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Turkey’s president agrees to approve Finland’s NATO membership application

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president agrees to approve Finland’s NATO membership application.Source

March Madness bracket totally busted? You’re not alone

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

From No. 13 seed Furman beating fourth-seeded Virginia to No. 15 Princeton defeating second-seeded Arizona, most NCAA Tournament brackets were busted Thursday before the sun went down.The NCAA March Madness Twitter account posted after Thursday’s late games concluded that only 787 brackets of unspecified millions remained perfect.Numbers were similar elsewhere.In ESPN’s Tournament Challenge bracket game, only 658 perfect brackets remained by the end of the first day. More than 20 million had gotten at least one of the 16 games wrong.Furman received a decent amount of support. The Paladins were picked to win their opener in 18.2% of ESPN’s brackets. Only 6.6% picked Princeton to beat Arizona, and the Wildcats going down did tremendous damage to many brackets. They were picked in 4.9% of brackets to cut down the nets at the national championship game.Arizona was a popular pick at CBS Sports, too, appearing on 96.9% of brackets win its opener, 84.9% to make the Sweet ...

Equinox comes before the first day of spring for DC region

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

While meteorologists observe the first day of spring on March 1 for ease of weather-keeping records, the official first day of spring or “vernal equinox” arrives Monday. However, the balance of daylight and darkness is offset from the first day of spring.Since we need a reason to celebrate, find joy in the fact that today we have 12 hours of daylight and darkness in the D.C. area. Yes, the sunrise and sunset are both 7:17 (a.m. and p.m.) on Friday.More Local NewsMore Weather NewsVernal equinox is a complicated way of saying “first day of spring,” but the “equinox” part refers to equal 12 hours of daylight and darkness.Since the Earth is not a perfect circle, but rather an oblate spheroid, and light is bent as it comes through the atmosphere, Friday is the day when the region sees 12 hours of daylight and darkness.On Saturday, we gain three more minutes of daylight, so the sunrise is two minutes earlier (7:15 a.m.) and sunset is one minute later at...

Burundi officials detect polio outbreak linked to vaccine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Health officials in Burundi have declared an outbreak of polio linked to the vaccine, the first time the paralytic disease has been detected in the East African country for more than three decades.Polio has been diagnosed in an unvaccinated four-year-old child in the western part of the country and in two other children who were contacts of the child, authorities in Burundi confirmed in a statement on Friday. Officials also found traces of the virus in sewage samples, confirming the circulation of polio.The virus that sickened the children was found to be a mutated strain of polio that initially came from an oral vaccine. The Burundi government declared the polio outbreak to be a national public health emergency and plans to start an immunization campaign within weeks, aimed at protecting all children up to age seven.“We are supporting the national efforts to ramp up polio vaccination to ensure no child is missed and faces polio’s debilitating impact,” said Dr. M...

ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over Ukraine war crimes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

THE HAGUE (AP) — The International Criminal Court said Friday it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine.The court said in a statement that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”It also issued a warrant Friday for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar allegations.The court’s president, Piotr Hofmanski, said in a video statement that while the ICC’s judges have issued the warrants, it will be up to the international community to enforce them. The court has no police force of its own to enforce warrants.“The ICC is doing its part of work as a court of law. The judges issued arrest warran...

Turkey, Hungary to approve Finland’s NATO membership

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

Turkey and Hungary announced Friday that they will sign off on Finland’s NATO membership — removing the biggest barrier to Finland’s joining the alliance but leaving Sweden’s bid languishing.“We have decided to initiate the ratification process in our parliament,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a press conference in Istanbul alongside his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö. Erdoğan’s move will inevitably fuel concerns about the alliance’s cohesion as Sweden — which was originally invited to join together with Finland — gets left behind for the moment.Ankara has expressed concerns about arms exports and the countries’ support for Kurdish groups, prompting months of negotiations with Finland and Sweden. But despite policy changes, Turkey holds onto its quibbles with Sweden and continues blocking Stockholm’s process. On Friday, Erdoğan lauded Finland for taking “authentic and concrete steps” while criticizing Sweden for not handing over those wanted ...

Crews battle raging fire at Lawrence liquor store, bakery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

Crews battled a raging fire at Sweeney’s Package Store on Essex Street in Lawrence Friday morning. Witnesses saw the roof cave in and flames burst out from the liquor store and a cake shop next door. The fire caused the back of the building to collapse. Firefighters could only fight the flames from the outside. According to the Chief Brian Moriarty, fighting the fire was especially difficult because there were no sprinklers in the liquor store. “We had pretty heavy smoke conditions in not only the cake factory, but the package store behind us,” Moriarty said. “As it turns out, we think the majority of the fire was in the package store, but it’s just that the alarms in the cake factory are what notified us.”As of 9 a.m., firefighters remain on scene to monitor hot spots. Officials say no injuries were reported, but the building is a total loss. The owner of Sweet Grace Heavenly Cakes spoke with 7NEWS on scene, emotional about the loss of her busine...

Taylor Swift will unveil four previously unreleased songs ahead of Eras Tour debut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

(CNN) — Time has not run out on Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” era.The “Anti-Hero” singer shared on Instagram on Thursday that “in celebration of the Eras Tour,” she’ll be releasing four previously unreleased songs. They’re set to debut at midnight.Those songs will be: “Eyes Open (Taylor’s Version),” “Safe & Sound (Taylor’s Version)” featuring Joy William and John Boy Music, “If This Was a Movie (Taylor’s Version)” and “All of the Girls You Loved Before.”Three of the four songs that Swift is releasing appear to be rerecordings, as they include the “(Taylor’s Version)” tag in the titles.In 2019, Swift’s former label, Big Machine, sold the master recordings of her music catalog, prompting the singer to record new versions of her previous albums. In 2021, Swift released “Fearless (Taylor&...

Arrest made in connection with fatal Roxbury double shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

Police have made an arrest in connection with a double shooting in Roxbury that left one victim dead and another injured, according to officials.The Boston Police Department announced the arrest of Stephen Freeman, 33, who was taken into custody on Thursday.Authorities said Freeman, a Boston resident, was arrested on charges related to a shooting that occurred on Saturday, Feb. 18, in the area of 958 Tremont Street.Police had been responding to a ShotSpotter activation near the address at the time when officers located two men suffering from gunshot wounds outside of a bar. Both were taken to the hospital, where one victim died while the other was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Boston police later identified the victim killed as 37-year-old Terrell Banks of Boston.Following an investigation involving the police department’s Homicide Unit and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, police honed in on Freeman, with a warrant issued on charges that included:Mur...

‘The cutest clovers in the patch’: Mass General shares St. Patrick’s Day photos of NICU newborns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:42:50 GMT

Mass General for Children and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have shared photos of newborn babies in the NICU on their first St. Patrick’s Day.“[We] are caring for the cutest clovers in the patch on their first St. Patrick’s Day!” Brigham and Women’s said in a statement. “The adorable, little leprechauns from the hospitals’ intensive care units are charming families, friends and staff!”The NICU provides specialized care to infants after delivery, including treatment for premature and critically ill patients. Here are this year’s “lucky charmers’, courtesy of Mass General for Children and Brigham and Women’s Hospital: