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Germany, Italy clamp down on Italian mob with raids, arrests

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Police arrested suspects and raided homes early Wednesday across Germany and Italy in a massive effort to clamp down on members of the Italian ’ndrangheta organized crime syndicate.In Germany, more than 1,000 officers searched dozens of homes, offices and stores in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia, prosecutors said in a joint statement.In Italy, carabinieri police backed by helicopters served arrest warrants on 108 people who were accused, among other things, of mafia association; possession, production, and trafficking of drugs and weapons; and money laundering.European authorities have been waging a campaign against the Calabria-based ’ndrangheta, arguably the world’s richest organized crime group, in recent years. The group has exploited tens of billions of dollars in cocaine revenues over decades to extend its criminal reach across Europe and into several continents as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence.Over 30 ...

Teenage boy opens fire in school in Serbia capital

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A teenage boy opened fire early Wednesday in a school in central Belgrade, causing injuries, Serbian police said.Police received a call about the shooting in the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school around 8:40a.m., they said in a statement.The suspect, a 7th grade student, was arrested, police said. The statement added that the boy apparently fired several shots from his father’s gun at other students and the school guard.Serbian media have reported that the guard was killed in the shooting. Police gave no other details. The Vladislav Ribnikar school is located in the very center of Belgrade. Primary schools in Serbia have eight grades.The Associated Press

Iran’s president lands in Syria for rare meeting with Assad

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

DAMASCUS (AP) — Iraninan President Ebrahim Raisi landed in Damascus Wednesday on the first visit by an Iranian head of state to the war-wracked country in over a decade.Tehran has been a main backer of President Bashar Assad’s government since an uprising turned into a full-blown war in March 2011 and has played an instrumental role in turning the tide in his favor. Iran has sent scores of military advisers and thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the Middle East to fight on Assad’s side. With the help of Russia and Iran, Syrian government forces have controlled large parts of the country in recent years. During his two-day visit, Raisi is expected to meet Assad to sign several agreements and memorandums of understanding to boost cooperation, Syrian state and pro-government media reported. In an interview with pan-Arab television channel Al-Mayadeen, Raisi called for reconstruction efforts and for refugees who fled the country’s war to return to the countr...

In coronation, King Charles carries on a medieval tradition

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Great Britain’s royal family turns the page on a new chapter Saturday with the coronation of King Charles III. The pomp, pageantry and symbolism dates back more than 1,000 years, but the crowning of this king will feature new twists on the tradition and changes from the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 70 years ago. Plans for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey call for a more toned-down affair than the last one, even though royals from other nations, heads of state and most of Charles’ family will be there, and the monarch plans to wear the same vestments as Elizabeth did. Here are some things to know about the coronation:WHY HAVE THE CORONATION IF CHARLES IS ALREADY KING?Charles automatically ascended to the throne when Elizabeth died Sept. 8, and he was officially proclaimed Britain’s monarch two days later in an ascension ceremony broadcast for the first time on television. Charles said he was “deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duti...

French police clash with black-clad anarchists during May Day rallies

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

French police clashed in Paris and in other cities with hundreds of anarchists dressed in black during protests led by unions against President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age. Workers held rallies on Labour Day across Europe.Demonstrators attacked the Paris police force with Molotov cocktail and fireworks. They also set fire to building materials and destroyed bus stops. The peaceful protesters booed police officers as they used tear gas and batons to respond.Water cannons were used by emergency services to extinguish a fire that had blackened windows in nearby apartments. A fiery projectile struck an officer, causing him to be badly injured.In Lyon and Nantes there was also violence, with some cars being set on fire and businesses being trashed. According to the interior ministry, nearly 200 people were detained on a single day when 782,000 people were out in the streets.Macron raised the retirement age to 64 last month despite strikes in multiple sectors. T...

Presale Codes for Shinedown The Revolutions Live Tour with Papa Roach and Spiritbox

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

Did you know that sometimes goodbye is a second chance? Well forget goodbye, how about you say hello to Shinedown when they come to a city near you! The epic Florida rockers just announced a summer and fall leg of their “The Revolutions Live” tour with special guests Papa Roach and Spiritbox. The tour launches on September 3 in St Louis, MO and will hit 26 dates in total, wrapping on October 20 in Denver, CO, and will be making a stop here in Southern California at the FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on October 15 — see below for all dates. Passwords and presale codes for the Shinedown The Revolutions Live Tour tickets are as follows:Presale codes for Shinedown The Revolutions Live TourPresale tickets for the Shinedown The Revolutions Live Tour go on sale today, May 3 and we’ve been told the following presale codes and passwords may work. Details are subject to change, and vary by event date:Citi card presale code or password: 412800 (you will need a Citi card to make t...

Single family residence in San Jose sells for $1.7 million

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

1476 Portobelo Drive – Google Street ViewA 1,937-square-foot house built in 1968 has changed hands. The property located in the 1400 block of Portobelo Drive in San Jose was sold on April 10, 2023, for $1,660,000, or $857 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, three baths, a garage, and two parking spaces, as well as a pool in the backyard. The unit sits on a 6,283-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:In January 2023, a 2,450-square-foot home on Las Cruces Court in San Jose sold for $1,500,000, a price per square foot of $612. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.A 2,144-square-foot home on the 4700 block of Sutcliff Avenue in San Jose sold in September 2022, for $1,750,000, a price per square foot of $816. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Yucatan Way, San Jose, in April 2023, a 1,744-square-foot home was sold for $1,900,000, a price per square foot of $1,089. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 

Epic return by Pavelski goes to waste as Stars lose Game 1

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Joe Pavelski became the oldest player ever with a four-goal game in the NHL playoffs, and did it in his return two weeks after going into concussion protocol. And that still wasn’t enough for the Dallas Stars. “Epic. Epic. Ashamed we wasted it and didn’t win,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “That’s on our group because, you know, he more than do his part. He tried to drag us to a win.”The 38-year-old Pavelski scored all four of their goals, including two in the third period to force overtime, before the Stars lost 5-4 to Seattle in Game 1 of their second-round series on Tuesday night.“It’s just Joe. I’m not surprised. I should be, everybody should be,” DeBoer said. “He’s the oldest guy on the sheet of ice tonight and he’s by far the best player on either team. But that’s just Joe.”Pavelski wasn’t on the ice when Yanni Gourde scored an unassisted goal 12:17 into overtime. The veteran center was only able to look up in disbelief from the benc...

Greece is worst EU country for press freedom (again), report says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

Greece sucks for journalists, according to a new report. For the second year in a row, Greece came last among EU countries in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) 2023 World Press Freedom Index, released Wednesday.Greece now ranks 107th, right behind Qatar and Thailand, and performing worse than countries such as Niger, Lesotho and Haiti, the press freedom organization’s ranking shows.The southeastern European country improved a place compared with last year, but its overall score slightly decreased at 55.2 out of 100, from 55.5 in 2022. Norway, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden are best-in-class, with scores ranging from 88 to over 95.The main reasons for Greece’s lackluster score include arbitrary surveillance of journalists by intelligence agencies using the Predator spyware — dubbed the “biggest press freedom violation in the European Union in 2022″ by RSF — but also government interference in media, abusive lawsuits and insufficient legal protections. The 2021 mu...

In Ukraine, it’s not hatred they feel, it’s wrath

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:39:11 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.“We were invisible before, and to become visible is a huge step,” historian Olena Dzhedzhora said, as we discussed how Ukraine has drawn the attention of the rest of Europe and the United States.The dignified, gray-haired historian joined the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv as it was being founded in 2002 — the first Catholic university to open anywhere in the former Soviet Union — just 11 years after the country declared independence. And since Russia’s invasion, Dzhedzhora, an archeologist-turned-medievalist, has been busy making darkness visible, along with around 30 volunteers — students, lecturers and others — who’ve been video recording and transcribing war testimonies gathered from people of all walks of life in Ukraine.Last year, Lviv became a sort of Noah’s Ark, crowded with the displaced. And Dzhedzhora’s university stopped functioning for months — sheltering war refugees, feeding them, collecting medicine and raisin...