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Bill Belichick offers 4-word explanation why should Patriots fans be optimistic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

Over the past three seasons, the Patriots are 25-26.By NFL standards, they are like most teams: wandering the wilderness until they find a franchise quarterback or another, less traveled road out of the woods and toward contention. But by New England standards — those raised to unprecedented heights by two decades of unprecedented success — these are hard times.Looking ahead, the 2023 season isn’t expected to be any kinder to the Patriots, with betting markets widely projecting them to again miss the playoffs.Speaking with reporters Monday at the NFL owners meetings, Pats coach Bill Belichick was asked what message he would deliver to fans ahead of next season and why they should be optimistic. His answer is below in a brief snapshot of his Q&A with reporters, Belichick’s first press conference of the offseason.Q: Would you say anything to the fans right now as to where the team sits and what you’re trying to put together? What would you say to them...

Fans welcome Aztecs back to San Diego after advancing to Final Four

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Aztecs fans lined up overnight to welcome home the San Diego State University Men’s Basketball team, fresh off advancing to the Final Four for the first time in program history.SDSU defeated Creighton 57-56 Sunday in the NCAA Tournament's South Regional Final in a back-and-forth matchup that went down to the very last second.Following the historic win, the team was greeted by a crowd of Aztecs fans when the team bus returned to campus around 1 a.m. Monday morning. Viejas Arena alive with fans, as San Diego State advances to Final Four "Thanks for waiting so late at night to welcome us back," SDSU Head Coach Brian Dutcher said. "We are excited to represent San Diego State and the City of San Diego in the Final Four and we will be heading to Houston to try and win the whole thing.""We have the greatest fan base in the country. They support us in Viejas, they support us on the road and they support us when they come home," Dutcher added.The Elite 8 victory was sealed when...

Teen killed in Toronto subway station stabbing remembered as kind, good friend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

A 16-year-old who died after an apparently unprovoked stabbing at a Toronto subway station is being remembered as a kind person who enjoyed spending time with family and friends.Police have said Gabriel Magalhaes died on Saturday night after being stabbed at Keele subway station, where he had been sitting on a bench when he was approached.The principal of the high school Gabriel attended says in a letter to students and parents today that the teen will be sorely missed.RELATED: Man stabbed onboard TTC bus in Toronto’s west endEtobicoke Collegiate Institute principal Jennifer Kurtz says Gabriel was a kind student who enjoyed school, and his death is a “tragic loss.”Those who knew Gabriel have set up a memorial with flowers and notes outside Keele subway station. A 22-year-old man of no fixed address has been charged with one count of first-degree murder in the case.Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 (ATU), which represents nearly 12,000 public transit workers in To...

Suspect dead after shooting at Nashville private school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A shooting at a private Christian grade school in Nashville wounded several people Monday, authorities said. The suspect is dead after a confrontation with police.The shooting occurred at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool to sixth grade. Students walked to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church to reunited with their parents. The Nashville Fire Department said on Twitter there are “multiple patients” but their conditions were not immediately clear. It was also not known whether the victims were staff, teachers or students from The Covenant School, where students walked to safety holding hands to a nearby church to reunited with their parents. The shooter died after being “engaged by” officers, Metro Nashville Police said in a Twitter post. It was not immediately clear whether the shooter died by suicide or was shot by police.The fire department said th...

US to adopt new restrictions on using commercial spyware

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government will restrict its use of commercial spyware tools that have been used to surveil human rights activists, journalists and dissidents around the world, under an executive order issued Monday by President Joe Biden. The order responds to growing U.S. and global concerns about programs that can capture text messages and other cellphone data. Some programs — so-called “zero-click” exploits — can infect a phone without the user clicking on a malicious link. Governments around the world — including the U.S. — are known to collect large amounts of data for intelligence and law enforcement purposes, including communications from their own citizens. The proliferation of commercial spyware has made powerful tools newly available to smaller countries, but also created what researchers and human-rights activists warn are opportunities for abuse and repression.The White House released the executive order in advance of its second summit for democracy this week...

Twitter celebs balk at paying Elon Musk for blue check mark

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

William Shatner, Monica Lewinsky and other prolific Twitter commentators — some household names, others little-known journalists — could soon be losing the blue check marks that helped verify their identity on the social media platform.They could get the marks back by paying up to $11 a month. But some longtime users, including 92-year-old Star Trek legend Shatner, have balked at buying the premium service championed by Twitter’s billionaire owner and chief executive Elon Musk.After months of delay, Musk is gleefully promising that Friday is the deadline for celebrities, journalists and others who’d been verified for free to pony up or lose their legacy status. “It will be glorious,” he tweeted Monday, in response to a Twitter user who noted that Friday is also April Fools Day.After buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, Musk has been trying to boost the struggling platform’s revenue by pushing more people to pay for a premium subscription. But his ...

Hungarian parliament approves Finland’s bid to join NATO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s parliament on Monday approved Finland’s bid to join NATO, ending months of delays and bringing the Nordic country one step closer to becoming a full member of the Western military alliance.Hungarian lawmakers voted 182 for and only six against with no abstentions. The vote came after Hungary’s government frustrated allies in NATO and the European Union by repeatedly postponing the measure for months after nearly all other members of the alliance had ratified Finland’s bid. With Hungary’s approval, Turkey is now the only one of NATO’s 30 members not to have ratified Finland’s NATO accession. Admitting a new country requires unanimity among all member nations.The Associated Press

Sharpton to speak at funeral of man pinned down by deputies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the funeral of a 28-year-old Black man who died after he was pinned to the floor by seven sheriff’s deputies and several others while he was being admitted to a mental hospital in Virginia.Sharpton’s National Action Network, a civil rights organization, announced plans for the funeral of Irvo Otieno on Wednesday at the First Baptist Church in Chesterfield, Virginia, about 18 miles (29 kilometers) south of Richmond.Video released publicly last week shows sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees attempting to restrain a handcuffed and shackled Otieno for about 20 minutes after he’s led into a room at Central State Hospital, where he was going to be admitted March 6. For much of that time, Otieno is on the floor being held down by a fluctuating group that at one point appeared to reach 10 people.Seven deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno’s dea...

At least 16 people killed in landslide in central Ecuador

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — At least 16 people were killed and 16 others injured when a massive landslide buried dozens of homes in an Andean community in central Ecuador, the country’s emergency response agency reported Monday.Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat said seven people remained missing hours after the landslide Sunday in Alausí, about 137 miles (220 kilometers) south of the capital, Quito. The disaster also destroyed a portion of the Pan-American Highway.The governor of Chimborazo, Ivan Vinueza, told The Associated Press that some of the injured have been taken to area hospitals. He added that people have been ordered to evacuate the area due to the imminent risk of new landslides. The Associated Press

Indigenous groups hope for infrastructure dollars and economic development in budget

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:37 GMT

OTTAWA — Funding for infrastructure and economic development are two of the main asks some prominent Indigenous organizations have put to the Liberal government ahead of its upcoming budget. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has promised that the spending plan to be made public Tuesday will demonstrate fiscal restraint. It is also expected to include money to advance Canada’s green energy transition and measures to keep it competitive with the United States, which is aggressively funding clean technology with its Inflation Reduction Act. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed says that despite the government’s talk of restraint, it will still be spending billions — and he hopes that includes a 35-year, $75-billion commitment for infrastructure in Inuit communities. Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron says in a statement she hopes to see funding for the organization to create an economic development fund specifically targeted to help Métis businesses. Th...