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Prosecutors drop Varsity Blues charges against 2 parents after appeals court ruling

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

Federal prosecutors are dropping charges against two parents whose convictions in the sprawling college admissions bribery scandal were overturned by an appeals court, prosecutors said Thursday.The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May tossed all the convictions against Gamal Abdelaziz and all but one conviction of another parent, John Wilson. The Boston-based appeals court upheld Wilson’s conviction on a charge of filing a false tax return.The Massachusetts U.S. attorney’s office told the judge in court papers that it’s dismissing those charges tossed by the 1st Circuit, and asked to set a new sentencing date for Wilson on the tax count.Wilson had been sentenced last year to 15 months in prison and Abdelaziz was sentenced to a year behind bars, after jurors found them guilty in 2021 of buying their kids’ ways into school in the first case to go to trial in the so-called “Operation Varsity Blues” scandal. A court later agreed that they could re...

Russian general is believed to be detained in aftermath of Wagner mutiny, AP sources say

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

By TARA COPP and NOMAAN MERCHANT (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, is believed to have been detained days after mercenaries staged a revolt inside Russia, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday, citing U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence assessments.The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.It’s not clear whether Surovikin faces any charges or where he is being held, reflecting the opaque world of the Kremlin’s politics and uncertainty after the revolt. But his reported detention comes days after Wagner Group mercenaries took over the military headquarters in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and were heading toward Moscow in what appears to have been an aborted insurrection.Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin has spoken positively of Surovikin while criticizing the country’...

NFL suspends 3 players indefinitely for violating the league’s gambling policy, 4th player sidelined for 6 games

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — NFL suspends 3 players indefinitely for violating the league’s gambling policy, 4th player sidelined for 6 games.

Bruins select Chris Pelosi with their first pick

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

After sitting on their hands for the first two rounds of the draft, the Bruins made their first selection of the NHL draft in Nashville on Thursday, taking center Chris Pelosi, a New Jersey product who is headed for Quinnipiac, with the 92nd overall selection.In 43 games for Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL, Pelosi had 13-6-19 totals.At the moment, it looks like a reach. Pelosi was ranked 127th among North American skaters. We’ll see what kind of player he turns out to be.The Bruins have the 124th, 188th, 214th and 220th selections remaining.

Domingo German’s perfect game by the numbers

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

Don Larsen, David Wells, David Cone and Domingo German.The 30-year-old etched himself into Yankees and baseball history and joined an exclusive club on Wednesday night at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum with a perfect game.German twirled the first 27-up, 27-down performance since Aug. 15, 2012 when Mariners’ ace Felix Hernandez accomplished the feat against the Rays.German’s historic performance in the Yanks’ 11-0 victory will be remembered forever as will the numbers that went along with his perfection.99: The number of pitches it took for German to be perfect4: The number of Yankee pitchers to toss a perfect game23: The number of previous perfect games in MLB history14: The number of previous perfect games in AL history483,500+: The number of regular season games played in AL/NL history1904: The last time a pitcher (Cy Young) tossed a perfect game against the A’s9: Strikeouts recorded by German18: Balls in play allowed by German, only one had a hit probabil...

Everett names Justin Flores as its new head football coach

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

Justin Flores didn’t grow up in Everett, but lived close enough to know of the legendary history of the football program.The Woburn native confirmed that he has accepted the head football position at Everett, replacing Rob DiLoreto, who stepped down after three successful seasons.“Everyone knows the history of the Everett football program, they are the winningest program in the state and one of the top 20 in the country,” said Flores, who spent the last six seasons as an assistant at the University of Maine. “There is a lot of talented kids in Everett and I’m looking forward to working with them.”Flores grew up in Woburn and followed a family tradition of playing football for former Tanner coaching legend Rocky Nelson from 2006-2010.“My father (Oscar) and all my uncles played for him,” Flores said. “Rocky always taught us to be tenacious and never give up. That’s something which has always stuck with me.”Flores did a postgraduate year at Tilton before going onto th...

Did the pandemic make us worse drivers?

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

If you get the sense you’ve been seeing more bad accidents on the road lately, you probably have. Crashes claimed an estimated 42,795 lives on U.S. roadways in 2022, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a fairly dramatic increase over 2019 by more than 6,000 deaths.Though traffic on U.S. roadways plummeted in the first year of the pandemic, roadway deaths did the opposite. Traffic fatalities experienced double-digit growth four quarters in a row beginning in the second half of 2020.And death rates haven’t really improved since then. “Driving is back up almost to normal, but fatalities are continuing to go up,” says David Zuby, executive vice president and chief research officer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).This is a paradox that spurred U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to call it a “national crisis of traffic deaths”.What’s to blame?A deadly cocktail of speed, carelessness and massThere isn’t one contributing...

Older Americans can get RSV vaccine this fall after consulting their doctor, CDC says

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

Americans 60 and older can get a new RSV vaccine but should discuss it with their doctor first, U.S. health officials recommended Thursday.The newly approved vaccines are expected to be ready in the fall, a time when flu shots and updated COVID-19 shots also will be available. Those eligible for the RSV vaccine should talk with their doctor to see if it is right for them, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.The CDC said adults with chronic heart or lung disease, weakened immune systems and those living in long-term care facilities are at higher risk for the respiratory infection.RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common cause of cold-like symptoms but it can be dangerous for infants and the elderly. A surge last year filled hospitals with wheezing children. There’s no vaccine yet for kids, but one for pregnant women to prevent illness in infants may be coming too, pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration.On Thursday, Dr. Roch...

Google DeepMind calls for ‘responsible’ approach to AI amid ‘eureka moment’

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

TORONTO — The chief business officer at Google’s artificial intelligence research lab says the world is having a eureka moment around artificial intelligence, but we have to be responsible with the technology.Colin Murdoch of Google’s DeepMind says the explosion of interest around AI has come from recent advances in the technology that have allowed everyone to use it in their native language.Before, he says programmers and other technology workers were the main people dabbling with AI because it was much less accessible.But Murdoch says that ubiquity must be met with a careful approach and thoughtful consideration about all of the risks that AI carries.He encourages companies using AI to adopt external review committees that can pressure test AI for any dangers or ethical issues it will encounter or create.He also says companies must think ahead about the biases that their technology might be built with or further entrench.This report by The Canadian Press was first publ...

Sweden rescues child who fell overboard from Baltic Sea ferry and mother who jumped in the water

Published Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:30:45 GMT

Swedish maritime authorities said Thursday they have rescued a child who fell overboard from a passenger ferry in the Baltic Sea as well the child’s mother who jumped into the water in a desperate attempt to save the 7-year-old. Mother and child were separately transported by helicopter to a hospital in Karlskrona in southern Sweden, Swedish Maritime Adminstration spokesman Jonas Franzen said. Their condition were not immediately clear.The incident occurred on a passenger ferry heading from a port in northern Poland to Karlskrona.“A child fell into the water and the mother decided to jump in after,” Swedish Maritime Adminstration spokesman Jonas Franzen told the Associated Press. He said the child fell from a height of about 20 meters (65 feet).Ships and helicopters from Sweden and from NATO units that were in the area assisted in the rescue operation.Swedish news agency TT reported the child was 7-years-old. Polish TV station TVN reported both were Polish citizens.The Associa...