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Sweden charges man arrested last year in predawn raid with spying for Russia

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Russian-born Swedish citizen was charged Monday with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade.Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said Sergey Skvortsov, 60, was accused of “gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power.” Skvortsov was arrested in November together with his wife in a predawn operation in Nacka, outside Stockholm. Swedish media reported that elite police rappelled from two Black Hawk helicopters to arrest the couple.Skvortsov has been in custody since his arrest and denies any wrongdoing, according to his defense lawyer, Ulrika Borg. His wife was released without charge following an investigation by Sweden’s security agency.According to the charge sheet, obtained by The Associated Press, Skvortsov from July 1, 2014, to November 22, “secretly and/or with the use of fraudulent means conducted activities for the Russian state with the aim of acquiring information about co...

A Hong Kong language group shuts down after an essay alleged to have breached security law

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — A group that promotes the Cantonese language shut down on Monday after Hong Kong authorities said an essay submitted to a literary competition three years ago violated the national security law, in the latest example of the city’s erosion of freedom of expression. Andrew Chan, chairperson of the Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis, said in a Facebook post that national security officers visited his former home, where his family lives, without a search warrant last week when he was out of town. The officers asked him to remove the fictional essay in question from his group’s website immediately, he said. Chan said he decided to halt the operation of his association due to the legal risks and a lack of resources. “I am so shocked and I still cannot believe it’s happened,” he said in an email to The Associated Press “I am also sad that even (as) I am running something only related to arts and literature, and still (can) be targeted by the national secu...

Biden and the first lady head to District of Columbia public middle school to welcome back students

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are visiting a District of Columbia public middle school on Monday to welcome students back for the new school year. The Bidens are heading to Eliot-Hine Middle School, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia’s first day of school for the 2023-24 year. The event kicks off several back-to-school activities for the first lady, who is traveling later in the week to the Midwest to celebrate teachers and to highlight the mental health needs of students. Jill Biden is a longtime teacher. She’s the first first lady to continue her career outside the White House. She teaches English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, which is where she taught during the eight years her husband was President Barack Obama’s vice president. The school was built in 1931 and was recently modernized with state-of-the-art facilities. It has about 300 students. According to its website, it i...

China won’t require COVID-19 tests for incoming travelers in a milestone in its reopening

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test result for incoming travelers starting Wednesday, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after a three-year isolation that began with the country’s borders closing in March 2020. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the change at a briefing in Beijing on Monday.China in January ended quarantine requirements for its citizens traveling from abroad, and over the past few months has gradually expanded the list of countries that Chinese people can travel to and increased the number of international flights.Beijing ended its tough domestic “zero COVID” policy only in December, after years of draconian curbs that at times included full-city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for people who were infected.The restrictions slowed the world’s second-largest economy, leading to rising unemployment and rare instances of unrest.As part of those measures, incoming travelers were required to iso...

Young man shot multiple times in drive-by shooting outside Brampton home

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

Police are searching for a suspect after a drive-by shooting outside a home in Brampton that left a young man with serious injuries.Emergency crews responded to the area of Steeles Avenue and Mavis Road around 10:35 p.m. Sunday after getting reports that someone was shot.Police tell CityNews the victim had just arrived at home when he was shot by a suspect who pulled up in a vehicle. The injured victim ran inside the home and called 911.Paramedics say a young man was found at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries and is now in stable condition.No suspect or suspect vehicle information has been made available. Police are canvassing the area for security footage.Investigators believe the shooting was targeted and say there is no risk to the community.

Greece reinforces firefighting forces to tackle massive blaze in the country’s northeast

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities reinforced firefighting forces in the northeastern part of the country Monday, where a massive deadly wildfire was burning for a 10th day with no signs of abating.The fire in the Alexandroupolis and Evros areas near the Turkish border has been blamed for 20 of the 21 wildfire-related deaths in Greece last week. The fire department said 474 firefighters, backed by 100 vehicles, seven planes and two helicopters were battling the flames. The forces included reinforcements from several European countries.Authorities are investigating what sparked the blaze, which over the past week has decimated vast tracts of forest, scorched homes and triggered the evacuation of thousands of people. The bodies of 18 people were found in an area near the city of Alexandroupolis last Tuesday, while a body had been found in a forest in the region the previous day and another was found on Thursday.The bodies are believed to be those of migrants who recently crossed ...

Woman found dead near Mount Nemo in Burlington

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

An investigation is underway after a woman was found dead near a popular rock-climbing spot in Burlington.Halton police tell CityNews someone who was hiking on Sunday afternoon came across the body of female in Mount Nemo Conservation AreaPolice say they don’t believe any foul play was involved but they are investigating.Four weeks ago, a man from Kitchener died after falling off a cliff near Mount Nemo while hiking with friends.

Stock market today: Global shares mostly rise after Fed chief’s speech

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mostly higher Monday, as investors were relieved by the head of the Federal Reserve indicating it will “proceed carefully” on interest rates. France’s CAC 40 added 0.8% in early trading to 7,288.58. Germany’s DAX rose 0.6% to 15,730.05. Trading was closed in Britain for a bank holiday. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.3% at 34,464.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% to 4,423.50. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.7% to finish at 32,169.99. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,159.80, after data on Australian retail sales showed they rose a higher than expected 0.5%.South Korea’s Kospi rose nearly 1.0% to 2,543.41. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.0% to 18,130.74, while the Shanghai Composite surged 1.1% to 3,098.64. “The muted reaction of treasury yields to the rhetoric from Jackson Hole shows that US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell probably hit the right tone when it comes to ...

Idalia on track to hit US as a hurricane, forecasters say

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Idalia was near the coast of Cuba Monday on a potential track to come ashore as a hurricane in the southern U.S., the National Hurricane Center said.At 4 a.m. CDT Monday, the storm was about 125 miles (200 kilometers) off the western tip of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kmh). The storm was stationary at the time, the hurricane center said.The center's update also included a hurricane advisory for the Cuban province of Pinar Del Rio.Forecasters said they expected Idalia to become a hurricane on Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico and then curve northeast toward the west coast of Florida. Why do so many ‘infamous’ hurricanes have ‘I’ names? Idalia could approach Florida on Wednesday with winds of up to 100 mph (160 kph), according to the latest forecasts from the Hurricane Center. That would make it a Category 2 hurricane.Along a vast stretch of Florida's west coast, up to 11 feet (3.4 meters) of ocean water could surge on shore, raising fear...

Georgia courtroom battles begin Monday in next stage of Trump case

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:24:11 GMT

(The HIll) - Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D) on Monday will have her first major courtroom faceoff after indicting former President Trump and 18 others in the Georgia election case.At a Monday morning hearing in Atlanta, prosecutors are set to battle with attorneys for former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who wants to move his charges to federal court so he can assert immunity.Although Monday’s hearing technically regards only Meadows, the proceeding could have implications for the other co-defendants.If Meadows succeeds, Trump and the others could automatically go to federal court along with Meadows. Even if not, the same judge will soon consider similar removal requests from other defendants, and the judge on Monday could provide insights into his thinking on the issue.The requests are also quickly complicating the case as Willis aims to begin a trial for all of the defendants on Oct. 23.Prosecutors went all-in for the Meadows heari...