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Russia closes Crimea bridge — again — after attack on ammo depot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

Four days after re-opening the strategic Crimea bridge that links Russia to the occupied Ukrainian peninsula, Moscow was forced to close it again due to another attack.A drone assault on an ammunition depot in the Krasnogvardeysky district has caused residents within a 5 kilometer radius of the area to be evacuated, and for rail traffic to be suspended on the Kerch bridge into Crimea.The attack was more than 200 kilometers from the bridge, but Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of occupied Crimea, said on Telegram that train traffic will be suspended “to minimize risk.” The main rail line from the bridge travels through Crimea and eventually branches around to Krasnogvardeysky, a small town roughly in the center of the Russian occupied territory.Earlier, Aksyonov reported on an attempted drone raid on infrastructure in the same district, Russian state-owned media TASS reported. POLITICO has been unable to verify these reports.The Kerch bridge, completed in 2018, four ye...

Lionel Messi’s brilliant free kick gives Inter Miami win in soccer legend’s debut with MLS club

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

(CNN) — Lionel Messi made his long-awaited debut with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami with a flourish only the world’s top player could produce.Playing in the Leagues Cup match against Mexican side Cruz Azul, Messi scored the game-winning goal in the final moments of the second half, curling in a magnificent free-kick strike from outside the box to seal the 2-1 Inter Miami victory at sold-out DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.“What I saw was the goal. I saw the goal, I knew that I had to score,” Messi told the Apple TV broadcast after the game. “It was the last play of the game and I wanted to score so we didn’t go to penalties. So it was very important for us to get this win, because it’s a new tournament this is going to give us confidence moving forward.”Leagues Cup, an annual tournament between MLS and Liga MX, was expanded this year to include all teams in each league.Months after winning the World Cup with Argentina, Messi entered t...

Drone hits Crimean ammunition depot as strikes kill, wound civilians and journalists in Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian drone hit an ammunition depot in central Crimea on Saturday, sparking an explosion, less than a week after a predawn strike on a key bridge linking the peninsula to Russia prompted Moscow to exit a landmark grain export deal and pound Ukraine’s seaports with drones and missiles.Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of the territory that Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, said in a Telegram post that there were no immediate reports of casualties but that authorities were evacuating civilians within a five-kilometer (three-radius) of the blast site.The Ukrainian military appeared to confirm it had launched the drone strike, claiming through its press service that it had destroyed an oil depot and Russian arms warehouses in the Krasnohvardiiske area, although without specifying what weapons were used.A local news channel based in central Crimea on Saturday posted videos showing plumes of smoke looming above ro...

Matt Damon said no to a huge film franchise that he thinks could have made him $250 million

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

(CNN) — Matt Damon turned down a major role years ago – except this role was one that could have made the Oscar-winner upwards of $250 million.Appearing on Friday’s episode of CNN’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” Damon spoke with the host about how in 2009, he was offered not just the lead role in James Cameron’s “Avatar,” but a percentage of the film’s earnings.“It’s something awful like that,” Damon joked when asked about his $250 million calculation, going on to say he’s “sure it’s the most money an actor ever turned down.”Damon said he was obligated to finish production on the “Bourne” series that he starred in between 2002 and 2016, and he didn’t want to “leave them in the lurch” to go do “Avatar.”Cameron ended up casting Sam Worthington in the lead role, alongside Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore and Michelle Rodriguez in the franchise’s first installment.“Avatar,” of course, went on to become the highest grossing movie of a...

Gilgo Beach killer breakthrough: 12 years later, his tip helped crack the case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — In the winter of 2010, shortly after police discovered the remains of his roommate and three other women buried on a remote stretch of Long Island shoreline, Dave Schaller provided detectives with a description of the person he believed to be the killer.More crucially, Schaller told them about his truck.This booking image provided by Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, shows Rex Heuermann, a Long Island architect who was charged Friday, July 14, 2023, with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims in a long-unsolved string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders. (Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office via AP0This combination of undated image provided by the Suffolk County Police Department, shows Melissa Barthelemy, top left, Amber Costello, top right, Megan Waterman, bottom left, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes. Authorities on Long Island are vowing to continue investigating a string of killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders aft...

CT man found guilty in death of mother killed by stray bullet while sitting in her sewing room

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

A Naugatuck man has been found guilty of leading a conspiracy to commit murder that led to the death of a Waterbury mother who was struck and killed by a stray bullet while sitting at her sewing machine in her own home.Franklin Robinson, 40, was found guilty on multiple charges including murder and conspiracy to commit murder in a plan that led to the death of 56-year-old Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi while she was in her craft room in her house on Orange Street in April 2022, according to Waterbury police and the Division of Criminal Justice.According to evidence presented at his trial, Robinson was jealous of a man who had said hello to his girlfriend and conspired to kill him. He fought with the man and his friends on the morning of April 9, 2022, and then recruited two people he knew to find them and shoot them, officials said.That afternoon, Robinson and his two associates found the car that they wanted to target parked on Orange Street, where Martinez Antongiorgi lived with her h...

Halifax-area roads damaged by heavy rainfall, with more rain forecasted

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

HALIFAX — Residents in the Halifax region are being warned to stay off the roads because of extensive damage caused by torrential downpours and flash flooding, with little reprieve in sight.Stephen Martin, a fire chief with the municipality, said many roads in the Bedford area are covered in water.“And there’s more rain coming,” he said Saturday morning.Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings for much of the province, saying some areas have already received more than 150 millimetres of rain, which is more than the area gets in an average month.  An additional 40 to 100 mm is in the forecast for Saturday.Officials in Halifax say the rain has already caused significant damage to roads and infrastructure.  In some areas, submerged streets are littered with abandoned vehicles.Halifax RCMP say residents shouldn’t leave home unless it’s an emergency.Earlier in the day, an evacuation order was issued for people living near the St. Croix River system in...

‘You’ve got to move fast’: Science learns to quickly link extreme weather and climate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

As firefighters and other first responders battle an unprecedented summer of fires, floods, tornadoes and heat waves around the country, a group of Canadian scientists are asking why they’re happening in the first place. “May and June were record hot months in Canada and we’ve got the record wildfire season as well,” said Nathan Gillett of Environment and Climate Change Canada. “Yes, it has been busy.”Gillett heads the Rapid Extreme Event Attribution Project, a new federal program that uses the growing field of attribution science to promptly establish to what extent — if any — a specific flood in British Columbia or wildfire in Quebec is due to climate change.  “The idea is to be able to make rapid extreme event attribution days or weeks after the extreme events occur,” he said. Twenty years ago, if you’d asked a scientist if climate change was linked to days of torrential rain or months of desiccating drought, you’d proba...

Car struck by Amtrak train after crossing railroad tracks on North Side: CFD

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Fire Department reported of an incident where a vehicle was struck by a passing Amtrak train on the Northwest Side early Saturday morning. Chicago Fire tweeted that the accident involved a sedan and a small SUV near Devon and Lehigh Avenue. There were no injuries or transports reported. Medical services were refused. One of the vehicles was struck by a passing train. There were no passengers in the vehicle when the train struck.WGN is actively following this incident and will update as more information is recovered.

Vehicle accident at Fort Bliss leaves 1 soldier dead, 5 injured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:33 GMT

FORT BLISS, Texas (WGN) — A soldier is dead and five others are injured after a tactical vehicle crash at Fort Bliss, Texas, according to the U.S. Army.The non-combat crash was reported around 9:30 a.m. MST on Friday in the Fort Bliss training area, according to a news release.The conditions of those who were injured haven't been released. ‘Help me’ sign leads to rescue of kidnapped Texas girl in California The name of the soldier who was killed is being withheld until 24 hours after the next-of-kin was notified, the Army's 1st Armored Division said.Details surrounding the crash have yet to be released.In a statement included with the news release, Maj. Gen. James P. Isenhower III, the senior commander of Fort Bliss and commander of the 1st Armored Division, expressed condolences to the victim's loved ones.“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Soldier’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time," the official said.