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Belgian far right expels alleged China spy from party

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

The Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang on Friday expelled former senator Frank Creyelman over accusations he was recruited by China to spy on Europe.Tom Van Grieken, the party’s chair, announced Creyelman’s immediate expulsion on X saying: “His actions go against the purpose and essence, even the name, of our party.” He added: “The only loyalty for nationalists can only be to their own nation.”The move follows an explosive investigation published by the Financial Times, Der Spiegel and Le Monde detailing how China’s spy agency allegedly used Creyelman over the course of three years to influence discussions in Europe on issues ranging from China’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong to its persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.“I take that very seriously,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told journalists when asked about the report as he arrived at a European Council summit in Brussels. “That would actually mean that some people are sabotaging o...

Boston Tea Party 250th anniversary: City to re-enact key moment in history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

(CNN) — They were fed up with a British tax on tea in particular and consumed by resentment of British authority in general. So on the night of December 16, 1773, a group of rebellious colonial Americans called the Sons of Liberty decided to make a statement.They sneaked onto ships docked in Boston Harbor and proceeded to toss 342 chests of imported Chinese tea into the water. This act of mercantile defiance impressed the heck out of future US President John Adams.“This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences, and so lasting, that I cant but consider it as an Epocha in History,” he wrote in his diary.Adams certainly hit the bullseye in his prediction that this night would echo through history. And now the city is set to re-enact the Boston Tea Party on its 250th anniversary. Here’s what they have planned:What will happen at the Tea Party re-enactmentsLive, historical re-enactments ...

Prince Harry was victim of ‘extensive’ phone hacking, UK High Court rules

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

London (CNN) — The Duke of Sussex was awarded £140,600 ($179,000) on Friday after the UK High Court ruled he was the subject of “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) from 2006 to 2011.Justice Fancourt ruled that 15 stories published about Prince Harry by MGN used unlawful information gathering methods such as phone hacking and the use of private investigators.In all, 33 articles had been submitted for consideration, but the judge ruled “phone hacking was not the only journalistic tool at the time, and his claims in relation to the other 18 articles did not stand up to careful analysis.The Duke of Sussex sued the British newspaper group, which publishes The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, alongside three other claimants and alleged its journalists illegally intercepted his voicemails and used other illicit means over a roughly 15-year period.Prince Harry described his win against MGN as “a great day ...

Boston City Council approves measure to grant city voting rights to non-citizens with legal status

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

The Boston City Council approved a measure that would allow individuals with “legal status” the right to vote in city elections, even if they are not American citizens.The measure passed by an 8 to 5 vote.According to the petition’s sponsors, immigrants with “legal status” make up more than 28 percent of Boston’s population and pay, on average, $2.3 billion in taxes annually.At least 15 municipalities in the country have instituted similar home rule measures, including communities in Vermont, California, Maryland, and New York.To be enacted, the measure must be approved by Mayor Michelle Wu and the state legislature.

Callahan: What tricks does Bill Belichick have left for Patrick Mahomes?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

FOXBORO — You are excused if you don’t remember the Patriots’ last matchup with the Chiefs.The year was 2020. The game got delayed a day. Thanks to a rash of positive COVID-19 tests, the Patriots had to fly to Kansas City, play and fly home all on the same day.And all Pats defensive back Myles Bryant can recall about the game is, well, just that.“I don’t even remember practicing,” Bryant told the Herald. “Just the COVID outbreak, and I think the game was a Monday? That’s all I remember.”Yes, Myles, it was a Monday.But for most of that 26-10 loss, it wasn’t the travel-worn Patriots who played like they had a case of the Mondays. It was the Chiefs.Bill Belichick’s defense boxed out Patrick Mahomes and Co. most of the night, yielding just two field goals until the final minute of the third quarter. Kansas City finished with 19 offensive points, the second-fewest it had scored to date in the Mahomes era. For the fourth straight...

Germany’s parliament approves a plan for a bigger hike in carbon price after a budget deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s parliament on Friday approved plans to raise the country’s levy on carbon dioxide emissions from fuel by more than previously planned next month, a move that is part of a deal to resolve a budget crisis.The CO2 price will rise to 45 euros (about $49) per ton of emissions from the current 30 euros under the plan approved by lawmakers. The government had previously planned a smaller increase to 40 euros. That is expected to impact prices for gasoline, diesel, natural gas and heating oil.The change is part of a package of measures that leaders of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition agreed upon on Wednesday to plug a budget hole created by a recent court ruling.Last month, Germany’s highest court annulled the two-year-old government’s decision to repurpose 60 billion euros originally meant to cushion the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country. That maneuver fell fo...

Spanish police arrest 14 airport workers after items go missing from checked-in suitcases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Fourteen workers at one of Spain’s main airports for tourists were arrested on suspicion of stealing items from checked-in luggage, police said Friday.Police seized allegedly stolen items worth almost 2 million euros ($2.2 million) from the group of employees at the largest airport in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, a statement said. Another 20 airport employees are under investigation in the same case.The Tenerife South airport handles about 11 million passengers a year, most of them European tourists seeking the pleasant climate of the islands off the coast of northwest Africa.The investigation began after an increase in passenger complaints about items missing from their luggage, the police statement said.The thefts occurred as baggage was being placed in the aircrafts’ hold, police said. Inside the hold, the alleged thieves forced open suitcases, took out valuables and shut them again.Authorities seized 29 luxury wristwatches, 120 items of jewelry, 22 hi...

Airbnb agrees to pay $621 million to settle a tax dispute in Italy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

ROME (AP) — Short-term rental platform Airbnb has agreed to pay 576 million euros ($621 million) to settle a years-long dispute over unpaid taxes in Italy but said it won’t try to recover the money from its hosts.In November, Italian prosecutors said AirBnb owed about 779 million euros ($840 million) in short-term rental taxes it had failed to pay on behalf of Italian landlords who used the platform between 2017 and 2021.The San Francisco-based company said in a statement on Wednesday that it was working on introducing new tools for hosts to have their taxes withheld automatically and paid to the Italian tax authorities on their behalf.“The vast majority of hosts on Airbnb in Italy are ordinary families that are using the platform for supplemental income,” the company said in its statement. “We hope the agreement with the Italian Revenue Agency and recent legislative changes will provide these families with certainty about the rules around hosting for years to come.”The Court of Jus...

Body found in trunk of burning vehicle on South Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

CHICAGO — A body has been found in the trunk of a vehicle in the Bridgeport neighborhood on the city's South Side.Police said officers and the Chicago Fire Department responded to a car on fire in an alley on the 3700 block of South Parnell around 2:08 a.m. Friday. Firefighters extinguished the fire and discovered a victim unresponsive in the trunk. The person was pronounced dead on scene. Chicago cousins wrongfully convicted in 1981 homicides exonerated The gender and identity of the person is unknown at this time.Area One Detectives are investigating.

Friday Forecast: Temps in low 50s with increasing clouds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

CHICAGO — Increasing clouds Friday with temperatures in the lowers 50s. Winds: SSW 5-10. High: 52. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storms here Cloudy conditions tonight. Winds: SSE 0-5. Low: 39.Saturday Forecast: Cloudy, rain showers, SE 5-10 G15. High: 43.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog