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Antiwar officer from Putin’s elite security team defects

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

By ERIKA KINETZ (Associated Press)LONDON (AP) — On Oct. 14, a Russian engineer named Gleb Karakulov boarded a flight from Kazakhstan to Turkey with his wife and daughter. He switched off his phone to shut out the crescendo of urgent, enraged messages, said goodbye to his life in Russia and tried to calm his fast-beating heart.But this was no ordinary Russian defector. Karakulov was an officer in President Vladimir Putin’s secretive elite personal security service — one of the few Russians to flee and go public who have rank, as well as knowledge of intimate details of Putin’s life and potentially classified information.Karakulov, who was responsible for secure communications, said moral opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his fear of dying there drove him to speak out, despite the risks to himself and his family. “Our president has become a war criminal,” he said. “It’s time to end this war and stop being silent.”...

Trump surrenders at Manhattan courthouse ahead of historic arraignment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

By Josephine Stratman and Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily NewsDonald Trump arrived at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to surrender at about 1:20 p.m. EST Tuesday as he becomes the first former president in the history of the United States to face criminal charges.He is expected to be fingerprinted and processed, but it remained unclear whether authorities would require him to take a mug shot.“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse,” Trump posted on Truth Social as he prepared to turn himself in. “Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”Former US president Donald Trump arrives ahead of his arraignment at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on April 4, 2023. (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)The exact charges against Trump will be unsealed at Trump’s expected arraignment at 2:15 p.m. EST, though they are expected to deal with how Trump handled, and accounted for, hush money paym...

Heat’s arena is now the Kaseya Center (building’s fourth name this season)

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

The way this season has gone for the Miami Heat, it is possible they wind up with more names for their arena in 2022-23 than playoff victories.The Miami-Dade County Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a 17-year agreement for the Heat’s Biscayne Boulevard arena to immediately be renamed Kaseya Center, as part of a $117 million naming-rights agreement with the Miami-based software company.The agreement comes in the wake of a similar deal with FTX being terminated in January after the failure and bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange.In the wake of the county moving off the name FTX Arena, the Heat’s facility briefly was designated The Arena by the county and then formally was renamed Miami-Dade Arena in January. The Heat’s broadcast outlets also had referred to the facility as “The Heat’s House” amid the naming uncertainty.The name change is immediate to the degree that the court at Heat’s Sunday game against the Orlando Magic, the ...

Trump arraignment live updates: Former president surrenders at Manhattan courthouse

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

Former President Donald Trump faces a historic arraignment Tuesday in New York, following an indictment on criminal charges stemming from prosecutors’ long-running investigation into his business dealings.Five pool photographers will be allowed inside the courtroom for the arraignment, Judge Juan Merchan ruled late Monday. Video cameras will be confined to hallways outside the courtroom, and reporters won’t be allowed to bring laptops or other electronics inside.Stay tuned here for live updates. 1:40 p.m. ESTFor decades, no one ever expected to see a former U.S. president hauled into court to face criminal charges — including the one about to be indicted in Manhattan Criminal Court.“Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME,” former President Trump wrote on his Truth Social website as his SUV made its way down the FDR Drive. “Can’t believe this is happening in America.”“MAGA!” he wrote, citing his constantly coined “Make America Great Again” slogan.1:30 p.m. ESTTrump, 76, ...

Live updates: Donald Trump to surrender for arraignment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Follow along for live updates on former President Donald Trump, who is expected to surrender Tuesday at a Manhattan courthouse to face arraignment on charges stemming from hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations that he had extramarital sexual encounters.___What to know:— Historic appearance set for Tuesday afternoon— Small but chaotic crowd gathers near Manhattan courthouse— Who is Juan Merchan, the judge handling Trump’s case?___TRUMP ARRIVES AT MANHATTAN COURTHOUSEFormer President Donald Trump has arrived at the Manhattan courthouse where he is expected to plead not guilty to criminal charges. He entered the courthouse surrounded by Secret Service agents.Trump’s motorcade traveled from Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, tracked by numerous helicopters.___TRUMP LEAVES NEW YORK HOMEFormer President Donald Trump pumped his fist and waved before leaving Trump Tower shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday, bound for the Manhattan courthouse near...

Michael Cera to appear in ‘Barbie’ movie as discontinued character Allan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

TORONTO — Lovable loser Michael Cera is getting dolled up for the new “Barbie” movie, in which he’ll portray a discontinued and long-forgotten character in the toy line.The Brampton, Ont. actor, known for roles in “Superbad” and “Arrested Development,” has been announced as part of the extended cast for the summer comedy, playing a role simply known as “Allan.”“Barbie” is a spin on the popular children’s toy franchise with Margot Robbie in the titular role and London, Ont.-born Ryan Gosling as Ken.“Kim’s Convenience” actor Simu Liu, who was raised in Mississauga, Ont., plays another version of Ken who clashes with Gosling’s Ken in the latest trailer released Tuesday.While the specifics of Cera’s character haven’t been revealed, a discontinued Barbie character named Allan was introduced in the 1960s.The red-haired Allan was marketed as Ken’s “buddy” who was dr...

Court throws out gas pipeline’s West Virginia water permit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A company building a long-delayed natural gas pipeline has lost a key water permit after a federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia didn’t adequately assess the impact of building the Mountain Valley Pipeline across streams and wetlands.Siding with environmental groups, the court said Monday the state Department of Environmental Protection’s justifications for its 2021 water quality certification were “deficient,” the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.The 303-mile (487-kilometer) pipeline across rugged mountainsides in West Virginia and Virginia — which is mostly finished — would transport natural gas drilled from the Utica and Marcellus shale formations in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Legal battles have delayed completion for years, as environmental groups say construction has led to violations of regulations meant to control erosion and sedimentation.Among other things, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the West Virginia agency didn’t adequat...

Trump arrives at New York courthouse ahead of arraignment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

Former President Donald Trump arrived Tuesday at a Manhattan courthouse ahead of his arraignment on criminal charges stemming from a hush money payment to a porn actor during his 2016 campaign.Trump pumped his fist as he exited Trump Tower minutes earlier, then traveled in an eight-car motorcade down a highway along the East River to the downtown courthouse, where’s he expected to surrender to authorities. He’s expected to be fingerprinted and processed, and his mug shot may be taken — a remarkable reckoning after years of investigations and an extraordinary moment in U.S. history.The booking and appearance before Judge Juan Merchan should be relatively brief — though hardly routine — as Trump learns for the first time the charges against him. Trump will plead not guilty, according to his lawyers, and is expected to enter the plea himself, as is standard in the court.Merchan has ruled that TV cameras won’t be allowed in the courtroom.Trump, who was impeached twice by the...

Alaskan charged for transphobic notes threatening students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A children’s book illustrator has been charged in Alaska with terroristic threatening after police allege he posted anti-transgender notes that referenced shooting children.Mitchell Thomas Watley, 47, did not enter a plea to the felony charge during his first court appearance Monday, the Juneau Empire reported. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 11.Watley is accused of placing notes in several public locations across Juneau starting Friday, the International Day of Transgender Visibility. The notes were the size of a business card showing an assault rifle and the colors of the transgender flag, the complaint says. “Feeling Cute Might Shoot Some Children,” the text read.Anti-transgender rhetoric and disinformation followed a mass shooting last week that killed six people at a Nashville Christian school. It came as lawmakers across the country engage in a historic push for more restrictions on trans people’s rights.Authorities have not shared any evide...

Women run the fictional world of ABC’s ‘General Hospital’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:24 GMT

As “General Hospital” marks its 60th anniversary, much remains the same for the longest-running scripted series in production in the United States. A hospital is still the backdrop for the soap opera, many of the veteran characters remain, the wealthy Quatermaine family looms large and the stories are about love, mystery and adventure.But in a shift, many of the most powerful residents of Port Charles are women.Genie Francis’ legacy character Laura Collins, whose 1981 wedding to Luke Spencer drew 30 million viewers and is still the highest-rated soap opera episode in US history, is now the mayor of Port Charles. The police commissioner is a woman (played by Tanisha Harper), and the chief of staff at General Hospital is also a woman (played by Cassandra James.) Kristina Wagner, a longtime cast member who plays Felicia Scorpio, first joined “General Hospital” in 1984 as a literal princess and romantic interest for Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner), forming a soap supercouple. While age...