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Putin’s world is shrinking

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

Fredrik Wesslau is a distinguished policy fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and a board member of The Reckoning Project.BRICS leaders will be meeting in South Africa for their annual summit later this month. Absent, however, will be Russia’s Vladimir Putin.After months of insisting he would attend the annual gathering for the member countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Putin finally decided against traveling, as the South African government couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t be arrested and sent to The Hague.The Russian leader’s no-show demonstrates the geopolitical impact of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin. The warrant — issued in March for the war crime of deporting Ukrainian children — is already hampering his ability to represent Russia in international gatherings and engage with other world leaders, as South Africa, along with 122 other states, have ratified the Rome Statute and are obliged to arrest Pu...

Residents rattled after coyote spotted carrying body of small dog through Jamaica Plain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

Residents of a neighborhood in Jamaica Plain are calling on the city to do something to help them deal with what they say are increasingly dangerous interactions with coyotes after one was caught on camera carrying the body of a small pet dog down the sidewalk.Anthony Barron, who caught the coyote with the dog on camera, said he was surprised to see the coyote trotting down the street with the dead animal in broad daylight.“I pulled up and I saw the coyote coming across the street, and I thought it had a fox in its mouth but it dropped what was our neighbor’s dog onto the ground, looked at me, and carried on about its business,” he recalled. Melissa Foley said it’s “unfair” that she has to live with coyotes coming in and out of her yard, where her children play.Mass Wildlife spokesman Dave Wattles said the behavior the coyotes are exhibiting are not unusual and don’t require intervention.Residents are being urged to keep their pets on a leas...

Reyes hits walkoff grand slam to lead Red Sox to 6-2 win over Royals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Pablo Reyes hit a walkoff grand slam to break a ninth-inning tie — his third hit of the night — and the Boston Red Sox recovered after blowing a two-run lead to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Monday night.It was just Boston’s second win in nine games, including a sweep over the weekend by the Toronto Blue Jays — the team they had hoped to pass in the AL wild-card race.Kenley Jansen (3-5) pitched a perfect ninth for the win. Brayan Bello took a shutout into the seventh inning before the Royals scored twice to tie it.It remained 2-2 until Rafael Devers one-hopped the short wall in right field beyond the Pesky Pole. Adam Duvall struck out — for the fourth time in the game — and Triston Casas was intentionally walked before Luis Urías, who had also struck out in his first three at-bats, walked on a checked-swing 3-2 pitch.The Royals appealed to first base umpire Vic Carapazza, who signaled that Urías did not go around, and Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro was qu...

Update: Somerville school to remain closed after asbestos found during review

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

Somerville says the closed Winter Hill Community Innovation School will remain closed until further notice after a consultant found asbestos on Monday.The school was closed in June after a large piece of cement fell from the ceiling after the school was closed.On Monday, a consultant informed the city that asbestos was found “in material not typically found to contain asbestos,” according to a statement from the school.For more information on the WHCIS building renovation and replacement efforts, visit www.somervillema.gov/WHCIS 

Mets Notebook: Starling Marte placed on IL with lingering groin injury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

The Mets made a series of roster moves on Monday. In addition to the demotion of Brett Baty, outfielder Starling Marte has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right groin strain.The veteran has had an abysmal season slashing .248/.301/.324 with five homers and 28 RBI just a year after being one of the Amazins’ biggest contributors in the 101-win 2022 season — .814 OPS in 118 games.Manager Buck Showalter alluded the 34-year-old’s struggles to the double groin surgery he underwent in the offseason.“[Marte] is going to see the doctor [Tuesday] in Philadelphia,” said Showalter. “The doctor who did some of his surgeries in the offseason to kind of get our arms around everything. … I think we all know by the level we’ve seen him play at last year that he hasn’t been able to do that consistently [this year].“I don’t think he’s 100 percent [healthy]. And I think we need to try and get our arms around trying to...

Queretaro FC top Revolution in Leagues Cup play

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

Queretaro FC of LIGA MX outscored the New England Revolution 4-2 in penalty kicks in a 1-1 Leagues Cup round of 16 match at on Monday night at Gillette Stadium.The Revolution bowed out of Leagues Cup play at 2-0-2 and resume MLS play on Aug. 16 Nashville FC. Queretaro advanced to the quarterfinals and will play at either at the Philadelphia Union or Red Bulls New York. Queretaro goalkeeper Fernando Tapia made overtime stops on Nacho Gil and Ian Hawkes to secure the win.Revolution interim head coach Richie Williams was the field manager of record for the second straight Leagues Cup match. Revolution head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena is on indefinite administrative leave pending an investigation my MLS for making “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.”“Everybody is disappointed, we wanted to advance,” said Williams. “We are professional players and professional coaches and every time we step on the field we want to win.”To accommodate the short turnaround, Williams made si...

Suspect killed after allegedly shooting police dog identified

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Police identified a man who was killed in a shooting involving law enforcement in the Clairemont neighborhood last week. He was also suspected of firing his gun and killing a K-9 police dog.Benjamin Pickens, 33, was identified as the suspect, Lt. Joseph Jarjura with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release Monday. His cause of death is due to a gunshot wound while the manner is homicide, according to authorities."Per the Countywide Memorandum of Understanding, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Homicide Unit was called to the scene to conduct the officer-involved-shooting investigation," Jarjura said.The officer who shot the suspect was also identified as Addam Ansarie, who is currently assigned as a patrol officer in the Western Division and has been with the San Diego Police Department for 11 years, according to authorities.Police on Aug. 2 initially responded around 1:23 a.m. about shots fired in the 3500 block of Ben Street. The...

2 dead, thousands of flight cancellations, 1.1 million lose power in eastern US storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least two people died, thousands of U.S. flights were canceled or delayed, and more than 1.1 million homes and businesses lost power Monday as severe storms, including hail and lightning, moved through the eastern U.S.The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the greater D.C. area, lasting until 9 p.m. A special Weather Service statement warned, “There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes.”The storms’ spread was massive, with tornado watches and warnings posted across 10 states from Tennessee to New York. The National Weather Service said more than 29.5 million people were under a tornado watch Monday afternoon. In Anderson, South Carolina, a 15-year-old boy who arrived at his grandparent’s house during the storm was struck and killed when a tree fell on him as he got out of a car, according to the Anderson County Office...

Brazil has 1.7 million Indigenous people, near double the count from prior census, government says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — The diminutive woman with a white feather headdress stood on the stage of the majestic colonial theater in Brazil’s Amazon on Monday and addressed the crowd. The woman, Minister of Indigenous People Sonia Guajajara, declared the day “the milestone of Indigenous participation,” then cited the national statistics institute’s freshly released census data that revealed the full scope of the nation’s Indigenous population: 1,693,535 people.While just 0.8% of Brazil’s population, the figure marks an 89% jump from the nation’s prior census, in 2010, due to greater willingness of people to recognize their roots and better survey methods, including access to previously unreachable villages, she said. The latter largely explains why their numbers within Indigenous territories grew 20%, to 622,066. “This a historic moment with that picture that the statistics agency has made,” she said on the eve of the two-day Amazon Summit in Belem. “It’s a historic moment of the restart...

Elon Musk says he may need surgery before proposed ‘cage match’ with Mark Zuckerberg

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:52:11 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk says he may need to get surgery before a proposed “cage match” with Mark Zuckerberg.The two tech billionaires seemingly agreed to an in-person face-off in late June. It’s unclear if a physical fight will actually end up happening, but Musk and Zuckerberg have continued to fuel interest in the potential match through online jabs at one another — most recently on Sunday, when Musk said the fight would be live-streamed on his social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.Musk added that the fight’s proceeds would go to a charity for veterans. On his Threads social media account, Zuckerberg responded: “Shouldn’t we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity?” In a follow-up post, the CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta said he wasn’t “holding his breath” for a fight.“I’m ready today. I suggested Aug 26 when he first challenged, but he hasn’t confirmed,” wrote Zuckerberg, who is actually trained in mix...