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Meloni sues rock star who called her ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken legal action against Brian Molko from the British band Placebo, after the singer insulted her during a concert near Turin last month.While performing at the Sonic Park music festival on July 11, Molko launched into a rant against Meloni, Italy’s right-wing leader. Shouting in Italian from the stage in front of a 5,000-strong audience, Molko called Meloni a “racist,” a “piece of shit,” and a “fascist,” an outburst that ended up with the local authorities reporting him to prosecutors.Following the incident, prosecutors in Turin officially opened an investigation into Molko for “contempt of the institutions.”Italian news outlets reported Wednesday that Meloni’s lawyers have now taken legal action against the singer, filing a lawsuit for defamation.This is not the first time Meloni has filed a defamation lawsuit. Last year, she took two journalists from Italian newspaper Domani to court over the use of a specific term in an article.

Writers union and Hollywood will resume talks, aiming to end the strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

New York (CNN) — Hollywood studios on Tuesday asked the Writers Guild back to the negotiating table in the first known talks since the nearly 100-day strike brought production of most television shows and movies to a halt.The meeting, sought by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and scheduled for Friday, is the first potential sign of a thaw between the two sides and could offer a glimmer of hope for an end to the work stoppage. The Writers Guild represents more than 11,000 writers.It was not known if the studios had also reached out to SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 actors who also went on strike last month, with a similar request. Neither SAG-AFTRA nor AMPTP immediately responded to a request for comment early Wednesday.A settlement would need to be reached with both sides before most movie and television production. Late night television shows stopped airing new episodes with the start of the writers strike...

Column: After the trade deadline, Cubs are going for it — while White Sox are holding auditions for 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

Major League Baseball’s trade deadline ended at 5 p.m. Tuesday with the Chicago Cubs and White Sox going in opposite directions.One man’s white flag is another man’s white pocket square. The Cubs went from potential sellers to buyers with a late-July push to the .500 mark, while the Sox unofficially ended their much-heralded window of contention by becoming sellers.We won’t know for a few months whether the Sox’s decision to unload several pitchers and slugger Jake Burger while keeping Tim Anderson and Dylan Cease was a good sign for ’24, or whether the Cubs’ decision to keep Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman and acquire Jeimer Candelario while designating Trey Mancini for assignment means they’re playoff worthy in ’23.But after a couple of months of speculation, fueled by two underachieving teams trying to contend in bad divisions, the Cubs and Sox can now go back to their regularly scheduled seasons, already in progress.Cubs Pr...

Stock market today: Wall Street points lower after Fitch downgrades US government’s credit rating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street was poised to open lower Wednesday after the United States government’s credit rating was cut for just the second time in history.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials slipped 0.3% before the bell and futures for the S&P 500 tumbled 0.5%.Investor optimism was hurt by Fitch Ratings downgrading the U.S. government’s credit rating, citing rising debt at the federal, state, and local levels. The rating was cut Tuesday one notch to AA+ from AAA, the highest possible rating. In 2011, the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s stripped the U.S. of its prize AAA rating. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the move by Fitch was based on outdated data, noting the U.S. economy has rapidly recovered from the pandemic recession.“Some negativity was permeating across Asian equity markets mid-week thanks to Fitch downgrade news. While not a game-changer, news that Fitch downgraded the U.S. credit rating by a notch was enough to put risk appetite on the back foot, as evidence...

Nervous NATO’s nations are beefing up security due to Wagner fighters across borders in Belarus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO allies located along the alliance’s eastern front are growing increasingly worried about the presence of Russia-linked Wagner group mercenaries in Belarus, where some have been deployed since a short-lived mutiny in Russia in June.Poland, Lithuania and Latvia — members of NATO and the European Union which border Belarus — had already been on alert since large numbers of migrants and refugees began arriving at their borders from Belarus two years ago. They have accused Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russia, of opening the migration route in an act of “hybrid warfare” aimed at creating instability in the West.Now concerns have grown further since the Wagner troops began arriving in Belarus after their short-lived mutiny in Russia.Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said on the weekend that some 100 Wagner fighters in Belarus had approached the border with Poland, specifically a strategically sensitive area known as the Suwalki...

Astros’ Framber Valdez throws no-hitter vs Guardians on 93 pitches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez was determined to improve this month after a subpar July where he posted a 7.29 ERA.On the first day of August he certainly did that. Valdez threw the 16th no-hitter in Houston Astros history in a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night.“The last couple of games I just wasn’t as focused as I could have been and I’ll be the first to admit that,” Valdez said in Spanish through a translator. “But today I just came very focused, very positive and just ready to leave it all out on the field.”Hours after the Astros reacquired ace Justin Verlander from the New York Mets, Valdez allowed just one baserunner on a walk in the fifth inning, but still faced the minimum thanks to a double play in that frame. He threw 93 pitches, with 65 strikes. “It’s a wonderful day,” manager Dusty Baker said. “(Valdez) started out with a bang. He had his breaking ball from the very beginning … and you could tell he was on and he stayed on.” Gabriel Arias gro...

Russian drone strikes hit Ukrainian port on Romania border that is key to grain exports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones on Wednesday hit a Ukrainian port city along the border with NATO member Romania, causing significant damage and a huge fire at facilities that are key to Ukrainian grain exports following the end of a deal with Russia that allowed Ukrainian shipments to world markets.Since leaving the deal that allowed Ukraine to export through the city of Odesa, Russia has hammered the country’s ports with strikes. In the past two weeks, dozens of drones and missile attacks have targeted the port of Odesa and the region’s river ports, which are being used as alternative routes.The head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, said the city of Izmail was hit in the strikes. Izmail is on the Danube River that forms part of the Ukraine-Romania border.Video obtained by The Associated Press showed explosions and a large fire in the distance on the Danube, captured by fishermen in Romania on the other side of the river.Three Ukrainian port...

Two teens injured in Hamilton shooting; suspects sought

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

Police in Hamilton are searching for suspects after an overnight shooting that sent two teens to hospital.Officers responded to the area of Limeridge Road West and West 5th Street around 2 a.m. Wednesday after getting reports of shots fired.Police say a 15-year-old boy was found at the scene with gunshot wounds. He was rushed to hospital in serious but stable condition.A second victim, a 16-year-old boy, fled the area before officers arrived and called for medical help. Police say he was brought to hospital and released after being treated.Investigators believe the incident was targeted. No suspect information has been made available.Anyone with additional information is being asked to contact Hamilton Police Service.

Beijing records heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years, causing severe flooding and 21 deaths

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

ZHUZHOU, Hebei (AP) — China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years over the past few days after being deluged with heavy rains from the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri.The city recorded 744.8 millimeters (29.3 inches) of rain between Saturday and Wednesday morning, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said Wednesday.Beijing and the surrounding province of Hebei have been hit by severe flooding because of the record rainfall, with waters rising to dangerous levels. The rain destroyed roads and knocked out power and even pipes carrying drinking water. It flooded rivers surrounding the capital, leaving cars waterlogged, while lifting others onto bridges meant for pedestrians. Among the hardest hit areas is Zhuozhou, a small city in Hebei province that borders Beijing’s southwest. On Tuesday night, police there issued a plea on social media for lights to assist with rescue work.It’s unknown how many people are trapped in flood-stricken areas in the...

Properties destroyed as latest B.C. wildfire flares, forcing urgent evacuations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:11 GMT

Roughly a dozen properties in a popular southern British Columbia recreational community have been destroyed as the simmering Downton Lake wildfire, 110 kilometres northwest of Whistler, has taken a devastating run. Flames from the lightning-caused wildfire had made slow but steady progress through steep, wooded terrain at the western end of Gun Lake since the blaze was sparked on July 13, but suddenly flared late Monday.An evacuation order covering the more than 200 properties around the lake was issued Tuesday and quickly upgraded to critical, urging the many seasonal and handful of permanent residents to leave for Lillooet or Whistler.Evacuation alerts were also extended to areas north of Gun Lake, including Tyaughton Lake and the Tyax Resort, as the nearly 16-square-kilometre fire almost quadrupled in size since Monday.The destruction and evacuation orders and alerts came as most residents of the southern Okanagan town of Osoyoos were returning to their homes after a wildfire ra...