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Protests again grip France but Macron not backing down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Protesters disrupted traffic at Paris’ main airport and gathered again in other French cities on Thursday for strikes and demonstrations seeking to get President Emmanuel Macron to scrap pension reforms that have ignited a monthslong firestorm of public anger. In Paris, rat catchers set the tone by hurling the cadavers of rodents at City Hall. That protest Wednesday was one of the more shocking illustrations of how Macron’s plans to raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64 have infuriated workers. Broadcaster BFM-TV showed the rodents’ emaciated corpses being tossed by workers in white protective suits. Natacha Pommet, a leader of the public services branch of the CGT trade union, said Thursday that Paris’ rat catchers wanted “to show the hard reality of their mission” and that fury with Macron’s pension reforms is morphing into a wider movement of workers expressing grievances over salaries and other issues.“All this anger brings to...

Ravens GM: Jackson’s status doesn’t affect draft prep

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta said Lamar Jackson’s situation isn’t causing the Ravens to look at quarterbacks differently in the upcoming draft, although he did say the team could conceivably take one in the first round.DeCosta, coach John Harbaugh and director of player personnel Joe Hortiz hosted a pre-draft news conference Wednesday, and reporters were told to keep questions focused on the draft. Of course, Jackson’s status affects all aspects of the team’s future, and if he’s not a part of it, then Baltimore would need a quarterback.“It just depends on the board,” DeCosta said when asked if taking a quarterback in the first round is a consideration. “I guess I’d have to say yes because we have quarterbacks in our top 31. So just based on that alone, simple math, I would have to say yes.”As of now, the Ravens have the 22nd pick in the first round.The Ravens put the franchise tag on Jackson last month, so if he ...

Masters Tournament: 5 stories to follow on the course

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

Golf’s Masters begins the major tournament season with the usual fanfare and tradition that you can only get at Augusta National.The course, despite its changes over the years, remains the annual host and there’s a sense of familiarity that you don’t get with the PGA Championship or U.S. and British Opens.More Golf NewsMore Sports NewsPast is often present as we recall the meltdowns and the miracles of years gone by with every drive from Tiger Woods, to every missed putt by Rory McIlroy.Let’s get to the driving range and spray some worm-burners:Tiger’s Tale: The five-time winner begins his first round Thursday morning at 10:18 a.m. Woods has made the cut 23 times in 24 appearances (1996 the outlier) but finished 47th last year.“For him it’s not so much the golf it’s the walking,” USA Today columnist Christine Brennan told the DC Sports Huddle, “His leg is rebuilt. Every night he’s got ice baths and he’s got to d...

Las comunidades de Missouri enfrentan un largo camino hacia la recuperación después de que una tormenta arrasó casas y dejó al menos 5 personas muertas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

(CNN) — A medida que se desvanece un sistema de tormentas generadoras de tornados que azotó el centro de EE.UU., las comunidades en el sureste de Missouri están tamizando los escombros de lo que solían ser casas y esperan un largo camino hacia la recuperación.Al menos cinco personas murieron cuando un tornado azotó el condado de Bollinger, Missouri, en la oscuridad de la noche de este miércoles, según el sheriff Casey Graham.La tormenta abrió un camino de destrucción en varias comunidades del condado, reduciendo las casas a montones de madera, raspando los techos de los edificios, astillando árboles y dejando caminos llenos de escombros.“Cuando observa la devastación de esto, van a pasar semanas y meses para poder recuperarse”, dijo el gobernador Mike Parson después de recorrer el condado de Bollinger. “Es un largo viaje por delante para las personas que viven aquí”.Al menos 87 estructuras resultaron dañadas, incluidas 12 que quedaron completamente destruidas, dijo el coronel ...

UM study: Possible link between COVID-19 transmission during pregnancy and brain damage in infants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

A new study from doctors at the University of Miami (UM) revealed that COVID-19 may cause brain damage in infants when transmitted from the mother during pregnancy. This is the first study of its kind and provides significant evidence of the impact of the virus on infants.The study was based on two infants born at Holtz Children’s Hospital. Although both infants tested negative for the virus at birth, they had antibodies detected in their blood. Both babies had seizures, small head sizes, and developmental delays, and one of the infants died by 13 months. The two mothers contracted COVID-19 in their second trimester and the study confirmed that the virus can breach a mother’s placenta, causing brain damage to the newborns.Other infants showed transmission of lung disease and blood pressure issues.The researchers noted that these occurrences are rare and that hundreds of pregnant women with COVID-19 seen by UM clinicians gave birth without their infants suffering a brain ...

EU to Elon Musk: We’re snubbing your paid Twitter verification plan 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

Twitter is this month unrolling its new paid-verification plan, but the European Union institutions are staying away from the controversial blue checks.The European Commission and European Parliament are not currently planning to pay Twitter to get their hundreds of official EU accounts — including those of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Parliament President Roberta Metsola — verified under the “Twitter Blue” program, according to the institutions’ press services. Reversing a previous policy that aimed to limit misinformation, Twitter said it will this month remove legacy blue checks that used to certify the authenticity of government officials, journalists and public figures’ accounts unless they pay. Meanwhile, any users could also soon be able to subscribe to get the once-coveted blue tick. Announced in November 2022 after Elon Musk bought the platform, the plan has sparked fears that it could result in a wave of fake accounts and an uptick in fake...

Thursday Turnaround

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

A damp and dreary start requires some patience this morning to see the improvements that are ahead. Although the turnaround won’t be quick, it will happen, as temps surge into the 60s and 70s away from the immediate coast by mid to late afternoon. AM clouds and drizzle taper off, allowing for some midday/afternoon breaks of sun as well. With that said, I do expect a few spotty showers late this afternoon and the risk for some evening showers/thunder rolling through. Below is a mid to late afternoon snapshot of temps. Boston will hang in the 50s most of the day and bump up into the 60s early this evening. The showers and thunder that slide through tonight are with a cold front, and on the other side of that front, we’ll catch a gusty breeze and chillier air with highs in the 50s and winds gusting 30-35mph. Easter weekend looks bright with some seasonable chill as highs near 50 on Saturday and near 55 Sunday. Both days start frosty, so plan on a cool feel to the air for th...

Southborough Police warn of ‘Trouble Bubble’ TikTok challenge making kids sick

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

Southborough Police are warning residents of a new TikTok challenge that is making kids sick.The department posted a picture of “Trouble Bubble” gum, which has the same active ingredient as police pepper spray, but eight times hotter. Kids can buy the gum online and it can cause difficulty breathing if swallowed.Several children at an elementary school in Orange went to the hospital on Tuesday after chewing the gum. Some people say just touching it caused a reaction. “Their hands were red, their faces were beet red and they were crying and saying it hurt,” said Kathleen Woodard, whose son ate the gum. “Some of them were a deep red.”Police say if you chew the gum, you should rinse your mouth out repeatedly.

Former Boston Police officer arrested in connection with Jan. 6 US Capitol riot set to appear in court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

A former Boston police officer who was arrested last week after investigators said he assaulted an officer during the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to appear in court Thursday. The FBI took Joseph Fisher, 52, into custody from his home in Plymouth the morning of March 30. He is facing several felony and misdemeanor charges. Federal authorities said Fisher, who worked for the Boston Police Department for more than 20 years, was in a crowd of thousands storming the Capitol back in 2021. Authorities said images captured on January 6th matched Fisher’s license photograph, adding that Fisher’s cell phone pinged near the Capitol that day. Federal authorities laid out their case in court documents, circling pictures they said show Fisher storming the Capitol. Authorities in court documents said photos show Fisher inside the building. Authorities then said Fisher is seen pushing a chair into an officer and physically attacking the officer, who was pursuing a rioter...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files paperwork to run for president as a Democrat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:52 GMT

(CNN) — Environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in 2024 as a Democrat.The filing was confirmed Wednesday by his campaign treasurer, John E. Sullivan.The 69-year-old is the son of former New York senator, US attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy.Kennedy Jr. is a longtime vaccine skeptic. He has promoted discredited claims linking vaccines and autism and founded the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense. He has also railed against the coronavirus vaccine and has criticized the federal government’s handling of the pandemic.In 2019, three members of his family — his sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, brother Joseph P. Kennedy II and niece Maeve Kennedy McKean — forcefully denounced his anti-vaccine views in a Politic...