A Catholic priest allegedly spent $40,000 of church money on Candy Crush and slot machine apps.

A Pennsylvania Catholic priest was accused of stealing $40,000 from a parish and using the money to play games on his phone. According to CBS News, citing a criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause, Lawrence Kozak allegedly spent over $214,000 on his Apple ID, with just under $44,000 of that amount charged to a credit card associated with the parish.

Authorities claim he racked-up the charges over a three year span, using the some of the cash to play games like Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon Go and virtual slot machines, according to the network.

The network noted that these apps do not award real money for wins in the game, but allow you to spend actual money to play. According to CBS, Kozak described spending money on his slot apps as "powering up" instead of gambling.

Kozak's Amazon account was also reviewed and it was found that he allegedly used the parish card to buy gifts for his goddaughter, which included a chemistry set and an Amazon Fire tablet, per the network.

According to CBS, the parish's business manager noted that it wasn't the first time there was alleged erroneous spending at the church. Per the network, Monsignor Joseph McLoone resigned from St. Joseph Church in 2018 after he was accused and later pleaded guilty to stealing thousands in parish funds to pay for a beach house at the Jersey Shore, pad his salary and send money to men.

For anyone unaware of who Kasparov is, he's a very famous chess World Champion from Russia who held the title for 15 years.

Among candidates for U.S. sanctions, Israel's Prison Service should be next on the list. This is apparently the realm where all the sadistic instincts of the minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, find their outlet.

On October 26, large forces of the Prison Service's Keter unit, a tactical intervention unit, accompanied by dogs, one of them unleashed, stormed into the prison. The wardens and the dogs went on a rampage, attacking the inmates whose screams left the whole prison in a state of terror, Abu Halil recalls. The walls were soon covered with inmates' blood. "You are Hamas, you are ISIS, you raped, murdered, abducted and now your time has come," said one warden to the prisoners. The blows that followed were brutal, the inmates were shackled.

The beatings became a daily affair. Occasionally the guards demanded of prisoners that they kiss an Israeli flag and declaim, "Am Yisrael Chai!" – "The People of Israel live." They were also ordered to curse the prophet Mohammed. The usual call to prayer in the cells was prohibited. The prisoners were afraid to utter any word starting with the sound "h" lest the guards suspect they had said "Hamas."

On October 29, the inmates of Abu Halil's cell requested a squeegee to wash the floor. The response to that was to send the terrifying Keter unit into their cell. "Now you will be like dogs," the guards ordered. The prisoners' hands were cuffed behind their back. Even before they were shackled, they were ordered to move only with their upper body bent over. They were led to the kitchen, where they were stripped and forced to lie one on top of the other, a pile of 10 naked prisoners. Abu Halil was the last. There, they were beaten with clubs and spat on.

A guard then started to stuff carrots into the anus of Abu Halil and other prisoners. Sitting at home now, reciting his story, Abu Halil lowers his gaze and the flow of words slows down. He's embarrassed to talk about this. Afterward, he continues, dogs hunched over them and attacked them. They were then allowed to put on their underwear before being led back to their cell, where they found their clothes thrown into a heap.

Two men have been charged with cutting down the popular 150-year-old Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian’s Wall last year in northern England, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, were charged with causing criminal damage and damaging the wall built in A.D. 122 by Emperor Hadrian to guard the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire.

They were ordered to appear in Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on May 15.

The sycamore’s majestic canopy between two hills made it a popular subject for landscape photographers. It became a destination after being featured in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.”

Ukraine is not planning to forcibly bring back military-aged men who are in the EU, said Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna in an interview with Deutsche Welle published on April 30.

The Ukrainian government introduced a ban earlier in April on sending identification documents and passports to Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 who are living abroad. With some exceptions, military-aged men are prohibited from leaving Ukraine during the war while martial law is in effect.

The new provision came into effect shortly after Ukraine announced the suspension of new applications for consular support for military-age men abroad as part of a new mobilization law.

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The International court of justice has rejected a request by Nicaragua to issue Germany emergency orders to desist selling arms to Israel, by 15 votes to one.

The decision, according to the judgment read in court in The Hague, is largely based on a significant decrease in recent German arms sales to Israel, the largely defensive nature of arms recently sold, and the extensive internal German government processes to consider if arms would be used to prosecute war crimes or genocide.

Nicaragua faced a hurdle in its attempt to persuade the ICJ that German arms sales made it complicit in alleged genocide of Palestinians due to the decrease in arms sales to Israel since the start of the war in Gaza on 7 October 2023.

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From real Wikipedia:

Articles containing content contrary to the Russian government's official line have been removed. Removals of content considered "anti-Russian propaganda" include coverage of the Russo-Ukraine War, the Wagner rebellion, and criticism of Vladimir Putin.

What they learned is, to me, much less interesting than how they learned it.

In his report, Guterres referenced Patten’s assessment, but noted that it, “not being investigative in nature and given its limited duration, did not draw conclusions on attribution to specific armed groups or determine prevalence of incidents of conflict-related sexual violence during and after the attacks of 7 October. Such a determination would require a fully-fledged investigation.”

The Ynet outlet, in an unsourced report, said Israeli representatives spoke with UN officials about Hamas not being blacklisted and were told that there is a process to include an organization in the roster that involves identifying a trend and then specific cases. UN officials also pointed out that there has not yet been a full investigation of the October 7 attacks and asserted that it was not possible to determine if Hamas planned sexual crimes as part of its attack, or if they were carried out spontaneously by individuals, including Gazans who entered Israel while trailing the attacking terrorists.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/15063426

US lawmakers threaten retaliation against UN court over potential Israel arrest warrants

Other related news: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-working-to-block-feared-icc-arrest-warrants-against-pm-others-over-gaza-war/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-several-nations-urging-icc-not-to-issue-arrest-warrants-for-israelis/