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Former Bosnian prison camp guard charged with lying to get refugee status, citizenship in US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

By MARK PRATT (Associated Press)BOSTON (AP) — A former guard at a notoriously harsh and violent prison camp in Bosnia-Herzegovina where Serbian prisoners were killed, sexually assaulted, tortured and starved has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he lied to get refugee status and, ultimately, his U.S. citizenship, prosecutors said.Kemal Mrndzic, 51, who now lives in the Boston area, is charged with using a fraudulently obtained U.S. passport; possessing and using a fraudulently obtained naturalization certificate and fraudulently obtained Social Security card; making a false statement to federal law enforcement officers; and engaging in a scheme to conceal his involvement in persecution during the Bosnian War, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston said in a statement Wednesday.An email and voicemail seeking comment was left with Mrndzic’s attorney on Thursday. A listed telephone number for Mrndzic, who lives in Swampscott north of Boston, was no longer in service.H...

Hope dims in search for survivors of migrant boat sinking that killed at least 78

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

KALAMATA, Greece (AP) — Kassem Abu Zeed caught the first flight from Germany to Greece after hearing that his wife and brother-in-law were aboard a trawler crammed with migrants that went down in the Mediterranean Sea.As rescue ships fanned out Thursday in search of hundreds of people missing in the tragedy, relatives of the migrants gathered in the southern port city of Kalamata to look for their loved ones.“The last time we spoke was eight days ago, and she told me that she was getting ready to get on the boat,” Abu Zeed told The Associated Press Thursday. “She had paid $5,000” to smugglers. “And then we all know what happened.”Abu Zeed, a 34-year-old Syrian refugee living in Hamburg, said Esra Aoun, 21, and her 19-year-old brother, Abdullah, risked the dangerous crossing from Libya to Italy in a battered trawler in an effort to join him legally in Germany.The chances that she survived the sinking, which killed at least 78, were low. A huge search-and-rescue operation involving a ...

May home sales, prices rise year-over-year as real estate market heats up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

Canada’s real estate market continued to heat up in May with home sales posting their first year-over-year increase since June 2021 and the average price seeing its first year-over-year gain in a year.The findings released by the Canadian Real Estate Association on Thursday suggested a marked shift away from the sluggish sales and slumping prices the country has seen since last year. “The rebound has been evident for a number of months at this point, but May really drove the point home,” CREA chair Larry Cerqua said in a news release.The association said the number of home sales in May totalled 54,241, a 1.4 per cent gain compared with the same month last year.Seasonally adjusted sales for May were 40,220, up 5.1 per cent compared with April.The increase came after months of buyers sitting on the sidelines awaiting a bottom for home prices. But as they waited, the Bank of Canada hiked interest rates, helping push up mortgage rates. After pausing earlier this year, ...

Peacock strikes naming rights deal with home of Emmy Awards in downtown Los Angeles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles is changing its name to Peacock Theater, and the open-air plaza next to it will be known as Peacock Place.The changes take effect July 11 as part of a multi-year naming rights deal between Peacock, NBCUniversal’s premium streaming service, and sports and live entertainment giant AEG.The deal announced Thursday is Peacock’s first naming rights agreement.The 7,100-seat theater hosts concerts and special events, including the Emmy Awards. The 40,000-square-foot plaza will change its name from XBOX Plaza. The deal includes adding a LED marquee at the corner of Figueroa Street and Olympic Boulevard featuring two video boards that will promote Peacock’s series and special events at adjacent L.A. Live, the sports and entertainment district. Also part of the plans are a branded content studio.“We are looking forward to the opportunity to collaborate with Peacock to create new content and programming to complement our e...

US sanctions North Korean couple accused of helping to procure equipment for ballistic missiles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on a North Korean husband and wife living in Beijing accused of helping to procure equipment for ballistic missiles that ended up in the hands of North Korean and Iranian customers. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Choe Chol Min and his wife Choe Un Jong work through North Korea’s Second Academy of Natural Sciences, a state organization that conducts research for the nation’s ballistics missiles program, to help procure equipment for buyers. Treasury says Choe Chol Min worked with North Korean weapons trading officials to buy equipment for Iranian customers. His wife is accused of coordinating at least one order for dual-use bearings that are used in North Korean ballistic missile production.The isolated Asian nation uses a network of representatives in foreign countries, including China and Iran, to illegally import restricted materials used to create ballistic missiles and other weapons in violati...

Canadians opting for shorter mortgage terms as they hope for declining interest rates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

OTTAWA — With mortgage rates at their highest level in more than a decade, home owners and prospective buyers tend to focus on getting the best rate. While shopping around, however, experts say borrowers shouldn’t forget about term length.Samantha Brookes, founder and CEO of Mortgages of Canada, says that before the Bank of Canada started raising interest rates last year, a five-year term was the norm for most homebuyers, but that’s changed. People are now going shorter in hopes that interest rates will come back down in the coming years.“It makes sense because if the Bank of Canada starts decreasing rates, let’s say next year, and you’re in a three-year (term), you only have two years left,” she says.“You break your mortgage, you have a two-year penalty, but your interest rates are much lower and your payments are more affordable. So that’s why people are going for the shorter term mortgage right now.”The “term” of a...

Noah Kahan writes songs about New England. His vulnerability has far wider appeal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” is about New England — a topic the Vermont native says he could write about for the rest of his life — but it’s also largely about in-between spaces.When resentment lingers but forgiveness feels possible. When a broken friendship is just beginning to mend. When homesickness clashes with a desire to leave. Or, in the case of the album’s title track, when fall hasn’t yet turned to winter.Writing the folk-pop album, he told The Associated Press, felt “like breathing.”Kahan revisits those themes through a new lens on the recently released “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever),” a deluxe version of the album that adds six new tracks and an extended version of fan-favorite “The View Between Villages.” The additions also see Kahan reflect on the eight months between the original album’s release and now.“I’m speaking about the highs and the lows,” Kahan said of reconciling the version of home he’d written about wi...

Jesuits expel prominent priest after allegations of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis’ religious order said Thursday it has expelled a prominent Slovenian priest from the Jesuit community 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 ex...

California water tunnel hangs over budget talks as legislators challenge Gov. Newsom’s plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing the state Legislature to tackle what has long been one of the biggest gripes about government: Taking far too long to build things like roads and bridges.But Newsom’s plan to cut through red tape has slowed in the state Legislature, where some lawmakers fear his true motive is to favor a single project — the long-delayed and long-disputed plan to build a giant tunnel to re-route how the state moves water from north to south. The tunnel reflects the tension between arid Southern California, where most of the people live, and Northern California, the source of most of the state’s water.Newsom is seeking major changes to the state’s building and permitting process. He wants to make it easier and faster to build a slew of projects, from solar, wind and battery power storage to road maintenance and bridge repairs. His administration denies that the changes are aimed at expediting the tunnel. But as budget negot...

Japan emperor says ties with developing nations key to tackling global challenges

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:19 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Cooperation with developing countries is key to dealing with climate change and other global challenges, Japanese Emperor Naruhito said Thursday ahead of a visit to Indonesia, his first official friendship trip abroad since ascending the Chrysanthemum Throne four years ago.Naruhito begins the weeklong trip on Saturday with his wife, Empress Masako, a former diplomat.“Cooperation with emerging and developing countries is becoming increasingly important in order to tackle global issues such as climate change, energy and food,” Naruhito said at a news conference at the Imperial Palace. “I hope our friendship and mutual understanding will further deepen through exchanges and cooperation between the peoples of the two countries.”The trip comes as Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations mark 50 years of friendship this year, when Indonesia is serving as ASEAN’s chair. Japan is increasingly seeking to deepen its ties with developing nations in tackling regio...