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Corruption threatens Ukrainian accession to the EU, warn experts.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Any political persecution in Ukraine is incompatible with the people’s chosen course towards EU membership, warns Brussels-based expert Manel Msalmi.“Political persecution of Ukrainian businesses in the middle of the country during the war is unacceptable and harms the European course of development of Ukraine,” international affairs advisor to the European People’s Party at the European Parliament, and a highly respected expert in the area of human rights, told EU Reporter."Today, the number of cases when we learn from European publications that Ukrainian business continues to be oppressed by law enforcement agencies inside the warring country has become more frequent. And this pressure has a corrupt or political basis,” the Brussels-based expert continued.“I consider it absolutely unacceptable in a state that has chosen a European course of development and professes European values."Respect for human dignity and rights, freedom, democracy, equality and, workers righ...

'Bling Empire' star Anna Shay dies at 62

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Anna Shay of the Netflix hit "Bling Empire" has died. Her family issued a statement on Monday and explained she passed away after suffering a stroke at 62 years old. “It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mother, grandmother, charismatic star, and our brightest ray of sunshine, has passed away at the early age of 62 from a stroke,” the statement obtained by People read. “Anna taught us many life lessons on how not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the finer things. Her impact on our lives will be forever missed but never forgotten.”"Bling Empire" follows the lives of a group of wealthy Asian and Asian-American socialites in Los Angeles. Ever since she appeared on the first season of the reality show back in 2021, her lavish lifestyle and no-nonsense attitude won over fans. She starred in the show's three seasons. She also ended up being a mother-figure to some of her castmates. Her costar Kelly Mi Li took to social media to pay homage to the matriarch foll...

Murrieta teen dies in crash on her way home from boyfriend’s graduation 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

A 17-year-old Murrieta girl who was on her way home from her boyfriend’s graduation died in a crash last late week.The crash occurred around 9 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of Winchester and Keller roads in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, according to the California Highway Patrol.A GMC Sierra driven by a 30-year-old man apparently sideswiped a Nissan Titan driven by an 18-year-old man and carrying two teenage girls.The impact caused major damage and the Sierra rolled over after the crash, according to the CHP.The front passenger of the Titan, later identified as Giovanna “Gia” Rizzo, died from her injuries at the scene.The driver, along with another passenger, were flown to a hospital with major injuries.The driver of the Sierra was taken to a hospital with severe injuries.The crash remains under investigation, but an officer told Patch that the Sierra driver ran a red light at the intersection. No arrests have been made, the publication reported. A GoFundMe page se...

Los Angeles, Long Beach ports disrupted by labor dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Contract discussions closed down the largest terminal at the Port of Long Beach on Monday.The dispute between the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the port operators and shipping companies, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents the workers, resulted in disruptions beginning on Friday for several West Coast ports, including Los Angeles and Long Beach.Other locations include Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, the Los Angeles Times reports. Three days later, Long Beach's Total Terminals International shut down operations, the Times added.The Port of Los Angeles, meanwhile, is fully open, according to its Twitter account.At issue are "wages, as well as safety, automation and pension benefits" in a new contract, CNBC reports.The old contract expired July 1, 2022, and discussions have been going on for more than a year, according to the ILWU."Any reports that negotiations have broken down are false,” ILWU President Willie Adams said in a...

Pausing organic waste recycling would be a mistake, CalRecycle says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Pressing pause on California’s aggressive organic waste recycling mandate would be premature and costly to the environment, according to the state agency that oversees the program.On Monday, CalRecycle responded to a draft report from the Little Hoover Commission that recommends state lawmakers go back to the drawing board on Senate Bill 1383, arguing that it is riddled with problems, unfair to rural communities and ultimately falling short of its goals.“Hitting pause on organics recycling and food rescue programs will jeopardize the millions of dollars of investment in California and threaten years of climate progress,” CalRecycle said in a statement to KTLA.SB 1383, which was signed into law in 2016, set benchmarks for reducing the amount of organic waste sent to California landfills by 50% by 2020 and 75% by 2025, using 2014 as a baseline. Panel says California should pause organic waste recycling mandate The law requires homeowners to place food scraps, yard clippings and othe...

Knott's Berry Farm to sell season passes for 'Scary Farm' Halloween event

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Knott’s Berry Farm will begin selling season passes to its world-famous Knott’s Scary Farm Halloween event beginning on Tuesday, park officials announced on Twitter.Current season pass holders can purchase the “Scary Farm Season Pass Add-on” for $149, not including taxes and fees, beginning on Tuesday at 6 a.m.The pass will be available for the public on June 9 at 10 a.m. for $159, excluding taxes and fees. Knott’s Berry Farm releases park events for 2023 This Halloween season marks the 50th anniversary of Knott’s Scary Farm. The famed Halloween event will kick off on Sept. 21 and conclude on Oct. 31. The spooky event is only available on select nights.  Knott’s Scary Farm is the “longest-running and most haunting Halloween theme park event in Southern California,” according to the park's website. Knott’s Berry Farm reimplements chaperone policy that was enacted due to fights Knott's Berry Farm's chaperone policy will also be in effect for the after dark Halloween event. Un...

Newsom calls DeSantis a 'small, pathetic man' amid questions over migrant flight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday escalated his war of words with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, calling him a “small, pathetic man” and floating kidnapping charges over a flight of migrants sent to his state. The Democratic governor lobbed the barbs on Twitter after California’s attorney general said Florida's government appeared to be behind a flight of South American migrants who arrived unexpectedly in Sacramento last week.California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said Monday the migrant flight is still under investigation, but the individuals who arrived in Sacramento by private plane “were in possession of documentation purporting to be from the government of the State of Florida.” “This isn't Martha's Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?” Newsom wrote in his tweet, linking to a section of California penal code and instructing “read the following.”The code section highlighted in a screenshot reads, “Every person who, being out of this st...

Longtime councilmember announces run for State Assembly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Longtime Antioch City Councilmember Monica Wilson announced on Monday that she will seek the state Assembly seat held by Tim Grayson, who is widely expected to run for state Sen. Steve Glazer’s seat.Grayson, who represents the 15th state Assembly District, has yet to announce his intentions for higher office, but Wilson said if he does vacate his current seat, she will seek it. Grayson could not be reached for comment Monday morning.A moderate Democrat from Concord and the city’s former mayor, Grayson was first elected to state office in 2016 and is currently chair of the banking and finance committee.Wilson, a four-term Antioch City Council member, became the first Black woman elected to the city’s council in 2012. While on the council, she has advocated for an end to human trafficking, pushed for police reform and sought to help those experiencing mental health crises, among other issues.“I am ready to take my results-oriented leadership to Sacramento – where I can do even more to...

Another Bay Area P.F. Chang’s set to close, this time in Walnut Creek

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

Fans of Chinese food – and Thai, and Japanese, and Korean, given all that’s on the pan-Asian menu – will soon have one less place to dine in Walnut Creek, as the P.F. Chang’s there is closing permanently this month.The chain-restaurant location’s last day will be June 23, an employee confirms over the phone. “There were a few things that led us to believe that we can’t have this location anymore,” the employee says. “We’re just really sad. Come see us before we close!”News of the shuttering was first broken by the Bay Area Telegraph.This is the second P.F. Chang’s to close in the Bay Area this year. The location in the Bay Street Emeryville shopping mall shut down in January; it’s going to be replaced by the Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão. That leaves just three left in Pleasanton, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale.A spokesperson for the Arizona-based company, which has more than 300 locations worldwide, did not immedi...

Survivors of deadly train crash in India are ‘haunted by it’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:59:14 GMT

By Krutika Pathi and Rishi Lekhi | Associated PressBALASORE, India — Gura Pallay was watching another train pass by the one he was sitting in when he heard sudden, loud screeching. Before he could make sense of what was happening, he was thrown out of the train.Pallay, 24, landed next to the tracks along with metal wreckage of the train he’d been riding in, and instantly lost consciousness. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the twisted remains of train on the tracks.His train had derailed after colliding with a stopped freight train shortly after leaving Balasore, a coastal city about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the state capital. Another passenger train, the one he had seen pass by moments earlier, then hit the derailed carriages.“I saw it with my own eyes, but I still can’t describe what I saw. I am haunted by it,” he said Sunday at a hospital, where he lay on a stretcher with a broken leg and dark wounds on his face and arms.Pallay...