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Ancient Knights of Malta gets its first nonaristocratic head

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

ROME (AP) — A Canadian lawyer who found his vocation caring for AIDS patients in Harlem has been elected the grand master of the Knights of Malta, the first non-European and first nonaristocratic head of the ancient lay Catholic order that provides humanitarian aid around the world.John Dunlap, 66, was elected by an absolute majority of 99 voting members of a Knights body known as “the council complete of state.” He immediately informed Pope Francis of his election and was being sworn in later Wednesday at the Knights’ magnificent villa on Rome’s Aventine hill.The election brings a hoped-for end to a tumultuous few years during which Francis intervened to remove a previous grand master during a governance crisis. Francis then imposed a new set of constitutional reforms on the order in ways that critics said threatened its sovereignty.The Knights of Malta is an ancient chivalric order that runs hospitals and clinics around the world. It counts 13,500 knights, dames and chaplains, 80,...

Syria and Iran sign long-term oil and trade agreements

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The presidents of Iran and Syria signed Wednesday a series of long-term cooperation agreements on oil and other sectors to bolster economic ties between the two allies.Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi, leading a large economic and political delegation, met with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, after landing in the war-torn country for a two-day visit — an Iranian president’s first visit to Damascus since 2010.Tehran has been a main backer of Assad’s government since a 2011 uprising turned into full-blown civil war and has played an instrumental role in turning the tide of the conflict in his favor.Iran has sent scores of military advisers and thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the Middle East to Syria to fight on Assad’s side. Tehran has also been an economic lifeline for Assad, sending fuel and credit lines worth billions of dollars.Syrian government forces have regained control of large parts of the country in recent years, with t...

GTA housing market showing signs of tightening: Toronto real estate board

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

Toronto’s housing market continued to tighten last month as prices edged up four per cent from March and sales moved closer to the level they were at last April, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board revealed Wednesday.April’s average price tumbled 7.8 per cent to $1,153,269, but was roughly four per cent higher than the $1,108,499 the average buyer paid in March.Sales for the month hit 7,531, down 5.2 per cent from a year ago but up about nine per cent from March.Those sales outpaced new listings, which were down by over a third from a year before, fuelling more competition between buyers who were too hesitant to buy homes earlier this year.Pushing these buyers to the sidelines were eight consecutive interest rate hikes, which took a bite out of their borrowing power, even as prices started to tumble.Their hesitance and those lower prices weighed on sellers too as many held off listing their homes because they won’t fetch the big sums or bidding wars their neighb...

Bolsonaro home searched as Brazil probes fake vaccine cards

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police searched former President Jair Bolsonaro’s home and seized his phone Wednesday in what they said was an investigation into alleged falsification of COVID-19 vaccine cards. Several other locations also were searched and a half-dozen people faced arrest, police said.The president confirmed the search on his residence while speaking with reporters, as did his wife Michelle on her Instagram account. She said her phone wasn’t seized, contrary to media reports.A federal police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, said that Bolsonaro will be deposed at Federal Police headquarters and confirmed that one of his closest allies, Mauro Cid, was arrested.Asked about the search of Bolsonaro’s home, the Federal Police’s press office provided a statement saying officers were carrying out 16 searches and six arrests in Rio de Janeiro related to the introduction of fraudulent data re...

Judge: Synagogue massacre suspect can face death penalty

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The man charged in the deadliest attack on Jewish people in U.S. history has lost another bid to get the death penalty removed as a possible punishment.With jury selection underway at the federal trial of Robert Bowers, a judge ruled Tuesday against a defense motion that challenged the government’s pursuit of the death penalty. U.S. District Judge Robert Colville said in his decision that Bowers’ defense team “fails entirely to establish a basis upon which the court could conclude that the government has arbitrarily sought the death penalty in this case.”Bowers, of the Pittsburgh suburb of Baldwin, is charged with 63 criminal counts in the killings of 11 worshippers on Oct. 27, 2018, at the Tree of Life synagogue building where three congregations had gathered. The charges include 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.Prosecutors say Bowers made antisemitic comments at th...

Russia claims Ukraine tried to hit Kremlin; Kyiv denies it

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia claimed it foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kremlin early Wednesday, calling it an unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin and promising retaliation for what it termed a “terrorist” act. Ukraine denied any involvement, saying Moscow could use it for further escalation of the war.Putin wasn’t in the Kremlin at the time and was at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.There was no independent verification of the reported attack on the Kremlin, which Russia authorities said occurred overnight but presented no evidence in support of the claim. Nor did officials say why it took more than 12 hours to report the incident.Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied any involvement. “Ukraine has nothing to do with drone attacks on the Kremlin,” he said. He said the claims would provide a pretext for Russia “to justify massive strikes on Ukraini...

Johnson names former CPD chief Fred Waller interim superintendent

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

CHICAGO — Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson has named former Chief of Patrol Fred Waller interim police superintendent. Waller is coming out of retirement to take the job — after spending nearly three and a half decades with CPD. He retired in Aug. 2020 and will officially take over on May 15, the same day as Johnson's inauguration.Waller, the former chief of patrol, was passed over the CPD superintendent job that went to Eddie Johnson in 2016.When he retired, Waller had attained the third-highest rank in the Chicago Police Department and sources told WGN's Erik Runge that he is respected within the department and is known as a "cop's cop."“Chief Waller has dedicated his career to serving the people of Chicago at virtually every level of the Chicago Police Department from patrol officer to third in command. He has the vision, experience, and integrity to lead the department through this pivotal time as we build a safer, stronger Chicago,” said Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.The Community Com...

Olympic medal-winning sprinter Tori Bowie dies at 32

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

Tori Bowie, the sprinter who won three Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, has died. She was 32.Bowie's death was announced Wednesday by her management company and USA Track and Field. No cause of death was given.Growing up in Sandhill, Mississippi, Bowie was coaxed into track as a teenager and quickly rose up the ranks as a sprinter and long jumper. She attended Southern Mississippi, where she swept the long jump NCAA championships at the indoor and outdoor events in 2011.Bowie turned in an electric performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she won silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. She then ran the anchor leg on a 4x100 team with Tianna Bartoletta, Allyson Felix and English Gardner to take gold. Seattle man dies while climbing Mount Everest A year later, she won the 100 meters at the 2017 world championships in London.Bowie was taken in by her grandmother as an infant after she was left at a foster home. She considered herself a basketball p...

Jenny Craig closing all locations: report

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – All Jenny Craig locations will imminently shutter, according to internal communications obtained by NBC News. Hourly employees at Jenny Craig weight loss centers were told by email that their last day was Tuesday, NBC reported. Corporate and salaried employees' last day is set for Friday.Nexstar reached out to Jenny Craig for comment on NBC's reporting, but didn't immediately hear back.The company, based in Carlsbad, California, offers meal plans, food delivery and coaching for clients looking to lose weight. The first Jenny Craig weight loss center opened in 1983, the company says. Bed Bath & Beyond liquidation sale has started. Here’s what you need to know By 2019, Jenny Craig had grown to 500 locations and employed about 1,000 people, NBC reported. Reports of impending layoffs for the company have swirled in recent days, as the company warned employees it would be "winding down physical operations.""Like many other companies, we're currently transitioning from ...

Feds: 288 'digital drug lords' busted selling fentanyl online

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:31:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (WPIX) -- U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Tuesday that nearly 300 people selling fake pills and other fentanyl products on the dark net have been busted."The drug traffickers are confident that operating anonymously on the dark web, they can operate outside the bounds of law," Garland said. "They are wrong."Garland said the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement (JCODE) team had been working on various cases since the fall of 2021, ultimately arresting 288 people from Boca Raton, Florida, to Cerritos, California, in a federal operation called Operation SpecTor. In addition, eight foreign nations cooperated with the U.S. government to break up internet deals for drugs, some of the narcotics bought with cryptocurrency."The clear and direct message is that the FBI will never rest until we shine a light on the digital drug lords," Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate said at the press conference.Abbate noted his agency used undercover agents and acted o...