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Takeaways from investigation that turned up gold bars, a luxury car and cash at a US senator’s home

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife are accused of taking bribes of gold bars, a luxury car and cash in exchange for using his outsized sway in foreign affairs to help the government of Egypt — and others — as well as other corrupt acts, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.Investigators say they found nearly $500,000 in cash hidden in clothing and closets as well as $100,000 in gold bars in a search of the home the 69-year-old senator from New Jersey shares with his wife. Menendez serves as the powerful chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.The indictment, the second in eight years against Menendez, and comes after a yearslong investigation that delved into his relationships with wealthy New Jersey businessmen. Menendez says he has been falsely accused but “will not be distracted” from work in the Senate, accusing prosecutors of misrepresenting “the normal work of a congressional office.”A lawyer for Menendez’s wife, Nadin...

Giorgio Napolitano, former Italian president and first ex-Communist in that post, has died at 98

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

ROME (AP) — Giorgio Napolitano, the first former Communist to rise to Italy’s presidency and the first person to be elected twice to the mostly ceremonial post, died on Friday, the presidential palace said. He was 98. A statement issued Friday night by the presidential palace confirmed Italian news reports of the death of Napolitano, who had been ailing in a Rome hospital for weeks. The current president, Sergio Mattarella, in a message hailed his predecessor as head of state, saying that Napolitano’s life “mirrored a large part of (Italy’s) history in the second half of the 20th century, with its dramas, its complexity, its goals, its hopes.”As a prominent member of what had long been the largest Communist party in the West, Napolitano had advocated positions that often veered from party orthodoxy. He sought dialogue with Italian and European socialists to end his party’s isolation, and he was an early backer of European integration. Turin daily La Stampa once wrote of ...

Quebec man sentenced to 15 months in jail for fomenting hatred against Jews

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

MONTREAL — A Quebec man convicted of promoting hatred against Jews has been sentenced to 15 months in jail and three years of probation.Quebec court Judge Manlio Del Negro said today in a Montreal courtroom that it’s clear Gabriel Sohier Chaput hasn’t grasped the seriousness of his actions or the harm he’s caused to society.Sohier Chaput was found guilty in January, after the judge ruled that a 2017 article published on the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer actively promoted hatred of Jewish people. The accused was a frequent contributor to the website, writing more than 800 articles for the online publication named after the Nazi-era propaganda newspaper Der Sturmer.Both the prosecution and the defence had recommended a three-month sentence followed by probation, but Del Negro said in July that he worried such a sentence would trivialize the crime. Sohier Chaput has admitted to writing part of the article that led to the charges, but has argued that the article w...

High-speed trains begin making trip between Orlando and Miami

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A privately owned high-speed passenger train service launched Friday between Florida’s two biggest tourist hubs.The Brightline train is a $5 billion bet by owner Fortress Investment Group that eventually 8 million people annually will take the 3.5-hour, 235-mile (378-kilometer) trip between Miami and Orlando — about 30 minutes less than the average drive.The company is charging single riders $158 round-trip for business class and $298 for first-class, with families and groups able to buy four round-trip tickets for $398. Thirty-two trains will run daily. Brightline, which began running its neon-yellow trains the 70 miles (112 kilometers) between Miami and West Palm Beach in 2018, is the first private intercity passenger service to begin U.S. operations in a century. Friday’s launch of the Miami-Orlando line was marred by the death of a pedestrian who was hit in South Florida on a section of track served by the new route. The unidentified passenger wa...

Federal judge rules Texas university that canceled drag show didn’t violate free speech rights

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

A federal judge has ruled that a university in the Texas Panhandle did not violate the constitutional right to free speech when the school’s president canceled a drag show earlier this year.The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Thursday, stands out among a string of high-profile legal battles over drag shows across the United States. Notably, federal courts have blocked drag show bans in Florida, Montana, Tennessee and a separate federal judge in Texas from being implemented.Yet in his decision, Kacsmaryk argued that drag shows are “sexualized content” and therefore can be more regulated than other forms of free speech.“The First Amendment does not prevent school officials from restricting ‘vulgar and lewd’ conduct that would ‘undermine the school’s basic educational mission’ — particularly in settings where children are physically present,” Kacsmaryk wrote.Earlier this year, Walter Wendrell, the president of West Texas A&M University in Canyo...

‘Ajuinnata Ukraine’: Gov. Gen. Mary Simon inspires Zelenskyy with Inuktitut word

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

OTTAWA — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ended his historic wartime address to Canada’s House of Commons with an Inuktitut message of inspiration and reliance that came from the Governor General herself. Zelenskyy met with Gov. Gen. Mary Simon earlier in the day, when she taught him an Inuktitut word she has shared with world leaders, Indigenous communities and Canadian children alike: ajuinnata.He says she told him the word means don’t give up, and stay strong against all odds. Simon is Canada’s first Indigenous person to hold her position, and she has referred to the Inuit concept of ajuinnata countless times since she took on the job in 2021. The Governor General’s office says the word is meaningful to Simon, who heard it from her elders while growing up, and adds that the Ukrainians have demonstrated the word through their steadfast fight for freedom. Zelenskyy ended his address in the House by wishing Canada and Ukraine ajuinnata, before the cham...

Doug Ford shuffles cabinet again as latest minister resigns

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced a sweeping round of changes to his cabinet following multiple recent departures.Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announced on Friday he would be leaving provincial politics to take a job in the private sector. McNaughton is the third minister to leave the Ford cabinet in recent weeks.McNaughton, who has represented the riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex since 2011, has served as minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development since 2019.The changes include the following:David Piccini becomes Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills DevelopmentAndrea Khanjin becomes Minister of the Environment, Conservation and ParksTodd McCarthy becomes Minister of Public and Business Service DeliveryVijay Thanigasalam becomes Associate Minister of TransportationFord’s office added that Andrea Khanjin will retain additional responsibilities as Deputy Government House Leader. All other ministers maintain their existing p...

Who’s Bob Menendez? New Jersey’s senator charged with corruption has survived politically for years

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Sen. Bob Menendez’s defense against new federal corruption charges against him, his wife and business associates Friday, revealed he’s adopting the same defiant stance he took when he faced federal accusations nearly a decade ago. A three-term senator who has held office at every level across New Jersey’s rough-and-tumble political landscape, Menendez vowed to fight the latest set of charges and questioned the veracity of the indictment. In almost the same language he used in 2017 after a mistrial on federal corruption charges, he cast the indictment Friday in political terms and vowed to continue his work in the Senate. “For years, forces behind the scenes have repeatedly attempted to silence my voice and dig my political grave,” Menendez said in a statement. It was an echo from six years earlier, when he addressed “those who were digging my political grave” and told them he would not forget who they were.It’s a sign, those who know Mene...

Pope decries indifference toward migrants, as he prays for the dead in the French port of Marseille

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Pope Francis blasted the “fanaticism of indifference” that greets migrants seeking a better life in Europe, as he arrived Friday in the Mediterranean port of Marseille amid a new influx of would-be refugees from Africa that has sparked a backlash from some of Europe’s increasingly anti-migrant leaders.Opening a brief, overnight visit to the French port, Francis presided over a silent moment of prayer at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea. He was surrounded by leaders of Marseille’s varied faith groups and representatives of migrant rescue organizations that have increasingly come under fire from Europe’s populist politicians.The visit, scheduled months ago, came as Europe’s migrant dilemma is again in headlines. Last week, the Italian island of Lampedusa was overwhelmed by nearly 7,000 migrants who arrived in a day after paying smugglers in Tunisia for passage, more than the island’s resident population.“Cruelty, a lack of h...

Revamped 3 Floyds taproom coming back to Munster

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 08:17:39 GMT

MUNSTER, Ind. — The beloved Northwest Indiana brewery 3 Floyds, which has gained worldwide acclaim, is bringing back its shuttered taproom in a major expansion project.According to documents from their attorney, they want to nearly double the size of its brewpub to around 5,200 square feet. The brewpub, located at the brewery in the block of 9700 Indiana Parkway, closed in May 2020 due to the pandemic.The Munster staple did not reopen as the company focused more on distributing its award-winning beers across the country.In addition to expanding the brewpub, 3 Floyds plans a beer garden, covered patio area, a game room and an outdoor bar.Attorney Scott Yahne wrote that the prior setup was a challenge to 3 Floyds as the brewery got more attention."As patrons of the prior iteration of the Taproom are aware, the prior configuration was extremely cramped and could not meet the demand that followed 3 Floyds world renowned beer and distilled spirits, not to mention the extraordinary food c...