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A culture of secrecy is obstructing British historians

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

Andrew Lownie is one of Britain’s leading literary agents and the author of “Stalin’s Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess,” “The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves” and “Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.”Documents are the lifeblood of historians. And while many of these documents will come from private collections of papers — all with their own problems of access — many will come from public archives. In Britain, this is most notably the National Archives at Kew, outside London.Subject to some Freedom of Information (FOI) exemptions, in the United Kingdom, government records must by law be deposited in the National Archives after 20 years — but this is not what is happening, and much of it is down to a continuing culture of secrecy in Whitehall.Whereas in America the assumption is that everything should be released unless there are strong grounds to withhold documents, such as national security or data protection, the complete opposite mi...

World’s cartoonists on this week’s events

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

First published on POLITICO.com, U.S., March 6, 2023 | By Matt WuerkerFirst published on Latvijas Avize, Latvia, March 8, 2023 | By Gatis SlukaFirst published on Politicalcartoons.com, U.S., March 4, 2023 | By Dick WrightFirst published in De Volkskrant, The Netherlands, March 2, 2023 | By SchotFirst published on Politicalcartoons.com, U.S., March 7, 2023 | By Pat ByrnesFirst published in Columbia Missourian, U.S., March 7 , 2023 | By John Darkow

Putting the T to the test with bike ride to Braintree

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

7NEWS put the T to the test on Friday, sending two crews from Park Street station to Braintree. One took the Red Line while the other rode a bike, setting out to see who could make the trip faster.The team started their trip just before 5 p.m. Friday when most people leave work. Only nine minutes into the trip, the T had traveled one stop to Downtown Crossing. 7NEWS photographer Dusty made it into the South End. At 5:30 p.m., Dusty and the bike were more than two stops ahead of the train. Dusty said he started to slow down as he entered Quincy. Still, the train remained behind Dusty just before 6 p.m. as it entered Wollaston station in Quincy. In the final stretch, the T pulled ahead, beating the bike to Braintree by a narrow margin. The Red Line commute took 1:06 from Park Street to Braintree. Dusty got there in 1:10 on the bike. Though only slightly slower, Dusty said the ride on the bike was very different from a ride on the train. “On the T, I’m sitting ...

MIAA statewide scores and highlight from Friday’s action

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

Boys basketballSophomore Matt Gaffney paced things offensively with a 17-point outburst, while Ben Howard (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Ethan Tracy (10 points, 10 rebounds) each finished with a double-double to guide top-ranked Malden Catholic (21-2) past No. 25 Leominster, 55-38, in the Div. 2 quarterfinals.Eddie McCoy (22 points) and J.T. Veiking (21 points, six boards, six assists) shouldered the load offensively, helping second-seeded Mansfield (23-2) pull away for a 77-50 win over No. 10 Marblehead.Lorenzo Jackson erupted for 29 points, while Josh Campbell added 24 points himself as top-seeded Archbishop Williams (22-1) staved off a challenge from No. 8 Oakmont by rallying for an 88-83 victory in a Div. 3 quarterfinal.Freshmen Andy Batista (21 points, two rebounds, three assists) and Giovanni Jean (14 points, 12 rebounds) set the tone for Lynn Tech (18-4) in a 58-48 win over Worcester Tech in the Vocational Large championship.Girls basketballKailey Sullivan knocked down six thre...

Winderman’s view: An inspiring night for Heat, but with limited Love

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 119-115 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers:– The Kevin Love singing made sense from a known-quantity perspective.– Understood.– But for every action, there is an opposing reaction.– Friday night, the opposing reaction was the Cavaliers putting 6-foot-3 Donovan Mitchell defensively on 6-8 Love.– That allowed the Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley to concentrate on greater defensive concerns.– The Heat counter was to get Love in the paint at times.– Which is not his game.– And also clogs the paint for Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler.– With opponents surely to take note in the playoffs/play-in.– If Love is not converting threes, he can be as much of a liability on the offensive end as the defensive end.– The Cavaliers certainly were aware of how to handle Love.– And might well have offered a blueprint.– Trevor Ariza 2.0?– Love...

Jimmy Butler seizes a needed moment as Heat hold off Cavaliers, Mitchell 119-115

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

The face of desperation was the face of the Miami Heat on Friday night when they went down 14 in the third quarter.It turned out to be a good look, or at least a needed look, one that will be further necessary in the heated middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race.Forced to take on some of the best of Donovan Mitchell, the Heat made a needed stand in a 119-115 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to salvage a 3-3 homestand,While work remains to get out of an Eastern Conference play-in seed and into one of the six automatic playoff seeds in the East, this was a night when the Heat stared down adversity when it was casting its ugliest face.A loss would have trimmed the Heat’s lead at No. 7 in the East to a mere half-game over the Atlanta Hawks, who won earlier in the night.With the game standing within five points in the final five minutes, it left the Heat with their league-high 48th clutch game of the season.Harrowing, as usual.Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 33 points, su...

In MVC heavyweight battle, Andover edges North Andover

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

ANDOVER — There wasn’t a seat to be had inside Dunne Gymnasium some 15 minutes before the Andover and North Andover girls tipped off for the fourth time this season, this time with a spot in the Division 1 semifinals on the line.And befitting of the two rivals, for the fourth time in as many games, the outcome wasn’t decided until the final seconds.Despite a nearly superhuman effort from Hannah Martin, who scored a game-high 24 points for the visitors, it was the top-seeded Golden Warriors (24-0) who made just enough plays down the stretch to pull out a 50-43 win to remain unbeaten and earn a date with Wachusett in the semifinals.“Man, do I have so much respect for Hannah, Jackie (Rogers) and everyone on that team,” Andover coach Alan Hibino said. “To go against them four times in one season is such a challenge. This was a classic MVC basketball game between two heavyweights.”There was nothing separating the teams for most of the game except for a two-minute stretch at the beginning...

Local attorney discusses Jacqueline Ma case

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. -- Jacqueline Ma, who was awarded San Diego County "Teacher of the Year" in August, is behind bars without the option to post bail as she faces 14 felony charges.Ma, 34, was re-arrested Thursday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a former 13-year-old student, according to police.Ma faces the following 14 felony charges:2 counts lewd acts with a child under the age of 147 counts of possession of child pornography4 counts of sexual exploitation of a child1 count of dissuading a victim or witness"The final charge, which is dissuading a witness, probably is based on a text or conversation that they had with the young gentlemen, that she said this was secret, to not tell anyone about it, so that’s trying to dissuade witness from reporting the charge," Criminal Defense Lawyer Gretchen von Helms said.Ma was arrested twice in just a matter of days as police continued to investigate the case."When she was arrested the first time it was for the acts, the lew...

China names Li Qiang premier nominally in charge of economy

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China on Saturday named Li Qiang, a close confidant of top leader Xi Jinping, as the country’s next premier nominally in charge of the world’s second-largest economy now facing some of its worst prospects in years. Li was nominated by Xi and appointed to the position at Saturday morning’s session of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial parliament. That came a day after Xi, 69, secured a norms-breaking third five-year term as state leader, setting him up to possibly rule for life. Li is best known for having enforced a brutal “zero-COVID” lockdown on Shanghai last spring as party boss of the Chinese financial hub, proving his loyalty to Xi in the face of complaints from residents over their lack of access to food, medical care and basic services. Li, 63, came to know Xi during the future president’s term as head of Li’s native Zhejiang, a relatively wealthy southeastern province now known as a technology and manufacturing powerhouse.Prior to the pandemic,...

1 injured after being stabbed outside banquet hall north of Toronto

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:21:11 GMT

Toronto police say one person suffered life-threatening injuries, and a firearm was recovered following a violent incident outside of a banquet hall north of the city.Investigators received reports of gunshots in the Highway 427 and Steeles Avenue area just after 9:30 p.m. on Friday.Police later said that a victim walked into a hospital with stab wounds. Their injuries are considered life-threatening.A firearm was also located at the scene, and one person is in police custody.Paramedics tell CityNews no other victims were assessed.