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Push to take back Roxbury park from Mass & Cass addicts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

City officials say they are committed to making the deplorable Clifford Playground a safer and more accessible park for local youth sports organizations and the community at large.Residents, starting in August, will get the chance to suggest how the city should redesign the 8-acre Roxbury park, a few blocks from the heart of Mass and Cass, where people roam the streets, visibly buying, selling and using drugs.The community engagement will inform what is included in the renovated playground, with construction slated for next year. Officials allocated $7.2 million towards the project in this year’s $4.2 billion capital plan.A Pop Warner football program that plays at the park, the Boston Bengals, had been on the verge of collapse due to the unsanitary conditions; needles, human feces and other trash. But area philanthropist Ernie Boch Jr. tossed a $15,000 donation for Domingos DaRosa to save his non-profit organization after reading a Herald article on the state of the playground.Spea...

BMW M340i is sporty and pricey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

BMW, known for their sportiness in the consumer market, is also known in Grasso’s Garage for their excellent driving automobiles. Fun to drive and good looking while doing so, the 2023 M340i xDrive sedan is no different.Wrapped in upgraded Tanzanite Blue Metallic paired with Mocha Vernasca leather was glorious. Did I mention the M-Sport package addition as well? This combo of Red calipers, 19” alloy wheels and that color combination was a huge hit in town and around the community. Comfort was what stood out the best in Grasso’s Garage as we noticed a great span of legroom in the front seats, while still having enough space for passengers in the back. Carbon Fiber, and a sleek interior also helped the interiors historic lack-luster appearance.A 3.0 Liter TwinTurbo inline 5-cylinder engine is paired with a 48V mild hybrid technology and an 8-speed sport automatic transmission. With selectable drive modes at your fingertips, the BMW M340i comes to life in both sport and sport plus mode...

RFK Jr. will testify at a House hearing over online censorship as the GOP elevates Biden’s rival

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans will be delving into claims of government censorship of online speech at a public hearing, asking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify despite requests from outside groups to disinvite the Democratic presidential candidate after his recent antisemitic remarks.The Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is set to convene Thursday. Republicans claim conservatives are being unfairly targeted by technology companies that routinely work with the government to try to stem the spread of disinformation online. In announcing the hearing, the panel led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said it “will examine the federal government’s role in censoring Americans.” The panel said it will probe “Big Tech’s collusion with out-of-control government agencies to silence speech.”The Big Tech companies have adamantly denied the GOP assertions and say they enforce their rules impartially for everyone regardless of ideology or polit...

Russia’s Wagner mercenaries launch joint training with Belarusian military near Polish border

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Mercenaries from Russia’s military company Wagner on Thursday launched joint drills with the Belarusian military near the border with Poland following their relocation to Belarus after their short-lived rebellion, a move that prompted Warsaw to redeploy its troops.The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that the weeklong maneuvers will be conducted at a firing range near the border city of Brest and will involve Belarusian special forces. The ministry added that Wagner’s combat experience will help modernize the Belarusian military.A video released Wednesday appeared to show Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin for the first time since he led last month’s rebellion. In the video, Prigozhin was seen telling his troops they will spend some time in Belarus training its military to help “make the Belarusian army the second strongest army in the world” before deploying to Africa. In addition to their involvement in Ukraine, Wagner mercenaries have been sent...

Prominent Egyptian rights activist with ties to Italy walks free from jail, rights defender says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A renowned Egyptian rights activist with ties to Italy walked free from jail Thursday, a rights defender said.Patrick George Zaki, a post graduate student in Italy, was pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, along with five other people on Wednesday, according to the country’s Official Gazette.The news of his release was announced by Hossam Bahgat, founder of Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who posted a picture of Zaki on his Facebook page Thursday afternoon.Zaki was sentenced to three years in prison earlier this week over an opinion article he wrote in 2019, Egypt’s MENA news agency said.The Associated Press

Nokia profits fall as clients particularly in North America shun investments

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia on Thursday reported a fall in second quarter profit as clients especially in North America postponed investments due to a slowdown in economic growth and rising financing costs.The Espoo, Finland-based company reported net profit of 414 million euros ($464 million) for the April-June period, down 29% from 585 million euros a year earlier. Net income attributable to shareholders was 415 million euros, down from 582 million euros the previous year.Nokia’s sales were down 3% at 5.7 billion euros.Among other network products, Nokia is one of the world’s main suppliers of 5G, the latest generation of broadband technology, along with Sweden’s Ericsson, China’s Huawei and South Korea’s Samsung.“Earlier in the year I highlighted that we were starting to see signs of macroeconomic challenges along with inventory digestion impacting customer spending and this has intensified through the second quarter,” CEO Pekka Lundmark said ...

Motorcyclist dies after crashing into pole in Scarborough

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

A motorcyclist has died in hospital after a single-vehicle crash Scarborough on Wednesday night.Police were called to the area of Victoria Park Avenue and Lynvalley Crescent, north of Lawrence Avenue, around 8:45 p.m. for reports a motorcycle had crashed into a pole.The driver was rushed to hospital where he was later pronounced dead, according to police.Southbound Victoria Park was closed in the area for the investigation but roads have since reopened.COLLISION: (UPDATE)8:42 pm– victim has been pronounced deceased– roads are now open#GO1682522^se— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) July 20, 2023

An alleged drug baron wanted in the Netherlands is arrested in Colombia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An alleged drug baron wanted in the Netherlands over his suspected involvement in cocaine and methamphetamine was arrested in Colombia, the European Union police agency Europol said Thursday.The arrest comes amid sustained efforts to disrupt networks of traffickers who smuggle huge amounts of cocaine into Europe, often through ports in the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium.Dutch authorities have arrested several alleged gangsters in recent years linked to the country’s violent and lucrative drug trafficking networks.The 43-year-old Colombian national was detained Tuesday in the western city of Tulua on a Dutch warrant and is now in custody awaiting extradition. His name was not released.The Dutch Public Prosecution Office said in a statement that the suspect is allegedly a “key player in an ongoing investigation and is suspected of cocaine smuggling, participation in a criminal organization and money laundering.”Europol helped the Dutch-led inve...

At least 2 dead as Russia strikes Odesa and other southern Ukraine cities for a third night

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded Ukraine’s southern cities, including the port city of Odesa, with drones and missiles for a third consecutive night in a wave of strikes that has destroyed some of the country’s critical grain export infrastructure.At least two people, in Odesa, were killed in the attacks, which come days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain to countries facing the threat of hunger. The attacks intensified after Moscow vowed “retribution” earlier this week for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Russian officials blamed that strike on Ukraine.Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said Ukrainian air defenses destroyed all of the 12 Iranian-made Shahed drones and two Kalibr missiles that targeted Odesa. But he added that air defense systems were unable to shoot down some incoming missiles, in particular the X-22 and Onyx types. He didn’t say how ma...

Greene displays sexual images of Hunter Biden at IRS whistleblower hearing

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:15:54 GMT

(The Hill) - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) leaned in on some of the more salacious issues concerning Hunter Biden in her questioning of IRS whistleblowers who investigated Biden at a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday — and brought sexually explicit posters to make her point.“Before we begin, I would like to let the committee and everyone watching at home know that parental discretion is advised,” Greene said.Greene’s questioning included her holding up small posters featuring graphic sexual photos from the laptop hard drive that purportedly belonged to Hunter Biden, which were censored with black boxes.The faces of others involved in the sexual acts were censored with black boxes, but Biden’s face is visible in the photos.Staffers react as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., holds up sexually explicit images that she says are of Hunter Biden during her questioning of IRS whistleblowers during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing with IRS whistleblow...