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EU has no easy options to help Ukraine shift its grain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

Pressure is mounting on the EU to move even more of Ukraine’s stranded agricultural surplus after Moscow refused to rejoin a U.N.-backed deal to allow Kyiv to export grain across the Black Sea and unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukrainian seaports.Brussels says the EU is perfectly capable of exporting all of the grain and other agricultural products backed up in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s 17-month-old war of aggression and decision last week to terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative.“We are ready to export by solidarity lanes almost everything that Ukraine needs to export,” EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels this week.Despite that confident statement, the EU’s solidarity lanes — overland corridors set up to facilitate transit by road, rail and inland waterway — are under strain. The bloc has struggled to boost their capacity and faces pushback from eastern member countries ...

Person struck and killed by Amtrak train in Andover

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

An investigation got underway Thursday after a person was struck and killed by an Amtrak train in Andover, the Essex County District Attorney’s office said. The DA’s office said authorities were notified of the incident near the intersection of Railroad and Essex streets around 4:30 p.m.“Upon further investigation, they learned the person – traveling on foot – had apparently waited for a southbound train to pass before being struck by a northbound Amtrak Downeaster train that was passing through Andover immediately after the southbound train cleared the intersection,” the DA’s office said. The DA’s office said crossing lights and gates in the area appeared to be working and in their downward position when the person was hit. An Amtrak spokesperson, in a separate statement, said the train involved was traveling from Boston to Brunswick. The spokesperson said there were no injuries reported among the train’s passengers or crew. “Amtrak is working with lo...

Lightning strikes chimney in Boston’s South End, sending bricks onto sidewalk and parked car

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

Lightning struck a chimney at an apartment building in Boston’s South End Thursday, sending pieces of the chimney crashing onto the street below as storms made their way through the region. Video captured the moment the strike rocked the building on Massachusetts Avenue near Tremont Street. Inside, Caitlin Murphy said she heard a “giant boom.” “I look out my window and I see bricks that are, like, sparking falling onto Massachusetts Avenue,” Murphy said. Murphy said soot fell into her fireplace. Photos from the roof of the building that got hit showed bricks scattered across the area. A skylight was also damaged.Bricks littered the sidewalk on Massachusetts Avenue and caved in the hood of one vehicle. A metal fence was left lying on the sidewalk. Officials said no one was hit by the flying debris and there were no reported injuries. “It’s lucky given the situation,” Murphy said. Boston Fire Department District Chief Robert Counihan said crews arriv...

Brush fire near border prompts evacuation warning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A brush fire burning Thursday in the Potrero area has prompted an evacuation warning, authorities said.The blaze, dubbed as the "Border 21 Fire," is in the southeastern part of the county off of Grapevine Truck Trail and Tecate Truck Trail, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department tweeted at 7:33 p.m. The shaded area shown in the map below is under an evacuation warning:An evacuation warning is in effect for the shaded area on this map. (San Diego County Sheriff's Department)Authorities advise that an evacuation warning means there's impending danger to your life or property. New affordable housing opens in North County "If a warning is given, you must assume an evacuation order will follow. Start gathering important items for your family and pets. If you feel you're in danger, don't wait. Go!" the sheriff's department said.Steele Canyon High School, located at 12440 Campo Road in Spring Valley, is being set up as a temporary evacuation point, according to law enfor...

Australian prime minister is confident the US will deliver nuclear-powered submarines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday he was confident of securing bipartisan political support in the United States for a deal to provide his country with submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.The so-called AUKUS partnership — an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States — is being discussed by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in meetings with Albanese and other Australian officials in Brisbane on Friday and Saturday.Under the deal, Australia will buy three Virginia-class submarines from the United States and build five of a new AUKUS-class submarine in cooperation with Britain.Australian media have focused on a letter signed by more than 20 Republican lawmakers to President Joe Biden that warned the deal would “unacceptably weaken the U.S. fleet” without a plan to boost U.S. submarine production.Albanese said he remained “very confident” that the Unit...

Animals visit, lift the spirits of young patients stuck in the hospital for summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

CHICAGO — At a summer camp program at Lurie Children's Hospital, instead of the kids going away, the camp comes to the kids. And it included some Shedd Aquarium favorites traveling from the lakefront to Lurie to add a little adventure even inside hospital walls.For patients stuck in the hospital for the summer, who can’t make it to camp or other summer activities, the outside comes to them.“I heard it in my room. My nurse let me know and I said, ‘I gotta go see the animals!’” patient Alyssa Woodworth said. “It’s a taste of nature, especially when you are stuck in the building.”Lizards, snakes and big red the tortoise mingled with patients and their families as part of the 8-week-long explorers camp. ‘Be nice to each other:’ 7 residents of a suburban senior living home offer advice on living 100 years Katie Vautier is Lurie Children’s School Services Coordinator.“We’ve had a STEM week and we’ve done an engineering challenge,” she said.RJ Hall has been at Lurie for nearly a week. Th...

With injuries behind, Austin Martin ‘in a great spot’ with Saints

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

With Sunday marking the two-year anniversary of the trade deadline deal that sent Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios to the Toronto Blue Jays, the two prospects the Twins got in return remain highly regarded in the organization as members of the Saints.Right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson, who started in the Saints’ 5-4 loss to Toledo on Thursday night at CHS Field, has had the higher profile to date, simply because utility specialist Austin Martin has been stalled by injuries.Martin tore the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow (throwing arm) early in spring training, and it kept him out of the Saints’ lineup until July 3. Last season, a torn UCL in his left elbow cost him considerable time, before he was able to come back and play well in the Fall League.The 24-year-old Martin was the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft by the Blue Jays after a standout career at Vanderbilt, and he’s eager to showcase his talents in front of Twin Cities baseball fans. Martin can pl...

Contact 2: Fighting to prevent deep fake robocalls

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Scammers have a new tool in their arsenal: Artificial intelligence. On July 11, the U.S. Senate had its first classified briefing on AI and how the technology could be applied to national security.“Elected representatives in 2023 cannot afford to be in the dark about how AI works and how it’s going to reshape our world," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.Two days later, the Federal Communications Commission held a workshop on the challenges AI brings to vital consumer issues like robocalls. One of the experts at the FCC event was Greg Bohl, Chief Data Officer for Transaction Network Services. TNS analyzes more than 1.3 billion calls daily to uncover robocall trends and tactics. FOX 2 spoke with Bohl about how cybercriminals are using AI-cloned voices to scam loved ones out of money.“They’ll take a recording, possibly off your voicemail, and make it sound like this relative of yours," Bohl said. "They’ll say, 'Help me, or they’ll be crying, or something like ...

Staffing 'crisis' creating new risks for St. Louis police officers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS - There are thousands of emergency calls in St. Louis, but the city is down hundreds of officers. Some say the lack of manpower is risking the lives of not only cops, but also the public.Earlier this month, off-duty tow truck driver Jeremy Bailey used his personal vehicle to help make other drivers aware of a vehicle that had crashed."There was a car that hit the wall, spun out and blocking both lanes," Bailey said.He had just got off work when the crash happened in on a St. Louis area interstate. Bailey told the woman to get on the other side of the guard rail and had a flashlight to try and get other drivers to slow down."I started flashing [the light at] cars, trying to get them to slow down cause cars kept flying around it," Bailey said. "They would lock their brakes up." Lincoln County mother pleads for answers 32 years after son’s disappearance  Bailey called 911, but said it took at least 45 minutes for a St. Louis police officer to arrive. The off-duty tow truck ...

MoDOT weighs improvements on dangerous stretch of Route 231  

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:50 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Residents flocked to the Hancock School District Central Office in Lemay Thursday evening to learn about and provide feedback on a multi-year MoDOT project to resurface Route 231 while making sidewalks ADA-compliant and upgrading signals."I'm really proud of the citizens to take time out of their busy schedule to give us input,” said Tom Blair, MoDOT District Engineer.The roadway was the site of a fatal crash just a week ago when a 73-year-old woman went airborne in her car, slamming into a home. MoDOT statistics show there are 25 crashes on the roadway each year, which is three times the state average on similar roads."If there's one thing I heard so far, is the fact that there seems to be a consensus we need to slow vehicles down on this route,” Blair said.The project stretches from the St. Louis City limits to just south of Franru Lane. A MoDOT study showed there's excess space along the roadway between Kingston Drive and Broadway which encourages speed. The...