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Russia warns West sending F-16s to Ukraine ‘carries enormous risks’: TASS

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

The West’s effort to potentially send modern fighter jets to Ukraine “carries enormous risks,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned on Saturday, according to Russian state news agency TASS.The minister’s comments in an interview with TASS come in the wake of the U.S. getting behind a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots to use modern fighter aircraft including F-16s. This could also pave the way to eventually send advanced Western combat jets to Ukraine, according to a senior administration official. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the U.S. decision in a tweet on Friday, saying that it “will greatly enhance our army in the sky.” He added that he counted on discussing “the practical implementation of this decision” at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan. “We can see that Western countries continue to stick to an escalation scenario, which carries enormous risks for them,” Grushko said in the interview. “In...

Swifties take over Gillette Stadium for 1st of 3 Taylor Swift shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

Taylor Swift superfans, rejoice – the musician’s weekend of sold-out “Eras Tour” shows at Gillette Stadium is here.SKY7-HD spotted seemingly endless lines stretching through the premises well before the gates opened for the first of three shows at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.In total, the shows are expected to bring some 200,000 people to the venue through Sunday night.Fans clad in official merch, do-it-yourself-Swift-gear and cowboy boots told 7NEWS they were ecstatic as they waited for Swift’s latest Foxboro show.There was plenty of Taylor-gating underway as well, with fans swapping stories and sharing in the excitement after making the trip, whether they traveled from down the interstate, across the country, or from another part of the world.“We waited 23 years to look at her because we’re from India and she doesn’t come to India,” one fan told 7NEWS with a laugh.Where many drove, some fans rode sold-out MBTA concert trains from Bosto...

For Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, contract extensions loom over poor playoff performances

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

Six-hundred and thirteen million dollars.That’s the dollar amount it’s projected to cost the Boston Celtics to retain both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown when they become contract extension-eligible over the next two summers.Or at least it was the ticket price before Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat reduced Boston’s franchise cornerstones to ash, stealing Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals via back-to-back late-game Celtics collapses.And with both Tatum and Brown struggling in crunch time — also known as money time — both look like potential poor investments if the second-seeded Celtics cannot capitalize as heavy favorites against a Heat team down both a former Sixth Man of the Year (Tyler Herro) and a former All-Star (Victor Oladipo).Yet it’s the fashion with which the meltdowns occurred that’s most concerning for a Celtics team now projected to come up short in consecutive legitimate championship runs. Tatum, for example, is only...

Disgruntled Tijuana taxi drivers block access to San Ysidro Port of Entry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- Drivers with the "Red and Black" taxi group in Tijuana blocked as many as eight traffic lanes leading into the San Ysidro Port of Entry disrupting the Friday morning commute for many who cross the border daily.The drivers say they are trying to pressure Baja California's governor into helping them solve a work dispute with the city of Tijuana, which has told the drivers that soon, they won't be able to pick up fares along the heavily traveled Aguacaliente-Díaz Ordaz Boulevard.The city of Tijuana and the state of Baja California are in the process of creating a mass-transit line with 34 stops along the length of the boulevard to serve the public.Both have said having the taxis share the road is not practical and would generate a lot more congestion. Shuttle service owners, drivers reeling after cartels wreaked havoc on Tijuana During the blockade at the border, many commuters sounded their horns and got into screaming matches with the drivers who stood ...

F-18 fighter jet accident at Zaragoza airbase as pilot ejects successfully

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

LONDON (AP) — An F-18 fighter jet crashed at an airbase in the Spanish city of Zaragoza but the pilot ejected successfully, the Spanish defense ministry said Saturday. The aircraft landed within the perimeter of the base, the defense ministry said on Twitter. The base, which lies about 10 miles (16 kilometers) outside the city, belongs to the Spanish Air and Space Force. Videos posted on social media showed a plane in flames falling towards the ground. The pilot was already in hospital and his life was not in danger, the air force said. The Associated Press

Takeaways from AP’s report on secretive networks helping women circumvent Honduras’ abortion ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — In remote mountain villages, urban neighborhoods, along the Caribbean coast — despite Honduras’ national abortion ban and amid suffocating social and religious opposition, women are terminating pregnancies with the help of clandestine networks seeking to make the procedure as safe as possible.The networks use code words, aliases, encrypted messages, burner phones and other tactics to disguise their activity. Most participants don’t know one another, or any specifics beyond their role in the chain that ultimately provides information and the abortion pills endorsed by the World Health Organization.Some Latin American countries — Argentina, Colombia, Mexico — are widening access to abortion, while many U.S. states are restricting it. Honduras doesn’t enforce its ban as strictly as its neighbors, but the possible punishment of up to six years in prison is a constant threat.WHAT DOES HONDURAN LAW SAY?Honduras’ total abortion ban dates to 1985. Pr...

Russian private army head claims control of Bakhmut, war’s longest battle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the Russian private army Wagner claimed Saturday that his forces have taken control of the city of Bakhmut after the longest and most grinding battle of the Russia-Ukraine war, but Ukrainian defense officials denied it.In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin said the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. He spoke flanked by about half a dozen fighters, with ruined buildings in the background and explosions heard in the distance.However, after the video appeared, Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said heavy fighting was continuing.“The situation is critical,” she said. “As of now, our defenders, control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in this area.” Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern command, told The Associated Press that Prigozhin’s claim “is not true. Our units are fighting in Bakhmut.”Fighting has raged around Bakhmut for more than 200 days....

Burner phones, aliases, code words: How secret networks help women circumvent Honduras’ abortion ban

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Inside a little wooden house among the pine and oak forests of western Honduras’ coffee-growing mountains, a woman opened a tiny package of pills, delivered to a nearby town. She didn’t know it, but the medication had more than likely entered the country hidden in an activist’s suitcase, from Mexico.The woman, 27, was confident in her decision to have an abortion, but in the moment, she panicked. She knew she was breaking national law banning all abortions and could be prosecuted. Even more, she feared medical complications, or her religious family finding out.Days earlier, an anonymous guide had asked her for an ultrasound; she sent it via encrypted message. Now, in her one-room house, empty and quiet except for the pings of her cellphone with messages from the guide and her closest friend, she studied the instructions on how to take the pills – first the mifepristone, later the misoprostol.She was ready. She swallowed the first pill.___In remote mounta...

Pakistani transgender activists to appeal Shariah court ruling against law aimed at protecting them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Transgender activists in Pakistan said they plan to appeal to the highest court in the land an Islamic court’s ruling that guts a law aimed at protecting their rights.The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was passed by Parliament in 2018 to secure the fundamental rights of transgender Pakistanis. It ensures their access to legal gender recognition, among other rights.Many Pakistanis have entrenched beliefs on gender and sexuality and transgender people are often considered outcasts. Some are forced into begging, dancing and even prostitution to earn money. They also live in fear of attacks.The Federal Shariat Court on Friday struck down several provisions of the landmark law, terming them “un-Islamic.”It ruled that a person cannot change their gender on the basis of “innermost feeling” or “self-perceived identity” and must conform to the biological sex assigned to them at the time of birth.The Shariah court has the constitutional mandate of examin...

‘Looking for Canada’: RCMP’s Musical Ride steeped in tradition as force turns 150

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:47:37 GMT

Maxwell Newhouse remembers the earth quivering below his feet when 32 riders wearing bright scarlet jackets, on top of their large black horses, moved across a field in seamless patterns. It was 25 years ago and his first time watching an RCMP Musical Ride, a horsey ballet where Mounties don the iconic red serge, hoist their lances and pay tribute to Canada’s heritage. “It’s just the Canadian experience. It was just beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed,” said Newhouse, a painter from British Columbia.“When I saw it, it cured me. I went home and I couldn’t stop painting. I literally painted them for more than 10 years.”As the RCMP celebrates its 150th anniversary, Newhouse reflected on the century-long tradition that has shaped him as an artist. Some of the hundreds of depictions he has painted are featured in his book, “The RCMP Musical Ride,” showcasing the intricate formations that require the utmost control, timing and co-ordination. Mounties say the ride is a symbol o...