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Queen ‘asked to block’ House of Lords place for media magnate Evgeny Lebedev

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

LONDON — The late Queen Elizabeth II was asked to step in and stop Russian-British media tycoon Evgeny Lebedev getting a place in the House of Lords, it has been reported.The Guardian — citing forthcoming documentary “Boris, the Lords & the Russian Spy: Dispatches” — said Monday that British government officials contacted Buckingham Palace in July 2020 to ask whether the monarch would block a peerage for Lebedev, the son of oligarch and former KGB officer Alexander Lebedev.The place in the U.K.’s upper chamber — which was ultimately waived through — had been recommended by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who drew political heat for the move amid wider concerns about Russian influence on British politics.Alexander Lebedev and his son bought newspaper titles the Evening Standard and the Independent more than a decade ago. The elder Lebedev was sanctioned by Canada last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The queen is constitutionally entitle...

Putin suppressed a mutiny. But what’s next for him and Russia?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

The last few days have been alternately strange, confusing and nerve-wracking. The world watched as tension between several of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most loyal lieutenants broke into the open, and one of them turned his guns on targets in his own country.For now, the situation appears to have been resolved with an offer of exile to Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, who resisted having his forces integrated into the Russian army and sent them into Russia to confront the military leadership. But it remains unclear to what extent Putin and the autocratic regime he has spent the last 23 years building has been damaged by the display of defiance, either short term or long term.So we asked some of the most astute observers of Russia and its leader to share their thoughts on what we’ve learned about Putin in the last few days, and what that might mean for Russia — and the West — going forward.Some think this is the beginning of the end of Putin’s rule wh...

Rinse & Repeat: Warm, Muggy, Storms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

A slow area of low pressure will move out of the Great Lakes and make its way across New England the next few days. Where have we heard that before? Oh yeah, literally all month long! Well, we’re back in this pattern which will keep us in an unsettled pattern all week long. But, like most days this month, these will be isolated or scattered in nature and no day will be a total washout. It’s not just the storm chance that will be with us all week, but the mild and HUMID air will be with us through the weekend too.Out the door this morning it’s warm and humid. The dew points are near 70° which is a tropical-like air mass and that’s where temperatures are too. When the temperature and the dew point get close together, that’s when we develop the fog and low cloud cover that many of us are waking up to. There’s a dense fog advisory for Buzzard’s Bay, Cape, and Islands until 10am for visibility down to a quarter-mile in spots. I do think everyone ...

Newburyport’s Kyle Hodsdon named CAL athletic director of the year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

The Cape Ann League has named Newburyport High School’s Kyle Hodsdon as its 2022-23 Athletic Director of the Year for having excelled in his profession and making significant contributions within the field of athletic administration at the local and state levels. Hodsdon has been the Athletic Director at Newburyport since 2015.“We can think of no more deserving recipient of this award than Kyle,” said Hamilton-Wenham AD Craig Genualdo. “He is a leader in our meetings, always at the forefront of league wide initiatives on equity, sportsmanship, and creating great environments for all of our athletes in competitions.”Hodson has been instrumental in providing a great perspective on the significance and importance of educational athletics. This past school year, he spearheaded the creation of the Cape Ann League sportsmanship summit, which had over 50 student-athletes from all eleven Cape Ann League schools. The students worked together during the day and l...

Lucas: Hunter Biden deal show’s the fix was in, just ask Jack Jones

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

Jack Jones ought to hire Christopher Clark.Jones is the New England Patriots cornerback who was arrested on gun charges at Logan Airport a week ago.Christopher Clark is Hunter Biden’s lawyer. He is the man who helped Joe Biden’s degenerate son Hunter, 53, dodge jail time for illegally carrying a gun, as well as for two watered down tax charges.Jones, 25, was released on $30,000 bail Tuesday after pleading not guilty in East Boston Municipal Court.Biden on the same day was released without bail after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes and to the illegal possession of a gun.It took the U.S Justice Department and the FBI five years to investigate Biden and get him before a judge.It took only five days for Jones.Jones faces serious prison time if convicted.Biden doesn’t, but he’ll be on probation.And Joe Biden’s war on gun violence has suddenly turned into gun silence.One obvious difference in the cases is that Hunter Biden only had a Colt Cobra .38 Special that his gir...

Somerville school to remain closed next year due to rotting infrastructure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

The Somerville school that shuttered after concrete crumbled in its halls this spring will continue to hold classes at a different venue next year.Most students at the pre-kindergarten-grade 8 Winter Hill Community Innovation School will be learning at the city’s Edgerly administrative building, while pre-K and kindergarten classes will be moved to the Capuano School.Officials alerted parents and community members last week of the change in learning venue, citing uncertainty around whether Winter Hill’s rotting infrastructure would be secure enough for classes to proceed.Structural engineers are studying the 95,000-square-foot school, built in 1975, and the reports should be done sometime in July, according to Interim Superintendent Jeff Curley, Winter Hill Principal Courtney Gosselin and Mayor Katjana Ballantyne.“Because we expect assessments and final reports to take several more weeks, and to be sure we have a formal plan in place for the fall with enough time to plan, we h...

Tax talks begin for second summer with billions potentially needed elsewhere

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

It’s fair to wonder how far state politicians will get toward cutting taxes this year, considering how last year’s efforts turned out.House and Senate lawmakers will meet in joint conference committee beginning this week, with the goal of ironing out the differences between their respective tax cut proposals and hoping, one imagines, that this year’s efforts aren’t as wasted as the last.Last June talks fell apart after negotiators learned a rarely invoked law from 1986 would require the state to send nearly $3 billion back to taxpayers. This summer tax talks come just as the Commonwealth grapples with a potential multi-billion-dollar budget hole stemming from the Baker Administration’s apparent misuse of COVID-era funds for unemployment benefits.Despite that, Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, told the Herald Sunday that there is room for lawmakers to make tax cuts work.“I think it will happen,” Howgate said, before explaining that the news the Common...

Orioles reset: What’s it like to be baseball’s No. 1 prospect? Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson share their experience.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

Before the Orioles drafted him in 2019′s second round, Gunnar Henderson was committed to play baseball at Auburn. But in detailing how he’s handled the pressures and attention that have come with his status as baseball’s top prospect, he evokes Alabama football coach Nick Saban.“Growing up,” Henderson said, “my parents always instilled, ‘Don’t let things get to your head, no matter if it’s good or bad. Just always keep your head down and just humbly work and don’t let all the ‘rat poison’ that people have go to your head.’”The Sabanism, in which rodent killer is used to describe outside noise, doesn’t fully summarize how Henderson and teammate Adley Rutschman viewed their respective terms as the sport’s No. 1 overall prospect. Both players viewed that status with pride but said the most important response was not to let it go to their heads.“It’s a really cool honor, just beca...

Indiana tornado kills one as severe weather causes damage and power outages across multiple states

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

SHOALS, Ind. (AP) — A tornado struck a home, killing one occupant and injuring another as severe weather hit parts of Indiana, Tennessee and other states, an official said.The tornado that struck the home Sunday evening was part of a storm system that pushed through Martin County, Indiana, WXIN-TV reported.Martin County Emergency Management Agency Director Cameron Wolf confirmed the death and injury, according to WXIN, which reported that the home was in a rural area where multiple trees were brought down by high winds.Martin County emergency management officials did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking additional information about the casualties and the extent of storm damage.The town of Shoals, the Martin County seat, is about 85 miles (137 kilometers) southwest of Indianapolis and 80 miles (128 kilometers) northwest of Louisville, Kentucky.A tornado also touched down Sunday afternoon in Johnson County, south of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Star ...

Suspected militants from Somalia kill 5 people in Kenya border village

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:15 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Five people have been killed in a Kenyan border village, fueling concerns that such attacks are increasing after a decline. The weekend attack raises the death toll over the last month to more than 30 people — including soldiers, police reservists and civilians.In Saturday’s attack in the coastal Lamu county, four of the victims had their throats slit and one was shot at close range, according to local police.The officials said about 30 attackers also torched houses in the village and stole food.The village borders Witu Forest, where al-Shabab militants have created hideouts and held abductees.Lamu County has been attacked two other times in the last two weeks, with both incidents targeting Kenya Defense Forces running a security operation in the area and leaving four of them dead.In Kenya’s north, Mandera, Wajir and Garissa counties have seen several attacks this month in which more than 10 people – including soldiers, police reservists and c...