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Hunter Biden sold ‘illusion of access’ to his father, former business partner tells Congress

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

By FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden’s former business partner insisted in testimony to Congress Monday that President Joe Biden was never directly involved in their financial dealings, though Hunter would often put his famous father on speakerphone to impress clients and business associates. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee conducted a more than-five hour interview with Devon Archer as part of its expanding congressional inquiry into the Biden family businesses as the GOP explores a potential impeachment inquiry into the president. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers inside the closed-door interview said Archer testified that over the span of 10 years, Hunter Biden put his father on the phone around 20 times while in the company of associates but “never once spoke about any business dealings.”New York Rep. Dan Goldman, who was representing Democrats inside the room, told reporters after the interview that Archer...

Budget passed, tax relief stuck, as Massachusetts lawmakers head home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

Massachusetts state lawmakers handed a $56.2 billion fiscal 2024 budget to Gov. Maura Healey Monday, striking one major item from their legislative to-do list as they enter a month-long recess where mostly local bills move forward.All eyes on Beacon Hill now turn to the status of a tax relief plan that has been stuck since mid-February in closed-door negotiations led by the same two men who struck a deal on the budget. Top Democrats have worked on some form of tax relief for over a year.Senate budget chief Sen. Michael Rodrigues said producing a deal on tax relief is not “difficult at all” but there are a large “volume” of high-priority items on the chamber’s plate.He did not offer a concrete timeline for a tax relief deal but said the Senate would return during their August break “if we need to do it by roll call” vote and the branch wants to do it “as soon as possible.”“Democracy is painstakingly slow,” Rodrigues told reporters on Monday. “The deliberative process can be ver...

Trump political committee has spent more than $40 million on lawyers’ fees as his legal peril mounts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

By JILL COLVIN and BRIAN SLODYSKO (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump ‘s mounting legal woes are growing more expensive, leading his campaign to request a refund from a supportive super PAC and launch a new legal defense fund to help cover costs.His political action committee, Save America, is expected to disclose Monday that it spent more than $40 million on legal fees during the first half of the year for costs related to defending the former president, his aides and other allies, according to a person familiar with the filing who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the deadline. The number was first reported by The Washington Post.At the same time, Trump’s allies are creating a new legal defense fund that will help pay the soaring legal fees as Trump faces dozens of criminal charges stemming from indictments in New York and Florida, with more expected as soon as this week. The Patriot Legal Defense Fund, as it is called, is i...

Russian missiles kill at least 6 in Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment complex and a university building in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown Monday, killing six people and wounding 75 others as the blasts trapped residents beneath rubble, Ukrainian officials said.One of the two missiles that hit the central city of Kryvyi Rih destroyed part of an apartment building between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. Video showed black smoke billowing from corner units and burned out or damaged cars on a tree-lined street.The dead included a 10-year-old girl and her mother, according to Zelenskyy. More than 350 people were involved in the rescue operation, he said in a Telegram post.The morning attack also destroyed part of a four-story university building.The strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown, which has been hit in the past, happened a day after the Ukrainian president seemed to warn of more attacks inside Russia.“Gradually, the war is retu...

N.S. RCMP suspend search for missing youth, as another flooding victim remembered

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

WINDSOR, N.S. — Nova Scotia RCMP said Monday they suspended their search northwest of Halifax for a youth who was swept away July 22 by rushing floodwaters, as mourners gathered to remember a child killed during that same severe weather event.Police will resume the operation to find the youth once the remaining water in the search area is able to drain, they said. Supt. Sean Auld told reporters in Windsor, N.S., that search teams encountered pockets of water over the weekend up to three metres deep.“These pockets of water have low visibility and unpredictable terrain,” Auld said, adding that they were too dangerous for search teams.RCMP have said two vehicles were knocked off the road into a hayfield in Brooklyn, N.S., by rapidly rising water during a storm that dumped up to 250 millimetres of rain. Last week, searchers recovered the bodies of two six-year-old children — identified as Natalie Hazel Harnish and Colton Sisco — and 52-year-old Nicholas Holland, who was travelling with ...

Wildfire evacuations ease in Osoyoos, B.C., after frightening weekend

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

Hundreds of people are being allowed to return to their homes in Osoyoos in southern British Columbia after winds pushed back a wildfire that threatened the town over the weekend.The town endured a terrifying night on Saturday after the Eagle Bluff fire crossed the border with the United States and surged over hills overlooking Osoyoos.Erick Thompson of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen says at a briefing that there are 192 properties now on evacuation order, down from 732.But 2,632 homes are under evacuation alert, and their residents must be ready to leave at short notice.Winds have been a key factor in the battle to save Osoyoos, with Environment Canada calling for northwest winds through Monday before gusts of 20 kilometres per hour were forecast to ease late in the day.The BC Wildfire Service says that helped push the Eagle Bluff wildfire away from Osoyoos, less than two days after flames sparked in Washington state raced over the border.Shaelee Stearns of the BC Wi...

Greek prime minister seeks improved relations with Turkey but says Ankara must drop aggression

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Greece’s prime minister said Monday that his government wants to take full advantage of an improving political climate with neighboring Turkey in order to improve bilateral relations despite a string of decades-old disputes. But Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that didn’t mean Turkey had “substantially changed” its stance on key differences between the two countries and must “decisively abandon its aggressive and unlawful conduct” against Greece’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.Turkey and Greece remain at odds over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, a dispute that affects irregular migration into the European Union, mineral rights and the projection of military power.Mitsotakis said that he agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12 to initiate new “lines of communication” and to maintain “a period of calm.”High-level talks between the the two countries ...

S&P/TSX composite gains more than 100 points Monday, U.S. markets also rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index closed up more than 100 points Monday led by gains in tech and metals, while U.S. markets also rose. “What we’re seeing is more optimism around this soft landing narrative,” said Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist with Edward Jones. With consumers appearing to hold up despite higher interest rates and the labour market remaining strong even as inflation moderates, investors are looking for continuous confirmation that central banks are on the right path. “I’d say there’s a little bit of, maybe, fatigue after such a strong run through last week,” Mahajan added, with markets appearing to take a breather on Monday.  The S&P/TSX composite index was up 107.27 points at 20,626.64.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 100.24 points at 35,559.53.The S&P 500 index was up 6.73 points at 4,588.96, while the Nasdaq composite was up 29.37 points at 14,346.02.There’s more to come for investors this week tha...

Connecticut US Rep. Rosa DeLauro gets inked at age 80 alongside her 18-year-old granddaughter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro has stood out for years with her colorful clothing and hairstyle, but it took one of her six grandchildren to finally convince the 80-year-old lawmaker to complement her fashion-forward look with a tattoo.The Democrat revealed in a statement Monday that she and her granddaughter, who is now old enough to legally get a tattoo in Connecticut, got inked together. “For her 18th birthday, my granddaughter wanted to get a tattoo with me. So, we went together,” DeLauro said. “She’s off to college in the fall, and this strengthens our bond.”The design of the tattoo on her left upper arm is personal for DeLauro. It depicts a rose, which represents her name Rosa. The petal in the center of flower forms the letter “D” to represent her last name, and the bottom left of the rose has a stylized version of Italy, an homage to the country where her father immigrated from, said Daniel Robillard, her press assistant.DeLauro is far from the fi...

Islamic group suggests that member nations downgrade ties with countries that allow Quran burnings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:27 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The Organization for Islamic Cooperation urged its member nations Monday to take action against countries that permit public burning or desecration of the Quran, including the recalling of ambassadors.The Saudi Arabia-based group made the call in a statement following an emergency online meeting of its foreign ministers to discuss recent incidents in which the Islamic holy book was burned or otherwise defaced at officially permitted protests in Sweden and Denmark.The organization’s 57 member countries should “consider taking any necessary decisions and actions that they deem appropriate in their relations” with Sweden, Denmark, and other countries that allow such incidents, including recalling their ambassadors, the statement said.It encouraged civil society organizations in the member states to work with counterparts in countries where the Quran has been burned or desecrated to file local lawsuits “before taking their cases to international judicial bodies...