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UK’s Truss warns of Western ‘weakness’ over China in wake of Macron visit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

LONDON — Former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss will take a not-so-subtle swipe at Emmanuel Macron over his attempt to build bridges with Beijing.In a Wednesday morning speech to the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C. Truss will argue that too many in the West have “appeased and accommodated” authoritarian regimes in China and Russia. And she will say it is a “sign of weakness” for Western leaders to visit China and ask premier Xi Jinping for his support in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — just days after Macron’s own high-profile trip there.While Truss — who left office after just six weeks as crisis-hit U.K. prime minister — will not mention Macron by name, her comments follow an interview with POLITICO in which the French president said Europe should resist pressure to become “America’s followers.”Macron said: “The question Europeans need to answer … is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] ...

Greek parliament votes to ban extreme-right party from elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

ATHENS — Greek MPs voted Tuesday to ban the extreme-right Greeks-National Party from running in elections, aiming to block its members linked to the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn criminal organization from entering parliament.The Greeks-National Party was founded two years ago by former lawmaker Ilias Kasidiaris, who is currently serving a more than 13-year prison sentence over his leading role in Golden Dawn, which was declared a criminal organization in 2020 for charges including murder, racist violence and money laundering. Kasidiaris still managed to gain significant support from messages posted on YouTube while in jail. The Greek government had originally passed legislation in February banning the Greeks-National Party on the grounds that its leader was convicted of serious offenses and that the party wouldn’t “serve the free functioning of a democratic constitution.” But the party last week appointed a new leader, a retired prosecutor, in an effort to bypass the ban...

Crews battle dozens of brush fires around Mass.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

NORTHBOROUGH, MASS. (WHDH) – Crews were busy battling brush fires across Massachusetts on Tuesday, as experts said a mix of dry air and gusty winds made conditions ripe for such fires. Speaking with 7NEWS, Massachusetts’ Chief Fire Warden Dave Celino said crews had responded to 42 brush fires in the past three days. Together, Celino said, the fires had torched 114 acres of land. In Northborough, SKY7-HD captured images of smoke and fire rising above an area around Church Street Tuesday afternoon. On the ground, fire crews pulled hoses into driveways and up hills, trying to get water on burning brush while keeping flames from spreading to nearby homes. Elsewhere, firefighters battled a fire on West Street in Hopkinton on Tuesday. In Franklin, fire crews responded to a fire on Juniper Road. In Beverly, fire officials extinguished a brush fire near Beverly Hospital. Temperatures pushed past 70 degrees in many spots around Massachusetts Tuesday j...

Man faces charges after allegedly chasing woman with car, hitting another woman in Tewksbury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

An Everett man is facing multiple charges in connection with an incident where video showed a driver driving a car over lawns in Tewksbury, attempting to hit one woman before striking another woman in the leg. The incident happened on Mount Joy Drive on Monday night. The injured woman wasn’t seriously hurt. The driver, identified by police as 22-year-old Tommy Moges of Everett, was later arrested at his home in Everett, officials said. In a statement, police said they first responded to a report of a breaking and entering incident on River Road around 7: 25 p.m. Police said officers soon learned of new reports of a black SUV driving erratically in an area close to the site of the alleged break-in.Speaking on Tuesday, Tewksbury Det. Lt. Brian Farnum said Moges was with friends in the area at their house.“It just escalated from there,” Farnum said. Police said officers determined, after further investigation, that Moges allegedly fled the scene on River Road and got int...

Still Boston Strong: Experts continue to advocate for proper, increased use of tourniquets years after marathon bombing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

In the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, first responders at the finish line rushed to help those who were wounded, using their training and the tools available to them.Lessons were learned since that tragic day, including the use of tourniquets – a medical tool experts and hospitals have been working to train and teach the public more about.Among those experts is Brigham and Women’s Hospital Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Eric Goralnick, for whom the deadly explosions on Boylston Street remain a fresh memory.“It was organized chaos – we had activated our disaster protocol, we got 27 patients within an hour – 40 patients overall,” he recounted.Goralnick has been working alongside a trauma surgeon at Mass General who had military combat experience in Afghanistan – Dr. David King, who started the “Stop the Bleed” campaign in Boston when he returned from his tour of duty, before the marathon explosions.&#...

Whipping Winds and Warm Weather

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

If you spent any time outside this afternoon you most definitely noticed the wind! It actually wasn’t bad this morning, up until about noon, then the wind cranked up for the second half of the day. There were pros and cons to the wind today:-The pros: the southwest winds surged the warm air in and pushed temperatures for most of us to the 70s, including the coastline. With a strong enough westerly wind, it’s able to knock out the sea breeze and push the 70s right out to the water’s edge.-The cons: mainly the fire risk. This time of year there’s a lot that already creates problems for fire risk and fire spread, but the strong wind makes an already vulnerable situation even worse.While we are enjoying the nice weather today, the first and foremost concern is that fire danger. Massachusetts DCR reports 42 brush fires have started since Friday. This time of year is already vulnerable to brush fires with all the vegetation being dead from the winter and not green ...

Ticker: Moderna flu vax needs more study; Market hit with $800K labor settlement

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

Cambridge-based Moderna Tuesday said its potential flu vaccine needs more study in a late-stage clinical trial.The company said an independent data and safety monitory board found that the potential vaccine “did not meet the statistical threshold necessary to declare early success” in the study.The board recommended that the trial should continue.Moderna is developing the vaccine, labeled mRNA-1010, to guard against seasonal flu. It is testing the vaccine in two, late-stage studies in the Southern and Northern hemispheres. Moderna shares shed $4.90, closing at $155.25.Market chain hit with $800K labor settlementA Boston-area supermarket chain will pay $800,000 to settle allegations that it violated state labor laws by failing to pay workers overtime and weekend rates, the state attorney general’s office said Tuesday.The C-Mart stores, which specialize in Asian foods and are located in Boston’s South End and Chinatown neighborhoods as well as in Quincy, were i...

Nets Playoff Intel: Priority No. 1 — Keep Joel Embiid off the foul line

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

Priority No. 1 for the Nets in their upcoming first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers is keeping MVP favorite Joel Embiid off the free throw line — and hopefully, lower on the scoreboard.Welcome to Nets Playoff Intel, the first installment in a weeklong series as No. 6 Brooklyn prepares for an uphill battle against No. 3 Philadelphia.And on a Sixers team with legitimate championship aspirations, it’s no secret Embiid is going to do at least a moderate — if not significant — amount of damage to a Nets team that doesn’t quite have a player his size on the roster.The Sixers’ star center is averaging 33 points and 10 rebounds per game. His utter dominance has propelled him past two-time award-winner Nikola Jokic to the forefront of MVP conversations entering the playoffs.Yet while a large chunk of Embiid’s scoring capability comes by virtue of his size, strength and skill, a third of his points come uncontested.At the foul line...

These home features could sell your house faster as spring-buying season takes off

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

Amber Bonefont | (TNS) South Florida Sun-SentinelWith spring-buying season in full swing, home sellers eager to see their properties sold quickly could benefit from having certain features in their house, a new analysis shows.Homes that have attributes such as a steam oven, quartz finishes or even hurricane shutters/windows, typically sell for a higher price than the average home, according to data from Zillow. And homes that have a characteristics such as a doorbell camera or even a fenced-in backyard typically sold between three to five days faster than a home without those added items.“Multifunctional homes that offer retreat spaces and features for outdoor entertaining are particularly appealing to post-pandemic buyers, who expect their homes to be a place where they can work and play,” the report from Zillow noted.And as the spring-buying season takes off, sellers should use every opportunity they have to get their home sold quickly, said Alex Platt, with the Platt Group at Com...

Magic’s Paolo Banchero becomes Rookie of Month for 4th time in a row

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:50:36 GMT

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero accomplished a feat on Tuesday that’s been attained by only one other player in franchise history.Banchero was named the NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in March and April, the league announced.He joined Shaquille O’Neal as the only Magic players to be named Rookie of the Month four consecutive times.The No. 1 pick in the draft, Banchero led rookies in scoring with 20.3 points per game for March/April to go along with 6.6 rebounds (sixth) and 4.2 assists (sixth). He also shot 38.7% (24 of 62) on 3-pointers.Banchero, O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, Mike Miller and Victor Oladipo are the only Magic players to be named Rookie of the Month more than once.The nine Magic players who won Rookie of the Month:Dennis Scott (March 1991);O’Neal (four times — November 1992-February 1993);Hardaway (twice — January and April 1994);Miller (twice — February and March 2001);Oladipo (twice — Decemb...