Canton

EU decision on LSE-Refinitiv deal expected in a few months: LSE director

European competition authorities are expected to rule on the London Stock Exchange's $27 billion takeover of data and analytics company Refinitiv "around the summer", an LSE board member said on Tuesday. "The Milan stock exchange is a strategic asset for LSE, it is not up for sale at the moment", LSE director Raffaele Jerusalmi, who is also the chief executive of Borsa Italiana, said on the sideline of an event in Milan.

Germany and Poland discuss new action to prevent swine fever

Germany and Poland are discussing new action to prevent the spread of the pig disease African swine fever (ASF) in wild boars in Poland close to the German border including border fences and increased hunting of the animals, Germany’s agriculture ministry said on Tuesday. Poland recorded 55 outbreaks of ASF in wild boars in December, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said.

Vuitton's diamond as big as a tennis ball steals the show in Paris

Louis Vuitton made a splash as it showcased its latest purchase on Tuesday: the world's second-biggest rough diamond. The LVMH-owned brand, which said last week that it was the new owner of the 1,758-carat Sewelo, displayed the glinting, blackened stone at its Place Vendome store in Paris. Its name, Sewelo, means "rare find" in Setswana, and the stone will be turned into a collection of fine jewelry, according to Lucara, a Canada-based diamond mining company which is partnering with Vuitton and an Antwerp-based manufacturer to produce the gems, and which owns the mine where it was found.

U.S. Census Bureau launches once-a-decade head count in rural Alaska

The U.S. Census Bureau was due to launch its latest once-in-a decade head count of Americans on Tuesday in one of the most remote corners of the country: a tiny, rural Alaska Native settlement on the Bering Sea coast. The population tally was scheduled to officially get under way with a ceremonial visit of Census Bureau chief Steven Dillingham to the home of a tribal elder in Toksook Bay, a Yup'ik village about 500 miles west of Anchorage. From there, a team will fan out to collect 2020 census data from all the other Toksook Bay residents in a day of fanfare that will include ceremonial Yup'ik dance performances and a feast of traditional foods.

Winter storm lashing Spain leaves 4 dead, power cuts

A winter storm lashed much of Spain for a third day Tuesday, leaving 200,000 people without electricity, schools closed and roads blocked by snow as it killed four people. Much of the northeastern province of Gerona was without electricity Tuesday because of a fault in the power connection with France, emergency services said on their Twitter account. Many schools remained closed in the northeastern region of Catalonia as well as the Valencia region further south and the inland region of Aragon, Spanish media said.

Religious woman drove into oncoming traffic to ‘test her faith’

A woman allegedly drove her car into oncoming traffic, hitting a car with three passengers in a bid to “test her faith”, said Pennsylvania State Police.Nadejda Reilly, 51, was arrested on 7 January after she was involved in a head-on collision with a car on a major north-south highway in the US.

Man's 'action movie' stunt to escape police backfires spectacularly

A man in who tried to make a daring escape from being arrested by Florida police last week ended up failing in spectacular fashion, according to authorities who apprehended him. Daniel Christopher Booth, a 36-year-old solar power plant worker from MacClenny, Florida, was at his job on Jan 15 when the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office go word that Booth was there. “Now we can only assume that Mr. Booth has seen one too many action movies,” said the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office in a statement on Facebook describing Booth’s escape plan of diving into a pond and hiding under water.

Driver 'intentionally' rams car carrying 6 teenagers, killing 3, authorities say

A California man "intentionally rammed" his vehicle into a car carrying six teenage boys, killing three and injuring the others, before driving off, authorities said. The deadly crash occurred Sunday night around 10:30 p.m. local time on a roadway in the Temescal Valley, some 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The hit caused the teens' Toyota Prius to slam into a tree off the road, and first responders had to free three of the boys who were trapped in the wrecked vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Trump's Senate trial begins as a polarized America looks on

Donald Trump's impeachment trial begins in earnest in the Senate on Tuesday in a rare use of the constitutional mechanism for ousting a president that has only deepened the polarization of U.S. voters ahead of presidential elections in November. Democrats have called on the Senate to remove the Republican president from office, describing him as a danger to American democracy and national security. Trump and his lawyers have decried his impeachment, saying he has done nothing wrong and that Democrats are simply trying to stop him from being re-elected.

Michael Avenatti is being held in El Chapo's cell at the Manhattan jail where Epstein died, his lawyer says

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer most famous for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her case against President Trump, was arrested in California last week and transferred over the weekend to New York's federal Manhattan Correctional Center to face charges of extortion and embezzlement, his lawyers told a federal court on Monday. In fact, lawyer Scott Srebnick wrote, Avenatti is being housed, for reasons that are unclear, in the MCC's "Special Housing Unit on the notorious 10-South," the "most secure secure floor in the entire facility," in "a cell reportedly once occupied by El Chapo, on a floor that houses individuals charged with terrorism offenses."Not only is Avenatti being held in the freezing cell that once housed notorious Mexican drug trafficker and escape artist Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Srebnick said, but he's on 24-hour solitary confinement with a guard and two cameras keeping watch on him from outside his cell 24 hours a day. MCC appears to have learned from the suicide of another recent inmate, Jeffrey Epstein, as Srebnick alludes to in his filing.> Avenatti’s lawyers also write that the Manhattan federal jail’s staff and SDNY’s line prosecutors have been as helpful as they can. > > It all raises the question—if the letter is accurate, who decided that the SHU and SAMs were appropriate conditions of confinement for Avenatti?> > — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) January 21, 2020Srebnick asked for the court's help in finding out why Avenatti is under such strict lockdown and in getting him moved to regular incarceration amid the general population of MCC, saying the current conditions are hindering Avenatti's participation in his defense case.More stories from theweek.com Dershowitz tells CNN he wasn't wrong about Clinton's impeachment but is 'far more correct' defending Trump The strongest case for Joe Biden Under McConnell's rules, Trump's impeachment trial could last well past midnight or end immediately

Experts defuse World War II bomb in German city of Cologne

Explosives experts on Tuesday successfully defused an unexploded American bomb from World War II in the western German city of Cologne, authorities said. The 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) bomb was found Monday evening during construction near the Rhine River in the center of the city. Officials closed down a bridge across the Rhine that takes most trains to Cologne's main train station, one of Germany's major rail hubs.

Posthumous sperm donation should be allowed, say UK experts

Men in Britain should be allowed to donate sperm after they die to meet growing demand from couples seeking fertility treatment, medical experts say. Posthumous sperm donation is technically feasible and morally acceptable, the specialists said in a review published in the Journal of Medical Ethics on Tuesday. While infertility is not life-threatening, said Nathan Hodson of Britain's Leicester University and Joshua Parker of Britain's Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester, it causes great suffering and could be said to be a form of illness.

Mom does 5,332 burpees in 12 hours to help daughter with rare birth defect

Gena Laielli, a 37-year-old mom of two, completed 5,332 burpees in 12 straight hours. The number -- a staggering feat for anyone who has tried to do one burpee -- is poised to break a world record. The world record will be a nice accolade, but the most important thing to Laielli is that she finished her burpee marathon with her 6-year-old daughter Emma by her side.

Religion and school choice on the line in 'crucial' Supreme Court case

The battle over school-choice programs and state aid for religious schools returns to the U.S. Supreme Court this week as three mothers from Montana ask the justices to uphold a scholarship program that would help fund Christian education for their children. The case is a major test for the balance between dueling constitutional principles: protection for religious freedom and a prohibition against government support of religion. “If the decision goes in a certain way, it will be a virtual earthquake,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who fears a blow to state funding of public education.

This Bon Appetit chef made a meal that will have you taking another look at leftovers

Lalli Music rethought her meal prep approach after she found herself wasting food on repetitive recipes. One of Lalli Music’s favorite make-ahead components is slow-roasted chicken, which can be turned into a soup, tacos, a sandwich or salad. "The finished meal is what you bring to it in the moment, and the prepping is giving you lots of opportunities to go this way or that depending on what you're in the mood for," Lalli Music said.

What Prince Harry, Meghan can learn from the last royal to exit the family, King Edward VIII

Prince Harry and Meghan's decision to no longer be working members of Britain's royal family is bringing to mind the last example of a royal leaving for love, King Edward VIII. Edward abdicated the throne in 1936 so that he could marry Wallis Simpson, who like Meghan, was an American divorcée.