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Corbyn row looms large as Labour’s Starmer launches local elections campaign

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

SWINDON, England — Labour’s Keir Starmer insisted his top team is fully behind his decision to exile former leader Jeremy Corbyn, as he launched the party’s local elections drive.“The shadow cabinet stand full square behind the changes that we’ve made to the Labour Party,” Starmer told POLITICO after rallying party activists in a speech that kicked off the opposition party’s prep for the crucial May test. The Labour leader launched his campaign at a community hub in the English town of Swindon, alongside his deputy Angela Rayner and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves. It comes in a week when Starmer has grabbed headlines after moving to stop Corbyn, the left-wing predecessor who led the party for four tumultuous, from running as a Labour candidate at the next general election.The U.K. opposition — currently riding high in the polls — hopes to make thousands of gains in the local authority vote taking place on May 4. Some 230 councils across England a...

School on lockdown in Ashburnham after suspect flees from police and drives into woods nearby

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

A school in Ashburnham has been placed on lockdown after a suspect fleeing police drove into a wood line across from the campus and refused to exit, according to state police.The Massachusetts State Police said their Special Tactical Operations Team and Crisis Response Unit was called in after a suspect fled a stop initiated by Winchendon police.https://twitter.com/MassStatePolice/status/1641446945905582080Authorities said the suspect went on to drive into a wood line off of Route 101 in Ashburnham, across from Cushing Academy and, as of 10:30 a.m., was refusing to exit their vehicle.State police said while their response continues, the private school that serves some 400 students had been placed on lockdown.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Plants make popping noises that sound like bubble wrap bursting, study says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

(CNN) — Plants make popping sounds that are undetectable to the human ear, according to recordings made in a new study — and they make more sounds when thirsty or under other kinds of stress.The research shakes up what most botanists thought they knew about the plant kingdom, which had been considered largely silent, and suggests the world around us is a cacophony of plant sounds, said study coauthor Lilach Hadany.She said she had long been skeptical that plants were completely noiseless.“There’s so many organisms that respond to sound, I thought there was no good reason for plants to be deaf and mute,” said Hadany, a professor at the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security and program head of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University.The first plant Hadany recorded, using an ultrasonic microphone, was a cactus in her lab six years ago, but she couldn’t rule out that the sound she detec...

Minnesota derailment spills ethanol, prompts evacuations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

By JOSH FUNKA train hauling ethanol and corn syrup derailed and caught fire in Minnesota early Thursday and nearby residents were ordered to evacuate their homes, authorities said.The BNSF train derailed in the town of Raymond, roughly 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Minneapolis, about 1 a.m., according to a statement from Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson. This latest derailment happened as the nation has been increasingly focused on railroad safety after last month’s fiery Norfolk Southern derailment that prompted evacuations in East Palestine, Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border. Residents in that town of about 5,000 remain concerned about lingering health impacts after officials decided to release and burn toxic chemicals to prevent a tank car explosion. State and federal officials maintain that no harmful levels of toxic chemicals have been found in the air or water there, but residents remain uneasy.The major freight railroads have said they plan to add about 1,0...

Orioles finalize season-opening 26-man roster

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

Hours before beginning their 2023 season, the Orioles put the finishing touches on their 26-man roster for Thursday’s opening day matchup at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.Baltimore’s roster had featured 31 players since the cuts that followed Monday’s spring training finale, with a swap of bullpen candidates taking place Tuesday to keep that figure in place. Needing to reduce it by five, the Orioles placed four veterans — pitchers John Means (60-day), Mychal Givens (15-day) and Dillon Tate (15-day) and catcher James McCann (10-day) — on the injured list and optioned right-hander Joey Krehbiel to Triple-A Norfolk.It’s been known throughout spring that the Orioles would open the season without Means and Tate. Means isn’t expected to return from last year’s Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery until July at the earliest, and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias announced Tate’s right forearm strain ear...

Top Massachusetts court backs Boston in COVID-19 vaccine mandate fight, throws out lower ruling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

The state’s top court has ruled in favor of the city in the battle over its COVID-19 mandate, throwing out the preliminary injunction against the Wu administration and clearing the way for future versions of such policies.Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Elspeth Cypher wrote the opinion issued Thursday, throwing out an appellate judge’s order not to enforce the vaccine-mandate police from December 2021 — a policy under which no one’s ever been disciplined.“The defendants’ policy decision to amend the COVID-19 policy was based on concerns not only for the health of their employees, but also for the residents of the city, for whom the defendants were obligated to provide continued access to public safety services,” Cypher wrote. He added that “the potential harm to the city and the public resulting from the spread of COVID-19 clearly outweighed the economic harm to the employees.”This fight stems from the start of the omicron-var...

A quick look at rainfall totals across San Diego

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A cold low pressure system swept over San Diego County the last two days, bringing bands of scattered showers.Widespread precipitation occurred in bouts on Wednesday and into Thursday morning, making the morning commute a wet one for some. Padres change time of Opening Day game due to weather The National Weather Service San Diego has released its two-day precipitation totals, with some areas recieving more than others.Here’s a breakdown of accumulating precipitation levels across some parts of the county as of 4:18 a.m. Thursday, according to calculations from NWS.*Areas above the freezing level may not show accurate precipitation totals, said NWS.North CountyGeneral locationPrecipitation levelPalomar Observatory1.19 inchesFallbrook0.73 inchesValley Center0.73 inchesSan Onofre0.68 inchesEscondido0.57 inchesCarlsbad0.51 inchesOceanside0.49 inchesSan Marcos0.47 inchesVista0.36 inchesEncinitas 0.36 inchesEast CountyGeneral locationPrecipitation levelAlpine 0.98 inchesO...

Covering over well at Indian temple collapses, killing 11

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — A structure built over an old temple well in India collapsed Thursday as a large crowd of devotees prayed at a festival for Rama, one of the most widely worshipped Hindu deities, killing at least 11 people, officials said.Up to 35 people fell into the well in the temple complex in Indore in central Madhya Pradesh state when the structure collapsed and were covered by falling debris, police Commissioner Makrand Deoskar said. The structure apparently caved in because it could not handle the weight of the large crowd. The state’s top elected official, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, ordered an investigation.Chouhan said 18 people were rescued and hospitalized with injuries.Rescue workers were pumping the water out of the well looking for any more people still trapped there, local news reports said.Temple authorities had stopped using the well years ago and covered it with the structure.Witnesses said a large crowd of devotees had thronged the temple to perform a fire ritu...

Top UN court rejects Iranian bid to free assets frozen by US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court on Thursday rejected Tehran’s legal bid to free up some $2 billion in Iranian central bank assets frozen by U.S. authorities to be paid in compensation to victims of a 1983 bombing in Lebanon and other attacks linked to Iran.In a 10-5 majority ruling, the International Court of Justice said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the Iranian claim linked to the central Markazi Bank.The world court’s vice-president, Kirill Gevorgian, said the majority “upholds the objection to jurisdiction raised by the United States of America relating to the claims of the Islamic Republic of Iran” related to the bank.In a complex, 67-page judgment, the world court also found that some other U.S. moves to seize assets of Iran and Iranians in the United States breached a 1955 treaty between the countries and said they should negotiate compensation. If they fail to reach a number, they will have to return to the Hague-based court for a ...

A look at the 22 Nova Scotians killed in Canada’s worst mass shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:25:20 GMT

TRURO, N.S. — The victims in Canada’s worst mass shooting included an RCMP officer, a teacher, health-care workers, retirees, neighbours of the shooter and two correctional officers killed in their home.Here is a look at the 22 lives lost on April 18-19, 2020:Elizabeth Joanne Thomas and John ZahlThomas and Zahl died in Portapique, N.S., where their home was among those set on fire by the gunman. During the inquiry it was revealed they bought their home from a woman who had warned police about the killer’s spousal violence in 2013. Thomas was in her late 50s and was known as Joanne to friends and family. She was from Winnipeg and fell in love with Nova Scotia on a trip during her teenage years, her son Justin Zahl said. After raising two boys in Albuquerque, N.M., Thomas and her husband retired to their dream home in Portapique in January 2017. Originally from Minnesota, John Zahl, in his late 60s, was a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a Russian linguist. He worked for Fe...