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Biden backs ‘whoever wins’ in Turkish election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

When he ran for president, Joe Biden called Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan an “autocrat” and said the U.S should support Erdogan’s opponents.Now, with Erdoğan leading in a tight runoff race for the Turkish presidency, Biden and his aides are a chastened bunch. When they’re willing to comment at all, they insist they’re not picking sides.“I just hope … whoever wins wins,” Biden said Sunday of the first-round vote in Turkey, a situation he subtly compared to his own 2020 election. “There’s enough problems in that part of the world right now.”The Biden team’s awkward ambivalence reflects an uncomfortable reality. Yes, Erdoğan may be an illiberal ruler who has damaged his country’s democracy. But Turkey is also a strategically located NATO ally, and Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing strife in the Middle East means Washington can’t simply turn its back on the strongman.Pressed on the topic during a briefing with journalists Monday, National Security Council spokespe...

Zelenskyy blitzes Europe with fighter jet diplomacy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

LONDON — Ukraine has no permanent seat at the G7 leaders’ summit. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already made sure his talking points will dominate discussions at the G7’s annual get-together in Japan this weekend.Zelenskyy arrived in the U.K. unexpectedly Monday morning after visiting Italy, Germany and France as part of a diplomatic blitz designed to ramp up military support for his country and — crucially — to build the case among Western allies for modern jet aircraft to be shipped to Kyiv.And with the G7 summit now just days away, Zelenskyy spoke optimistically of a new “coalition of jets” — countries committed to providing Ukraine with modern fighter aircraft — following talks with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at his country residence, Chequers.“We can’t control the sky,” the Ukrainian president told broadcasters. “We want to create this jets coalition, and I’m very positive with it. We spoke about it and I see that in the closest time, you will hear s...

Higher pollen levels impact spike in seasonal allergies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

People with seasonal allergies have been hit hard this spring as the amount of pollen in the air increases.As many contend with sneezing, runny noses and other reactions, higher than normal amounts of tree pollen combined with recent weather are playing a role.“The spring season is classic for the tree pollens,” said Dr. Aleena Banerji, the clinical director of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. “And that is what we’re all feeling right now.”After a mild April and well-above average start to May, sunshine is encouraging people to get outside. The weather is also helping trees and flowers bloom. Budding blossoms, along with longer growing seasons, though, have caused higher levels of pollen. “Allergies have been horrible,” said Sarah LeBlanc, one person suffering from seasonal allergies. “My nose has been stuffed up. Both my kids are coughing. Everybody’s got a runny nose.”Over the past 20 years, pollen counts have risen by between 2...

Microsoft’s bid to buy game maker clears a key hurdle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

LONDON — The European Union on Monday approved Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard, deciding the deal won’t stifle competition for popular console titles like Call of Duty and accepting the U.S. tech company’s remedies to boost competition in cloud gaming.But the blockbuster deal is still in jeopardy because British regulators have rejected it and U.S. authorities are trying to thwart it.The acquisition, sweetened by Microsoft’s promises to automatically license Activision games to cloud gaming platforms, “would no longer raise competition concerns and would ultimately unlock significant benefits for competition and consumers,” said the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm and top antitrust watchdog.The commission’s approval “has removed one potential major roadblock for this deal” but “it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re in a stronger position”...

Ja Morant is playing with fire and the consequences are piling up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

Ja Morant isn’t simply playing with fire. He’s showing how little he cares if he gets burned — or if the house goes up along with him.It’s clear now with the superstar guard’s second go-round being caught on camera with a gun in his hand that he didn’t learn his lesson the first time.The pistol-packing player for the Memphis Grizzlies pulled out a handgun while dancing in the driver’s seat of a car while a passenger was broadcasting on Instagram Live over the weekend.The seconds-long snippet immediately went viral on social media, and the Grizzlies announced shortly thereafter that the All-Star guard was suspended indefinitely from team activities. The suspension comes just weeks after Morant was penalized for this very same infraction.Recent reporting suggests now opposing NBA owners are concerned with the image Morant portrays as one of the young faces of the rapidly growing professional basketball league. His suspension is expected to car...

About face: TSA testing facial recognition 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

BALTIMORE — A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through — all without having to hand over identification to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen.It’s all part of a pilot project by the Transportation Security Administration to assess the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country.“What we are trying to do with this is aid the officers to actually determine that you are who you say who you are,” said Jason Lim, identity management capabilities manager, during a demonstration at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.The technology is currently in 16 airports. In addition to Baltimore, it’s being used in Boston,  at Reagan National near Washington, D.C., and airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orla...

Man in custody after baseball bat attack hurts 2, including intern, at congressman’s Virginia office

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

By MATTHEW BARAKAT (Associated Press)FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A man with a metal baseball bat walked into the northern Virginia office of U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly on Monday, asked for him, and struck two of his workers with the bat, including an intern in her first day on the job, police and the congressman said.The attack marked the latest in a sharp uptick in violence aimed at lawmakers or those close to them. Fairfax City Police said officers arrived within minutes and took the man into custody without incident and that the two staff members were being treated for injuries that were not life-threatening. The congressman, who wasn’t in the office at the time, said he knew of no motive for the attack, calling it “unconscionable and devastating” in a post on Twitter.Connolly said in an interview that the suspect was known to police in Fairfax, adding, “he’s never made threats to us so it was unprovoked, unexpected and inexplicable.”“I have ...

Ravens sign center Sam Mustipher, an Owings Mills native and former Bears offensive lineman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

The Ravens have been without a backup center since Trystan Colon bolted for the New York Jets in free agency this offseason. Monday, they filled that vacancy.Free agent Sam Mustipher, who spent his first three years with the Chicago Bears, has signed with the Ravens, the team announced on Monday. It’s reportedly a one-year contract.For Mustipher, it’s also a homecoming. The 26-year-old grew up in Owings Mills and starred at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney before going to Notre Dame.The Bears declined to extend a restricted free agent tender to Mustipher in March.Undrafted out of Notre Dame in 2019, Mustipher surprisingly became the Bears’ center late in the 2020 season, starting the last six games of the year. The following season, he started all 17 but struggled, with a Pro Football Focus grade of just 51 for 2021.Though he improved last season, earning a 63.4 mark from PFF, Mustipher was at best inconsistent, particularly with his pass blocking. Six...

Ticker: Sports betting numbers up in April; Gas prices down in Massachusetts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

Sports betting continued to push revenue into the state’s coffers, generating $11.8 million in taxes during  the month of April. Taken alongside casino games, the state hauled in $40.3 million in taxes from gaming operations last month.The bottom line figures from April were up from March, when the state collected $38.9 million in taxes, although though online sports wagering was only active in that month for 22 days.Total sports betting in Massachusetts, the so-called handle of live bets in casinos and online wagers from the six sites licensed to take mobile bets, totaled $579 million in April, a bump from the $568 million figure in March.In total, sports betting has generated $21.129 million in tax revenue after just 52 days of mobile betting. and two months plus one day of retail betting. Projections had the state making between $60-70 million in sports betting tax revenue per year, according to bookies.com which tracks gaming activity across the country.Gas prices down in Massac...

‘Disney’s Aladdin’ repeats its magic in national touring musical

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:42:22 GMT

The show’s called “Aladdin” — “Disney’s Aladdin,” to be precise — but everyone knows it’s all about the Genie.And fortunately the current touring production of the musical, which performed at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre through Sunday, May 14 — has a good one.Robin Williams, of course, established the Genie as an iconic character with his manically nuanced voice performance in the 1992 animated film. He set a high bar but at the same time established a template for the actors who would follow in the Tony Award-winning stage adaptation, which premiered 12 years ago in Seattle and stopped during January of 2018 at the Detroit Opera House. Energy and personality are the keys to a successful Genie, and Marcus M. Martin has both in abundance.Playing Genie as a kind of Oprah/Steve Harvey/Billy Porter hybrid, Martin hits the stage as the curtain lifts like a full blank of Klieg lights — and that’s just his smile. His performances leading ensemble pieces such as “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Al...