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Silvio Berlusconi’s polarizing force in Italy remains strong as his funeral is held in Milan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy — positive or negative — was being hotly debated among Italians as the nation prepared for a national day of mourning and a state funeral in Milan’s Gothic-era Duomo cathedral on Wednesday.Most Italians identify Berlusconi, a media mogul, soccer entrepreneur and three-time former premier, as the most influential figure in Italy over recent decades. But they remain sharply divided on whether his influence was for the better or worse. They are split over whether the three-time former premier merits all the fuss and ceremony.Berlusconi died at the age of 86 on Monday in a Milan hospital where he was being treated for chronic leukemia. His family held a private wake Tuesday at one of Berlusconi’s villas near Milan, the city where he made his billions as the head of a media empire before entering politics in 1994.Political opponents are questioning not only the decisions of Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government to hold a state funeral — an hono...

York police officer seriously injured after Canada Post truck strikes cruiser

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

A police officer is seriously injured after a crash involving a Canada Post truck near the Toronto and Markham border.Emergency crews responded to a collision on Steeles Avenue near Woodbine Avenue around 2:20 a.m. on Wednesday.Police tell CityNews a Canada Post truck struck a York Regional Police cruiser.A male officer, the lone occupant in the cruiser, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported.The Toronto Police Service’s collision unit will be investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.Steeles was closed in both directions from Woodbine to Don Mills Road for the investigation.Road closure: Steeles Ave WB & EB at Hwy 404. Please avoid area and take alternate routes if possible. #AuroraOPP, @YRP & @TorontoPolice on scene. Updates to follow. ^nm https://t.co/iE8W2r9Onu— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) June 14, 2023

18-year-old trainee accused of shooting 3 soldiers at firing range on Japanese army base, killing 2

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — An 18-year-old army trainee shot three fellow soldiers at a firing range on a Japanese army base Wednesday, killing two of them, officials said.The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder at the scene in Gifu prefecture in central Japan, police said. The suspect fired a rifle at the soldiers during a shooting exercise at the Hino Kihon firing range, police said. The Ground Self Defense Force, Japan’s army, confirmed that two of those wounded were later pronounced dead at a hospital.Army Chief of Staff Gen. Yasunori Morishita said the suspect joined the military in April and the three soldiers were assisting his shooting exercise as instructors. “An organization that handles weapons should never allow an incident like this to happen,” Morishita said at a news conference. “As head of the army, I take this very seriously.”Morishita said he has ordered a temporary suspension of exercises involving shooting and explosives across the country while the army inves...

Lebanese lawmakers fail in yet another attempt to elect president, end power vacuum

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese lawmakers failed Wednesday in yet another attempt to elect a president and break a seven-month power vacuum that has roiled the tiny Mediterranean country.The session — the twelfth try to pick a president — broke down after the bloc led by the powerful political party and militant group Hezbollah withdrew following the first round of voting, breaking the quorum. Hezbollah’s preferred candidate, Sleiman Frangieh, the scion of a political family close to the ruling Assad family in Syria, trailed behind his main rival, Jihad Azour, a former finance minister and senior official with the International Monetary Fund, in the first round of voting.Azour, who is supported by the opposition to Hezbollah and some of its nominal allies, received 59 votes to 51 for Frangieh, while 18 lawmakers cast blank ballots, protest votes or voted for minority candidates. However, Azour failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to win in the first round.The meeting came aft...

Stock market today: Global stocks, Wall Street futures mixed after US inflation cools

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets and Wall Street futures were mixed Wednesday after a cooler reading on U.S. inflation buoyed hopes the Federal Reserve will postpone a possible interest rate hike.London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai and Hong Kong declined while Tokyo advanced. Oil prices rose.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index hit a 14-month high after official data Tuesday showed U.S. consumer inflation eased to 4% over a year earlier in May from the previous month’s 4.9%. It was less than half last June’s peak of 9.1% but still double the Fed’s 2% target.That reinforced hopes the Fed will avoid announcing another rate hike when its monthly meeting ends Wednesday. Two Fed board members have said the U.S. central bank should put off a hike while it studies the impact of previous increases.“The Fed will see this as a window of opportunity to pause,” Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities said in a report.In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London r...

Senior officials meet in Turkey to discuss Sweden’s NATO membership bid

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Senior officials from NATO, Sweden, Finland and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday, Turkish media reports said, as the alliance pushes Turkey to ratify Sweden’s application to join the military bloc.Sweden and Finland applied for membership together following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April after the Turkish parliament ratified its request, but Turkey has held off approving Sweden’s bid.Turkey’s government accuses Sweden of being too lenient toward terror organizations that Ankara says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt. A series of separate demonstrations in Stockholm, including a protest by an anti-Islam activist who burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy, also angered Turkish officials.The officials meeting Wednesday were scheduled to discuss the steps Finland and Sweden have taken as part of a memorandum they signed with ...

Disney delays 'Avatar 3', sets two 'Star Wars' films for 2026

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — “Avatar: The Way of Water” may have finally arrived in theaters in 2022, but that long parade of “Avatar” delays isn't done, yet.The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday pushed the release of “Avatar 3” a year, bumping it from December 2024 to December 2025. The timeline is stretched even further for the next planned installments. “Avatar 4” is now slated to hit theaters in December 2029; “Avatar 5” is set to arrive in December 2031.If those dates hold, the “Avatar” film series will have stretched across the first four decades of the century. Director James Cameron, who launched “Avatar” in 2009, has said he may not direct films 4 and 5. By December 2031, the 68-year-old Cameron would be 77. “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” have collectively made more than $5.2 billion at the box office. Five Takeaways from Trump’s arraignment “Each ‘Avatar’ film is an exciting but epic undertaking that takes time to bring to the quality level we as filmmakers strive for an...

Five Takeaways from Trump's arraignment 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

(The Hill) - Former President Trump was arraigned on 37 criminal charges on Tuesday in Miami — a day that was at once extraordinary and mundane.The extraordinary element was the nature of the event itself — the first-ever federal arraignment of a former president.The charges against Trump pertain to his possession of sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Related charges, including one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, also carry the threat of significant prison time if convicted.Trump pled not guilty to all charges.A trial could, potentially, land in the middle of the GOP primary race in which Trump is the frontrunner.The more mundane element was that the day proceeded largely as expected, with little new being learnt about the case and little drama at the court itself.Here are the main takeaways.Trump tries to seize back the narrativeTrump sought to punch back on Tuesday evening, trying to change the narrative of a day that highlighted the sheer gravity of...

ValleyCats strand 10, benches clear in shutout loss

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

TROY, NY (NEWS10) -- The Tri-City ValleyCats (14-14) began a three-game set with the Lake Erie Crushers (14-14), and were shutout 1-0 on Tuesday at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium. It was the first time the ValleyCats were shutout this season. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Lake Erie got on the board in the fourth. Mike Blanke hit a single off Elijah Gill. He advanced to second after Jiandido Tromp went to first on a walk. Kemuel Thomas-Rivero reached on an error from Pavin Parks, and Blanke scored to give the Crushers a 1-0 lead.The ValleyCats had a couple of opportunities to strike. They were gifted two walks, and a hit by pitch from Yasel Santana in the fifth, but were unable to plate a run with the bases loaded with two outs. Carson McCusker seemingly hit a ground-rule double to begin the sixth, but was originally ruled foul, the play was overturned to a double, and then changed back to a foul ball. Tri-City also walked t...

Vatican court orders climate activists to pay almost €30,000

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:59 GMT

Two Italian climate change activists who glued themselves to the base of one of the Vatican Museums' most famous statues must pay almost €30,000  in damages and costs, a Vatican criminal court ruled on Monday (12 June).Guido Viero and Laura Zorzini of the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) group pulled the stunt against the Laocoon statue in August. The sculpture depicts a priest from Troy who tried to warn fellow citizens against taking in the Greek's wooden horse.The Tribunal of the Vatican City State, which has lay rather than religious judges, told Viero and Zorzini to jointly pay €28,148 in damages to Vatican authorities, and €1,000 in legal costs, a court ruling showed.They were also handed suspended jail sentences of nine months each, plus fines of around €1,500 each, also suspended. A third activist was given a suspended €120 penalty.Ultima Generazione has performed several high profile protests in Italy, often targeting artworks or monuments. Last month, they poured dilut...