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Wagner fighters may pose as migrants to enter EU, Polish PM claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

A group of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus has moved closer to the Polish border and may stage a “hybrid attack” inside the EU country by posing as illegal migrants, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned.Speaking at a press conference in southern Poland on Saturday, Morawiecki said that more than 100 mercenaries had moved close to the city of Grodno, near the Suwałki Gap — a narrow strategic stretch of Polish and Lithuanian territory that separates Belarus from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.“They will probably be disguised as Belarusian border guards and will help illegal immigrants to enter Polish territory, destabilize Poland,” Morawiecki said, according to Polish public broadcaster TVP.The Wagner members would also likely “try to infiltrate Poland pretending to be illegal immigrants,” he added, saying the situation had become “more dangerous.”In 2021, Warsaw and Brussels accused the Belarusian government and its Russian backers of seeking to sow instabil...

Musk’s ‘X’ logo atop former Twitter headquarters in San Francisco draws city scrutiny

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

X marks the spot where Elon Musk sent San Francisco’s permitting department atwitter.San Francisco has reportedly launched an investigation into a large metal X that appeared Friday atop the billionaire’s social media company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, saying the change took place without permission from the city.Musk announced last week that the platform would “bid adieu” to Twitter and rebrand as X, the latest in a series of major changes to the tech platform — including limiting the number of posts users can view a day and requiring users to pay for the blue check mark formerly indicative of verification.On Monday, workers were spotted removing the brand’s former bird and logo from the side of the company’s downtown building on Market Street, but the project came to a halt when San Francisco police cautioned that no notice had been given and no safety measures were taken to prevent falling objects from hitting pedestrians.The sign change isn’t th...

National NAACP Convention kicks off in Boston as crowds await opening meeting featuring Kamala Harris

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

The 114th annual National NAACP Convention kicked off at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on Friday with some big-name speakers, panels, and a dance party to set the tone for the five-day event.DJ Jazzy Jeff got the party going, followed by an address from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who said it was a honor for the city to host the gathering. ” Welcome to the city of champions, the hub of the universe and the hub of the hub right here,” she said. This is the first time Boston has hosted the convention since 1982. It was originally slated to hots in 2020 but the event went remote due to the pandemic. Local leaders say it’s an opportunity for Boston to reintroduce itself to Black America. “We know the perception, the reputation we have as being one of America’s most racist cities,” said NAACP Boston’s Tanisha Sullivan. “This moment gives us the opportunity to reframe that. not to shy away from it but to acknowledge that we ...

Storms Saturday, Nice Sunday!

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Good morning! It’s been a warm and humid start. It’ll feel hot today with scattered storms later on. The biggest threats with these storms will be heavy downpours and strong wind. The storms are part of a cold front, and on the backside of this we’ll be left with a much better end to the weekend!A few storms bubble up early afternoon. The main line of storms arrives to northwest Mass by mid-afternoon. The line of storms sweeps across Mass between 3 pm and 9 pm. The darker colors of red and yellow indicate there could be torrential downpours and strong wind as the storms move through. Due to the potential for heavy downpours and since the ground is already saturated, there is a Flood Watch for a majority of our region. Excessive rainfall could result in poor drainage flooding and sharp rises in creeks and streams. Today it’s hot in the upper 80s/low 90s. Norwood will likely reach a heat wave today. Check out the day planner for Sunday. Morning temperatures sta...

Jamaica makes history by beating Panama for first Women’s World Cup win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

(CNN) — Jamaica earned a historic first-ever Women’s World Cup win on Saturday, defeating Panama 1-0 following a goal from captain Allyson Swaby.It has been a groundbreaking tournament for the Reggae Girlz with a draw against France in their opening match yielding a first point at a Women’s World Cup and, suddenly, they can seriously contemplate reaching the knockout stages for the first time too, with this victory lifting them level on points with group leader France.It was a scoreless opening half, one where the history at stake for both teams – Panama was seeking a first World Cup win too – was palpable as Jamaica fired shot after shot over the crossbar and Panama seemed content to play out from the back.Eventually, however, Jamaica’s dominance told and Swaby latched onto a corner in the 56th minute, her header finding the back of the net and proving the difference between the two teams.Jamaica will next face Brazil in its last group stage match, with star str...

Mike Lupica: Like it or not, Hal Steinbrenner is right about not needing a historic payroll to win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Here is something Hal Steinbrenner said back in spring training, something about which the son of George Steinbrenner, the biggest spender of his time in baseball, was absolutely right:“A decade-plus ago, I always used to say that you shouldn’t have to have a $200 million payroll to win a championship, right? Because nobody had it. Times have changed. I will acknowledge that. So I will say that you shouldn’t have to have a $300 million payroll to win a world championship because nobody has, including Houston.”Nobody has, at least not yet and maybe not ever, even with spending skyrocketing now in baseball, starting in New York. Nobody is going to do that this year, now that the Mets, at $348 million, are holding a tag sale. And guess what? Across the last 10 seasons, a time when long-term $300 million contracts for player came into baseball, only two teams with $200 million payrolls have won the World Series:The 2018 Red Sox.The 2019 Nationals, who just got ac...

Mike Elias has to worry about the Orioles’ long-term future. This season is testing that approach. | ANALYSIS

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

In a moment of jest, Mike Elias provided a condition in which he would go all in on the 2023 Orioles.“Unless we have information that the world is ending in November,” Elias quipped, “a big part of my job is worrying about the overall health of the team over the next several years.”Surely, though, if Earth’s demise was imminent, it wouldn’t be something that an MLB team alone would know. And, naturally, there would be more important matters than a game of stick and ball.But even without a credible forecast of impending doom, can’t Elias still push his chips to the center of the table?The throwaway line from the Orioles general manager’s 26-minute news conference was one of many that gave an insight into the thinking of the top executive of the American League’s best team. His answers were unsurprisingly pragmatic.But, perhaps, this could be the right time for Elias, who has shepherded the Orioles’ radical and rapid transfor...

Bangladesh opposition supporters clash with police in protest over election oversight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

DHAKA,Bangladesh (AP) — Police in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday clashed with supporters of the country’s main opposition party, which said scores of its activists were injured during anti-government protests in parts of the city.The Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the transfer of power to a non-party caretaker government until the next general election, which is expected to be held by early January.Zia’s party and its allies accuse Hasina of vote rigging in 2018 and the party has been protesting over who should oversee the next general election.On Saturday, hundreds of activists of Zia’s party attempted to block several entry points to Dhaka, the capital, while police fired tear gas and charged with batons to disperse them. The opposition activists retaliated by throwing pieces of brick and attacked police vehicles with sticks, police said. On Friday, Zia’s party announced the si...

Kansas man sentenced to nearly 57 years in death of 2-year-old daughter who went days without food

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man whose 2-year-old daughter died after going days without food while he was passed out drunk has been sentenced to nearly 57 years in prison.The sentence ordered Friday was the maximum that could be imposed after Jeffrey Exon was convicted in April of charges that included aggravated child endangerment and first-degree murder in the commission of a felony, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.Exon, a 47-year-old who goes by the name of James, called 911 on Jan. 5. 2021, telling a dispatcher that his daughter, Aurora Exon, had stopped breathing. He also said she recently had been “starving herself.” She was cold to the touch when found, and appeared to have been dead for several days, Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said. The coroner blamed her death on a form of malnutrition called marasmus. Five empty liquor bottles were found in Exon’s bedroom, investigators said. They determined that Exon would not feed or attend to his children for...

Ex-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon joins push for third-party presidential bid as Democrats try to stop it

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:16:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri is joining No Labels ‘ increasingly contentious effort to lay the groundwork for a moderate third-party presidential ticket in the 2024 election. He gives the embattled organization another prominent ally amid escalating concerns from Democratic officials that the No Labels campaign could unintentionally help Republican Donald Trump return to the White House.Nixon, a 67-year-old lawyer, is stepping back into national politics for the first time since leaving office in 2017 and will serve as No Labels’ director of ballot integrity. He said in an interview that he was drawn to the role after learning that well-funded groups aligned with Democrats were working to stop No Labels from securing ballot access in key states.He said that those seeking to block the group’s right to appear on the presidential ballot are attacking a pillar of American democracy.“What do I say to those Democrats? I say, ‘You’re entitl...