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Massive fire at motel in Fort Lauderdale displaces 2 families

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

An intense blaze that erupted overnight in Fort Lauderdale has left a motel in ruins, displacing two families. The structure now stands charred and declared unsafe by fire officials. In a heroic act, one man rushed inside the burning building to rescue his family even before firefighters arrived on the scene. Larry Shannon, along with his wife and three young children, ages 11, 6, and 4, was inside the front unit when the fire broke out. “I heard some glass breaking and I seen like a big light coming from the bathroom that wasn’t normal,” he recounted. “When I got up and opened the door, I seen the fire.” Firefighters responded quickly to the motel on State Road 7 and Peters Road, where they discovered two rooms engulfed in flames, with black smoke billowing out. They managed to contain the fire, preventing it from spreading further, but the smoke caused damage to other rooms. “There’s a good amount of damage here, so these are not habitable...

Government advisers to Rishi Sunak: You’ve put UK climate goals at risk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has spent the week listening to the opposition Labour Party pull apart his green policies. Now another damning verdict has arrived — this time from his own climate advisers.Sunak’s recent package of climate policy reforms “increase longer-term risks” that the U.K. will miss its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), with some changes making “net zero considerably harder to achieve.”The CCC was established by the U.K. parliament in 2008 to provide independent advice to the government on climate policies.Its analysis, published Thursday afternoon, is the CCC’s first intervention since the prime minister used a Downing Street speech last month to announce that the government was watering down a swathe of climate pledges, including a delay to phasing out combustion engine vehicles, lifting rules for improving energy efficiency in rental properties, and a slower transition to lower-emission heat...

Scottish parliament won’t fly Israel flag

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

LONDON — The devolved Scottish parliament has been criticized by the country’s Conservative lawmakers, after its authority refused to fly Israel’s flag outside the building as a gesture of solidarity.The Holyrood parliament’s managing authority declined a request from the Scottish Conservatives to fly the Israeli flag following surprise attacks by Hamas on Israel from Gaza at the weekend.“A request was received to fly the Israeli flag. The [Scottish parliamentary corporate body] considered the request and approval was not given,” a spokesperson for the SPCB, made up of four MSPs plus the parliament’s presiding officer, said.“In this case there was a majority view and no vote took place,” they added.The Israeli flag was projected onto the U.K.’s House of Commons building in London, as well as on No. 10 Downing Street, the office of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The Telegraph newspaper reported that the Scottish body had also rejected call...

MIT students rally in support of Israel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

Ravens vs. Titans scouting report for Week 6: Who has the edge?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

The Ravens lost, 17-10, to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a symphony of dropped passes, turnovers and blown chances. The Tennessee Titans gave up 193 rushing yards in a 23-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Which team will have the advantage Sunday in London?Ravens passing game vs. Titans pass defenseThe loss to Pittsburgh featured one of the strangest Ravens offensive performances in recent memory. Lamar Jackson was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded quarterback for the week but finished with a 65.2 passer rating and no touchdown throws as his team scored 10 points, none on its last nine drives. How does that happen? Jackson’s receivers let him down to an absurd degree, dropping anywhere from six to eight passes, depending on which analyst was charting. These were not inconsequential drops. Two were in the end zone and another two could have gone for touchdowns or put the Ravens on the cusp of the goal line. Wide receivers Rashod Bateman, Zay Flowers and Nelson Agholor an...

The Orioles’ 2023 season came crashing down, but ‘liftoff’ is underway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

Tuesday night, in the same building Mike Elias declared “it’s liftoff from here” for the Orioles 14 months ago, their 2023 season came crashing down.Yet, amid the jarring disappointment of a team that hadn’t been swept in 91 straight series suffering one in the American League Division Series at the hands of the Texas Rangers, it’s hard not to believe Baltimore’s executive vice president and general manager was right about “liftoff.”The Orioles have taken flight, and they are only getting started.That’s perhaps difficult to accept after a team that finished with 101 wins in the regular season came away with zero in the playoffs. The Rangers exposed their few weaknesses: an inexperienced rotation, a cushy middle portion of the bullpen, a lineup sporadically prone to stretches of collective futility. Few teams, though, managed to corral them during the 162-game grind of the regular season, one that ended with the Orioles a...

Inside Mac Jones’ Patriots downfall from promising rookie to lost QB

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

Out to the west, in a distant desert and under the watch of an old coach, the sun may soon set on the Mac Jones era.Team sources indicate Jones will start the Patriots’ game at Las Vegas primarily because their other options — a second-year backup they cut six weeks ago and a third-string journeyman — are unfit. Before Bill Belichick announced his decision Wednesday, members across the organization doubted Jones would get another shot.“How can he?” one source asked Monday afternoon.Instead, Jones will face Josh McDaniels, who facilitated his rapid development as a rookie and tortured him in their only head-to-head meeting last year. Since McDaniels left to become the Raiders head coach in January 2022, Jones has ranked among the NFL’s worst quarterbacks by every metric.He reached a career nadir this month, suffering six turnovers, two benchings and one overarching question: how did we get here?In assessing Jones’ downfall, several league sources pinned blame on Jon...

$1.765 billion Powerball jackpot goes to lucky lottery player in California

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A player in California won a $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot Wednesday night, ending a long stretch without a winner of the top prize.The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. The winning ticket was sold at Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, according to the California Lottery.Phone calls Wednesday night to Midway Market & Liquor went unanswered.“The phone’s been ringing off the hook, people saying congratulations. Pretty crazy,” the store’s night worker, identified only as Duke, told KCAL-TV.“Somebody owes me a truck,” he said with a smile. “A lot of customers come in, you know they come in every day to get their tickets, religiously. And a lot of them … said: ‘Oh, if I win I’m gonna get you a new truck.’ So where’s my truck? I’ll be waiting.”He expected the winner will be a local resident.Before someone won the giant prize, there had been 35 consecutive drawings without a big winner, stretching back to July 19 when a pl...

Ex-Barclays Bank boss Staley banned from senior UK finance roles over misleading Epstein statements

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Former Barclays Bank chief executive Jes Staley has been fined 1.8 million pounds ($2.2 million) and banned from holding senior financial roles in the U.K. for misleading the Financial Conduct Authority over the nature of his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the regulator said Thursday. The Authority said in a statement that Staley, a U.S. citizen, had “recklessly approved” a letter sent by Barclays to the FCA, which claimed the bank’s former boss did not have a close relationship with Epstein. But in email messages, Staley described Epstein as one of his “deepest” and “most cherished” friends, according to the regulator. Staley had acted as a private banker to the disgraced financier during his previous time at JP Morgan, where he worked for more than 30 years.Staley, 66, stepped down from Barclays in 2021 as criticism over his ties to Epstein, who killed himself in a federal jail in August 2019, a month after his arrest on federal sex traffick...

Trump says Netanyahu ‘let us down’ before the 2020 airstrike that killed a top Iranian general

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:43 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of betraying him just before the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in 2020, breaking from the Republican presidential primary field’s uniform support of Israel as it responds to Hamas’ deadly attack.Trump’s comments at a West Palm Beach, Florida, rally on Wednesday were quickly denounced by one of Netanyahu’s allies and by several Republicans who oppose Trump, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 rival. Most American leaders have lined up behind Israel after a multi-pronged Hamas invasion that President Joe Biden said was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. At least 2,500 people have died on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Trump, the early front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, told the rally that his prayers were with Israel and vowed to stand by the country and not let it fail — before he went on to describe a “bad experienc...