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Is Barack Obama ready to reassert himself?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

As President Biden’s approval rating has languished this year, seemingly impervious to external events, a group of congressional Democrats have gotten a taste of the sort of younger, more charismatic presence some of them crave to lead their ticket next year.Albeit a grayer version.Former President Barack Obama has hosted a handful of informal, but lengthy private meetings with groups of next-generation House Democrats this spring, I’m told by multiple attendees. The initial session featured the chamber’s new trio of leaders, but he then held subsequent conversations with a range of lawmakers.Included were progressive members, like Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), as well as more moderate lawmakers, such as Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Haley Stevens (D-Mich.).The gatherings were Obama’s idea, I’m told, and were designed for the now-61-year-old former president to keep current with his party’s rising stars, more than six years after he left...

Cannabis and a corruption probe: MEP Maria Arena is back in Qatargate spotlight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

BRUSSELS — In December 2019, MEP Maria Arena hosted an event about cannabis in the European Parliament.Her son, an executive in the cannabis trade association ACTIVE, organized the panel discussion. The group celebrated it as the “first major cannabis event at the EU Parliament.”It’s the latest revelation about how interest groups interact with the European Parliament — in ways legal and allegedly criminal — in the wake of the Qatargate corruption scandal. While the Qatargate accusations, involving alleged bribes going from Qatari and Moroccan interests to MEPs, would fall solidly in the criminal category if proven, the 2019 event fits into what watchdogs say is a more widespread category — legal, but ethically fraught.Arena, of the Socialists & Democrats group, has never been interrogated or charged in the Qatargate probe, but she had close professional ties with ex-MEP and alleged Qatargate ringleader Pier Antonio Panzeri. She stepped down as head of the Parli...

New winner crowned as Gloucester greasy pole competition returns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

A beloved annual tradition returned in Gloucester Friday in the form of the city’s annual greasy pole competition. Part of Gloucester’s St. Peter’s Fiesta, the competition each year involves people slipping and sliding across a greased up 45-foot telephone pole in Gloucester Harbor while trying to grab a flag mounted at the end of the pole. 7NEWS spoke with this year’s competition winner who said the accomplishment is meaningful to him and his family. “The week before, you can’t even sleep,” said winner Colin Sweet. “You’re thinking about it. You have dreams of it, and they came true.”The St. Peter’s feast in Gloucester started in 1927 and is sponsored by the city’s Italian-American fishing community. “It’s been a tradition for a long, long time. It brings the people of Gloucester together,” said Tom Rich, who participated in the greasy pole contest in 1974.Rich said he tried the contest on a dare.“They grease the w...

Devers homers, flashes leather to lead Red Sox past White Sox 3-1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

For a guy who’s ranked among baseball’s most prolific run producers all season, it’s often felt like this year has been a grind for Rafael Devers.Yet tough as it’s been to find his rhythm, on nights like Friday you can see why the Red Sox invested so much in the young slugger.Devers enjoyed one of his best all-around games of the season, crushing a towering two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starter Lucas Giolito before subsequently turning a dazzling double play to stamp out a potential rally the following inning. His efforts were the difference and helped Brayan Bello outduel Giolito in the 3-1 Red Sox win.Devers’ home run came immediately after Masataka Yoshida reached on an error by White Sox shortstop Elvis Andrus to lead off the fourth, one of several Chicago miscues on the day. A White Sox error also contributed to Boston’s first run in the third, which was effectively created out of thin air by rookie David Hamilton, who walked, immedi...

Adolis Garcia, Rangers outlast Yankees in extras despite Clarke Schmidt’s strong outing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

After watching the Yankees limit the first-place Rangers’ high-powered offense to two runs during regulation, Adolis Garcia decided enough was enough.With an automatic runner on second, the right fielder started the 10th inning by cranking Michael King’s first pitch of the night over the left field wall at Yankee Stadium. The blast proved decisive, as the Rangers beat the Yankees, 4-2.Lng before Garcia went deep, the Rangers — and the Yankees — made Clarke Schmidt work on the mound. But the young right-hander battled through trouble after getting knocked around in Texas earlier this season.Schmidt escaped multiple jams while allowing one run (zero earned) over 5.1 innings, a noticeable improvement after the Rangers tagged him for 10 hits and five runs on April 28. Schmidt also totaled six hits, one walk and three strikeouts over 91 pitches on Friday.He now has a 2.19 ERA over his last seven starts.But a clean game evaded the Yankees once again, as they made a...

Mets’ defensive blunders too much to overcome in series-opening loss to Phillies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — The Mets continue to say that a winning streak is in sight. They say they haven’t lost the belief that they can turn this season around, go on a run and get back into contention. They insist they will get better.But the Mets have yet to get better.Two missed popups, an error and a wild pitch cost the Mets a total of five runs Friday night against the Philadelphia Phillies. They went on to lose 5-1 in the first game of a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park. As a result, Kodai Senga (6-5) took the loss, in what was otherwise a solid outing.There have been several instances of bad defense over the last few weeks. Francisco Lindor made a costly error in Pittsburgh two weeks ago. Brandon Nimmo failed to get to a pop-up against the Yankees in the Subway Series last week, and rookie left-hander Josh Walker received the loss because of it.Walker, again, was the recipient of bad defense behind him against the Phillies (39-36). Trailing 2-0 with one out in the sixt...

San Diego wants property owners to pay for sidewalk repairs as stated in state law

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The City of San Diego says there are many sidewalks that need repairs and have cost the city millions of dollars in injury payouts.City officials identified approximately 37,000 sidewalks in need of repairs for an estimated $185 million. They say most of that amount is the homeowners’ responsibility.That’s a no-go for homeowner Tarol Warschauer and Normal Heights resident Brian Diloreto."I feel like the trees here that are breaking up the sidewalk were planted by the city, so it shouldn’t be the responsibility of the homeowners, it should be the responsibility of the city," Warschauer said."It’s public space, clearly the city should be responsible for repairing that, as they do the streets, as they do any other public space," Diloreto added. How much income is required to afford rent in San Diego? But many homeowners are unaware of a state law from 1975 for sidewalks that makes adjacent property owners responsible for repairs. City officials are offering incentives fo...

Justice Department proposes December trial date for Trump in classified documents case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department asked a judge on Friday night to postpone until December the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump for retaining classified documents.U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this week set an initial trial date of Aug. 14 for Trump, who faces 37 felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and obstructing Justice Department efforts to get them back.Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith’s team asked Cannon to reschedule the trial for Dec. 11. They said the delay was necessary because the case involves classified information and will require Trump’s lawyers to obtain security clearances, a process that is underway.The Justice Department said this week that it has begun sharing with the Trump legal team evidence relevant to the case.But, they said in their Friday filing, “Even with the prompt production the government has arranged, the inclusion of additional time for defense counsel to review and digest...

H. Lee Sarokin, judge who freed ‘Hurricane’ Carter, dies at 94

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — H. Lee Sarokin, a federal judge who freed Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and in a landmark case famously said tobacco companies engaged in a “vast” conspiracy to conceal the dangers of smoking, has died in California, news outlets reported Friday. He was 94.Sarokin died Tuesday in La Jolla, a seaside community in San Diego where he and his wife lived in retirement, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.Sarokin had pulmonary fibrosis and other ailments, his wife, Margie Sarokin, told the paper.Haddon Lee Sarokin was a New Jersey-born graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. He was nominated to a federal judgeship by former President Jimmy Carter and served on the district court in New Jersey from 1979 to 1994 and the appeals court from 1994 to 1996.In 1985, Sarokin threw out the convictions of boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and John Artis, two Black men who were wrongfully convicted of killing three white men. Sarokin ruled that their prosecution wa...

Russian mercenary chief says forces are rebelling, some left Ukraine and entered Russia city

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:59:28 GMT

The owner of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin.In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin was taking the threat, security was heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine.While the outcome of the confrontation was still unclear, it appeared likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.Prigozhin claimed early Saturday that his forces had crossed into Russia from Ukraine and had reached Rostov, saying they faced no resistance from young conscripts at checkpoints and that his forces “aren’t fighting against children.”“Bu...