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Russian court sends an associate of Kremlin foe Navalny to prison for 7 1/2 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Russia on Wednesday convicted an associate of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny on extremism charges and sentenced her to 7 1/2 years in prison, the latest step in a yearslong crackdown by the Kremlin on opposition activists. Lilia Chanysheva, who used to head Navalny’s office in the Russian region of Bashkortostan, was found guilty of calling for extremism, forming an extremist group and founding an organization that violates rights. The charges against Chanysheva, who was arrested in November 2021, stem from a court ruling earlier that year that designated Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his regional offices as extremist organizations. In addition to the prison sentence, Chanysheva was fined 400,000 rubles (about $4,700). Her trial was conducted behind closed doors and she has maintained her innocence, rejecting the charges as politically motivated. Navalny himself is facing a new trial on extremism charges that c...

Abortion rights protests planned across Poland after death of pregnant woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Women’s rights advocates have called for protests in dozens of Polish cities on Wednesday under the slogan “Stop killing us,” after a woman in her fifth month of pregnancy died of sepsis, the latest such death since a tightening of Poland’s abortion law.The protests demanding a liberalization of the abortion law are scheduled to take place in the capital and nearly 50 other cities in the afternoon and evening.The 33-year-old woman died last month in the John Paul II hospital in Nowy Targ in southern Poland. It is a hospital in a deeply conservative region of the mostly Catholic nation. The hospital contains relics of the late Polish pope and Polish media have reported that it never performs abortions on principle.The woman, Dorota Lalik, arrived there after her waters broke and was told to lie with her legs up, as the medics hoped her fluids would be reconstituted. She developed sepsis and died three days later on May 24.Under the current law, women...

Greece: 32 migrants dead, more than 100 rescued after fishing vessel capsizes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — At least 32 people have died off the coast of southern Greece after a fishing boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized and sank, authorities said Wednesday.A large search and rescue operation was launched in the area. Authorities said 104 people have been rescued so far following the nighttime incident some 75 kilometers (46 miles) southwest of Greece’s southern Peloponnese region. Four of the survivors were hospitalized with symptoms of hypothermia. It was unclear how many passengers might remain missing at sea after the 32 bodies were recovered, the Greek coast guard said.Six coast guard vessels, a navy frigate, a military transport plane, an air force helicopter, several private vessels and a drone from the European Union border protection agency, Frontex, were taking part in the ongoing search.The Italy-bound boat is believed to have sailed from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya. The Italian coast guard first alerted Greek authorities and Frontex about the ...

Scottish charity Mary’s Meals wins Spain’s Princess of Asturias award

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Scottish charity group Mary’s Meals won a prestigious Spanish prize on Wednesday for its work feeding schoolchildren facing extreme poverty across the globe.The jury that decides the Princess of Asturias Awards gave Mary’s Meals its Concord Prize for “its exemplary dedication to helping resolve some of the world’s most pressing problems.”The charity, based in the Scottish village of Dalmally, started as Scottish International Relief in 1992 before taking on its current name in 2002 with its first school meals program in Malawi. It now helps more than 2.4 million schoolchildren eat every day in 18 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.The 50,000-euro ($54,000) Concord Prize is one of eight awards, including for the arts, sciences and sports, handed out annually by the foundation named for Spanish Crown Princess Leonor.Previous winners of the Concord Prize include Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, Spanish chef Jo...

Chicago Park District expected to vote on Riot Fest permit as some object

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

CHICAGO — Riot Fest is expected to take over Chicago’s Douglass Park in September. And while the event is expected to draw in huge crowds, people in the neighborhoods surrounding the park say they don’t want it to happen there anymore.On Wednesday, the Chicago Park District will vote on a $705,000 provisional permit for the festival.Close to 50,000 people are expected in the North Lawndale community when the festival takes place September 15- 17. Acts this year will include The Cure, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. See the 2023 Riot Fest lineup Riot Fest has been held at the park for the last eight years but people have complained and say the millions made on the event doesn’t get reinvested into the community.Community members have also complained about the conditions Douglass Park facilities are left in after the fest is over.Some also have issues with the noise a large festival like Riot Fest can bring to the neighborhood. Some people say this type of festival with it...

Cloudy with chance of showers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

Wednesday is set to start out mostly cloudy. Clouds will then decrease as the day goes on. A 20% chance for showers. High of 76 and Low of 69. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Wednesday night will be partly cloudy with isolated showers.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog Thursday will be partly cloudy with a 20% chance of thunderstorms. Temps will drop in the afternoon. High of 78.

Nicholas Kristof: We are privileged to live an an age of miracles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — One of the misimpressions people have about the world is that it’s going to hell.Perhaps that’s because humanity’s great triumph over the past half-century — huge reductions in poverty, disease and early death — goes largely unacknowledged. Just about the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to lose a child, and historically, almost half of children died before reaching adulthood. We happen to live in a transformational era in which 96% of the world’s children now survive until adulthood.That arc is visible here in Sierra Leone, a country that remains heartbreakingly poor — yet where the risk of a child dying is less than half what it was 20 years ago.You may have heard of Sierra Leone as “the most dangerous place in the world to give birth.” No longer true: Deaths in pregnancy and childbirth have plunged 74% since 2000, according to United Nations figures.In a remote health center, I met Yeabu Kargbo, 19, who had just given birth with the help of a trai...

5 dishes everyone should know how to grill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

Grilling may be the world’s oldest, most universal cooking method, but that doesn’t guarantee automatic success. Just ask the person who routinely burns the burgers or whose fish always sticks to the grate.Suppose you’re a newcomer to the world of grilling or you just want a refresher. You don’t need to start with the thermodynamics of fire, the physics of fuels, the architecture of grills.Focus instead on the basics and a handful of dishes to put into your summer rotation: a tender, juicy steak; grilled chicken breast that actually tastes interesting; pork chops that evoke the spice and smoky flavors of your favorite barbecue joint; juicy burgers safely cooked; and fish that easily release from the grate.There are five methods of live-fire cooking: direct grilling, indirect, smoking, spit-roasting and on the embers, but direct grilling is the most universal. This means cooking tender, small or thin foods, like steaks or chops, directly over a hot fire. Don’t confuse it with barbecu...

Ask Amy: Teenager should learn to be here now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

Dear Amy: I’ll be a junior in high school in the fall.So far, high school has been bland. The only excitement for me is the fact that I’m going to Japan on a school trip soon.I want to attend an out-of-state college because I want to have a fresh start.I want to have some kind of friend group (since I’m an introvert), to have a boyfriend, and to attend parties (but I don’t only want to party in college).I have a hard time making decisions because I’m so worried that whatever I choose will be a bad decision and affect my future.I tend to dwell on the future rather than the present.I tend to be very hard on myself, which makes me feel like I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to this stuff.I’m always worrying about things instead of just relaxing and “being a teenager.”Other times, I feel like I’m behind in everything that should happen to teenagers. Sometimes, I just want to stop trying because nothing is going right for me.But other times, I...

UN chief concerned Russia will quit Black Sea grain deal in July

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:16:05 GMT

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (pictured) said on Monday (12 June) he is concerned that Russia will on 17 July quit a deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain and fertilizers from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports.Moscow has been threatening to walk away from the deal known as the Black Sea grain initiative - brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year - if obstacles to its own grain and fertilizer shipments are not removed."I am concerned and we are working hard in order to make sure that it will be possible to maintain the Black Sea initiative and at the same time that we are able to go on in our work to facilitate Russian exports," Guterres told reporters.To convince Russia to agree to the Black Sea grain deal, a three-year memorandum of understanding was struck at the same time under which UN officials agreed to help Russia with its own food and fertilizer exports.While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanct...