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Europe and the Indo-Pacific: Partners facing similar challenges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

Josep Borrell Fontelles is the high commissioner of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy. Tobias Billström is the minister for foreign affairs of Sweden.At our initiative, ministers from the Indo-Pacific and the European Union, along with their partners, will gather in Stockholm on May 13. And our meeting is a call for action, just as much as it is meant to demonstrate the EU’s continuous commitment to the Indo-Pacific.We meet as the world grapples with aggression, geopolitical tensions, economic turbulence and the climate crisis. In these consequential times, partnerships are essential — and never has the case for cooperation between our regions been so compelling.The Indo-Pacific region is of strategic importance: It holds the larger part of the earth’s population and economy. The major share of world trade passes through its waters. Stability and freedom of navigation in the region are vital for global prosperity. The fate of climate change and the health of...

Dozens of homes without water after major main break in Methuen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

Crews are working to repair a major water main break in Methuen that has left a road near the fire station closed and 30 homes without water service, the city said. The break on East Street near Swan Street prompted emergency crews to close the road from Russ Street to Swan Street at the East Fire Station, the city said in a tweet early Friday morning.Repair crews have been on scene since 3 a.m. Workers could be seen digging through the roadway to repair the main and a nearby high-pressure gas line means it will likely be a lengthy process.Crews are hoping to have the roadway reopened in time for the evening commute and to have water service restored sometime today.No additional information was immediately available.https://twitter.com/MariSalazarTV/status/1656974163813253122https://twitter.com/cityofmethuen/status/1656948647852998657This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Astronomers spot largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

 (CNN) — Astronomers have spotted the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed, and it’s 10 times brighter than any known exploding star, or supernova.The brightness of the explosion, called AT2021lwx, has lasted for three years, while most supernovas are only bright for a few months.The event, still being detected by telescopes, occurred nearly 8 billion light-years away from Earth when the universe was about 6 billion years old. The luminosity of the explosion is also three times brighter than tidal disruption events, when stars fall into supermassive black holes.But what triggered such a long-lived, massive cosmic explosion? Astronomers said they think a supermassive black hole disrupted a vast gas or dust cloud, potentially thousands of times larger than our sun. It’s possible that the cloud was drawn off the course of its orbit and went flying into the black hole, the researchers said.As the black hole swallowed pieces of the hydrogen cloud, shock waves li...

Chicago Bears release 2023 schedule: Week 1 and Week 18 against the Green Bay Packers — plus 4 prime-time games

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

The Chicago Bears will open and close their 2023 regular season against the Green Bay Packers, the team announced Thursday night as part of their full schedule release.The first Bears-Packers game after the Aaron Rodgers era will be in the season opener Sept. 10 at Soldier Field. Fans are expected to get their first good look at the Packers under new quarterback Jordan Love. The teams are scheduled to meet again in Week 18 at Lambeau Field.The Bears won only three games last season, but the NFL still scheduled them to play four games in prime time in 2023, highlighted by a “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 9 at Soldier Field.The game is notable because it is expected to feature Bears quarterback Justin Fields against new Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. The Bears traded the No. 1 draft pick to the Panthers this offseason so that the Panthers could draft Young. The Bears received Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore as a part of the trade...

Elon Musk says he’s found someone to lead Twitter as new CEO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and MATT O’BRIEN (AP Technology Writers)Elon Musk said Thursday he has found a new CEO for Twitter, or X Corp. as it’s now called — and it’s a woman. He did not name her but said she will be starting in about six weeks. Musk, who bought Twitter last fall and has been running it since, has long insisted he is not the company’s permanent CEO. The Tesla billionaire said in a tweet Thursday that his role will transition to being Twitter’s executive chairman and chief technology officer. In mid-November, just a few weeks after buying the social media platform for $44 billion, he told a Delaware court that he does not want to be the CEO of any company.While testifying, Musk said “I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time.”More than a month later, he tweeted in December: “I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job.” The pledge came af...

3 takeaways from the Chicago White Sox’s disappointing series against the last-place Kansas City Royals, including another injury scare

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

The bottom of the ninth inning began with an always troublesome walk Thursday at Kauffman Stadium. It concluded with a perfect bunt and with that the end of a disappointing series for the Chicago White Sox.Afterward, manager Pedro Grifol got straight to the point.“We got outplayed in the series,” Grifol said. “Flat out.”The Sox went to Kansas City looking to build on back-to-back series wins against the Minnesota Twins and Cincinnati Reds.They left town dropping three of four to the Royals, who have second-worst record in baseball. The Sox suffered a walkoff loss Thursday, falling 4-3 in front of 20,321.The Sox are 13-26, just a game ahead of the last-place Royals (12-27) in the American League Central.Here are three takeaways from lost trip.1. Pedro Grifol wants to see urgency.The Sox trailed by two runs in the eighth inning Thursday. Andrew Vaughn and Carlos Pérez singled against Aroldis Chapman, bringing Luis Robert Jr. to the plate.Robert lined a dou...

Migrants race to US border as Title 42 pandemic restrictions expire, straining US immigration system

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

By VALERIE GONZALEZ, ELLIOT SPAGAT and GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO (Associated Press)EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The U.S. entered a new immigration enforcement era Friday, ending a three-year-old asylum restriction and enacting a set of strict new rules that the Biden administration hopes will stabilize the U.S.-Mexico border and push migrants to apply for protections where they are, skipping the dangerous journey north. The transition has been far from simple. Even as the old policy known as Title 42 expired, migrants along the border were still wading into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the country, defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Others hunched over cellphones trying to access an appointment app, a centerpiece of the new measures. And lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures. The Biden administration has said the new policies are meant both to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants who spend thousands on...

These Yankees know what it’s like to play for truly bad teams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

The saying “it’s a long season” is universal in baseball, a staple of the lingo often meant to boost morale when times are tough. Whether a team or player buys into the idea is a different story, though.Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo didn’t during his early years with the Cubs, who finished in last place from 2012-2014. Chicago turned things around in 2015 and won its first championship in 108 years in 2016, but the Cubs averaged just over 66 wins during Rizzo’s first three seasons in The Windy City.“No, I didn’t believe it,” Rizzo told the Daily News of the timeless expression at the start of his career, “because I was realistic about where we were as a team.”Yankees closer Clay Holmes echoed similar sentiments when discussing the bulk of his stay in Pittsburgh. The Pirates won 69 games in 2019, 19 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and 61 in 2021, which is when they traded Holmes to New York.“If it̵...

This blues and crawfish festival is bringing the best of the bayou to San Diego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A Louisiana-themed music and food festival is bringing the best of the bayou to San Diego this weekend -- think of it as Mardi Gras in May.Starting Thursday, Gator By the Bay will be spicing up Spanish Landing Park at the San Diego Bay, which is located right across from the airport. California Wine Festival returns to North County this summer With over 100 acts scheduled, attendees can enjoy four consecutive days of live entertainment and special performances on seven different stages, according to the event's website.Some musical artists on the lineup include zydeco performer Terrance Simien, blues singer Johnny Sansone, jazz group the Gypsy Swing Cats and many more. A full list of Gator By The Bay artist can be found here.Plus, there will be "Taste of Louisiana" cooking demos, a full marketplace and a food court packed with southern cuisine, as explained on the events webpage. Some Louisiana specialties that can be expected include po' boy sandwiches, smoked h...

Marine veteran who fatally choked NYC subway rider Jordan Neely surrenders on manslaughter charge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:30 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger in the New York City subway, leading to the other rider’s death, turned himself in to authorities Friday on a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for 15 years.Manhattan prosecutors announced Thursday they would bring the criminal charge against Daniel Penny, 24, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, 30.Penny turned himself in at a Manhattan police station Friday morning.Neely’s death, captured on video by a freelance journalist, has raised an uproar over many issues, including how those with mental illness are treated by the transit system and the city, as well as crime and vigilantism. Thomas Kenniff, one of Penny’s attorneys, said Penny turned himself in “voluntarily and with the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his history of service to this grateful nation.”In a brief statement to reporters outside the police...