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How to watch England’s local elections like a pro

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

LONDON — Parts of England head to the polls Thursday, with local democracy — not to mention the reputations of Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives and Keir Starmer’s Labour — at stake.Voters will choose councillors in more than 8,000 seats on 230 local councils across England Thursday.As they prepare for damaging results amid poor national polling, Sunak — facing his first electoral test as PM — said Wednesday evening the elections were “going to be hard for us.” Labour officials insist that 400 gains would be a good night, though experts reckon the opposition is likely on course to win more. In their efforts to manage expectations, the Conservative Party top brass has stuck rigidly to a warning by the Oxford academics Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher that 1,000 council seats could be lost — and that losing anything less than 500 seats would actually represent a good night. Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats hope to make gains in so-called ‘blue wall’ ar...

4 injured, 1 unaccounted for after explosion at chemical plant in Newburyport

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

One person is unaccounted for after an explosion at a chemical plant in a Newburyport industrial park, officials say. Firefighters from multiple communities responded to the scene around 1 a.m. Crews said an industrial-sized vat from inside the building had moved about 30 feet because of the explosion and was in the parking lot when they got there. Officials say five workers were injured in the explosion. Four were treated and released and one remains unaccounted for as of 6 a.m. The plant is the site of two other recent incidents, including an explosion in 2020 and a chemical fire in 2021. The incident remains under investigation and no additional information has been released. This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Ravens roster projection: Here’s where six draft picks fit on the depth chart

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

This year’s Ravens draft class was their smallest since 2009, when they also selected just six players. It was nearly half the size of last year’s haul, which featured 11 players, many of whom played meaningful snaps and will do so again this year.In other words, the impact of this year’s class will be different — but different doesn’t necessarily mean insignificant.“We don’t see a lot of big, glaring holes, and we have solutions as well still out there in free agency, potentially,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said Saturday. “So, if you’re not going to have a lot of picks, this is probably the year to not have picks. We were able to fortify.”To that point, the Ravens’ depth chart in some positions — quarterback, running back, fullback, tight end, offensive tackle, center, interior defensive line, safety — remains largely the same as it was before the draft. That doesn’t mean it will sta...

Guregian: Why can’t this version of the Celtics be the norm?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

Jayson Tatum was on the bench with four fouls at the start of the fourth quarter. He had seven points in just over 19 minutes on the floor, making just one of seven field goal attempts to that point.He was essentially done for the night.More trouble in paradise for the Green team? Hardly.The Celtics were actually in cruise control at that point. They were still blowing out the Sixers. They took a 27-point lead into the final quarter, and didn’t look back.After their dismal effort in Game 1, losing with Joel Embiid in street clothes, this type of performance was a must if their expectation is to get back into the NBA Finals and finish the job this time.So with their backs against the wall, they rallied in a big way to avoid going down 0-2. They crushed Doc Rivers’ team, evening the series with a 121-87 win.All of which begs the question: Why can’t they play like this all the time?Why can’t they just keep their foot on the gas?They certainly have the ability. They ha...

US joins UN in suspending food aid to Ethiopia’s Tigray

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The United States aid agency says it has suspended all food assistance to the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray “until further notice” while it investigates the theft of humanitarian supplies. The U.N. confirmed earlier reports that it was doing the same.USAID Administrator Samantha Power said that her group has “uncovered that food aid, intended for the people of Tigray suffering under famine-like conditions, was being diverted and sold on the local market.”After discovering food was missing, the agency alerted its inspector general, who launched an investigation. “Following this review, USAID determined, in coordination with the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa and our implementing partners, that a temporary pause in food aid was the best course of action,” Power said in a statement. She added that USAID has raised its concerns with Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigray authorities.Nearly all of Tigray’s 6 million people rely on food aid, after two yea...

Judge tosses Trump lawsuit against New York Times

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

(The Hill) - A New York judge on Wednesday tossed former President Trump’s lawsuit against The New York Times and several of its reporters over a 2018 article on the former president’s “dubious tax schemes.”Justice Robert Reed dismissed the claims against the Times and its reporters Susanne Craig, David Barstow, and Russ Buettner and ordered Trump to pay all attorneys’ fees and other costs associated with the lawsuit."The New York Times is pleased with the judge's decision today,” Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement. “It is an important precedent reaffirming that the press is protected when it engages in routine newsgathering to obtain information of vital importance to the public."Trump sued the newspaper and his niece Mary Trump in September 2021, accusing them of engaging in an “insidious plot” to obtain confidential tax records for the article. The former president claimed the Times reporters were liable because they allegedly encouraged his niec...

Swarm of bees delays Delta flight in Houston for 3 hours

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - Anyone who has ever flown knows it's not uncommon for flights to be delayed. It could be for any number of reasons - weather, waiting for flight crews to arrive from other delayed flights, maintenance, and, in extreme cases, security breaches are just a few. For passengers hoping to board a flight from Houston to Atlanta on Wednesday, it was a different type of delay: bees on a wing. Twitter user Anjali Enjeti shared a photo of a group of bees that had congregated on a wingtip. She noted crews wouldn't let passengers board until the swarm was removed. In one photo shared with Nexstar, seen below, the swarm can be seen covering the upper half of the wingtip, entirely concealing the blue color of the piece. A swarm of bees, seen here, delayed a Delta Airlines flight from Houston to Atlanta for roughly three hours on May 3, 2023. (Anjali Enjeti)Enjeti explained in a Twitter thread that crews hoped to bring in a beekeeper but, according to the flight's captain, they wouldn't...

Eight student-athletes participate in Shaker signing day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

LATHAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Shaker High School held its' signing day Wednesday afternoon, celebrating eight student-athletes who will be continuing their playing careers at the collegiate level. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Three of those student-athletes will be staying close to home. Steve Sadek and Anthony Schrom are both set to join the University at Albany football team, and standout boys basketball player Zacharie Matulu is off to UAlbany as well.Matulu's special connection with the Great Danes coaching staff made his decision an easy one."It was mostly Coach Killings and the whole coaching staff," said Matulu. "The environment that I worked out in here at Shaker was very similar. The coaches always pushed me to try hard, encouraging me to stay after, and work hard too."Karleigh Mirabile is taking her field hockey skills to Division I Stonehill College. Her dream of competing at the highest level has been a long time ...

Great Danes remaining undeterred by Vermont woes ahead of America East tournament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The University at Albany men's lacrosse team has become a staple in the America East Tournament. The Great Danes are set for an 11th straight postseason appearance, but their semi-final opponent Thursday has been a thorn in their sides of late. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! UAlbany travels to top-seeded University of Vermont - a program that has beaten the Danes eight straight times, and knocked them out of the last three postseason tournaments.Head coach Scott Marr knows his team can change the tide of this matchup with the Catamounts; the key is to simply stay out of their own heads."Obviously we've struggled with them the last couple years," said Marr. "But we don't want to make it a big deal that it's so much of a pressure on us. It's more of a pressure on them at this point because at some point we are going to beat them. So, for them to keep extending the streak, they still have to play real...

Ukraine says Dnipro hit by Russian strikes but most drones destroyed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:53 GMT

Russia launched a third nightly round of attacks on Kyiv in six days, authorities in the Ukrainian capital said on Wednesday (3 May), with a drone hitting a building in the Dnipropetrovsk region as Moscow steps up attacks on its neighbour.Ukraine's Air Force Command said its forces destroyed 21 of the 26 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia, while Kyiv officials said air defence systems eliminated those sent over the city, with no initial reports of casualties or destruction."All enemy targets were identified and shot down in the airspace around the capital," Kyiv's military administration said on the Telegram messaging app, citing initial details.Air raid sirens blared for several hours in Kyiv, the surrounding region and most of eastern Ukraine, with the skies only clearing towards dawn.Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine ahead of a counteroffensive widely expected by the latter, sending nearly nightly waves of drones and missiles to target Kyiv and other areas over...