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Hungary’s Orban calls US a ‘friend’ despite sanction on bank

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s prime minister sought to bring down the temperature on spiraling tensions between his government and the United States, declaring Friday that the U.S. is Hungary’s “friend” despite sanctions Washington imposed on a Budapest-based Russian bank. In an interview on state radio, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the International Investment Bank, a Russian-controlled financial institution which U.S. officials have argued could serve as a conduit for Russian espionage, “could have played a serious role in developing Central European economies.” While the war in Ukraine had limited the bank’s effectiveness, Orban said, the U.S. sanctions against IIB and three of its top officials had “ruined it.” The Hungarian government withdrew its membership in the bank Thursday, the day after the sanctions were issued. “(The bank’s) operations have been rendered impossible. It can’t serve its function,” Orban said. “We decided that u...

7.0 magnitude earthquake shakes Indonesia’s main island

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong earthquake shook parts of Indonesia’s main island of Java and tourist island of Bali on Friday, causing panic but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.0 quake was centered 96.5 kilometers (59.8 miles) north of Tuban, a coastal city in East Java province, at a depth of 594 kilometers (369 miles).Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks. The agency put a preliminary magnitude at 6.6. Variations in early measurements are common.Videos circulating on social media showed local residents and tourists in the neighboring provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta and Bali panicking as houses and buildings swayed for several seconds. Some places ordered evacuations, sending streams of people into the streets.The country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic e...

DeSantis signs Florida GOP’s 6-week abortion ban into law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill approved by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The governor’s office said in a statement late Thursday that he had signed the legislation. The ban gives DeSantis a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he prepares to launch an expected presidential candidacy built on his national brand as a conservative standard bearer. The six-week ban will take effect only if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives. The policy would have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Georgia forbid...

Moldovan oligarch sentenced to 15 years in $1B bank theft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A fugitive Moldovan oligarch and opposition party leader was sentenced in absentia Thursday to 15 years in jail for his role in a one-billion-dollar bank theft case. Ilan Shor, who leads the populist Russia-friendly Shor Party, was convicted of fraud and money laundering in the case of $1 billion that went missing from Moldovan banks in 2014. The Court of Appeal in the capital, Chisinau, also ordered the confiscation of $290 million of his assets.Shor, a businessman, fled Moldova in 2019 to evade corruption charges and has since been living in exile in Israel, where he was born. He was initially sentenced in 2015 to seven and a half years in jail, but his appeal dragged on for years.In recent months, the Shor Party — which holds six seats in Moldova’s 101-seat legislature — organized large protests in Chisinau against the pro-Western government over high energy prices and a cost-of-living crisis. Moldova’s annual inflation rate stood at 21.98% in March...

Funeral services Friday for Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago firefighter Jermaine Pelt will be laid to rest Friday following funeral services on the city's Far South Side.Pelt's funeral comes nearly 24 hours after the department, along with family and friends, said goodbye to Lieutenant Jan Tchoryk, another firefighter who died in the line-of-duty.Words used to describe Pelt include selflessness, bravery and heroism.Pelt died April 4 while battling a fire in the city's West Pullman neighborhood. He was on a hose line inside a burning home, when he went down. His cause of death was smoke inhalation. Pelt joined the department in 2005 and had just recently walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding.The 49-year-old also had a 6-year-old son. Funeral services held Thursday for fallen CFD Lt. Jan Tchoryk Pelt's visitation Thursday night at the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home came just hours after the funeral for Lt. Tchoryk, who collapsed and died in a high-rise fire in the city's Gold Coast.Pelt not only fought fires, but taugh...

DeSantis signs Florida GOP's 6-week abortion ban into law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill approved by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.The governor’s office said in a statement late Thursday that he had signed the legislation. The ban gives DeSantis a key political victory among Republican primary voters as he prepares to launch an expected presidential candidacy built on his national brand as a conservative standard bearer.The six-week ban will take effect only if the state’s current 15-week ban is upheld in an ongoing legal challenge that is before the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservatives.The policy would have wider implications for abortion access throughout the South in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade and leaving decisions about abortion access to states. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, while Geo...

Friday Forecast: Low 80s and mostly sunny

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

Friday's weather forecast is mostly sunny, cooler lakeside, SSE 5-10 G15. 82/76Friday night is mostly cloudy, with southwest winds of 5-10. The low will be 58Full forecast details at the WGN Weather CenterSaturday: Partly cloudy, 30% rain/storm chance, S 5-15 G15. 81/76

Massive Texas sinkhole dredges up forgotten fears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

DAISETTA, Texas (AP) — When the massive sinkhole first appeared in Daisetta in May 2008, some residents had feared it might engulf their small Southeast Texas town.But after growing close to 600 feet (183 m) across and 75 feet (23 m) deep, it stabilized, swallowing up some oil tanks and several vehicles but sparing nearby homes. Some residents used humor to calm their fears, making “Sinkhole de Mayo” T-shirts, a reference to Cinco de Mayo. For others, the sinkhole, which eventually filled with water, became a new fishing spot.“It was just a pond after that, just a story that we told our kids. We just learned how to live with it,” Krystal Parrish, one of the approximately 1,000 residents who live in the town located about 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Houston, said Tuesday.But earlier this month, city officials announced the sinkhole had expanded after a long hibernation, renewing fears from some residents. Officials say there hasn’t been any significant expansion since the new growt...

Dean's Weekender: Paul Reiser, 'The Cherry Orchid' and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

Check out Dean's Weekender for the latest events coming to the Chicagoland area this weekend. Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Dean's Reviews: 'Renfield,' 'The Pope's Exorcist' and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:35 GMT

Check out Dean's reviews for the latest movies from the humorous remake of the classic Dracula starring Nicolas Cage to the disturbing saga of the exorcist.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!