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MBTA completes $255M purchase of Widett Circle for future rail yard

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

The MBTA has completed its purchase of a 24-acre parcel in Boston, bringing under the transit agency’s umbrella a strategically located plot that officials say is critical to improving commuter rail operations and a pair of major expansion projects.T officials announced Wednesday they finalized a $255 million deal to buy the land at Widett Circle, capping a years-long effort that began under the Baker administration.The MBTA plans to install new commuter rail facilities at the parcel, which is adjacent to Interstate 93 and just about one mile south of South Station, to store trains while they are offline and perform maintenance for nine of the T’s 14 commuter rail lines.That will bring several benefits, including less train congestion on the Fairmount Line, more platform space at South Station and reduced diesel emissions in Boston-area environmental justice communities, the T said.The current commuter rail yard closest to downtown Boston is in the city’s Readville...

Abortion pill rulings in conflict: What happens next?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Texas case that could cut off access to the most commonly used abortion medication has started on a path through the legal system that could quickly lead to the Supreme Court.The drug, mifepristone, was approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration more than two decades ago. It’s used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol. Since its approval, mifepristone has been used by more than 5 million women to safely end their pregnancies and today more than half of women who end a pregnancy rely on the drug, the Justice Department said.But in a far-reaching ruling Friday, a federal judge in Texas blocked the FDA’s approval of the drug following a lawsuit by the pill’s opponents. The ruling, which the judge put on hold for a week to allow for an appeal, could affect access to the drug in every state. On Monday, the Biden administration asked an appeals court to allow access to the drug while the case continues to play out.There is also a...

Biden says economic growth in N Ireland is ‘just beginning’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — President Joe Biden said a bright future for Northern Ireland is “just beginning,” pledging enduring American support as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.The U.S.-brokered deal brought peace to this part of the United Kingdom, but a new political crisis has recently tested its strength. “It’s up to us to keep this going,” Biden said in a speech at Ulster University. On his first presidential visit to Northern Ireland, Biden stressed that American investment can help fuel economic growth — especially if the fractious politicians in Belfast resolve a stalemate that has put their government on pause.“Your history is our history,” he said. “And even more important, your future is America’s future.”Biden’s speech navigated Northern Ireland’s complex political currents, referring to his British as well as Irish ancestry, and noting the contribution to the U.S. of largely Protestant Ulster Scots as well as ...

Expelled Justin Pearson could be returned to Tennessee House

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Commissioners in Memphis are scheduled to decide Wednesday whether to return Justin Pearson, a Black Democrat, to the Republican-led Tennessee House after he and a Black colleague were kicked out of the Legislature following their support of gun control protesters.The Shelby County Board of Commissioners set a vote to determine whether Pearson will be sent back to the Legislature in Nashville.Republicans banished Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones last week over their role in a gun control protest on the House floor in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville that left three children and three adults dead.The Nashville Metropolitan Council took only a few minutes Monday to unanimously restore Jones to office. He was quickly reinstated to his House seat.The House’s vote to remove Pearson and Jones but keep white Rep. Gloria Johnson drew accusations of racism. Johnson survived by one vote. Republican leadership denied that race was a factor, however.Ahea...

Inflation slows but stays high enough for Fed to hike again

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer inflation eased in March, with less expensive gas and lower food prices providing some relief to households that have struggled under the weight of surging prices for nearly two years.The government said Wednesday that consumer prices rose just 0.1% from February to March, down from 0.4% from January to February and the smallest increase since December. Measured from a year earlier, prices were up just 5% in March, down sharply from February’s 6% year-over-year increase and the smallest rise in almost two years. Much of the drop resulted from price declines for goods such as gas, used cars and furniture which had soared a year ago after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core inflation remains stubbornly high. Core prices rose 0.4% from February to March and 5.6% from a year earlier. The Fed and many private economists regard core prices as a better measure of underlying inflation.Price increases in the ec...

Brookfield Infrastructure to buy freight container company Triton International

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

TORONTO — Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP and its institutional partners have signed a deal to acquire freight container leasing company Triton International Ltd. for about US$4.7 billion in cash and shares.Under the deal, Brookfield Infrastructure will pay US$85 per Triton common share including US$68.50 in cash and US$16.50 in Brookfield Infrastructure Corp. class A exchangeable shares.Shares in Triton, which has a container fleet of over seven million twenty-foot equivalent units, closed at US$63.01 on Tuesday.Brookfield Infrastructure CEO Sam Pollock says Triton is an attractive business with highly contracted and stable cash flows, strong margins and a track record of value creation. Pollock says the deal also gives Brookfield Infrastructure a platform for growth in the transportation and logistics sector.The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Triton’s shareholders and regulators.This rep...

Church: Israel limiting rights of ‘Holy Fire’ worshippers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Greek Orthodox Church on Wednesday accused Israeli police of infringing on the freedom of worshippers with “heavy-handed” restrictions on how many pilgrims can attend the “Holy Fire” ceremony amid soaring tensions. Israeli police said the limits are needed for safety during Saturday’s celebration at the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the 12th-century holy site where Jesus is believed to have been crucified, buried and resurrected. Saturday’s “Holy Fire” celebration comes during an unusual spate of violence in the Old City, touched off by an Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the compound that’s home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The tensions spiraled into a regional confrontation between Israel and Hamas, and were punctuated Friday when two British-Israeli sisters and their mother were killed after their car came under fire near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. The mother succumbed to her wounds on Monday.Israe...

Nebraska lawmakers taking up debate on abortion restrictions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers planned to begin debate Wednesday on a bill that would ban abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is generally around the sixth week of pregnancy and before most women even know they are pregnant. But the effort in the Republican-controlled state remains in question, as a Republican co-signer of the bill has introduced an amendment to adjust the proposal to banning abortion at 12 weeks, signaling that a ban set very early in pregnancy could face pushback even from those who want further restrictions on abortion.Sen. Merv Riepe, of Ralston, introduced the amendment last month, saying he was concerned that the six-week proposal, introduced by Thurston Sen. Joni Albrecht, might not give women enough time to know that they’re pregnant. But he later made clear that he would vote to advance Albrecht’s bill on Wednesday if the vote is close.“I wanted to have some dialogue,” Riepe said at a committee hearing the...

Wall Street futures tick up with inflation data on the way

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street inched slightly higher early Wednesday ahead of the release of key inflation data likely to influence the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates. Futures for the Dow industrials picked up nearly 0.2% and futures for the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1%“Broader markets remain laser-focused on this week’s critical inflation data as market participants attempt to tease out the state of the economy and the course the Fed might take from here,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a report.The biggest immediate question for Wall Street has been whether the Federal Reserve will keep hiking interest rates in its attempt to get high inflation under control. It’s already raised rates at a furious pace over the last year, enough to slow some areas of the economy and for strains to appear in the banking system.Economists expect Wednesday’s report on consumer inflation to show it slowed to 5.2% in March from 6% in February. That’s continued pr...

How 24 Sussex Drive became a rodent-infested unliveable dump

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:38:25 GMT

In today’s Big Story podcast, this week’s report about dead rodents and their droppings in the walls at 24 Sussex Drive was gross, but it’s far from the first tale of how awful things are at the home that is meant to be the Prime Minister’s residence. The house has been in a state of disrepair, to put it mildly, for a decade or more, and almost nothing has been done to fix it.David Moscrop is a writer, political commentator, and the author of Too Dumb For Democracy. He joins us to discuss what the sorry state of 24 Sussex Drive says about the state of our country and its politics.“Talking about 24 Sussex is talking about the history of a petty, vindictive, small minded nation,” he said, “it really is the country in miniature.”So how did the PM’s official residence go from a stately mansion to a national embarrassment? And will we ever see the bipartisan agreement necessary to actually fix it?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Appl...