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‘Ukraine doesn’t have any time to waste’: US races to prepare Kyiv for spring offensive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

The U.S. military is rushing equipment to the battlefield and training Ukrainian forces at a rapid pace, ahead of a major offensive against Russia expected by late spring.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin projected a sense of urgency on Wednesday after a virtual meeting of the multinational Ukraine Defense Contact Group, saying that “Ukraine doesn’t have any time to waste.”“We have to deliver swiftly and fully on our promised commitments,” Austin said. “That includes delivering our armored capabilities to the battlefield and ensuring that Ukrainian soldiers get the training, spare parts and maintenance support that they need to use these new systems, as soon as possible.”As spring approaches, U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about Ukraine’s dwindling supply of ammunition, air defenses and experienced soldiers. Moscow and Kyiv are continuing to throw bodies into the fight for a southeastern city the U.S. does not consider strategically important. But the Pentagon says that rega...

Austin says US will continue to fly drones over Black Sea and condemns Russian downing as ‘aggressive’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

(CNN) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vowed on Wednesday that US aircraft will continue to “fly and to operate wherever international law allows,” one day after Russian aircraft hit a US drone over the Black Sea, forcing it to be brought down in international waters.“This hazardous episode is part of a pattern of aggressive, and risky, and unsafe actions in international airspace,” Austin said at the beginning of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. “So make no mistake, the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows. And it is incumbent upon Russia to operate as military aircraft in a safe and professional manner.”Austin was the first Cabinet member in the Biden administration to directly address the incident, which happened on Tuesday when two Russian Su-27 aircraft intercepted a US MQ-9 Reaper drone. President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident by national security adviser Jake Sulliv...

Group calls for action in case of woman accused of attacking EMT in 2019

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

The woman accused of stabbing a Boston EMT in 2019 appeared virtually in court Wednesday.Fellow EMTs also gathered, calling for action as the EMT injured in the 2019 attack also spoke publicly for the first time since the incident. “I just want to thank everyone for their support – my brothers and sisters on the job, my friends, my family – it means the world to me,” Elaina McAlister said. “It’s made it much easier.”EMTs speaking on Wednesday said this incident where McAlister was hurt underscores how dangerous their job is. Years after the incident, McAlister said she was in court to make sure the patient who she said nearly killed her and cut her career short is held responsible.“Assaulting an EMT is not ok,” Boston EMS union president Matthew Anderson said. “Assaulting anybody in public safety is not OK and we’re still gonna fight for justice for Elaina.”Julie Tejeda smiled as she was handcuffed back on July 10, 2019 after she was accused of attacking McAlister a...

Dolphins re-signing RB Myles Gaskin, veteran tackle Kendall Lamm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

The Miami Dolphins are now returning all four running backs from the active roster in 2022 for the 2023 season.The Dolphins are re-signing tailback Myles Gaskin, according to a league source on Wednesday, after already bringing back Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr. and Salvon Ahmed in the backfield.Miami also announced Wednesday the team is bringing back veteran reserve offensive tackle Kendall Lamm in 2023 as the team announced his re-signing.Over the past four seasons, Gaskin has played in 38 games, starting 17 for the Dolphins. He was Miami’s lead back for much of the 2020 season and the end of 2021.Gaskin’s role with the Dolphins diminished under coach Mike McDaniel last season as the team first went with the combination of Mostert and Chase Edmonds before swapping Edmonds out for Wilson in separate deals at last season’s trade deadline.Gaskin had just 10 carries with the Dolphins last season, for 26 yards, before he ended up on injured reserve for a shoulder pr...

Gallery: St. Mary’s girls beat Rockland 70-43 during the state semifinals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

St. Mary's girls beat Rockland 70-43 during the state semifinals

Massive seaweed blob heading to Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

A giant blob of seaweed, spanning 5,000 miles and weighing an estimated 6.1 million tons, threatens to blanket Florida beaches and Caribbean islands with smelly piles of decaying brown goop.Sargassum — the scientific name for the brown seaweed often found strewn across South Florida beaches — could start piling up in the Florida Keys in the next few days. Scientists expect Miami Beach to become a hot spot later in the sargassum season, which runs from March through October.This year’s sargassum bloom is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever recorded. Since 2011, a combination of human activity and climate change has created a string of unusually large seaweed blobs. Every year for the past five years has set a new record for the biggest blob ever.“We cannot predict whether this year will set a new record,” said Chuanmin Hu, who is part of a team of University of South Florida oceanography professors who track sargassum blooms via satellite and publish monthly bu...

Dave Hyde: Aaron Rodgers to New York Jets means Dolphins’ rivalry is on like never before

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

There’s no need to oversell what this means. There’s no need to hype its consequence with inflated sentences like were occasionally manufactured over the last decade with these teams.It’s on again.New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins.Aaron Rodgers vs. Tua TagovailoaOne AFC East team that’s all in for next year (and only next year) against another AFC East team that’s all in for next year (and only next year).Between dissecting the meaning of life and discussing five days closed off from the world, “in the darkness,” Rodgers announced Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show he’ll be the Jets quarterback. You came for The Decision. You sat through a therapy session.The move isn’t official simply because the Packers are, “dragging their heels,’ Rodgers said. But it wasn’t a secret the four-time Most Valuable Player looked like a Jet before the interview and it’s just a matter of Green Bay signing the divorce papers now....

Pat Leonard: Little brother Jets snag New York spotlight from Giants with Aaron Rodgers’ imminent arrival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

The Jets are the Giants’ little brother in New York and New Jersey, and everyone knows it.There are two teams here, but this is a Giants town.The Jets perpetually exist in Big Blue’s shadow, as much as they try to live in the light.The Jets wouldn’t even let the Giants boast the NFL’s worst record on their own from 2017 through 2021, for heaven’s sake.The Jets joined them in the basement at 22-59 over those five bleak years.“The Giants pretty much own New York,” Lawrence Taylor said in this newspaper in 2015. “We’ve got better fans and more fans than the Jets do. We’ve got four Super Bowls behind us. Until they win some Super Bowls, the conversation is over with.”On Wednesday, though, little brother stepped out of the darkness.When Aaron Rodgers announced on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ that he intends to play for the Jets, he immediately stole the New York market until further notice for Gang Green — only ...

NBA suspends Grizzlies guard Ja Morant 8 games without pay over gun video

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

The NBA is suspending Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant for eight games without pay after he flashed a gun during a live stream video earlier this month.“Ja’s conduct was irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.The suspension comes after a face-to-face meeting Wednesday between Morant and Silver at the NBA’s offices in Midtown Manhattan and a league investigation into his conduct.Morant, a two-time All-Star, has not played since the Grizzlies’ March 3 loss to the Nuggets in Denver. It was at a Denver-area nightclub early the next morning that Morant — described in the league’s statement as “holding a firearm in an intoxicated state” — went live on social media.The former Murray State star and the second-overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, was not charged with a crime by Colorado authorities.The NBA’s investigation found that Morant d...

Massachusetts communities dig out from 30-plus inches of snow, Ashby declares state of emergency, State Police search team rescues hikers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:20:22 GMT

Bay State communities pounded by feet of snow dug out from the whopper on Wednesday, as utility companies restored power to tens of thousands of households and a town was in a state of emergency.Massachusetts State Police also reported that a search team rescued two hikers who had been stranded in the heavy snow overnight in western Massachusetts.The nor’easter dumped three feet of snow on parts of the state, including a towering 37 inches of snow in Franklin County’s Hawley and 36 inches in both Colrain and Rowe out west, according to the National Weather Service’s updated snowfall totals on Wednesday.The last time the state had a snow report of 37-plus inches was the Blizzard of 1978, when Norton recorded a whopping 39 inches, according to the NWS’ record books.In northern Middlesex County, Ashby’s snowfall total hit 30 inches from this storm, and up to 34 inches in isolated areas of the town on the New Hampshire border.With downed trees piling across...