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Europe’s largest fire on record sparks hunt for scapegoats in Greece

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

Greece is searching for scapegoats as Europe’s largest wildfire spins out of control. On Monday, firefighters struggled for a 10th consecutive day to contain flames ravaging the northeastern Evros region, where multiple blazes have formed a deadly inferno. Authorities say the initial fire near the port town of Alexandropoulis was likely sparked by lightning. But while anger grows over insufficient prevention efforts and emergency services beg for reinforcements, much of Greece is preoccupied with finding someone to blame. Leading Greek politicians have sought to focus the nation’s attention on catching arsonists, with some even spreading conspiracy theories about who set the fires. Vassilis Kikilias, minister for civil protection, blamed “lowlife arsonists” for the fires in a furious televised speech last week. “You are committing a crime against the country, you will not get away with it, we will find you, you will be held accountable,” he said. With m...

Let battle commence: Vestager and Calviño face off for top EU banking job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

It’s shaping up to be the political bun-fight of the year.The battle to become the next head of the European Investment Bank is heating up, setting up a clash between two of Europe’s best-known politicians with a background in finance. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s outgoing competition chief, and Nadia Calviño, Spain’s finance minister, are vying for the top job at the increasingly important Luxembourg-based lender, which doles out billions of euros in loans to infrastructure projects each year, including rebuilding work in Ukraine. Like all EU fights, the political horse-trading doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Behind the scenes, finance ministers are already making calculations about how the EIB contest filters into the big carve-up of the EU jobs pie next year, when new commissioners will be appointed after the European election in June. France’s position is likely to prove particularly significant. Paris has long been frustrated with Vestager, who took a positi...

Bicyclist killed in crash in Newton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

A 57-year-old bicyclist from Newton died Monday after a crash involving a delivery truck, officials said. Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Newton Chief of Police John Carmichael in a joint statement said police first responded around 5:30 p.m. to the scene at the intersection of Watertown Street and Bridge Street. The bicyclist was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, officials said, where he later died.A portion of Watertown Street was closed after the crash and investigators were spotted on scene for several hours. In their statement later Monday night, officials said a preliminary investigation suggests the delivery truck was headed east on Watertown Street and turning onto Bridge Street at the time of the crash. The bicyclist, officials, said was headed west on Watertown Street. Officials said the driver of the delivery truck stayed at the scene and described their investigation as “open and ongoing” as of around 10:30 p.m.Newton Mayor Ruthann...

7 Investigates: Marijuana Warning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

There are concerns for cannabis users as a mysterious illness impacting some people who use the drug over an extended period of time is on the rise. 7 Investigates recently spoke to local doctors and patients who are sounding the alarm.For years, Alice Moon struggled with stomach pain. She said she lost weight and experienced episodes of violent vomiting. “They became more frequent where it was once a week. Then it became almost every day,” Moon said.After being misdiagnosed for two years, a doctor told Moon she may have Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS).“All signs pointed to THC and CBD,” Moon said, referencing substances found in cannabis. CHS is a condition that affects some people who use cannabis over a long period of time. It causes the receptors in the brain and the gut to change, resulting in nausea and vomiting.“The more cannabis use, the more and more nausea and vomiting you get,” said Dr. Sushrut Jangi, a gastroenterologist at Tufts Medical CenterJangi and ...

Authorities investigating after deadly industrial accident in Boxboro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

One person died Monday and an investigation got underway after an industrial accident at a recycling center in Boxboro, police said. Boxboro police said an initial call came in around 2 p.m. reporting the accident at Roof Top Recycling in town, where police said a person was crushed by machinery. Police said the injured person was airlifted to UMass Memorial Hospital and later pronounced dead.The incident remained under investigation as of Monday afternoon by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Boxboro police, Massachusetts State Police and the state Division of Occupational Licensure. 

Orioles secure winning record as Grayson Rodriguez dominates White Sox in 9-0 victory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

During the dark days of the Orioles’ rebuild, the potential for bright nights such as Monday offered salvation.There was rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, long billed as Baltimore’s ace-to-be, fulfilling that promise. His six innings of dominance against the Chicago White Sox came with Adley Rutschman catching him and Gunnar Henderson backing him at shortstop, the pair of 2019 draftees each sparking an offensive rally. DL Hall — Rodriguez’s predecessor as an Orioles’ first-round pick, his successor as their top pitching prospect, and one of his closest friends in the organization — was among the three relievers who followed him to finish off a 9-0 victory against Chicago that secured Baltimore’s second straight winning season.It’s the earliest by game number the Orioles (82-49) have reached that status since 1997.“It’s kind of indescribable,” Hall said. “It’s something that me, Grayson, [Jordan Westbu...

Chicago Cubs drop series opener to the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 as Jameson Taillon struggles in the first inning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

Jameson Taillon’s first season in Chicago has largely not played out how he and the Cubs envisioned.Lately he has pitched more like the version both sides hoped for when he inked a four-year, $68 million contract in the offseason, posting a 3.98 ERA and pitching into the sixth inning in eight of his last nine starts. Taillon knows the rotation is a big factor in what happens in the final month of the season as the Cubs try to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2020.“I feel like it’s a cliché, but starting pitching sets the tone for everything,” Taillon told the Tribune over the weekend. “So if we want to make a push and want to go where we’re trying to go, I feel like it starts and ends with pitching in general, but starting pitching always sets the tone.“For myself, I feel the ship has sailed as far as getting my numbers where I want them to be this year, and I’m not worried about it. All I’m worried about ...

Mets’ blown save wastes Tylor Megill’s strong start in 4-3 loss to Texas Rangers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

Two big blasts weren’t enough to overcome a bullpen blowup for the Mets on Monday night at Citi Field. Trevor Gott blew a save and the Mets wasted a strong performance from right-hander Tylor Megill in a 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers in the first game of a three-game set.Brandon Nimmo and DJ Stewart homered and Megill held the Rangers to only one run over six innings. It was the first time he had gone six full innings since June 16, his second-to-last start before a Triple-A demotion.“It seemed like all of my stuff was on tonight,” Megill said. “It felt like I could throw just about any pitch in any count.”Megill has shown solid improvements over his last three starts, but this one might have been his best in a challenging season. He gave up five hits, three of which came in the sixth inning. Marcus Semien doubled to lead off the inning and Corey Seager reached on an infield single to put two on. Megill got a big double play to erase a baserunner.Adolis...

N. Korea’s Kim calls for readiness to smash US-led invasion plot, as US trains with South and Japan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for his military to be constantly ready for combat to thwart its rivals’ plots to invade his country, state media said Tuesday, as the U.S., South Korea and Japan held a trilateral naval exercise to deal with North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats. The U.S. and South Korean militaries have been separately holding summer bilateral exercises since last week. North Korea views such U.S.-involved training as an invasion rehearsal, though Washington and its partners maintain their drills are defensive. Kim said in a speech marking the country’s Navy Day on Monday that the waters off the Korean Peninsula have been made unstable “with the danger of a nuclear war” because of U.S.-led hostilities, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.He cited the U.S. drills with its allies, the deployment of more powerful U.S. weapons assets in the waters near the Korean Peninsula, and a recent U.S.-South Kore...

The UN is undertaking an unprecedented 6-month withdrawal of nearly 13,000 peacekeepers from Mali

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:00 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations is in the throes of what Secretary-General António Guterres calls an “unprecedented” six-month exit from Mali on orders of the West African nation’s military junta, which has brought in mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group to help fight an Islamic insurgency.The U.N. special envoy for Mali, El-Ghassim Wane, laid out the scale of the operation to the U.N. Security Council on Monday: All 12,947 U.N. peacekeepers and police must be sent home, their 12 camps and one temporary base handed over to the government, and 1,786 civilian staff terminated by the Dec. 31 deadline.Mali’s U.N. Ambassador Issa Konfourou said the government is cooperating with the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA, but it will not extend the deadline. The United Nations also needs to move out approximately 5,500 sea containers of equipment and 4,000 vehicles that belong to the U.N. and the countries that contributed personnel to MINUSMA, the fourth largest of the U...