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Putin’s running for president again (duh!)

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

Who could have seen this coming?!Incumbent Vladimir Putin has decided to run for president again in the upcoming 2024 Russian elections, according to a report by Reuters.While everyone expects Putin — who has been Russia’s leader on and off (but mainly on) since 1999 — to seek reelection as president, his office has not confirmed the news yet.But according to Monday’s report, which cites six anonymous sources, the decision has been made and the Russian leader is expected to make a public announcement “soon.”Russian presidential elections are slated for March 2024. When Putin wins — a near-certainty since he allows virtually no opposition to his regime — he would remain president until at least 2030.Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin — who has been waging all-out war on Ukraine since February 2022 — could “hardly” face any real competition if he was to run again, given that he is the “unquestionably top-ranked political figure” in the country. Responding to Reu...

Moscow bombs Odesa after Ukraine destroys Russian warship in Crimea

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

KYIV — Russia bombed the Odesa region on Sunday, damaging an art museum and warehouses, a day after Ukrainian forces struck a Russian missile carrier at a Kerch shipyard. A Russian Kalibr missile carrier was destroyed in the Ukrainian attack on Saturday, Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Forces, said in a statement Sunday. The ship was in the Russian Zaliv shipyard in the city of Kerch in Russian-occupied Crimea.“Well done, the attack went through like a SCALPel,” Oleshchuk said, hinting that the Ukrainian pilot used French SCALP cruise missiles for the attack.Oleshchuk did not name the vessel. But the Ukrainian service of Radio Liberty claimed it was the Askold — one of the newest Russian missile carriers. Russia’s defense ministry confirmed only that the ship had been damaged.  Ukrainian forces also targeted a Russian ammo depot in Sedove on the coast of the Azov Sea in the Donetsk region Sunday evening.“It will keep detonating until morning for sure...

Ailing Pope Francis meets with European rabbis and condemns antisemitism, terrorism, war

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis met with European rabbis on Monday and decried antisemitism, war and terrorism in a written speech he declined to read, saying he wasn’t feeling well.Francis told the rabbis during the audience in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace that he was very happy to receive them, but added: “I’m not feeling well, and so I prefer not to read the speech but give it to you, so you can take it with you.”Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope “has a bit of a cold and a long day of audiences.” The 86-year-old pontiff ”preferred to greet the European rabbis individually, and that’s why he handed over his speech.”He said the pope’s activities are proceeding regularly for the rest of the day. On the pope’s schedule was a late afternoon encounter with children from around the world.In his prepared speech to the rabbis, Francis said his first thought and prayers goes “above all else, to everything that has happened in the last f...

Fire crews respond to house fire in Franklin

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

Franklin firefighters battled a house fire that broke out on Sunday night.The fire in a single-family home on Old Birch Street was brought under control around 1 a.m.https://twitter.com/FranklinMAfire/status/1721404166927483025The cause of the fire remains under investigation.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Revere firefighters rescue elderly woman from 2-alarm blaze

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

Revere firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue an elderly woman who became trapped in a fourth-floor apartment during a two-alarm fire on Sunday.Images from the showed firefighters reaching the woman on Park Avenue and guiding her to safety.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Orioles roundtable: Looking at offseason’s top priorities, potential fits and more

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

The Orioles’ offseason is here, giving them the chance to improve a roster that won the American League East but was swept out of the playoffs by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers.Despite their regular-season successes, the Orioles have areas they can improve. Baltimore also has five players who are now free agents — Kyle Gibson, Adam Frazier, Aaron Hicks, Jack Flaherty and Shintaro Fujinami — and about three times as many who are eligible for arbitration, leaving holes and decisions.As the Orioles’ offseason gets underway, Baltimore Sun beat reporters Nathan Ruiz and Jacob Calvin Meyer and editor Tim Schwartz give their thoughts on what this winter should look like for Baltimore.What is the Orioles’ top offseason priority?Ruiz: Don’t let the words and exclamation points on the Camden Yards video board fool you: The Orioles remain without a long-term lease binding them to the ballpark and Baltimore. The 30-year “deal” an...

Five things we learned from the Ravens’ 37-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

The Ravens played rude hosts to another NFC contender, riding their overpowering defense and a neatly varied running game to blow out the Seattle Seahawks, 37-3.Here are five things we learned from the game.The Ravens are for realKyle Hamilton dropped to the turf for pushups — penance for an interception he did not make — as general manager Eric DeCosta looked on in mock disbelief.Was this a tense moment in a touch-and-go game between postseason contenders?Not at all. It was visual proof of just how loose the Ravens felt late in the third quarter after their defense had spent the afternoon beating up another NFC heavyweight.Just as the Detroit Lions had two weeks earlier, the Seahawks traveled to Baltimore a confident team, winners of five of their past six games and first in their division. They left thoroughly beaten, testifying to the home team’s quality.“They just went to work, and we didn’t stop them,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “...

Lucas: Maura Healey should send immigrants from Massachusetts to New Hampshire

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey ought to begin busing immigrants to New Hampshire.That is one way she could help cope with the endless invasion of immigrants — both legal and illegal — that has overwhelmed the state’s ability to house and feed them, not to mention the cost to taxpayers.New Hampshire will not like it, of course, just the way the residents of Martha’s Vineyard did not like it when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew in a couple of planeloads of Venezuelan immigrants to the toney island in 2022.New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu will not like it either. Sununu, who recently announced the creation of a Northern Border Alliance Task Force to go after illegal immigrants crossing into New Hampshire from Canada, may now have to worry about his border with Massachusetts as well.While Joe Biden’s open southern border with Mexico gets all the attention — with an additional army of 5,000 immigrants loudly marching toward it today — the U.S border with Canada is open as well.But New Hamps...

QPAREB says Montreal home sales in October down 2% from year ago level

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

MONTREAL — The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers say home sales in the Montreal area in October fell two per cent compared with the same month last year to their second-lowest level since it began compiling market data in 2000.The association says Montreal home sales totalled 2,675 in October, down from 2,740 a year earlier.Single-family home sales totalled 1,347 in October, down six per cent compared with 1,438 in the same period last year, while condominium sales amounted to 1,018 transactions compared with 1,021 in October 2022.Plex sales rose 10 per cent to 307 sales compared with 279 sales of the small income properties a year earlier.Active listings rose to 17,518 in October, a gain of 12 per cent from 15,708 a year ago, while new listings climbed 10 per  cent to 5,816 compared with 5,306 a year earlier.The association says the median price of a single family home was $545,000, up from $510,000 a year ago, while the median price for a condominium was $390,...

Police say a shooter fired 22 shots into a Cincinnati crowd, killing a boy and wounding 5 others

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:55:30 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati officials are expressing outrage and horror at a drive-by shooting that sent more than a score of bullets into a crowd of children, killing an 11-year-old boy and striking four other children and an adult.Police Chief Terri Theetge told reporters Sunday that an occupant of a sedan fired 22 rounds “in quick succession” into a crowd of children just before 9:30 p.m. Friday on the city’s West End. A 53-year-old woman was hit along with the boy who died; three other boys aged 12, 13 and 15; and a 15-year-old girl. One victim remained hospitalized in stable condition.Mayor Aftab Pureval called the shooting “sickening and unimaginable” and said it occurred in a vibrant neighborhood next to a local park and near a historic elementary school. “Twenty-two rounds were fired,” Pureval said. “Twenty-two rounds in a moment — into a crowd of kids. No time to respond. No time to react.”Pureval said the neighborhood is suffering “unimaginable trauma.” On Saturday ...