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Person aboard UK’s Bibby Stockholm asylum seeker barge ‘attempted suicide’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

LONDON — A joint letter from 39 migrants who have been housed on a controversial U.K. barge for asylum seekers says one attempted suicide.The letter, sent to the U.K.’s Home Office, said the group’s move onto the Bibby Stockholm — a vessel moored in Dorset, England — was a “harsh tragedy,” and described it as an “unsafe, frightening, and isolated place.” The 39 asylum seekers write that, in the five days they were housed on the barge before being temporarily moved off due to the discovery of legionella bacteria on board, “one of the asylum seekers attempted suicide, but we acted promptly and prevented this unfortunate event.”“Considering the ongoing difficulties, it’s not unexpected that we might face a repeat of such situations in the future,” they warn. “Some friends even said they wished they had the courage to commit suicide, and our personal belief is that many of these individuals might resort to this foolishness to escape fro...

Boston police searching for woman who stole $15K worth of purses on Boylston Street

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

Boston police are turning to the public for help as they work to identify a woman who stole five purses worth $15,000 from a store on Boylston Street last month.The woman is described as female with dark complexion, mid-20s, tall, heavy-set, with short curly hair, who was last seen wearing spandex shorts and Crocs. The larceny incident occurred at about 5:20 p.m. on Thursday, July 27 in the area of 310 Boylston St.Anyone with information is asked to call Boston police at 617-343-4571.Community members wishing to assist in this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

Gallery: 4-H kids at the Marshfield Fair

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

The 155th Marshfield Fair August 18 – 27, 2023

Military jet crashes near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A military jet crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Thursday night.Officials from the base confirmed a F/A-18 Hornet went down around 11:54 p.m. in a remote area east of Interstate15.It's not yet confirmed if anyone was injured in the crash. Officials say an investigation into the incident in ongoing.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Stock market today: Wall Street points toward gains ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s speech

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street pointed higher as markets wait to hear what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has to say in his speech later Friday at a conference of central bankers.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 each rose about 0.4% before the bell.With no major economic news and few earnings reports to review Friday, all eyes will be on Powell, who will be speaking at an event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming that in the past has been the site of major policy announcements by the Fed.Reports on the U.S. economy were mixed Thursday, with one showing fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, pointing to a still healthy job market. Another said orders for long-lasting manufactured goods slumped by more last month than economists expected. For now, weaker-than-expected reports on the economy may be more welcome in financial markets. The economy has managed to avoid a long-predicted recession, but the fear is that it’s so solid that it will keep upward press...

Taiwan’s vice president accuses China of attempting to influence upcoming elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s vice president and front-runner in upcoming presidential elections accused China on Friday of employing unfair trade practices that could be used to influence the voting.William Lai, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Taipei, said China “will be hoping to interfere in the elections with all sorts of tactics.” If they succeed, he said, “it will be an undermining of Taiwan’s democracy.”His comments come after China announced on Monday that it was suspending mango imports from Taiwan, alleging that authorities had detected pests on the fruit. The trade curb is widely believed to be politically motivated.Lai said Beijing was engaging in “unfair trade practices against our agricultural products, potentially in an effort to undermine the coming elections.”Taiwan is due to hold presidential elections in January 2024. Over the weekend, Beijing launched war games around Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China claims as its own territory. ...

Spain busts record 9.5 tons of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment from Ecuador

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spanish customs agents and National Police said Friday they confiscated the country’s biggest cocaine haul to date of 9.5 tons hidden in a banana freight container originating from Ecuador.The drug was found Wednesday in the southwestern port of Algeciras in a refrigerated container among a cargo shipment supposed to have held 1,080 boxes of bananas, said José Carlos Arobes, a senior official for the Spanish tax agency that covers customs inspections.Prior to this seizure, Spain’s biggest cocaine bust was of 8.4 tons in 2018, also found in a supposed banana container in Algeciras.The tax agency said the investigations began in July when police received information about a pending shipment of Colombian cocaine via Ecuador in August. The organization behind the shipment operated through a banana exporting company in Machala, Ecuador, the agency said.The cargo was due to be delivered in Portugal for later distribution throughout Europe.No arrests have been made so f...

Federal judge: West Virginia can restrict abortion pill sales

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia can restrict the sale of the abortion pill, despite federal regulators’ approval of it as a safe and effective medication, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Chambers determined Thursday that the near-total abortion ban signed by Republican Gov. Jim Justice in September 2022 takes precedence over approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that regulating abortion is a matter of health and safety upon which States may appropriately exercise their police power,” Chambers wrote in a decision dismissing most challenges brought against the state by abortion pill manufacturer GenBioPro, Inc. in a January lawsuit filed in the state southern district’s Huntington division.Regulation of medical professionals “is arguably a field in which the states have an even stronger interest and history of exercising authority,” than the federal government, Chambers decided. GenBioPro,...

Will Canada place a cap on international students?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, it’s an issue that sits at the intersection of Canada’s identity and reality. Our country is extremely diverse and pro-immigration, but a massive housing crisis means we simply don’t have enough homes for everyone who needs one.This week, Canada’s housing minister said the government would consider a cap on the number of international students who can enter the country, in hopes this might ease the housing crunch.“Canada is still generally a really pro-immigrant country, and [The Liberals] really want to avoid being seen as xenophobic, and in fact, that’s a brush they’d rather paint their conservative rival with. So it’s a tricky one for Trudeau,” said Laura Dhillon Kane, Ottawa bureau chief for Bloomberg News.Would it alleviate some of the housing crunch? What are the trade-offs to such a move? And is there a risk that the housing crisis pushes more Canadians towards anti-immigration sentiment?You can sub...

Legionnaires’ disease kills 7 people in a strategic Polish city on the Ukrainian border

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:16 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s internal security officers were searching for the source of a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease which has killed seven people and infected more than 100 others in the strategic city of Rzeszow, near the border with Ukraine, authorities said Friday. Rzeszow region, in Poland’s southeast, is a key transit hub for international military support for Ukraine, following Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. Some 10,000 U.S. troops are also stationed in the area. Officials from the Internal Security Agency were inspecting various sites in Rzeszow, but primarily the water pipelines, where experts suppose the bacteria might be coming from. The deputy minister for state special services, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Russia’s attempts to sow “panic” among Ukraine’s allies were among the reasons for the inspection.“This is a factor that has made us (take steps) to eliminate some scenarios,” Zaryn said. At least 113 residents have be...