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Slovakia’s central bank boss convicted of bribery in absentia: report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

The governor of Slovakia’s central bank, Peter Kažimír, was convicted by Slovakia’s Special Criminal Court of bribery, the country’s SME newspaper reported Thursday.Kažimír, a former Slovakian finance minister who is also a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, which sets interest rates, now faces a fine of €100,000.Kažimír was in Washington for the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings when the conviction was determined. Katarina Kudjakova, a spokesperson for the court, told SME the decision was not final, but that if Kažimír failed to pay the fine, he would face prison time. An appeal would also see him face trial.The European Central Bank declined to comment about the verdict when contacted by POLITICO.

Hungary withdraws from sanctioned Russia-linked bank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

BUDAPEST — Hungary is withdrawing from a Russia-linked investment bank a day after it was sanctioned by the United States. The International Investment Bank (IIB) moved its headquarters from Moscow to Budapest in 2019, fanning fears in Western capitals that it could be used as a cover for Russian intelligence operations inside Europe. On Wednesday, Washington sanctioned IIB and its top managers — including a Hungarian citizen — after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government repeatedly dismissed American concerns about its activities. And while Hungarian officials have criticized U.S. policy toward Hungary, on Thursday the country’s ministry for economic development said Budapest is withdrawing from the IIB and pulling its representatives from the institution. “The government discussed the situation and found that although the International Investment Bank played an important development role in Central and Eastern Europe, the operation of the bank lost ...

Transit Police: 35-year-old man arrested for attempted assault with a knife at Assembly Square station

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

A 35-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night for attempting to assault another man with a knife at the Assembly Square MBTA station, according to Transit Police. The incident happened around 11 p.m., police say. The suspect also had a warrant for his arrest for malicious damage to a motor vehicle out of Somerville District Court. No additional information has been released.https://twitter.com/MBTATransitPD/status/1646530739427500032

Lobsterman Catches Five-footer: Maine State Police dispose of military rocket caught by lobster trapper

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

State police in Maine safely disposed of a five-foot-long military rocket discovered off the coast this week.Maine State Police said members of its bomb squad were called in Tuesday morning after a lobsterman based out of Cushing caught the armament some 20 miles away from shore.According to MSP’s Facebook page, the lobsterman brought the rocket ashore and contacted authorities a day after making the discovery.Bomb squad personnel were able to analyze the item and identify it as an “MK29 Mod-0” type rocket, but when using X-ray imaging, state police said technicians could not confirm whether it contained explosive materials.Due to the condition of the missile, authorities opted to “countercharge” the missile with guidance from a Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit and were able to safely dispose of it.

Mary Quant, miniskirt mastermind of swinging 60s, dies at 93

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

By DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS (Associated Press)LONDON (AP) — Mary Quant, the visionary fashion designer whose colorful, sexy miniskirts epitomized Swinging London in the 1960s and influenced youth culture around the world, has died. She was 93.Quant’s family said she died “peacefully at home” in Surrey, southern England, on Thursday.Quant helped popularize the miniskirt — some credit her with inventing it — and the innovative tights that went along with it, creating dresses and accessories that were an integral part of the look. She created simple mix-and-match garments that had an element of whimsy. Some compared her impact on the fashion world with The Beatles’ impact on pop music.“I think it was a happy confluence of events, which is really what fashion is so often all about,” said Hamish Bowles, international editor at large for American Vogue magazine. “She was the right person with the right sensibility in the rig...

DOJ to ask Supreme Court to put abortion pill limits on hold

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

By PAUL J. WEBER and JESSICA GRESKO (Associated Press)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone can still be used for now but reduced the period of pregnancy when the drug can be taken and said it could not be dispensed by mail.The decision late Wednesday temporarily narrowed a ruling by a lower court judge in Texas that had completely blocked the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the nation’s most commonly used method of abortion. Still, preventing the pill from being sent by mail amounts to another significant curtailing of abortion access — less than a year after the reversal of Roe v. Wade resulted in more than a dozen states effectively banning abortion outright.In response Thursday, the Justice Department said it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency order to put any action on hold.“We are going to continue to fight in the courts, we believe the law is on our side, and we will prevai...

Maritime Museum proposes $28M museum project over San Diego Bay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO — While the historic ship collection on the waterfront is called the Maritime Museum of San Diego, there is no actual museum building.Maritime Museum President Ray Ashley wants to change that. "We certainly want to give the impression there is a museum there," said Ashley.Maritime Museum officials have put together a proposal to build a two-story museum facility that would include galleries, a theater and a café, all built over the water on an extended pier off the Embarcadero. The California state parks among those everyone should visit in their lifetime "It's another educational experience to go through, where you can learn about the history of your community," explained Ashley.The Maritime Museum is working with Tucker Sadler Architects to create the vision.“All the boats will be moved out about 100 feet and then a new pier will be built here with museum on top of it," said Tucker Sadler Architects CEO Greg Mueller.Moving the nine historic vessels would not only prote...

Latest ruling on pill shifts US abortion landscape again

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

A federal appeals court late Wednesday kept an abortion pill available, clarifying the U.S. abortion landscape but not settling it. The court preserved but narrowed access to an abortion pill across the U.S. It was a major development in a fast-shifting landscape in flux since June, when the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to an abortion.WHAT’S NEW?The majority of abortions in the U.S. are obtained using a combination of two medications. Anti-abortion groups have been trying to limit access to one of them, mifepristone.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the Food and Drug Administration’s initial approval of mifepristone in 2000 should remain in effect, overriding a district court ruling from less than a week before. Without Wednesday’s ruling, the drug would have been unavailable in at least some places starting on Saturday.The 2-1 ruling came with a catch: the judges put on hold a 2016 regulatory decision to relax some prescribing and disp...

Stocks tick higher on Wall Street as inflation slows further

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is ticking higher Thursday following the latest sign that inflation continues to cool.The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in midday trading after a report showed inflation at the wholesale level slowed last month by more than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 144 points, or 0.4%, at 33,790, as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% higher.Thursday’s report showed that prices paid to producers last month were 2.7% higher than a year earlier, the lowest inflation level there in more than two years. The hope on Wall Street is that easier inflation on the wholesale level will not only support profits for companies but also flow through to cooler inflation for consumers. A day earlier, a separate report said inflation for consumers slowed to 5%. Inflation and how high the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to tame it have been at the center of Wall Street’s struggles for more than a year. The Fed has hiked rates at su...

Second expelled Black Democrat reinstated to Tennessee House

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:51 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The second of two Black Democrats who were kicked out of the Republican-led Tennessee House followed his colleague back to work at the Capitol on Thursday, a week after their expulsion for participating in a gun control protest propelled them into the national spotlight.State Rep. Justin Pearson, of Memphis, was sworn in Thursday outside the Statehouse. The day before, Shelby County commissioners unanimously voted to reinstate him.“Yes indeed, happy resurrection day,” Pearson said Thursday morning as he signed paperwork for his return.“There will be a new building of this building, with a foundation built on love,” Pearson said during a fiery speech outside the Capitol after being sworn in. “With pillars of justice rising up. With rafters of courage covering us. With doors that are open to everybody in the state of Tennessee. Not just rich somebodies, but everybody. Not just straight somebodies, but everybody. Not just Republican somebodies, but everybody.”Af...