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Rep. Jake Auchincloss says more accountability needed in military chain of command after documents leak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss said there needs to be more accountability in the military’s chain of command this week after the recent leak of top secret military documents. The FBI arrested Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira earlier this month in North Dighton in connection with the leak. He is accused of posting documents online that contained sensitive information about the war in Ukraine and other military actions. Speaking with 7NEWS, Auchincloss said the Pentagon needs to change its document classification system. “The Pentagon has to answer for that both in terms of breakdowns in existing procedures and also what new procedures might be necessary,” Auchincloss, a marine veteran, said.Auchincloss continued, saying the existing classification system in the US is broken.“We both over classify information that doesn’t need to be classified, that’s classified in order to prevent embarrassment to politicians and officials and we also clearly tre...

Mild inland and cooler coast Friday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

7Weather – After a chilly start, the April sun went to work and warmed our temperatures into the 60s! The sea breeze kicked in early this afternoon in Boston, and temperatures along the coast stayed in the 50s. Tomorrow it’ll be mild once again, but stay even cooler on the coast. Looking ahead to the weekend, we’ll have rain for part of it.Tomorrow starts off seasonably cool in the upper 30s/low 40s with a few clouds and light wind. There will be a wide range of temperatures by the afternoon thanks to an east/southeast wind. Along the immediate coast temperatures will stay near 50-55°. The farther away you are inland and away from the coast, temperatures will be in the mid/upper 60s. We’ll see sun mixed with high clouds throughout the day.Saturday might be your better day of the weekend. It’s still dry. More clouds and a breeze into the afternoon. Highs will be coolest at the coast, near 60° inland. Rain moves in Sunday and the breeze gets gusty especia...

Players excited to start play in new girls flag football league supported by New England Patriots

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

The New England Patriots are helping girls from several local high schools get out on the field this year through a new flag football league. As the season approaches and after receiving new jerseys this week, players said they’re excited to get started. “It was really exciting,” said Leominster High School flag football player Ashley McMeneny. “We’ve never had something big like this. Flag football has never been this big.” Eight Massachusetts teams are part of the inaugural season of the Patriots Foundation’s new girls flag football league, including Leominster, Fitchburg and Needham high schools.Players were at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Thursday, to receive their jerseys. Speaking with 7NEWS, girls on the teams said the new league marks important representation. “Women’s sports have never been a big thing, especially with football,” McMeneny said. “So, now it’s getting introduced into schools.” “It’s very exciting,” McMeneny continued. “It’s a very exc...

Photos: See the stunning superbloom happening across California

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

A “superbloom” of wildflowers is appearing across California this spring due to historic levels of rain that fell in some parts of the state amid a wild winter’s barrage of atmospheric river storms.“Superblooms take place in some desert climates after unusually wet winters, when typically dormant seeds and plants wake up,” Mindy Sink wrote for the Denver Post. “The result, especially in California and Arizona, can be hillsides carpeted in color as thousands of flowers pop open around the same time.”Photographers around the West are capturing stunning images of the blooms, from Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster to Carrizo Plain National Monument near Santa Margarita in California. A recommendation? Take your Instagram photos from the trail to avoid trampling the flowers.An aerial view of people walking in a field with blooming poppy flowers near the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve following an unusually wet winter...

Developers have right to finish $1B Maine power line, jury says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

By DAVID SHARP (Associated Press)PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A jury that heard complicated testimony about construction schedules and constitutional rights delivered a victory Thursday for a $1 billion transmission project, concluding developers had a constitutional right to proceed despite being rebuked by state voters in a referendum.Jurors ruled 9-0 in favor of developers when asked to decide whether enough work was completed in good faith before the referendum for developers to have a vested right to complete the project.Based on the outcome, a state judge is expected to issue a judgment that the referendum can’t be applied to the project.That decision could be appealed to the state Supreme Judicial Court for the final say.At stake is a project touted as a bold effort to combat climate change by supplying up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid — enough electricity for about 1 million homes.Supporters say electricity supplied by the 145-mile (233-ki...

Family of New Mexico man killed by police seek charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The family of a man shot and killed by police in northwestern New Mexico after they responded to the wrong address called Thursday for the officers to be charged with murder and the police chief to resign. Lawyers for the family of Robert Dotson issued a statement outlining their concerns and planned to talk more about their pursuit of justice at a news conference Thursday afternoon in Farmington. They accused the Farmington Police Department of “wild use of force,” saying there has been a lack of accountability.“We demand that changes. We want what happened to Robbie to also result in a better community for everyone in Farmington,” attorney Shon Northam said in a statement.The family wants San Juan County’s district attorney and New Mexico’s attorney general to investigate other alleged excessive force cases involving the department. They also asked federal prosecutors in a letter sent Thursday to bring charges against the officers involve...

Kansas governor vetoes bills on trans youth care, bathrooms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Democratic governor on Thursday vetoed Republican legislation aimed at ending gender-affirming care for children and teens, and another, sweeping GOP proposal for preventing transgender people from using bathrooms and other public facilities associated with their gender identities.Gov. Laura Kelly also vetoed a third GOP bill that specifically would have prevented jails from housing transgender prisoners in units consistent with their gender identities and a fourth measure that would have barred schools from allowing transgender girls from rooming with cisgendered girls, and transgender boys with cisgender boys, on overnight trips. Her actions highlighted how her Republican-leaning state has become a fiercely contested battleground as GOP lawmakers across the U.S. target LGBTQ+ rights through several hundred proposals. Kelly narrowly won reelection in November, but the the Legislature has GOP supermajorities and conservative leaders who’ve mad...

Montreal university to keep donation linked to Chinese government influence effort

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

MONTREAL — A Montreal university says it will keep a donation that has been linked to an alleged plot by the Chinese government to influence Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but it will now use the money to promote democracy.The Université de Montréal said Thursday that it has not been able to confirm the allegations, made by an unnamed national security source in The Globe and Mail, that the donation was part of a political interference operation.Repaying the money would be difficult and would require the university to convince a Quebec Superior Court judge to void the gift “on the basis of some form of defect of consent or impersonation,” said Daniel Jutras, the university’s rector.“We really don’t have any evidence of that that we could actually bring forward in the court, so I think that avenue is fraught with significant likelihood of failure,” Jutras said in an interview Thursday.In 2016, two Chinese businessmen — Zhang Bin and Niu Gensheng — ...

NATO chief: Ukraine’s ‘rightful place’ is in the alliance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg defiantly declared Thursday that Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in the military alliance and pledged more support for the country on his first visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion just over a year ago.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Stoltenberg, who has been instrumental in marshaling support from NATO members, to push for even more from them, including warplanes, artillery and armored equipment.The Kremlin has given various justifications for going to war, but repeated Thursday that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO is still a key goal of its invasion, arguing that Kyiv’s membership in the alliance would pose an existential threat to Russia.NATO leaders said in 2008 that Ukraine would join the alliance one day, and Stoltenberg has repeated that promise throughout the war, though the organization has established no pathway or timetable for membership.“Let me be clear, Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic f...

Peel police to update theft at Toronto Pearson airport following alleged gold heist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:15 GMT

Investigators in Peel Region have enlisted the assistance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) following an alleged gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport.Pearson Airport is often used to transport gold mined in Canada so it can be shipped to customers globally.The Toronto Sun was the first to report on the gold heist at Canada’s largest airport.It’s alleged that 3,600 pounds of gold were stolen from airline cargo earlier in the week. If accurate, that would total $105 million. The Sun reports that investigators are looking at local organized crime gangs as potential suspects.A spokesperson for Ontario’s RCMP confirmed with CityNews its officers are looking into the robbery at Pearson.“We are still trying to get accurate information on the heist,” they said.The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) tells CityNews that Pearson was briefly locked down for 18 minutes due to a security incident on Thursday.“I cannot discuss det...