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Lineker’s attack on UK migrant policy puts BBC in a bind

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

LONDON (AP) — As a soccer player, Gary Lineker was one of England’s top scorers. The British government thinks his political opinions miss the mark.Conservative lawmakers in the U.K. are calling on the BBC to discipline Lineker, now a pundit and the network’s highest-paid star, for comparing the government’s language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. In a tweet on Tuesday, the former England team captain described the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat as “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Britain’s immigration minister, has called people arriving in small boats an “invasion,” and said “the law-abiding patriotic majority have said: ‘Enough is enough.’”The Conservative government called Lineker’s Nazi comparison inappropriate and unacceptable, and some lawmakers said he should be fired.“As somebody whose gra...

Transnistria accuses Ukraine of trying to kill its president

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, which has close ties to Moscow and hosts Russian troops, claimed Thursday it has thwarted an assassination attempt on its president allegedly organized by Ukraine’s national security service.Transnistria’s state security ministry said an unspecified number of people had been arrested in connection with an attempted attack on the region’s president, Vadim Krasnoselsky, and other officials.Prosecutor Anatoly Guretsky said the suspects planned to detonate an explosives-packed automobile near the presidential cortege as it traveled through the capital, Tiraspol.It said Ukraine’s SBU security service ordered the assassination attempt, but did not provide evidence. The SBU rejected the allegation, saying it “should be considered exclusively as a provocation orchestrated by the Kremlin.”A separatist war broke out in 1990 in Transnistria — a strip of land with about 470,000 residents that borders Ukraine...

Vinícius Júnior again target of racist insults in Spain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish league filed another complaint to authorities on Thursday following racial insults aimed at Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior.It was the seventh official complaint made by the league for insults against the Brazilian player, who is Black. The latest complaint came after someone called him a monkey during Madrid’s 0-0 draw at Real Betis on Sunday.The complaint was made to a court in Seville to try to identify the person and take the appropriate legal measures against the individual. Betis is based in Seville.Vinícius has been subjected to racist insults since he came to play in Spain five years ago, though very little has been done to punish fans.Some of the league’s complaints have already been shelved by Spanish prosecutors.Last month, Spain’s anti-violence commission proposed a fine of 4,000 euros ($4,200) and a 12-month ban from stadiums for a fan who called Vinícius a monkey in a league match against Mallorca.Valladolid recently suspended 12 sea...

US futures, global markets lower amid rate hike fears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

BEIJING — Wall Street drifted modestly lower early Thursday amid increasing anxiety following Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s warning to Congress this week that rate hikes might accelerate because upward pressure on prices has been stronger than expected.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slipped 0.1% and the S&P 500 fell 0.3% before the bell. The concern is that in efforts to cool inflation, the Fed and other central banks may tip the global economy into at least a brief recession. U.S. inflation edged up in January to 5.4%, well above the Fed’s target of 2%.“The risks of a higher and faster hike trajectory have risen,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a report. He said the Fed might be motivated by “mounting criticism” that it has “fallen behind the inflation curve.”Powell said Wednesday that Fed policymakers want to see more data before deciding on future rate hikes.A report Wednesday showed the number of job openings advertised across ...

France’s young people stand up against higher retirement age

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Young people in France — including some who haven’t even entered the job market yet — are protesting Thursday against the government’s push to raise the retirement age.Students blocked access to some universities and high schools, and a youth-led protest is planned in Paris as part of nationwide strikes and demonstrations against the pension bill under debate in parliament. For a generation already worried about inflation, uncertain job prospects and climate change, the retirement bill is stirring up broader questions about the value of work.“I don’t want to work all my life and be exhausted at the end,” said Djana Farhaig, a 15-year-old who blocked her Paris high school with other students during a protest action last month. “It is important for us to show that the youth is engaged for its future.”People in their teens and early 20s have taken part in protests against the retirement reform since the movement kicked off in January, but student groups and unions are seek...

Death investigation underway after 1-year-old boy found unresponsive on South Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

CHICAGO — A death investigation is underway after a 1-year-old boy was found unresponsive on the city's South Side.Police said the toddler was found around 9 p.m. Wednesday in the 7000 block of South Normal in Englewood. The boy was transported to Comer Children's Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The medical examiner has identified him as Dejaun Worthington. Boy, 7, dead after fire at home of Chicago firefighter ID’d Detectives are conducting a death investigation, pending autopsy results. 

Police: Rideshare passenger shot on South Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

CHICAGO — A man inside a rideshare vehicle was shot Wednesday night on the South Side.At around at 11 p.m., police responded to the 8100 block of South Halsted on the report of a shooting.A 27-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to the legs after a gunman in a nearby white sedan fired shots. 2 postal service mailboxes broken into in Elmhurst The man was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center in fair condition. No suspects are in custody. Anyone with information can leave an anonymous tip at cpdtip.com.

Man stabbed on CTA Red Line after fight ensued

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was stabbed on the CTA Red Line in Lakeview East after a fight ensued Thursday morning. According to police, a 36-year-old man was on the train when an unknown man approached him struck him. A physical altercation ensued and the unknown individual produced a knife and stabbed the man. Police: Rideshare passenger shot on South Side The man was transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital in fair condition with several puncture wounds. Police say the unknown man fled but a weapon was recovered on the scene. There is currently no one in custody at this time and police are investigating the incident.

Former NBA player Shawn Kemp arrested on drive-by shooting charge: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (WKBN) – Former Cleveland Cavalier Shawn Kemp has been arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting in Washington state, ESPN reported.According to the report, Kemp, 53, was booked into a Pierce County jail on Wednesday afternoon after shots were fired in an altercation that happened around 1:58 p.m. between drivers of two cars near a Tacoma mall. “One of the drivers fired off several rounds at the occupants of the other vehicle,” the Tacoma Police Department said in a statement, as reported by ESPN.No injuries were reported. Cavaliers hold off Miami Heat, 104-100 A gun was reportedly recovered, according to the Tacoma police, and the investigation is ongoing. The motives behind the alleged shooting are still unclear, ESPN reported.Kemp was charged with felony drive-by shooting.The former forward, who was nicknamed “Reign Man,” played 14 seasons in the NBA and was a six-time All-Star. He played for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1997-2000 and also spent time wi...

Buyers' remorse: Some homeowners regret pandemic purchases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:46 GMT

(NewsNation) — Some homeowners who bought their homes during the pandemic say they are starting to feel some buyer's remorse, especially those who bought their homes sight unseen. "I feel lied to and ripped off," Mikhekla Hunnicutt told NewsNation.Hunnicutt, a first-time homebuyer, bought her home in St. Louis in October 2020. Not long after moving in with her husband, they started having major plumbing issues."Toilet paper, sewage," she said. "Anytime we would run the laundry, the amount of water coming from the laundry machine would force what was in the pipes back up into the house."She said the inspection prior to the purchase of their home found problems with a sewer pipe underneath the house. The previous homeowners agreed to fix it, but Hunnicutt said the work wasn't done properly. US economy sending mixed signals: Here’s what it all means Hunnicutt said she feels angry."I'm also very tired," she said. "This has been dragging on for a couple of years now. And I'm very frus...