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Italian justice minister blames court for Russian’s escape

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy’s justice minister insisted Thursday his office bore no responsibility for the escape of a Russian businessman wanted by the United States, and blamed Milan judicial authorities for having released him to house arrest despite a flood of U.S. warnings that he posed a high flight risk.In a briefing to lawmakers, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio denied he had any authority to reverse the Milan court’s decision and send Artyom Uss back to prison pending his extradition process. But Nordio said he had requested that prosecutors initiated a disciplinary investigation into the court’s decision and moved to freeze Uss’ assets.Uss, the 40-year-old son of a Russian regional governor, escaped from Italy on March 22, a day after a Milan court recognized as legitimate the U.S. extradition request, and surfaced in Russia earlier this month.He had been detained in October 2022 at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on a U.S. warrant accusing him of violating sanctions. In November, the M...

Hold the phone: Jim Balsillie sets the record straight on ‘BlackBerry’ movie

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

TORONTO — Jim Balsillie is having his Hollywood moment.It was almost inevitable the Waterloo, Ont., businessman would one day be portrayed in film for his role in the global success of the BlackBerry smartphone.And yet Balsillie never predicted how strange it would be to see it happen, especially since his cinematic version is almost unrecognizable to him.The new Canadian dark comedy “BlackBerry” takes no prisoners in the executive suite, but it’s especially ruthless to Balsillie. He’s played by “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Glenn Howerton as an agitated live wire prone to violent outbursts and foul-mouthed tirades as he plows down the road to success.“When I first saw it, I was confused for about five minutes,” Balsillie acknowledged during an interview in a Toronto board room.“And then I thought, ‘OK, we’re being roasted here. This is a satire.’”Being portrayed as a tyrant doesn’t bother him much. He sees it as fair game.“They’re taking an element of t...

Man hit by vehicle, then robbed at gunpoint and shot on West Side

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

CHICAGO — A man was struck by a car and then shot by the vehicle's occupants who robbed him at gunpoint on the city's West Side. Police said the incident happened in the 0-100 block of South Kedzie around 7 a.m. Thursday.The 30-year-old man told police he was crossing the street when a white sedan struck him, and four men exited the vehicle. The men displayed a gun and robbed the man of his personal property. About a dozen freight train cars derail in Blue Island According to police, one of the men then fired a shot before getting back into the vehicle and fleeing the scene. The 30-year-old was shot in the thumb and self-transported to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.No one is in custody. Area Four detectives are investigating.

House approves trans athlete ban for girls and women's teams

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Transgender athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth was male would be barred from competing on girls or women’s sports teams at federally supported schools and colleges under legislation pushed through Thursday by House Republicans checking off another high-profile item on their social agenda. The bill approved by a 219-203 party-line vote is unlikely to advance further because the Democratic-led Senate will not support it and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto it. Supporters said the legislation, which would put violators at risk of losing taxpayer dollars, is necessary to ensure competitive fairness. They framed the vote as supporting female athletes disadvantaged by having to compete against those whose gender identify does not match their sex assigned at birth. Opponents criticized the bill as ostracizing an already vulnerable group merely for political gain. The House action comes as at least 20 other states have imposed similar limits...

Alex Murdaugh doesn’t want to 'rot away' in prison, lawyer says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

(NewsNation) — Alex Murdaugh is serving two life sentences in a South Carolina maximum security prison in protective custody, but he wants back into the general population — despite threats from other inmates. That's according to his lawyer, Jim Griffin, who spoke exclusively to NewsNation on Wednesday about Murdaugh's life behind bars. He was convicted six weeks ago of shooting his wife and son to death in June 2021."He thinks he can be productive in the general population. He would rather take his chances on the yard than rot away in a cell, to be honest with you," Griffin said on "CUOMO." "He wants to contribute; there a lot of things he can do in the general population. There are programs he can assist with." 3 charged, including 2 teens, in Alabama birthday shooting Murdaugh is incarcerated at McCormick Correctional Institution on the South Carolina-Georgia border. The prison includes both a general population wing and a "special management" wing for inmates who may be in pro...

WATCH: Umpire assaulted at Ohio adult softball game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department is investigating the assault of an umpire at a softball game Tuesday night that was captured on video.It was before an adult softball game that a verbal altercation began to brew. The video shows a participant with a yellow jersey exchanging words with the umpire. Things turned physical when the umpire said the player was being thrown out of the game. Nearly 1,500 books bans implemented in the first half of this school year: analysis The department has heard about arguments over bad calls, said Dominque Shank, community relations chief for Columbus Recreation and Parks, but it had never escalated to what played out this time around.Shank said the department is not naming the player or the umpire at this time, but that the investigation could result in the player being banned permanently from any activities. Lawyer: Alex Murdaugh doesn’t want to ‘rot away’ in prison “There is camera footage, so it’s pretty clear...

Michelle Obama: 'We’ve been married for 30 years,' and 20 of them were 'great'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

(The Hill) -- Michelle Obama says the world tends to "glamorize marriage," while the reality is that matrimony “is hard.”“We’ve been married for 30 years,” Obama said of former President Barack Obama during a Thursday interview with Gayle King on “CBS Mornings.”“If I fell out with him for 10 [years,] and we had a great 20 years, I’d take those odds anytime,” the former first lady said in response to a question from King about remarks she made last year that for a decade during their relationship, she “couldn’t stand” her husband.“We glamorize marriage,” Obama, 59, said.“In this day and age, marriage is more about the dress, and the dresses, and the proposal, and the honeymoon and all the stuff around it. And young people aren't ready for the real of marriage," she told King. Rapper Fat Joe to join lawmakers on Capitol Hill to fight for health care price transparency “A lot of young people quit on marriage over things that are just a part of the commitment,” added the “...

Dan Bongino parts ways with Fox News

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

(The Hill) – Fox News has parted ways with firebrand political commentator Dan Bongino. The network said in a statement on Thursday, "we thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors.”A former U.S. Secret Service agent who had become know for his sharp defenses of former President Trump while a regular on Fox's prime-time shows in recent years, Bongino was granted an hourlong Saturday evening program on Fox in 2021. The network said his last show was April 15.Fox said it would air a program hosted by Lawrence Jones in its place on Saturday nights for the time being and an encore of comedian Greg Gutfeld's program would air this weekend only. A new permanent schedule "will be announced in the coming weeks," the network said.

Austin church donating $24K to pay AISD students' school lunch debt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A local church has committed more than $20,000 to pay off Austin Independent School District students' lunch debt balances for the school year and to prevent more debt accruement until the school year ends. Covenant Presbyterian Church said it would pay off the lunch debt that has accrued for all students in AISD during the 2022-23 school year, as well as provide the district with enough money that no student will accrue more debt for the remainder of the school year. Here's how that breaks down:$14,000 is needed to erase all AISD lunch debtAn additional $10,000 is being applied to future debtCovenant said it designates funds each year for missional giving. Previously, the church has helped pay for Central Texans' medical debt and helped support wraparound services for people experiencing homelessness. “Our hope is we fill a gap that other folks haven’t been able to fill, that kids have one less thing to be concerned about,” Mission Director Whitney Bell said.” We h...

John Shipley: Wild still struggling with the whole play-two-goalies thing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:18 GMT

The Wild can’t seem to get this whole play-two-goalies thing right.Given the opportunity to use the two goalies who split time down the stretch last season, the Wild decided to use Marc-Andre Fleury for five playoff games before throwing Cam Talbot to the sharks for a futile, series-clinching Game 6 loss to St. Louis.On Wednesday, Wild coach Dean Evason made good on an implicit vow to use two goaltenders this postseason and sent Fleury out for Game 2 in Dallas after starting Filip Gustavsson in Game 1, a 3-2 victory in double overtime Monday.Gustavsson made a franchise postseason-record 51 saves in that win.While it’s silly to think any of us know more about hockey than Evason, his staff or general manager Bill Guerin, almost all of us can recognize a man about to step on the wrong end of a rake.How hard is this?As soon as it was reported via social media that Fleury was leading the Wild onto the ice for another late start at American Airlines Center on Wednesday, the palms of Wild ...