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Protests mount in Spain against Sánchez’s amnesty deal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

Tens of thousands of people across Spain demonstrated on Sunday against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s plans to grant amnesty to Catalan separatists in order to secure support for another term in office.Sánchez signed the controversial agreement last week after the Catalan separatist Junts party gave its backing to the prime minister’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) to form a new government. The deal, which came four months after the Spanish election resulted in no single party gaining a majority in parliament, was criticized by judicial groups and almost immediately triggered protests. The protests escalated on Sunday, spurred by the conservative opposition People’s Party, with Madrid authorities estimating 80,000 people took to the streets in the capital and demonstrations also held in other cities. In exchange for the Junts party’s backing, Sánchez’s Socialists agreed to propose a law granting a blanket amnesty to everyone involved in the failed&nbs...

Stealth no more: Top secret B-21 bomber takes to the skies in California 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

After years of secrecy, the B-21 Raider emerged from its Palmdale, California, hangar Friday morning and took its first flight, soaring through the sky and giving plane enthusiasts, contractor employees and the public its first glimpse of the futuristic-looking bomber in air.The B-21 bomber, which is being built by Northrop Grumman Corp., took off from the secretive Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale before heading north toward Edwards Air Force Base, said Matt Hartman, a photographer who was out in Palmdale in hopes of taking photos of the plane after he’d heard rumors that a flight might be imminent.About 80 people crowded near the Palmdale Regional Airport to try to see the first flight with their own eyes. Once the bomber flew by, “you could hear a pin drop,” Hartman said.The U.S. Air Force confirmed that the B-21 is in flight testing, and called it a “critical step” in the bomber’s test program. Flight testing includes not just flying operations ...

Astros will promote bench coach Joe Espada to be manager, replacing Dusty Baker, AP source says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Joe Espada will be introduced as manager of the Houston Astros on Monday, a person familiar with the hiring told The Associated Press.The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Sunday because the team hadn’t announced the decision. The Astros have a news conference schedule for Monday morning. Espada will take over for Dusty Baker, who retired last month.This will be the first managerial position for the 48-year-old Espada, who has been Houston’s bench coach since 2018. Espada began his coaching career in the Marlins organization, working in the minors until moving to the big-league club as the third base coach in 2010.He remained with the Marlins through the 2013 season before taking a job as a special assistant to New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. He joined the Yankees coaching staff in 2015 and worked as their infield and third base coach through the 2017 season.Espada, who was born in Puerto Rico, was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the...

Leylah Fernandez clinches first-ever Billie Jean King Cup title for Canada

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

Canada won the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time on Sunday, clinching the women’s team event over Italy, thanks to wins by 18-year-old Marina Stakusic and then Leylah Fernandez in the singles matches, in Seville, Spain.The 35th-ranked Fernandez secured the victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, the world’s 30th-ranked player, in the second singles match. The 21-year-old from Laval, Que., broke the Italian’s serve six times.TEAM CANADA MAKES HISTORY AND CAPTURES THEIR FIRST EVER BILLIE JEAN KING CUP! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/jDV9nF3Nho— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 12, 2023Paolini staved off championship point with a break of her own, down 5-2, but Fernandez then broke the Italian for a final time to secure the title.Stakusic, from Mississauga, Ont., started the day with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Italy’s Martina Trevisan. The teenager jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but Trevisan rallied, eventually grabbing a ...

House reportedly explodes on Kitchener Road in Scarborough

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

A house has reportedly exploded on Kitchener Road, near Kingston and Galloway Roads in Scarborough on Sunday morning.Police received a call at approximately 11:37 a.m. of reports that a house had exploded.It is unknown if anyone was inside and there are no injuries to confirm at this time. Multiple emergency service vehicles are on scene.A TTC shelter bus is on scene for any displaced residents and police are asking crowds to move back from the area for safety.Toronto Fire says that it is considered a three-alarm fire, the fire is under control at this point and crews are working on protecting exposure to adjacent homes.

Protesters set to demonstrate across Canada as Israel-Hamas war rages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

MONTREAL — Demonstrators are expected in cities across Canada ahead of rallies related to the Israel-Hamas war.In Toronto, a protest organized by the group Ceasefire Now is set to voice solidarity with residents of the Gaza Strip starting at 1 p.m. in front of city hall, with similar demonstrations planned in Montreal and other cities.Meanwhile, a rally in support of Israelis is planned for Toronto’s Christie Pits Park, organized by the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.The park holds historical significance for Jewish Canadians, marking the spot where violence erupted between Jews and Anglo-Canadians in the 1933 Christie Pits Riot, set off by a swastika flag unfurled by Nazi-inspired youth.Sunday’s demonstrations come amid growing calls for a ceasefire as the death toll rises in the Gaza Strip, where power and fuel shortages wreak havoc on its health centres while fierce clashes play out between Israeli troops and Hamas m...

76ers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. has a broken rib after being struck by vehicle that fled the scene

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. broke a rib when he was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene Saturday night in Philadelphia’s Center City, authorities said.The 27-year-old Oubre was taken to a hospital in stable condition after being hit and was released a few hours later. The team officially ruled Oubre out for a game Sunday night and said in a statement he would be re-evaluated in about one week.Oubre was walking near his home at about 7:20 p.m. Saturday and was heading west on a street when a vehicle travelling in the same direction “at a high rate of speed” tried to turn south onto the street he was crossing. The vehicle hit him “in the upper chest area with the driver-side mirror,” police said Sunday.The car, described as silver in color, kept going south and fled the scene. Fire department medics responded and took Oubre to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital “in stable condition with a broken rib and injuries to his hip and right leg,” police said, a...

Jury finds Nygard guilty of 4 sexual assault charges, acquits him on 2 other counts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

TORONTO — Peter Nygard, who once led a women’s fashion empire, was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault on Sunday but was acquitted of a fifth count plus a charge of forcible confinement.The jury at his trial in Toronto handed down the verdict on their fifth day of deliberations following a six-week trial. Eighty-two-year-old Nygard had pleaded not guilty to all charges, which stemmed from allegations dating back from the 1980s to the mid-2000s.Five women – whose identities are protected by a publication ban – had testified that they were invited to Nygard’s headquarters at 1 Niagara Street in Toronto under pretexts ranging from tours to job interviews, with all encounters ending in a top-floor bedroom suite where four of them were sexually assaulted.Multiple complainants told the jury similar stories of meeting Nygard on a plane, at an airport tarmac or at a nightclub and then receiving invitations to come to headquarters. All five women said their meetings or intera...

Want to live longer? These 8 habits may reduce your biological age, study says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

(NEXSTAR) -- Aging is inevitable, but you might be able to slow down the process with some healthy lifestyle changes. That's according to a new study presented Monday at the American Heart Society's Scientific Sessions 2023 in Philadelphia. Scientists pointed to eight healthy habits that can reduce your biological age and help you live longer. While everyone knows their chronological age (the number of years you've been alive), biological age refers to how old your cells are and the speed at which you're aging physically.  1 in 4 US medical students consider quitting, most don’t plan to treat patients: report For the study, researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City calculated the phenotypic, or biological, age of 6,500 adults. The analysis found that good cardiovascular health can slow the pace of biological aging by up to six years and reduce the risk of developing age-related diseases.For example, the aver...

After Ohio's legalization vote, here's where marijuana is — and isn't — legal

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:13 GMT

(NEXSTAR) — Ohio voters legalized recreational marijuana on Tuesday, making the state the 24th to do so. Starting next month, Ohioans 21 years old and older will be allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and up to 15 grams of cannabis extract. They can keep up to six cannabis plants or up to 12 if there are two adults at least 21 years old in their household.An additional sales tax of 10% will apply to cannabis products as well. Ohio was already one of the 15 states that had legalized medical cannabis. Can you bring marijuana on a plane through a TSA checkpoint? As of November 2023, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use. There are several that approved recreational use within the last two years. Rhode Island and New York kicked off sales in December 2022. Connecticut, Maryland, and Missouri began sales this year.Some states tried and failed to legalize recreational marijuana this year. That includes Oklahoma, whe...