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Lucas: Durant shows guts by challenging ‘right to shelter’ law

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey is about to help elect Peter Durant.Who?Peter Durant. He is a previously obscure Republican state rep from Spencer who represents Worcester in the State House of Representatives.He is now running in a Worcester special election to succeed Democrat state Sen. Anne Gobi, a fellow obscure legislator from Spencer, who resigned to take a job with the Healey administration.But that is not the story. The story is that Durant is championing an issue that no Democrats will touch.And that is to urge Healey, a progressive Democrat, to file legislation to repeal Massachusetts’ “right to shelter” law that has become a magnet for thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into Massachusetts.Durant to date is the only public official, Democrat or Republican, to openly take on Healey over the illegal immigrant issue.“Our homeless shelters are maxed out,” Durant said. “Hotels across the state have been converted to shelters,”“Worse yet, all this assistance is being taken away fr...

Boston’s future development, housing plans to take shape this week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

The effort to revitalize the downtown lands front and center this week as the Boston Planning and Development Agency gears up to release a PLAN: Downtown report that keys partially on an initiative by Mayor Michelle Wu to incentive conversion of commercial property to residential use.Last month, Wu’s office announced the establishment of a program aimed at solving the area’s housing shortage by offering tax breaks upwards of 75% to building owners that will convert vacant downtown office spaces into residential ones. BPDA officials said that the tax cut for a period up to 29 years “could provide a strong incentive to encourage conversion.”The agency’s PLAN: Downtown team has a significant role in the conversion program, as well as in preserving the city’s cultural heritage, enhancing overall housing access and promoting mixed-use development. The team’s next meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday to go over some of the key enhancement and revitalization efforts that will be inc...

Patriots veteran explains Marte Mapu’s ‘tough’ role in preseason game

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots veteran safety Adrian Phillips is not slowing down the Marte Mapu hype train.Mapu, the Patriots’ linebacker/safety hybrid, had a big day of practice Sunday, breaking up passes from backup quarterback Bailey Zappe intended for tight ends Matt Sokol and Hunter Henry.Mapu has yet to shed his red non-contact jersey — so he’s not cleared for action — but still found a way to stay involved in Thursday’s preseason game. The 2023 third-round pick dressed for the game but stood next to linebackers coach/play-caller Steve Belichick with a clipboard in hand for the entirety of the contest.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots training camp Day 19: Mac Jones sizzles until late INT, Malilk Cunningham back at QB New England Patriots | Patriots rookie Malik Cunningham still primarily working at receiver? New England Patriots | Mac Jones, Jack Jones and 28 Patriots thoughts 28 days from the s...

Passenger arrested after flight from Australia to Malaysia returns to Sydney in ’emergency incident’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — An airline flight from Australia to Malaysia returned on Monday to Sydney, where a passenger was arrested hours later in what police described as an emergency incident.The emergency caused dozens of domestic flight cancellations and delays at Australia’s busiest airport.Malaysia Airlines flight MH122 left Sydney Airport with 199 passengers and 12 crew aboard on an eight-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and returned more than three hours later because of a “disruptive passenger,” the airline said.“In the interest of safety, the commander of the flight made a decision to return to Sydney,” Malaysia’s national carrier said in a statement.Nine News reported that a passenger holding a backpack on the Airbus A330 had threatened to “blow the plane up.” Crew checked the backpack and found no explosives, it said.Australian Federal Police described the situation as an “emergency incident.” A 45-year-old man was arrested without incident and the rest of the passengers were...

Chinese defense minister to visit Russia and Belarus in show of support despite West’s objections

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Russia and Belarus in a show of support for those nations which the West has sought to isolate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Li departed Monday on the six-day trip, during which he will deliver an address at the Moscow Conference on International Security and meet with defense leaders from Russia and other nations, the Defense Ministry said on its social media account, citing spokesperson Col. Wu Qian. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to speak at the conference on the topic of the “Majority World countries’ search for ways to development outside Western mechanisms, including strengthening multilateral associations of a new type,” Russia’s official TASS news agency reported. It said representatives from about 100 countries and eight international organizations had been invited to attend. The would “discuss various aspects of security in the conditions of the establishment of a mul...

UK government rejects claims it was slow to evacuate asylum seekers after bacteria detected on barge

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government on Monday rejected claims that it had been slow to evacuate asylum-seekers from a barge moored off the south coast of England once traces of the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease were found in the ship’s water system.In the latest critique of the government’s ballyhooed efforts to control migration and reduce the cost of housing a rising number of asylum-seekers, local health officials said over the weekend that the barge operator was told about the bacteria last Monday — the day before asylum-seekers were moved onto the Bibby Stockholm.But Health Secretary Steve Barclay said ministers weren’t informed about the bacteria until Thursday and they took “very quick action.” The Home Office, the central government department that oversees migration, moved all 39 men who were being housed on the ship into other accommodation on Friday.Questions about the government’s response to the bacteria issue came after immigration dominated the weekend new...

Head-on crash closes Hwy. 401 in Milton; suspected impaired driver in custody

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

A suspect impaired driver is in custody and another driver has serious injuries following a head-on crash that shut down a stretch of Highway 401 in Milton.The collision occurred in the westbound lanes west of Guelph Line around 5 a.m. on Monday.#listen-box {box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);animation: pulse 2s infinite;margin:20px;padding:15px;}@keyframes pulse { 0% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 157, 79, 0.7); } 70% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 10px rgba(0, 157, 79, 0); } 100% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 157, 79, 0); }}Listen to CityNews 680 for traffic updates LIVE now!Ontario Provincial Police say two vehicles were involved in a head-on crash and a wrong way driver is in custody for suspected impaired driving.The driver of the other vehicle has been taken to hospital with serious injuries. The driver in custody was not seriously hurt.Westbound traffic on the 401 is being forced off of the highway at Guelph Line. All eastbound lanes remain open.T...

Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills 3, wounds 7 at hotel frequented by Pakistani refugees

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — An explosion ripped through a hotel in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Khost on Monday, killing at least three people and wounding seven others, police said.The blast occurred at a city hotel frequented by Afghan people and refugees from Pakistan’s former militant stronghold of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, said Mustaghfir Gurbaz, a police spokesperson in Khost. He said officers were investigating to determine what caused the blast and who was behind it.There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though Afghanistan’s Taliban government has blamed the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province — for previous attacks. Gurbaz provided no information about the Pakistani refugees staying at the hotel. Authorities in Pakistan have said members of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, are hiding in Khost and elsewhere in Afghanistan. TTP is a separate group b...

Hawaii mourns the dead in ferocious wildfires while officials warn the full toll is not yet known

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — As Hawaii residents mourned those killed in ferocious wildfires, officials warned that the full human and environmental toll was not yet known and the recovery only just beginning.Twenty dogs and dozens of people will make their way through neighborhoods reduced to ash, searching burnt out cars and homes for the dead. With the toll at 96, this is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Two fires have not yet been completely contained, including the one that demolished the historic town of Lahaina, according to an update from Maui County late Sunday.Even where the fire has retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. And many people simply have no home to return to — so authorities plan to house them in hotels and vacation rentals.The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina on Tuesday destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leavin...

Sudan’s top army general accuses paramilitary of war crimes in televised speech

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:24 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — In a rare televised speech Monday, the head of Sudan’s military accused the rival paramilitary force of committing war crimes as all-out civil war threatens to engulf the northeast African country.Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when months of simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere.In a speech broadcast on Sudan TV, Burhan accused the RSF and Dagalo of committing violations under the falsehood of promising to restore democracy.“How can you bring about democracy by committing war crimes?” he said, in a speech celebrating Sudan’s annual armed forces day. The rights organization Amnesty International has accused both warring parties of committing extensive war crimes, including deliberate killings of civilians and mass sexual assault. In its 56-page report, the group said almost all rape cases were bla...