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Increased turnout in Spanish elections

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

MADRID — Some 40.48 percent of registered voters had cast their ballots in Spain’s national elections as of 2 p.m., Spain’s national electoral commission reported, an increase of two percentage points compared to the turnout registered at the same hour during the elections in November of 2019.That turnout figure does not include mail-in ballots, which could boost the final figure substantially. Spaniards have opted to vote by mail in record numbers in these elections, the first to be held in the middle of summer, when over a quarter of registered electors are on holiday. Some 2.47 million votes have been processed by the country’s state-owned postal service; those ballots are already at polling stations but will only be counted at the end of the day.Over 37 million Spaniards are registered to vote in these elections, which will determine if the country continues to be run by a left-wing coalition led Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, or if instead t...

Ukrainian offensive was delayed by lack of munitions, Zelenskyy says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

WASHINGTON — Ukraine had hoped to start its highly anticipated counteroffensive earlier in the spring, but held off because it lacked the necessary weapons, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.“We did have plans to start it in spring. But we didn’t, because, frankly, we had not enough munitions and armaments and not enough brigades properly trained in these weapons, still, more, that the training missions were held outside Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said during an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”Because the counteroffensive began later, Zelenskyy said, speaking through a translator, “it provided Russia with time to mine all our lands and build several lines of defense. And, definitely, they had even more time than they needed. Because of that, they built more of those lines. And, really, they had a lot of mines in our fields.”“Because of that, a slower pace of our counteroffensive actions. We didn’t want to lose our people, our personnel. And our servicem...

School officials identify Dover-Sherborn Regional High student as victim killed in Sesuit Harbor boat crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

Officials have identified the 17-year-old girl killed in a boating crash in Dennis Friday night as a Dover-Sherborn Regional High student.In a letter to the Dover-Sherborn Public School community, Superintendent Beth McCoy informed students, families and staff that Sadie Mauro, a rising senior, had been killed in a boating accident.Mauro and several other occupants were aboard a ship when it crashed into a jetty in Sesuit Harbor late on Friday, July 21. The teenager was unaccounted for after the crash, which left five people injured, including another teen who was hospitalized for a head laceration.Massachusetts State Police later said a body was recovered from the water around 11:30 p.m. after a search and rescue operation was conducted by Cold Storage Beach.“The Dover-Sherborn community is strong and is known for its strength and resiliency in the face of unimaginable tragedy,” McCoy said. “We will continue to support each other in the days and weeks ahead as we ...

Newburyport reopens all Plum Island beaches to swimming after bacteria levels forced closures

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

All beaches on Plum Island are back open for swimming after elevated bacteria levels forced Newburyport officials to limit access to the water.The City of Newburyport announced that, effective 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 23, beachgoers could take to the water after recent testing showed “significantly reduced bacteria levels” compared to a week ago, when authorities found levels above the state’s allowable limit.Beaches in the area were closed to swimming on July 17 after results from routine water quality testing led to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health alerting the city. After peaking that day, officials found levels decreased significantly afterwards, dropping to a point where by Friday, the Plum Island beachfront accessed through the pathway at 55th Street was reopened to swimming.According to a news release from the Office of Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon, the health department tests Plum Island beaches at least weekly throughout the summer, with state...

Myanmar Central Bank will issue its highest denomination banknote as the economy suffers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — The Central Bank of army-ruled Myanmar will issue a new banknote worth twice as much as the current highest denomination, state-run media reported Sunday, in a possible reaction to the economy becoming more unstable since the generals seized power in 2021. The reason for issuing a higher denomination note of 20,000 kyats (about $9.50) was not explained. Since the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, economic boycotts and sanctions imposed by Western nations have hurt both big businesses and ordinary people, many of whose lives have already been disrupted by civil war and the coronavirus pandemic. The issuance of new, higher denomination currency is associated in popular belief with a risk of inflation, though there isn’t necessarily a link. Older Myanmar residents are especially sensitive to changes affecting the currency, recalling the sudden demonetization of banknotes in 1987 during an earlier dictatorship, which reportedly affected around 80...

Israel’s Netanyahu gets a heart pacemaker while his judicial overhaul plan moves forward

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering in a hospital on Sunday after an emergency heart procedure, while opposition to his government’s contentious judicial overhaul plan reached a fever pitch and unrest gripped the country.Netanyahu’s doctors said Sunday the heart pacemaker implantation went smoothly and that Netanyahu, 73, felt fine. According to his office, he was expected to be discharged later in the day. But tensions were surging as lawmakers began a marathon debate over the first major piece of the overhaul, ahead of a vote in parliament enshrining it into law on Monday.Mass protests continued, part of seven straight months of the most sustained and intense demonstrations the country has ever seen. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Saturday night, while thousands marched into Jerusalem and camped out near the Knesset, or parliament, ahead of Monday’s vote.Netanyahu’s sudden ho...

Next year’s Olympics are giving Paris an impetus to confront crack cocaine use on city streets

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Neighborhoods in northeast Paris have struggled for years with the scourge of crack cocaine and its use in public. The Summer Olympics, kicking off a year from Wednesday, are offering an impetus to tackle the problem.Yet despite a surge in arrests and new promises of tougher security around the 2024 Paris Games, some residents question whether the newfound focus is just pushing users elsewhere instead of treating medical and mental health problems, a lack of housing and jobs and other deeper ills at the root of the crack crisis.Residents in the 18th and 19th arrondissements, or districts, of the French capital have long complained about the open-air crack use in their neighborhoods that stands in sharp contrast to the postcard-perfect tourist areas of Paris farther south.Small groups of people could be seen using illicit drugs on Sunday at the Porte de la Chapelle metro station and tram stop, located across the street from a new multi-purpose arena that is slated to hos...

Italy’s Meloni opens conference that aims to stanch flows of migrants to Europe with aid to Africa

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni on Sunday called for new, more equal relationships between Europe and migrants’ countries of origin and transit as she convened a summit of some 20 nations, EU officials and international organizations aimed at stanching flows of illegal migration.The one-day conference is a Meloni initiative that aims to make Italy a leader in resolving issues impacting Mediterranean nations. Chief among them is migration, as Italy sustains hundreds of new arrivals daily on Europe’s southern border, but also energy as Europe looks to Africa and the Middle East to permanently replace Russian supplies.Human rights groups see the meeting, which includes nations from both northern and sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Middle East, as creating a future roadmap, and worry it will amount to anti-migrant policies that put the onus on Africa to keep Africans out of Europe. Meloni told the opening meeting that Western arrogance had likely stood in the way of s...

'He's still got a lot of personality in there' - With help from many, Steve McMichael continues ALS fight and push for Hall of Fame

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

HOMER GLEN, Ill. — As he continues to battle a debilitating disease that has already taken so much from him, "Mongo" still hasn't lost what made him such a favorite in Chicago.The wife of Steve McMichael can see that, even as ALS has taken so much from him."He flirts with me, he does with his eyebrows," said Misty McMichael from the couple's residence in Homer Glen. "He can be mad, too. Sometimes we'll give him too much drugs and he'll give us the 'bulldog' to let us know he's had too much. "He's still got a lot of personality in there."(Courtesy: Misty McMichael)McMichael tries to show that off as much as he can these days, which is difficult due to because of what ALS has taken away from him. The former Bears' defensive tackle, who played 13 of his 15 NFL seasons in Chicago, can no longer talk or move on his own. He requires around-the-clock care from a live-in nurse, with Misty gathering the medical supplies and medication on a daily basis, with frequent trips required to pick th...

Sunday Brunch: Big Wig Tacos and Burritos

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:42:46 GMT

Check out this morning's Sunday Brunch with Big Wig Tacos and Burritos for more on their breakfast tacos.