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Turkey’s new finance chief announces return to ‘rational’ economics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

Turkey will have to dramatically change its economic policy in order to bring down rampant inflation, according to the country’s newly appointed finance minister, Mehmet Şimşek.“Turkey has no choice but to return to rational ground” in its handling of the economy, Şimşek told a press conference on Sunday, following his appointment to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s new cabinet the day before. “Price stability will be our main target,” Şimşek added. “Reducing inflation to single digits in the medium term is of vital importance for our country.” The country has seen its consumer prices skyrocket over the past two years, with inflation hitting an official 24-year high of 85.5 percent in October. Independent analysts claim the real figures have been far higher, and the cost of basic goods became a contentious political issue in last weekend’s presidential election run-off.Having won an unprecedented third term in office, Erdoğan tap...

Still cool and breezy with some showers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

7Weather- The June gloom continues today. We’ll see a lot of clouds with some showers around. The wind will still be breezy out of the north/northeast adding a chill to the air with temperatures stuck in the low 50s. Light showers linger into tomorrow morning. Most days this week will bring a lot of clouds, showers at times, and cooler than normal temperatures. An area of low pressure is to our southeast and will continue to rotate in a north/northeast breeze and showers at times. Clouds will win out the day. Temperatures don’t budge all that much today. Any light showers will be most likely for eastern Mass, especially along the coast. Tonight will bring the best chance for the wet conditions.Tomorrow morning there will be a few spotty showers around. The rest of the day will be mostly cloudy and not as cool, as temperatures finally get into the low/mid 60s.Toward the end of the 7-day, there’s more opportunity to see more sun and temperatures get near normal.-Mete...

Howie Carr: Want an unredacted FBI report on Biden? As Dapper would say, ‘Good luck, pal!’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

I know what Dapper O’Neil would say to US Rep. James Comer about his ongoing efforts to compel the FBI to hand over a clean copy of an informant’s tip alleging a $5-million bribe by a foreign national to then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2015.The Dap would chuckle and tell the Kentucky Republican: “Good luck, pal!”You see, back in 1981, the longtime Boston city councilor was getting the same run-around from the corrupt G-men that Chairman Comer is getting today.The feds were giving Dapper the same stiff-arm (and middle finger) they’re giving Comer now.Under federal law, the FBI had been forced to turn over a document Dapper had been looking for, but there was a problem. Everything that O’Neil wanted to see in the report was… redacted, that is, blacked out.As Comer said on TV this week, “My experience with getting documents from the FBI, when they’re redacted it’s all blacked out. They don’t show you anything.”From 1981 to 2023, nothing has changed.Dapper O’Neil’s problems with the FB...

US, Saudi Arabia urge Sudan’s warring parties to agree to a new cease-fire, amid fresh battles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia and the United States urged Sudan’s warring parties in a statement on Sunday to agree to and “effectively implement” a new cease-fire amid renewed fighting in the northeastern African nation.Sudan descended into chaos after fighting broke out in mid-April between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.For weeks, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been mediating between the warring parties. On May 21, both countries successfully brokered a temporary cease-fire agreement to help with the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid to the war-torn country. Their efforts, however, were dealt a blow when the military announced on Wednesday it would no longer participate in the cease-fire talks held in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.Following the military’s decision, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia said they were suspending the talks “as a result of repeated serious violatio...

Fire at refugee shelter in eastern Germany kills 1, injures 8

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A fire at a refugee shelter in eastern Germany killed one person and injured at least eight others early Sunday, according to local police.Police in the German state of Thuringia said the fire broke out around 5 a.m. at a facility in the city of Apolda and that one person had died. The shelter, which housed 300 people, was evacuated and residents were taken to another refugee center in nearby Hermsdorf, a local government spokesperson told German news agency dpa. Police told dpa that eight people were injured in the fire. An investigation to determine the cause of the fire was underway, the news agency reported. The Associated Press

Ukrainian president says at least 500 children killed by war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia’s war, now in its 16th month, has killed at least 500 Ukrainian children.Zelenskyy provided the number hours after rescue workers found the body of a 2-year-old girl who died in one of the latest Russian strikes. The president said in a statement that “Russian weapons and hatred, which continue to take and destroy the lives of Ukrainian children every day,” killed the hundreds who had perished since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started on Feb. 24, 2022.“Many of them could have become famous scholars, artists, sports champions, contributing to Ukraine’s history,” he said.Zelenskyy said it was impossible to establish the exact number of children who were casualties due to the ongoing hostilities and because some areas are under Russian occupation.“We must hold out and win this war!” the Ukrainian president said. “All of Ukraine, all our people, all our children, must be fr...

Apple is expected to unveil sleek headset aimed at thrusting the masses into alternate realities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

Apple appears poised to unveil a long-rumored headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world, while also testing the technology trendsetter’s ability to popularize new-fangled devices after others failed to capture the public’s imagination.After years of speculation, the stage is set for the widely anticipated announcement to be made Monday at Apple’s annual developers conference in a Cupertino, California, theater named after the company’s late co-founder Steve Jobs. Apple is also likely to use the event to show off its latest Mac computer, preview the next operating system for the iPhone and discuss its strategy for artificial intelligence. But the star of the show is expected to be a pair of goggles — perhaps called “Reality Pro,” according to media leaks — that could become another milestone in Apple’s lore of releasing game-changing technology, even though the company hasn’t always been the first to try its hand at makin...

‘Travesty’ or ‘forward thinking’? Hundreds weigh in on one-click citizenship oath

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Allowing new Canadians to take the oath of citizenship by clicking a box online is a disgusting idea that will cheapen the process and open the door to fraud — or a forward-thinking notion that will help decrease a backlog of citizenship applications, depending on who you ask. That’s according to the hundreds of comments the government received about the idea over the last few months. In February, the Liberals asked the public to weigh in on their plan to let people opt out of a formal in-person or online ceremony and instead take the Oath of Citizenship with the click of a mouse.Immigration Minister Sean Fraser pitched the concept as a way to quickly work through a backlog of people waiting to swear their oath and officially become Canadians. It’s expected to save people roughly three months of waiting between taking their citizenship test and officially becoming a Canadian.The 691 comments sent in reveal deeply divided opinions on what would be a fundamental c...

Readers and writers: Celebrating a poet whose work speaks for itself

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

Back in 1988, Roseann Lloyd gave advice to youngsters who wanted to be poets: “When you are writing, it’s important to start out as though you’re talking, to help your writing sound really natural. Just let your Self come out.”For the next 35 years Lloyd took her own advice about revealing her Self in her poetry collections “Tap Dancing for Big Mom,” “War Baby Express’ (Minnesota Book Award), “Because of the Light” and “The Boy Who Slept Under the Stars.”Poems from these collections, as well as new ones, make up Lloyd’s new book, “Migration of the Spirits: New and Selected Poems” (Cup and Spiral Books, $20).Lloyd and five other poets will read at a publication celebration at 4 p.m. Saturday, June 10, at Mindekirken: Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church, 924 E. 21st St., Mpls. The program is free and open to the public.A native of Springfield, Mo., Lloyd lives with her husband, Jim Smith, in Minne...

North Dakota police break down drug laws as Minnesota readies for legal marijuana

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:24 GMT

FARGO, N.D. — Law enforcement in North Dakota are concerned they could see more marijuana come into the state after recreational use becomes legal in Minnesota.But officers in the Peace Garden State won’t act differently if they catch people bringing the drug in from the east, authorities said.“The Minnesota law does not affect North Dakota,” North Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Bryan Niewind said. “North Dakota troopers enforce North Dakota law. Marijuana is still illegal in North Dakota.”Minnesota took a historic step last month when lawmakers legalized cannabis. On Aug. 1, the Land of 10,000 Lakes will become the 23rd state in the U.S. allowed to light up for recreational use.It also became the first state to repeal its paraphernalia laws, meaning syringes and small amounts of drug residue found in them will not warrant criminal charges as of August.Groups have tried to convince North Dakotans and state lawmakers to legalize marijuana, but the efforts have gone up in smoke. In the l...