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Estonia says damage to Baltic Sea pipeline, cables is all linked

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said she has “reason to believe” the multiple cases of damage to Baltic Sea critical infrastructure earlier this month are related to each other.Kallas met with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Brussels on Thursday, ahead of the European Council summit, to discuss the undersea infrastructure investigation.Earlier this month, the Balticconnector gas pipeline — linking NATO members Finland and Estonia — was ruptured, along with two underwater telecommunication cables, connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden. The three incidents are likely to be related, Kallas said, though she did not publicly provide evidence for why Estonia believes the incidents are all linked.“Cooperation between the three countries in investigating cases and engaging with allies and partners has been effective and it is important that we continue to do so in the same way,” the Estonian prime minister said in an offic...

Boston University police issue warning amid investigation into 2 reported sexual assaults

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

Boston University Police issued an advisory after two students reported being sexually assaulted by a person riding a bike on Thursday night.The first incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Bay State Road, where a student reported they were approached on the sidewalk by a person on a bike who touched them inappropriately, according to the advisory. The suspect was described as a white male riding dark-colored bicycle who was wearing blue jeans and either a dark cap or a hooded sweatshirt.Then, around 11 p.m., a student on the Silber Footbridge to the Charles River Esplanade said they were approached by a person on a bike who touched them inappropriately. The suspect was described as a male on a bicycle wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.Anyone with information is urged to call BUPD at (617) 353-2121. Community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by texting the word ‘BU’ to TIP411 (847911). This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air a...

Vermont police say bodies found off rural Vermont road are those of 2 missing Massachusetts men

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

EDEN, Vt. (AP) — Autopsies have confirmed that the two bodies found in a wooded area off a rural road in northern Vermont are those of two missing Massachusetts men who were shot to death, Vermont State Police said Thursday.Police found the bodies of 21-year-olds Jahim Solomon, of Pittsfield, and Eric White, of Chicopee, on Wednesday in a wooded area in Eden. Autopsies performed Thursday determined that Solomon died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and White died of a single gunshot wound to the head, police said.State police said they continue to follow up on leads in the case and said tips from the public are an important part of the investigation. Maj. Dan Trudeau, commander of the Vermont State Police’s criminal division, said Wednesday that police have a number of suspects and people of interest in mind.Solomon and White disappeared under “suspicious circumstances” while traveling through several communities, state police said Saturday. They were reported missing on Oct. ...

Callahan: What is the Patriots’ next move at wide receiver?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

FOXBORO — Down in Miami, the big story of the week broke Thursday when Dolphins star Tyreek Hill told reporters he planned to play this weekend against the Patriots.In New England, the Pats’ top news hit a little differently.That headline read: “Patriots sign Jalen Reagor from practice squad to active roster.”Womp, womp.No two stories could offer a clearer or stronger contrast between the state of these rival offenses. The Patriots are 2-5 because they’ve bogged down by a porous offensive line and one of the league’s least threatening receiving corps. Meanwhile the Dolphins, even after getting thumped last Sunday in Philadelphia, are cruising at 5-2 with the NFL’s most explosive weaponry.In Miami, Hill is the system, and the system is Hill. He leads the NFL in receiving with 906 yards and covers hundreds more in pre-snap motion that stretches defenses. If he retired tomorrow, Hill could safely begin to draft his speech for the Pro Football Hall of...

Male pedestrian injured, struck by vehicle in Scarborough

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

A man has been rushed to a trauma centre after he was struck by a vehicle near the Scarborough and Markham border on Friday.Toronto police were called to the Steeles Avenue East and McCowan Road area around 7:15 a.m. Officers said a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle. Toronto paramedics tell CityNews the male victim has been transported to a trauma centre with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.Steeles Avenue is closed in both directions for the investigation.

Pope orders Vatican to reopen case of priest ousted from Jesuits after claims of adult abuse

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has ordered the Vatican to reopen the case of a well-known priest-artist accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing adult women, and removed the statute of limitations on their claims, the Vatican said Friday. The announcement marked a major turnaround for the Holy See and followed an outcry among victims and their advocates over the handling of the case of the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik, a former Jesuit whose mosaics grace churches and basilicas around the world.A Vatican statement said Francis’ abuse prevention commission had flagged “serious problems” in the way his case was handled initially, particularly in the “lack of outreach to victims.” That terminology in itself was significant because church authorities had previously refused to even consider women with claims against Rupnik as “victims.”Francis asked the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles abuse-related crimes according to church law, “to re...

Gas and power utility Fortis reports $394M Q3 profit, up from $326M a year earlier

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $394 million, up from $326 million a year earlier.The gas and power utility says the profit amounted to 81 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 68 cents per diluted share in the same period of 2022.Revenue for the quarter totalled $2.72 billion, up from $2.55 billion.On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 84 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 71 cents per share a year earlier.The company says its increased profits reflect the new cost of capital parameters approved for the FortisBC utilities in September 2023, higher retail revenue in Arizona due to warmer weather and new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power, and rate base growth across its utilities.It says earnings were tempered by lower long-term wholesale and transmission revenue, as well as higher operating and corporate finance costs.This report by The Canadian Press was first publis...

China’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou who helped drive the anti-COVID fight dies at age 60

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Wu Zunyou, an epidemiologist who helped drive anti-COVID-19 measures in China that suspended access to cities and confined millions to their homes has died on Friday. He was 60. An announcement from China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention about Wu’s death gave no cause, but said that “rescue measures failed.” The news of Wu’s death came just hours after the death of former Premier Li Keqiang was announced. Li was the country’s No. 2 leader during the pandemic.Wu was the chief epidemiologist of China’s CDC and one of the public faces of the country’s zero-COVID measures that suspended international travel, imposed draconian lockdowns and prompted protests at the end of 2022.The Associated Press

Seeing no military answer to Israel-Palestinian tensions, the EU plans for a more peaceful future

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — As distant as the prospect of peace might seem, European Union leaders believe it is time to start laying the foundations for a future relationship between Israel and the Palestinians where the militant group Hamas does not control Gaza.Mindful that resentment and even conflict in the wider Middle East and Gulf regions have been fueled by decades of tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, the 27-nation bloc has begun exploring ways to realize a long-held EU ideal — two states living peacefully side by side.As the Palestinian death toll climbed beyond 7,000 and Israel carried out airstrikes on Friday in response to the bloody Hamas incursion into southern Israel, EU leaders meeting in Brussels for a second day encouraged broader diplomatic and security initiatives to stop the conflict from spreading, and ultimately from ever starting again.“The history of this conflict didn’t begin with the attacks on Oct. 7 and won’t end with a land war in Gaza,” Irish Prime Mi...

Activists slam Malaysia’s solidarity program for Palestinians after children seen toting toy guns

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:21 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian activists on Friday slammed the government’s plan for a weeklong program in schools nationwide to support the Palestinian cause after pictures of teachers and students toting toy guns went viral on social media.The Education Ministry has said the Palestine Solidarity Week program starting Monday is aimed at teaching students about humanitarian values such as empathy and concern toward the suffering experienced by others regardless of race or religion. It said it is aligned with the government’s stance to defend the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people.But pictures posted on social media showing primary school students and teachers brandishing firearms sparked a backlash, Some students also used the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf to wrap around their heads like militants.“Are we training jihadis now in our schools? What’s with the weapons and all?…this is sick,” lawyer and activist Siti Kasim wrote on Facebook. Other civil...