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Putin plans to visit Saudi Arabia, UAE this week, aide says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week for a “working visit” during which he will meet Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince. Putin’s “negotiations will primarily be with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia,” Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Monday, according to Russia’s state-owned TASS news outlet. Before traveling to Saudi Arabia, Putin will also hold a “working visit” in the UAE, which is currently hosting the global COP28 climate summit in Dubai. “I hope that these will be very useful negotiations, which we consider extremely important,” Ushakov added. Putin risks arrest in many countries around the world due to an International Criminal Court (ICC) war crimes warrant against him issued in spring 2023 and related to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In consequence, Putin’s trips outside his country have been curtailed — but neither ...

‘Maybe, maybe not’: Lula invites Putin to Brazil, sidesteps on war crimes arrest

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

BERLIN — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Monday that he will invite Vladimir Putin to G20 and BRICS summits in Brazil next year, but added it would be up to the judiciary to decide whether the Russian president is arrested if he decides to show up.Putin faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes committed in Ukraine, which earlier this year deterred him from travelling to a G20 meeting in India and a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in South Africa.But Lula said he would welcome the Russian leader if he decided to attend the next G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024 as well as the next BRICS summit, which Brazil may also host next year.“Putin is invited to attend the G20 and the BRICS summit in Brazil,” Lula told reporters in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.“Whether he goes or not, he faces prosecution. He has to assess the consequences,” Lula went on, adding it was unclear wheth...

Elderly woman killed in North Reading after empty vehicle rolls backwards, striking victim in driveway

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

Authorities say an 80-year-old woman was killed in North Reading last week after her vehicle appeared to roll backwards and strike her while in a driveway.In a joint statement released on Monday, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and North Reading Police Chief Mark Zimmerman detailed the incident, which occurred on Wednesday, Nov. 29.Authorities said police found the victim after being called to Fieldcrest and Hollywood terraces around 7:50 p.m. that night.Responding to a report that a woman was trapped beneath a car in her driveway, first responders arrived to find an 80-year-old woman underneath a Buick Regal. According to the joint statement, crews got the victim out from under the car and transported her to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.Citing a preliminary investigation, the DA’s office stated that it appeared the vehicle belonged to the victim and that for reasons that have not yet been determined, it rolled backwards and struck her.“...

Cooling Down with Snow Showers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

Today wasn’t the most ideal day with plenty of clouds overhead (some sun at times) but at least temperatures were in the upper 40s and lower 50s. Hopefully you enjoyed it because a dose of cold is inbound for the rest of the week. With the colder temperatures we’ll bring in the first flakes of the season for some of us, and we’ll have our first snow map of the season! (spoiler: it’s a pretty sad snow map if you’re a snow lover).While the week looks cold, it also looks dry aside from the snow showers Wednesday morning. Which, personally, I hardly count because it’s not rain and anything is better than rain. Sunday’s soaking rain was over an inch in several towns and really put a damper on the weekend. And go figure, rain on a weekend! Since June 1st we’ve only had 7 completely dry weekends. How sad!As the cold air moves in, wind on Wednesday morning will turn to the north-northeast and that little fetch off of the warmer ocean water is ...

Red Sox Extra Innings: Jim Leyland still haunted by David Ortiz’s iconic grand slam

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

NASHVILLE — Newly elected Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland said he’s still haunted by Game 2 of the 2013 American League Championship Series, when David Ortiz famously hit an eighth-inning grand slam to tie the game and swing the series in Boston’s favor.During his press conference at the Winter Meetings, Leyland said he had both closer Joaquin Benoit and Phil Coke warmed up with two outs in the eighth and Ortiz on deck. Cook had been pretty good against Ortiz, Leyland said, but he also hadn’t pitched much and was a little wild, so he decided to hand the ball to his closer, who promptly allowed one of the most famous home runs in Red Sox history.“That’s the one that I’ve tossed and turned a little bit about,” Leyland said. “I’m not sure today if I made the right decision or not. I think I did because I went to my best relief pitcher, the guy who I felt had the ability to make the best pitch, but it could be a question.”In o...

Uncle Sam wants you … to help stop insurers’ bogus Medicare Advantage sales tactics

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

Susan Jaffe | KFF Health News (TNS)After an unprecedented crackdown on misleading advertising claims by insurers selling private Medicare Advantage and drug plans, the Biden administration hopes to unleash a special weapon to make sure companies follow the new rules: you.Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are encouraging seniors and other members of the public to become fraud detectives by reporting misleading or deceptive sales tactics to 800-MEDICARE, the agency’s 24-hour information hotline. Suspects include postcards designed to look like they’re from the government and TV ads with celebrities promising benefits and low fees that are available only to some people in certain counties.The new rules, which took effect Sept. 30, close some loopholes in existing requirements by describing what insurers can say in ads and other promotional materials as well as during the enrollment process.Insurance companies’ advertising campaigns kick into high gear every ...

Boston College and SMU excited to go bowling at Fenway Park

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

The Southern Methodist Mustangs can anticipate a warm and cold reception when they encounter the Eagles of Boston College in the second annual Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Fenway Park on Dec. 28.The ACC will go all in for one of its three newest members that will compete at an historic venue within a vast and lucrative media market. SMU (11-2, 8-0) closed it its run in the American Athletic Conference by winning the league title and will join California and Stanford in the ACC next season.“I am really excited about SMU, they are a top 25 team and they have great players and they are well coached,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley, who is out of town on a recruiting trip.“They are going to be an ACC opponent next year and I’m excited about it. I think it will be a good matchup and I’m sure our players are excited, too. It is a really good team that a lot of people thought was going to go to a New Year’s six bowl game.”The organizers at Fenway have a grand reception planned for the Mustangs at the ...

Bitcoin blast: Cryptocurrency cracks $41K for the first time since April 2022

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

NEW YORK — Bitcoin is once again having a moment. On Monday, the world’s largest cryptocurrency soared past $41,000 for the first time in over a year and a half — and marking a 150% rise so far this year.Volatile bitcoin rocketed from just over $5,000 at the start of the pandemic to nearly $68,000 in November 2021, according to FactSet, a period marked by a surge in demand for technology products. Prices fell back to earth during an aggressive series of Federal Reserve rate hikes aimed at taming inflation and then the collapse of FTX, one of the biggest companies in crypto.When 2023 began, a single bitcoin could be had for less than $17,000 after losing more than 75% of its value. Investors, however, began returning in large numbers as inflation started to cool. And the collapse of prominent tech-focused banks actually led more investors to turn to crypto as they bailed out of positions in Silicon Valley start-ups and other risky bets.Fueling this latest rally are prospects fo...

What some caregivers have learned caring for ill loved ones

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

“It’s not the most comfortable moment that I’m having, but there are these radical lessons.”That’s how performer/writer Chris Wells describes the experience of moving with his husband from New York back to his childhood home in Lancaster, Calif. What was intended to be a short-term visit to help settle his mother into a retirement community has been extended and complicated by her frailty, and the challenges of untangling a complex web of social and medical services.And then there’s Elizabeth Aquino in Los Angeles, who has accumulated more than a quarter-century of lived experience as a full-time caregiver since her daughter was diagnosed with a seizure disorder. Aquino has become well-versed in the ins-and-outs of accessibility and disability rights. She has successfully advocated for everything from changing tables in high school restrooms to the use of medical marijuana for seizure treatment, but, even after all this time, much feels beyond her ken.“People say they couldn’t do wh...

You’re sick. It’s the holidays. Your doctor is booked, but here is how to get the medication you need

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:13:47 GMT

With germs spreading and cold and flu season underway, no one wants to spend days in bed, especially during holiday season. Many of the illnesses spreading can be shortened and symptoms relieved by getting the right medication quickly.But getting into a doctor’s office can be challenging. A doctor shortage in Florida has led to long wait times for appointments with internal medicine and family practitioners. But there are other options.Your symptoms and timing should guide your path.If you have aches, a cough, congestion, or a sore throat and want to feel better, you first will want to determine whether you have COVID, the flu, RSV,  or strep throat.  Getting a rapid test for these illnesses will give you a diagnosis.A COVID test can be done at home. If the test is positive and you are at risk for severe COVID. If so, you will need to ask your doctor or a pharmacist for a prescription. Paxlovid must be taken within five days after symptoms begin.If a COVID test is negative, an urgen...