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US Secretary of State Blinken arrives in Ukraine on an unannounced visit hours after an overnight Russian missile attack

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — US Secretary of State Blinken arrives in Ukraine on an unannounced visit hours after an overnight Russian missile attack.Source

Leesburg Pet Festival hosts doggy talent show, obstacle course

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley previews The Village at Leesburg's Pet Festival (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); Do you have a four-legged friend with special talents who just might rock a doggy obstacle course?Grab a leash and head to The Village at Leesburg’s Pet Festival on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 12 to 4 p.m.“We’re really excited to bring it back this year for the fourth year,” Th...

Wednesday live hearing could determine how quickly Fulton County election subversion case moves

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

(CNN) — Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the Georgia election subversion case against former President Donald Trump and 18 other co-defendants, will hold his first hearing Wednesday afternoon amid questions of how soon a trial could begin.In a break with the hearings in federal court and the New York charges against Trump, Wednesday’s 1 p.m. ET hearing will be broadcast.The hearing could provide key insight into how much evidence Fulton County prosecutors have in their case against Trump and his allies who are accused of interfering in Georgia’s 2020 election results to try to flip the state away from Joe Biden.McAfee, in a court filing, said he is interested in having Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s prosecutors provide a “good-faith estimate” for how long it would take to hold a joint trial for all 19 defendants, and how long it would take if the case is divided into subgroups of defendants. Specifically, he wants to know how many...

EU cracks down on 6 Big Tech giants

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

The European Union set tighter curbs on Apple, Amazon, Google owner Alphabet, Meta Platforms, ByteDance and Microsoft by naming them digital “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).Regulators also opened four investigations into Apple’s iMessage service and Microsoft’s Bing, Edge and Advertising businesses after the companies argued that they shouldn’t qualify under the new rules.Companies that operate a “core platform service,” such as Google Search, will have to comply with the DMA by March 2024. The DMA aims to halt Big Tech’s ability to abuse their market power and make it easier for smaller players to operate online. Seven companies had already self-notified the Commission that they met the thresholds for gatekeeper status under the law.Core platform services cover a wide range of companies’ offerings. They can be search engines, social networks, app stores, messaging platforms, virtual assistants, web browsers, operating systems an...

No surprise, Tom Brady returning to Foxboro as the winner

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

Taylor Swift?Bruce Springsteen?Beyoncé?Put them at the bottom of the marquee.After the word “with.”They are pedestrian lounge acts compared to the mega superstar returning to Gillette Stadium this weekend.The “Tom Brady 2023 Victory Tour” opens in Foxboro on Sunday.The Jacksons’ 1984 Victory tour doomed the Sullivan family financially when it owned the Patriots in the Bad Old Days.Brady’s 2023 Victory Tour will fatten Robert Kraft’s wallet. But it carries an incalculable cost.Tom Brady Day marks the end of three-way hostilities between Brady, his former coach and their boss.But this is no cease fire. It’s a capitulation.The deck of the USS Missouri.Yorktown.Appomattox.The “Lost Cause” is over.Brady won.(Social Media Fake Outrage Alert Disclaimer: We’re not alluding to anyone being sympathetic toward, or in line with Imperial Japan, the British Empire, or the Confederacy. It’s about winning and losing.)Brady left New England and went scorched earth through Atlanta and the...

Division 5-6 football players to watch

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ALIGNMENTEMASS DIVISION 5ApponequetArchbishop WilliamsBishop FenwickBishop StangDanversDedhamDighton-RehobothDover-SherbornDracutFalmouthFoxboroGloucesterGreater LawrenceGreater LowellHanoverMartha’s VineyardMedfieldMedwayNewburyportNortheastNortonOld RochesterPembrokeSaugusShawsheenWatertownWilmingtonDIVISION 6AbingtonArlington CatholicBellinghamCardinal SpellmanDennis-YarmouthEast BridgewaterFairhavenLynnfieldNorth ReadingNorwellPentucket/GeorgetownSt. Mary’sSalemSandwichSeekonkStonehamSwampscottTri-CountyTritonWestonWinthropDIVISION 5-6 DANDY DOZENWill Batten, Sr., RB, 6-0, 165, North Reading: Batten rushed for 872 yards and 15 touchdowns, while catching 23 passes for 454 yards and six scores in helping the Hornets win the Div. 5 state title.Amesbury High’s Henry O’Neill and Maximus Sanchez (25) grab hold of North Reading running back Will Batten during the first quarter of a game last fall. Batten rushed for 15 touchdowns and 872 yards last seaso...

St. Mary’s Joel Maggs excited to tackle challenge of repeating as state champ

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

LYNN  — The St. Mary’s football team came into the 2022 season with expectations of making a trip to Gillette Stadium and winning a Super Bowl championship.And with talented seniors like David Brown, Derick Coulanges, Tommy Falasca and Jack Marks, the Spartans rolled to the program’s second Super Bowl title.But head coach Sean Driscoll says the Spartans wouldn’t have been in position to take home the Agganis Trophy without junior middle linebacker/fullback Joel Maggs.The quarterback of a defense that stymied teams for most of the regular and postseason, Maggs also made huge contributions offensively when Brown had to miss time because of injuries.Turn the calendar to 2023 and Maggs is back for his senior season and is expected to play an even bigger role for the Spartans, who look to defend their championship and prove they weren’t a one hit wonder.“We lost a lot of key players and we’re fortunate enough to have a kid like him playing the way he has for...

Howie Carr: The weaponization of the common cold

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

I have a modest proposal.Can we rename the COVID virus something more accurate, closer to what it really is?My suggestion is that we start calling COVID… the common cold.Or maybe “the flu.”So now Labor Day has come and gone and the Bidens have wrapped up their month-long vacation. And wouldn’t you know it, on Monday evening, “Dr.” Jill tests positive for… the common cold, also known as COVID.According to the White House, she is suffering from “mild symptoms.”Again, a name change would seem to be in order. Instead of mild symptoms, can we call them “the sniffles?”How convenient that now Dementia Joe is supposed to be back at work, he now has the opportunity to dodge even more public appearances, because he doesn’t want to expose anyone else to… his cold.To repeat, the First Lady’s name is “Dr.” Jill. Physician, heal thyself. Oh that’s right, despite what Whoopi Goldberg may believe, Dr. Jill is not an M.D. She can’t write you a script for some Oxys. She’s not even a Ph.D. – Piled Hig...

Six pitching questions facing the Orioles before the playoffs, from John Means’ role to Shintaro Fujinami’s reliability

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

The Orioles are guaranteed to make the playoffs. At least, that’s what FanGraphs says.The website’s projections give the Orioles a 100% chance to make the postseason with 24 games remaining. At 87-51, Baltimore is atop the American League and on pace to win 102 games.But manager Brandon Hyde still isn’t willing to talk about the postseason yet. He’s dodged playoff questions this month, as his team’s likelihood of making it became a virtual guarantee.The fifth-year skipper, however, did acknowledge he’s looking for more than just regular-season success. After winning his 300th game Monday, Hyde was asked whether he received any “hardware” for the milestone.“No, I’m hoping that I’ll get some other hardware that’s a little bit more important sometime,” Hyde quipped.While the playoffs are a near-lock, winning the AL East and being the top seed in the circuit aren’t. To do so, and to advance in the postse...

This summer’s swelter was a global record breaker for high heat ever measured, meteorologists say

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:48:21 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Earth has sweltered through its hottest Northern Hemisphere summer ever measured, with a record warm August capping a season of brutal and deadly temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization.Last month was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded by far with modern equipment, it was also the second hottest month measured, behind only July 2023, WMO and the European climate service Copernicus announced Wednesday.August was about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial averages. That is the threshold that the world is trying not to pass, though scientists are more concerned about rises in temperatures over decades, not merely a blip over a month’s time.The world’s oceans — more than 70% of the Earth’s surface — were the hottest ever recorded, nearly 21 degrees Celsius (69.8 degrees Fahrenheit), and have set high temperature marks for three consecutive months, the WMO and Copernicus said.“Th...