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Aleksander Čeferin wins new term as UEFA president

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

Aleksander Čeferin, president of European football’s governing body UEFA, was reelected unopposed for a new four-year term on Wednesday.First elected in 2016, Čeferin was chosen by acclamation during the organization’s annual Congress in Lisbon. As with his first reelection in 2019, Čeferin was the only candidate.“It really means a lot to me, it is a great honor but mainly it is a great responsibility towards you and towards football,” he said Wednesday. “I will do my best not to disappoint you and to disappoint football.”A professional lawyer, the 55-year-old Slovenian took over as head of UEFA from France’s Michel Platini, who resigned over a conflict of interest and abuse of power scandal. Platini and then-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter later faced criminal charges in that case in Switzerland, but were eventually both acquitted last July.Čeferin has proved to be a smooth political operator in the role, cultivating key relationships in Brussels and in national capi...

Chilly Breeze, 70s Ahead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

A northeast wind prevails today as temps slide into the low to mid 40s this afternoon. Clouds win out as patchy drizzle or a spot shower is possible from time to time. With that said, there will be a lot of dry hours too. Dry enough for baseball to get in at Fenway Park, it’ll just be a cool, raw feel to the air at the game with temps in the lower 40s. Temps hold steady tonight in the lower 40s with a few scattered showers from time to time. As a warm front lifts through tomorrow, temps jump as winds turn southwest. It’ll take the longest to warm near the coast, as a stubborn ocean breeze lingers for awhile. It’ll likely take until late-day to kick out the ocean air in Boston. With that said, low to mid 70s are certainly possible inland for many. Mid morning to mid afternoon will be dry, but late afternoon/early evening will likely see showers/thunder rumble on through. That’s with a cold front. The other side of the cold front offers chillier that comes in w...

Melrose students to walk out of class, demand action on gun violence in wake of Nashville school shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

Students at Melrose High School are planning to walk out of class Wednesday to demand action on gun violence after last week’s shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville.The students are planning on walking out around noon. Five student speakers will then address the crowd at the Cabbage Patch in front of the high school on Lynn Fells Parkway.The walk out comes as the officers who took down the Nashville shooter speak out on their response to The Covenant School.“We didn’t know if the shooter was to the left or the right,” said Detective Mike Collazo. “Smoke was everywhere, the fire alarm was going off. It was somewhere right around that point we heard another shot, so it told us that the shooter was to our right. The shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, fired 152 rounds inside the school, killing three adults and three children before Detective Collazo and Officer Rex Engelbert stopped the attack.Officer Engelbert says he wouldn’t have been a...

90 days in, Maura Healey takes on the T but otherwise remains cautious

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

This week will mark the end of the first three months in office for Gov. Maura Healey, who has only put her name to one major piece of legislation but has had a busy first 90 days, her aides say.She’s also hired a new head of the MBTA — at $470,000 salary — yet she’s kept up her national profile by jetting out of state a few times already.“I’m proud that our administration has hit the ground running in our first three months to address the greatest challenges facing Massachusetts residents – affordability, competitiveness and equity. We’ve put a strong team in place that has already started delivering results on housing, economic development, climate, education, transportation and more. We look forward to continuing to build on this progress in the months and years ahead,” Healey told the Herald in an emailed statement this week.Healey began the last week of her first quarter as the state’s 73rd governor by meeting with the President of Cape Verde...

Howie Carr: Trump case full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

Is that all there is?Is this all the Democrats have on Donald J. Trump? At least in New York?As the former president said last night in Palm Beach, “I never thought anything like this could ever happen in America.”Misdemeanors, pretty much, beyond the statute of limitations even. Bookkeeping errors in commission of another crime, which the rotund Soros prosecutor didn’t even bother to identify in the indictment.“The lawyers told me,” Trump told the nationwide audience, “there’s nothing here, they’re even saying what you did… It’s right out of the old Soviet Union, because that’s where we are.”Hey, who knows, maybe the Democrat-industrial complex doesn’t care. They’re just ecstatic that they have all the headlines that say “34 counts.”But really, it’s some real thin gruel.Now, though, all the Democrat operatives with press passes can keep yapping 24/7 about the three more ongoing “probes,” as if now, finally, really, truly, pinky-promise, no kidding, the walls are closing in on Orang...

ASK IRA: Is there still time for Heat to make one last stand?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

Q: We should be used to this by now. – Nat.A: And the problem is, we are. There is no game the Heat go into where you can convince yourself it effectively will be over by the start of the fourth quarter. Because if there ever was a game where it could have and should have been, Tuesday night in Detroit was it. A team looking to lose. Playing no one. With baggage already circling the carousel in Cancun. Good teams don’t just scrape by. At this point, assume nothing about Friday in Washington, even if the Wizards continue to sit Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma. And at this point, assume nothing about the season finale on Sunday at home against Orlando, even if the Magic sit Paolo Banchero. This ia a team with one great player, a couple of good ones, and players with whom you seemingly ride the wave. Basically, the Heat record says who they are.Q: I get it that a lot of fans are still emotionally invested in the Heat this season. playing out all the possible...

A ballpark district in Baltimore? As Maryland, Orioles mull Camden Yards upgrades, Atlanta suburb could be a model.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

Thirty years ago, a generation of ballparks was born in downtown Baltimore. Last month, the top executive for both the Orioles and the state of Maryland visited an Atlanta suburb to get a brainstorming glimpse at what might be the next.On his 51st day in office, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore took his first visit out of state, accompanying Orioles CEO and Chairman John Angelos on a tour of Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves. The ballpark, which opened in 2017 within an entertainment district known as The Battery, has been viewed by many as a prototype for the future of baseball stadiums.It attracted 10 million visitors in 2022, according to the Braves, and has offices, apartments, hotels, bars, restaurants and a concert venue on the same grounds as the MLB park. As the Orioles — soon to be flush with funds from the state to improve Camden Yards — mull ways to renovate the ballpark and its surrounding area in the coming years, The Battery could provide inspiration.The Oriol...

Top Bosnian government official convicted of abuse of office

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A top Bosnian government official and two others were convicted and given prison sentences Wednesday over the procurement at highly inflated prices of inadequate medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.Fadil Novalic, the prime minister of one of the country’s two highly autonomous regions, the Bosniak-Croat Federation, was convicted of abuse of office and sentenced to four years in prison.Fikret Hodzic, the owner of a fruit processing company that received about 5 million euros ($5.5 million) from the government to purchase 100 deficient ventilators from China for COVID-19 patients, and a top state civil protection official, Fahrudin Solak, were also convicted and sentenced to five and six years respectively.Hodzic’s fruit processing company, Silver Raspberry, which had no license to import medical equipment, was chosen by the government of the Bosniak-Croat Federation in the spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, to import the Chin...

Violence at holy Jerusalem site raises tension over holidays

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Wednesday, firing stun grenades at Palestinian youths who hurled stones and firecrackers at them in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday season. Palestinian militants in Gaza responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting repeated Israeli airstrikes.The fighting, coming as Muslims mark the holiday month of Ramadan and Jews prepare to begin the Passover festival on Wednesday evening, raised fears of a wider conflagration. The mosque sits in a sensitive hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims. Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and is typically packed with worshippers during Ramadan. The spot, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is also the holiest site in Judaism, revered as the location of the biblical Jewish temples. The conflicting claims have spilled over to violence before, most recently a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic milita...

Lukaku representative requests action after racist incident

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:49 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Romelu Lukaku’s management company reacted with outrage after the Inter Milan forward was shown a second yellow card and then sent off for a gesture toward Juventus fans who directed racist chants at him.The incident occurred after Lukaku converted a penalty in stoppage time to earn Inter a 1-1 draw in the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday.Lukaku held his finger to his lips as if to silence the crowd after scoring.Lukaku’s gesture enraged the opposing team and the game ended in a scuffle between the two squads, with Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado and Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic also sent off.“Tonight’s racist remarks made towards Romelu Lukaku by Juventus fans in Turin were beyond despicable and cannot be accepted,” Roc Nation Sports International president Michael Yormark said. “Before, during, and after the penalty, he was subjected to hostile and disgusting racist abuse. Romelu celebrated in the same manner he has previously celebrated goals.“The referee’s respo...