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With a return of Trump looming, Ukrainians ramp up homegrown arms industry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

KYIV — Ukraine’s long-range Beaver drones seem to be making successful kamikaze strikes in the heart of Moscow, but Serhiy Prytula is coy about how much he knows.“We are not sure whether we are involved in this,” he says with a charming but inscrutable smile, when asked about these mysterious new weapons.   Prytula rose to fame — just like President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — as an actor, TV star and comedian, but is now best known for his contribution to the war, running a foundation that acquires components, helps support domestic arms production and supplies front-line forces. Tracking down parts for drones has proved to be one of his fortes. Whether or not Prytula played any role in finding parts for the Beaver, it has now joined the ranks of other homegrown creations such as the Shark, Leleka and Valkyrie.From the outside, his foundation looks like any other nondescript five-story apartment block in the quiet side streets of Kyiv. Inside, it is a chaoti...

Homeowner describes deadly crash in Belchertown that damaged house, multiple parked cars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

A 19-year-old man died Sunday after a crash that also damaged a home and multiple cars in Belchertown, state police said. The crash happened on Sunday night. On Monday, the owners of the home that was damaged spoke with 7NEWS about the incident. “It sounded like a bomb going off,” said homeowner Trevor Sims. “I didn’t know what it was.”State police in a statement said a trooper first tried to stop the 19-year-old driver of a Nissan Altima around 8:45 p.m. on the southbound side of Route 202. Police said the driver sped away.Citing a preliminary investigation, police said the car appeared to have later hit a mulch bed further down Route 202 and launched into the air before hitting a rock wall, a large tree and a light post. The crash, police said, ejected the driver from his car and threw the car’s engine block into the second floor of Sims’ home. Two parked cars in the area were also damaged.Police said the driver was pronounced dead at the scene. He had not been publ...

Woburn dealing with influx of migrant families housed in local hotels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

Woburn city leaders are working on a plan as the city deals with an influx of migrant families being sheltered in local hotels. Dozens of families were being housed in hotels around the city as of Monday. Moving forward, officials say there could be another 100 families coming soon. “We were informed after the fact that the community has an additional 59 families in hotels across the city of Woburn,” Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin said in a recent interview.Last Sunday, Woburn was housing 10 migrant families. As of Monday, the city had 59. The influx of migrants to the city has come as Massachusetts gets record numbers of refugees fleeing dangerous conditions in Haiti and arriving in the US. As a “Right to Shelter” state, Massachusetts must provide families housing.To date, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll recently said the state has placed families in more than 80 communities.“We have a duty both legally and a humanitarian one to provide care,” Driscoll said.Woburn’s mayor said his ...

Cooling Down, Tropics Heating Up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

The summer like days are becoming less and less frequent as we head into the last week-ish of August and kids head back to school. If you like the summer like feel with warmth and humidity, hopefully you got outside to enjoy the weather today. Not that it will be cold the rest of the week, but it will be quite a bit cooler than today was. The cold front dropping south this evening may spark a few isolated showers but it will also open the door for cooler and drier air to fill in for the rest of the week, starting tomorrow.Now, average highs are near 80° so the cooler air is all relative and even though we fall to the 70s for the rest of the week, the next few days are not atypical for late August. But it’s not just the temperatures that fall back the next few days, the humidity will too.While our forecast is cooling down, the tropics are heating up! Now, this isn’t unexpected for this time of year. Mid August to mid October is peak hurricane time with the Atlantic waters...

Mac Jones details ideal role as QB in Patriots’ offense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

Mac Jones wants to go back to being “Alabama Mac.”That’s what the Patriots quarterback told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer recently. Jones led Alabama to a national championship as a senior and was named a consensus All-American in 2020. So, it’s probably a good idea.But what does being “Alabama Mac” entail?Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick not aware of any Patriots pursuit of Aaron Rodgers New England Patriots | Bill Belichick honors Tom Brady even before Patriots’ Week 1 tribute New England Patriots | Patriots coach Bill Belichick updates Isaiah Bolden’s injury, explains cancelling joint practices New England Patriots | Patriots-Packers film review: Mac Jones makes subtle progress and 29 more takeaways New England Patriots | Patriots’ Isaiah Bolden released from hospital after scary scene in preseason game “I think just continuing to work hard and be myself and ...

Former President Donald Trump’s bond is set at $200,000 in Georgia case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

By Alanna Durkin Richer and Jill Colvin, Associated PressDonald Trump’s bond has been set at $200,000 in the Georgia case accusing the former president of scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss, according to court papers filed Monday.The bond agreement, outlined in a court filing signed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Trump’s defense attorneys, also bars Trump from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case — including on social media.He is also prohibited from communicating “in any way, directly or indirectly” about the facts of the case with any co-defendant or witness, except through attorneys.Trump was charged last week in the case alongside 18 allies who prosecutors say conspired to subvert the will of voters in a desperate bid to keep the Republican in the White House after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He has been railing against the case since before he was indicted and singled out Georgia Gov. Brian ...

Chicago woman arrested on federal charges she threatened to kill Donald Trump and son Barron

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

By Jason Meisner, Chicago TribuneA Chicago woman was arrested Monday on federal charges alleging she threatened to kill former President Donald Trump and his 17-year-old son Barron.Tracy Marie Fiorenza, 41, was charged in a criminal complaint unsealed in Florida last week. She was arrested in Chicago Monday morning and is scheduled to have an initial appearance at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse at 3 p.m.The charges were first reported by the online newsletter CourtWatch.The five-page complaint alleged that on May 21, Fiorenza emailed the headmaster of a Palm Beach County school and wrote, “I will state that I will shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Baron Trump (sic) straight in the face at any opportunity that I get!”She allegedly sent a similar email to the same headmaster threatening the younger Trump’s life two weeks later, according to the complaint.Barron Trump has attended a private school in Palm Beach since his family left the White House, though the charges do not identify the school ...

Brita water filter company accused of false advertising

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

LOS ANGELES — A lawsuit filed against the maker of some of the nation’s most popular water filtration systems has accused the Brita company of falsely advertising that its products remove or reduce hazardous contaminants from tap water.The proposed class-action lawsuit, which was filed last Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims that deceptive advertising has led customers to falsely believe that Brita products filter such contaminants as arsenic, nitrate, hexavalent chromium and certain PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” from tap water.Brita is owned by Clorox Co., which is headquartered in Oakland. Clorox released a statement Wednesday saying it was still reviewing the complaint, but looked forward to “defending ourselves vigorously.”“Brita takes the transparency of the variety of water filtration options we offer seriously,” the statement said. “Our products include a standard filtration option that improves taste and odo...

Hilary drenched deserts and flooded roadways in California. Now it's threatening Oregon and Idaho

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, swept people into swollen rivers, toppled trees onto homes and flooded roadways as the massive system marched northward Monday, prompting flood watches and warnings in more than a half dozen states. The National Hurricane Center in Miami downgraded Hilary to a post-tropical storm Monday morning, but warned that “continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding” was expected over portions of the southwestern U.S., along with record-breaking rainfall. There was the potential of flooding in states as far north as Oregon and Idaho. Remnants of the storm were expected to linger at least through Tuesday morning.Hilary, which first slammed into Mexico’s arid Baja California Peninsula, causing one death and widespread flooding, was one of several potentially catastrophic natural events affecting California on Sunday. Besides the tropical storm, which produced tornado warnings, the...

Syria’s state media reports Israeli airstrikes near the capital, Damascus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (AP) — Israeli’s military staged airstrikes near Syria’s capita late Monday, Syrian state media reported. There was no immediate word on any casualties.State TV said that “an Israeli aggression is targeting suburbs of the capital Damascus,” but gave no further details. State news agency SANA said Syrian air defenses were activated against “hostile targets” near Damascus.An Israeli air attack Aug. 7 on suburbs of Damascus reportedly killed four soldiers.Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in its northern neighbor, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them.Israel has also targeted the international airports in Damascus and the northern Syrian city of Aleppo several times over the past few years, often putting it out of commission.The Associated Press