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Battenfeld: Maura Healey seeks national exposure, leaving crises at home to others

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

With the Sumner Tunnel closed and the MBTA in perpetual crisis, Gov. Maura Healey seems more interested in burnishing her national credentials than attending to problems at home.Healey, one of the first openly lesbian governors in the nation, spent a week in Ireland celebrating LGBTQ rights — positioning herself as one of the prominent leaders on that issue in the country.Even though she’s just in the first year of her term, Healey may already be getting tired of dealing with state issues like a late budget and legislative gridlock on tax relief.What could be in Healey’s future in the next few years is still unclear but running for a second term seems far, far away and less and less likely.Instead Healey could be waiting for a national appointment to the Biden administration or a U.S. Senate seat to open up.If Joe Biden doesn’t run again that would likely lead to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren mounting another presidential campaign that could take her out of her Senate seat. You’l...

2 New Jersey firefighters died battling a blaze deep in a ship carrying 5,000 cars

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Two firefighters were killed battling a blaze that began when cars caught fire deep inside a cargo ship carrying 5,000 cars at a New Jersey port, Newark’s fire chief said Thursday. Responding firefighters found five to seven vehicles already on fire when they reached the 10th floor of the cargo ship at Port Newark around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night. The blaze quickly extended to the 11th and 12th floors, and as firefighters were pushed back by the intense heat, two of them were lost, Fire Chief Rufus Jackson said at a news conference.Firefighters weren’t initially able to find their colleagues and outside rescue companies from around the state were called in. They were found and removed from the structure, but unfortunately they lost their lives, Jackson said.Marine traffic trackers show the Grande Costa D’Avorio, which was built in 2011, arrived from the Port of Baltimore several days earlier.“We lost two firefighters today,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at ...

7 children, 2 adults hurt after car crashes into school in Wimbledon, not far from tennis tournament

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

LONDON (AP) — London police say seven children and two adults were injured Thursday when a car crashed into an elementary school in Wimbledon, in southwest London.The Metropolitan Police said the incident was not being treated as a “terror” attack. Police were called to The Study all-girls school at 9:54 a.m., along with paramedics in ground and air ambulances. The driver of the vehicle stopped at the scene, police added. There have been no arrests. The incident occurred about a mile away from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as it hosts the world-famous tennis tournament. The road the incident took place on is very narrow.“The size of the response tells you how serious the incident is and there are a number of casualties, and I understand that a number of those are being treated as critical,” Stephen Hammond, Wimbledon’s representative in Parliament, told the BBC. The Associated Press

Missing 2-year-old girl is found dead in Detroit, after her disappearance sparked massive search

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A missing 2-year-old girl was found dead in Detroit on Wednesday, authorities announced, three days after her disappearance sparked a massive search. Wynter Cole Smith’s body was discovered in the evening near a municipal airport that is about 6 miles (10 kilometers) northeast of downtown Detroit, Chief Ellery Sosebee of the Lansing Police Department reported.“I am deeply saddened to report that the search for Wynter Cole Smith has come to an end. … This investigation has moved from a missing child case to a homicide investigation,” Sosebee added. Sosebee declined to comment further on details of the ongoing investigation but promised the girl’s family will get justice. “This is not the outcome anyone had hoped for,” the chief said. A man identified as Rashad Trice is accused of stabbing the girl’s 22-year-old mother, his ex-girlfriend, at her Lansing home and stealing her car. Police said he also took the toddler with him on Sunday, but...

Deloitte report forecasts oil prices to rise modestly over next three months

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

CALGARY — A report by Deloitte Canada forecasts crude oil prices will increase modestly over the next three months.The report by the firm’s resource evaluation and advisory group says lower supply will begin to drain global crude inventories.Production cuts, including Saudi Arabia’s recent announcement of an additional cut of one million barrels a day, should help to prop up prices despite weaker demand, the report says.Deloitte also says that seasonally high natural gas storage levels in Europe combined with lower demand due to warmer than expected winter weather, have pushed down natural gas prices and reduced demand for liquid natural gas imports.It says the lower global demand and higher production in North America have created volatile prices for Canadian natural gas over the past quarter.Deloitte suggests this could be exacerbated this summer by higher-than-usual maintenance activities that will temporarily close some pipeline segments.This report by The Canadian P...

Top officials from Turkey and Sweden in fresh attempt to overcome NATO membership concerns

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Senior officials from Sweden and Turkey arrived at NATO headquarters Thursday to examine Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s objections to the Nordic country joining the military alliance and to see what more, if anything, could be done to break the deadlock.NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is leading the talks, which will involve the countries’ foreign ministers, intelligence chiefs and national security advisers. Top officials from Finland, which joined NATO in April after addressing Turkey’s concerns, planned to take part.Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will be joined at the meetings by Erdogan’s chief adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic, Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar and the intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, according to a foreign ministry statement.As the officials entered NATO headquarters in Brussels, workers busied themselves inside a roped-off area where the national flags of the alliance’s 31 member countries fly and Sweden hope...

Belarus leader claims Wagner chief is in Russia, adding uncertainty about his fate after revolt

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The mercenary leader who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin is in Russia and his Wagner troops are in their field camps, the president of Belarus said Thursday, raising new questions about the deal that ended the extraordinary challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s claim could not be independently verified, and the Kremlin refused to comment on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s whereabouts. It was not clear if traveling to Russia would violate the deal, which allowed the Wagner chief to move to Belarus in exchange for ending the rebellion and a promise of amnesty for him and his troops.Few details of the agreement brokered by Lukashenko have emerged. Last week, Lukashenko said the mercenary leader was in Belarus. Russian media later reported he was seen at his offices in St. Petersburg, a sign that the deal may have allowed him to finalize his affairs in Russia.On Thursday, Lukashenko told internat...

Hong Kong police arrest another person accused of supporting overseas activists

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police on Thursday arrested another person accused of supporting overseas activists who allegedly endangered national security, in a further expansion of a government crackdown on pro-democracy dissidents.Police detained the 24-year-old man at the city’s airport a day after four other people were arrested for allegedly using companies, social media and mobile applications to receive funds for the overseas activists. “Investigation revealed that the arrested person was suspected of having connection with the group of persons arrested yesterday,” police said in a statement. It did not identify the five suspects. Local media, including the South China Morning Post and pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po, identified the newly arrested man as Chu Yan-ho, a former member of the now-defunct pro-democracy party Demosisto, which was co-founded by British-based activist Nathan Law. They said the four others are also former Demosisto members, including ex-chairperson Iv...

GTA, Toronto to swelter through one more day of extreme heat

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

It’s another day of extreme heat and humidity in the GTA with some relief from the muggy conditions expected to come Friday.Most of Ontario remains under a heat warning with Environment Canada warning temperatures could once again creep towards 40 C when the humidity is factored in.It already felt close to 30 C in Toronto as most people were waking up for work on Thursday morning. CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor says we can expect scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon that will extend into the evening.“Some of these storms could be quite severe, especially for the north GTA and into cottage country,” says Taylor.The guaranteed high for Wednesday is 30 C, feeling closer to 40 with the humidex.Residents are being reminded to drink plenty of water and continually check on vulnerable individuals for symptoms of heat illness such as fainting, swelling, heat exhaustion and stroke. Young children, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic ill...

Shell CEO calls it ‘irresponsible’ to cut oil production now

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:08:23 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The head of global energy giant Shell says it would be “irresponsible” to cut oil and gas production at a time when the world economy is still dependent on fossil fuels.In an interview with the BBC released Thursday, Shell CEO Wael Sawan also refused to rule out moving the company’s headquarters and stock market listing from Britain to the United States.“The reality is, the energy system of today continues to desperately need oil and gas,” Sawan said. “And before we are able to let go of that, we need to make sure that we have developed the energy systems of the future — and we are not yet, collectively, moving at the pace (required for) that to happen.”The comments conflict with the recommendations of climate scientists and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has called on the fossil fuel industry to “drive, not obstruct” the transition to renewable energy. Burning fossil fuels is the biggest source of the carbon emissions blamed for global warming.Even Sulta...