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Dominic Raab latest in long line of sackings and storm-outs under Britain’s Tories

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

LONDON — Sackings and dramatic resignations used to be relatively rare in British politics. Not any more.Dominic Raab’s resignation as deputy prime minister and justice secretary amid a bullying investigation marks the third dramatic Cabinet departure from Rishi Sunak’s government — even though Sunak has been prime minister for under six months.These events were once a rarity. Analysis by the Institute for Government think tank shows that ministerial resignations outside reshuffles have become far more common as the Conservatives’ current 13-year-stretch in government has carried on, when compared to the decades under Tory and Labour governments between 1979 and 2010.Including the four Conservative prime ministers forced out since 2010, a total of 39 Cabinet ministers have — outside of a reshuffle — either been sacked, quit with a pop at the government, or resigned in disgrace. Here’s POLITICO’s reminder of each and every last one of them. The coalition...

Firefighters battling house fire in Chelmsford

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

Fire crews are working to extinguish a house fire in Chelmsford on Friday morning.Video from SKY7-HD showed crews using ladder trucks to battle the flames on Quigley Avenue, which were casting a large plume of smoke into the sky. No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Weekend Rain On The Way

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

A chilly start turned into a fantastic afternoon yesterday as highs headed for the mid to upper 60s inland, while holding in the upper 50s at the immediate coast. Today, deep inland, it’ll be just as warm as yesterday, however, at the coast, it’ll be chilly. A northeast breeze prevails, keeping eastern Mass chillier through the afternoon. Although a few passing sprinkles are with us this morning, we’ll catch some some today at times too. We’ll call today partly sunny. The temp range from east to west is about 20 degrees this afternoon as temps hover near 50 at the coast and run up to near 70 in western Worcester County. Tomorrow, we’ll kick the weekend off dry, but it’ll be cloudy and seasonably cool with temps in the 50s to low 60s. Tomorrow night into Sunday, wet weather settles in with 0.50-1.00″ likely for much of Southern New England, with locally higher totals across western New England. Highs hold in the 50s. Early next week. Highs in...

Maura Healey shakes up MBTA board, adds three new members

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

Governor Maura Healey appointed three new members to the MBTA Board of Directors, putting a former general manager at the helm in a shake-up that followed months of public outcry for a more active and engaged board.Thomas Glynn, a past MBTA general manager and CEO of Massport under former governors Michael Dukakis and Deval Patrick, respectively, was appointed board chair. The board’s current chair, Betsy Taylor, resigned, effective immediately, a  Healey spokesperson told the Herald.Thomas McGee, a former Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation and mayor of Lynn, and Eric Goodwine, a commercial banking executive in Worcester, were appointed as new members.Healey stuck with former Gov. Charlie Baker appointees Robert Butler and Chanda Smart, the latter of whom was added to the board in the final days of Baker’s term. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, another existing member, will continue in his role as the MBTA Advisory Board appointee. Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca ...

ASK IRA: Is slow and small any way for Heat to try to win a playoff series?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

Q: We play small to get slower. That’s pathetic. – Rodney.A: Such is the reality of a roster that is largely unathletic. It’s not as if adding Max Strus or Duncan Robinson to the starting lineup in place of a lumbering big man necessarily makes the Heat any fleeter. Just smaller. Small ball typically means a faster pace, an injection of quickness, steals, transition, scoring. That simply is not the case with the Heat, which tends to be a double whammy, while also playing small. And even other smaller options are sampled, it is with older players such as Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo, who clearly have lost a step over the years.Q: Winning one game this series was our ceiling this season. – Kelly.A: And it well might be, in light of Wednesday night’s thrashing. For now, the focus is on getting one more. The best bet likely will be emulating something close to what the Bucks accomplished in Game 2, and win it over the top, with over-the-top 3-point shootin...

Howie Carr: Liz Warren ‘fighting’ for stone-cold killer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

The fake Indian – Sen. Elizabeth Warren – doesn’t much like cops, or anybody else who works for a living, for that matter.But boy, does she love murderers! If you doubt me, check out her letters to the guy whose mugshot appears on this page.The bloodstained thug’s name is Julio B. Leiva, and he is currently doing life without parole in the Massachusetts state prison system.Briefly, the fake Indian’s jailbird friend murdered a guy in Springfield in 2013, shot him seven times and then rifled his pockets.Then Leiva took it on the lam for seven months before he was lugged in Tijuana Mexico. (This mugshot was taken by the US Marshals Service.)Back in the Commonwealth, he attacked a guard at MCI-Cedar Junction and was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.No problemo, though, as far as the fake Indian is concerned.On May 8, 2020, at the height of the Panic, she sent Leiva a letter at his new prison in Shirley:“As our country navigates this challenging moment, I am fight...

Driver in life-threatening condition after two-vehicle crash in Vaughan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

A driver is fighting for their life following a two-vehicle crash in Vaughan.The collision happened around 9 p.m. Thursday at Pine Valley Drive and Major Mackenzie Drive.Police tell CityNews a vehicle was making a turn at the intersection when it was t-boned by an oncoming vehicle.One driver was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Another person was sent to hospital with serious injuries.The intersection was closed for seven hours for the investigation but the roads have since reopened.

Biden 2024 splits Dems but most would back him: AP-NORC poll

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Only about half of Democrats think President Joe Biden should run again in 2024, a poll shows, but a large majority say they’d be likely to support him if he became the nominee.The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 26% of Americans overall want to see Biden run again — a slight recovery from the 22% who said that in January. Forty-seven percent of Democrats say they want him to run, also up slightly from only 37% who said that in January. The ambivalence among Democratic voters comes as Biden is preparing to formally announce his 2024 reelection campaign as soon as next week, according to people briefed on the discussions. The president has been eyeing Tuesday, April 25 — four years to the day since he entered the 2020 race — although no final decisions have been made. Despite the reluctance of many Democrats to see Biden run for another term, 78% of them say they approve of the job he’s doing as president. And a total ...

Elon Musk’s Twitter drops government-funded media labels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

Twitter has removed labels describing global media organizations as government-funded or state-affiliated, a move that comes after the Elon Musk-owned platform started stripping blue verification checkmarks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee.Among those no longer labeled was National Public Radio in the U.S., which announced last week that it would stop using Twitter after its main account was designated state-affiliated media, a term also used to identify media outlets controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China.Twitter later changed the label to “government-funded media,” but NPR — which relies on the government for a tiny fraction of its funding — said it was still misleading. Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Swedish public radio made similar decisions to quit tweeting. CBC’s government-funded label vanished Friday, along with the state-affiliated tags on media accounts including Sputnik and RT in Russia and Xinhua in...

Unions say rails should forgo buybacks and spend on safety

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:14:56 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Rail unions want railroads to take some of the billions they’re using every year to buy back their stock and spend it to improve safety in the wake of several high-profile derailments and hire more workers.The 12 unions that represent all of the more than 100,000 workers across the industry said Friday that collectively the six biggest freight railroads spent over $165 billion on buybacks — well above the $119 billion they spent on upgrading and maintaining their track and equipment between 2015 and last year. At the same time, their safety record worsened as they cut costs and eliminated nearly one-third of all rail jobs.“I think it has become increasingly apparent that the priorities of the railroads are out of whack,” said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Division coalition that includes all the rail unions.The fiery Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that led to evacuations and health fears near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, ...