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UK defense secretary is resigning after 4 years in the job

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace formally submitted his resignation on Thursday amid speculation that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will name his successor later in the day.Wallace, who said last month he would resign before the next Cabinet reshuffle, ended four years in the post in which he oversaw the military response to the war in Ukraine.He used his resignation letter to press for increased funding for the military, long his primary issue.“I genuinely believe that over the next decade the world will get more insecure and more unstable,’’ Wallace wrote in his letter to Sunak. “We both share the belief that now is the time to invest. Ever since I joined the Army I have dedicated myself to serving my country. That dedication, however, comes at a personal toll to me and my family.”Source

Al menos 63 personas mueren en el incendio de un edificio en Johannesburgo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

JOHANNESBURGO – Al menos 63 personas perdieron la vida en un incendio que arrasó un edificio de varias plantas en Johannesburgo, la ciudad más grande de Sudáfrica, reportaron el jueves los servicios de emergencias.Otras 43 personas resultaron heridas en el fuego que comenzó de madrugada, indicó Robert Mulaudzi, vocero del Servicio de Emergencias. La cifra de fallecidos podría aumentar, agregó.Había una operación de búsqueda y rescate en marcha y los bomberos estaban revisando el inmueble, apuntó el portavoz, añadiendo que, por el momento, el equipo recuperó 63 cadáveres pero podría haber más gente atrapada.Entre los muertos había al menos un mejor, dijo Mulaudzi.Las autoridades explicaron que el incendio estaba casi extinguido, pero por las ventanas del ennegrecido edificio ubicado en el centro de Johannesburgo todavía se filtraba humo. De algunas ventanas colgaban ristras de sábanas y otros materiales. No estuvo claro si se utilizaron para tratar de escapar del fuego o para s...

Police investigating violent crash involving motorcycle in Randolph

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

A section of a road in Randolph was closed off to traffic while officers investigating a violent two-vehicle crash involving a motorcyclist overnight.Officers responding to a reported crash on North Main Street found a smashed motorcycle and an SUV with front-end damage.The force of the collision sent one of the motorcycle’s tires across the roadway and left debris scattered in the street.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

One year of Gunnar Henderson: Ranking the 10 best moments from the Orioles’ star infielder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

Adley Rutschman is no longer surprised by the things Gunnar Henderson does on a baseball field.He said Henderson’s wide-ranging feats — long home runs at the plate, diving plays at shortstop, running wild on the bases — are “always impressive,” but Rutschman knows Henderson too well to be taken aback. The two young stars, both former No. 1 overall prospects, were the Orioles’ first two picks in the 2019 draft and progressed through the minor leagues together.“You’re never not going to be impressed,” Rutschman said. “But I feel like every guy in this locker room knows what he’s capable of because we’re around him so much. But it’s still cool to see.”Thursday is the one-year anniversary of Henderson’s MLB debut when Baltimore promoted the 21-year-old shortstop for the stretch run.The occasion doesn’t mark the Orioles’ turnaround like Rutschman’s, as the club is 150-105 since the...

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appoints new defense secretary after Ben Wallace resigns role

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Grant Shapps, one of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s staunchest Cabinet allies, was named U.K. defense secretary on Thursday as Sunak began a Cabinet reshuffle ahead of a general election that is expected to take place next year.The move came after Ben Wallace formally submitted his resignation earlier in the day, honoring a promise made last month. Wallace was defense secretary for four years, overseeing Britain’s military response to the war in Ukraine.Shapps, who supported Sunak during his campaign to become Conservative Party leader and prime minister last year, has been a Cabinet member since 2019, most recently serving as secretary of state for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.Wallace used his resignation letter to press for increased funding for the military, long his primary issue.“I genuinely believe that over the next decade the world will get more insecure and more unstable,’’ Wallace wrote in his letter to Sunak. “We both share the belief...

Europe’s inflation held steady in August as European Central Bank keeps an open mind on rates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Annual inflation held steady in Europe in August as food prices raced ahead of falling fuel costs, but there was no clarity about whether the European Central Bank can pause its record series of interest rate hikes.The consumer price index for the 20 countries that use the euro currency was unchanged at 5.3% from the July reading, supported by food, alcohol and tobacco prices that increased a painful 9.8% since last August, according to official figures Thursday from EU statistics agency Eurostat.Another key inflation number — so-called core inflation that leaves out volatile fuel and food — also eased in August, falling to 5.3% from 5.5%. That figure will be a key consideration for the ECB in deciding whether interest rates need to go higher or can remain unchanged while bank officials assess the impact of higher rates on growth.Fuel prices fell 3.3% amid flat global oil prices and diminished summer demand for heating fuel. European Central Bank President ...

Police search for driver after downtown hit-and-run sent man to hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

Police are searching for a suspect after a hit-and-run in downtown Toronto left a man injured early Thursday morning.Emergency crews responded to the area of Sherbourne and Dundas streets around 4:25 a.m. after getting reports a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle.Paramedics say a man was sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.The driver did not remain at the scene. Police say they are looking for white SUV, possibly a Chevy Equinox, that is missing its passenger side mirror and will have damage on the right side.Roads have reopened in the area.

Conductor John Eliot Gardner pulls out of future engagements after allegedly hitting a singer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Baroque music conductor John Eliot Gardiner is pulling out of future engagements after allegedly hitting a singer who left the stage incorrectly after a performance.The conductor said in a statement Thursday that he was stepping back to get “the specialist help I recognize that I have needed for some time.”“I want to apologize to colleagues who have felt badly treated and anyone who may feel let down by my decision to take time out to address my issues. I am heartbroken to have caused so much distress, and I am determined to learn from my mistakes,” he said.The conductor allegedly hit William Thomas after the bass singer left the podium on the wrong side during a concert last week at the Festival Berlioz in La Cote-Saint-Andre, southeastern France.A spokesperson for Gardiner initially said the conductor was suffering from extreme heat in France and suspected that a recent change in medication may have contributed to the behavior, according to the classical music ...

A train slams into group of workers on the tracks at an Italian station, killing 5 of them

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

ROME (AP) — A speeding work train slammed into a group of workers doing nighttime track maintenance in northern Italy early Thursday, killing five of them, authorities said. The crash occurred shortly after midnight at the station in Brandizzo, a town in Italy’s Piedmont region. Piedmont Gov. Alberto Cirio provided the death toll and said the crash’s cause was under investigation. Brandizzo Mayor Paolo Bodoni said there were indications that the crew of the train, which state radio said was believed to be going some 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph), was unaware there were workers on the tracks, reported La Stampa, a newspaper in Piedmont’s main city, Turin.The train consisted of an engine car used to move empty train cars. “The first information reaching me refers to a scarcity of communication between the (work) team and who should have signaled the passage of the train, but we need to see what really happened,” Bodoni was quoted as saying. “There is also the que...

Greece further reinforces firefighting forces in massive wildfire in northeast burning for 13th day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:44 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities further reinforced firefighting forces in the country’s northeast Thursday, where a massive blaze in its thirteenth day has flared up once more, triggering authorities to issue alerts to residents in the area to be on standby for possible evacuation.More than 100 extra firefighters were deployed, bringing the total to 582, backed by a fleet of 10 planes and seven helicopters from nine European countries, the fire department said. The fire that started Aug. 19 has decimated homes and vast tracts of forest in the Alexandroupolis and Evros region, near Greece’s border with Turkey. It has been blamed for 20 of last week’s 21 wildfire-related deaths in Greece.Several other people, including the two-member crew of a firefighting plane, have lost their lives in wildfires so far this year in Greece. Lawmakers held a minute of silence at the start of a parliamentary debate on the fires and the state response Wednesday morning.The reasons for the countr...