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UK parliamentarian admits lying about lucrative pandemic contracts but says she’s done nothing wrong

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A member of Britain’s House of Lords has acknowledged that she repeatedly lied about her links to a company that was awarded lucrative government contracts to supply protective masks and gowns during the coronavirus pandemic.Underwear tycoon Michelle Mone said she had made an “error” in denying connections to the company PPE Medpro and regretted threatening to sue journalists who alleged she had ties to the firm. Her husband, Doug Barrowman, has acknowledged he led the consortium that owns the company.“I did make an error in saying to the press that I wasn’t involved,” Mone said in a BBC interview broadcast Sunday. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, and I regret and I’m sorry for not saying straight out, ‘Yes, I am involved.’”Mone admitted she is a beneficiary of her husband’s financial trusts, which hold about 60 million pounds ($76 million) in profits from the deal.But she argued that the couple were being made “scap...

Ex-Jesuit’s religious community in Slovenia ordered to dissolve in one year over widespread abuse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

ROME (AP) — The Vatican has decided to shut down a Slovenian-based female religious community founded by a controversial ex-Jesuit artist accused by some women of spiritual, psychological and sexual abuses.The archdiocese of Ljubljana, Slovenia said in a statement Friday that the Loyola Community would have one year to implement the Oct.20 decree ordering its dissolution. The reason given was because of “serious problems concerning the exercise of authority and the way of living together.”The dissolution of the community was the latest chapter in the saga of the Rev. Marko Rupnik, a once-famous Jesuit artist and preacher whose mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the world.He had founded the Loyola Community in the 1980s with a nun. But recently, former members of the community came forward to say he had spiritually, sexually and psychologically abused them. In 2020, he was declared excommunicated by the Vatican for committing one of the gravest crimes in the church’...

Pope Francis’ 87th birthday closes out a big year of efforts to reform the church, cement his legacy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis turned 87 on Sunday, closing out a year that saw big milestones in his efforts to reform the Catholic Church as well as health scares that raise questions about his future as pope.Francis celebrated his birthday with cake during a festive audience with children Sunday morning, and there were “Happy Birthday” banners in St. Peter’s Square during his weekly noon blessing.One early present came Saturday, when a Vatican tribunal handed down a mix of guilty verdicts and acquittals in a complicated trial that Francis had supported as evidence of his financial reforms. The biggest-name defendant, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison.“It was quite a year for a pope who’s obviously thinking about legacy and finishing up,” said Christopher Bellitto, professor of history at Kean University in New Jersey.Only seven popes are known to have been older than Francis at the time of their deaths, according to the o...

European diplomacy steps up calls for Gaza cease-fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Some of Israel’s closest European allies pressed for a cease-fire in the war with Hamas on Sunday, underscoring growing international unease with the devastating impact of the conflict on Gaza’s civilian population.The concerted push by top European diplomats comes ahead of a visit to Israel on Monday by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is also expected to put pressure on Israeli leaders to end the war’s most intense phase and transit to a more targeted strategy against Hamas.Western allies of Israel have increasingly expressed concern with civilian casualties and the mass displacement of 1.9 million Palestinians — nearly 85% of Gaza’s population — though the U.S. has continued to provide vital military and diplomatic support to its close ally.In a joint article in the Sunday Times, a British weekly, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a cease-fire and said “too many civilians have been killed. The Israeli gov...

Quebec’s electricity ambitions reopen old wounds in Newfoundland and Labrador

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

MONTREAL — As Quebec prepares to ramp up electricity production to meet its ambitious economic goals, the government is trying to extend a power deal that has caused decades of resentment in Newfoundland and Labrador.Around 15 per cent of Quebec’s electricity comes from the Churchill Falls dam in Labrador, through a deal set to expire in 2041 that is widely seen as unfair. Quebec Premier François Legault not only wants to extend the agreement, he wants another dam on the Churchill River to help make his province what he has called a “world leader for the green economy.”But renewing that contract “won’t be easy,” Normand Mousseau, scientific director of the Trottier Energy Institute at Polytechnique Montréal, said in a recent interview. Extending the Churchill Falls deal is not essential to meet Quebec’s energy plans, but without it, Mousseau said, “we would have some problems.”The Legault government is enticing global companies, ...

Study says buffers, fire resistant materials could slash wildfire risks to residences

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

A new study says Canadian homeowners and communities can slash wildfire risks to buildings if they start taking steps like cutting buffer zones and using fire resistant construction materials.The study released Sunday by the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo is noting that the 2023 wildfire season saw wildfire losses that shattered previous records set in 1995, with an area about one quarter the land mass of Manitoba going up in flames.The report, titled “Ahead of the flames,” says Canadians living in forested and grassland regions need to follow “well-tested actions” that can reduce the risk of their home burning “by up to 75 per cent.”The document includes two infographics, with images showing practical actions for homeowners and communities to take.They include calls for homeowners to store wood away from the house, remove shrubs and other flammable material near the foundation and take down trees within 10 metre...

Toronto man charged with mischief after ‘hate-motivated’ graffiti found on TTC bus

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Toronto police have arrested and charged a 51-year-old man with mischief in an incident they allege was hate-motivated.Police say a man boarded a TTC bus in the Jane Street and Bloor Street West area on December 2 and wrote hate-motivated graffiti on several windows.Police did not give details on who was targeted in the graffiti messages.Christopher Welsh has been charged with mischief – interfere with property. He is scheduled to appear in court on February 2, 2024.Investigators say the incident is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence. If a person is charged and convicted of the offence, the Judge will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence.

Israel faces new truce calls as errant killing of captives adds to concern about its wartime conduct

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

Israel’s government faced local protests and calls for a cease-fire from some of its closest European allies on Sunday after a series of shootings, including of three hostages who were waving a white flag, added to mounting concerns about its conduct in the 10-week-old war in Gaza.The protesters are calling on the government to renew hostage negotiations with Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whom it has vowed to destroy. Israel could also face pressure to scale back major combat operations when U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visits this week, as Washington has expressed growing unease with civilian casualties even while providing vital military and diplomatic support.The air and ground war has flattened large parts of northern Gaza, killed thousands of civilians and driven most of the population to the southern part of the besieged territory, where many are packed into crowded shelters and tent camps, surviving off a trickle of humanitarian aid. Some 1.9 million Palestinians — ...

The pattern stays quick and cold for the early weeks.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Metro Today:  mostly cloudy AM, clearing PM, wind WNW 10-15, high 49.  Overnight:  mostly clear, not as cold, low 32.  Monday:  blustery, bright and cold; wind NW 15–30; high 39; low 22.    Tuesday:  partly cloudy, high 45, low 33.  Wednesday:  variable clouds, high 54, low 42.  Thursday:  increasing clouds, rain developing, high 56, low 44.  Friday:  scattered showers, high 55, low 47.  Weekend:  scattered rain chances continue; highs 55 to 58, lows 43 to 46.

Nuggets’ DeAndre Jordan takes vegan diet to London for Great American Baking Show’s celebrity holiday special

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:36 GMT

With applesauce as an egg substitute, DeAndre Jordan worried his batter would take more time to rise than his first career NBA championship banner.It was summer, after he “sobered up a little bit” from celebrating a title with the Denver Nuggets, and Jordan was outside London … baking holiday goodies. On a tight deadline. Without any animal products. Surrounded by competitors and judges.A perfectly relaxing way to unwind after the soaring highs of a parade in Denver.“I was afraid it was gonna take my (stuff) forever to set and rise,” he recalled. “Just because I was using other ingredients.”Jordan, 35, spent a week last offseason in the English countryside recording a celebrity holiday episode of “The Great American Baking Show,” a spin-off of “The Great British Bake Off.” And he made his appearance with a twist. It has been five years since Jordan, a three-time All-NBA center who won his first career championship with Denv...