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Ukraine's Zelenskiy promises legal overhaul to aid EU entry bid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday (11 May) that he had approved a reform plan for the criminal justice and law enforcement system, a crucial element of plans to ensure a quick entry into the European Union.Ukraine has applied to join the 27-nation group in order to repel Russia's invasion.The EU considers the end of endemic corruption and upgrades to legislation, as well as improvements to the judiciary to be key elements to anchoring Ukraine to Western institutions.Zelenskiy stated in his video nightly address that "we must create a system which guarantees justice and the rule of law within our country in order to achieve our goal of joining the EU as quickly as possible."He said that the changes would be part a new contract social to ensure people feel safe and protected."Trust is based on trusting those who act for the state." "Law enforcement, the prosecution system and everyone in the state apparatus are key to this," he said.It can take several years for...

Switzerland evacuates village threatened by vast rockfall

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

Swiss authorities ordered residents of a small mountain village to leave the area because they feared it would be buried under a mountainside that was collapsing.On Thursday (11 May), a thick layer of fog blanketed the mountaintop that overlooks the village of Brienz. The vegetation had been replaced with a slope made of mud and stones.Farmers were seen loading cows into a truck, and driving it away from the village. Yellow warning signs were posted in five different languages, stating: "Attention Rockfall".Local authorities warn that Brienz faces a serious risk as 2 million cubic metres of rock may soon fall from the mountain and damage or crush its charming homes.Christian Gartmann is a member of Albula's crisis management board. Albula includes Brienz. "We expect the rock to fall toward the village in the next few weeks or days."Brienz, a village of less than 100 residents, has been given until the evening of Friday to evacuate. Daniel Albertin is the village mayor and he's confi...

Bridge: May 15, 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

Unlucky Louie and the player we call Harlow the Halo are diametrically opposed. Good luck shines in Harlow’s face like good health; Louie would have won a lottery for a ticket on the Titanic.“The man’s errors never cost,” Louie grumbles.In a team match, Louie and Harlow played at 3NT, and West led the ten of clubs: deuce, king, ace.“Harlow led the queen of hearts next,” Louie told me, “and East took the ace! Harlow won the club return, led a heart to the ten and East’s jack, and had 10 tricks. If East had correctly ducked the queen of hearts, the Halo would have been in serious trouble.”BETTER PLAY“My play was better,” Louie said. “At Trick Two I led the three of hearts to dummy’s ten. East won and returned a club; no defense would beat the contract. I won and led the queen of hearts to dummy’s king, assuring an overtrick.”If East let the ten of hearts win, Louie would lead a low heart from dum...

Galaxy defeats Cali Clasico rival San Jose thanks to two second-half goals

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Gastón Brugman, right, defends against San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Jamiro Monteiro during the second half of an MLS soccer match at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. on Sunday, May 14, 2023. The Los Angeles Galaxy won 2-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Riqui Puig, right, battles San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Carlos Gruezo for the ball during the second half of an MLS soccer match at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. on Sunday, May 14, 2023. The Los Angeles Galaxy won 2-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Tyler Boyd, left, moves the ball up the pitch during the second half of an MLS soccer match against the San Jose Earthquakes at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. on Sunday, May 14, 2023. The Los Angeles Galaxy won 2-1. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Greg Va...

A year on from a deadly shooting, a California church community isn’t done mourning

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

Jerry Cheng doesn’t exactly remember his last words to his friend and fellow congregant, Dr. John Cheng, but he remembers what they were doing in the moments before a man opened fire on their Laguna Woods church.Congregants and others gather at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 14, 2023 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the shooting at the church. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Congregants and others gather at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 14, 2023 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the shooting at the church. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Henry Ang, 76, who was wounded in the leg during the shooting last year at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, speaks about the impact of the shooting on his life over the last year during memorial service at the church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, May 14, 2023. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County ...

Ask Amy: Should I hide my disturbing family discovery from my cousin?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

Dear Amy: I had my DNA tested, as have some of my second cousins, and in one case the results are disturbing.My percent-DNA matches with six other cousins are smack in the middle of the normal range for that relationship.But with one particular second cousin — his paternal grandfather and my maternal grandmother were siblings — our percent-DNA match is above the feasible range for second cousins and centered on the range for first cousins once removed.That implies this man is actually my mother’s first cousin — that their parents were siblings.Long story short (having researched DNA results interpretation for other reasons), this cousin’s supposed grandfather is probably actually his biological father.From his online family tree, I see that the cousin was born in 1945, his father served overseas in the Navy during WWII, and his grandfather lived in the same town as his mother.Am I right in not bringing this up nor discussing it with him or anyone else?It does...

‘We want to keep people alive’: How laws across DC region can help prevent fatal overdoses

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

This article is part of the WTOP series, “Facing Down Fentanyl: Teens Confront Drug Danger.”Even as rates of fatal drug overdoses remain alarmingly high, experts say the vast majority of deaths are preventable.More than three out of five overdose deaths involved at least one instance in which the person  could have received help before overdosing, or received lifesaving help during an overdose. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The missed opportunities are, in part, due to a fear that other drug users who seek help for someone suffering from an overdose could be prosecuted.That’s not necessarily the case in the D.C. region. Maryland, D.C. and Virginia all have so-called “good Samaritan” laws on the books that protect those who help someone in need.“Even if they’re using drugs, if they have a friend who is overdosing … if they call the police and ask for help and they stay with that person, that they won’t be prosec...

Sohu.com: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — BEIJING (AP) — Sohu.com Limited (SOHU) on Monday reported a loss of $17.9 million in its first quarter.On a per-share basis, the Beijing-based company said it had a loss of 53 cents. Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, were 37 cents per share.The operator of a popular Chinese Web portal posted revenue of $161.8 million in the period._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SOHU at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SOHUSource

A new group of butterflies has been named after the ‘Lord of the Rings’ villain

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

(CNN) — A large international team of researchers has identified nine groups of newly described butterflies, and one colorful genus broke the mold with its striking wing patterns — earning itself a name inspired by the Eye of Sauron, a blazing symbol of the main antagonist Sauron the Dark Lord in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” book series.The Eye of Sauron glows in the 2001 film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”The “distinctive fused orange rings” that encircle black-and-white eyespots on the hindwings of this group led the researchers to name the genus Saurona, according to a recent study published in the journal Systematic Entomology.“Naming a genus is not something that happens very often, and it’s even more rare to be able to name two at once,” study coauthor Dr. Blanca Huertas, senior curator of lepidoptera at the Natural History Museum in London, said in a news release. Huertas and a...

Ukraine aid is drying up. And the White House is under pressure to send more

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:10 GMT

Move over, Treasury. You’re not the only one with an X-date.The $48 billion Ukraine aid package that Congress approved in December has about $6 billion left, meaning U.S. funding for weapons and supplies could dry up by midsummer.That’s raising fresh concerns among lawmakers about what the White House is planning next, including when the administration will ask for another major package and whether it will be enoughThe funding, many members say, needs to continue to flow without interruption, especially as Kyiv prepares to launch what’s expected to be a sweeping counteroffensive and retake ground in the east from the Russians.“It is critical that the administration provide Ukraine with what it needs in time to defend and take back its sovereign territory,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Pentagon leaders during a hearing on Thursday. “We expect the administration not to wait until the eleventh hour if the Ukrainians need more before the end of the fiscal year.”The White House is d...