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Ron DeSantis, facing challenges at home, will test presidential ambitions overseas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

(CNN) — After a trying week for his national political ambitions, Gov. Ron DeSantis has headed abroad this week for a series of visits to allied nations — an opportunity for the Florida Republican to step onto the international stage for the first time as a likely presidential contender.The official purpose behind DeSantis’ globetrotting is for an “international trade mission,” according to his office. DeSantis, as well as first lady Casey DeSantis and two representatives from his administration, will travel to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom to meet with officials and chat up potential business partnerships.“This trade mission will give us the opportunity to strengthen economic relationships and continue to demonstrate Florida’s position as an economic leader,” the governor said in a news release Thursday.DeSantis met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday in Tokyo where the two exchanged views on ̶...

‘It’s going to affect a lot of people’: Shuttle buses replace Blue Line trains as MBTA works to lift slow zones

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

Shuttle buses replaced train service throughout the Blue Line Monday on the first of several nights with planned disruptions over the next two weeks. The diversions will be in place beginning at 8 p.m. and lasting until the end of service nightly through Thursday, according to the MBTA. The diversions will run again on nights from Monday through Thursday next week. Shuttle buses will run during diversions between Government Center and Wonderland stations, with no shuttle service to Bowdoin station. https://twitter.com/MBTA/status/1650484738514202628The T said the disruption aims to make way for track work in spots along the Blue Line as it works to lift slow zones across its lines. The Blue Line currently has speed restrictions in place across 44% of its tracks. The T said it is prioritizing this upcoming work to help boost the Blue Line’s ability to carry riders during a planned two-month closure of the Sumner Tunnel this summer.  Officials...

Boston police look to ID suspect in connection with Back Bay sexual assault

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

Boston Police are looking to identify a suspect wanted in connection with a sexual assault in Back Bay Saturday night. Police say the incident happened around 11:45 p.m. in the area of Beacon Street and Public Alley 908. The suspect is described as being between 5’8” and 5’10” with medium to heavy build, dark curly hair, and facial hair, police say. He was wearing a navy-blue shirt with tie-dye design and black baggy sweatpants with two white stripes.In addition, police say the suspect reportedly spoke English with an accent and spoke in another language.Anyone with any information about this case is asked to call detectives at (617) 343-4400 or use the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1(800) 494-TIPS.https://twitter.com/bostonpolice/status/1650669618212601856

Fire at Randolph home leaves 7 people displaced

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

Seven people are displaced following a house fire on Marconi Drive in Randolph early Tuesday morning. Firefighters were seen pulling the eaves apart to check for hot spots. Chief Ronald Cassford says the fire started in the basement of the house and spread to the roof. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Gators quarterback greats weigh Anthony Richardson’s NFL potential

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

Besides being the first of Florida’s long line of quarterback greats, Steve Spurrier produced his share of them.Spurrier would have welcomed a chance to develop Anthony Richardson into the next one.“I tell people all the time, I would have loved to have coached him,” Spurrier told the Orlando Sentinel. “But that didn’t work out.”Instead, Richardson had three coaches in three seasons while never fully capitalizing on his considerable physical tools.“I had to learn a new offense in six months,” Richardson wrote during an April 13 contribution on The Player’s Tribune. “Even though I didn’t always get the result I wanted … I never gave up.”The question ‘what could have been’ will hang over Richardson’s college career.On Thursday night, NFL decision-makers will ask themselves, what could be?Richardson will be among the first quarterbacks drafted, a decision based on his sublime athletic abilit...

Five years after the Ravens made a splash by drafting QB Lamar Jackson, might they do it again?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

A shock wave rippled through Ravens headquarters in Owings Mills as midnight approached on April 26, 2018.A few minutes earlier, the team’s vice president of public relations, Kevin Byrne, had asked general manager Ozzie Newsome if he was ready to speak with reporters about the Ravens’ first-round draft pick, tight end Hayden Hurst. No, Newsome said, he thought there might be more business that night.In a flash, the Ravens were back on the clock with the No. 32 pick they acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. On ESPN’s broadcast, veteran analyst Mel Kiper Jr. speculated they were about to select Iowa center James Daniels. Newsome had something splashier in mind.NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell soon announced it to the world: Lamar Jackson, the most dazzling, divisive prospect in a quarterback-rich draft was headed to Baltimore.Five years later, Jackson is again a central character as the Ravens and the NFL prepare for another draft Thursday night. He more ...

Mike Preston: After move from Germany to Towson, offensive lineman Roman Wahrheit could land in NFL | COMMENTARY

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

Former Towson University football coach Rob Ambrose had gambled years ago on a European player named Tibo Debaillie, who now plays for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League. So when German offensive tackle Roman Wahrheit became available in 2019, Ambrose had no reservations.Wahrheit later became a Tiger, and he might soon earn a spot on an NFL roster. He probably won’t get selected in the three-day draft, which begins Thursday, but he’ll eventually sign a free agent contract somewhere.When he plays, Ambrose says he will make a strong impression.“Physically, he is a freak of nature,” said Ambrose, who was fired by Towson in November after 13 seasons. “He is as gifted as anyone I ever coached and he is incredibly smart. This is his dream to play at the next level. These teams know what they are getting.”Wahrheit is a hybrid, capable of playing guard or tackle. He is considered an investment because he has only been playing football for six ye...

Ex-Wagner Group member faces Norway court for bar brawl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A former member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group who’s seeking asylum in Norway has admitted charges of resisting arrest after a bar brawl and carrying an air gun.Andrey Medvedev appeared in court in Oslo on Tuesday. He denied using violence against police officers who handcuffed him outside an Oslo pub in February, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.“He didn’t quite understand what was going on and panicked,” his defense lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told NTB. “He believes that he did not kick, but that he spat because it hurt” when he was put in handcuffs.Medvedev has also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in another episode in March when he went to a pub in downtown Oslo.He would probably get a short sentence, prosecutor Vegard Gjertsen told NTB. It was not clear when the sentence would be pronounced.Medvedev who has said that he fears for his life if he returns to Russia, fled to Norway earlier this year, crossing illegally over...

WHO fires doctor after findings of sexual misconduct

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says it has fired one of its doctors who faced allegations, first reported by The Associated Press, that he had repeatedly engaged in sexual misconduct. The U.N. health agency had come under pressure from the United States and other countries to do more in the fight against sexual misconduct in the wake of the claims against the doctor, Fijian national Temo Waqanivalu.“Dr. Temo Waqanivalu has been dismissed from WHO following findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary process,” said WHO spokeswoman Marcia Poole in a email to the AP early Tuesday. “Sexual misconduct of any kind by anyone working for WHO — be it as staff, consultant, partner — is unacceptable,” she added. In January, the AP reported that Waqanivalu had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Berlin conference in October and was flagged to senior WHO directors years ago for allegedly harassing another staffer. The earlier allegation didn...

GM, Samsung announce plan for new battery cell plant in US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:41:32 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — General Motors and South Korea’s Samsung SDI plan to invest more than $3 billion in building a new battery cell manufacturing plant in the United States, the companies said Tuesday. They did not announce the intended location of the new factory, which is expected to begin operations in 2026, the companies said in a statement. GM and Samsung SDI plan to jointly operate the factory, which is expected to make nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells.The project is GM’s fourth joint venture battery cell factory. It has announced three others with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution. The new factory will have more than 30 gigawatt hours of capacity and will increase GM’s total U.S. battery cell capacity to about 160 gigawatt hours when it is at full production, the companies said. GM has pledged to sell only electric vehicles by 2030. The Associated Press