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Ordinances aim to improve fire safety, disaster response in SF

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

(BCN) -- San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan introduced a package of legislation Tuesday in efforts to improve fire safety and disaster response in the city. During the Board of Supervisors' meeting, Chan, who represents the Richmond District, said the city can do more to increase emergency preparedness and response efforts. Chan said she worked with San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu to create a set of ordinances that would amend the San Francisco fire code to improve the sprinkler system inspection process. If passed, the city's five-year inspection process would require permit filing and additional training and licensing. Her ordinances would also mandate sprinkler systems for new accessory dwelling units and require a minimum of five feet of fire safety access from the public way to a divided lot. 2 men shot in SJ, police pursue suspects in chase Chan said these amendments to the fire code could improve fire safety and increase the fire department's capacit...

Thieves arrested after assaulting Macy's loss prevention agent in San Mateo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

(KRON) -- Two people were arrested Saturday night after stealing merchandise from a Macy's store at the Hillsdale Shopping Center and assaulting a loss prevention agent, according to the San Mateo Police Department.Around 7:52 p.m., the loss prevention agent confronted the suspects after they stole several items and was punched by one of the suspects. The thieves, Anson Lopez, 36, and Taneisha Morales, 37, were located a few blocks away from the shopping center by police and were arrested, San Mateo police said. Driver shot on I-280 in San Bruno in possible road rage incident: CHP The stolen merchandise was also located by SMPD. Lopez and Morales, both residents of San Francisco, were booked into the San Mateo County Jail on robbery charges and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Russian shelling of an eastern Ukrainian city kills 16 and wounds dozens, the prime minister says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At least 16 people were killed and dozens were wounded Wednesday when Russian shelling struck a market in a city in eastern Ukraine, officials said. The deadly attack came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv and was expected to announce more than $1 billion in new American funding.Associated Press journalists at the site of the attack in Kostiantynivka saw covered bodies on the ground and emergency workers extinguishing fires at market stalls, with blackened and mangled cars nearby.Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at least 16 people were killed. At least 28 were wounded, according to Internal Minister Ihor Klymenko.Emergency service workers extinguished the fire that damaged about 30 pavilions at the outdoor market, Klymenko said.Blinken’s visit also was aimed at assessing Ukraine’s 3-month-old counteroffensive and signal continued U.S. backing as some Western allies express worries about Kyiv’s slow progress in driving out Russian forc...

UK government likened to ‘cowboy builders’ as 147 schools named at risk due to crumbling concrete

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British government has been accused of “cutting corners” as it published Wednesday a list of 147 schools in England that are potentially at risk of collapse from crumbling concrete.The list from the Department for Education suggests that 19 schools have had to delay the start of the new academic year because of the concrete crisis and that students at 24 others will receive some remote learning, with four having switched to fully remote learning at the weekend. Other educational establishments could be added to the list over the coming days or weeks.Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, likened the government to “cowboys running the country” during a rowdy first Prime Minister’s Questions session following the summer break. “The truth is this crisis is the inevitable result of 13 years of cutting corners, botched jobs, sticking-plaster politics,” he said. “It’s the sort of thing you expect from cowboy builders saying that everyone el...

Three people found dead at northern Minnesota resort; police say no threat to the public

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

BREEZY POINT, Minn. (AP) — Three people were found dead at a resort in northern Minnesota, police said Wednesday.The bodies were discovered around 8:50 p.m. Tuesday at Whitebirch Resort in Breezy Point in Breezy Point. Police have not disclosed names of the victims or how they died, but said in a statement there was “no indication of any ongoing threat to the public.”The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is assisting in the investigation.The resort is in a popular vacation area in north-central Minnesota, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis.Source

Jenni Hermoso accuses Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales of sexual assault for kiss at Women’s World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Jenni Hermoso accuses Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales of sexual assault for kiss at Women’s World Cup.Source

EU court dismisses claim by Syrian refugees for damages from Frontex border agency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — A top European Union court on Wednesday dismissed a claim by several Syrian refugees for damages from the Frontex EU border agency because they were returned to Turkey after landing in Greece, where they expressed a wish to be granted international protection.The EU General Court ruled that “since Frontex does not have the power to assess the merits of return decisions or applications for international protection, that EU agency cannot be held liable for any damage related to the return of those refugees.”The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, widely known as Frontex, coordinates border control efforts.The refugees arrived in Greece in 2016 but were returned to Turkey in a Frontex operation and eventually ended up in Iraq. They sought a combined 136,000 euros ($146,000) in damages.The court insisted that “Frontex’s task is only to provide technical and operational support to the Member States. However, it is the Member States alone that are competent to assess...

War sanctions against Russia highlight growing divisions among the Group of 20 countries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is facing growing skepticism from some leading rich and developing nations as the residual impact of sanctions against Russia is deepening divisions among the Group of 20 countries.With world leaders and finance ministers meeting this week in India for the G20 summit, fractures have came into the open, and alliances are tightening among some nations that have long been resistant to the U.S.-led efforts to exact economic punishment on Moscow for its war in Ukraine.The United States and its allies among the Group of Seven major industrial nations insist that the sanctions and a price cap on Russian oil have been successful at restricting revenue for the Russian economy, even though it grew, in a year-to-year comparison, by 4.9% in the second quarter of 2023. Russia and China, meanwhile, have declared a “no limits” partnership of their own. And the economic bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — known as BRICS — is tryi...

Joe Jonas files for divorce from Sophie Turner after 4 years of marriage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Joe Jonas filed for divorce from Sophie Turner on Tuesday after four years of marriage and two children. The 34-year-old Jonas Brothers singer filed to end his marriage with the 27-year-old star of “Game of Thrones” in Florida’s Miami-Dade County Court.The filing says “the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.”Turner and Jonas married in a secretive ceremony at a Las Vegas wedding chapel on May 1, 2019, after the Billboard Music Awards. Country duo Dan + Shay performed at the wedding.The couple had a daughter, Willa, in 2020, and last year had another daughter whose name they have not made public.Jonas is seeking joint custody of the girls, according to the divorce documents. The two had a prenuptial agreement that Jonas expects will be enforced, according to the filing.Representatives for Jonas and Turner did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Wednesday, Turner and Jonas each posted identical statements to their Instagram ac...

Ukraine’s Catholic bishops tell pope that his praise for Russia’s imperial past ‘pained’ Ukrainians

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:53 GMT

ROME (AP) — Ukraine’s Greek Catholic bishops told Pope Francis on Wednesday that his words praising Russia’s imperial past had pained the Ukrainian people, bringing complaints about the Vatican’s diplomatic neutrality in Moscow’s war on their country to the heart of the Holy See.The bishops were in Rome for a periodic meeting and met with the pope in person for nearly two hours.While thanking Francis for his prayers, the bishops said certain statements and gestures from the pope and the Vatican “are painful and difficult for the Ukrainian people, who are currently bleeding in the struggle for their dignity and independence,” according to a statement from His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Greek Catholic church in Ukraine.The 86-year-old Jesuit pope has enraged both sides in the war, repeatedly expressing solidarity with the “martyred” Ukrainian people but refusing to call out Russia or President Vladimir Putin by name. He seemingly expressed understanding for t...