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Calls grow for EU sanctions on gas-rich Azerbaijan over ethnic cleansing fears

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia — Azerbaijan’s lightning attack on the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh is increasing pressure on the EU to revisit its controversial gas deal with the energy-rich country, potentially complicating the bloc’s efforts to wean itself off Russian energy exports.On Wednesday, Azerbaijan forced an effective surrender of the breakaway region’s armed forces. Meanwhile, Russia claims its peacekeepers on the ground have “evacuated” as many as 2,000 residents — sparking worries of a potential ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s estimated 100,000 ethnic Armenians.That’s leading to growing pressure on Brussels to reassess its lucrative gas deal with Azerbaijan — a personal project of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Last July, in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she flew to Baku for meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, hailing the country as a “reliable, trustworthy partner” in the race to divest from...

Gillette Stadium death: Autopsy ‘did not suggest traumatic injury’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

The autopsy of Dale Mooney, the New Hampshire man who died at Gillette Stadium during Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, found nothing to suggest traumatic injury, according to the Norfolk District Attorney’s office.“Preliminary autopsy results did not suggest traumatic injury, but did identify a medical issue. Cause and manner of death remain undetermined pending further testing,” DA spokesman David Traub wrote Wednesday morning.The office asks that anyone with any information on the incident, or any witnesses to “the scuffle prior to Mr. Dale Mooney’s collapse,” to call State Police detectives stationed at the DA’s office at 781-830-4990.As the Herald is reporting today, a fellow fan who said Mooney was in a fight with a Dolphins fan near the end of Sunday’s game at Gillette.Joe Kilmartin told the Herald Tuesday night he witnessed the Dolphins fan “punch” Mooney “in the face” near the end of the game. The Patriots went on to l...

No tax cap refunds in Massachusetts this year, State Auditor DiZoglio says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

Massachusetts residents will not see extra tax refunds this year after State Auditor Diana DiZoglio determined the state’s total haul for fiscal 2023 was below the allowable amount of the state’s tax cap law by more than $4 billion.State government returned $3 billion to some 3.6 million taxpayers last year after tax collections exceeded the allowable amount for the fiscal year. A resident needed to have filed a 2021 state tax return to receive a refund last year.But in a Wednesday statement, DiZoglio said her office determined the net state tax reviews of nearly $37 billion in fiscal 2023 were below the allowable amount of $41.4 billion, “resulting in no excess state tax revenues.”“I am grateful for the work of our audit team alongside the collaboration from the Departments of Revenue and Administration and Finance, as well as the Comptroller’s Office, to help ensure we received accurate and detailed information to assist in completing this review,” DiZolgio said in a stateme...

Attorney General Garland faces his GOP critics as Justice Department is under heavy scrutiny

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday came face-to-face with his most ardent critics as House Republicans used a routine oversight hearing to interrogate him about what they claim is the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under President Joe Biden.Garland is appearing before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time in two years and at an unprecedented moment in the Justice Department’s history: He’s overseeing two cases against Donald Trump, the first former president to face criminal charges, and another against the sitting president’s son, Hunter Biden.Republicans on the committee — led by Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman — came out of the gate with accusations that the Justice Department is protecting the Biden family, while targeting his opponent, Trump.“There’s one investigation protecting President Biden. There’s another one attacking President Trump,” Jordan, Republican of Ohio, said in his opening statement. “The Justice Department...

Autopsy finds man who was punched at New England Patriots game before he died had medical issue

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — A man who died at a New England Patriots home game last weekend after he was punched at least twice in the head did not suffer a “traumatic injury” in the stands but had a medical issue, authorities in Massachusetts announced Wednesday.Police and safety personnel responded to the upper deck at Gillette Stadium shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday and found Dale Mooney, 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, “in apparent need of medical attention,” the Norfolk County district attorney’s office said in a statement Monday.Mooney was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. “Our investigation has included numerous law enforcement interviews and the examination of multiple angles of video capturing the scuffle prior to Mr. Dale Mooney’s collapse during the Sunday night game at Gillette Stadium,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.“Preliminary autopsy results did not suggest traumatic injury, but did identify a medical issue,” according to the statement. “...

Man who shot Black teen who mistakenly went to his door enters not guilty plea; trial is scheduled

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A white 84-year-old homeowner who is accused of shooting a Black teenager after the high-schooler mistakenly came to his Kansas City home entered a not guilty plea Wednesday, and the judge scheduled his trial for next year. Andrew Lester, a retired aircraft mechanic, is charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the April 13 shooting of Ralph Yarl. The trial in the case, which shocked the country and renewed national debates about gun policies and race in America, was scheduled to begin on Oct. 7, 2024.Some supporters joined Yarl’s mother in the courtroom, their T-shirts reading “Ringing a doorbell is not a crime” were turned inside out. Family friend Philip Barrolle said they wore the shirts that way Wednesday after being told by the court the shirts were a problem. Supporters have worn them in the past, but an order issued Monday barred “outbreaks, signs, or displays of any kind.”“It is up to us to have our presence felt,” Barrolle com...

As UN Security Council takes up Ukraine, a potentially dramatic meeting may be at hand

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — All eyes will be on Ukraine’s president and Russia’s top diplomat at a U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday: Will they clash? Will they speak? Will they avoid each other entirely?The meeting’s topic is deeply relevant to those questions: It’s about upholding the U.N. Charter in Ukraine. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres minced no words this week in reiterating that Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor violated the charter’s underpinning — that the 193 U.N. member nations respect each others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.The U.N. chief will brief the 15-member council and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, making his first in-person appearance before the U.N.’s most powerful body, is on tap to follow him. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is No. 11 on the list, and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to follow him.The meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world ...

Biden uses executive power to create a New Deal-style American Climate Corps

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — After being thwarted by Congress, President Joe Biden will use his executive authority to create a New Deal-style American Climate Corps that will serve as a major green jobs training program.In an announcement Wednesday, the White House said the program will employ more than 20,000 young adults who will build trails, plant trees, help install solar panels and do other work to boost conservation and help prevent catastrophic wildfires.The climate corps had been proposed in early versions of the sweeping climate law approved last year but was jettisoned amid strong opposition from Republicans and concerns about cost.Democrats and environmental advocacy groups never gave up on the plan and pushed Biden in recent weeks to issue an executive order authorizing what the White House now calls the American Climate Corps. “After years of demonstrating and fighting for a Climate Corps, we turned a generational rallying cry into a real jobs program that will put a new generat...

Thai king’s estranged son urges open discussion of monarchy, in rejection of anti-defamation law

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — An estranged son of Thailand’s king who has spent almost all his adult life away from his homeland has unexpectedly gone public with his belief that open discussions about the country’s monarchy should be allowed, in a rejection of a harsh royal anti-defamation law.Vacharaesorn Vivacharawongse, one of the king’s five sons, posted his opinion on Facebook after attending a photo exhibition in New York about people who have been charged under the law, Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code. The so-called lese majeste law makes insulting the monarch, his immediate family and the regent punishable by up to 15 years in prison per offense.“I love and cherish the monarchy, but I believe it is better to know than not knowing. Every person has their own opinion based on their own experiences. Not listening to them doesn’t make their viewpoints or opinions disappear,” wrote Vacharaesorn, who works at a law firm in New York. “It’s another story whether you agree or disagre...

FDA says it needs more research before deciding to approve nasal spray to treat dangerous allergies

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:25 GMT

Federal regulators declined to approve a nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions late Tuesday, calling for more research on what would have been the first alternative to injections using devices such as an EpiPen. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told ARS Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, that the company needs to conduct another study on repeat doses of epinephrine, a drug that halts potentially life-threating reactions, called anaphylaxis, using the company’s nasal spray device compared with injections. The move comes four months after an FDA advisory committee recommended approval of the device, dubbed neffy. The FDA is not required to follow the committee’s recommendations, though it usually does. Richard Lowenthal, president and chief executive of ARS, said in a statement that the company would appeal the FDA’s decision and resubmit an application in early 2024. The ARS product is one of several needle-free devices being developed to treat danger...