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Now Estonia accuses Russia of stoking migrant influx 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said on Thursday Russia extended a provocative measure, originally aimed at Finland, to Estonia by “deliberately” allowing asylum seekers without visas or residence permits to reach a crossing point on its shared border, according to news outlet Delfi.“Russia lets them pass without any reason, which means that these persons reach us and we have to deal with their concerns,” he said. “Since they have no basis for entering the European Union, it is obviously an organized and deliberate activity to burden the activities at the borders.”Läänemets also said that Estonia has so far returned every person trying to cross the border without documents or permission, reinforced its preparedness and it was in close communication with Finland and other neighboring countries.The minister’s claim follows a decision by Finland earlier Thursday to completely close four border crossings with Russia from Friday night until Fe...

MBTA Repair Costs Explode In New Assessment

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

MBTA officials put an eye-poppingly high new price on infrastructure needs across the system Thursday, estimating that it would cost nearly $25 billion to fix everything that is not in a state of good repair.The T rolled out its first new capital needs assessment since 2019, when officials under the Baker administration projected a roughly $10 billion cost to replace all outdated MBTA infrastructure with modern alternatives.The new estimate is nearly two and a half times more expensive than the last capital needs assessment, which officials said is driven by a combination of factors including stinging construction inflation and MBTA assets aging faster than they are being replaced.Officials also updated their methodology this time around. As a result of changes to the T’s asset management systems, the latest study counted 83,683 individual assets to produce its cost estimate, compared to 59,073 assets in 2019.MBTA General Manager Phil Eng plans to discuss the new ass...

Shelter Approach Leaves Democrats at State House Divided

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

The separate scrums held back-to-back on opposite sides of the State House early Thursday morning were telling.House and Senate Democrats downplayed the obstacles of moving their stalled supplemental budget with shelter system funding during upcoming informal sessions, but it was the latest example of the majority party showing fundamental disagreements about legislative goals and being unable to rally around a single approach in a timely manner.Talks around a spending bill to steer money toward the emergency shelter crisis collapsed late Wednesday and the last formal session the Legislature is allowed under its rules to hold this year ended without an agreement between the House and Senate Democrats who left the pressing matter until the very last minute, and are now at the start of a holiday season recess.  They now plan to more formally negotiate a compromise and if they can put their differences aside, try to get Republicans on board and pass it during the next several week...

Have the Detroit Lions taken over the NFC North? 12 key numbers for the Chicago Bears’ Week 11 game.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

The Chicago Bears will jump back into division play Sunday, facing the red-hot Detroit Lions at Ford Field.Both teams are coming off three-point victories in Week 10, and they will meet for the first time since last season’s New Year’s Day game in Detroit, which the Lions won 41-10.As kickoff approaches, here are a dozen attention-grabbing numbers and nuggets.13-4Lions record over the last 17 games, solidifying them as one of the best teams in the NFL. Only the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers — all 14-3 — have been better over their last 17 games.3-14Bears record over the last 17 games. That ranks 31st in the league; only the Arizona Cardinals (2-15) have been worse. Compounding the disappointment for the Bears, they have lost their last 11 NFC North games dating to 2021.67Length of Justin Fields’ Week 10 touchdown run against the Lions last season at Soldier Field, the longest of his career. Fields — who is expecte...

New hitting coach Marcus Thames wants ‘more competitive at-bats’ out of Chicago White Sox: ‘They all want to be better, man’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

Marcus Thames has worked with some of the best players in baseball, including Aaron Judge, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.“Sometimes people think the top athletes on each team don’t want to get better,” Thames said during a video conference call last week. “But those guys, they want to be coached, and it was fun. It was fun to be around them and being an extra set of eyes for those guys and making sure I gave them everything that they needed.“Guys all across the league, they all talk. And they all want to be better, man.”The Chicago White Sox are in vital need of offensive improvement. And Thames will look to do his part after being named the team’s hitting coach on Nov. 7.“The endorsements for Marcus Thames were impressive,” Sox general manager Chris Getz said at the MLB general managers meetings last week. “Whether it be players I spoke to, coaches that worked with Marcus, just glowing.”Thames, 47, comes to the Sox af...

California authorities arrest college professor in connection with death of Jewish demonstrator

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

JOHN ANTCZAK and JULIE WATSON (Associated Press)LOS ANGELES (AP) — A college professor was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of a Jewish protester during Southern California demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war, authorities said. Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, 50, will be booked into jail for investigation of involuntary manslaughter — the unintentional killing of another person, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said. The district attorney will decide whether there is enough evidence to charge him.A man who answered the phone at a mobile number listed for Alnaji in public records said he did not want to comment. He did not give his name. A message could not be left at a number for Alnaji’s home in Moorpark north of Los Angeles, because voicemail was not set up. Paul Kessler, 69, died early Nov. 6 at a hospital following a Nov. 5 confrontation with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator in Thousand Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles. Sheriff Jim Fry...

Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas unanimously approved by MLB owners

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

By STEPHEN HAWKINS and RONALD BLUM (AP Baseball Writers)ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved Thursday by Major League Baseball team owners, cementing the sport’s first relocation since 2005. A 75% vote of the 30 teams was necessary for approval of A’s owner John Fisher’s plan, which was endorsed by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.“There was an effort over more than a decade to find a stadium solution in Oakland,” Manfred said Thursday. “It was John Fisher’s preference. It was my preference. … It didn’t happen.”After years of complaints about the Oakland Coliseum and an inability to gain government assistance for a new ballpark in the Bay area, the A’s plan to move to a stadium to be built on the Las Vegas Strip with $380 million in public financing approved by the Nevada government. The Athletics’ lease at the Coliseum runs through 2024, and they...

Pilot killed in small plane crash in La Jolla

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

Editors note: This story has been corrected to note the pilot took off from Murrieta, California. SAN DIEGO -- The pilot of a small plane that crashed near homes in La Jolla overnight has been confirmed dead.Around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, the FAA received a message from the pilot saying he was low on fuel, said the San Diego Police Department.The pilot, who was flying in rainy weather conditions, was then diverted to Montgomery Field.The pilot lost track of his location and went off radar soon after, SDPD explained. Authorities searched for the possibly downed aircraft in the area of Torrey Pines Gliderport. Police confirmed Thursday morning that the plane was located along Caminito Sueno near Gilman Drive in La Jolla Heights. The plane came in through some trees.The pilot of a small plane that crashed near homes in La Jolla overnight has been confirmed dead. (KSWB)A resident in the area reported seeing lights from the plane and directed authorities to the area, SDPD told FOX 5. ...

Take heart, it looks like China could send new pandas to the US

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said Wednesday during a dinner speech with business leaders.The gesture came at the end of a day in which Xi and President Joe Biden held their first face to face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce tensions. Xi did not share additional details on when or where pandas might be provided but appeared to suggest the next pair of pandas are most likely to come to California, probably San Diego.The bears have long been the symbol of the U.S.-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. ...

Foreign workers who claim exploitation by Quebec company say Ottawa no longer helping

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:36 GMT

MONTREAL — A group of foreign workers who allege they were lured to Canada under false pretences are accusing the federal government of reneging on its promise to help them get work permits.Octavio Zambrano says the Immigration Department told him and his colleagues last week that it will not fast-track them for work permits even though it had allegedly promised to do so.The workers are part of a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that Quebec-based recruitment company Trésorfalsely told them it was legal to work in Canada without a permit during a probationary period.The lawsuit alleges that Trésor and Newrest, the aviation catering company in which the workers were placed, took advantage of their precarious status and exploited them.Zambrano says he’s still owed three weeks of back pay and he and his colleagues are running out of money and unable to pay for food and rent in Canada, or to buy plane tickets home. In an emailed statement, Newrest — which has filed a lawsuit ...