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Azerbaijan and Armenia fight for 2nd day over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Explosions rocked parts of Nagorno-Karabakh early Wednesday, a day after Azerbaijani forces used heavy artillery fire on Armenian positions in the separatist region that local officials said killed or wounded scores of people.Azerbaijan has called the artillery fire an “anti-terrorist operation” and said it will continue until the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh dismantles itself and “illegal Armenian military formations” surrender.It said it is only targeting military sites, but significant damage was visible on the streets of the regional capital, Stepanakert, with shop windows blown out and vehicles punctured apparently by shrapnel.The blasts reverberated around Stepanakert every few minutes on Wednesday morning, with some explosions in the distance and others closer to the city.The artillery fire raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which for more than three decades have been locked in ...

Macron rolls out the red carpet for King Charles III

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

PARIS — Royalty fans in France and beyond are in for a treat as British King Charles III kicks off his long-awaited state visit to Paris on Wednesday to celebrate historic ties and bolster post-Brexit cooperation between France and the U.K. The three-day visit, which was supposed to be the British monarch’s first foreign trip as king after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, was postponed in March over social unrest in France. The visit, which takes the British head of state to Paris and Bordeaux, will be redolent of pomp and ceremony, with French President Emmanuel Macron pulling out all the stops to impress his guest.After landing in Paris on Wednesday, King Charles and Queen Camilla will join Macron and his wife Brigitte and take part in a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, before holding talks at the Elysée Palace. The British monarch will attend a banquet dinner later in the evening at the sumptuous Versailles Palace — a venue long associated with absolute ...

Azerbaijan declares victory in lightning Nagorno-Karabakh offensive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia — Azerbaijan on Wednesday declared victory after a daylong military assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, during which Baku pounded the ethnic-Armenian controlled region with artillery fire.Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership on Wednesday morning agreed to a cease-fire in an effort to prevent further bloodshed as Azerbaijani forces made major advances in the breakaway region.According to Azerbaijan’s ministry of defense, quoted by state media, the Karabakh Armenian side has agreed to “lay down their weapons, leave their combat positions and military posts and disarm completely. Units of the Armenian armed forces [will] leave the territories of Azerbaijan, illegal Armenian armed groups [will be] dissolved.”In a statement, the government of ethnic-Armenian controlled Nagorno-Karabakh said that Azerbaijan had inflicted casualties and captured strategic locations, despite its own troops fighting to hold the line. “Regrettably, the defense army h...

Surprise fall in UK inflation eases pressure on Bank of England

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

Consumer inflation in the U.K. fell surprisingly in August, easing the pressure on the Bank of England to deliver a 15th straight rise in interest rates when its decision-makers meet Thursday.The consumer price index rose only 0.3 percent from July, the Office for National Statistics said, rather than the 0.7 rise expected. That brought the headline rate of inflation down to 6.7 percent from 6.8 percent the previous month.The ONS’s broadest measure of inflation, CPIH, which includes the housing costs of owner-occupiers, fell to 6.3 percent from 6.4 percent in July.The news is a welcome fillip for the Conservative government, for whom the cost-of-living crisis has become a key vulnerability in the election campaign that will start next year.“Inflation never falls in a straight line but it’s now down 40 percent from it’s [sic] peak,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said via X. “The plan is working.”However, he was quick to rule out any suggestion that the numbers give the gove...

Great Weather… For Now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

Clear skies and crisp air kicks off this Wednesday morning as temps start in the 50s. We’ll go from sweatshirt weather this morning to t-shirt weather this afternoon as highs head back up into the low to mid 70s. Stellar September weather for sure as sunshine wins out too. With humidity very low, it’ll allow for a quick drop in temps this evening as the numbers slide back into the 40s for many by daybreak tomorrow. Yet again, it’ll be another nice bounce back with highs in the lower 70s tomorrow afternoon. It’s pretty much a rinse and repeat forecast for Friday. The weekend brings in challenges to the forecast as plenty of moisture will be tracking up the East coast. It looks like at least some of that moisture will move in, allowing for the rain potential Saturday afternoon into Sunday. How much rain will depend on how far north all the moisture goes, but the highest risk of heavy rain is across Southeast Mass. Temps will be cooler over the weekend, in the ...

OBF: 0-2? 0-3? Oh no if Pats lose to Jets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

The NFL offered a media release Tuesday imploring those whose teams are now 0-2 to keep it together.“No Need To Panic” was the headline on the email direct from the Politburo to my inbox.It’s been 22 years since the Patriots began 0-2.New England’s NFL entry last fell to 0-2 Sept. 23, 2001.That 10-3 loss to the Jets has been bronzed.It was the first game for the Patriots after 9/11.With 5:01 left in the fourth quarter, Mo Lewis knocked Drew Bledsoe out of the game.(It was a savage, but clean, shoulder hit. Bledsoe was still on the field and not heading out of bounds.)And launched Tom Brady into immortality.Week 3 of the 2001 season marked Brady’s first NFL start.Tom Brady 1 – Peyton Manning 0.Just 24, Brady would go on to win his first Super Bowl that season.At 24, Mac Jones needed a boost from Bill O’Brien to beat Bailey Zappe for the QB1 spot.The final bell has since tolled for Brady’s NFL playing career.Tom is not coming through that door …  until next June.Roger Good...

Howie Carr: Statie nabbed in OT sting wins back $90K pension kiss

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.Or if you don’t want to lose your tax-free kiss in the mail.But corrupt thieving convicted felon ex-Massachusetts State Police Lt. John Giulino apparently never watched the old TV show Baretta, maybe because he was too busy stealing $29,000 with his badge and his gun and his free police cruiser.In 2020, Giulino was stripped of his $90,000 tax-free pension pulled after he pleaded guilty to putting in for 85 overtime shifts on the Mass Turnpike that he did not work. He backed his felonious theft by writing fake traffic tickets.But now, at age 72, the greed-crazed crooked cop Giulino has found a district-court judge who decreed that the kleptomaniac cop should get his bloated state pension back.It’s just one hack helping another. Call it professional courtesy.Let me ask you this: will you get a $90,000-a-year pension when you retire? And I’m guessing you’ve never been convicted of stealing more than $29,000 in public funds.Don’t do the crime ...

ISL football preview and players to watch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

Lawrence Academy rode the combination of solid line play and explosiveness from its skill position players to a share of the Independent School League title and the Todd Marble Bowl championship.The good news for the Spartans is that all five starters return on the offensive line led by Dom Selvitelli, Sam Healey and Matt Pierotti as well as tight end Cole Nelson. All-Scholastic quarterback Michael Landolfi returns along with wide receiver Jovon Mobley and running back Michael Gregoire.On defense, Selvitelli, Healey and Pierotti are in the trenches with Nelson. Gregoire is the top returning linebacker, while Tavian Henderson and Mobley anchor the secondary.BB&N is chasing its sixth NEPSAC bowl since 2016 and have the horses to be in the hunt. The defense will rely on DL Kastriot Panariti, Max Van Tassell amd Nic Matosic, LB Jack Kelley and Tyler Blum as well as DB Kevin Winschel and Baron Langston.Henry Machnik returns at quarterback and he has one of the top running backs aroun...

Busy day ahead for Trudeau at UN General Assembly

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

If you think your Wednesday is going to be busy, pour one out for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Canada’s to-do list at the United Nations? Confronting the climate crisis, helping Ukraine defeat Russia and eradicating global poverty, among other things.Trudeau will take in a UN Security Council debate on the way forward in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to speak.At a climate ambition summit, Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to hold leaders to account on what they’re doing to confront the emergency.Trudeau will also take part in high-level meetings on creating new finance models to help the developing world find sustainable solutions.And he’ll join Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault at an event aimed at helping developing countries deal with their carbon emissions.“The time has come for all of us to step up and understand: the future is expecting us all to meet this moment,” Trudeau said Tuesday at a meeting on...

Azerbaijan and Armenian forces reach cease-fire deal for breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:53 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — A cease-fire agreement with Azerbaijan was reached on Wednesday to end two days of fighting in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, local authorities and Azerbaijani officials said. The agreement was to go into effect at 1 p.m. local time (0900 GMT), and talks between Azerbaijani officials and the breakaway region’s ethnic Armenian authorities on its “re-integration” into Azerbaijan were scheduled to take place on Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh. The deal was reached through negotiations with the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the region, local officials said. It envisions the withdrawal of Armenian military units and equipment from Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as disarming the local defense forces, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry confirmed. It comes a day after Azerbaijan launched military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh and used heavy artillery fire on Armenian positions there, an attack that local officials said killed or wounded sc...