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Catalan amnesty law ‘in line’ with EU values, Spain’s justice minister says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

BRUSSELS — The Spanish government plans to use a contested law granting amnesty to Catalan separatists to quell the independence conflict, Justice and Presidency Minister Félix Bolaños told POLITICO.“If in Brussels the feeling is that the Catalan issue had almost been forgotten, it is precisely thanks to the policies of the government of [Prime Minister] Pedro Sánchez … to tackle with politics, with dialogue, with courage the issue,” Bolaños said in an interview with Brussels Playbook during a trip to Brussels last week.Now, Bolaños added, “we want to take the definitive step for this new stage in Catalonia.”In November, Sánchez’s Socialist Party filed a bill granting blanket amnesty to all those who have been prosecuted for their involvement with the pro-Catalan independence movement since 2012. This was part of a deal to form a minority coalition government with the far-left alliance Sumar and the backing of the Junts Catalan separatist party.The agreement with Junts put an end to...

The Qatargate Files: Inside the police interrogations 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

Denial, grief, acceptance:Inside the Qatargate police interrogations  In the dramatic first few hours after they were arrested, the EU corruption suspects tried to explain themselves to police. Here’s what they said.By GIAN VOLPICELLI, EDDY WAX and ELISA BRAUN in BrusselsOn December 9 last year, the weather in Brussels turned freezing. As a blanket of icy fog engulfed the city, police began a series of raids, rounding up key suspects in a corruption scandal that would rock the European Union to its core.The suspects, who included the Parliament’s glamorous vice-president, Eva Kaili, were interrogated in custody in the hours and days that followed. Later, some received preliminary charges of membership of a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering. A cache of police documents, seen by POLITICO, includes transcripts of the initial police interviews with four of the individuals suspected of being at the center of the case known as Qatargate: Pier Antonio P...

‘Leaning tower’ in Italy on ‘high alert’ for collapse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

(CNN) — It’s the ‘leaning tower’ that has stood tipsily – but steadily – for nearly 1,000 years. But now, the days of the Garisenda tower in Bologna, Italy, could be numbered. Following investigations last month, the city is instigating a civil protection plan for the “sudden and unexpected collapse of the tower,” which has dominated the Bologna skyline since the 12th century.A protective metal cordon will be erected to “contain debris resulting from a possible collapse, to reduce the vulnerability of surrounding buildings and the exposure to the population, as well as blocking access to the off-limits area,” the city council said in a statement.The cordon will be fixed into the ground, and will include specially designed rockfall protection nets, also made of metal and also anchored to the ground.The warning of a possible collapse was issued in a 27-page report, shared with CNN, by the scientific committee which has monitored the site since 2019.It puts the site on “high ...

Former Harvard disinformation scholar says she was pushed out of her job after college faced pressure from Facebook

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

(CNN) — A nationally recognized online disinformation researcher has accused Harvard University of shutting the project she led to protect its relationship with mega-donor and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.The allegations, made by Dr. Joan Donovan, raise questions about the influence the tech giant might have over seemingly independent research. Facebook’s parent company Meta has long sought to defend itself against research that implicates it in harming society: from the proliferation of election disinformation to creating addictive habits in children.Beginning in 2018, Dr. Donovan worked for the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and ran its Technology and Social Change Research Project, where she led studies of media manipulation campaigns. But last year Harvard informed Dr. Donovan it was shutting the project down, Donovan claims.In a disclosure sent l...

One arrested in connection with early morning Roxbury shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

Boston Police responded to a shooting on Clifford Street in Roxbury Monday morning.Just before 4 a.m. officers received notice of a ShotSpotter activation for six rounds in the area.Upon arrival, officers located one adult male suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds. That individual was transported to a local hospital.Police located a suspect in connection to the shooting who was taken into custody.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Bill Belichick leaves door open for Matthew Judon’s return to Patriots practice

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

The Patriots’ already dominant defense could be getting one more boost over the final stretch of the season.Head coach Bill Belichick was asked Monday morning if Pro Bowl outside linebacker Matthew Judon could return to practice before the end of the season. Belichick didn’t shoot it down.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots defender sounds off on offense, losing streak: ‘It’s f—ing frustrating’ New England Patriots | Callahan: How much worse can the boring Patriots get? New England Patriots | Source: Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson to undergo MRI to confirm ankle sprain New England Patriots | Bailey Zappe not ensured Week 14 start after Patriots’ continued offensive struggles? New England Patriots | Patriots never turn to Malik Cunningham after practice squad elevation “We’ll see. That’s a good question,” Belichick said in a video co...

China’s Xi welcomes President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus to Beijing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke of a “strengthened political mutual trust and international coordination” with Belarus after he met with the European country’s president in Beijing, according to official media. China has sought to make Belarus a core member of its “Belt and Road Initiative” to build infrastructure with nations from Malaysia to Greece. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has become increasingly isolated following a crackdown on political opponents and his support for ally Russia in its war on Ukraine.But the heavily state-controlled economy of Belarus has dimmed possibilities for major economic cooperation with China. China “opposes external interference in Belarus’ internal affairs,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency as saying, a reflection of China’s unofficial alliance with authoritarian states from Cuba to Russia in opposition to the U.S.-led liberal democratic global order.Xinhua said Xi and Lukashenko “also ex...

Gore blasts COP28 climate chief and oil companies’ emissions pledges at UN summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Don’t trust the oil and gas industry to report their actual carbon pollution, said former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who added that the man leading the United Nations climate talks runs one of the “dirtiest” oil companies out there.“They’re much better at capturing politicians than they are at capturing emissions,” Gore told The Associated Press in a sit-down interview.The Nobel Prize-winning climate activist, author and filmmaker blasted Sultan al-Jaber, the president of the United Nations climate talks, who is also president of the national oil company of the host nation, United Arab Emirates. Gore said al-Jaber’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is “one of the largest and one of the dirtiest, by many measures, oil companies in the world.”Gore can make these claims because he just released a massive update of the Climate TRACE database of emissions that he helped create. It tracks carbon pollution from every nation and city across the globe with 352 ...

Filmmaker Charles Officer, chronicler of Black Canadian life, dies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

Toronto-born filmmaker Charles Officer, whose portraits of Black Canadian life earned him numerous accolades over the last two decades, has died, according to multiple media reports.The Globe and Mail first reported his death on Sunday.The Toronto International Film Festival remembered Officer as a significant Canadian talent, while the National Film Board said it was grieving his loss.Officer’s 2008 debut feature, “Nurse.Fighter.Boy,” premiered at TIFF and was nominated for 10 Genie Awards, the precursor to the Canadian Screen Awards.He went on to direct numerous features and documentaries that centred Black stories, including 2020’s “Akilla’s Escape.”Most recently, he won a Canadian Screen Award for best director on a drama series for the pilot episode of “The Porter,” the critically acclaimed CBC/BET Plus series.Fellow director and film school classmate Sarah Polley said in an Instagram post that Officer made masterpieces.R...

Woman seriously injured in Scarborough stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:33:34 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a suspect following a stabbing in the city’s east end that left a woman in her 30s with serious injuries.Officers responded to the area of Eglinton Avenue East and McCowan Road just after 7 a.m. on Monday.Police say a woman was stabbed during an altercation.Paramedics transported the woman to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.Investigators have not released a description of a suspect at this time.No further details were immediately available.STABBING:Mc Cowan Rd & Trudelle St7:05 am– one person stabbed after altercation– police o/s investigating– woman has been transported to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries– anyone with info, contact police#GO2789463^sc— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) December 4, 2023