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Latvia’s Parliament elects new head of state from 3 candidates in unpredictable vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Latvian lawmakers are set to elect a new head of state on Wednesday from a field of three candidates with no clear favorite.The Baltic nation’s 100-seat Saeima legislature will choose a president to serve for a four-year term. Entrepreneur and businessman Uldis Pilens, civil society activist Elina Pinto and Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics are registered by parties to run in the race. It had been considered all but certain that incumbent Egils Levits, Latvia’s president since 2019, would seek reelection for a second term. But in a surprise move announced earlier this month, Levits said he was disappointed that parties in Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins’ three-party coalition government hadn’t been able to agree on a joint candidate, and said he wouldn’t run in such a situation.Latvia’s presidency is largely a ceremonial post and the head of state acts mainly as an opinion leader and uniting figure in the country where almost a third of residents speak Russian....

Vatican questions $17 million transfer to impact investing vehicle, moves to prevent similar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The former monastery on a quiet residential street in Rome once sheltered Jews fearing deportation in World War II. Purchased by the Vatican in 2021 as a dormitory for foreign nuns studying at Rome’s pontifical universities, the building now stands empty, a collateral victim of the latest financial scandal to hit the Holy See.Pope Francis has asked aides to get to the bottom of how at least $17 million, including money to refurbish the dorm, was transferred from the Vatican’s U.S.-based missionary fundraising coffers into an impact investing vehicle run by a priest, The Associated Press has learned. Two years later, the U.S. fundraiser says the money is gone, and the monastery is shuttered. Its renovation is tied up in bureaucratic red tape, while the nuns studying in Rome are still housed at a convent a 90-minute commute away.The story of what happened to the money is one that has vexed Vatican officials on both sides of the Atlantic, all the more because the tr...

Vatican questions $17 million transfers to impact investing fund, moves to prevent similar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican is seeking clarity after the former director of its U.S. missionary fundraising office oversaw the transfer of at least $17 million of its endowment and donations into a new nonprofit and private equity fund that he created and currently manages, The Associated Press has learned.The new management of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, which raises money for the Catholic Church in the developing world, has written off most of that money – the $10.2 million it invested in the private equity fund — as a loss since “there is no timeline and no guarantee of investment return,” according to its latest financial statement.The money was transferred from TPMS-US into a New York-based nonprofit, Missio Corp., and a private equity fund MISIF LLC created by the Rev. Andrew Small while he was the national director of TPMS-US. Both financial vehicles aim to raise capital to provide low-interest loans to and investments in church-run farmin...

South Sudan struggles to clear mines after decades of war as people start returning home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

MAGWI COUNTY, South Sudan (AP) — For the first time since fleeing South Sudan’s civil war eight years ago, Jacob Wani returned home excited to rebuild his life.But when the 45-year-old farmer tried to access his land in Eastern Equatoria state’s Magwi County, he was banned, told that it had been labeled hazardous and contaminated with mines.“My area is dangerous,” Wani said, standing in his shop in Moli village where he now lives, a few miles from the farm. “I do not have the capacity to rebuild in this place and I am also afraid (of explosives). If I go, maybe something can hurt me.” As South Sudanese trickle back into the country after a peace deal was signed in 2018 to end a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions, many are returning to areas riddled with mines left from decades of conflict. More than 5,000 South Sudanese have been killed or injured by land mines and unexploded ordnance since 2004, according to the U.N. Mine ...

Daily horoscope for May 31, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

Moon Alert: Caution! Avoid shopping or major decisions from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT today (7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Libra into Scorpio.Happy Birthday for Wednesday, May 31, 2023:You have strong views and a no-nonsense approach to life. You are passionate, intense and determined. This year is a time of learning and teaching for you. Take courses. Renew your spiritual beliefs. Study whatever will help you get a better self-awareness about the true meaning of your life.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★It’s a tricky day! Most of this day is a Moon Alert, which means avoid shopping (except for food and gas) and important decisions. Nevertheless, because the proverbial train is off the tracks, you can enjoy frank and imaginative conversations with partners and close friends. Tonight: Check your finances.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★Be careful today. The Sun is in one of your Money Houses, which means you are thinking about financial matters. Nevertheless, ...

NATO soldiers deploy in Kosovo clashes with Serb protesters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

NATO peacekeeping soldiers formed security cordons around three town halls in Kosovo on Monday (29 May) as police clashed with Serb protesters, while Serbia's president put the army on the highest level of combat alert.The tense situation developed after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo's Serb majority area after elections the Serbs boycotted.In Zvecan, one of the towns, Kosovo police - staffed by ethnic Albanians after Serbs quit the force last year - sprayed pepper gas to repel a crowd of Serbs who broke through a security barricade and tried to force their way into the municipality building, witnesses said.Serb protesters in Zvecan threw tear gas and stun grenades at NATO soldiers. Serbs also clashed with police in Zvecan and spray-painted NATO vehicles with the letter "Z", referring to a Russian sign used in war in Ukraine.In Leposavic, close to the border with Serbia, US peacekeeping troops in riot gear placed barbed wire around the town hall to protect it ...

Single-family house sells for $2.9 million in Palo Alto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

875 East Meadow Drive – Google Street ViewA house located in the 800 block of East Meadow Drive in Palo Alto has new owners. The 1,389-square-foot property, built in 1956, was sold on May 8, 2023, for $2,850,000, or $2,052 per square foot. The property features three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage, and two parking spaces. The backyard also has a pool. The unit sits on a 7,100-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:A 2,548-square-foot home on the 3600 block of Arbutus Avenue in Palo Alto sold in April 2023, for $4,150,000, a price per square foot of $1,629. The home has 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In December 2022, a 1,421-square-foot home on Corina Way in Palo Alto sold for $2,902,000, a price per square foot of $2,042. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Lupine Avenue, Palo Alto, in April 2023, a 1,412-square-foot home was sold for $3,100,000, a price per square foot of $2,195. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 

Today in History: May 31, the Johnstown Flood

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

Today in History Today is Wednesday, May 31, the 151st day of 2023. There are 214 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On May 31, 1889, some 2,200 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, perished when the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending 20 million tons of water rushing through the town. On this date: In 1790, President George Washington signed into law the first U.S. copyright act. In 1859, the Big Ben clock tower in London went into operation, chiming for the first time. In 1921, a race riot erupted in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as white mobs began looting and leveling the affluent Black district of Greenwood over reports a Black man had assaulted a white woman in an elevator; hundreds are believed to have died. In 1949, former State Department official and accused spy Alger Hiss went on trial in New York, charged with perjury (the jury deadlocked, but Hiss was convicted in a second trial).In 1962, former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel a few minutes before mid...

Connecticut visits Minnesota following Hayes’ 22-point game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

Connecticut Sun (4-1, 4-1 Eastern Conference) at Minnesota Lynx (0-4, 0-3 Western Conference)Minneapolis; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDTBOTTOM LINE: Connecticut takes on the Minnesota Lynx after Tiffany Hayes scored 22 points in the Sun’s 81-78 win against the Indiana Fever.Minnesota finished 7-11 at home last season while going 14-22 overall. The Lynx averaged 13.1 points off of turnovers, 11.6 second chance points and 26.8 bench points last season.Connecticut finished 25-11 overall with a 12-6 record on the road last season. The Sun averaged 85.8 points per game last season, 15.7 from the free throw line and 19.2 from deep.INJURIES: Lynx: Natalie Achonwa: out (personal).Sun: None listed.___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Source

UN court issuing appeal ruling in long-running trial of 2 Serbs accused of crimes in Balkan wars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:56 GMT

FILE - Jovica Stanisic, facing camera, appears in court for his retrial at the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, on June 13, 2017. The appeals decision on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in the retrial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic brings to an end the longest-running war crimes prosecution dating back to the Balkan wars of the early 1990s. (Michael Kooren/Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - Jovica Stanisic, facing camera, appears in court for his retrial at the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, on June 13, 2017. The appeals decision on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals...