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Rachael Rollins ethics investigation transcripts withheld from the Herald

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

A Herald request for the interview transcripts behind the Department of Justice’s Office of Special Counsel’s investigation into ex-U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins has been denied in full, with the agency citing “personal privacy” exceptions.“I am writing in response to your request dated May 19, 2023, in which you asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to provide you with ‘the complete transcripts of the OIG interviews with U.S. Attorney and all others interviewed,’” Chauncey Lawson of the agency’s FOIA team wrote in a Friday letter to this reporter..“In reviewing your request under the FOIA, OSC identified 183 pages of responsive records,” his letter continued. “However, all 183 pages will be withheld in full” under three exemptions to the law.Those are exemption 5, which “protects from disclosure inter-agency or intra-agency information that is normally protected from discovery in civil litigation based on one or more legal privileges (including, in this instance, the delib...

Pope Francis names 21 new cardinals, including prelates based in Hong Kong and Jerusalem.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday announced he has chosen 21 new cardinals, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong — places where Catholics are a small minority. The pope announced his picks during his customary weekly appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony to formally install the churchmen as cardinals will be held on Sept. 30. Among those tapped are several prelates holding or about to assume major Vatican posts, like Argentine Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, whom the pope just named to lead the office for ensuring doctrinal orthodoxy. The new cardinals also include Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Sau-yan Chow and the Vatican’s top official in the Middle East, Monsignor Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.The Associated Press

UN chief says Sudan on the brink of a ‘full-scale civil war’ after nearly 3 months of fighting

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Sudan was on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” as fierce clashes between rival generals continued unabated Sunday in the capital, Khartoum.He warned on Saturday evening that the war between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary force is likely to destabilize the entire region, according to Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the secretary-general.Sudan descended into chaos after months of tension between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and his rival Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in mid-April.Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said in televised comments last month that the clashes have killed over 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000 others. The death tally, however, is highly likely to be much higher. More than 2.9 million people have fled their homes to safer areas inside Sudan or crossed into neighboring countries, a...

Prime Minister Trudeau heads to NATO summit, where leaders face critical decisions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading to the NATO leaders’ summit in Lithuania this week, where Canada is likely to play a larger-than-usual role in two critical discussions: the alliance’s expanding membership and its efforts to refocus on collective defence. Trudeau is expected to depart for Riga, Latvia, from Ottawa on Sunday evening. He is due to meet with that country’s leaders on Monday before heading to the Lithuanian capital for the first day of the NATO summit on Tuesday. At last year’s summit in Madrid, NATO leaders identified Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area” in a strategic concept document that set out their intent to strengthen deterrence and defence in the region. That came after a meeting in Brussels in March 2022, when leaders agreed to deploy four new multinational battle groups on the eastern flank in Bulgaria, Hungary, Rom...

The BBC is under pressure over claims a well-known presenter paid a teenager for explicit photos

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Senior British politicians on Sunday called on the BBC to rapidly investigate claims that a leading presenter paid a teenager for explicit photos.The publicly funded national broadcaster is under pressure after The Sun newspaper reported allegations that the male presenter gave a youth 35,000 pounds ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the young person was 17.Neither the star nor the youth was identified. Amid speculation on social media about the identity of the presenter, several of the BBC’s best-known stars spoke up to say it wasn’t them.Though the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16, it’s a crime to make or possess indecent images of anyone under 18.The Sun said the young person’s mother had complained to the BBC in May. It was unclear what if any action the broadcaster had taken.In a statement, the BBC said “we treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them.”“If, at any point, new information comes to light or is p...

Brush fire in Hays County about 85% contained

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – A brush fire near Hilliard Road in Hays County is about 85 acres in size as of late Saturday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.Mike Jones, Hays County director of emergency services, said that emergency responders are calling it the "Vineyard Fire.""We've got plenty of water on hand," said Jones.No homes are currently at risk from the fire, and Jones said that his agency is not planning any evacuation of civilians. As of around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, the fire is 85% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.A brush fire near Hilliard Road in Hays County has reached nearly 150 acres as of 9 p.m. Saturday (Photo Courtesy Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra).A brush fire near Hilliard Road in Hays County has reached nearly 150 acres as of 9 p.m. Saturday (Photo Courtesy Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra).A brush fire near Hilliard Road in Hays County has reached nearly 150 acres as of 9 p.m. Saturday (Photo Courtesy Hays County Judge Rube...

Head of athletics for St. Paul Public Schools accused of sex discrimination, harassment

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

The man in charge of athletics for St. Paul Public Schools is the subject of numerous sex discrimination and harassment complaints lodged by people he supervises, but the school district has closed all investigations without taking any action.Monroe Denarvise Thornton, 54, was hired in December 2021 as the district’s first full-time districtwide athletics administrator.Monroe Denarvise Thornton Jr., 54, was hired in January 2021 as the first districtwide athletics director for St. Paul Public Schools. (Courtesy of St. Paul Public Schools)One of the co-worker complaints alleges that three months after he was hired, the married Thornton was drinking heavily during a state conference for athletics administrators in St. Cloud when he made “inappropriate passes” at a female vendor for a ticketing company, even calling her at 2 a.m.The woman was so uncomfortable that she asked another district employee to escort her back to her hotel, according to the co-worker, who said multiple people w...

St. Paul couple reminisce about Cold War-era road trip through the Ukraine, Russia, Poland, other corners of Eastern Europe

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

It was early 1984, still years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the official end of America’s Cold War with the Soviet Union, and Yuri Andropov was dying.Mark and Constance Kraby, now of St. Paul, with their orange Volkswagen at a dacha outside Moscow, one of many stops during a three-week road trip across Eastern Europe in 1984. (Courtesy of the Krabys)With the leader of the Russian superpower hidden from public view, the United States warned Americans abroad that regime change would be an especially bad time to visit America’s rival. But Mark and Constance Kraby had spent nine months arranging their two-car trip through Eastern Europe with three fellow ex-patriots who, like them, had made fast cash cleaning houses and U.S. military hotels in Munich, Germany.The five Americans felt young enough to be immortal, and just poor enough to insist on their money’s worth from a long-planned hotel-and-camping vacation throughout the U.S.S.R. With their two ri...

Skywatch: Great Summer Triangle will take you places

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

When you’re trying to make the stars your old friends and getting to know your way around the constellations, you need all the help you can get. Asterisms can be excellent tools to get the job done. Asterisms are large and obvious formations of stars that are very easy to find. They are not counted among the official constellations in the night sky, but they’re a heck of a lot easier to find because they’re all made up of bright stars and jump right out at you. They can be either part of a constellation or made up of several constellations.One example of an asterism is the Big Dipper, now hanging by its handle in the northwestern sky. The Dipper makes up the rear end and tail of the constellation Ursa Major, the Latin name for the Big Bear. Its stars are by far the brightest members of Ursa Major and can be seen even in light-polluted skies. The Big Dipper is the first step to seeing the rest of the Big Bear. It also acts as an excellent pointer to other constellat...

Kathleen Collins: Biden’s Ukraine policy needs to be fixed, not ended

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:25 GMT

President Obama’s failed ideas about appeasing Russia and barring lethal military aid to Ukraine have taken hold among Republicans.A recent PEW study found that nearly 50% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe the U.S. is giving Ukraine too much aid. Almost 60% of the same group believe that President Biden’s policy in Ukraine is wrong. Oddly, many of the same Republican leaders who lambasted Obama for being naïve about Russia now oppose “Biden’s war.” The “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” or President Trump’s isolationism characterize the views of growing numbers.Let’s consider the major Republican critiques of aid to Ukraine.Republicans often argue that Ukraine is not a democracy, and thus doesn’t deserve our support. This outdated view ignores Ukraine’s past 20 years. Since 2004, Ukraine has held free, competitive elections. The 2014 Revolution of Dignity solidified Ukraine’s commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and to European integration. Indeed, ...