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France closes embassy in Niger

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

PARIS — France has officially closed its embassy in Niger, the French foreign affairs ministry announced Tuesday. The decision — a rare move that shows how strained the relationship between the two countries has become — comes after Paris was forced to pull out French troops from the African country after this summer’s coup. “The embassy will continue to operate from Paris. In particular, it will maintain links with French nationals on the ground, and with NGOs working in the humanitarian sector, which we continue to fund for the direct benefit of the most vulnerable populations,” the French ministry’s statement reads. Relations between Paris, a former colonial power, and Niamey significantly soured after a military junta forcibly took power in July. French President Emmanuel Macron had continued to back the elected leader Mohamed Bazoum. In September, Macron announced France would gradually withdraw its 1,500 soldiers by the end of 2023. According to Le Mond...

The visionary legacy of Jacques Delors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

Alberto Alemanno is the Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law at HEC Paris and founder of The Good Lobby, a nonprofit committed to equalize access to power.If the European Union were a country, the passing of former Commission President Jacques Delors would have been mourned by millions across the Continent.No other EU leader would have had a better chance at attaining a state funeral than the Frenchman who led the bloc from 1985 and 1995, indisputably shaping the lives of the last two generations of Europeans. Delors’ political accomplishments expanded their daily opportunities, protecting them from the impact of shrinking nation states in an increasingly globalized world.Consciously or not, millions of Europeans are indebted to him. This is true of the 11 million Erasmus students who have so far participated in the program, and the million babies born out of that life-changing experience. Equally so for all the Europeans able to freely travel across the EU after the Schengen...

New Boston Council President Rejects “Zero-Sum Mentality”

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

At-Large City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune was elected president of the Boston City Council Monday, succeeding Councilor Ed Flynn in that post and pledging to make equity a guiding principle while aspiring to “bring everyone along” in the city.The daughter of immigrants from Haiti, Louijeune was born and raised in Mattapan and Hyde Park and attended Boston Public Schools. An attorney, she graduated from Columbia University, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and is trilingual with French and Haitian Creole.  Louijeune served as senior counsel for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, previously worked as a lawyer at Perkins Coie LLP, and recently started her own legal and advocacy business, The Opening PLLC.“I believe in all of us and I believe in Boston,” Louijeune said following her election. “One thing to know about me is that I unequivocally reject any zero-sum mentality that suggests that...

Boston PD requests public’s help as they work to find missing 75-year-old man living with autism, Alzheimer’s

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

Police in Boston are asking for the public’s help as they work to locate a missing 75-year-old man living with autism, developmental disabilities, and Alzheimer’s disease.The Boston Police Department issued a Missing Person Alert for Harold Brown of Roxbury on Tuesday morning. The department said the 75-year-old man, who is said to also have a heart condition, was last seen on Monday around 3 p.m. as he left his home on Walnut Avenue.According to police, Harold was last seen wearing a black winter hat, a black-hooded sweatshirt, a blue and white flannel shirt and possibly black shoes with white soles.He is also known to use a walker for assistance, but may have left his residence without one.Boston police said Harold is known to ride the MBTA and frequent the Natick area, the mall at 330 M.L.K. Jr Blvd in Boston, as well as the benches found on both Walnut and Circuit streets and also Walnut and Rockland streets.Anyone with information on Harold’s whereabouts is asked to...

George R.R. Martin is working on three animated ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoffs

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

(CNN) — George R.R. Martin knows there’s a lot to choose from in terms of content, but that’s not stopping him from adding more abundance.In a blog post over the weekend, the “Game of Thrones” author shared that he’s working on three animated projects based on that wildly popular franchise.Writing, “There is so much on television these days, in the age of streaming, it is hard to keep up,” Martin wrote. “It is always a joy to stumble on a show that you haven’t seen before, a great show that just blows you away, that sinks its claws into you and won’t let go.”He noted that Netflix’s animated series “Blue Eye Samurai” is just such a show, which led into the revelation about his own animated shows in development.“As it happens, HBO and I have our own animated projects, set in the world of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE.  None of them have been greenlit yet, but I think we are getting close to taking the next step with a couple of them,” Martin wrote. “When this ...

Megalosaurus, the first ever dinosaur discovery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

(CNN) — Huge fossilized bones that emerged from slate quarries in England’s Oxfordshire beginning in the late 1600s were immediately puzzling.In a world where evolution and extinction were unknown concepts, the experts of the day cast around for an explanation. Perhaps, they thought, they belonged to a Roman war elephant or a giant human.It wasn’t until 1824 that William Buckland, Oxford University’s first professor of geology, described and named the first known dinosaur, based on a lower jaw, vertebrae and limb bones found in those local quarries. The largest thigh bone was 2 feet, 9 inches long and nearly 10 inches in circumference.Buckland named the creature the bones belonged to Megalosaurus, or great lizard, in a scientific paper that he presented to London’s newly formed Geological Society on February 20, 1824. From the shape of its teeth, he believed it was a carnivore more than 40 feet (12 meters) long with “the bulk of an elephant.” Buckland thought it was l...

Service restored after part of Green Line’s E Branch temporarily suspended due to accident

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

Service for a portion of the Green Line’s E Branch was suspended temporarily due to an accident near the MBTA’s Back of the Hill station, but has resumed.https://twitter.com/MBTA/status/1742205775143944522The transportation authority announced around 10 a.m. that service was suspended between Heath Street and Brigham Circle as a result of the accident. Details on the extent of the crash itself have not yet been released.“Riders may use the route 39 bus for alternative service,” the MBTA stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.https://twitter.com/MBTA/status/1742200183771869347

Bill Belichick too committed to current Patriots to address 2024 NFL Draft pick

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

Sunday’s loss to the Bills might not have done anything to help Bill Belichick’s job security, but to borrow a phrase from the Patriots head coach, it probably was in the “best interest of the team.”The loss moved the Patriots up from selecting fourth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft to third overall. Depending on what happens next weekend, they could wind up picking anywhere from second to seventh overall.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots-Bills film review: Bill Belichick’s latest loss a microcosm of lost season New England Patriots | Bill Belichick compares rookie’s interception to play All-Pro made vs. Patriots New England Patriots | Bill Belichick comments on future before what could be last game as Patriots head coach New England Patriots | Bill Belichick gives abrupt answer on Trent Brown’s benching New England Patriots | How close are the Patriots to...

Cold spell in Finland and Sweden sends temperature below minus 40

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

By JARI TANNER (Associated Press)HELSINKI (AP) — Finland and Sweden recorded their coldest temperatures of the winter Tuesday when thermometers plummeted as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit) as a cold spell grips the Nordic region.Cold and snow disrupted transportation throughout the region, including in Norway where a major highway in the south was closed due to the weather and ferry lines suspended operations. Swedish train operators said the cold snap caused substantial problems for rail traffic in the Arctic north. Nikkaluokta, a small village inhabited by indigenous Sami people in northern Sweden, recorded a temperature of minus 41.6 degrees C (minus 42.8 F) early Tuesday, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported.“It’s the coldest temperature we have had so far this winter, and it will continue to be quite cold weather in the north,” SVT meteorologist Nils Holmqvist said.The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute reported te...

Great-West Lifeco closes Putnam Investments sale to Franklin Templeton

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:01:49 GMT

WINNIPEG — Great-West Lifeco Inc. says it has closed the sale of Putnam Investments.The company first announced the deal to sell the business to Franklin Resources Inc., which operates as Franklin Templeton, in May 2023.The deal includes a partnership that will see Great-West Lifeco distribute Franklin Templeton products and allocate an initial US$25 billion in assets under management to Franklin Templeton’s specialist investment managers.Great-West Lifeco has also agreed to retain shares representing about a 4.9 per cent stake in Franklin Templeton for a minimum five-year period. Great-West Lifeco chief executive Paul Mahon says the deal furthers the company’s strategy of building and extending strategic partnerships.The company said the transaction is not expected to have a material financial impact.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.Companies in this story: (TSX:GWO, TSX:POW)The Canadian Press