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Interpol fights for survival on its 100th birthday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

LYON, France — A century after it was founded, the world’s only global crime-fighting organization faces an existential question: Does the world still need it?Rising geopolitical tensions including between the United States and Russia and China are challenging the agency’s operating model, which relies on voluntary information-sharing among its members’ police forces. Add to that persistent claims that its famed Red Notice alert system is subject to political manipulation and accusations of complicity in torture against Interpol’s Emirati president, Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, and the crime-fighting organization faces a perfect storm.In an interview with POLITICO, Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock said the institution faces numerous difficulties, including over its funding situation. But he argued an agency that spans the globe is needed now more than ever amid international child sexual abuse, environmental crime and mafia groups like Italy’s ‘Ndr...

‘Europe’s got a problem’ — Drug violence grips Belgium’s second city

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

ANTWERP, Belgium — When Lucas first heard the deafening blast, it sounded like a car had just crashed into his house.It quickly became clear, as he and his neighbors gathered outside in the middle of the February night, that the pizza shop across the street had been bombed — another chapter in the drug war plaguing Belgium’s second-largest city.The police arrived on the scene with a rehearsed precision that was both reassuring and deeply unsettling. “Are we already at a point where responding to this has become a routine job for emergency services?” asked Lucas, who asked to be identified only by his first name.Home to Europe’s second-largest cargo port, Antwerp has become a major entry point for drugs, especially cocaine coming from Latin America, and the turf wars have spilled into its streets. In 2022, there were 81 drug-related shootings and explosions in Antwerp, according to numbers shared by the city with POLITICO, and another 25 in the first five months of ...

Fitchburg police searching for vehicle involved in hit-and-run that seriously injured pedestrian

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

Fitchburg police are turning to the public for help as they search for a vehicle in connection with a hit-and-run that left a pedestrian with serious injuries.The crash occurred around 7:45 p.m. Sunday night in front of 7 Westminster St. The vehicle being sought is a silver four-door sedan with significant front-end damage. Anyone with information is urged to call Fitchburg police at 978-345-4355.

Police investigating after 19-year-old woman fatally shot in Lowell

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

An investigation is underway in Lowell after a 19-year-old woman was fatally shot overnight, officials said.The woman was shot on Howard Street, according to the Essex District Attorney’s Office.No arrests have been made.No additional information was immediately available.https://twitter.com/scooperon7/status/1699759820683747697This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

4 observations from the Chicago Cubs, including a mic’d up Cody Bellinger and the Christopher Morel conundrum

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

Riding a wave that has yet to crest, the Chicago Cubs swept the San Francisco Giants to solidify their spot in the wild-card chase while moving up on the Milwaukee Brewers.Every game matters, and every moment is magnified from here on out.Here are four observations from the Cubs scene.1. Talk-show debate“This is good,” Cody Bellinger said. “This is a lot going on. A lot going on.”Bellinger was mic’d up by Marquee Sports Network in the top of the third inning of Tuesday’s 11-8 Cubs win over the Giants. The wind was blowing out and Bellinger was playing center field and talking to Boog Sciambi and Joe Girardi on the broadcast.Then came a technology malfunction during a question from Taylor McGregor on his friendship with Joc Pederson. Bellinger said he couldn’t hear anything, just as Pederson launched a line shot toward him in center.“Right at ya,” Sciambi told Bellinger, who fielded the ball after it bounced near the base of the w...

Rescue efforts are underway for an American caver who fell ill while exploring a deep cave in Turkey

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish and international cave rescue experts are working to save an American speleologist trapped at a depth of more than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in a cave in southern Turkey after he became ill.Mark Dickey, 40, became sick during an international expedition in Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, within the Mersin province, according to the European Cave Rescue Association. He has gastrointestinal bleeding and has been unable to leave the cave on his own, the association said on its website.It described Dickey as “a highly trained caver and a cave rescuer himself” who is well known for his participation in many international expeditions. He is secretary of the association’s medical committee.Dickey was on an expedition mapping the 1,276-meter (4,186-feet) deep Morca cave system for the Anatolian Speleology Group Association (ASPEG) before becoming sick at around 1,000 meters deep, according to Yusuf Ogrenecek of the Speleological Federation of Turkey...

Severe flooding in Greece leaves at least 4 dead and 6 missing, villages cut off

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Widespread flooding in central Greece has left at least four people dead and six missing, with severe rainstorms turning streams into raging torrents, bursting dams, washing away roads and bridges, and hurling cars into the sea.Authorities deployed divers and swift water rescue specialists as residents in some villages took refuge on the roofs of their homes on Thursday to escape floodwaters that rose to more than 2 meters (6 feet). Flooding triggered by severe rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, leaving a total of 15 people dead in the three countries.In Greece, helicopters, unable to fly earlier due to frequent lightning, began plucking people from flooded areas and winching them to safety on Thursday afternoon.At least three villages in central Greece were completely cut off by floodwaters, with residents dialing in to radio stations to report homes collapsing and to appeal for rescue.The body of one man who had been reported missing on Wedn...

G2 driver clocked at more than double speed limit on Hwy. 400

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

An Ontario driver is facing a stunt driving charge after getting nabbed at more than double the speed limit on a GTA highway.Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say officers clocked a G2 driver travelling 214 km/hr on Highway 400 south of King Road. The speed limit on that section of highway is 100 km/hr.In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, OPP say the 26-year-old driver had their vehicle impounded for two weeks and their driver’s license suspended for 30 days.The driver is also facing charges for stunt driving.Stunt driving actions in Ontario include driving more than 50 km/hr above the speed limit and driving more than 150 km/hr on any road, regardless of the speed limit.#AuroraOPP charged a 26 year-old G2 driver with #StuntDriving for going 214km/hr on Highway 400 south of King Rd. #14DayImpound, #30daylicenceSuspension, #insuranceratesgoingup.^mh pic.twitter.com/VU3q6hXyVb— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) September 7, 2023

Former Sri Lankan president denies that suicide bombings were staged to enable his election

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday denied allegations in a British television program that Islamic State-inspired extremists were used to carry out suicide bomb attacks in 2019 to create insecurity in the country and help him win election later that year.“To claim that a group of Islamic extremists launched suicide attacks in order to make me president is absurd,” Rajapaksa said in a public statement, his first since being ousted from power in July last year.He said the documentary on Britain’s Channel 4 television was “mostly an anti-Rajapaksa tirade.”In the program broadcast Tuesday, Channel 4 interviewed a man who said he arranged a meeting between a local Islamic State-inspired extremist group, National Thowheed Jamath, and a top state intelligence official loyal to Rajapaksa to formulate a plot to create instability and enable Rajapaksa to win the presidential election. Rajapaksa, a former senior defense official, was seen...

US applications for unemployment benefits fall to lowest level in 7 months

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:42 GMT

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level in seven months with labor market seemingly resistent to the higher interest rates put in to place, in part to cool hiring. U.S. applications for jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 216,000 for the week ending Sept. 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday.The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 8,500 to 229,250.Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.Overall, 1.68 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended August 26, about 40,000 fewer than the previous week.Matt Ott, The Associated Press