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Nagorno-Karabakh not under blockade, Azerbaijan insists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

YEREVAN — Azerbaijan says a new border post on the only road in or out of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh is open for civilians, dismissing concerns it could be an effort to cut its ethnic Armenian population off from the outside world.Statistics compiled by Baku’s border service and seen by POLITICO record a total of 1,927 people passing through the checkpoint between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh since it opened in April, while more than a hundred cargo vehicles have been waved through in each direction.The EU and U.S. have repeatedly warned that the installation of the checkpoint could trigger a “humanitarian crisis” in the war-torn region, as tensions flare across the former Soviet Union.“As is demonstrated by free and unimpeded passage of Armenian residents, allegations the checkpoint prevents movement and is a ‘blockade’ are completely baseless,” said Aykhan Hajizade, spokesman for Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry.Inside Aze...

5 things to watch at POLITICO’s Global Tech Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

POLITICO’s first ever Global Tech Day, hosted in London, starts Thursday at 6:45 a.m. EDT.Guests can still register for the virtual event here. The conference will explore the world’s hottest topics in the field, including the sudden explosion of artificial intelligence, future spectrum regulations and the race to dominate the technology supply chain.Here are 5 things to watch at the summit:Generative AI: With the EU AI Act on track to be the first international law regulating the nascent industry, one panel will focus on what guardrails on AI could look like. The panelists include Viscount Camrose, parliamentary under secretary of state and minister for AI and intellectual property in the U.K.; Dragoș Tudorache, MEP and chair of the former special committee on AI in a Digital Age at the European Parliament; Lucilla Sioli, the director for AI and digital industry within the Directorate-General CONNECT at the European Commission; and Stephen Almond, executive director for r...

US and allies negotiating security guarantees for Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is working with allies to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, a step that falls short of Kyiv’s desire for those assurances to come from NATO.According to multiple American and European officials, the U.S., Britain, France and Germany — known as the “European Quad” — would in essence formalize their military and economic support for Ukraine, keeping it flowing even after the fighting with Russia ends. However, neither a bilateral deal or multilateral agreement would have the legal force of a treaty.In effect, the four countries are offering more of the same for an indefinite period of time.“The U.S. is in talks with Ukraine and our allies and partners on how we can reassure Ukraine about their long-term security to deter any future aggression for after this war ends,” a National Security Council spokesperson confirmed. The official was not authorized to use their name when providing this statement to the press.Still, “these negotiations an...

Less rain today, more for the weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

After a stormy Wednesday evening, conditions will continue to improve today as the low pressure system pulls away from New England.Although there still may be a brief passing shower today, most of the day will be dry with partly sunny skies. Nice weather returns on Friday, with some sunshine and temps in the 80s, but another low pressure system looks to move in from the west by the weekend.With the low overhead on Saturday, expect more scattered showers and storms, and temps a bit cooler with increased cloud cover in the area.

With quicker games and less downtime, Orioles fans approve of new pitch clock: ‘The game just flows now’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

Watching the Orioles this season is giving Dennis Morton flashbacks to the 1960s.No, not because Baltimore is one of the best teams in the American League like they were for the latter half of that decade, although Morton is excited about the post-rebuild Orioles.Instead, Morton, 70, is recalling his days sitting in the 25-cent wooden bleachers at Memorial Stadium because of the brand of baseball the Orioles — and the other 29 teams in Major League Baseball — are playing at Camden Yards this year. The 2023 season is MLB’s first with a pitch clock meant to speed up games, and that it has.“The games didn’t used to be four-hour marathons. It was different back then,” said Morton, a Forest Hill resident, before Baltimore’s game against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. “I think the change has all been for the good — for the fans and for the entertainment value. It speeds up the action. There’s no lingering outside the batter...

OBF column: B’s left for broke, Vegas hits jackpot with Bruce Cassidy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

The Stanley Cup returns to Massachusetts this summer.Just don’t bother looking for it on Causeway Street.Bruins fans chanted “We Want The Cup” throughout the team’s record-breaking-65-win-albeit-useless regular season.They got what they wanted.But brace for traffic.Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said he plans to spend his day with hockey’s sacred silver chalice while summering at his family’s house on Cape Cod.We only use summer as a verb when it applies to those elites in the highest of social strata. Or for those visiting the Hamptons, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket or the Berkshires. Or for NHL coaches who won the Stanley Cup 372 days after being banned in Boston.Cassidy won’t be bringing the Cup to Hutchinson Road in Winchester. Cassidy, his wife Julie, and their two kids lived there before he relocated to Nevada for work reasons last year. As a harbinger of their good fortune, the Cassidy Winchester homestead was sold for $2.75 million on Sept. 23, a nifty $750,000...

Jesuits expel prominent priest Rupnik after allegations of abuse against adult women

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis’ Jesuit religious order said Thursday it has expelled a prominent Slovenian priest from the congregation following allegations of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses against adult women.A statement from the Jesuits, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, said the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik was dismissed from the Jesuit order by decree on June 9 “due to stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.”Rupnik is one of the most celebrated religious artists in the Catholic Church, whose mosaics decorate churches and basilicas around the world, including at the Vatican. Late last year, the Jesuits acknowledged he had been accused by several women of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses over a 30-year period. But he had largely escaped punishment, apparently thanks in part to his exalted status in the church and at the Vatican, where even Francis’ role in the case came into question.The Jesuit statement said Rupnik has 30 days to appeal the...

Sweden vows to crack down on criminal networks as number of lethal shootings soars

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — As many as 30,000 people in Sweden are involved in criminal networks, the country’s justice minister said Thursday, describing the figure as “breathtaking” and vowing to introduce new legislation to fight organized crime.“Lethal firearm violence has increased dramatically and Sweden is in an extraordinarily serious situation,” said Gunnar Strommer, who added that an official investigation set to begin later this year would look into ways to convict more criminals. The probe should be completed by September 2024, he said.Criminal gangs have become a growing problem in Sweden, a country of 10 million that has experienced an increase in drive-by shootings, bombings and grenade attacks. Most of the violence occurs in Sweden’s three largest cities: Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo.The center-right government has vowed to tackle gang-related crime by tightening laws.Through May, there have been 144 shootings this year, with 18 fatalities, according to Swedish police. S...

Veteran Sherpa guides to compete next season for Everest ascent record

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The race for the record to have successfully scaled Mount Everest the most number of times is still on. Sherpa guide Pasang Dawa, 48, plans to climb the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak next year in an attempt to again match the record set by a fellow Sherpa guide.“I will continue to climb (Everest) as long as my body can as there are people over 60 years who have climbed it,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday. “But that does not mean I will climb until I am 60 years old, but as long as I am able to.”Pasang Dawa reached Everest’s peak twice this spring. On May 14, he equaled the record of 26 successful ascents set by Kami Rita, who went on to reach the top of the mountain a 27th time. Pasang Dawa’s matched the new record on May 23, but Kami Rita regained his title with a 28th climb that same day.Kami Rita, 53, has said he would head to the peak again during the 2024 climbing season, when Pasang Dawa also will be at the mountain to guide forei...

Australian opposition party expels senator over sexual misconduct allegations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:28:56 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s main opposition party expelled a senator on Thursday after a female senator accused him of sexual assault in the latest evidence of a toxic culture in Parliament House that is hostile to women.Opposition leader Peter Dutton said he expelled Sen. David Van from the conservative Liberal Party following allegations made in Parliament on Wednesday night by independent Sen. Lidia Thorpe of harassment and sexual assault. Van remains a senator, but no longer represents the Liberal Party.Van denied the allegations, which were made under parliamentary privilege, under which no one can be sued for defamation over anything said in the Senate.Political leaders apologized last year to staffers who have endured decades of bullying, harassment and sexual assault inside Parliament House which were exposed by an investigation by the national sex discrimination commissioner.The investigation was triggered by a staffer’s allegation that she was raped ...