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Highs and lows: Keir Starmer survives 3 years as UK Labour leader

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

This article first appeared in the London Playbook newsletter.LONDON — U.K. opposition leader Keir Starmer has not just survived three years at the helm of the Labour Party, he hits the milestone as a serious contender to be next prime minister. Three years after taking over from Jeremy Corbyn at the height of the U.K.’s first coronavirus lockdown on April 4, 2020, Labour boasts a commanding poll lead over the ruling Conservatives. Starmer, who inherited a party riven with division and still smarting from its worst election defeat since 1935, has held the top opposition job through a period of huge political turmoil and change. He is on his third Conservative prime minister since taking up the post.But questions still remain over whether he can turn a significant poll lead into actual power at the next election, which is expected next year. A YouGov poll for the Times newspaper on Tuesday suggested people still don’t really know what the opposition leader stands for. ...

MIT researchers develop robot that can dribble soccer ball

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

MIT researchers have developed a robot that can dribble a soccer ball. The robot, named “Dribblebot,” has multiple different sensors that tell it where the ball is and what terrain it’s on. Dribblebot also has a recovery controller so it can get back up if it falls down.

Moose spotted strolling down Route 68 in Gardner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

A moose was spotted strolling down Route 68 in Gardner Sunday afternoon. Environmental police say the moose did not need to be relocated. It eventually made is way back to the woods on its own. Experts also say Moose are more common in areas near Gardner than in other parts of the state.

How the draft process is unfolding for Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles as he considers his options at No. 9 — including Jalen Carter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

The goal for Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles when he hosts draft prospects at Halas Hall and then takes them out to dinner is to get to know them and their knowledge of football in a more relaxed setting.It’s an important step as the Bears weigh which player they will pick at No. 9 in the first round April 27. NFL teams are limited to bringing 30 non-local prospects to their facilities for a visit that doesn’t include an on-field workout, a process that wraps up April 19 this year.“We just want to see if they let their guard down and just talk,” Poles said last week at the NFL’s annual meetings in Phoenix. “Sometimes when you go to the combine, they’re uptight, they’re nervous. It’s an intimidating setup. We just want them to relax a little bit.“The intelligence piece, not that you can see everything, but get them on the board and just talk more ball, watch film and then see how they move around our organization, t...

Thanks to Sister’s Gift, Michael King Pitches to His Own Beat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

As Michael King stepped to the mound Saturday, he did so to a familiar sound.King, pitching in a major league game for the first time since July 22 after a stress fracture in his right elbow ended his breakout 2022 campaign, showed some rust. The right-hander allowed two earned runs over 1.2 innings in the Yankees’ 7-5 loss to the Giants, but simply returning to the bump qualified as an accomplishment after King’s freak injury a season ago.Doing so also gave the 27-year-old a chance to reintroduce his warm-up song, “Messin’ with the King,” to the Yankee Stadium crowd. The tune, a rap written by his recording artist sister, Olivia, has been welcoming King to the hill since his junior season at Boston College with these opening lines:I step to the mound and I put on my crown,I royally put them down after you hear this sound,Even the crowd knows you in for it now…“I love the lyrics,” King told The Daily News of the track, which features O...

3 takeaways from the Chicago Cubs’ 7-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, including a rally cut short in a 7th-inning sequence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

Twice the Chicago Cubs lineup gave Drew Smyly a multirun lead.Twice the veteran left-hander squandered it in the bottom half of the inning.Monday’s rocky start against the Cincinnati Reds certainly wasn’t the season debut Smyly envisioned, especially when a pair of three-run innings by the offense in the first and fifth were wasted.Those blown leads proved to be the difference in the Cubs’ 7-6 loss.“It was a frustrating outing,” Smyly said. “It’s not the one you want to start the year. … I mean, our offense scored a lot of runs, plenty to win a game. I let us down tonight.”Here are three takeaways from the loss.1. A comeback attempt in the seventh inning fell apart.Patrick Wisdom had an inkling from the on-deck circle — before catcher interference during Trey Mancini’s at-bat put runners on first and second with nobody out — that he would be called on to deliver a sacrifice bunt in the seventh with the Cubs trai...

What time is Trump’s arraignment?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

Former President Donald Trump will face a historic arraignment Tuesday in New York, following an indictment on criminal charges stemming from prosecutors’ long-running investigation into his business dealings. He will be the first current or former United States president ever in that position.Here’s what we know about the arraignment:What time is Trump’s arraignment?Trump, 76, is expected to appear before State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan around 2:15 p.m. EST.How will Trump be booked?Trump is expected to arrive at the District Attorney’s offices several hours before appearing before the judge. There, authorities will fill out arrest paperwork, get his fingerprints taken and possibly a mugshot photo, too. That won’t be made public unless he shares it or it’s leaked.Criminal defendants are usually handcuffed and kept in a courthouse jail cell upon surrender, though Trump’s lawyers said they don’t anticipate he will be. Armed Secret Service agents will ac...

Live updates: Trump faces historic arraignment in New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

Former President Donald Trump will face a historic arraignment Tuesday in New York, following an indictment on criminal charges stemming from prosecutors’ long-running investigation into his business dealings. He will be the first current or former United States president ever in that position.Trump, 76, is expected to appear before State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan around 2:15 p.m. EST.Five pool photographers will be allowed inside the courtroom for the arraignment, Merchan ruled late Monday. Video cameras will be confined to hallways outside the courtroom, and reporters won’t be allowed to bring laptops or other electronics inside.The charges, expected to remain under seal until Trump appears in court, are believed to relate to his notorious hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump is expected to face multiple charges, including at least one felony related to business fraud, but it’s unclear whether they all re...

Donald Trump to surrender, make historic court appearance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — An extraordinary moment in U.S. history is set to soon unfold in a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday: Former President Donald Trump, who faces multiple election-related investigations, will surrender to face criminal charges stemming from 2016 hush money payments.The booking and arraignment are likely to be relatively brief — though hardly routine — as Trump is fingerprinted, learns the charges against him and pleads, as expected, not guilty. Judge Juan Merchan has ruled that TV cameras won’t be allowed in the courtroom. Trump, who was impeached twice by the U.S. House but was never convicted in the U.S. Senate, will become the first former president to face criminal charges. The nation’s 45th commander in chief will be escorted from Trump Tower to the courthouse by the Secret Service and may have his mug shot taken.Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said Tuesday that Trump wouldn’t plead guilty to lesser charges, even if it might resolve the case. He said he ...

TikTok fined $15.9M by UK watchdog over misuse of kids’ data

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:24 GMT

Britain’s privacy watchdog hit TikTok with a multimillion-dollar penalty on Tuesday for a slew of data protection breaches, including misusing children’s data. The Information Commissioner’s Office said it issued a fine of 12.7 million pounds ($15.9 million) to the short-video sharing app, which is wildly popular with young people. It’s the latest example of tighter scrutiny that TikTok and its parent, Chinese technology company ByteDance, are facing in the West, where governments are increasingly concerned about risks that the app poses to data privacy and cybersecurity.The British watchdog said TikTok allowed as many as 1.4 million children in the U.K. under 13 to use the app in 2020, despite the platform’s own rules prohibiting children that young from setting up accounts. TikTok didn’t adequately identify and remove children under 13 from the platform, the watchdog said. And even though it knew younger children were using its platform, TikTok ...