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Finland gears up for Turkey’s NATO blessing, as Sweden gets left behind

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

BRUSSELS — Turkey is expected to greenlight Finland’s NATO membership in the coming days — while leaving its running mate Sweden in limbo. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö announced Wednesday he will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul on Friday, as Ankara edges closer to signing off on Helsinki’s NATO aspirations. “It was known that once President Erdoğan has for his part made the decision concerning the ratification of Finland’s NATO membership, he would wish to meet and fulfill his promise directly from President to President,” Niinistö said in a statement.“The Turks have hoped that I be present when they announce this decision. Of course, I accepted the invitation and I will be there to receive his expression of will,” he said. NATO’s 30 member countries formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance last summer, but Turkey and Hungary have dragged out the ratification process. A...

Rodgers plans to play for Jets in 2023, awaits Packers’ move

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday he intends to play for the New York Jets in 2023 after 18 seasons in Green Bay as the four-time NFL MVP quarterback waits for the Packers to trade him.Rodgers made his comments during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on YouTube and Sirius XM. The 39-year-old Rodgers said he believes the Packers want to move on and make 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love their starting quarterback.“At this point, as I sit here, I think since Friday I’ve made it clear that my intention was to play and my intention was to play for the New York Jets,” Rodgers said. “I haven’t been holding anything up at this point. It’s been compensation the Packers are trying to get for me, kind of digging their heels in.”Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy has acknowledged the team granted the Jets permission to talk to Rodgers. The Jets sent a contingent that reportedly included owner Woody Johnson, coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas to Rodgers’ home in Southern Cal...

Conservative Texas judge weighs challenge to abortion pills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

By SEAN MURPHY and MATTHEW PERRONE (Associated Press)AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas appointed by former President Donald Trump is considering a request by a Christian conservative group to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s more than 2-decade-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.The Alliance for Defending Freedom asked Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Wednesday for an immediate order that would revoke or suspend the drug’s approval. Such a step would be an unprecedented challenge to the FDA, which approved mifepristone in combination with a second pill as a safe and effective method for ending abortion in 2000.Lawyers for the FDA are expected to argue that pulling mifepristone from the market would upend reproductive care for U.S. women and undermine the government’s scientific oversight of prescription drugs.Kacsmaryk has given each side two hours to argue their position in the high-stakes court case. Mifepristone’s manufa...

Heat living in the moment, except when it comes to Kyle Lowry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

When it comes to the Miami Heat, Erik Spoelstra’s talking points have been pointed, that this is go time, a moment to be seized, victory the only acceptable answer.Unless the conversation is about Kyle Lowry.Then it has been about walking before running, easing back, more significant days ahead.“We’re going to build this,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat facing the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at Miami-Dade Arena. “We want to set him up for success.”When the 36-year-old veteran point guard played 36 minutes in his Saturday night return from a 15-game absence due to knee pain, Spoelstra said he got ahead of himself in that overtime road loss to the Orlando Magic.Monday night, Lowry was down to 19 minutes in the home win over the Utah Jazz.“I came in with a mindset and Kyle was on the same page with me, that we were going to get this under control,” said Spoelstra, who returned Lowry in a reserve role, after the 36-year-old veteran...

Source: Patriots showing interest in Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

A day after losing their best receiver, the Patriots are looking at a new No. 1 target.According to a source, free-agent wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster is drawing serious interest from the receiver-needy Patriots.Smith-Schuster, 26, is coming off a rebound season in Kansas City, where he caught 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns last year. His addition would help offset the loss of Jakobi Meyers, who left to sign a 3-year deal with the Raiders on Tuesday. Smith-Schuster would jump to the top of the Pats’ receiver depth chart, joining DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots move to retain restricted free agent OT Yodny Cajutse on 1-year deal New England Patriots | Patriots reportedly signing veteran OT Riley Reiff, expect him to start New England Patriots | How Devin McCourty helped the Patriots create cap space in retirement New England Patriots | Patri...

Former Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel sells unfinished 6-bedroom Glencoe mansion for $3.7M

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel, who has been retired from Major League Baseball since 2019, and his wife, Elissa, on Feb. 16 sold an unfinished, six-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot mansion in Glencoe for $3.68 million.Hammel, 40, pitched for the Cubs in two different stints between 2014 and 2016 as part of a 15-year major league career.Situated on a 0.65-acre lot — unusually large for Glencoe — the house on Wentworth Avenue that the Hammels were building was listed in November and sold for its precise asking price. The Hammels, who separately owned a five-bedroom, 5,350-square-foot brick and limestone house in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood from 2015 until selling it in late 2021 for $2.55 million, paid $1.1 million in 2019 for the Glencoe property.“We basically decided for the time being that (this) was a project that we were no longer passionate about, and we were kind of keeping our options open and based on kid stuff and family stuff, that we weren...

Maura Healey ending Massachusetts COVID-19 public-health emergency, vaccine mandate in May

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey is ending the state’s COVID-19 public-health emergency and vaccine mandate on May 11, coinciding with the feds’ corresponding move.Healey said in a press release Wednesday morning that the announcement two months in advance “allows additional time for impacted organizations to prepare for the end of the public health emergency.”“Thanks to the hard work of our health care providers and communities, we’ve made important progress in the fight against COVID-19,” Healey said in a statement. “We know that we have the tools to manage this virus – vaccines, masking, testing, getting treatments and staying home when sick – and we’ve reached the point where we can update our guidance to reflect where we are now.”Throwing a bone across the aisle to her predecessor Gov. Charlie Baker, as the Democrat Healey has taken to doing with the Republican, she continued on to say that “I’d also like to acknowledge the leadership of Governor Baker and ...

Future NASA moonwalkers to sport sleeker spacesuits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Moonwalking astronauts will have sleeker, more flexible spacesuits that come in different sizes when they step onto the lunar surface later this decade.Exactly what that looks like remained under wraps. The company designing the next-generation spacesuits, Axiom Space, said Wednesday that it plans to have new versions for training purposes for NASA later this summer. The moonsuits will be white like they were during NASA’s Apollo program more than a half-century ago, according to the company. That’s so they can reflect heat and keep future moonwalkers cool.The suits will provide greater flexibility and more protection from the moon’s harsh environment, and will come in a wider range of sizes, according to the Houston-based company. NASA awarded Axiom Space a $228.5 million contract to provide the outfits for the first moon landing in more than 50 years. The space agency is targeting late 2025 at the earliest to land two astronauts on the moon’s south pole...

1 dead, 1 missing after southern Utah canyon floods

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — One man is dead and another is still missing after floodwaters poured into a slot canyon in southern Utah, endangering three groups of hikers who had to be hoisted out via helicopter Tuesday.Kane County Sheriff’s Lt. Allen Alldredge said the man who was found dead and the man who remains missing were among a group of three hiking south to Lees Ferry across the Utah-Arizona border. The third man was rescued and taken to the hospital, where he was being treated for hypothermia and bodily injury after days of exposure.Alldredge said authorities received a call Monday from the spouse of a hiker who had not returned home from a hike they began Friday. The hikers were on a multiday trek from Wire Pass to Lees Ferry through Buckskin Gulch’s sandstone features that includes multiple narrow slot canyons.Authorities did not release any of the hiker’s names. Alldredge said the dead man was from the Tampa, Florida area.The “atmospheric river” storms...

Controversial former city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti to run for mayor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:15 GMT

Former longtime Toronto city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti confirms with CityNews that he will run for mayor in the upcoming byelection.Mammoliti held his North York riding for more than two decades before losing his seat in 2018 election.He then made a failed bid for mayor of Wasaga Beach.The controversial Mammoliti was known for making headlines including when he called for a city-wide 11 p.m. curfew for youth. He also proposed arming bylaw officers.A byelection to replace John Tory is officially set for June 26. Tory stepped down after admitting to an affair with a younger, former staffer.Several other candidates have already thrown their hats in the ring, including Gil Penalosa, who finished second to Tory is the last election, and another former councillor, Rob Davis.It’s not the first time Mammoliti has tried to secure Toronto’s top job. In 2010, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor.After campaigning without exceeding single digits in public opinion polls, Mammoliti anno...