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Oil tankers, golf buddies and explosives: Qatargate suspect’s side hustle

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

Oil tankers, golf buddies and explosives: Qatargate suspect’s side hustleEven as he allegedly worked for Qatar and Morocco, Francesco Giorgi was looking for other options.By ELISA BRAUN, GIAN VOLPICELLI and EDDY WAXin BrusselsBRUSSELS — As a business deal, it was liable to blow up.Literally.One of the key suspects in the Qatargate corruption scandal tried to source explosive materials for Mauritania’s national mining company in the hope of getting a cut of the transaction. Details of the venture appear in a cache of leaked documents from the police investigation into the biggest corruption case to hit the EU in decades. They show how, even as Francesco Giorgi — the parliamentary aide at the heart of the cash-for-influence probe — worked in the European Parliament, he was laying the foundations for a career as a consultant with the help of his partner, the European Parliament’s then-Vice President Eva Kaili. Giorgi planned to leave parliament in 2024, according to not...

Editorial: Stop being cowards on campus

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

Congresswoman Lucy McBath, a Democrat from Georgia, said yesterday it is “up to all of us to learn more” about the roots of antisemitism and the brutality of Hamas terrorists.She urged the college presidents who came before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to reflect on the horrific Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas. Republicans and Democrats on the committee echoed her impassioned appeal.Any debate about the war in Israel and Gaza must start with this heartless ambush.The Herald has learned that 300-plus Harvard University students, deans, and professors attended a 46-minute Israel Defense Forces showing of footage of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack Monday evening on the Cambridge campus.It’s the same gruesome compilation of rapes and murders of women, children, elderly and young adults the Herald viewed early last month after being invited by Ambassador Meron Reuben, consulate general of Israel in Boston, to bear witness to.Seeing that must be the beginning...

Chula Vista councilmember Andrea Cardenas shows up to first meeting since being criminally charged

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Chula Vista councilmember Andrea Cardenas showed up to her first city council meeting Monday since being charged with several felonies."Do not be an obstacle for the city to conduct its business. Take care of yourself and your business allow the city to move on," Delia Dominguez Cervantes said.Residents were able to give their public comments this time with the embattled Cardenas in attendance.Cardenas had been absent for the last month, missing back-to-back city council meetings, after being criminally charged with fraud, grand theft and money laundering.There have since been consistent calls for her to step down.Council has limited ways to remove a sitting councilmember, but one way would be if Cardenas had four unexcused absences.Mayor John McCann and Councilmember Jose Preciado have been the only two colleagues to publicly call for Cardenas to resign. However, when it came time to vote on whether to excuse her absence from the last meeting, Preciado once a...

Arizona man charged over online posts that allegedly incited Australian attack in which 6 died

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A U.S. citizen has been charged in Arizona over online comments that allegedly incited what police describe as a “religiously motivated terrorist attack” in Australia a year ago in which six people died, officials said Wednesday.Queensland state police officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold and innocent bystander Alan Dare were fatally shot by Gareth Train, his brother Nathaniel Train and Nathanial’s wife Stacey Train in an ambush at the Trains’ remote property in the rural community of Wieambilla last Dec. 12, investigators say.Four officers had arrived at the property to investigate reports of a missing person. They walked into a hail of gunfire, police said at the time. Two officers managed to escape and raise the alarm. Police killed the three Trains, who have been described as conspiracy theorists, during a six-hour siege.FBI agents arrested a 58-year-old man near Heber Overgaard, Arizona, last week on a U.S. charge that alleged he incited the viol...

Heavy fighting across Gaza halts most aid delivery, leaves civilians with few places to seek safety

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces battled Hamas militants across Gaza on Wednesday after expanding their ground offensive to its second-largest city, further shrinking the area where Palestinians can seek safety and halting the distribution of vital aid across most of the territory.The assault on the south threatens further mass displacement within the besieged coastal enclave, where the U.N. says some 1.87 million people — over 80% of the population — have already fled their homes.Much of the north, including large parts of Gaza City, has been completely destroyed, and Palestinians fear the rest of Gaza could suffer a similar fate as Israel tries to dismantle Hamas, which has deep roots in the territory it has ruled for 16 years.Israel says it can no longer accept a Hamas military presence in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain open-ended security control over the territory, something...

Six people dead after shooting spree in Austin, double homicide in Bexar Co.

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A man was arrested and booked on a charge of capital murder on Tuesday in connection to several homicides and two separate shootings involving an Austin Independent School District officer and an Austin police officer, Austin Police said early Wednesday morning. Additionally, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said in a media briefing that the suspect involved in the shooting spree may also be connected to a double homicide in Bexar County, which is near San Antonio. Sheriff: Suspect in Austin shooting spree tied to possible double homicide in Bexar County Shortly before 7:30 p.m., APD said a police officer was shot in southwest Austin. That officer was injured but is expected to survive. Austin ISD officer shot at Northeast ECHS Law enforcement sources tell KXAN the suspect in the southwest Austin shooting is the same person who is accused of killing two people on Shadywood Drive in south Austin and shooting an Austin Independent School District officer at Nort...

Keeler: This one’s for John! Colorado School of Mines QB John Matocha talks NCAA semis, John Elway helicopter tribute: “I’d do it again.”

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

John Matocha puts his surplice on one arm at a time. College football’s all-time touchdown leader is one of the secret MVPs of Sunday morning mass at St. Joseph Catholic Parish in Golden, making sure the slides are running at 7:30 sharp.“How was the game?” they’ll ask him.“Saw the win yesterday, John.”“That was a heck of a flip you took. You OK?”(He is.)“The community is phenomenal,” Mines’ all-everything quarterback said by phone in advance of the top-ranked Orediggers’ Division II football playoff semifinal tussle with Kutztown Saturday at Marv Kay Stadium.“It’s good for me. I enjoy it. It keeps me grounded. I couldn’t be more thankful.”As the reigning Harlon Hill Trophy winner and a grad student in Mines’ computer sciences program, Matocha gets about 14 minutes of sleep during a good week. But the man’s committed his Sunday mornings to St. Joseph, dang it, win or … um...

Europe must defend its values at home and abroad

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

The past two months have been a troubling and difficult time for Europe. While the war in Ukraine continues to raise concerns about the continent's security, our attention has been divided by the outbreak of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East. While both issues are hitting international headlines, on the back pages and under the radar, democracy around the world continues to retreat. The core values of the Western world, freedom of speech and, most importantly, the separation of politics from law, are regularly declared and proclaimed. However, their implementation has become situational at best and completely ignored at worst, writes Ryszard Henryk Czarnecki, senior Polish politician and MEP from Poland since 2004.With the collapse of the Soviet Union, most Western politicians and scientists expected the rest of the world to become more liberal; instead, we are seeing the opposite trend. In the other words, it is not Russia and Iran that are becoming more like the...

Eklund’s OT goal and Hertl’s hat trick lift Sharks over Islanders 5-4

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — William Eklund scored in the closing seconds of overtime, Tomas Hertl had a hat trick and the San Jose Sharks erased a three-goal, third-period deficit to defeat the New York Islanders 5-4 on Tuesday night.Kevin Labanc also scored and Kaapo Kahkonen made 33 saves for the Sharks.Julien Gauthier, Brock Nelson, Mike Reilly and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders who began a six-game homestand with a loss. Simon Holmstrom and Bo Horvat each added two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 27 saves.Mikael Granlund set up Eklund for a one-time shot with 5 seconds to play in the three-on-three overtime period.Hertl recorded the equalizer and completed his sixth career hat trick at 18:30. He buried a rebound 1:49 prior to that to pull the Sharks to within a goal.SENATORS 6, RANGERS 2OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Brady Tkachuk and Vladimir Tarasenko each scored twice to lead Ottawa to an impressive win over the league-leading New York.Anton Forsberg made 33 saves for the Sens, whil...

Estos son los aspirantes en la carrera por la candidatura republicana a las elecciones presidenciales de 2024

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 09:20:05 GMT

(CNN) — Todos los aspirantes a la candidatura presidenciales republicana compiten por enfrentarse al presidente Joe Biden en noviembre de 2024. Pero primero, están compitiendo en las primarias y caucus del Partido Republicano, que comienzan en enero de 2024, para emerger como el candidato del partido.Los aspirantes que se enumeran a continuación están en orden de ubicación en la Encuesta de Encuestas de CNN, que es un promedio de las cuatro encuestas nacionales no partidistas más recientes de votantes primarios republicanos potenciales o probables de 2024 que cumplen con los estándares de CNN. Los candidatos que no aparecen en la encuesta de encuestas de candidatos de CNN aparecen en orden alfabético después de los aspirantes que sí aparecen en las encuestas.He aquí un vistazo a quién está dentro y quién está considerando postularse en 2024 para la nominación republicana:Donald TrumpEl expresidente Donald Trump. (Crédito: Getty)El expresidente Donald Trump lanzó su campaña par...