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UK chaos slowed Tory efforts to tackle Islamophobia, report warns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

LONDON — The “political turbulence” plaguing the U.K. Conservative Party over the last two years has slowed its internal efforts to tackle Islamophobia, a new report has found.Former equalities and human rights commissioner Swaran Singh was asked in 2019 to carry out an in-depth review of the way the governing party handles allegations of anti-Muslim abuse after a string of complaints. His report, along with a host of recommendations for change, finally landed in 2021 — and Monday’s follow-up aims to track progress against those recommendations.The report lauds some success, but also finds “weaknesses” in the Conservative Party’s implementation of Singh’s asks. And it says Britain’s tumultuous political scene is in part to blame.Singh points out that since the publication of his 2021 report, the Tories have had “three leaders, two CEOs and seven Party Chairs. Each of these changes has had an unavoidable impact on the day-to-day running of the Party and ...

Spanish prosecutors call for new arrest warrant for Catalan separatists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

Spanish prosecutors are calling for a new international arrest warrant to be issued against Catalan independence leaders Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín, weeks after a top EU court stripped them of their European Parliament immunity. The Spanish state prosecutor’s office — Fiscalía — on Monday asked Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena to issue a new European arrest warrant for the two MEPs, Spanish news outlets reported, for the crime of embezzlement.The news comes less than a month after the EU’s General Court ruled that Puigdemont, Comín and fellow MEP Clara Ponsatí should be stripped of their parliamentary immunity, paving the way for their extradition and prosecution.Puigdemont can appeal that ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union, something he said he is planning to do. But Spanish outlets reported that an appeal would not cause the ruling to be suspended.Puigdemont fled Spain for Belgium in the immediate aftermath of the 2017 Catalan independence refere...

Macron on how to stop young rioters: Get mum and dad to restore order

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said that France should focus on restoring order and shoring up the authority of parents in its response to the riots that rocked French suburbs last month.“The lesson I draw is order, order, order. Our country needs a return of authority at every level, and firstly in the family,” Macron said during an interview with French channels TF1 and France 2 on Monday.Last month, the fatal shooting of Nahel M., a 17-year-old of North African descent, during a police operation sparked several days of unrest in France’s poorer suburbs, with young rioters often targeting symbols of the French state such as schools, police stations and even libraries.The unrest sparked a debate about the failing authority of parents, with members of government warning that parents would have to pay for the damage caused by their children.According to the French president, the average age of youths arrested during the riots was 16 and an overwhelming majority came f...

Kelly Ayotte launches campaign for governor of New Hampshire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

(CNN) — Former New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte announced a campaign for governor on Monday, entering the race to succeed popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in 2024. Sununu’s surprise announcement last week that he would not seek a fifth two-year term set off what is likely to be a competitive election in the Granite State that could draw several contenders. “I’m running for governor because New Hampshire is one election away from becoming Massachusetts – from becoming something we are not,” Ayotte said in a statement.Ayotte is a veteran of New Hampshire Republican politics, first serving as state attorney general in 2004 and then elected as US senator in 2010. She was defeated in 2016 by then-Gov. Maggie Hassan in an extremely close race, losing by just over 1,000 votes.  As a senator, Ayotte had a reputation as a bipartisan dealmaker, but in her 2016 reelection bid she struggled to navigate a political environment dominated...

Chicago baseball report: Trade rumors are swirling for the Cubs and White Sox

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

After dropping their series opener, the Cubs posted three consecutive wins against the St. Louis Cardinals to keep them in position to potentially add at the trade deadline.Their 7-2 victory Sunday at Wrigley Field capped their series win versus their division rival to keep the Cubs (48-51) climbing toward .500.The Sox completed their longest trip of the season Sunday with a brutal 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins in 12 innings. They squandered a three-run lead in the ninth on the way to getting swept.A trip that began with a high of taking two of three from the Atlanta Braves came crashing to the ground with the team losing two of three to the New York Mets and all three to the Twins.With trade rumors swirling, the Sox return home Tuesday for the City Series.Drew Smyly’s rotation role unclear going forwardManager David Ross had played coy earlier in the week when asked about two “to be determined” entries as the Cubs’ probable pitchers for Saturday’s an...

Suspect charged in shooting of undercover New Bedford detective

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

A suspect has been arrested and charged in the alleged shooting last week of an undercover New Bedford detective in the face.Cheybane Vasconcelos-Furtado, 20, was arrested on Worcester Street Sunday in New Bedford by a team that included New Bedford Police, State Police, members of the state police violent fugitive squad and federal agents with ATF.“I’m pleased with this arrest and the progress that was made today.  This arrives following a very long week for all the New Bedford, State, and ATF investigators who have put a great deal of time and effort into this case.  Although today is a well-earned win, there is more work to be done as this investigation continues and we continue to follow up on leads,” New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira said Sunday night.Vasconcelos-Furtado is charged with shooting Det. Lavar Gilbert last Monday. Gilbert was conducting an undercover investigation and is assigned to the department’s Organized Crime Intelligence Bureau.Vasconcelos-F...

Searchers continue to pump water from Nova Scotia field in search for flood missing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

HALIFAX — Workers are continuing to pump water from a flooded field in Nova Scotia that is the focus of a search for four people, including two children, who went missing in a torrent of water Saturday.Abraham Zebian, mayor of West Hants Regional Municipality, was at the site earlier today and says search teams are pumping more than 94,000 litres of water a minute from the field.Zebian says the work is lowering water levels so ground search and rescue teams can have easier access to the area.On Saturday evening, an RCMP dive team recovered an unoccupied pickup truck in over two metres of water and said it was believed to be the vehicle the children were travelling in. Police said earlier the children were with three other people who managed to escape.Searchers are looking in the same area for a second vehicle in which a youth and a man who are unaccounted for were travelling.Heavy rain, which began Friday, dumped between 200 and 250 millimetres along Nova Scotia’s South Shore, acros...

French national police chief says officers under investigation ‘have no place in prison’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s national police chief has said that law enforcement officers under investigation shouldn’t be jailed like ordinary citizens, amid a walkout by numerous Marseille police over the detention of a colleague for his actions during nationwide riots.The apparently unprecedented remarks by Frederic Veaux in a weekend interview — which got the support of the Paris police prefect — quickly triggered a debate, and raised fundamental questions about whether French law enforcement is above the law. “Knowing that (the officer) is in prison stops me from sleeping,” Veaux said in an interview with Le Parisien, after a trip Saturday to Marseille to bring a message of support to police from himself and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. But he went further, saying he thinks that “ahead of an eventual trial, a police officer has no place in prison, even if he may have committed faults or grave error in his work.”While police officers must account for their actions, “includi...

Eight people burn to death in southern Nigeria after gasoline tanker explosion, authorities say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Eight people were burned to death after a tanker exploded in Nigeria’s southern Ondo state, the road safety agency said on Monday.The tanker was carrying gasoline and exploded while the victims were trying to extract the much sought-after fuel, according to Ezekiel Sonallah, head of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Ondo.Sonallah said the driver lost control of the tanker on Sunday and veered off the road and crashed in Ondo’s Odigbo district. Both the driver and his assistant escaped unscathed. He said that the “problem was the scooping,” hinting it was the reason for the explosion.Authorities said all the victims were burned beyond recognition and couldn’t be identified.Scooping fuel from tanker accident scenes has often resulted in deaths in parts of Nigeria. It has continued this year with the price of gasoline more than doubling since June 1 after the West African nation’s new President Bola Tinubu ended the decades-long gasoline. Fatal truck accident...

Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary is charged with directing a terrorist organization

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:37 GMT

LONDON (AP) — High-profile British radical preacher Anjem Choudary appeared in a London court on Monday, charged with leading a terrorist organization.Choudary, 56, was charged Sunday with three counts under the Terrorism Act: directing a terrorist organization, membership in a banned organization and addressing meetings to encourage support for the organization between June 2022 and this month.Prosecutors say the charges relate to the group al-Muhajiroun, which was outlawed by the British government in 2010. It has since operated “under many names and guises,” including the Islamic Thinkers Society, prosecutors say.Choudary is alleged to have provided lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society.He was arrested at his home in London in July 17. He was charged alongside with Canadian national Khaled Hussein, 28, who was arrested at Heathrow Airport the same day after arriving on a flight. Hussein, from Edmonton, Alberta, is charged with membership in a proscribed organization. Prosecuto...