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First-ever ranking of EU Parliament members vote on Israel presented in Brussels

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

One of the takeways of the survey results is that political ideology and, to a lesser extent, nationality that determine how a particular member of the European Parliament will cast his vote on Israel-related issues. While Ireland ends up last on the list on its support for Israel, followed by Spain, support for Israel is more common in the new EU member states. Among the four largest EU member states, Italy and Poland score some of the highest points in support for Israel, which is also symptomatic for the fact that they are currently governed by the right-wing parties.For many years, political commentators have been asking themselves how is the European Parliament relating to issues related to Israel.The answer to this question was given on Tuesday (25 April) in the framework of the presentation in Brussels of the first ever survey on the support for Israel among the 199 national political parties represeented in the European Parliament.The survey, commissioned by the European Coa...

Bonny Doon residence no home for sexually violent predator, court affirms

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

SANTA CRUZ — The state Supreme Court will not consider an effort to overturn a lower court’s ruling to deny a violent sexual offender’s placement in a Bonny Doon residence.Bonny Doon residents rallied in November 2021 at the Santa Cruz County Superior courthouse to speak out against “sexually violent predator” Michael Cheek being housed on Wild Iris Lane in Bonny Doon. (Shmuel Thaler — Santa Cruz Sentinel file) The Department of State Hospitals and its contractor Liberty Healthcare Corp. sought to place 71-year-old Michael Cheek in a rented rural Iris Lane home, one among several unsuccessful locations identified throughout the state, upon his release.“From our perspective, he was about to be placed, based on the court’s order, in a location that was unsafe,” said Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Alex Byers. “The thought that they could have appropriately supervised him at that location over time just bore out to be unrealistic. So, we’re glad that that didn’t happ...

Former President Trump criticizes Reagan Library as RNC’s pick to host 2024 primary debate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

There’s one Republican presidential candidate unhappy with the party’s choice to hold its second debate in the 2024 primary at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: former President Donald Trump.On his Truth Social account Tuesday, Trump seemed to question whether he’d participate in any debates in the first place while also critiquing the choice of the Simi Valley foundation because its longtime board chair, Frederick Ryan Jr., is the publisher of the Washington Post. In another post, Trump claimed that “President Ronald Reagan would not approve” of Ryan chairing the library’s board.Of note, Ryan is Reagan’s former chief of staff and served on his re-election team as well as in other capacities.“I see that everybody is talking about the Republican debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump campaign, before announcing them,” Trump said. “When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile networks with angry Trump & MAGA hitting...

Disability rights groups sue to overturn California’s physician-assisted death law

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

By Don Thompson | Kaiser Health NewsDisability rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn California’s physician-assisted death law, arguing that recent changes make it too easy for people with terminal diseases whose deaths aren’t imminent to kill themselves with drugs prescribed by a doctor.California’s original law allowing terminally ill adults to obtain prescriptions for life-ending drugs was passed in 2016. Advocates say the revised version that took effect last year removes crucial safeguards and violates the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act.Plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles County, argue that life-ending drugs are more likely to be used by people with disabilities and racial and ethnic minorities because those groups are less likely to receive proper medical and mental health care. The advocates fear that vulnerable people could be pressured into taking their lives by family members or caretakers or feel pressure themse...

12 beers in less than 3 hours: A binge or a ruse in California triple-murder case?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

The prosecution in the murder trial of a Temescal Valley man who is accused of causing the traffic collision that killed three teenagers in 2020 after they played ding dong ditch on him sought on Tuesday, April 25, to cast doubt on Anurag Chandra’s testimony — including his claim that he drank 12 beers in the hours before the crash.Chandra, 45, took the witness stand for a second day. He has pleaded not guilty to three counts each of first-degree murder and attempted murder.Chandra previously testified that he saw a person in front of his home on Jan. 19, 2020, who wore a sweatshirt hood over his head. That person knocked on the door, rang the doorbell and exposed his buttocks. Chandra said he was afraid for his family’s safety, so he climbed in his car in an effort to chase down that person’s car and verbally express his anger.He said the teens’ 2002 Toyota Prius sideswiped his 2019 Infiniti during the chase. Chandra said he continued to pursue the Prius and rear-ended the car when...

Why California bills to crack down on fentanyl dealers have been doomed in the state Legislature

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

The message from Sacramento has been clear: powerful state lawmakers have no appetite for a return to the War on Drugs, even as a way to combat the deadly fentanyl epidemic.For years now, law enforcement, prosecutors and families of fentanyl victims have pleaded for harsher penalties for dealers of the synthetic opioid, which is 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin. In 2021, fentanyl killed 5,722 people in California, many of whom thought they were taking prescription medications or other drugs.The graveyard for such legislation has been the Senate and Assembly public safety committees, which have repeatedly rejected bills that would result in more incarceration of fentanyl dealers.On Tuesday, April 25, the Senate Public Safety Committee blinked slightly by approving SB 226, which would make it a felony to possess fentanyl with a loaded, operable firearm. Basically, the bill by state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gill, D-Jackson, would expand an existing law, add...

Man who said California psychic promised to remove a curse files 3rd lawsuit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

A local man is trying for the third time to have his case accusing a Palos Verdes Estates psychic of defrauding him out of $1,000 and causing him emotional distress heard in court, records show.An Inglewood judge dismissed Mauro Restrepo’s lawsuit in March, ruling the suit, which claimed the psychic, Sophia Adams, promised to remove a curse placed on him by his ex-girlfriend, lacked enough evidence to move forward.In his complaint, Restrepo claimed he went to Adams’ business at a home on Paseo Lunado Drive in Palos Verdes Estates in September 2021 after searching for psychics through Google to help him in his marriage.When he arrived, Restrepo said Adams led him through a tarot card reading, then told him “he had ‘mala suerte,’ or bad luck. This bad luck was…placed on (Restrepo) by a witch hired by his ex-girlfriend,” according to the suit.In his most recent filing, Restrepo said Adams then offered to sell him a crystal for $5,100 that would remove the back luck. Restrepo gave Adams...

The top 10 most expensive home sales in Fremont, reported the week of April 17

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

A house in Fremont that sold for $2.9 million tops the list of the most expensive real estate sales in Fremont in the past week.In total, 10 real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $1.5 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $915.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of April 17 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $1.2 million, detached house in the 5700 block of Butano Park DriveThe sale of the single family residence in the 5700 block of Butano Park Drive in Fremont has been finalized. The price was $1,150,000, and the new owners took over the house in March. The house was built in 1963 and has a living area of 1,131 square feet. The price per square foot was $1,017. The house features 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.Butano Park Drive9. $1.2 million, single-family home in the 40100 block of Michelle StreetThe 1,258 square-foot detached house i...

Word Game: April 26, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — HEROICS (HEROICS: heh-RO-iks: Courageous, noble or self-sacrificing actions or behaviors.)Average mark 25 wordsTime limit 40 minutesCan you find 31 or more words in HEROICS? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD —  bump bumpkin bunk buskin mink minus musk pink punk nimbus numb sink skim skimp skin skip snip snub spin spun spunk sump sunkTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].

Virtue Signaling as a War Policy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:48 GMT

U.S. war planners have indicated that Ukraine plans to launch a spring offensive in an effort to retake territory lost in Russia’s invasion. Military analysts have also suggested that Kyiv, backed by the U.S.-led NATO alliance and its weapons shipments, is likely to attempt to purge Russia from Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that he has no plans to cease his military operations, and the stage is being set for further bloodshed with no end in sight.This week on Intercepted, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft’s Kelley Beaucar Vlahos joins Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain for a wide-ranging discussion on the proxy war, the uniform support among Democrats for Joe Biden’s policies on Ukraine, and the growing opposition among Republicans to funding the war. Last week, a group of Republican lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden saying they will no longer support what they called “unrestrained” aid to Ukraine. And they added they “will adamantly o...