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Ukraine aid is drying up. And the White House is under pressure to send more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

Move over, Treasury. You’re not the only one with an X-date.The $48 billion Ukraine aid package that Congress approved in December has about $6 billion left, meaning U.S. funding for weapons and supplies could dry up by midsummer.That’s raising fresh concerns among lawmakers about what the White House is planning next, including when the administration will ask for another major package and whether it will be enoughThe funding, many members say, needs to continue to flow without interruption, especially as Kyiv prepares to launch what’s expected to be a sweeping counteroffensive and retake ground in the east from the Russians.“It is critical that the administration provide Ukraine with what it needs in time to defend and take back its sovereign territory,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Pentagon leaders during a hearing on Thursday. “We expect the administration not to wait until the eleventh hour if the Ukrainians need more before the end of the fiscal year.”The White House is d...

Russia’s Ukraine invasion must end in failure like Afghanistan, says Estonian PM

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

Russia must retreat from Ukraine like Moscow did in Afghanistan in the 1980s, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Monday.The leader of the Baltic country, which borders Russia and has been among Ukraine’s top weapons providers, indicated that the war will come to an end when Russian troops retreat.“The war will end when Russia understands it has made a mistake, like they did in Afghanistan when they withdrew after 10 years,” Kallas said in an interview conducted by POLITICO during the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.The Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan between 1988 and 1989 after almost a decade of fighting, amid a faltering military campaign and a dire economic situation at home.  “If you think that this all started in 2014 [with Russia’s annexation of Crimea], we are almost 10 years [along],” added Kallas.The Estonian leader urged EU countries to continue supporting Ukraine “to send a message to Russia that you can’t win, and they can’t bend the will of Ukrainians eit...

‘Please help’: Mother makes desperate plea amid search for missing 4-year-old on Castle Island

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

A massive police presence will continue its search this morning on Castle Island in South Boston for a missing 4-year-old boy with autism who was is nonverbal and was last seen playing at a park there on Sunday.The distraught mother of Mohemed Fofena made a desperate plea to anyone who may know where her son is. “Please help me,” she said as police prepared to resume their search. Mohemed was last seen around 7 p.m.Mohemed’s mother says her father called her while she was at work to let her know he lost sight of him.He was last seen wearing blue shoes, blue pants, and a gray hooded sweatshirt.State police and other emergency responders could be seen using flashlights, boats, and a helicopter to search the area for Mohemed late into the night on Sunday.No additional information was immediately available.Anyone with information is urged to call state police.https://twitter.com/MassStatePolice/status/1657923502618361859https://twitter.com/MassStatePolice/status/165...

Let’s do it again: Celtics to face Heat in Eastern Conference finals rematch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — As the Celtics’ 112-88 Game 7 rout of the 76ers began to crystallize late in the third quarter, a Boston fan toting a neon pink inflatable flamingo held up a sign that read, “See you in Miami!”Celtics-Heat: The rematch is now officially set for the Eastern Conference finals.Last season the Celtics had a 3-2 series lead over Miami in the NBA’s version of the final four before losing in Game 6. Boston then came within a late missed jump by Miami’s Jimmy Butler of seeing its season end in Game 7 before eventually holding on to advance to the NBA Finals.Following a championship-round loss to Golden State, this season was themed “Unfinished Business” for this latest incarnation of the Celtics as they long to get another shot at the franchise’s 18th title.They’re hoping to carry the momentum and lessons from Sunday’s blowout win over Philadelphia into what they expect to be another slugfest with the Heat. The teams split their fo...

Warming Back Up… For Now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

Wow! What a weekend we just had for ourselves as low humidity, sunny skies and comfortable air prevailed. Perfect timing for Mother’s Day weekend. We pick up where we left off over the weekend as sunshine and low humidity win out today. While the chill is in the air early this morning, the warm-up starts this afternoon as temps run in the mid to upper 70s for highs. A west wind will be active today, gusting 15-20mph, holding back any sea breeze from developing. Tomorrow, we’ll step it up another notch with highs pushing into the lower 80s for many. A gusty west to southwest wind runs through too, pushing 25-35mph. That, in combination with with relative humidity falling to 15-20%, will allow for the brush fire risk to be elevated. While a few light showers are possible tomorrow night with a cold front, don’t expect much rain. Any wet weather will be long gone by Wednesday morning too, and so will the warmth. Wednesday afternoon run about 20 degrees cooler than Tues...

Budget, Bears, Chicago school board and ethics: Illinois legislators face busy agenda in spring session’s final week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

The Illinois General Assembly heads into the final scheduled week of its spring session facing unresolved issues from the budget to a proposal to help the Chicago Bears move to the suburbs, while also coming under pressure to toughen government ethics laws in the wake of the “ComEd Four” corruption case convictions.Also on the table is the possibility of additional funding to help Chicago address its growing influx of migrants and asylum-seekers, and the need to finalize a map for the city’s new elected school board.Finalizing a state budget has been complicated by the need to fill a nearly $900 million hole in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal due to ballooning costs of a state-funded health insurance program for adult immigrants in the country without legal permission.Ethics reform has proved over the years to be an issue that can be just as knotty as the budget. But there’s an added impetus to act this year given the bombshell bribery trial that led to g...

Southland high school officials differ on level of state guidance needed for defibrillator training, availability

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

School districts in the south and southwest suburbs have different numbers of automated external defibrillators available, but officials have different opinions on whether the state should provide more guidance on availability.Defibrillators are portable machines used to help someone experiencing cardiac arrest. In Illinois, state law requires schools and other public places to have defibrillators, but leave it up to school officials to determine how many should be in buildings.Lockport Township High School District 205 Superintendent Robert McBride said the state should give more guidance and funding to schools to make sure a consistent number of defibrillators are available.Tinley Park High School associate principal Randy Couwenhoven said the state requires defibrillators, it should be left up to each district to determine how many should be purchased.“I think what the state has done in that regard, making sure that all schools have them, is a good thing,” Couwenhoven...

Boston Schools employee asked contractor to ‘hide’ a $164K payment problem, report says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

After Boston Public Schools was found to be stiffing a plumbing contractor on a $164,000 bill, racked up since 2018, district employees sought to resolve the issue by directing another vendor to pick up the tab, according to a city watchdog report.Not only was this a breach of policy, the Boston Finance Commission contends, it left the school district with a substantially larger bill, as the second vendor tacked on a 15% fee, totaling $24,673, in the invoice it sent to BPS — which “falsely” labeled the charges as subcontractor work performed at Campbell Resource Center.What should have been a $164,448 payment to the initial vendor swelled to $189,162.The difference in cost benefited the contractor that BPS roped in for the favor, ENE Systems, Inc., a national HVAC company that has roughly $20 million worth of contracts with the Boston Public Schools, the report said.“This breach of policy, procedures and public trust by City of Boston employees unnecessarily wasted $24,673.33 of the...

Thousands of police officer disciplinary records could be released next month, POST official says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

Thousands of disciplinary records detailing misconduct among police officers all across Massachusetts could be released to the public as soon as next month, the head of the state’s law enforcement licensing agency told the Herald.In a wide-ranging interview this week, Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission Executive Director Enrique Zuniga said those records could be released shortly after the agency’s next meeting, which will likely be scheduled for the middle of June.Zuniga also addressed in the interview the POST Commission’s decertification of former Woburn Officer John Donnelly, who is accused of helping plan a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. It was the first time the agency decertified an officer, a move that bars them from serving as a cop in Massachusetts, and likely the rest of the country.Zuniga’s answers were edited for clarity and length.The POST Commission discussed this week the possible release of thousands of disciplinary records for off...

German prosecutors charge 4 men involved in far-right group with crimes of violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:19:25 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have filed charges against four alleged members of a far-right group that aimed to kill left-wing extremists, following an investigation targeting several organizations, prosecutors announced MondayThe four men, identified only as Leon R., Maximilian A., Eric K. and Bastian A., in line with local privacy rules, were charged with crimes including serious bodily harm, resisting and attacking police officers, disturbing the peace and violating Germany’s weapons law.The men were detained in central Germany in April and federal prosecutors filed the charges earlier this month.Prosecutors said the four were leading members of a far-right combat sports group, “Knockout 51,” which held training sessions at the local headquarters of a small far-right party in the eastern city of Eisenach and aimed to indoctrinate young men and train them in street fighting.The group, which had about 10 active members and had links to far-right players in other parts of German...