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Regular speed resumes on Green Line Extension after slow zones imposed in response to narrow track discovery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

Regular service speed has resumed on the Green Line Extension branches to Union Square and Tufts after the abrupt discovery of narrow tracks on the line caused the T to drop trains to a turtle’s pace at 3 miles per hour.A view of the MBTA’s speed restriction map this morning shows no restrictions on the newly constructed $2.3 billion spur.MBTA GM Philip Eng said elimination of the slow zones along with the completion of work to rehab Somerville’s Squires Bridge.“Regularly scheduled Green Line service began early this morning, following the successful operation of test trains on the Union Station branch,” Eng said in a statement distributed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.“In keeping with our commitment last month to expedite track repair work during the Squires Bridge project, the MBTA has removed all of the Green Line speed restrictions on both the Union Station branch and the Medford/Tufts Station branch,” Eng continued. “Green Line ...

House Republicans are running into trouble trying to nominate a new speaker after ousting McCarthy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stalemated over a new House speaker, the Republican majority is scheduled to convene behind closed doors to launch internal party voting but lawmakers warn it could take hours, if not days, to unite behind a nominee after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.The two leading contenders Wednesday for the gavel, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, appear to be splitting the vote among their Republican colleagues. They outlined their visions at a lengthy candidate forum ahead of the private balloting.McCarthy, meanwhile, who had openly positioned himself to reclaim the job he just lost, told his colleagues not to nominate him this time. Instead, at Tuesday’s late evening candidate forum, he read a poem from Mother Teresa and delivered a unity prayer.“I don’t know how the hell you get to 218,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said afterward, referring to the majority vote typically needed to seize the gavel. “It could be a long week....

Lidia dissipates after making landfall as Category 4 hurricane near Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lidia dissipated Wednesday after hitting land near the resort of Puerta Vallarta as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph (220 kph). The hurricane blew the roofs off some homes and knocked over trees around the Pacific coast resort before moving inland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that Lidia’s winds were down to 35 mph as it dissipated about 145 miles (235 kms) north-northeast of the city of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and the capital of the western state of Jalisco.Lidia made landfall on a sparsely populated peninsula and then moved inland south of Puerto Vallarta, still with winds of 105 mph (165 kph). Victor Hugo Romo, the head of the Jalisco state civil defense office, said several homes around the landfall area had their roofs blown off, and the Puerto Vallarta city government said about a dozen trees had been knocked down there. Trees were also downed in the neighboring state of Nayarit. None of the officials reported...

Filing period for New Hampshire presidential primary opens with candidates critical of Biden, Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — In a ritual unruffled by either a changing of the guard or changes to the nominating calendar elsewhere, the filing period for the New Hampshire presidential primary started Wednesday with a Democratic candidate who criticized President Joe Biden and paid a chunk of his filing fee in $2 bills. For the first time in more than four decades, candidates are filing paperwork with a new secretary of state thanks to the retirement last year of longtime elections chief Bill Gardner. But his successor, David Scanlan, is carrying on the tradition of ensuring New Hampshire remains first, waiting for the dust to settle in other states before scheduling the 2024 contest.“I’m really in no hurry,” he said in an interview Tuesday.In contrast, the candidates themselves — particularly the long shots — often are in a race to sign up first in hopes that a bit of media attention will boost their campaigns. In 1991, a writer from New York drove 11 hours in a snowstorm only to find an...

Canada will airlift people from Tel Aviv this week, Joly says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government will begin to airlift Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their families from Tel Aviv by the end of the week.Speaking in Ottawa today, Joly would not confirm whether any Canadians are being held hostage in Gaza, but a senior official from Global Affairs Canada says two Canadians have died and a third is presumed dead.She says Canadian Armed Forces flights to Athens will be arranged in the coming days and the government will help arrange flights to Canada.Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre says the first Polaris plane will land in Athens later this morning and the Air Force will run a shuttle service.As of Tuesday, Joly says there were 4,249 Canadians registered in Israel and another 476 in the West Bank and Gaza.She says Canada will work with the United Nations if there is an evacuation from Gaza but so far there are no such plans.This report from The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11...

Birkenstock set for its stock market debut as Wall Street trades in its wingtips for sandals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Birkenstock is making its debut on the stock market as Wall Street trades in its wingtips for sandals for a day. The 249-year-old German maker of upmarket sandals set a price of $46 per share for its initial public offering of stock, valuing the company at $8.64 billion.Birkenstock is due to start trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the “BIRK” ticker symbol. Birkenstock Holding Ltd. sold about 10.8 million shares in the offering, raising about $495 million. Its shareholders sold an additional 21.5 million shares.The company’s footwear was first cobbled together by Johann Adam Birkenstock in Germany in 1774. The sandals have long been derided as the antithesis of high fashion but have a cult following and this year got a plug in the blockbuster film “Barbie.”Birkenstock’s IPO will be the fourth to launch in the U.S. in the past month, following Arm Holdings, Klaviyo and Instacart. There were just 71 IPOs in the U.S. last year, the lowest number sinc...

St. Louis launches program to pay $500 a month to lower-income residents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis is launching a program that seeks to help low-income families by providing them with $500 monthly payments for 18 months.The program is a signature priority for Mayor Tishaura Jones, who said Tuesday that the money will go to hundreds of city households, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. She believes it will help rebuild neighborhoods and prevent the root causes of crime.“St. Louis’ guaranteed basic income will give hundreds of St. Louis families the resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty, giving them a strong foundation to grow and to thrive,” Jones said at a news conference.The Board of Aldermen approved the program last year. The city will use $5 million in federal pandemic aid. Meanwhile, St. Louis native Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter and Square, is contributing $1 million.Jones announced a website for those interested. Applications will be open between Oct. 23 and Nov. 1, and the city will start sending the money, on debit car...

Australia in talks with Indonesia about a possible challenge to Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Soccer officials in Australia and Indonesia have floated the idea of teaming up in a bid to rival Saudi Arabia for the hosting rights to the men’s World Cup in 2034.The Sydney Morning Herald reported comments Wednesday from Indonesia soccer federation president Erick Thohir about ongoing talks that could also include Malaysia and Singapore in a possible bid.Indonesia is being linked with a bid despite having the men’s Under-20 World Cup taken away by FIFA this year amid political turmoil because the Muslim-majority nation did not want to stage games involving Israel.Argentina ended up hosting the under-20 tournament at short notice.FIFA could have disciplined the Indonesian federation for breaching hosting duties but instead rewarded the country weeks later by naming it as host of the men’s Under-17 World Cup. Israel did not qualify for the under-17 edition, which starts next month.Thohir is an Indonesian government minister who has ties to FIFA president Gi...

France’s top body rejects contention by campaigners that racial profiling by police is systemic

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s highest administrative authority on Wednesday rejected an effort by rights campaigners to end what they allege is a systemic and generalized practice by French police of targeting Black people and people of Arab descent for stops and checks.Local grassroots organizations and international rights groups had hoped that a favorable ruling from the Council of State could force deep reforms within French law enforcement to end racial profiling.In its decision, the Council of State said witness testimony and other evidence presented in the class-action case established that French police do subject people to checks because of their physical characteristics. It also said such checks don’t appear to be isolated cases and are harmful to the people targeted. But the ruling said discriminatory checks aren’t systemic or generalized. The Council of State is France’s ultimate arbiter on the use of power by authorities. The plaintiffs’ lawsuit, France’...

Keith Urban shares the secret to a great song ahead of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Ceremony

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:07 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Country superstar Keith Urban and Kix Brooks of powerhouse duo Brooks & Dunn will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on Wednesday night at Nashville’s Music City Center.Urban, a four-time Grammy Award winning musician, is being celebrated at the 53rd anniversary gala for hits such as “But for the Grace of God,” “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” and “Days Go By.” Kix Brooks’ songwriting in Brooks & Dunn helped shaped the iconic ’90s country music sound, with tracks like the Grammy-nominated “Brand New Man,” “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” and “Only in America.”Other inductees include Casey Beathard and David Lee Murphy, in the contemporary songwriter category, and Rafe Van Hoy in the veteran songwriter category.When asked to share the secret behind great songwriting in advance of the ceremony, Urban told The Associated Press over the phone: “It’s one of the most elusive things. Some days it just flows and other days, there’s n...