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Europe’s leaders meet in Russia’s shadow

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

CHIȘINĂU — Gathering more than 40 European leaders in Moldova on Thursday will be a symbolic thumb in Vladimir Putin’s eye — a sign of collective commitment to join hands against Moscow.It’s also a major risk. Literally and metaphorically, the so-called European Political Community’s second summit is taking place in Russia’s backyard, a region Putin sees as part of Moscow’s sphere of influence. That makes getting several dozen world leaders in and out no easy task.  Moldova has closed its airspace for the duration of the summit and NATO surveillance planes will keep a watchful eye — a nod to the constant threat of Russian incursions. Access to the main airport has been restricted — a recognition of the myriad fake bomb alerts there since the start of the war. And most leaders won’t stay overnight — preferring to keep their visit to a minimum.The measures illustrate Europe’s daunting task as it tries to embrace a wider community of countries. The o...

Boston Police searching for Roxbury wedding band bandit

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

A woman was attending Zion Apostolic Church in Roxbury on Sunday when she stepped out for a breath of fresh air — but soon found herself tussling with a man who ripped a gold chain that carried her dead husband’s wedding band off her neck and ran off.Police arrived at the church at 241 Blue Hill Avenue just after noon and met with the woman, whose age is not disclosed, who told them she’d been “robbed of her gold chain that has her deceased husband’s wedding band attached to it,” according to the police report. The chain was standard gold color and the band is described further as “a yellow hood ring with a lot of detail and to be an older style ring.”She told the cops that she had stepped outside and sat down on a chair when she saw the alleged robber, who she said has a limp, pacing around her. Soon, she told them, he walked up and tried to push her out of her chair.“The victim stated that she began fighting the suspect off and that is when the suspect ripped her chain off of her ...

Ravens 2023 undrafted free agent tracker: Jordan Swann, former St. Frances and James Madison cornerback, signs

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

With the NFL draft over, the Ravens have turned their attention to the undrafted market.Baltimore entered the draft with 63 players and made six picks, leaving space to add a big class. Here’s a look at the announced additions:James Madison cornerback Jordan Swann: General manager Eric DeCosta said earlier this year that the team can never have too many cornerbacks, so the Ravens added more depth to the position with the signing of Swann.Swann, who began his college career at Connecticut in 2017 and spent three seasons at Maine, had 24 tackles, two interceptions, two sacks and one forced fumble in 11 games last year for James Madison.Joining the Ravens is also something of a homecoming for the 5-foot-10, 181-pound cornerback. Swann is a native of Newark, Delaware, and spent his senior year of high school at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, where he helped the Panthers win the 2016 MIAA A Conference title.SMU offensive lineman Jaylon Thomas: The Ravens added more depth to thei...

House debt ceiling vote to avert default on track with Biden and McCarthy both confident of passage

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

By LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING, STEPHEN GROVES and FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Crossing a crucial hurdle, the debt ceiling and budget cuts package to avert default headed toward House passage late Wednesday as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assembled a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans against fierce conservative blowback and progressive dissent.Tensions rose during an afternoon procedural vote when heavy Republican support lagged, but the package ultimately sailed to approval once Democrats unleashed favorable votes in a show of bipartisan support. Onlookers filled the visitor galleries. The vote was 241-187 to proceed toward final approval.As debate began, Biden expressed optimism that the agreement he negotiated with McCarthy would pass the chamber and avoid an economically disastrous default on America’s debts.“I think things are going as planned,” he told reporters. The president was to depart Washingt...

3-alarm fire displaces 78 residents in Brighton

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

Seventy-eight Brighton residents were forced out of their homes Wednesday morning when a three-alarm fire tore through their apartment building at 1980 Commonwealth Ave.“People are just very relieved that there wasn’t any injuries or anything worse,” said building resident Meghan Morrissey, sitting on the stoop next door with her bewildered dog Ellie Bean and a mass of neighbors clutching possessions.“It’s damaged though, which is hard. Yes, you can replace everything, but still, it’s hard.”Boston Fire announced “all companies” were responding to a fire that quickly went to three alarms at the building around 9:40 a.m. Wednesday morning.“The first arriving companies had fire on the sixth floor,” said Boston Fire District Chief Mark Loschiavo. “As they were going to attack that fire, a fire broke out on the third floor from fallen embers, and they changed their attack.”The spread from upper to lower floor i...

Biden approves a new $300M military aid package for Ukraine

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

By AAMER MADHANI and LOLITA C. BALDOR (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has approved a new package of military aid for Ukraine that totals up to $300 million and includes additional munitions for drones and an array of other weapons. It comes as Russia has continued to pummel Ukraine’s capital and unmanned aircraft have targeted Moscow. U.S. officials have said there is no suggestion that U.S.-made drones or munitions were used in the Moscow strikes, which the Kremlin blamed on Ukraine but Kyiv has not acknowledged. The Biden administration has said it has made clear to Ukraine that U.S.-made weapons should not be used for attacks inside Russian territory.“We don’t tell them where to strike. We don’t tell them where not to strike. … Ultimately President Zelenskyy and his military commanders decide what they’re going to do from a military perspective,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said...

Veteran character actor John Beasley, who appeared in the TV drama ‘Everwood,’ dies at 79

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — John Beasley, the veteran character actor who played a kindly school bus driver on the TV drama “Everwood” and appeared in dozens of films dating back to the 1980s, has died. He was 79. Beasley died Tuesday after a “brief and unexpected illness” at a hospital in his hometown of Omaha, his manager, Don Spradlin, said. Beasley played an assistant coach in the 1993 football film “Rudy” and a retired preacher in 1997’s “The Apostle,” co-starring and directed by Robert Duvall. On TV, Beasley was the father of Cedric the Entertainer in the TV Land comedy “The Soul Man” and later starred for four seasons alongside Treat Williams in The WB’s “Everwood.”Most recently, Beasley had small parts in the Showtime drama “Your Honor,” with Bryan Cranston, and “The Mandalorian,” a Star Wars offshoot on Disney+. For more than a dozen years, he ran the John Beasley Theate...

Former Connecticut lawmaker gets 27 months in prison for stealing $1.2M in COVID-19 relief money

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

Michael DiMassa, a former Democratic state representative and West Haven, Connecticut, political insider who stole about $1.2 million of the city’s pandemic relief money and blew much of it gambling, was sentenced to 27 months in prison Wednesday.He also was ordered to pay $866,000 in restitution.As the pandemic reached Connecticut in late 2020, DiMassa was empowered by West Haven’s mayor to approve spending for prevention measures and other unexpected costs and had signature authority over the money.He admitted conspiring with his wife and two others — including John Trasacco, a convicted felon who introduced him to a gambling ring — to embezzle the federal grant money by creating dummy invoices and directing payments to sham companies.In a short statement before U.S. District Judge Omar Williams imposed an admittedly “lenient” sentence, DiMassa acknowledged that his crimes have contributed to the erosion of faith in politics and government.“I gave them another reason not to trust ...

3 more GOP governors sending National Guard troops to US-Mexico border

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The governors of Virginia, West Virginia and South Carolina on Wednesday joined a growing list of Republican leaders sending their state National Guard soldiers or other state law enforcement officers to the U.S. border with Mexico.Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is considered a possible presidential aspirant, announced an executive order directing the deployment of 100 Virginia National Guard soldiers and 21 support personnel. South Carolina’s Henry McMaster and West Virginia’s Jim Justice announced their deployments shortly thereafter, also in response to a request from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The announcements bring to at least eight the number of Republican-led states deploying soldiers or offering other assistance in the weeks since Abbott appealed for help.“The ongoing border crisis facing our nation has turned every state into a border state,” Youngkin said in a statement. “As leadership solutions at the federal level fall short, states are ...

Census Bureau again delays release of most detailed data from 2020 census

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:24:49 GMT

The U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday that it would once again delay the release, and narrow the scope, of some of the most detailed data from the 2020 census — this time until next year.Detailed numbers dealing with household types — such as if the household is a family — broken down by race and ethnicity, and whether homes are owned or rented, won’t be released until September 2024, more than four years after the data’s collection in the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident, the Census Bureau said.Also being delayed is the release of numbers on household and family sizes. This data set will also be much more limited than anticipated. It will only be released for the entire United States and individual U.S. states because a controversial new privacy method implemented by the Census Bureau couldn’t guarantee individuals wouldn’t be identified at smaller geographies.“It is a pretty severe delay and cutback in granularity,” demographer Steven R...