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Finland’s economy minister under fire over racist comments

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

Finland’s right-wing coalition government has only been in office for a little over a month and has now been rocked by its third racism scandal, after a media report uncovered racist messages sent by the minister of economic affairs.Wille Rydman — of the far-right Finns Party — used racial slurs in private messages with his then-girlfriend in 2016, according to Helsingin Sanomat. According to the report, Rydman said he would rather ban headscarf-wearers than headscarves, and told his then-partner when she suggested giving her future children traditional Hebrew names: “We Nazis don’t really like that kind of stuff.”At the time Rydman sent the messages, he was a 30-year-old member of parliament for the National Coalition Party. He joined the Finns Party earlier this year and was appointed minister of economic affairs in June. The messages were given by Rydman’s ex to Helsingin Sanomat. In response, the minister on Twitter described the newspaper as &...

Crews cleaning up, NWS surveying damage after tornado touchdown in NH

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

The National Weather Service will be in the Granite State on Friday to survey damage after a reported tornado touched down near Keene, New Hampshire Thursday, leaving damage in multiple spots as a larger series of storms moved across the region.The threat of storms initially prompted a widespread severe thunderstorm watch in effect for most of southern New England. Later, video showed clouds swirling over Roxbury, New Hampshire, where the National Weather Service said one of its trained spotters saw a funnel cloud touch the ground around 3 p.m.https://twitter.com/MelanieBlackWx/status/1684833797609537536The National Weather Service had already issued a tornado warning for communities around Keene. Moments after the spotter’s tornado sighting, at 3:03 p.m., doppler radar also detected possible debris in the air in the same area.The National Weather Service recorded a series of damage reports on the ground near Keene. On the streets, 7NEWS crews also spotted seve...

Police investigating fatal motorcycle crash in Taunton

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

Police are responding to a fatal motorcycle crash in Taunton on Friday, state police said.Troopers have closed the off-ramp from I-495 to Bay Street, where the crash occurred. No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn hears trade rumors as deadline nears: ‘Wherever you go, you go do your job’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

Lance Lynn described Wednesday as unique.“I know when you wake up at 8 a.m. and everyone thinks you’ve been traded to three different teams, it’s different,” the Chicago White Sox starter said Thursday afternoon.Various reports popped up with the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers among the teams pursuing the right-hander.“When you wake up and there are three different teams you’ve supposedly been traded to, that’s the world we live in now,” Lynn said. “News gets out that’s not true. Next thing you know you just have to answer questions about it.”Lynn carried on and was on the mound that evening for the City Series game against the Cubs at Guaranteed Rate Field.“There’s been no communication, nobody told me that anything’s close or anything like that, so you’ve just got to go pitch,” Lynn said.Lynn allowed seven runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4...

Matthew Judon deserves a pay raise from Patriots; what would it look like?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

FOXBORO — Contract extensions have been a hot topic through the first two days of training camp as foundational players on expiring deals have stepped up to the makeshift podium on the side of the Gillette Stadium practice field for media availability.It makes sense. The Patriots have the cap space flexibility to make any move that they want (they need running back help, and it would be unsurprising if they added to the position soon). With $15.5 million available, the Patriots currently have the 12th-most cap space in the NFL. They’re set to have the NFL’s most cap space in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 offseasons. Plus, as Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh said this week while discussing the team’s pursuit of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, “You look at the salary cap, basically anybody can make anything work right now. You just move some things around and get creative.”Creativity is not required in Foxboro right now. They have the cash.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots ...

Scott criticizes DeSantis over his support for Florida’s slavery curriculum as they stump in Iowa

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has criticized fellow Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for supporting new standards that require teachers to instruct middle school students that slaves developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”“What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating,” Scott, the sole Black Republican in the Senate, told reporters on Thursday after a town hall in Ankeny. “So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly running for president — would appreciate that.”“People have bad days,” Scott added. “Sometimes they regret what they say. And we should ask them again to clarify their positions.”DeSantis has been facing criticism from Florida teachers, civil rights leaders and President Joe Biden’s White House on the school standards. Vice President Kamala Harris, the nat...

StatCan says economy grew 0.3% in May, estimates 1% growth for second quarter

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian economy grew by 0.3 per cent in May, Statistics Canada said Friday.In its latest report on economic growth, the federal agency’s preliminary estimate suggests real gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 1 per cent in the second quarter.The May figure came in slightly lower than was expected by Statistics Canada as mining and oil and gas companies reduced their operations in Alberta at the outset of the record-breaking wildfire season.The energy sector was down 2.1 per cent in May, the release shows.“This was the sector’s first decline in five months and its largest since August 2020,” the agency said.The modest GDP increase in May was driven, in part, by a rebound in the public administration sector as most federal public servants on strike returned to work by the end of April. However, 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers remained on strike for three days in May, which dampened the rebound.That modest growth is unlikely to hold, as th...

An inflation gauge that is closely tracked by the Fed falls to its lowest level in more than 2 years

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of consumer prices that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve fell last month to its lowest level since March 2021, the latest sign that inflation in the United States is steadily cooling from its once-painful highs. Prices rose just 3% in June from 12 months earlier, down from a 3.8% annual increase in May, though still above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2% from May to June, up slightly from 0.1% the previous month.Last month’s sharp slowdown in year-over-year inflation largely reflected falling gas prices, as well as milder increases in grocery costs.Still, a measure of “core” prices, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, remained elevated even though it also eased last month. Those still-high underlying inflation pressures are a key reason why the Fed raised its short-term interest rate Wednesday to a 22-year high. The Fed’s policymakers consider core prices a better measure of where inflation mi...

4 die in fiery crash on interstate highway south of Atlanta

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — A fiery two-vehicle crash on an interstate highway south of Atlanta killed four people early Friday, police said.The crash involved two vehicles on Interstate 75 around 1 a.m., Clayton County police said in a statement. One vehicle caught fire after flipping and ejecting two people.All of those killed were in the same vehicle, and three of them were siblings ranging in age from 12 to 21, police said. Authorities were trying to identify the fourth victim, a female.A dog in the vehicle was also killed.Traffic on the busy interstate was backed up for hours after the crash.The Associated Press

Homeless struggle to stay safe from record high temperatures in blistering Phoenix

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:15 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Homeless in America’s hottest big metro, Stefon James Dewitt Livengood was laid out for days inside his makeshift dwelling, struggling to breath, nauseous and vomiting.Every day this month, temperatures have soared past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius). Livengood said he stopped briefly at a free clinic that took his blood pressure and declared it acceptable. But he received no other medical help for his apparent heat exhaustion, or for the peeling skin on his arms he believes was caused by sun exposure. He is careful when he walks through the sprawling tent city, cognizant that if he falls, the simmering black asphalt could seriously burn his skin. “If you’re going outside, let somebody know where you’re going so you can be tracked so you don’t pass out out there,” he said. “If you fall out in the heat, you don’t want a third degree burn from the ground.” The 38-year-old sleeps in a structure cobbled together with a frame of scavenged wood and meta...