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Southwest Airlines adds former Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri to its board of directors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines has added former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, to its board of directors.Blunt, 73, spent 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the Senate from 2011 until leaving office in January as the fourth-ranking Republican. He did not seek re-election last year. Since April, Blunt has worked at Husch Blackwell Strategies, a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm that also employs his son and former aides. The firm said Blunt would focus on advising clients and did not plan to register as a lobbyist.Southwest Chairman Gary Kelly said Monday in prepared remarks that Blunt’s experience as chairman of the Senate aviation subcommittee would be helpful to the airline.The appointment took effect Sunday. Dallas-based Southwest now has 15 directors. Source

Hertha Berlin goalkeeper Gersbeck leaves training camp as police investigate fight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Hertha Berlin goalkeeper Marius Gersbeck has left the team’s summer training camp in Austria after apparently becoming involved in a fight with another man who later needed hospital treatment.Hertha said Monday that Gersbeck had left the day before and that it did not wish to make further comment on the situation while police were investigating. It did not say whether the 28-year-old Gersbeck, who only returned to Hertha from Karlsruher SC last month, will remain at the club after the incident.“Sporting and club management will now evaluate the situation together internally, taking the ongoing investigations into account,” Hertha said in a statement. “We will not comment further on this matter further because of the ongoing investigations and ask for your understanding.”Salzburg police said in a statement Sunday that “a 28-year-old German man and a 22-year-old local man got into an argument on a street in the town of Zell am See” the night before. They added that the r...

Police: Toddler found alone, drugged and dehydrated in home drug den

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

DAPHNE, Alabama (WALA) — A couple is under arrest after a toddler was rescued from a home drug den in Daphne, where the child was found alone, drugged and dehydrated, according to the Daphne Police Department.Police said it was about 8 p.m. Saturday when patrol officers responded to Atrium Apartments on County Road 64 after a resident found an unattended and naked 2-year-old toddler lying near his front door.Medical responders were summoned and the parents, Hannah Straszheim and Tyler Still, were located shortly after, police said.Investigators said the toddler presented signs of heat exposure and dehydration and was transported to the emergency room where she tested positive for cocaine.Officers and investigators obtained a search warrant for the couple’s apartment, where they found the apartment in severe disarray and located more than 100 Oxycontin pills, some powder cocaine, drug paraphernalia and three semi-automatic handguns, all within access to the toddler’s reach, acc...

Southern Europe suffers in heat wave, with record-high temperatures forecast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

ROME — Swathes of southern Europe continue to experience extreme heat, with warnings that record-high temperatures could be reached in some places this week.In Italy, those record highs could come as soon as Tuesday, with Sicily and Sardinia forecast to reach 48 degrees C. Italy’s record temperature is 48.8 C, set two years ago. Some 60 percent of Italy is likely to top 40 C this week, with the government issuing a red alert for 20 of the country’s 27 main cities for Tuesday and warning of a risk to health, particularly for the elderly and vulnerable.  A study by the Institute of Global Health published in Nature Medicine journal found that 18,000 Italians died in the Europe-wide heatwave last summer, the most among the 35 countries studied. Hospital emergency departments and calls to emergency numbers have seen an uptick in use of around 20 percent in recent days, according to local media. Power outages hit parts of Rome on M...

More tourists caught defacing Rome’s ancient Colosseum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

(CNN) — Two more tourists have been caught apparently defacing the Colosseum in Rome, following a similar incident in June.On Friday, a 17-year-old girl from Switzerland was spotted apparently carving her initials into a wall of the building by a tourist guide, a spokesperson for the local military police force, the Carabinieri of the Province of Rome, told CNN on Monday. The guide called security at the site, who then alerted the Carabinieri.The very next day, a 17-year-old student from Germany was caught allegedly doing something similar. This time, a security guard spotted the teen and reported him to the Carabinieri.Both teenagers risk a fine of up to €15,000 ($16,850) and up to five years in jail.This is the same punishment potentially faced by a 27-year-old British tourist who was filmed apparently carving his name into the wall of the ancient arena last month.The man, Ivan Dimitrov, later sent a letter of apology to the local prosecutor’s office, according...

Sinking tugboat releases thousands of gallons of diesel into the Tennessee River in Alabama, prompting calls for swimmers to get out of the water, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

(CNN) — Thousands of gallons of diesel were released into the Tennessee River after a tugboat sank in northwest Alabama, prompting calls for swimmers to get out of the water after the fuel began washing up on nearby shores, authorities said Sunday.The tugboat sank near O’Neal Bridge and began to release roughly 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of diesel into the water, the Florence Police Department said in a news release.“Diesel fuel has began to wash up the beaches of McFarland Park,” the department added.People who were swimming at McFarland Park in Florence were asked to get out of the water, according to the release. The park is a popular destination for families that features a beach area, fishing piers, playgrounds and campsites, according to the city’s website.“Please stay out of the water and off the beaches until further notice,” the release read.A photo released by Florence police showed an iridescent sheen floating on the water near the bridge.No one was aboard...

Bruins sign trio of hopefuls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

While the Bruins await a decision from Patrice Bergeron on his playing future and arbitration hearings for Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic, the club took care of some minor business on Monday.The B’s signed goaltender Michael DiPietro and defensemen Alec Regula and Reilly Walsh each to one-year, two-way contracts worth an NHL cap hit of $775,000.The 24-year-old DiPietro, obtained in the Jack Studnicka trade with Vancouver last season, appeared in 29 ECHL gams with Maine, recording a 19-9 record, 2.61 goals against average and .916 save percentage. At the moment, DiPietro appears to be fifth on the goaltending depth chart that begins with Linus Ullmark and Swayman in Boston and Brandon Bussi and Kyle Keyser in Providence.The 24-year-old Walsh, picked up in a trade with New Jersey for Shane Bowers this summer, is coming off back-to-back 40-point seasons for the Utica Comets of the AHL. The Harvard and Framingham product could be a darkhorse challenger for a spot on the Boston ...

1 found dead after East County structure fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

JULIAN, Calif. — One person was found dead Monday inside a structure that caught fire in rural East County, Cal Fire San Diego said.Around 4:50 a.m., crews responded to a fully-involved structure fire at 35450 Great Southern Overland Stage Route, near Julian.The fire posed no threat to the surrounding vegetation and crews were able to achieve a full knockdown of the blaze, Cal Fire said. Garage destroyed, power lines damaged by fire in Pacific Beach One person was found dead inside the structure, officials said. No further information regarding their identity was immediately available.The San Diego Sheriff's Department Bomb Arson Unit was called out to the scene to handle the investigation.No further information was immediately released regarding the circumstances that led to the fire.

Russia halts landmark deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain at time of growing hunger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Russia on Monday halted a breakthrough wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Black Sea Grain Initiative would be suspended until demands to get Russian food and fertilizer to the world are met.“When the part of the Black Sea deal related to Russia is implemented, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal,” Peskov said.While Russia has complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance have hampered its agricultural exports, it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year.The suspension marks the end of an accord that the U.N. and Turkey brokered last summer to allow shipments of food from the Black Sea region after Russia’s invasion of its neighbor worsened a global food crisis. The initiative is credited with helping lower soaring price...

Cairo’s BBC staff begin a three-day strike, calling for equal pay with other Mideast colleagues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:16 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — BBC’s staff in Cairo went on a three-day strike Monday to demand equal pay with other colleagues in the Middle East as Egypt’s economic crisis deepens further. According to Khaled el-Bashey, the strikers’ spokesperson and head of Egypt’s journalism union, the 75 staff members from the broadcaster’s Cairo bureau are demanding to be paid in dollars — like other BBC employees in the region, including in Beirut and Istanbul. The walkout is to end on Wednesday.Over the past year, the Egyptian pound has lost over 50% of its value against the dollar, with annual inflation reaching 36.8% in June, up from 33.7% recorded in May. The country’s economy is reeling from years of government austerity measures, the coronavirus pandemic and fallout from the Ukraine war. Egypt is a top wheat importer from Russia and Ukraine. El-Bahsey posted on Facebook that the BBC staff in Egypt consider the disparity in pay as a form of “systematic discrimination.” They had earlier asked for the...