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Estonia’s pro-Ukrainian PM faces pressure to quit over husband’s indirect Russian business links

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Estonia’s strongly pro-Ukrainian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, came under increasing pressure Friday to resign, after Estonian media revealed her husband’s role in a company that indirectly did business in Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.Kallas, 46, one of Europe’s most outspoken supporters of Ukraine, had urged all EU companies to stop doing business with Russia after the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.Her husband, Arvo Hallik, said Friday he would sell his 25% stake in Stark Logistics, a trucking company that worked with an Estonian company involved in Russia. He also said he would resign as the company’s chief financial officer and step down from the board.The opposition has urged Kallas to resign, while members of the center-right, three-party coalition government have been calling for more answers regarding Hallik’s activities. “We believed that we were doing the right thing, helping the right people and saving a ...

Canadian women taking up golf, challenging corporate stereotypes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

TORONTO — Gina Izumi was in her first corporate job out of university and told a male colleague her boyfriend enjoyed hitting the links. If Izumi stayed with him, her colleague said jokingly, Izumi would become a “golf widow” — spending her weekends alone at home looking after the kids and taking on chores while he played yet another round.Izumi was so determined to buck the stereotype that she and her boyfriend went straight to Golf Town to pick up clubs and shoes, then headed to the driving range.“I didn’t know if I’d like it. I didn’t know if I’d be any good at it, but it didn’t matter … I just wanted to prove that man wrong and never put myself in a position where I let myself be held back unfairly because I was a woman,” she recalled.More than 25 years later, Izumi is far from a “golf widow.” The senior vice-president of customer success and growth markets at software company SAP Canada is now a seasoned go...

The death toll from wildfires in Greece this week rises to 21 after another victim is found

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities battling a major wildfire in northeastern Greece that has been described as the European Union’s largest single recorded fire recovered another body, the fire department said Friday, bringing the total death toll from wildfires in Greece this week to 21.The fire department said firefighters recovered the body of a man from the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest National Park, which lies near the border with Turkey, on Thursday.Eighteen bodies were discovered Tuesday near a shack in an area near the northeastern city of Alexandroupolis, and the body of another person was found Monday in a forest. In central Greece, a man was found dead Monday in a sheep pen after reportedly trying to save his livestock from an advancing wildfire.With no reports of missing people in northeastern Greece, authorities suspect the people whose bodies were discovered in the area were migrants who may have crossed into the country recently from the nearby border with Turkey. Greec...

Stock market today: Wall Street wobbles as the Fed is still uncertain about more hikes to rates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is wobbling Friday after the head of the Federal Reserve said it’s still uncertain where interest rates are heading. The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower in midday trading after flipping between small gains and losses a few times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 46 points, or 0.1%, at 34,052, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower. In a highly anticipated speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said again that it will make upcoming decisions on interest rates based on what incoming data reports say about inflation and the economy, and he made no promises about what’s coming next. Wall Street had the speech circled on calendars because it was hoping Powell would say the Fed was done with its hikes to interest rates, which grind down inflation at the cost of slowing the economy and hurting prices for investments.Powell instead said the Fed may raise interest rates again, if needed. Even though inflation has come down fro...

Trump mug shot makes history after surrender at Fulton County Jail

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

Former President Trump became the first U.S. president in history, past or present, known to have his mug shot taken – a stipulation of his surrender at the Fulton County, Ga., Jail on Thursday evening following a fourth criminal indictment this year.The indictments were also a first as Trump became the only American president to face criminal charges, which have now reached 91 counts altogether.Fulton County officials released Trump’s mug shot after he surrendered to the local jail, joining a handful of other defendants also named in the case. Despite it being his fourth indictment, it was the first time Trump had his mug shot taken, which was released publicly. He was not required to take mug shots the three other times he surrendered to authorities in other cases he faces, two of which are federal.The state case in Georgia involves 19 defendants total, who have been charged with a criminal conspiracy to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss to then-candidate Joe Biden.The mug ...

Suburban man accused of battering pregnant woman

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — A suburban man was arrested after being accused of battering a pregnant woman.On Sunday at around 3:20 a.m., police responded to a 7-Eleven in the 800 block of West Oakton, located in Des Plaines, on the report of a domestic battery at a nearby Mount Prospect apartment complex.At the scene, officers learned that Antony Hernandez, 33, allegedly battered a pregnant woman multiple times. During the investigation, officers allege that he threatened the woman with a loaded firearm.Police said cocaine was found on Hernandez during a search. He was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, domestic battery, unlawful possession of weapons by a felon and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Man found shot dead in driver's seat in Back of the Yards

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

CHICAGO -- A man was found shot dead the driver's seat of a car in Back of the Yards early Friday morning. Police said the 20-year-old man was found unresponsive in the 4400 block of South Hermitage Avenue around 4:39 a.m. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was pronounced dead on the scene. Suburban man accused of battering pregnant woman There were no other injuries reported and the incident remains under investigation.

Robin's List: Old shows I've rediscovered on streaming

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

Grab a glass of red with some ice cubes, Robin's got a list of old shows she's rediscovered on streaming.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Carlos Santana issues apology for anti-trans remarks on stage

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

(KTLA) -- Guitar legend Carlos Santana has issued an apology for recent controversial comments he made during one of his concerts. On Thursday, a video surfaced of Santana going on a bit of a rant during a concert last month in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Many felt his words were offensive to those in the transgender community. “When God made you and me, before we came out of the womb, you know who you are and what you are. Later on, when you grow out of it, you see things, and you start believing that you could be something that sounds good, but you know it ain’t right," he said on stage. "Because a woman is a woman and a man is a man. That’s it. Whatever you wanna do in the closet, that’s your business. I’m OK with that.”Carlos Santana performs at the BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival in Napa, Calif., on May 26, 2019. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)The clip was seen across several outlets, including Consequence of Sound.Following the backlash of these comments, th...

Watch: Florida man injected opioid 'chemical agent' under family's door, police say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:20:57 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — After moving into their new condominium in June 2022, Umar Abdullah and his expectant wife were ready to welcome their daughter. They met their neighbors, and soon enough, a newborn was kicking around the place.Shortly thereafter, his downstairs neighbor, Xuming Li, began texting him, complaining of noises from upstairs. In texts shared with Nexstar's WFLA, Li said he couldn't sleep, and could hear the toilet seat being moved.After months of back and forth between the two men, Abdullah and his family began experiencing grogginess, sickness and vomiting."I look at my daughter," Abdullah said. "Her eyes were full of tears. She was not crying, but her eyes were full of tears." Florida woman pocketed $50G in altered checks and ‘stolen dental crowns’ from employer: police Abdullah said a friend of his first smelled the chemicals when she went to bring in a package while Abdullah was on vacation. When the family returned, they said smelled it too. Though some d...