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Erdoğan wins support from Turkey’s election ‘kingmaker’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

Sinan Oğan, the nationalist “kingmaker” who came third in Turkey’s closely fought presidential election, is throwing his weight behind President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the runoff on Sunday, although it’s increasingly unclear how many of his first-round supporters will follow his lead. The previously little-known Oğan built on a wave of anti-migration sentiment to pick up more than five percent of the votes in the presidential election first round, held on May 14. With neither Erdoğan nor his main rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu gaining the outright majority needed to win, despite a turnout of almost 89 percent, both candidates have been working to secure 2.8 million former Oğan supporters ahead of the runoff Sunday. Oğan’s endorsement should be enough to see Erdoğan to victory. Since the May 14 vote, however, Oğan’s “Ancestral Alliance” has splintered, making it very hard to predict which way his voters will turn on Sunday, as he doesn&...

Bulgaria agrees government with rotating PMs to tackle corruption

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

A coalition of Bulgarian parties on Monday agreed to form a government tasked with uprooting corruption and led by two rotating prime ministers — one of whom will be former European Commissioner for Innovation Mariya Gabriel.The coalition’s main goal will be to implement constitutional reforms in the first half of its mandate, particularly targeting the judiciary in a country plagued by high-level corruption. In the past days, long-running concerns about the role of Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev — centered on whether he sweeps major mafia cases under the carpet — have exploded into a dramatic public feud with former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Bulgaria’s center-right GERB party and the anti-corruption alliance led by We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) will form a grand coalition government, the two parties announced Monday according to local media.The agreement will last for the next year and a half: the PP-DB’s PM designate, Nikolay Denkov, ...

Fatal shooting under investigation in Waltham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

Authorities are investigating a fatal shooting in Waltham after a victim was discovered by police early Monday morning.Both the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Waltham Police Department said an investigation was underway after officers were called to Lyman Street around 1:30 a.m. and discovered an adult male suffering from gunshot wounds.“Life saving measures were performed on scene,” a news release from the DA’s office stated. “The victim was transported to Lahey Hospital where he was pronounced dead.”Police remained at the scene collecting evidence throughout the morning. By the time investigators left the area around 9 a.m., a vehicle could be seen nearby with a bullet hole marked off on a passenger door and a smashed rear window.According to officials, no arrests have been made in the case yet.The DA’s office asks that anyone with information on the incident call Waltham PD at 781-314-3550 or Massachusetts State Police Detective...

8-year-old migrant girl who died in US Border Patrol custody was treated for flu several days before her death, authorities say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

(CNN) — An 8-year-old migrant girl who died in the custody of US immigration authorities last week was treated for flu-like symptoms for several days prior to her death at a Texas hospital, according to authorities.The girl, Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, a citizen of Panama, died Wednesday in a Harlingen, Texas, hospital, just eight days after her family was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection in Brownsville, Texas, the agency said in a news release Sunday. Members of her family, including her parents and two siblings, are all citizens of Honduras, says the news release.According to CBP records, Reyes was medically assessed on May 10 and did not complain of any illnesses or injuries at the time. However, her family did report a medical history, including chronic conditions of sickle cell anemia and heart disease, according to the news release.It was not until four days later, on May 14, that Reyes’ mother took her to a treatment area after the g...

Empty Commuter Rail train strikes car in Beverly after driver passes signage, gets car stuck on tracks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

No injuries were reported after MBTA Transit Police say a Commuter Rail train struck a vehicle near Montserrat station in Beverly over the weekend.The police department said a 75-year-old driver was cited after they allegedly ignored both street closure signs and physical barriers, driving onto railway tracks where their vehicle became stuck Sunday morning.The driver was able to get out safely before an empty train hit the unoccupied vehicle around 4:30 a.m., officials said.MBTA Commuter Rail later informed passengers to expect “significant delays” on the Rockport Line as a result of a “vehicle on the right of way,” before regular service resumed by 7:30 a.m.https://twitter.com/MBTATransitPD/status/1660622709481517056

Former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony announces NBA retirement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

Carmelo Anthony, the Brooklyn-born former Knicks star who scored the ninth-most points in NBA history, announced his retirement Monday.The 10-time All-Star, who played for New York from 2011 to 2017, averaged 22.5 points per game across 19 NBA seasons. He last played during the 2021-22 season with the Los Angeles Lakers.“The time has come for me to say goodbye to the court where I made my name, to the game that gave me purpose and pride,” Anthony said in a video announcement. ()

Anne Gobi leaving Senate to serve as rural affairs director in Healey administration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

Sen. Anne Gobi, a fifth-term state senator from Spencer, plans to leave her legislative position in June to serve as the director of rural affairs for Gov. Maura Healey, according to a source familiar with the search.Healey announced the new post in March, pitching it as a way to ensure that rural communities in Massachusetts are better represented in state government. The role will be housed under the Executive Office of Economic Development and responsible “for cultivating rural economic development.”Gobi plans to assume the new role on June 5 and step down from her Senate post the day before, according to the source.Filling Gobi’s seat at that point in the legislative session would require a special election for the Worcester and Hampshire Senate district. In her bid for reelection in November, Gobi beat out Republican challenger James Amorello by more than 5,000 votes.The Healey administration previously said the rural affairs director will be tasked with conducting a revi...

Fire razes school dormitory in Guyana, killing at least 19 children, many of them Indigenous

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A nighttime fire raced through a dormitory in Guyana early Monday, killing at least 19 students and injuring several others at a boarding school catering to remote, mostly Indigenous villages, authorities said.“This is a horrific incident. It’s tragic. It’s painful,” President Irfaan Ali said, adding that his government was mobilizing all possible resources to care for the children.The fire broke out shortly before midnight in the dormitory building of a secondary school in the southwestern border town of Mahdia, a gold and diamond mining community about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of the capital, Georgetown, the government said in a statement.The government initially said 20 students were killed, but fire officials later revised the toll to 19, with several others injured“When firefighters arrived on the scene, the building was already completely engulfed in flames,” Guyana’s Fire Service said in a statement. “Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the re...

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he was attacked outside Florida hotel in March

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he was blindsided during an attack on him outside a South Florida hotel following a concert earlier this year.“I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this (flash) and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground,” Allen, 59, told ABC’s “ Good Morning America ” in an interview broadcast Monday. “I landed on my backside — hit my head on the pavement.”Def Leppard was in Fort Lauderdale to perform at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino when he was attacked March 13 while taking a smoke break outside a hotel.Police arrested Max Hartley, a 19-year-old from Avon, Ohio, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of battery and four counts of criminal mischief, according to court records. Police said they haven’t determined a motive. “I don’t think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn’t a threat because, you know, I’ve only got one arm,” said Allen, who lost his left arm in a car accident i...

Erdogan wins endorsement for Turkish election runoff from third-place candidate Ogan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:58 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The third-placed contender in the Turkish presidential elections on Monday formally endorsed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the second-round runoff vote to be held on May 28th.The nationalist presidential candidate Sinan Ogan, 55, has emerged as a potential kingmaker after neither Erdogan nor his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, secured the majority needed for a first-round victory on May 14th. Ogan, a former academic who was backed by a far-right anti-migrant party, won 5.17% in the May 14 vote and could hold the key to victory in the runoff now that he’s out of the race.His endorsement of Erdogan came days after he held a surprise meeting with the Turkish leader in Istanbul on Friday. No statement was made following the one-hour meeting.Ogan had attracted votes from people who disapproved of Erdogan’s policies but didn’t want support Kilicdaroglu, who leads Turkey’s center-left, pro-secular main opposition party.Analysts say th...