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Tax charges from defunct Hunter Biden plea deal dismissed, so probe can move forward

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

(CNN) — A federal judge in Delaware dismissed two tax misdemeanor charges against Hunter Biden that were filed as part of his now-defunct plea deal, paving the way for special counsel David Weiss to potentially bring more charges in another jurisdiction as part of his continuing probe.After the plea deal collapsed earlier this month, Weiss’ prosecutors asked District Judge Maryellen Noreika to dismiss the charges in Delaware, so new charges could potentially be brought in California or Washington, DC. Hunter Biden’s lawyers agreed that the charges should be dismissed, because they were only brought in Delaware as part of the earlier plea agreement.Noreika approved the procedural request on Thursday.The two charges brought in Delaware were misdemeanors, for failing to pay taxes on time in 2017 and 2018. Without a plea deal in-hand, Hunter Biden could potentially face more serious charges: IRS whistleblowers who worked on the case told Congress they recommended charging the president’...

Russia arrests head of election watchdog

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

The head of Russia’s last independent election-monitoring campaign group has been arrested, as the Kremlin carries out a major crackdown on democratic bodies. “Grigory Melkonyants, co-chairman of the ‘Golos’ movement, has been detained and is being questioned by the Investigative Committee as a suspect,” the Russian vote-monitoring group Golos announced Thursday. Melkonyants’ home was searched Thursday morning and he was then detained.The crackdown has not only targeted Melkonyants but also “14 of his associates in eight regions, including Moscow, Kazan and St. Petersburg,” Russian state newswire RIA Novosti said, citing an anonymous source.According to the AP, which spoke with Melkonyants’ lawyer, the watchdog chief will appear in Moscow’s Basmanny District Court on Friday. He faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison for working with what Russia branded “undesirable” international organizations. Accordin...

Wealthy oil nation lays groundwork for ‘eye-popping’ climate fund

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

The United Arab Emirates is considering creating a multibillion-dollar fund to spur clean energy investments across the world that it plans to unveil at this year’s U.N. climate talks in Dubai, according to people familiar with the plan.The fund could amount to tens of billions of dollars, with a sizable slice of the money coming from the UAE’s sovereign wealth reserves, according to seven people with knowledge of the discussions. A G-7 government official said envoys from the oil-rich Mideast nation had privately mentioned the idea of a fund of at least $25 billion.“It’s an eye-popping figure,” one of the people familiar with the concept said.Creation of the fund would be one of the largest ever state-sponsored financial efforts to help countries fight climate change. And it comes as the UAE and Sultan al-Jaber, the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. who is leading the climate talks, have drawn criticism from environmental advocates and some U.S. and European lawmakers for hosti...

China confirms Xi will attend BRICS summit in South Africa followed by state visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend next week’s summit of the BRICS nations in Johannesburg, to be followed by a state visit to South Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said in a statement that during his Aug. 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa. China is a core member of the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia and India. The grouping was predicated on linking the interests of the world’s leading emerging economies but has sought to expand into other civil and governmental fields. Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to attend the summit because of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for him, according to South African authorities.The development could be viewed as embarrassing for Putin, who is expected to be the only leader of a country in the bloc not to a...

US, Japan and South Korea agree on new security pledge ahead of Camp David summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States, Japan and South Korea are set to sign on to a new security pledge, committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, according to Biden administration officials.Details about the new “duty to consult” commitment emerged as President Joe Biden prepared Friday to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. The move is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the daylong summit, as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Korea’s persistent nuclear threats and Chinese provocations in the Pacific. Kishida, before departing Tokyo on Thursday, told reporters the summit would be a “historic occasion to bolster trilateral strategic cooperation” with Seoul and Washington.“I believe it i...

Japanese government panel finds rampant coverups, mishandling of harassment cases in military

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A panel of experts that investigated harassment cases in Japan’s military and Defense Ministry said Friday it found widespread coverups and reluctance among supervisors to deal with cases, and recommended fundamental improvements.The investigation was commissioned by the ministry after a high-profile sexual assault case was brought by a former soldier.The panel said about 80% of the reported cases involved abuse of power and that sexual harassment accounted for about 12%.It said in a report that more than 60% of the victims in 1,325 cases reported to the panel never sought help from counselors in the military or ministry due to a lack of trust in the system or a fear of retribution.The panel said many of the 400 people it interviewed who had sought help from supervisors or counselors said they did not receive appropriate help and faced coverups, pressure to drop cases, broken confidentiality or a lack of understanding.The report urged the ministry and the military...

Stock market today: Global shares decline after Wall Street drops on higher bond yields

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares mostly slipped Friday as rising yields in the bond market on Wall Street set off expectations that high interest rates would continue in the U.S.France’s CAC 40 declined 0.9% in early trading to 7,126.02. Germany’s DAX dipped 0.8% to 15,553.22. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.8% to 7,255.18. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1% at 34,503.00. S&P 500 futures fell nearly 0.1% to 4,381.75. Japan’s inflation data showed consumer prices rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, down from 3.3% in June. But that was still higher than the 2.5% forecast by some analysts and above the Bank of Japan’s target at 2%.The core consumer price index, which eliminates energy and fresh food prices from the measure, rose 4.3% on year, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.6% to finish at 31,450.76. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was virtually unchanged, inching up le...

Women's soccer earns first-ever win against Hofstra

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- UAlbany women's soccer bounces back after surrendering an early penalty kick to knock off defending CAA champion Hofstra 2-1 in the 2023 season opener. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! Key StatsEmily Jozak and Charlotte Takacsy scored UAlbany's goalsMegan Hart recorded 11 savesHofstra outshot UAlbany 19-10, including 11-4 in the second halfHofstra won nine corner kicks to UAlbany's threeUAlbany controlled 60% of possession in the first halfHead Coach Sade Ayinde: "I am really proud of this group for coming back from being down a goal early.  We were able to make some adjustments at halftime and dig deep to get back into the game with a great pressing moment from Emily early in the second half.  Then, Charlotte chose a great time to score her first collegiate goal off a loose ball in the box from a corner kick.  It's a great feeling to get the first win out of ...

Danielle Tetreault promoted to Siena women’s lacrosse head coach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

LOUDONVILLE, NY (NEWS10) – Danielle Tetreault, who played an integral role in the ascension of the Siena Women’s Lacrosse program over the past six seasons, has been elevated to become the program’s eighth head coach.   Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! “We are pleased to promote Danielle as our new women’s lacrosse head coach,” said Siena College Vice President and Director of Athletics John D’Argenio. “Danielle has been an integral part of our success over these past six years and we’re looking forward to reaching new heights under her leadership. During her tenure at Siena, she progressed through the coaching ranks from part time assistant, to full time assistant to associate head coach. She has been instrumental in the team's development and the recruitment of outstanding student athletes.”   Tetreault has served on staff for the duration of coach Abigail Rehfus...

EU economy greenhouse gas emissions: -3% in Q1 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:45 GMT

In the first quarter of 2023, EU economy greenhouse gas emissions totalled 941 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents (CO2-eq), a 2.9% decrease compared with the same quarter of 2022 (969 million tonnes of CO2-eq). This decrease took place simultaneously with a 1.2% increase in the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2023, compared with the same quarter of 2022. This information comes from data on quarterly estimates for greenhouse gas emissions by economic activity published by Eurostat today. Quarterly estimates of greenhouse gas emissions complement quarterly socio-economic data, such as GDP or employment. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on quarterly greenhouse gas emissions.Source datasets: env_ac_aigg_q and namq_10_gdpIn the first quarter of 2023, the economic sectors responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions were ‘households’ (24%), ‘manufacturing’ (20%), ‘electricity, gas supply’ (19%), ‘agri...