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Biden’s Canada agenda stacked: NORAD, migration deals likely

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — President Joe Biden arrives in Canada on Thursday with a focus on several of the world’s largest challenges: the war in Ukraine, climate change, trade, mass migration and an increasingly assertive China. Two important areas of agreement appear in hand: Canada will escalate its timeline for military upgrades to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, and the two nations will reach an agreement on migration, a senior Canadian official told The Associated Press. The Biden administration has made strengthening its friendship with Canada a priority over the past two years and Biden’s meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the capital of Ottawa are an opportunity to set plans for the future.National security and air defenses are a priority, with a recent Chinese spy balloon floating over North America putting newfound urgency on Canada’s plans to update its radar systems and recent purchase of F-35 jets. Canada has agreed to an acc...

Review: Rehabilitating Richard III in ‘The Lost King’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

Richard III didn’t need a horse for his kingdom. He just needed Philippa Langley. Langley, a single mother and amateur historian living in Edinburgh, Scotland, became increasingly obsessed with the late English monarch, long portrayed as one of the great villains of history. In the supposedly hunchbacked king who was said to have killed his nephews, Langley and others suspected a centurieslong smear campaign. The long-held consensus on Richard III had been shaped by the Tudors, who killed Richard and assumed the throne. It’s a narrative, of course, forever since solidified by Shakespeare’s great play. For Richard and his sympathizers, it’s been not just a winter of discontent but some 500 years. “Every tale condemns me for a villain,” the king says in “Richard III.”Except for “The Lost King.”Stephen Frears’ new film, which opens in theaters Friday, dramatizes the true tale of Langley’s dogged pursuit to unearth the true story of Richard as well as...

Track bans transgender athletes, tightens rules for Semenya

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

Track and field banned transgender athletes from international competition Thursday, while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing.In a pair of decisions expected to stoke outrage, the World Athletics Council adopted the same rules as swimming did last year in deciding to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female and have gone through male puberty. No such athletes currently compete at the highest elite levels of track.Another set of updates, for athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), will impact 13 athletes, WA President Sebastian Coe said. They include Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion at 800 meters who has been barred from that event since 2019.Semenya and others had been able to compete in events outside the restricted range of 400 meters through one mile, but will now have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competing to be eligible.Semen...

Police chief fires officer, releases video of shooting death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia police officer has been fired after fatally shooting a shoplifting suspect last month following a foot chase at a busy shopping mall.Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced the dismissal Thursday at a press conference in which he also released body camera footage showing the shooting of Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center on Feb. 22.Two officers who chased Johnson that night fired their weapons, Davis said. The one who fired the fatal round has been dismissed from the department, and the other officer remains on restricted duty as the investigation continues.The officer who was fired, Sgt. Wesley Shifflett, exhibited “a failure to live up to the expectations of our agency, in particular use of force policies,” Davis said.The video itself shows a nighttime chase that lasted less than two minutes, concluding with what sounds like three gunshots. An officer can be heard saying “stop reaching” but the video it...

Investigation underway after shooting on SR 826 entrance ramp leaves 1 hospitalized

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

A driver has been hospitalized in serious condition after being shot while driving onto the Palmetto Expressway, just after 2 a.m., Thursday.The Florida Highway Patrol reported that someone inside a silver vehicle opened fire on the driver of a white BMW SUV, as he was heading southbound on State Road 826. Detectives investigating the incident said that two drivers were heading east on Northwest 36th Street onto the southbound entrance ramp of the Palmetto when a silver vehicle pulled up alongside the white BMW and began firing shots.The man behind the wheel of the SUV was shot several times and was rushed to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital as a trauma alert.7SkyForce showed an aerial view of the scene, revealing the bullet-riddled BMW. Meanwhile, the silver vehicle fled the scene and continued south on 826.The driver who was shot called 911, leading police to close the entrance onto the Palmetto Expressway south.Officials have stated that it was not the driver of the silver vehicle bu...

JMH medical team saves baby from rare condition, celebrates her recovery before 1-year birthday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

River Joe Riley, a little girl born with a rare condition that could have killed her, celebrates her first birthday on Friday. A year ago, her mother, Julieanna Goddard, and father, Miami Dolphins linebacker Duke Riley, received the news that their baby had gastroschisis, a birth defect where a hole in the abdominal wall allows the baby’s intestines to extend outside the body.“It was hard for me to understand at first. I had never heard of anything like this. I didn’t even know how to say gastroschisis, let alone what it meant,” said Goddard.River was born on March 24, 2022, and immediately underwent emergency surgery to treat her condition. She spent a month in the neonatal intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital (JMH), where a team of specialists, including pediatric surgeon Dr. Chad Thorson and maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Carmen Tudela, cared for her.“In these cases, we place a plastic bag essentially over the baby’s abdomen...

Miami Seaquarium performs successful cataract surgery on harbor seal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

A Pacific harbor seal is now on the road to recovery after she underwent surgery to remove cataracts that were impeding her vision. A board-certified anesthesiologist and ophthalmologist were part of the successful surgery alongside Miami Seaquarium’s veterinary team. Ocean the seal is now regaining her vision under the care of the training staff as they continue to monitor her and provide mental and physical stimulation through enrichment.

Economic jitters, French upheaval, arms for Ukraine — what’s occupying EU leaders

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Stitcher .st0{fill:#EB8A23;} .st1{fill:#FAC617;} .st2{fill:#612368;} .st3{fill:#3792C4;} .st4{fill:#C33727;} Acast Coming to you from this week’s European Council summit in Brussels, competitiveness and the economy are high on the agenda, alongside a historic EU agreement for joint arms procurement. We also discuss French President Emanuel Macron’s plummeting popularity ratings at home, and Franco-German wrangling over nuclear energy and e-fuels. Taking us through all this and more is host Suzanne Lynch, along with POLITICO’s Jacopo Barigazzi, Clea Caulcutt and Barbara Moens. We then hear from the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, Susan Danger, on European competitiveness,...

State Fire Marshal: Fire at Medford home belonging to son of Sen. Elizabeth Warren likely caused by oily rags

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

A fire that burned through a Medford home belonging to the son of Senator Elizabeth Warren was likely caused by oily rags, according to officials.Following an investigation involving the Medford fire and police departments as well as Massachusetts State Police and the State Fire Marshal’s office, authorities said the Tuesday morning fire was accidental in nature and “most likely caused by the combustion of oily rags that had been used in ongoing renovations.”Firefighters responded to the home on Terrace Road around 1 a.m. where crews had to deal with both water pressure challenges as well as issues created by the home’s elevation.No injuries were reported after the fire was put out, with authorities noting at the time that the home belonging to Alexander Warren had been under construction and vacant.In a joint statement put out on Thursday by Medford Fire Chief John Freedman, Medford Police Chief Jack Buckley, and State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey, officials said ...

TikTok CEO in the hot seat: 5 takeaways from his first appearance before Congress

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:32 GMT

(CNN) — In his first appearance before Congress on Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Chew was grilled by lawmakers who expressed deep skepticism about his company’s attempts to protect US user data and ease concerns about its ties to China.The hearing, which lasted for more than five hours, kicked off with calls from a lawmaker to ban the app in the United States and remained combative throughout. It offered a vivid display of the bipartisan push to crack down on the popular short-form video app and the company’s uphill battle to improve relations with Washington.Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, opened Thursday’s hearing by telling Shou: “Your platform should be banned.”“I expect today you’ll say anything to avoid this outcome,” she continued. “We aren’t buying it. In fact, when you celebrate the 150 million American users on TikTok, it emphasizes the urgency for Con...