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Biden envoy troubled by reports of ‘violence against civilians’ in Nagorno-Karabakh

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

KORNIDZOR, Armenia — The top U.S. humanitarian aid official Samantha Power said Tuesday she was aware of “very troubling reports of violence against civilians” in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, and complained Azerbaijan had blocked access to the breakaway region for international observers wanting to gauge the severity of the crisis.Nagorno-Karabakh leapt back to international attention last week when Azerbaijani forces won a 24-hour lightning war to force the surrender of the ethnic Armenian authorities in the enclave. Since then, nearly 20,000 people have fled — out of a population of some 100,000 — and fears are growing of ethnic cleansing. Asked by POLITICO whether she agreed with warnings from Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that the exodus reflected “ethnic cleansing,” Power — a former genocide scholar — declined to use the term. However, she added, “testimony” was already being gathered “from people who have fled violence, deprivation, ...

UK’s Suella Braverman: It’s not racist to want to change European rights treaty

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

LONDON — It is not racist or “anti-refugee” to want reform of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Britain’s home secretary declared Tuesday.Speaking in Washington at the American Enterprise Institute, Suella Braverman — seen as a top contender in a future leadership race for the U.K.’s governing Conservatives — argued Western culture could “disappear” without harder borders. And she called for changes to international asylum rules, as well as reform of the ECHR, to make that happen. Braverman argued that the international community had “collectively failed to explore any serious reform of the global asylum framework,” in part because of the “fear of being branded a racist or illiberal.”The U.K. interior minister said “any attempt to reform” the U.N.’s own refugee convention “will see you smeared as anti-refugee,” adding: “Similar epithets are hurled at anyone who suggests reform of the ECHR or its court in Strasbourg.”“I reject the not...

Specter of Russian interference hangs over Slovak election, EU warns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

The upcoming Slovak elections are “a test case” of how vulnerable European elections are to the “multi-million euro weapon of mass manipulation” that Moscow uses to meddle in votes through online disinformation, the European Union’s chief digital affairs official said Tuesday.Slovaks head to the polls on September 30 for their parliamentary election. Leading the polls is the populist Smer-SD party headed by Robert Fico, the country’s controversial former prime minister who supports ending military support to Ukraine. The vote is crucial “because the approach to Russia or Ukraine is a divisive line,” said European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová, the Czech politician in charge of digital affairs and democracy at the EU level.The EU also holds its own European Parliament election in June next year. Poland will choose its next government on October 15, in another critical election that could influence Russia’s prospects in...

Growing number of Senate Democrats call for Menendez to resign amid federal indictment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

Washington (CNN) — Sens. Tammy Baldwin, Jack Rosen and Jon Tester on Tuesday are among the latest Senate Democrats to call on their Democratic colleague, Sen. Bob Menendez, to resign in the wake of a federal indictment accusing him of corruption-related offenses.“While Senator Menendez enjoys the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and will have his day in court to defend himself, I believe it’s best for his constituents, the American people, and our national security for the Senator to step down,” Baldwin, of Wisconsin, said in a statement Tuesday morning.Tester, who faces a tough reelection in Montana next year, echoed Baldwin’s sentiments.“I’ve read the detailed charges against Senator Menendez and find them deeply disturbing. While he deserves a fair trial like every other American, I believe Senator Menendez should resign for the sake of the public’s faith in the U.S. Senate,” he said in a statement.The lack of support from Menendez’s Democratic colleagues co...

Judge dismisses charges against Philadelphia police officer in fatal shooting during traffic stop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge has dismissed all charges, including a murder count, against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver.Philadelphia Municipal Judge Wendy Pew made her ruling Tuesday after watching video of the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry. The defense had asserted that Officer Mark Dial was acting in self-defense when he fired his weapon at close range through the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a vehicle stop on Aug. 14.Defense lawyer Brian McMonagle had urged Pew to drop all charges, which included manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts.Dial’s bail had been revoked this month after prosecutors argued the charges made him ineligible for release.Police bodycam footage shows Dial firing his weapon at close range through the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a vehicle stop. Dial shot Irizarry about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and walking over to his...

Congress is moving into crisis mode as time runs short to avoid a government shutdown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a government shutdown five days away, Congress is moving into crisis mode as Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces an insurgency from hard-right Republicans eager to slash spending even if it means curtailing federal services for millions of Americans.There’s no clear path ahead as lawmakers return with tensions high and options limited. The House is expected to vote Tuesday evening on a package of bills to fund parts of the government, but it’s not at all clear that McCarthy has the support needed to move ahead. Meanwhile, the Senate, trying to stave off a federal closure, is preparing its own bipartisan plan for a stopgap measure to buy some time and keep offices funded past Saturday’s deadline as work in Congress continues. But plans to tack on additional Ukraine aid have run into trouble as a number of Republicans in both the House and Senate oppose spending more money on the war effort. Against the mounting chaos, President Joe Biden warned the R...

Latino charitable giving rates drop sharply – but that’s not the full story

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

The share of Latinos who give to established charities has dropped sharply since 2008, a new study has found. The same has been true for other Americans, but the percentage of Hispanics who give to help people in need through less formal efforts is higher than for others in the United States.Those findings come from a study released last week by Hispanics in Philanthropy, an organization that works to advance Latino giving, and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.The report found that 26% of Latinos gave in 2018, the most recent data available, compared with 44% in 2008. The share of all Americans who give has also been on the decline: Only half of households gave in 2018, compared with two thirds in 2000.One likely reason for the disparity between Latinos and other donors can be traced to the lack of economic growth for Hispanics, who are the country’s second largest ethnic group.The average income for Latino households has stayed largely flat from 2000 to 20...

Belarus’ top diplomat says he can’t imagine his nation entering the war in Ukraine alongside Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The foreign minister of Belarus, which has a strategic partnership with Russia, says he cannot envision a situation where his country would enter the war in Ukraine alongside Russian forces.Sergei Aleinik said in an interview with The Associated Press that he also can’t imagine a situation where Russia would order his country to use the tactical nuclear weapons it recently deployed in Belarus.“I don’t see such an option because it is an instrument of defense primarily,” he said of the missiles.But if Belarus was invaded, “I will not exclude any instruments to be used to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country,” he said.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has relied on Russian subsidies and political support to rule the ex-Soviet nation with an iron hand for nearly three decades, allowed the Kremlin to use Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 at the start of the invasion. But Lukashenko has opposed ...

Director X on swapping gender and race for an updated morality tale in ‘Robyn Hood’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

TORONTO — The creator of a revamped version of the Robin Hood tale has little time for critics who object to its focus on a young Black woman.Director X, born Julien Christian Lutz, says a good deal of social media critique and indignation he’s seen over his new drama “Robyn Hood” centre on multiple changes to the centuries-old English legend: it’s set in a modern-day city, the new female folk hero Robyn leads a masked hip hop group called “The Hood” and her main adversaries are crooked cops and land developers. It’s also a predominantly Black cast, led by London actress Jessye Romeo as Robyn, although the villains in the first episode appear to be mostly white. As a result, Lutz says people seem to expect his show to be about racial tensions or social justice, but he insists there was never an intention to “promote any specific message.”“We made a modern-day Robin Hood and this wasn’t to push anything in particular,” says Lutz, who made his name as a genre-p...

‘Did he just wipe out?’: Dash-cam video shows stunt-driving motorcyclist on Hwy. 407

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:11 GMT

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) charged a motorcyclist with stunt driving after dash-cam footage captured the rider travelling at high speeds and swerving between lanes before crashing on Highway 407.OPP Highway Safety Division shared the footage on X. It shows multiple motorcycle riders passing vehicles on Hwy. 407 and Hwy. 400 in Vaughan just after noon on Sunday, Sept. 24.The driver and passenger of the vehicle recording make note of the motorcyclists passing them at a dangerous speed. It then shows the moment a motorcycle rider crashes off the highway into a ditch.“Did he just wipe out?” one woman is heard asking. “Yep.”The footage then shows one driver pulling over to assist the motorcycle rider. The vehicle with the dash-cam footage also pulls over off the highway.34-year-old motorcycle rider charged with #StuntDriving after crashing SB #Hwy400/407. Rider taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No other vehicles involved. #DashCam (Sept 23...