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Von der Leyen vows to conclude EU-Mercosur deal by year-end

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today pledged the EU and the Mercosur bloc would conclude their long-delayed trade agreement by the end of the year. Speaking alongside Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, von der Leyen said: “We both believe it is now the time to conclude the EU-Mercosul agreement. We have the ambition, the two of us, to get it done as soon as possible, the latest by the end of the year.”The deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — has been in the making for over two decades, and Brussels is now gearing up to speed up talks ahead of an EU-Latin America summit in mid-July.EU trade negotiators presented an extra sustainability document to the Mercosur countries earlier this year to try to assuage concerns in Europe over deforestation in the Amazon. France and Austria are among the long-standing opponents to the deal over climate and agricultural concerns. The Commissio...

Sightings continue as bear roams through Arlington, Lexington

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

A black bear that prompted a warning and a delayed opening for Arlington schools Monday has continued to roam around the area, most recently being spotted at a farm in neighboring Lexington. As authorities track the animal, some in the community have shared their reactions. At Wilson Farms in Lexington, Store Manager Richie Salerno said he saw the bear run out from behind a building earlier in the day.Colleague Robbie Sampson also saw the bear. “[He was] probably 200-300 pounds, maybe three and a half feet tall,” Sampson said. Sampson captured video of the bear. Another video captured by Arlington police showed the bear darting across a row of plants. “He made his way to the food,” Salerno said. “Smart bear.” In Arlington, Betti Tasanari was one of the first people to spot the bear on Monday morning around 7 a.m. She said she saw the bear when she was taking her dog out. “A lady drives by and she starts yelling at us ‘There’s a bear, there’s a bear...

South Boston family thankful after return of statue containing ashes of two family members

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

A family in South Boston recently got some relief after a stolen statue containing the ashes of two family members was returned. 7NEWS spoke with Jessyca Doyle last week after she said someone took the statue from the spot in the family’s lawn where it had been standing for close to 10 years. The colorful statue of Charlie Chaplin was painted by Doyle’s late father and now contains both his ashes and the ashes of Doyle’s grandfather. Doyle said the statue was taken on June 5. One week later, she said it was returned on Monday. “I’m just so happy they returned it, because it means just so much — it really does — to me, to my grandma, to the whole family,” Doyle said. Doyle said she believes whoever took the statue returned it after learning it contained the ashes of family members. It is unknown who returned the statue. In comments on Monday, though, Doyle said the family is thanking the mystery returner.The family now plans to give the statue a fresh coat ...

Investigation underway after acidic chemical poured on playground in Longmeadow

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

Authorities in Longmeadow asked for the public’s help Monday after they said an acidic chemical was poured on playground equipment at a local park, injuring two children over the weekend. The Longmeadow Fire Department said police and fire personnel first responded to Bliss Park Playground on Sunday morning after a report of a suspicious substance on the Playground. Crews also responded to a home, according to fire officials, after receiving a report of two children with “burn-like injuries” after they left the park. Officials said investigators found a pump room in the basement of a nearby pool building had been broken into and pool chemicals were stolen. Investigators said a pool chemical determined to be muriatic acid that was stored in the pump room was later poured on slides at the Bliss Park Playground. “The pool chemicals had been stored properly in a secured area,” the Longmeadow Fire Department said. “A great deal of effort was employed to enter this space. We sus...

Ticker: Judge extends time for airlines to unwind deal; Sales tax holiday date to be decided

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

A federal judge who ordered American Airlines and JetBlue Airways to spike their Northeast partnership is giving the airlines more time to unwind the deal.U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston said in an order Monday that the injunction he ordered last month will take effect 21 days after he issues a final judgment imposing terms on the airlines. It’s not clear when that will be.The airlines had faced a deadline next weekend, just 30 days after the judge’s May 19 decision in favor of the U.S. Justice Department, which sued to break up the deal.American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said last month that his Texas-based airline will appeal the May ruling. New York-based JetBlue has not indicated whether it will appeal.Date of sales tax holiday to be decidedThe Legislature faces a Thursday deadline to select an August weekend as this year’s sales tax holiday, when the typical 6.25% levy does not apply to most retail items less than $2,500.Retailers Association of Massa...

Saquon Barkley’s case for Giants importance is only missing clarity on deals he’s turned down

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

Saquon Barkley’s most passionate comment Sunday night in Jersey City was his last one.While lamenting teams’ suppression of the running back market by using the franchise tag, Barkley pivoted into a detailed explanation of why not every running back’s situation is identical.Every team is, in his words, “different.”“There’s a [stat] that goes up about quarterbacks in the Super Bowl and how many rushing yards the top rusher [has], but every team is not — like Pat Mahomes is a two-time Super bowl MVP, two-time MVP. And not everybody has Pat Mahomes,” Barkley said at his AMPT Events kids’ football camp. “And this is no knock to Daniel Jones. So don’t even try to flip it like that.“And then you look at the Eagles,” Barkley added. “Jalen Hurts is a great quarterback. That team is amazing. But every team is not the Eagles. Every team don’t have that much talent.”That’s when Barkley d...

US halts online asylum appointments at Texas crossing after extortion warnings

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

By VALERIE GONZALEZ and JULIE WATSON (Associated Press)LAREDO, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration has stopped taking mobile app appointments to admit asylum-seekers at a Texas border crossing that connects to a notoriously dangerous Mexican city after advocates warned U.S. authorities that migrants were being targeted there for extortion.U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave no explanation for its decision to stop scheduling new appointments via the CBP One app for the crossing in Laredo, Texas.Several asylum-seekers told The Associated Press that Mexican officials in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, had threatened to hold them and make them miss their scheduled asylum appointments unless they paid them. Humanitarian groups in Laredo say they had recently warned CBP of the problems and that certain groups were controlling access to the international crossing on the Mexican side.Migrant advocates say the situation in Nuevo Laredo, which is plagued by car...

Patriots release top free-agent signing after 3 months

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

The Patriots waived running back James Robinson on Monday, less than three months after making him one of their highest-profile free-agent additions.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Mac Jones reacts to DeAndre Hopkins’ reported Patriots visit: ‘Obviously we’d love to have him’ New England Patriots | Bill Belichick expresses uncertainty about DeAndre Hopkins’ Patriots visit New England Patriots | Mac Jones, Bill O’Brien and 5 things to follow at Patriots minicamp New England Patriots | Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson ready to be ‘the guy’ in 2023 after Damien Harris’ departure New England Patriots | Belichick: Patriots ‘moved on’ after losing 2 workout days for NFL rules violation The 24-year-old was expected to serve as the primary backup to Rhamondre Stevenson. His departure leaves Stevenson as the only proven rusher on the roster. Robinson signed a ...

What’s the point of TV cliffhangers in the streaming age?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

Take this with a grain of salt and a whole lot of pepper: TV cliffhangers don’t work in the streaming era.Maybe they do once in a while. I can’t think of any off the top of my head. My colleague Michael Phillips recently singled out the ending of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” as an exception to the rule, and movie audiences can be fairly certain another installment will turn up in theaters.When it comes to streaming originals, that expectation is less assured.I happen to like a narrative that unfolds, beginning to end, with some economy. Wrap it up, I say! I want off this narrative treadmill! But Hollywood isn’t in the business of telling a satisfying story over the course of a single episode anymore. Serialization remains ascendant and streaming shows are defined by their season-long (sometimes series-long) story arcs.If you’re lucky, those seasons end with some semblance of resolution.Often, they don’t.So what purpose does a cliffhanger serve if you don’t know when a show ...

Epstein fallout: JPMorgan settles victim lawsuit for $290M

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:42:00 GMT

JPMorgan Chase announced a tentative $290 million settlement Monday with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein who had accused the bank of being the financial conduit that allowed the financier to continue operating a sex trafficking operation.Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal charges accusing him of paying underage girls for massages and then molesting them at his homes in Florida and New York. He was found dead in jail in August of that year, at age 66. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.The lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court in November sought to hold JPMorgan financially liable for Epstein’s decades-long abuse of teenage girls and young women. A related lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. Virgin Islands.The proposed settlement comes roughly two weeks after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon testified in a deposition for the case, where he denied knowing about Epstein and his crimes until the financier was arrested in 2019, according to a transcript of the videota...