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EU court rules Catalan separatists in European Parliament should lose immunity

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

BRUSSELS — The thorny issue of Catalan separatism reared its head again on Wednesday when a top EU court stripped the legal immunity of three members of the European Parliament.The EU’s General Court ruled that the Spanish region’s former president, Carles Puigdemont, along with two other separatist MEPs — Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí — should lose their parliamentary immunity amid a long-running legal battle over the way the European Parliament responded to requests from the Spanish Supreme Court.Spain has been pushing to remove the MEPs’ immunity in order to prosecute them for their roles in an unlawful Catalan independence referendum held in 2017. Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí fled Spain in the immediate aftermath of the vote and were later elected to the European Parliament.In Brussels, Puigdemont said he would appeal the ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union.“This doesn’t end here; on the contrary, everything continues...

Prosecutors investigate man’s death during riots in Marseille

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

PARIS — French authorities are investigating police involvement in the death of a 27-year-old man during protests in the southern city of Marseille at the weekend.The man died of cardiac arrest after he took “a violent shock to the chest” that was “probabl[y]” caused by a projectile known as a “flashball” used by the police, said Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens.The man’s body was found on Saturday not far from the area where riots broke out in the coastal city in response to the police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. as he fled a police stop in a suburb of Paris last Tuesday. The police shooting and his subsequent death sparked a wave of riots in major French cities.In Marseille, the unrest was particularly violent, with rioters setting fire to a supermarket and a car dealership, and almost 400 shops vandalized, according to local media.According to the prosecutor’s office, it is not clear whether the victim, who was driving a scooter at the time of his death, wa...

Nigel Farage and the great anti-Brexit unbanking plot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

LONDON — Like most banks these days, the Strand offices of Coutts, one of the U.K.’s most prestigious private banks known for banking British royalty, are open plan and mostly devoid of custom. Real-life engagement with its wealthy clientele, if it happens, is by appointment only. Standing inside the bank’s inner atrium on Tuesday its privileged customer base would be forgiven for having little idea the centuries-old institution was at the time being embroiled in a larger than life political scandal that could soon undermine its hard earned reputation for offering elites with complex finances white glove services.  “Haven’t heard about it,” one female cashier told POLITICO by a desk bearing an ice bucket flanked by bottles of champers.  The online storm began on Friday when former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage took to Twitter to reveal he had been unbanked by a prestigious subsidiary of a large banking group he had banked with since 1980. He didn’t name t...

Coast Guard, rescue crews search for owner of unmanned kayak spotted off of Martha’s Vineyard

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

Rescue crews, including members of the U.S. Coast Guard, are working to find the owner of an empty kayak that was spotted drifting in the water near Martha’s Vineyard.Coast Guard officials said the kayak was spotted near Gay Head Lighthouse, near the southwest tip of the island. The USCG Northeast Twitter account shared an image of the watercraft around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, which appeared to have a fishing rod, paddle and small motor onboard.The Cuttyhunk Fire Department, Menemsha Harbormaster and Dukes County personnel were also assisting with the search, according to the Coast Guard.Additional details have not yet been released.https://twitter.com/USCGNortheast/status/1676614728385273856

Lab tests show substance found at White House was cocaine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

(CNN) — Lab testing for the substance found at the White House on Sunday has come back positive for cocaine, according to a person familiar with the matter.CNN has reached out to the Secret Service for official confirmation.Previous field testing showed a positive result for cocaine, but the substance was sent for further evaluation and testing, the Secret Service had said previously.The substance was found near the ground floor entrance to the West Wing, the person said. The location is where staff-led tours of the White House pass through on their way into the building.The substance was found near where guests are asked to leave their cell phones before proceeding into the West Wing.Those tours typically only occur on weekends.Sources had previously described the substance as a white powder found in a small, zipped bag. It was found by Secret Service personnel conducting routine rounds of the building.The discovery of the substance on Sunday evening triggered a brie...

Tuesday set an unofficial record for the hottest day on Earth. Wednesday may break it.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

By MELINA WALLING and SETH BORENSTEINThe planet’s temperature spiked on Tuesday to its hottest day in at least 44 years and likely much longer, and Wednesday could become the third straight day Earth unofficially marks a record-breaking high, the latest in a series of climate-change extremes that alarm but don’t surprise scientists. The globe’s average temperature reached 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit (17.18 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, according to the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, a common tool based on satellite data and computer simulations and used by climate scientists for a glimpse of the world’s condition. On Monday, the average temperature was 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit (17.01 degrees Celsius), breaking a record that lasted only 24 hours.While it is not an official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration record, “this is showing us an indication of where we are right now,” NOAA chief scientist Sarah Kapnick said. Even tho...

1 killed, 7 injured in shootings in Boston, Brockton, officials say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

Five people were wounded and two were arrested following a shooting early Wednesday in Mattapan, police said.South of the city, one person was killed and two others injured in a separate shooting in Brockton.In Boston, three of the five shooting victims were transported to hospitals, but none of the injuries were believed to be life threatening, officials said. Two people were arrested and two guns were recovered, but no one was charged in the shootings, said Boston police spokesperson Kim Tavares.Both shootings happened at around 2 a.m. Wednesday.In Brockton, one person was killed and two people injured, according to the Plymouth County district attorney.Police were actively investigating both shootings.

UN nuclear agency chief says he’s satisfied with Japan’s plans to release Fukushima wastewater

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

By MARI YAMAGUCHI (Associated Press)FUTABA, Japan (AP) — The head of the U.N. atomic agency toured Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Wednesday and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi observed where the treated water will be sent through a pipeline to a coastal facility, where it will be highly diluted with seawater and receive a final test sampling. It will then be released 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) offshore through an undersea tunnel.“I was satisfied with what I saw,” Grossi said after his tour of equipment at the plant for the planned discharge, which Japan hopes to begin this summer. “I don’t see any pending issues.”The wastewater release still faces opposition in and outside Japan.Earlier Wednesday, Grossi met with local mayors and fishing association leaders and stressed th...

Here's how to celebrate Pride this month in San Diego

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- While Pride Month has wrapped up, San Diego's celebrations are just getting started.Pride Month, which is traditionally held every June, commemorates the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising -- a series of protests following police raid at New York City's Stonewall Inn that's considered the beginning of the movement to overturn discriminatory laws against the LGBTQ+ community.San Diego's celebrations, however, have been taking place in the month of July for nearly three decades, ever since the 1990 Pride Parade was nearly rained out amid "June Gloom."This month, the county's biggest Pride celebrations will be taking place, along with numerous other events. This Hillcrest bar is one of the last of its kind Here's a round-up of some of the Pride events happening this month:Black Pride 2023: The San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition will be hosting their annual Black Pride, a jampacked weekend of intersectional celebrations. The theme this year is "Black Joy Renaissance"...

Free food distributions available throughout summer in San Diego

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:12:53 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Rock Church will host weekly food distributions throughout San Diego County during the summer months, the organization announced Wednesday.The free offerings will be open to the community and will include food, diapers and other necessary day-to-day supplies.Rock Church says, "summer months often see an increase in need as students are not receiving free meals at school that are provided during the school year." Big Bay Boom: Rewatch fireworks over San Diego Bay The food distributions are set to occur weekly at the different Rock Church campuses.Food distribution schedule:–Rock Church San Marcos, located at 1370 West San Marcos Boulevard, will host every first Thursday of the month.–Rock Church City Heights, located at 4001 El Cajon Boulevard, will host every second Thursday of the month.–Rock Church Point Loma, located at 2277 Rosecrans Street, will host every third Thursday of the month.–Rock Church Chula Vista, located at 2015 Birch Road, will host every ...