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Partygate inquisitor Sue Gray cleared to take Labour job

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

LONDON — Sue Gray, the feared former civil servant who led an official inquiry into the Partygate scandal that damaged Boris Johnson, has been cleared to become Labour leader Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.Westminster’s appointments watchdog Acoba said Friday that Gray could join Labour’s top team just six months after she quit her civil service role in March.It’s twice the normal cooling-off period, but the committee found “no evidence” Gray used her Whitehall role to favor the opposition party, a blow against claims to the contrary by allies of Johnson, the former prime minister who was probed over coronavirus lockdown-busting parties in government. Civil servants in the U.K. are expected to remain strictly impartial.In a revelation that may be seized on by Gray’s critics, the incoming Labour chief of staff confirmed she had contact with the opposition for four months before the initial story on her planned hiring broke. Gray “received a ca...

Macron vows to deploy ‘additional means’ after another night of violence across France

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

PARIS — The French government is scrambling to find a way to curb the violence that has rocked the country for three nights in a row after a teenager was shot dead by police during a traffic stop.President Emmanuel Macron chaired a government crisis meeting Friday, the second one this week. He was in Brussels Thursday and Friday morning for a European Council summit but left to attend the emergency ministerial meeting at 1 p.m.Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin will deploy “additional means” to help deal with the violent riots, the president said after the meeting.There has been unrest across France after a 17-year-old was killed by police in a Paris suburb, with protesters targeting public buildings, transport systems, and shops with projectiles and Molotov cocktails. Riots have erupted in large cities such as Paris, Lyon, Lille, Marseille and Bordeaux, as well as smaller towns such as Roubaix. For local authorities, law enforcement, and young people in the impoveri...

Boston Harborfest kicks off as Fourth of July festivities get underway in Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

Boston Harborfest kicked off in Downtown Crossing Friday with the first of a slate of Fourth of July Festivities set to continue in Boston throughout the coming days.Harborfest is one of the nation’s larger Fourth of July festivals, including live music, entertainment, historical reenactments and a chowder fest over five days. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is scheduled to help get the event started at 12 p.m. Beyond Friday events, there will be a fireworks show Saturday night and a patriotic Pooch-a-palooza and pet marketplace on Sunday at 12 p.n. The schedule includes more events on Monday. On Tuesday, events on July 4, itself, will begin at 9 a.m. with an Independence Day parade.The Boston Pops July 4th Spectacular is scheduled to end the day on Tuesday You can watch the show on 7NEWS. The show is produced by and is also airing on Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Radio. The show is sponsored by Morgan Stanley. Tune in at 8 p.m. on the fourth to catch all th...

Teenager charged in connection with vandalism at Taunton synagogue, home 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

A 15-year-old from Taunton is now facing charges in connection with incidents of racist and homophobic vandalism at a home and a synagogue in Taunton earlier this month, police announced Thursday. The incident happened on June 16 when police said officers initially responded to a home on Everett Street for a report of vandalism. Once on scene, police said officers found homophobic and racist graffiti on a car and a recycling bin. While officers were on Everett Street, police said they received additional reports of vandalism at the Congregation Agudath Achim of Greater Taunton on nearby Winthrop Street. At the synagogue, police said they found a swastika and “other hateful references” spray-painted on a wall.Police said the handwriting in both the graffiti on Everett Street and the graffiti at the synagogue appeared similar. Taunton police chief Edward Walsh responded in a statement on June 21, describing the vandalism, in part, as “acts of hate and intolerance.&...

Stock market today: Wall Street rallies as it heads for a winning week, month and first half of year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

By STAN CHOE (AP Business Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is rallying again Friday after reports suggested pressure on inflation may be easing. The stock market is rolling toward the close of a winning week, month and first half of the year.The S&P 500 was 0.9% higher in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 193 points, or 0.6%, at 34,316, as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% higher.The market has rallied through 2023 in part because the economy has been able to avoid a long-predicted recession. The job market in particular has remained resilient despite high interest rates that slow the economy in hopes of dragging down inflation. Not only that, Wall Street hopes inflation is cooling enough for the Federal Reserve to soon halt its hikes to rates.A report on Friday showed the measure of inflation that the Fed prefers to use eased in May. It also said growth in spending by consumers slowed by more than expected. If fewer dol...

Protesters check out all LGBTQ+ books at Rancho Penasquitos library

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A protest over a San Diego library’s pride display resulted in the branch having to replace over a dozen LGBTQ+ books.  The two protestors claim the library should not have references to gender identity or sexual attraction.  However, the San Diego Public Library is standing its ground. The library says they are all about diversity, inclusion and empathy, saying everyone is welcome.  VIDEO: A ‘wave’ of pride ripples across Snapdragon Stadium “This is the first time I’ve had someone completely decimate a pride display in protest. It’s concerning and upsetting,” said Misty Jones, City of San Diego head librarian.  A pride backlash at the Rancho Penasquitos branch library took a new turn. It started when two people in the Penasquitos area checked out all 20 books at the pride display, but not to read them. One of them emailed the head librarian, Misty Jones, to express their disagreement. Jones said, “(They) said they felt having those types of b...

San Diego Padres ranked 9th 'most hated' MLB team: Twitter data

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Warning: The context of this article may trigger the Friar faithful. Most sports fans would agree, there's nothing wrong with a little rivalry. For the San Diego Padres team, however, there may be more booing and heckling heard at away games compared to that of other MLB teams.That assumption is based on a new study by BetOnline, a sports betting platform, that analyzed two months worth of Twitter data to determine which MLB teams are the "most hated" in the league. Padres fans set new record for sellout games at Petco Park When compiling the data, the platform tracked negative sentiment tweets, hashtags, and direct keyword phrases about each team for a total of 60 days. Some examples of these negative comments included things like "Padres are overrated" and "I hate the Padres," among other phrases.BetOnline says over 100,000 tweets were tracked during the duration of the study.According to the Twitter data, the San Diego Padres are the 9th "most hated" team in the ML...

Tropical Storm Beatriz strengthens off Mexico’s Pacific coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Beatriz strengthened off Mexico’s southern Pacific coast on Friday and was forecast to become a hurricane later in the day as it moves closer to the coast.Beatriz was about 70 miles (115 kilometers) south-southwest of Zihuatanejo on Friday morning and was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph) with sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph), according to the United States National Hurricane Center.Forecasters said Beatriz could move near or over part of Mexico’s coast on Friday night and Saturday.A hurricane warning was in effect from Zihuatanejo to Cabo Corrientes. The storm was expected to slow its forward movement over the weekend and dump heavy rain as it scrapes along several southern Mexican states.Meanwhile, Hurricane Adrian continued to move deeper into the Pacific on Friday. The storm had 100 mph (155 kph) sustained winds and was about 445 miles (715 kilometers) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California on Friday morning. It was moving w...

Was your flight canceled due to bad weather? What you need to know about rebooking, refunds and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of air travelers are facing potential flight cancellations and delays this weekend, the peak of summer travel, as thunderstorms threaten the East Coast, West Coast and points in between.Nearly 270 U.S. flights were canceled early Friday, according to flight tracking service FlightAware, and more than 1,100 U.S. flights were delayed. It’s been a terrible week for United Airlines and it is leading all major domestic carriers again Friday both canceled and delayed flights. Staying calm — and knowing your rights — can go a long way if your flight is canceled, experts say. Here’s some of their advice for dealing with a flight cancellation:MY FLIGHT WAS CANCELED. WHAT NEXT?If you still want to get to your destination, most airlines will rebook you for free on the next available flight as long as it has seats, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.If you want to cancel the trip, you are entitled to a full refund, even if you bought...

Company executives urge Europe to rethink its world-leading AI rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 12:10:59 GMT

LONDON (AP) — More than 150 executives are urging the European Union to rethink the world’s most comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence, saying Friday that upcoming regulations will make it harder for companies in Europe to compete with rivals overseas, especially when it comes to the technology behind systems like ChatGPT.Officials at companies from French planemaker Airbus and carmaker Renault to Dutch beer giant Heineken signed an open letter to EU leaders saying the 27-nation bloc’s groundbreaking legislation may put shackles on the development of generative AI. That technology gives popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT the power to generate text, images, video and audio that resemble human work.“Such regulation could lead to highly innovative companies moving their activities abroad ” and investors withdrawing their money from AI development in Europe, the letter said. “The result would be a critical productivity gap between the two sides of the Atlantic....