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Sanctions cause rising business fears in Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe.When asked whether she felt safe, Smart Holding CEO Julia Kiryanova — head of one of Ukraine’s largest investment conglomerates — paused and then said firmly, “Nobody’s safe.”For months now, Kiryanova has been battling to save Smart Holding from what appears to be a corporate raid — one she believes involves senior Ukrainian government officials and is aimed at forcing the company to agree to a fire sale. There’s peril in resisting “because when the law is not there, any person can be persecuted for no reason,” she said.Kiryanova believes Russia’s war on Ukraine is being used by powerful and politically connected players in Ukraine to enrich themselves by extorting, plundering and weakening commercial rivals — as well as an opportunity to redistribute corporate assets, partly in a bid to strip the old elite of wealth in order to shape a new one. And it’s all being done with scant regard to the rule of law.“New oligarchs will appear ...

McCarthy says he had a ‘productive discussion’ with Biden but still no debt limit deal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

(CNN) — The countdown is on, the stakes are high – and there is no still debt limit deal.House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Monday that he had a “productive discussion” with President Joe Biden at the White House, but said a deal has not yet been reached as the US rapidly approaches June 1, the date when the country could for the first time default on its debts.“I felt we had a productive discussion – we don’t have an agreement yet, but I did feel the discussion was productive in areas that we have differences of opinion,” McCarthy said. “We’re going to have the staffs continue to get back together and work based on some of the things that we had talked about.”Pressed by CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, McCarthy said that raising revenue through taxes, as Biden had previously suggested, was not something Republicans would be willing to consider – in a sign of the differences between the two sides.“No,” McCarthy told Diamond, “The problem is not revenue, the problem is spending.” Ah...

SpaceX mission carrying former NASA astronaut, three paying customers docks with space station

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

(CNN) — A SpaceX capsule carrying a decorated former NASA astronaut and three paying customers linked up with the International Space Station on Monday, kicking off a historic weeklong mission for the crew.After launching from Florida on Sunday afternoon, the crew spent about 16 hours aboard their Crew Dragon spacecraft as it maneuvered toward the space station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.The spacecraft officially docked with the space station at 9:12 a.m. ET.The mission, called AX-2, was put together by the Houston-based company Axiom Space and marks the second all-private mission to the orbiting outpost, meaning it’s being carried out by commercial companies rather than a government.It also makes history as stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi becomes the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space.The AX-2 mission is one in a lineup of missions designed to spur private sector participation in spaceflight — particularly in low-Earth orbit, wh...

Jesse Scholtens fills in well, but the Chicago White Sox are shut down in a 3-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

Jesse Scholtens was ready to be the next pitcher up.With Mike Clevinger on the injured list, Scholtens joined the Chicago White Sox from Triple-A Charlotte. He entered Monday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians after opener Jimmy Lambert pitched a scoreless first, and Scholtens allowed one run in five innings.“Just tried to get myself ready and execute as many pitches until they told me to stop, and that’s what I did,” Scholtens said. “There were some times — a lot of the times — I was behind, but (catcher Yasmani Grandal) hung with me a little bit and helped get me back in some at-bats and helped me get through those innings.”Unfortunately for the Sox, the offense couldn’t get much going against Hunter Gaddis in a 3-0 loss in front of 13,878 at Progressive Field.Gaddis, who entered the game with a 6.86 ERA, and four relievers limited the Sox to three hits — singles by Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn and a double by An...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, visiting Australia, wants closer bilateral defense ties

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — Narendra Modi has arrived in Sydney for his second Australian visit as India’s prime minister and told local media he wants closer bilateral defense and security ties as China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region grows.Modi is the only one of the so-called Quad leaders to continue with his Australian visit plans after President Joe Biden pulled out last week to return to Washington to focus on debt limit talks. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who hosted a Group of Seven meeting last week, later canceled his Australia trip as well.Modi is giving an address to the Indian diaspora at a sold-out 20,000-seat Sydney stadium Tuesday. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend the stadium event and has a bilateral meeting scheduled with his Indian counterpart on Wednesday.Modi told Tuesday’s edition of The Australian newspaper he wanted to take India’s relationship with Australia to the “next level,” including closer defense and security ties to help ensur...

Labor union says it will start recall effort against Oregon state lawmaker

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of Oregon’s largest labor unions says it’s going to try to oust a Democratic state lawmaker who has been a longtime labor ally. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 said Monday it had filed paperwork to initiate a recall effort against Rep. Paul Holvey of Eugene, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. If successful, it could trigger an election later this year deciding whether Holvey, the House speaker pro-tem, can stay in office. Holvey, joined the House in 2004 and is a former union representative. But the union says his failure to support House Bill 3183, which would block cannabis employers from interfering with employee efforts to unionize, is one of the reasons behind its effort. The union is trying to make the case that the representative has turned his back on working people.“He has shown that his allegiance lies with large corporations, not with Oregonians,” Local 555 President Dan Clay said in a statement.Holvey told OPB that the recall caught ...

Iranian leader visits Indonesia to deepen economic ties amid global geopolitical challenges

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will meet his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo on Tuesday during a two-day trip aiming to strengthen economic ties between the Muslim-majority nations amid heightened global geopolitical tensions.Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Raisi is visiting at Widodo’s invitation as Indonesia aims to speed up its post-pandemic recovery by increasing its exports.The visit is expected to deepen Iran’s ties with Indonesia as Tehran seeks alternatives to the United States-led Western domination of international affairs and seeks further cooperation after the two nations concluded negotiations on the Indonesia-Iran Preferential Trade Agreement this month, Indonesia’s Trade Ministry said.The ministry’s data showed that trade between Indonesia and Iran amounted to $54.1 million between January and March, while the bilateral trade value last year increased by more than 23% to $257.2 million.Iran was a nontraditional trade partner...

9th Circuit rules US deportation law that fueled family separations is ‘neutral as to race’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that a U.S. deportation law that fueled family separations at the southern border is “neutral as to race,” striking down an unprecedented Nevada ruling that had determined it was racist and unconstitutional.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals made that determination Monday in its long-awaited decision on the law known as Section 1326, which makes it a crime to unlawfully return to the U.S. after deportation, removal or denied entry.The ruling is a blow for advocates who had hoped to see major changes to the nation’s immigration system after U.S. District Judge Miranda Du almost two years ago threw out an illegal reentry charge against a Mexican immigrant. Du said she dismissed the case on the grounds that Section 1326 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is discriminatory against Latinos and therefore violated Gustavo Carrillo-Lopez’s constitutional rights.“We are deeply disappointed in the Ninth Circuit’s decision to uphold Se...

Chicago Public School teacher removed after allegedly threatening student with gun

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago Public School teacher has been removed pending an investigation following allegations she threatened a student with a gun back in March."Every morning it's a fight with my dad about me not wanting to go to school," Emily Lozano said.Lozano is a senior at George Washington High School. She shared details about an incident she says happened back in March involving one of her teachers."If she feels like its ok to do it to me, who knows how she's going to do it to other kids or if she's going to other kids," Lonzano said. ‘I need you one time only and I pay nice:’ Bond set for woman attempting to send narcotic-soaked paper to boyfriend in Cook County Jail According to Lozano, the teacher threatened her with a firearm following a disagreement they had in the classroom. The teacher allegedly brought the gun into the school in her bag."She pulls a gun out and she has her finger on the trigger and as she has her finger on the trigger she pulls it halfway out and says '...

'The damage this does is chronic:' Clergy sex abuse survivor shares story

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:39 GMT

WGN Films presents "Sanctuary of Sin," a series looking at a little-known religious order and the role it played in the Catholic church sex abuse crisis. This is Part 1 of 3.John Bellocchio tells a gut-wrenching story.Growing up in New Jersey, the Catholic Church played a major role in his community and family life.“The church was a central aspect, physically, as well as spiritually,” he said.But everything changed, he alleges in court filings, when he was around 13 and volunteering as an altar server at a mass led by Father Theodore McCarrick.At the time, McCarrick was the Archbishop of Newark and a high-ranking figure in the church.Bellocchio alleges that McCarrick abused him in the church after mass concluded.It is not the only time McCarrick has been accused of sexual abuse. He is facing criminal charges in two states and was defrocked by the Vatican for sexual abuse in 2019.So where did McCarrick end up?Although he was expelled by the church, McCarrick has been living at a comp...