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Lucas: Prigozhin’s death reveals dark side of power, politics, and Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin never read Machiavelli.Or Ralph Waldo Emerson.Otherwise, he might still be alive.It was Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1532) in his famous treatise “The Prince,” which is a dark study about obtaining and keeping power, who wrote that when you strike an opponent or an enemy you must kill him, or else he will seek retribution and kill you.Emerson (1803-1882), a well-known philosopher from Concord, reworked that to mean, “When you strike at a king, you must kill him.”Prigozhin, head of a mercenary army called the Wagner Group, which fought unhappily fought for Putin in Ukraine, led a short-lived mutiny against Putin in June. Prigozhin, in a march on Moscow, sought the ouster of several of Putin’s generals and perhaps even Putin himself.Prigozhin struck but failed to kill the king.Putin called the failed coup treason and accused his former friend of stabbing him in the back.Days later Putin appeared to have forgiven him and allowed ...

City Council to take up Mass and Cass ordinance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu’s new measures to address rampant issues at Mass and Cass are expected to move forward in the coming week, with an ordinance authorizing Boston police to remove tents and tarps at Mass and Cass to be filed Monday and taken up by the City Council on Wednesday.Wu announced a new plan to tackle the growing crisis at Mass and Cass — an area concentrated around Southampton and Atkinson streets known for drug activity and homeless encampments — featuring a new police-enforced tent ban in the area and 30-bed shelter on Massachusetts Ave.During the announcement, Wu said she expected to file the tent-ban ordinance Monday. The ordinance would need City Council approval and is expected to be introduced at Wednesday’s meeting.The city has previously attempted to enforce tent and tarp bans in the area, while giving individuals 48-hour notice of tent removals and without using police measures or arresting occupants.Under the proposed ordinance, officials ...

Patriots 53-man roster projection: Toughest cuts at QB, tight end, linebacker

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

The Patriots are finally ready to fully prepare for Week 1 and the Philadelphia Eagles with preseason and training camp out of the way.They do need to cut their roster to 90 players first, however.This year, all cuts are made at once. They’re also no longer done over the weekend, and there’s a longer break between the final preseason game and cuts.Here’s our final crack at a 53-man roster projection:Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots acquire another tackle via trade with Vikings for draft pick New England Patriots | Patriots practice notes: Two players return, long list of absences ahead of cuts New England Patriots | Source: Patriots trade RB Pierre Strong for Browns offensive lineman New England Patriots | Patriots-Titans film review: Marte Mapu’s main area for growth and 19 more takeaways New England Patriots | Patriots’ eight most difficult decisions on 53-man ro...

Biden is ‘old,’ Trump is ‘corrupt’: AP-NORC poll has ominous signs for both in possible 2024 rematch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Old. Confused. Corrupt. Dishonest. Those are among the top terms Americans use when they’re asked to describe President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the Republican best positioned to face him in next year’s election.Unflattering portraits of both emerge clearly in a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which asked an open-ended question about what comes to mind when people think of them.For Biden, the largest share of U.S. adults — including both Democrats and Republicans — mentioned his age. At 80, the Democratic president is just three years older than Trump, but many Americans expressed real concerns about his ability to continue as president. Trump, meanwhile, has been indicted in four cases featuring 91 total criminal counts and elicits words such as “corrupt” and “crooked” (named by 15%), along with “bad” and other generally negative comments (11%). Not far behind are words like “liar” and “dishonest” (8%)....

Sweden charges man arrested last year in predawn raid with spying for Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Russian-born Swedish citizen was charged Monday with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade.Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said Sergey Skvortsov, 60, was accused of “gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power.” Skvortsov was arrested in November together with his wife in a predawn operation in Nacka, outside Stockholm. Swedish media reported that elite police rappelled from two Black Hawk helicopters to arrest the couple.Skvortsov has been in custody since his arrest and denies any wrongdoing, according to his defense lawyer, Ulrika Borg. His wife was released without charge following an investigation by Sweden’s security agency.According to the charge sheet, obtained by The Associated Press, Skvortsov from July 1, 2014, to November 22, “secretly and/or with the use of fraudulent means conducted activities for the Russian state with the aim of acquiring information about co...

A Hong Kong language group shuts down after an essay alleged to have breached security law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — A group that promotes the Cantonese language shut down on Monday after Hong Kong authorities said an essay submitted to a literary competition three years ago violated the national security law, in the latest example of the city’s erosion of freedom of expression. Andrew Chan, chairperson of the Societas Linguistica Hongkongensis, said in a Facebook post that national security officers visited his former home, where his family lives, without a search warrant last week when he was out of town. The officers asked him to remove the fictional essay in question from his group’s website immediately, he said. Chan said he decided to halt the operation of his association due to the legal risks and a lack of resources. “I am so shocked and I still cannot believe it’s happened,” he said in an email to The Associated Press “I am also sad that even (as) I am running something only related to arts and literature, and still (can) be targeted by the national secu...

Biden and the first lady head to District of Columbia public middle school to welcome back students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are visiting a District of Columbia public middle school on Monday to welcome students back for the new school year. The Bidens are heading to Eliot-Hine Middle School, located east of the U.S. Capitol, to mark the District of Columbia’s first day of school for the 2023-24 year. The event kicks off several back-to-school activities for the first lady, who is traveling later in the week to the Midwest to celebrate teachers and to highlight the mental health needs of students. Jill Biden is a longtime teacher. She’s the first first lady to continue her career outside the White House. She teaches English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, which is where she taught during the eight years her husband was President Barack Obama’s vice president. The school was built in 1931 and was recently modernized with state-of-the-art facilities. It has about 300 students. According to its website, it i...

China won’t require COVID-19 tests for incoming travelers in a milestone in its reopening

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test result for incoming travelers starting Wednesday, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after a three-year isolation that began with the country’s borders closing in March 2020. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the change at a briefing in Beijing on Monday.China in January ended quarantine requirements for its citizens traveling from abroad, and over the past few months has gradually expanded the list of countries that Chinese people can travel to and increased the number of international flights.Beijing ended its tough domestic “zero COVID” policy only in December, after years of draconian curbs that at times included full-city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for people who were infected.The restrictions slowed the world’s second-largest economy, leading to rising unemployment and rare instances of unrest.As part of those measures, incoming travelers were required to iso...

Young man shot multiple times in drive-by shooting outside Brampton home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

Police are searching for a suspect after a drive-by shooting outside a home in Brampton that left a young man with serious injuries.Emergency crews responded to the area of Steeles Avenue and Mavis Road around 10:35 p.m. Sunday after getting reports that someone was shot.Police tell CityNews the victim had just arrived at home when he was shot by a suspect who pulled up in a vehicle. The injured victim ran inside the home and called 911.Paramedics say a young man was found at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries and is now in stable condition.No suspect or suspect vehicle information has been made available. Police are canvassing the area for security footage.Investigators believe the shooting was targeted and say there is no risk to the community.

Greece reinforces firefighting forces to tackle massive blaze in the country’s northeast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:21:52 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities reinforced firefighting forces in the northeastern part of the country Monday, where a massive deadly wildfire was burning for a 10th day with no signs of abating.The fire in the Alexandroupolis and Evros areas near the Turkish border has been blamed for 20 of the 21 wildfire-related deaths in Greece last week. The fire department said 474 firefighters, backed by 100 vehicles, seven planes and two helicopters were battling the flames. The forces included reinforcements from several European countries.Authorities are investigating what sparked the blaze, which over the past week has decimated vast tracts of forest, scorched homes and triggered the evacuation of thousands of people. The bodies of 18 people were found in an area near the city of Alexandroupolis last Tuesday, while a body had been found in a forest in the region the previous day and another was found on Thursday.The bodies are believed to be those of migrants who recently crossed ...