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37-year-old man facing several charges after barricading self inside storm drain in SW Miami-Dade

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

A 37-year-old man is facing several charges after he fled from police and barricaded himself inside a storm drain in Southwest Miami-Dade.Alexander Lopez was arrested Thursday and was charged with fleeing/eluding police, driving without a license, resisting an officer without violence and driving recklessly. He is expected to appear in bond court, Friday. According to police, the incident began at around 3 a.m., when officers attempted to pull over Lopez who was driving recklessly. However, he fled the scene.After evading police the first time, investigators said, another officer spotted Lopez driving erratically and tried to stop him.Lopez then stopped his vehicle on a grass ravine and jumped into a canal near Graceland Memorial Park South.After jumping into the canal, police said, Lopez then barricaded himself inside the storm drain.The standoff lasted several hours and officers used a special water camera to search for Lopez.He was eventually caught, handcuffed and placed on a st...

Florida zoo giving special care to Romeo and Juliet, ‘two of the oldest living manatees’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

TAMPA, Florida (WESH) — A portly pair of manatees has arrived at ZooTampa.According to a release from the zoo, “elderly and overweight” manatees Romeo and Juliet, arrived at ZooTampa at Lowry Park last week.“It’s going to be a long road, but there is no facility better prepared to address the urgent health needs of these manatees while the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership identifies the best option for their long-term placements,” said Dr. Cynthia Stringfield, manatee critical care veterinarian and Senior Vice President of Animal Health, Conservation and Education.Zoo representatives say both manatees are over the age of 65.Stringfield said it is uncommon for manatees to be as heavy as Juliet, who is 3,045 pounds.“As two of the oldest living manatees, Romeo and Juliet deserve the best care possible as they live out their final years,” Stringfield added.ZooTampa’s David A. Straz Manatee Critical Care Center is one o...

The women Putin doesn’t want to talk about 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

Vladimir Putin oozed confidence as he cruised through his first audience with the public and press since launching his war against Ukraine on Thursday.That is hardly surprising considering the event has long been an instrument for the Kremlin to communicate its own agenda through carefully vetted questions.More telling were the topics that did not get airtime. This year, among the most glaring omissions — aside from the Russian president’s nemesis Alexei Navalny going missing — was a women’s protest movement.In recent weeks, a group of wives and mothers of those who have been mobilized for Russia’s war in Ukraine has dominated headlines and social media.The women’s message, distributed online in a smattering of manifestos and videos and in small rallies, is clear: They want their loved ones to be discharged from military duty and replaced by fresh recruits.It is as close to a collective expression of dissent as can be found in today’s Russia,...

Why Rishi Sunak loves Italy’s Giorgia Meloni

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

ROME — When Rishi Sunak invited national leaders to attend his Bletchley Park AI summit last month, just one showed up: Giorgia Meloni.Sunak is this weekend returning the favor, attending a political festival organized by the far-right Italian premier — who is increasingly becoming the British Conservative prime minister’s political soulmate.Sunak’s spokesperson told journalists this week that the pair — regularly pictured laughing and joking together at meetings — “obviously get on.” He put their close relationship down to the fact they were elected at “at similar time.”But ties between the two prime ministers run much deeper, with common intellectual inspiration, shared policy goals, and concrete political and diplomatic reasons for them to stick close.Both leaders need each other, albeit for different reasons.“Sunak needs a key political ally amongst the larger member states in Europe,” one EU diplomat — like others in this pie...

UK mulls social media curbs for kids — but who’s even asking?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

LONDON — British ministers are considering fresh restrictions on social media for children, including requiring parents to provide permission for under-16s to use the platforms.But the people you might expect to back such a measure — those advocating most fiercely for child online safety — don’t sound keen, and there are questions over just how workable such a policy would be in practice.“To automatically kick kids off [social media] is not necessarily the right answer,” said crossbench peer and founder of the 5Rights Foundation, Beeban Kidron. Kidron was one of the most active child safety campaigners on the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, which put fresh duties on platforms to police content.“I think that the government should not keep on introducing new things and [should instead] implement the old,” she added.The Molly Rose Foundation, another key group calling for child online safety protections, said that while further measures “are necessary to protect children from online ri...

EU negotiators reach deal on media law to curb spying on reporters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

BRUSSELS — European Union negotiators reached an agreement Friday on the European Media Freedom Act, the bloc’s new set of rules aimed at safeguarding the independence of newsrooms and fostering media pluralism.The new law will introduce requirements for media to provide transparency over ownership and funding and it will force national governments to set up an oversight system that guarantees editorial freedom, including for public media. It also requires checks on mergers and sets up a new European watchdog to oversee it all. Negotiators of the European Parliament, the EU Council representing national governments, and the European Commission on Friday cleared the last hurdle: an agreement on provisions in the law limiting how governments conduct operations on journalists using spyware and other methods to identify and access their sources. The European Commission originally introduced an exemption for the investigation of certain crimes like terrorism and human trafficking, ...

LIVE COVERAGE: Funeral celebrates life of police officer killed in crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

The funeral for fallen Waltham police officer Paul Tracey was held at Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted church Friday as the community continues to mourn Tracey after his death last week.Thousands gathered for the funeral, which included a moving eulogy by the officer’s brothers and remarks by Tracey’s daughter and godson. 7NEWS has live team coverage throughout the day. —RELATED: Thousands gather in Waltham for funeral for fallen officer Paul Tracey 

Patriots down another starter at Friday practice before Chiefs game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was missing at the start of Friday’s in-stadium practice, his first absence this week.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots’ Demario Douglas cleared concussion protocol, trending to play Week 15 New England Patriots | Bill Belichick, Jerod Mayo, Patriots’ defense have something to prove vs. Chiefs New England Patriots | Callahan: What tricks does Bill Belichick have left for Patrick Mahomes? New England Patriots | Poll: Where do you want Patriots Coach Bill Belichick to be next year? New England Patriots | Patriots impending free agent open to re-signing this offseason Barmore was one of three absent starters, along with running back Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle) and left tackle Trent Brown (ankle/hand/illness). Stevenson is not expected to play Sunday, and Brown’s availability is suddenly in doubt after a second ...

Patriots’ Demario Douglas cleared concussion protocol, trending to play Week 15

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

FOXBORO — Patriots rookie wide receiver Demario Douglas has cleared concussion protocol and “should be available” to play against the Chiefs on Sunday, head coach Bill Belichick announced Friday morning.Douglas missed two games with a concussion suffered in the Patriots’ Week 12 loss to the Giants. It was the 2023 sixth-round pick’s second concussion of the season.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick, Jerod Mayo, Patriots’ defense have something to prove vs. Chiefs New England Patriots | Callahan: What tricks does Bill Belichick have left for Patrick Mahomes? New England Patriots | Poll: Where do you want Patriots Coach Bill Belichick to be next year? New England Patriots | Patriots impending free agent open to re-signing this offseason New England Patriots | Will Travis Kelce be latest player Bill Belichick tries to ‘neutralize’ in Patriots-Chi...

Chicago Bears Week 15 storylines: Justin Fields’ well-timed test, DJ Moore’s ‘Slim Shady’ magic and some ‘In the hunt’ perspective

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:19:25 GMT

Positive vibes are pulsating through Halas Hall this week with the Chicago Bears having won three of their last four games and, more importantly, playing a much more competitive brand of football.Last week’s 28-13 romp over the Detroit Lions added momentum and confidence to the tank as the Bears prepare to go back on the road for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns.They have justifiable reason to believe they can keep their late-season surge going. But they also understand the challenge that awaits, particularly from a stingy — albeit beat-up — Browns defense that has the potency to provide a reality check.As Sunday’s game approaches, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines.Right place — right time?It was less than an hour after his biggest victory as an NFL starter, less than an hour after the locker-room dance party began to celebrate the Bears’ 28-13 trouncing of the first-place Lions, and still Justin Fields was ...