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Former Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis attacked in central Athens

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis was attacked in central Athens late on Friday, suffering a broken nose, cuts and bruises. The assault, which his party DiEM25 described as a “brazen fascist attack,” took place while Varoufakis was dining in the central Exarchia district with party members from all over Europe.“A small group of thugs stormed the place shouting aggressively, falsely accusing him of signing off on Greece’s bailouts with the troika [the country’s bailout creditors],” DiEM25 said in a statement. “Varoufakis stood up to talk to them, but they immediately responded with violence, savagely beating him while filming the scene.”Politicians from across the political spectrum swiftly condemned the assault in Varoufakis, the motorbike-riding, leather-jacket-wearing politician who became well-known as the country’s finance minister in 2015.  As part of the left-wing Syriza-led Greek government, Varoufakis battled the so-called troika and Europe-imposed austerit...

Speed restrictions lifted for most rail lines after MBTA announces 25 mph limits

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

Speed restrictions have been lifted for several MBTA lines less than 24 hours after officials announced speeds on all Red, Orange, Green, and Blue line trains would be capped at 10-25 miles per hour.In a press conference Friday morning, MBTA Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville said restrictions were lifted on the Red, Orange, and Blue lines except for in localized areas. Gonneville said that restrictions were still in place on the Green and Mattapan lines, where necessary inspections may take until Monday.Announced the night before, the restrictions came in response to findings from a site visit by the Department of Public Utilities on Monday of this week, which involved checking on track maintenance conditions on the Red Line between Ashmont and Savin Hill stations, according to the MBTA.The next day, the DPU sent the MBTA letters laying out a list of areas where immediate action needed to be taken. Some of the problem areas included track conditions, third rail insulators, hea...

Tracking next week’s nor’easter

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

(WHDH — A nasty nor’easter expected to bring heavy, wet snow to higher elevations in Massachusetts is slated to move into New England late Monday night and into Tuesday. After some snow showers and drizzle move through Saturday and taper off, Sunday is set to be the pickk of the weekend before the nor’easter takes aim at New England.The storm is set to bring heavy wet snow to cities and towns at higher elevations and mostly rain along the coast.We’re also tracking the potential for damaging winds and minor coastal flooding as the storm moves through. Stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest weather updates.

COVID-19 ‘steady’ in Canada as world marks third anniversary of pandemic

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

Saturday marks three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health, says while Omicron subvariants continue to spread, there have been no new variant-driven waves of infection in recent months. Hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths have stabilized and the virus has reached a relatively steady state in this country. Tam says population immunity is high due to an overall high vaccine uptake combined with the immunity people got from infection.She also says it’s possible that Canada could be spared any new major waves in the coming months but cautions that this does not mean that COVID-19 is over.Tam says people who are older or immunocompromised continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus and she urges anyone who has not been vaccinated or had a booster dose to get those shots.The National Advisory Committee on Immunization is recommending an additional bivalent booster dose this spri...

Skier Shiffrin wins slalom for record World Cup win 87

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

ARE, Sweden (AP) — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin set the outright World Cup record for most career victories with 87 by winning a slalom Saturday.Shiffrin broke a tie with Ingemar Stenmark on the all-time overall winners list — between men and women. The Swede competed in the 1970s and 80s.Shiffrin had matched Stenmark’s mark of 86 wins with victory in a giant slalom Friday.Saturday’s result marked the American’s sixth slalom win of the season and the record-extending 53rd career win in the discipline.Shiffrin is set to compete in three more races this season at next week’s World Cup Finals. She has already locked up her fifth overall championship and the discipline titles in slalom and GS.___More AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsThe Associated Press

‘It’s hard to focus’: Schools say American kids are hungry

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — America’s schools say kids are hungry — just as pandemic-era benefit programs have lapsed. There is growing concern about the effects on kids’ ability to learn. Congress temporarily made school meals free to all American schoolkids, but since that ended last fall, the need has only seemed to grow. Soaring food prices are adding strains on families who are seeing reductions in multiple kinds of financial assistance. One federal program that ends this month had given nearly 30 million Americans extra food stamps during the pandemic. School cafeterias typically don’t turn away a hungry kid, but debts for unpaid school meals have been rising — showing the level of need, and raising questions about how schools will keep feeding everyone, without federal money to do it. The neediest kids are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as before the pandemic, but qualifying for those benefits requires applications that haven’t been necessary for several years. “Pro...

Will it take market crash for Congress to raise debt limit?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s one way to force President Joe Biden and Congress to solve the looming crisis over the debt limit: a financial market crash.That’s a view held by several economists and a former White House official, mindful that Congress rarely acts unless an emergency forces lawmakers to.“For that drama not ending in tragedy, key actors have to play their roles,” said Daleep Singh, who was Biden’s national security adviser for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council. “Market participants have a lead role of playing the victim. They have to produce pain. They have to produce a sea of red on their Bloomberg screens because politicians need to look at those screens.”Republicans and Democrats have been dancing around each other about the need to raise the government’s legal borrowing authority. Biden tried to edge closer on Thursday by releasing his budget plan that cuts deficits by $2.9 trillion over 10 years, an o...

Tractor-trolley in Pakistan falls into canal, killing 10

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A tractor-pulled trolley transporting villagers to a shrine fell into an irrigation canal in eastern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people, a rescue official said Saturday.Ahmed Kamal, the head of the rescue service in the Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province, said 27 of the 46 people onboard the trolley were rescued after the Friday accident by the time the operation was suspended due to darkness. Five bodies were retrieved and some of the rescued were injured, he said. Kamal said another five bodies were retrieved when searchers began again Saturday. He said the dead included three children and seven women. Nine people were still unaccounted for Saturday.Such incidents often take place in Pakistan where transportation infrastructure is often substandard, especially in rural villages, and people largely disregard safety standards. The Associated Press

Peel police officer, 2 others injured in Brampton crash; SIU investigating

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

The province’s Special Investigations Unit has been called in after three people, including a Peel police officer, were taken to hospital following a crash in Brampton. Just after 1 a.m. Peel police said one of its cruisers collided with another vehicle in the area of Main Street North and Vodden Street East in Brampton. The cause of the crash has not been released. Police said the officer sustained minor injuries in the crash and that two people in the other car were taken to a local hospital.In an update Saturday morning, police said one of those taken to hospital had been transferred to a trauma centre but that their injuries were considered non-life threatening. The SIU is a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving an official where there has been death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm at a person or an allegation of sexual assault.

Trump vs. DeSantis: Florida pastors mull conservative issues

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:22:00 GMT

DORAL, Florida (AP) — Several of Florida’s conservative faith leaders have the ear of two early frontrunners for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – former president Donald Trump, who lives in Palm Beach, and Gov. Ron DeSantis. The clergy’s top political priorities are thus likely to resonate in the national campaign for the religious vote, even as both men’s agendas are still being weighed from the pulpit. The faith leaders’ key issues include education, especially about gender and sexuality, and immigration, a particularly relevant matter in Florida, which is a destination for hundreds of thousands of newcomers and home to politically powerful Latino diasporas. Trump made reducing illegal immigration a strong focus of his previous campaigns, often with strident rhetoric, and has discussed building on his legacy in a second term. DeSantis, who isn’t yet a candidate but is widely expected to run, has taken a more careful approach with immigration de...