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Pro-Russian protesters vandalize EU offices in Bulgaria

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

Supporters of the pro-Russian Revival party trashed the EU offices in Bulgaria’s capital during a protest Sunday.The protesters threw splashes of red paint as they passed in front of the European Commission office in Sofia, which also houses the liaison office of the European Parliament, during a demonstration about the war in Ukraine where one person could be seen waving a Russian flag.The damage sparked criticism from Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who said the offices had been targeted by “vandals unhappy with our stance in support of Ukraine.”“We will clean it up. Our backing of Ukraine will get stronger. Our voice condemning Russia’s invasion will only get louder,” Metsola said.The Bulgarian foreign ministry “categorically condemn[ed]” the vandalism, saying it was “incompatible” with “modern Bulgaria, as well as to the democratic values ​​that our country embodies.”The nationalist Revival p...

Cooler… For Now

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

After a beautiful finish to the weekend with temps in the mid to upper 70s, we’ll take a couple steps back today as some cooler ocean air moves in, especially at the coastline. As we stay dry, winds do turn to the northeast, providing the chilly breeze along the coast. Temps this afternoon hold in the upper 50s at the coast and warm into the mid 60s inland. Tonight, it’ll be cooler as lows head back into the 40s. Tomorrow, while we’ll keep it coolest at the coast, it’ll be a bit milder overall for everyone as coastal temps warm to near 60 and inland temps run up to near 70 as mostly sunny skies win out. Wednesday is the warmest of the workweek days as highs top off in the upper 70s. We’ll increase the clouds in the afternoon and as a cold front slices through Wednesday evening, showers are possible. On the other side of that front, cooler air pours back in Thursday with highs in the 60s. Longer range… the long weekend forecast becomes a bit more c...

Police investigation underway in Waltham

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

A large police presence could be seen gathered in Waltham early Monday morning amid an active police investigation.The investigation is unfolding on Lyman Street, which is partially blocked off with crime scene tape.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Lucas: Unfair advantage in changes to girls’ and women’s sports

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey was a basketball star at Harvard.Before that she was an outstanding player at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, New Hampshire.She also played professional basketball for a team in Austria for two years after she graduated from Harvard.It was an experience she used successfully in television ads and interviews during her campaigns for attorney general and then for governor.There is hardly a story written about Healey, the state’s first openly gay governor, that does not mention her basketball background.Back then, though, at high school and at Harvard in 1990-1992, Healey, played with and competed against girls and women, and not biological men.One wonders how Healey would have made out if playing point guard back then had she had to go against a 6-foot-4-inch tall biological man identifying as a woman who outweighed her by a hundred pounds. Healey on her tallest day was listed at 5-feet-6-inches.“I never realized how short I was,” she said in a later interview. “...

Orioles reset: The AL East is a beast — again. Baltimore, now battle-tested, is proving it belongs. | ANALYSIS

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

“It’s early.”That’s what Orioles manager Brandon Hyde has repeatedly said when asked about his team’s success this season. The caveat from the skipper is understandable, as a hot start far from guarantees the same the rest of the way.However, it’s no longer “early.” The season is nearly 30% finished, and the Orioles (31-16) still own the second-best record in the major leagues — a status they’ve held for most of May. Through 47 games, Baltimore is battle-tested, and they’ve largely passed those tests with flying colors.In April, the Orioles took care of business against several inferior opponents to have one of the best first months in franchise history. In May, they’ve held their own against National League-best Atlanta, won a series against MLB-best Tampa Bay and, most recently, completed a rare three-game sweep of American League East foe Toronto.Baltimore lost its first two series against division opponents,...

Schoen: The time has come for Biden to negotiate on debt ceiling

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

With less than two weeks until the United States government essentially runs out of money to pay its bills, a new ABC/WaPo poll finds President Joe Biden with a dismal 36% approval rating, and trailing former President Donald Trump by 6 points in the 2024 race for the White House.For months, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his GOP allies have demanded spending cuts in exchange for voting to raise the federal debt ceiling. Biden and congressional Democrats have refused to acquiesce, citing the bipartisan tradition of lifting the country’s borrowing limit without preconditions.To be sure, Biden’s argument prevails in a vacuum: both parties accrue debt, and thus are equally responsible for ensuring the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. It is regrettable — and dangerous — that House Republicans are using the debt ceiling as a political football, and there is merit to Biden’s claim that McCarthy is “holding the economy hostage.”That being said, with just days until default, ...

Meta fined record $1.3 billion and ordered to stop sending European user data to US

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decadelong case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears.The penalty of 1.2 billion euros is the biggest since the EU’s strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon’s 746 million euro fine in 2021 for data protection violations.Meta, which had previously warned that services for its users in Europe could be cut off, vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold. “There is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe,” the company said. “This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and U.S.,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global and affairs, and Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. It’s yet another twist in a l...

Vatican confirms August trip by pope to Lisbon for World Youth Day, including Fatima stop

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis will travel to Portugal for World Youth Day in the first week of August and include a stop at the popular Marian shrine in Fatima, the Vatican said Monday.The Aug. 2-6 visit is longer than originally expected and covers almost the entire week of the big Catholic rally that St. John Paul II inaugurated to try to invigorate young people in their faith. Francis is staying in Lisbon for the length of the visit but will make a day trip to Fatima on Aug. 5. Francis previously traveled there in 2017 to mark the 100th anniversary of one of the most unique events of the 20th-century Catholic Church: the visions of the Virgin Mary reported by three shepherd children and the “secrets” she told them.Francis’ visit this time around comes as war is raging in Ukraine, providing a comparison to when the original visions were reported at a time when Europe was in the throes of World War I.The Fatima mystery has fascinated Catholics and non-Catholics alike for a century, blen...

A fire in a dormitory of a school in Guyana kills at least 20 children

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Fire raced through a school dormitory in Guyana early Monday, killing at least 20 students and injuring an undetermined more, authorities said.The Guyanese government said in a press statement that the fire broke out in the dormitory building of a secondary school in the city of Madhia, 200 miles south of Georgetown, Guyana’s capital.“We have lost many beautiful souls in that fire,” the government said. It added that several other students are being treated for injuries.The fire began shortly after midnight.The Associated Press

Spy chief warns authoritarian states stoking anti-government mood in Germany

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:52:31 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned Monday of a rise in anti-government extremism fueled by authoritarian states such as Russia that seek to divide society and topple the government. German security agencies have disrupted several plots in recent years by small groups linked to the Reich Citizens movement accused of planning attacks on critical infrastructure, government officials and even the national parliament. While it is unclear how far advanced such plans were, authorities have expressed alarm that the alleged plotters had acquired weapons and included people who aren’t usually on the radar of security agencies, such as judges and police officers.Thomas Haldenwang, who heads the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, said the mixing of previously separate groups — from far-right extremists to QAnon conspiracy theorists — and their willingness to use violence was particularly worrying.“What links all of the...