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Could France protest fury spill into next year’s Olympics?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Retired and with time to kill, Bernard Gauvain wants to be a volunteer at the 2024 Olympics — but a bad one.His intention is not to help out, but to gum up the Olympic machine by refusing to turn up for work. If others do likewise in sufficient numbers, he hopes they’ll sting the VVIP who stands to gain if the Paris Games run triumphantly like clockwork: French President Emmanuel Macron.The 68-year-old former agricultural consultant in southern France is part of an otherwise mostly hush-hush band of Olympic opponents who call themselves “un-volunteers.” Also anti-Macron — the president has ignited a months-long firestorm of French protest with unpopular pension reforms — the anti-Olympic Trojan horses are working to infiltrate and then disrupt next year’s Paris Games by signing up as volunteers, posing as willing-to-help superfans when they’re anything but.Their surreptitious operation, and other Olympic contestation that is picking up online and...

New reversal by Twitter after move sparked MTA withdrawal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

In an about-face, Twitter says it has restored free access to a key tool for verified government and “publicly owned” services so they can tweet weather, transit and other alerts after New York City’s transit agency said earlier this week it would no longer use the platform for its service advisories. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is among countless official and unofficial accounts that abruptly lost access to Twitter’s API, or application programming interface, to send out automated alerts about service changes and emergencies last week. By Thursday afternoon, senior executives agreed to cease publishing service alerts to the platform altogether.The decision put the country’s largest transportation network among a growing number of accounts, from National Public Radio to Elton John, who have reduced their Twitter presence or left the platform since its takeover by Elon Musk.Twitter had signaled that the days of private accounts disseminating troves of information ...

EE.UU. y México anuncian que México seguirá aceptando migrantes retornados por razones humanitarias

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

(CNN) — La Casa Blanca anunció este martes por la noche que EE.UU. y México acordaron una serie de medidas adicionales para hacer frente a la crisis migratoria, incluyendo que México continuará aceptando migrantes de Cuba, Haití, Nicaragua y Venezuela después del 11 de mayo, fecha en que se levanta el Título 42, por razones humanitarias.Estados Unidos también seguirá permitiendo que los migrantes de esas cuatro naciones busquen una vía para llegar a Estados Unidos, haciéndoles elegibles para la visa humanitaria, según un comunicado conjunto de los dos países.La Casa Blanca dijo que la asesora de Seguridad Nacional Liz Sherwood Randall se reunió este martes con el presidente mexicano Andrés Manuel López Obrador en la Ciudad de México para discutir la crisis humanitaria “causada por los flujos migratorios sin precedentes en nuestra frontera compartida y en la región”.El presidente de México habló de temas migratorios con enfoque humanitario con la enviada del preside...

Germany, Italy clamp down on Italian mob with raids, arrests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Police arrested suspects and raided homes early Wednesday across Germany and Italy in a massive effort to clamp down on members of the Italian ’ndrangheta organized crime syndicate.In Germany, more than 1,000 officers searched dozens of homes, offices and stores in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia, prosecutors said in a joint statement.In Italy, carabinieri police backed by helicopters served arrest warrants on 108 people who were accused, among other things, of mafia association; possession, production, and trafficking of drugs and weapons; and money laundering.European authorities have been waging a campaign against the Calabria-based ’ndrangheta, arguably the world’s richest organized crime group, in recent years. The group has exploited tens of billions of dollars in cocaine revenues over decades to extend its criminal reach across Europe and into several continents as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence.Over 30 ...

Teenage boy opens fire in school in Serbia capital

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A teenage boy opened fire early Wednesday in a school in central Belgrade, causing injuries, Serbian police said.Police received a call about the shooting in the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school around 8:40a.m., they said in a statement.The suspect, a 7th grade student, was arrested, police said. The statement added that the boy apparently fired several shots from his father’s gun at other students and the school guard.Serbian media have reported that the guard was killed in the shooting. Police gave no other details. The Vladislav Ribnikar school is located in the very center of Belgrade. Primary schools in Serbia have eight grades.The Associated Press

Iran’s president lands in Syria for rare meeting with Assad

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

DAMASCUS (AP) — Iraninan President Ebrahim Raisi landed in Damascus Wednesday on the first visit by an Iranian head of state to the war-wracked country in over a decade.Tehran has been a main backer of President Bashar Assad’s government since an uprising turned into a full-blown war in March 2011 and has played an instrumental role in turning the tide in his favor. Iran has sent scores of military advisers and thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the Middle East to fight on Assad’s side. With the help of Russia and Iran, Syrian government forces have controlled large parts of the country in recent years. During his two-day visit, Raisi is expected to meet Assad to sign several agreements and memorandums of understanding to boost cooperation, Syrian state and pro-government media reported. In an interview with pan-Arab television channel Al-Mayadeen, Raisi called for reconstruction efforts and for refugees who fled the country’s war to return to the countr...

In coronation, King Charles carries on a medieval tradition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Great Britain’s royal family turns the page on a new chapter Saturday with the coronation of King Charles III. The pomp, pageantry and symbolism dates back more than 1,000 years, but the crowning of this king will feature new twists on the tradition and changes from the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 70 years ago. Plans for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey call for a more toned-down affair than the last one, even though royals from other nations, heads of state and most of Charles’ family will be there, and the monarch plans to wear the same vestments as Elizabeth did. Here are some things to know about the coronation:WHY HAVE THE CORONATION IF CHARLES IS ALREADY KING?Charles automatically ascended to the throne when Elizabeth died Sept. 8, and he was officially proclaimed Britain’s monarch two days later in an ascension ceremony broadcast for the first time on television. Charles said he was “deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duti...

French police clash with black-clad anarchists during May Day rallies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

French police clashed in Paris and in other cities with hundreds of anarchists dressed in black during protests led by unions against President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to raise the retirement age. Workers held rallies on Labour Day across Europe.Demonstrators attacked the Paris police force with Molotov cocktail and fireworks. They also set fire to building materials and destroyed bus stops. The peaceful protesters booed police officers as they used tear gas and batons to respond.Water cannons were used by emergency services to extinguish a fire that had blackened windows in nearby apartments. A fiery projectile struck an officer, causing him to be badly injured.In Lyon and Nantes there was also violence, with some cars being set on fire and businesses being trashed. According to the interior ministry, nearly 200 people were detained on a single day when 782,000 people were out in the streets.Macron raised the retirement age to 64 last month despite strikes in multiple sectors. T...

Presale Codes for Shinedown The Revolutions Live Tour with Papa Roach and Spiritbox

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

Did you know that sometimes goodbye is a second chance? Well forget goodbye, how about you say hello to Shinedown when they come to a city near you! The epic Florida rockers just announced a summer and fall leg of their “The Revolutions Live” tour with special guests Papa Roach and Spiritbox. The tour launches on September 3 in St Louis, MO and will hit 26 dates in total, wrapping on October 20 in Denver, CO, and will be making a stop here in Southern California at the FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on October 15 — see below for all dates. Passwords and presale codes for the Shinedown The Revolutions Live Tour tickets are as follows:Presale codes for Shinedown The Revolutions Live TourPresale tickets for the Shinedown The Revolutions Live Tour go on sale today, May 3 and we’ve been told the following presale codes and passwords may work. Details are subject to change, and vary by event date:Citi card presale code or password: 412800 (you will need a Citi card to make t...

Single family residence in San Jose sells for $1.7 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:25 GMT

1476 Portobelo Drive – Google Street ViewA 1,937-square-foot house built in 1968 has changed hands. The property located in the 1400 block of Portobelo Drive in San Jose was sold on April 10, 2023, for $1,660,000, or $857 per square foot. The property features four bedrooms, three baths, a garage, and two parking spaces, as well as a pool in the backyard. The unit sits on a 6,283-square-foot lot.Additional houses have recently been purchased nearby:In January 2023, a 2,450-square-foot home on Las Cruces Court in San Jose sold for $1,500,000, a price per square foot of $612. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.A 2,144-square-foot home on the 4700 block of Sutcliff Avenue in San Jose sold in September 2022, for $1,750,000, a price per square foot of $816. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Yucatan Way, San Jose, in April 2023, a 1,744-square-foot home was sold for $1,900,000, a price per square foot of $1,089. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.