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‘First cuckoo of spring’: Penny Mordaunt swipes at MP kicked out of Tories over COVID jab claims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

LONDON — Penny Mordaunt had a withering putdown for the former Conservative MP who was booted out of the party for controversially likening the COVID-19 jab to the Holocaust.Andrew Bridgen, now sitting as an MP for the “anti-woke” Reclaim Party, argued Thursday in the House of Commons that the BBC had peddled falsehoods about the jab at the height of the pandemic, and said it had “a checkered history” in its coronavirus coverage.He demanded information on government meetings with the public broadcaster about its new BBC Verify service, aimed at tackling disinformation. But Mordaunt — the House of Commons leader who drew international attention at the coronation of King Charles III — had little time for the claims, and took a dig at Bridgen in her response.“I think we should pause for a moment because I think we may have just heard the first cuckoo of spring,” she said. Other MPs in the chamber heckled Bridgen, with one urging him to “stop sp...

Warring parties turned to spyware in Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

The intrusive spyware tool Pegasus was used to hack public officials, journalists and staff of the United Nations in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, researchers said in a new report Thursday.An investigation by Access Now, Citizen Lab, Amnesty Internationalʼs Security Lab and independent Armenian mobile-security researcher Ruben Muradyan found the Israeli-made spyware tool on phones of then-Armenian official ombudsman Kristinne Grigoryan, two journalists from Radio Free Europe, a United Nations official and a former spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry.“Inserting harmful spyware technology into the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict shows a complete disregard for safety and welfare, and truly unmasks how depraved priorities can be,” said Natalia Krapiva, tech-legal counsel at digital rights group Access Now and one of the authors of the report, told POLITICO.Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory in Azerbaijan, where the country ha...

Britain’s Rishi Sunak loves reading racy books about horses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

LONDON — Tech bro. Numbers guy. Mega-fan of … horse-racing-themed romance books?U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed Thursday that he’s an avid reader of Jilly Cooper, the English author whose raunchy tales of romance and infidelity among horse riders and show jumpers have been best-sellers.In a mostly gentle grilling on the U.K. daytime TV favorite “This Morning”, Sunak was asked if he was “really into” Cooper’s books, as hinted at by an article in the Spectator magazine earlier in May.“Yes that is true,” a blushing Sunak said. “It is unclear how that has emerged.” Reeling off a list of Cooper’s titles, Sunak appeared unable to narrow it down to just one all-time fave: “Riders, Rivals, Polo, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, Appassionata — she’s done a lot of different books, but that is the set of books that I like,” he said.The front cover of “Riders”, an international best...

Yellowstone National Park says encounter between park visitor and bison calf forced authorities to euthanize animal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

(CNN) — Officials at Yellowstone National Park say they were forced to put down a newborn bison calf after another unfortunate encounter between a park visitor and wildlife, according to a release from the National Park Service.On Saturday evening, an unidentified man disturbed a bison calf after it was separated from its mother and herd when crossing the Lamar River in the park, the news release said.“As the calf struggled, the man pushed the calf up from the river and onto the roadway,” NPS said in the news release.Park regulations state that people need to stay at least 25 yards away from bison, elk and most other wildlife and 100 yards away from bears and wolves. Approaching wild animals can affect their well-being and their survival, NPS said.The calf was later seen by visitors walking up to and following both cars and people, creating a hazard for those nearby, NPS said.“Interference by people can cause wildlife to reject their offspring,” NPS sai...

Solar telescope’s images reveal the sun’s surface like never before

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

(CNN) — New images of the sun’s surface captured by a powerful ground-based solar telescope have revealed sunspots and other features in unprecedented detail.The eight images, released on May 19, were taken using the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, a 4-meter (13.1-foot) telescope located on the island of Maui in Hawaii.Although the sun is becoming increasingly active as the July 2025 solar maximum — the peak of the sun’s 11-year cycle — draws closer, the photos showcase the quieter aspects of the solar surface.Cool, dark sunspots dot the photosphere, or the sun’s surface where the magnetic field is strong, and they can be the size of Earth or larger. Clusters of sunspots are the cause of solar flares and coronal mass ejections — when plasma and part of the magnetic field pinch off from the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, and go streaming across the solar system.The telescope captured an image of what scientists believe show...

Amid Drink-Spiking Crisis, Senate Moves to Fund Test Kits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

With reports of drink-spiking on the rise, the Senate voted Wednesday to fund drug testing kits to be distributed to bars, restaurants and other nightlife venues. Lawmakers unanimously approved adding the redrafted Sen. Paul Feeney amendment (568) to their fiscal 2024 budget. The measure would direct $300,000 to the Department of Public Health to bulk purchase the testing kits and distribute them to nightlife establishments, study and recommend strategies to address the rising incidence of drink-spiking, and launch a public awareness campaign about the issue. During a speech on the Senate floor, Feeney told the story of a constituent who was turned away from a Boston hospital after she was drugged at a house party. Hospital staff told her they would not test her for drugs unless she was reporting a rape or sexual assault. While some hospitals will do this testing, the senator said, others won’t, preventing many victims from getting the care they need. “They shouldn’...

Gabby Petito’s parents get copy of ‘burn after reading’ letter that Brian Laundrie’s mom wrote him

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

(CNN) — Gabby Petito’s parents now have a copy of a letter Brian Laundrie’s mother wrote to her son, which included references to getting a shovel and burying a body.Attorneys for both sides argued in a Sarasota County, Florida, courtroom Wednesday over whether the letter is relevant to the lawsuit brought by Gabby Petito’s parents against Laundrie’s parents and the Laundries’ former attorney.The envelope containing the letter – which is undated – said “burn after reading” and was recovered from Brian Laundrie’s backpack when his remains were found in October 2021.“As we all know the letter references burying a body bringing a shovel and burying a body,” Petito family attorney Patrick Reilly said in court Wednesday. “Those are criminal acts, by the way, that Roberta Laundrie has said she would commit.”The Petitos sued the Laundries for emotional distress in connection with Gabby Petito’s death while traveling the Western United States with Brian Laundrie, her fia...

Toronto man arrested for assault following Maple Leafs playoff game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

Toronto police have arrested and charged a 25-year-old man after he allegedly assaulted someone following a Maple Leafs playoff game earlier in the month.Investigators responded to an assault call in the Queen Street East and Kenilworth Avenue area in The Beaches just after midnight on Friday, May 5.Officers said the alleged victim was with the suspect and a group of other people when an argument ensued.The male suspect assaulted the victim, causing significant injury to their eye, police allege.On Wednesday, police arrested 25-year-old Jake Rogers of Toronto. He’s been charged with assault causing bodily harm.He’s expected to appear in court virtually on July 6, 2023.

Tennessee judge: Parents at school can try to keep shooter’s writings secret

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge has ruled that a group of parents can have their say in a lawsuit over the writings of a shooter who killed six people at their children’s school. The judge ruled Wednesday night that the Covenant School parents have a right to intervene against other groups that want the shooter’s writings — along with some other documents in the police investigation — released according to the Tennessee Public Records Act.Journalists, a state senator, a law enforcement nonprofit and a gun-rights organization have been rebuffed by Nashville police, who say the records are part of an active investigation. However, police have indicated that they do plan to release the shooter’s writings eventually. A declaration filed recently in the court case by police Lt. Brent Gibson estimated that it could be 12 months before the case is closed.At a Monday hearing on the consolidated requests, an attorney for a group of Covenant School parents argued t...

Supreme Court limits federal power over wetlands, boosts property rights over clean water

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday made it harder for the federal government to police water pollution in a decision that strips protections from wetlands that are isolated from larger bodies of water.It’s the second decision in as many years in which a conservative majority of the court narrowed the reach of environmental regulations. The justices boosted property rights over concerns about clean water in a ruling in favor of an Idaho couple who sought to build a house near Priest Lake in the state’s panhandle. They objected when federal officials identified a soggy portion of the property as a wetlands that required them to get a permit before building.By a 5-4 vote, the court said that wetlands can only be regulated if they have a “continuous surface connection” to larger, regulated bodies of water.The court jettisoned the 17-year-old opinion by their former colleague, Anthony Kennedy, that allowed regulation of wetlands that have a “significant nexus” to the l...