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General manager of electrical company pleads guilty to defrauding Boston rail operator

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The general manager of a Massachusetts-based electrical company has pleaded guilty to his role in a fake invoicing scheme that cheated the contractor that runs the Boston-area’s commuter rail system out of more than $4 million.John Rafferty, 69, of Hale’s Location, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to federal prosecutors.Rafferty was the general manager of LJ Electric, Inc., which completed work for Keolis Commuter Services — the company that has operated the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail network since 2014.Under the scheme, Rafferty spent millions of dollars between July 2014 and November 2021 on at least nine trucks, construction equipment including at least seven Bobcat machines, home building supplies and services, and a $54,000 camper, prosecutors said. The items were for his alleged accomplice — John Pigsley, a former assistant chief engineer for Keolis — as well as h...

In blow to Russian LGBTQ+ community, lawmakers weigh a bill banning gender transitioning procedures

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

By DASHA LITVINOVA (Associated Press)TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian lawmakers gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill that would outlaw gender transitioning procedures in yet another blow to the country’s beleaguered LGBTQ+ community.Senior lawmaker Pyotr Tolstoy, who is among the bill’s sponsors, has said it is intended to “protect Russia with its cultural and family values and traditions and to stop the infiltration of the Western anti-family ideology.”Russia’s LGBTQ+ community has been under growing pressure for a decade as President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church embarked on a campaign to preserve what they deem the country’s “traditional values.”The bill bans any “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person,” as well as changing one’s gender in official documents and public records. Russian transgender people and LGBTQ+ rights advocates contacted by The Associated Press de...

At least 79 migrants dead and dozens feared missing after fishing vessel sinks off Greece

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

KALAMATA, Greece — A fishing boat carrying migrants trying to reach Europe capsized and sank off Greece on Wednesday, authorities said, leaving at least 79 dead and many more missing in one of the worst disasters of its kind this year.Coast guard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft fanned out for a vast search-and-rescue operation set to continue overnight. It was unclear how many passengers might still be in the water or trapped in the vessel, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been on board.Authorities said 104 people have been rescued so far after the boat sank overnight in international waters some 75 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Greece’s southern Peloponnese peninsula. The spot is close to the deepest area of the Mediterranean Sea — and such depths could hamper any effort to locate a sunken metal vessel.Twenty-five survivors were hospitalized with symptoms of hypothermia.At the southern port of Kalamata, around 70 exhausted survivors bedded...

'It's like disco meets Jurassic Park:' That's the vibe felt at this San Diego coffee shop

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A local hotspot is serving up coffee in a prehistoric meets fantasy-style bistro in the East Village. In the eccentric atmosphere you'll see raptors, dragons, a T-Rex and even a pterodactyl hanging overhead at the counter. The Invigatorium, located at 631 Ninth Ave. in San Diego, is crafting coffee concoctions with roasted beans from Modern Times Coffee. 9 new food vendors making their San Diego County Fair debut On the menu you can, of course, find the classics like an Americano, flat white or Frappuccino. However, this coffee shop's spring menu is offering some quirky takes on coffee drinks.For instance, the Golden Super Basic is an oat milk latte served over ice with coconut, turmeric blends and ginger honey syrup, as explained by Fernando, a barista at The Invigatorium. Fernando explained to FOX 5 Wednesday morning why he thinks Modern Times beans are some of the best in all of San Diego."I think it's the ratio," he said. "It's 60% Guatemala, 40% natural Eth...

Indian, Pakistani coasts on high alert a day before Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

MANDVI, India (AP) — The coastal regions of India and Pakistan were on high alert Wednesday with tens of thousands of people being evacuated a day ahead of a cyclone’s expected landfall.The India Meteorological Department said Cyclone Biparjoy was packing sustained winds of up to 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph) and was projected to make landfall near Jakhau port in the Kutch district of India’s Gujarat state on Thursday.Residents living within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the coast in Gujarat were evacuated, and those living within 10 kilometers (6 miles) may also have to leave, officials have said. Five people have been killed so far in incidents related to the cyclone, including three boys who drowned off Mumbai’s coast and a woman who was killed in an accident caused by strong winds in Gujarat. Rescuers were searching for another person who drowned off Mumbai.Experts say climate change is leading to an increase in cyclones in the Arabian Sea region, making preparations for na...

Turkish leader says his economic views are same but he’ll accept finance minister’s approach

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his economic policies have not changed but he suggested in comments published Wednesday that his finance minister will have leeway to move away from an unconventional approach that many have blamed for a worsening cost-of-living crisis.Erdogan, who was reelected to a third term last month, appointed Mehmet Simsek, an internationally respected banker who served in the Cabinet previously, as treasury and finance minister. He also picked Hafize Gaye Erkan, a former U.S.-based bank executive, to head the central bank, the first woman hold the role. While the appointments signaled a shift in the longtime Turkish leader’s views on how to stimulate the economy, lingering uncertainty over Erdogan’s position and an apparent move to loosen government controls of foreign currency exchanges led Turkey’s currency to plunge to record lows against the U.S. dollar last week.Erdogan said he had accepted Simsek’s request for a fresh ec...

Germany says climate measures will narrow but not fully close the country’s emissions gap by 2030

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German officials said Wednesday that an array of climate measures being introduced by the government will bring the country closer but not all the way toward meeting its national goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.Germany’s Climate Ministry said measures already in place or soon to become law will reduce emissions by about 900 million metric tons of carbon dioxide for the period from 2022 to 2030.An “emissions gap” of about 200 million tons of CO2 will remain and needs to be closed through additional steps over the coming years, largely because of persistent high emissions in the transportation sector.Germany aims to reduce its emissions of planet-warming gases by 65% from 1990 levels by 2030. The target for 2040 is an 88% reduction on the path to ”net zero” emissions by 2045.A sharp increase in wind and solar power, energy efficiency improvements and subsidies for industry to reduce fossil fuel use are among the measures taken or planned by...

Federal judge hearing arguments over Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge is scheduled Wednesday to hear arguments in a lawsuit seeking to block an Indiana law banning doctors from providing puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries to minors.The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has asked the judge in Indianapolis for a preliminary injunction that would stop the law from taking effect July 1. The group filed its lawsuit on behalf of four transgender youth and an Indiana doctor who provides transgender medical treatment just hours after Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill April 5.The organization argues the ban violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantees, federal laws regarding essential medical services and wrongly prohibits Indiana doctors from communicating with out-of-state doctors about gender-affirming care for their patients younger than 18.Indiana’s ban was enacted amid a national push by Republican-led legislatures continue to curb LGBTQ+ rights. At least 20 sta...

Kansas doctor dies saving his daughter from drowning on Colorado raft trip

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas doctor saved his daughter when she became trapped by their overturned raft in a rushing Colorado river, but was unable to save himself.Dustin Harker, 47, a neurologist from Hutchinson, was on a whitewater rafting trip Friday with friends from church and four of his 13 children when the accident happened in the Sunshine Falls area on the Arkansas River.The family had rafted the same river in previous years but the rapids were more turbulent than usual due to high amounts of rainfall, Harker’s sister-in-law, Sharon Neu Young, said in an email to the Hutchinson News.A raft carrying Harker and three of his children capsized.“Everyone struggled to get above water,” Young wrote. “In the tumult, Dustin threw the capsized raft off his youngest daughter who was trapped underneath.” She did not disclose the girl’s age.Everyone made it to shore and Harker was even able to speak, but he “had already taken on too much water” and soon became unresponsi...

Southern Baptists refuse to take back megachurch because it has women pastors

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:28:46 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Southern Baptist Convention has refused to welcome Saddleback Church back into its fold, rejecting an appeal by the California megachurch over its February ouster for having women pastors.Southern Baptist church representatives at their annual meeting here also rejected a similar appeal by a smaller church, Fern Creek Baptist of Louisville, Kentucky, which is led by a woman pastor.The results of the Tuesday votes were announced Wednesday morning on the concluding day of the the two-day annual meeting here of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, whose statement of faith asserts that only qualified men can serve as pastors.The convention hall packed with about 12,000 Southern Baptists was quiet after the announcement, appearing to have listened to the earlier urging by SBC President Bart Barber for them to show restraint.“I know sometimes there are churches where people wind up in biblical divorce,” he said. “But we don’t throw divorce parties at church...