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6 arrested in Romania, Germany, Bulgaria in probe of people-smuggling ring

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Six people have been arrested in Romania, Germany and Bulgaria in raids targeting a network alleged to have smuggled hundreds of migrants into Romania and Germany, authorities said Wednesday.Fifteen properties were searched on Wednesday, 11 of them in Romania, German federal police said in a statement. Four of the arrests were made in searches of accommodation in Romania used to house migrants. Three cars were seized, along with cellphones, cash and other evidence.There was one arrest apiece in Germany and Bulgaria.The suspects are accused of smuggling more than 560 people into Germany and more than 300 into Romania, according to German police.The investigation started after Turkish and Syrian citizens were found near Germany’s borders with Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. They had been brought from Turkey by various means of transportation. Police said that the smugglers took them from the western Romanian city of Timisoara to Germany hidden among goods i...

Investors losing interest in Denver metro real estate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver area isn't the draw for real estate investors it once was a few years ago. According to real estate broker Redfin, June data shows the Denver metro is among the areas that have seen the sharpest drop in investor interest in the last year. Investors bought $10B worth of Denver-area homes since 2021 Formerly, the Denver metro was a red-hot investor market. Nationally, as many as one in five homes in the U.S. were bought by investors, depending on the quarter. In Colorado, investors have been very active in the housing market. Between the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2022, about 15% of the number of homes sold in the Denver metro were to investors.Fast forward to 2023 and the picture has changed. In the first quarter of 2023, the Denver metro's share of homes sold to real estate investors has fallen 50% from a year ago, the 12th highest rate among large metros.The Denver metro had the ninth-lowest share of homes purchased by investors i...

Prosecutor: Deputy could have stopped Parkland school shooting but chose to take cover

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff’s deputy at the scene of the Parkland school shooting is on trial over whether he failed to take action and prevent the deaths of six of the 17 people killed in the 2018 massacre.In opening statements Wednesday, a prosecutor told the jury that Scot Peterson, a former Broward County Deputy, took cover instead of charging inside a building to confront shooter Nikolas Cruz as he carried out his six-minute attack.Peterson, 60, is the first U.S. law enforcement officer ever charged with a crime for an alleged failure to act during a school shooting. If convicted, he could get a prison sentence of nearly a century and lose his $104,000 annual pension. Texas authorities are investigating the officers who didn’t confront the Uvalde gunman who killed 19 elementary students and two teachers last year, but none have been charged.Peterson had undergone training where he was told that he needs to go toward the gunshots if there’s an active sho...

Excited Heat fans gather outside Kaseya Center for Jimmy Butler’s pop-up coffee shop ahead of game 3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

Fans are excited as a pop-up event is keeping the Heat hype going right on until tip-off. After stealing a win in Denver for game two, the Miami Heat came back to their home court and some lucky fans are excited to be in the rowdy crowd for Wednesday night’s game. “I am super excited. This was a birthday present from my fiancé so I just could not be more excited. This is my very first final game ever,” said Heat fan Nicole Hallman.Frankie Theroux said he is ecstatic to go to this game as he has never been to an NBA finals game.“Oh, I’m absolutely pumped,” said Steven Isaac. “I’ve been to every game since the play-in. I’ve had season tickets since Jimmy’s arrival in Miami so in 2019.” The players feed off the excitement the fans give and the fans are ready to give it their all. “Tonight at [the Kaseya Center] is going to be absolutely rockin’,” said Isaac. “I don’t think there’s one...

Russians shooting at rescuers in flooded areas, Zelenskyy says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

KYIV — Russian forces are shooting at Ukrainian rescuers attempting to reach those trapped in flood-struck areas of occupied Kherson after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview.“As soon as our helpers try to rescue them, they are shot at,” Zelenskyy said, referring to efforts to reach residents of towns on the Russian-occupied bank of the Dnipro River, which has been inundated with floodwater after blasts partially destroyed the dam on Tuesday. The floodwaters threaten 80 settlements on both the Ukrainian-held and Russian-occupied sides of the river, according to Kyiv.“People, animals have died,” Zelenskyy said. “From the roofs of the flooded houses, people see drowned people floating by. You can see that on the other side. It’s very hard to get people out of the occupied part of Kherson region. When our forces try to get them out, they are shot at by occupiers from a ...

Putin labels dam attack ‘barbaric.’ The world says he orchestrated it.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

In his first comments since the destruction of a strategic Russian-controlled dam in southern Ukraine, Russia President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the extensive damage and called the actions of those responsible “barbaric.”Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a phone call on Wednesday the blast that destroyed the dam was a “barbaric action” that “led to a large-scale environmental and humanitarian catastrophe,” according to a Kremlin statement.Just one problem: The West says Putin was the one responsible. Both Russia and Ukraine have blamed one another for the alleged explosion that destroyed the dam and forced the evacuation of thousands of people, a rescue effort largely facilitated by Ukraine. Damage to Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam, which has unleashed massive flooding in the Kherson region, could be a potential war crime, EU and Ukrainian leaders said Tuesday. Putin, according to the Kremlin’s readout, was undeter...

Sunak kills talk of US-UK trade deal as digital hopes grow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rishi Sunak has admitted an overarching trade deal with the United States — once seen as Brexit’s biggest prize — is not a priority ahead of meeting President Joe Biden in Washington D.C.The U.K. government previously promised a trade deal with the U.S. by 2022, but last year during her brief stint as prime minister, Liz Truss acknowledged it would not happen in the short to medium term.Sunak’s words on the plane to the U.S. capital are the clearest acknowledgement yet that a free trade agreement between the two countries is out of reach.“For a while now, that has not been a priority for either the U.S. or U.K.,” he said. “What we’re both focused on is making sure that our economic partnership reflects the particular challenges and opportunities of the time that we’re in right now.”Talks with Biden will focus on economic security, he added, and “specific and targeted ways to improve trade between our countries.”He declined to say if the promise of a full-fat deal ...

Prince Harry chokes up in witness box, telling court his phone hacking testimony has been ‘a lot’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

London (CNN) — Prince Harry choked up in court as he concluded an eight-hour testimony in his lawsuit against a major British newspaper publisher, admitting he would feel an “injustice” if his claims of phone hacking were dismissed by the judge.Asked by his lawyer how the experience of giving evidence had been, the Duke of Sussex became emotional and, after a long pause, said “it is a lot.”“For my whole life, the press misled me, covered up the wrongdoing, and sitting here in court knowing that the (respondents have) the evidence in front of them and for (opposition lawyer) Mr. Green to suggest I’m speculating… I’m not sure what to say about that,” the duke said.The flash of emotion came at the end of testimony – the first by a senior royal since 1891 – that stretched over two days and touched on extensive coverage of Harry’s childhood, teenage years and early 20s.The duke is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), accusing its titles of phone hacking and using...

Check your tickets! State lottery warns 3 unclaimed Mass Cash, Powerball prizes are nearing expiration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

If you happen to have some old Mass Cash or Powerball tickets lying around, it might be worth giving them another glance since lottery officials say several prizes have gone unclaimed and are set to expire soon.The Massachusetts State Lottery Commission says two Mass Cash prizes worth $100,000 are set to expire in the next few weeks, as well as a Powerball prize worth $50,000 after all three went unclaimed for nearly a year.First to expire soon is a winning Mass Cash ticket sold at the Seven 86 Market on Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury. Officials said the drawing took place on June 19, 2022, and that the winning numbers were 01-09-11-21-31.Next to expire is a winning Powerball ticket that was sold at the Sunoco on 422 Main Street in Hudson. The winning numbers for the drawing on June 22, 2022, were 06-10-31-48-56, 12.Also set to expire soon – a Mass Cash ticket that was sold at the Stop & Shop on Lincoln Street in Worcester. The drawing date for that prize was July 10, 2022, ...

Pope Francis undergoes abdominal surgery, will stay in hospital for several days

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:24 GMT

By NICOLE WINFIELD and MARIA CHENG (Associated Press)ROME (AP) — Pope Francis underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, the latest malady to befall the 86-year-old pontiff who had part of his colon removed two years ago.The Vatican said there were no complications after the three-hour surgery, during which Francis was under general anesthesia. The 86-year-old pontiff was expected to remain at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for several days. As a precaution, all papal audiences were canceled through June 18, the Vatican said.While hernia operations are rarely performed on an emergency basis, the procedure appeared somewhat urgent, scheduled just a day after Francis went to the hospital for tests. The pontiff’s doctors no doubt also wanted to give him ample time for recovery ahead of a busy travel schedule later this summer.The pope was suffering from a “painful and worsening” hernia that formed over a previous scar, presumably from h...