuesday morning!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.The trial is the culmination of a lawsuit in which New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has accused the Republican former president of deceiving banks, insurers and others for years by giving them papers that misstated the value of his assets.Judge Arthur Engoron delivered an early victory to James last week, ruling that Trump committed fraud by ex...