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Too American? The top US economist under fire for taking an EU job

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

She’s described as one of the “best economists in the world” for her area with “excellent credentials” as an academic and a record of public service. Yet Fiona Scott Morton’s appointment as the European Commission’s chief competition economist has unleashed a wave of protest, largely from French politicians. The Commission’s decision to pluck Scott Morton from her life as a professor at Yale University has pulled her into a row over her passport and her past: She’s a U.S. citizen and she’s the first non-EU person to take such a senior Commission post. She has also consulted regularly for Big Tech firms — most recently for Microsoft on its Activision deal — as she takes a job advising on investigations and regulation against many U.S. tech giants.Scott Morton is not just any economist; she’s also a former U.S. antitrust regulator and an influential academic who has stoked the U.S.’s renewed interest in tackling the ma...

Newton man facing assault to murder charge in wife’s beating death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

A Newton man is facing a charge of assault with intent to murder in connection with the beating death of his wife in their home on Brookline Street on Saturday night, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office announced.Officers responding to a 911 call reporting an ongoing assault inside the home around 8:20 p.m. found Nancy Hanson, 54, suffering from apparent blunt force injuries, police said. She was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she died. A preliminary investigation suggests her husband, Richard Hanson, 64, hit her with one of more objects multiple times. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled the death a homicide and the cause was blunt force trauma. Hanson was issued a restraining order in Newton District Court on Thursday, July 13, which Newton police were attempting to service. He is being ordered held without bail pending his arraignment Monday in Newton District Court.In a statement, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said, “Our communi...

Crews cleaning up after powerful storms flood streets, down trees across New England

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

(WHDH) — A storm bringing high winds and driving rain prompted officials to announce flood, tornado, and wind advisories across the region on Sunday and now that the clouds have cleared, communities are cleaning up the mess.In North Brookfield a confirmed tornado uprooted trees as it traveled about 2 miles, with peak winds around 8 a.m.In Weymouth, continuous rain left many roadways swamped for drivers, who were forced to look for alternate routes. In Burlington, pooling water on the highway caused slowdowns for some motorists who were traveling in the area.In Nashua, New Hampshire, a lightning strike that lit up the sky was caught on camera.In Fitchburg, severe flooding caused a section of roadway to wash away.Stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest storm coverage.

Woburn school community mourning after 17-year-old student killed in crash involving dirt bike in Wareham

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

Authorities have identified the man and 17-year-old boy who were killed in a crash involving a dirt bike in Wareham late Saturday night.Officers responding to multiple 911 calls reporting a crash between a dirt bike and a motor vehicle in the area of 121 Marion Road found two people unresponsive in the roadway suffering from apparent serious injuries, according to a statement issued by the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office.The victims, later identified as Robert Stocker, 17, of Woburn, and Brady Petrucci, 20, of Raynham, were taken to Tobey Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.Stalker was a student at Northeast Metro Tech. In a statement, Woburn Metro Tech and Woburn Public Schools said, “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of a beloved student at Northeast Metro Tech. This tragedy has affected all of us in Woburn and the surrounding communities. Our hearts are with the victims’ families, and all those impacted by this tragic event.”Grief cou...

Boston eateries receive financial boost from Greg Hill Foundation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

A recent delivery of thousands of dollars in grants will help 19 local restaurants boost staffing and equipment and continue their recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, owners tell the Herald.“This is a great opportunity for us,” Reunion BBQ co-owner Joel Morales told the Herald. “My wife and I opened this up around September of 2022, but we did not invest in any marketing or public relations because we didn’t have the money for it.”Reunion BBQ, located in the South End, is one of several restaurants in Boston that received money from the Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund.The foundation, established in 2010, has awarded more than $25 million in funds to families and those in need. The foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund, established in 2020, has done the same to help local businesses across the nation recover from the financial hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.This year, a total of 19 Boston restaurants received a cumulative $200,000 in funds. Morales e...

Marijuana emergency department visits for children, teens have spiked since the pandemic started: CDC

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

Marijuana emergency department visits for children, teens and young adults have spiked since the start of the pandemic more than three years ago, according to new data from the CDC.This reported jump in cannabis-involved hospital admissions comes after a pre-2019 increase in youth emergency department visits, as pot legalization expanded across the country.Then during the pandemic, the marijuana hospital visits among young people went even higher. The CDC said this week that large spikes in hospital visit rates were reported among children 10 years old and younger, and kids ages 11 to 14.“These increases might stem from multiple factors, such as increased use as a coping mechanism for pandemic-related stressors, use of highly concentrated THC products, increased availability of cannabis in states with legal marketplaces, and increased unintentional ingestions associated with packaging that is appealing or confusing to youths,” the CDC wrote in its report.“To protec...

Russia halts wartime deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain. It’s a blow to global food security

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Russia halted an unprecedented wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced Russia would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative until its demands to get its own agricultural shipments to the world are met — even though the country has been shipping record amounts of wheat and its fertilizers also have been flowing.“When the part of the Black Sea deal related to Russia is implemented, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal,” Peskov said. Russia has complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance have hampered its exports of food and fertilizer — also critical to the global food chain.It’s the end of a breakthrough accord that the United Nations and Turkey brokered last summer to allow food to leave the Black Sea region after Russia invaded it...

Israel’s governing coalition presses ahead with plan to overhaul courts ahead of expected protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s governing coalition pushed ahead on Monday with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, despite growing opposition from within the country’s military and a wave of mass protests expected this week.A parliamentary committee was preparing a bill that would limit judicial oversight on some government decisions, legislation that has sparked intensifying criticism from military reservists in elite units, including the air force and cyberwarfare.Many have warned they will not show up for duty if the overhaul moves ahead. Reservists, who make up the backbone of the country’s mostly compulsory military, played a key role in prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause the overhaul plan earlier this year. In response to the legislation, which is expected to go before a final parliamentary vote early next week, a large protest movement is expected to stage a “day of disruption” on Tuesday. These days of mass pr...

An apartment building collapses in Cairo, killing at least 7, according to Egypt’s state media

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — An apartment building collapsed Monday in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, leaving at least seven people dead, state-run media said, as rescuers at the scene searched through the rubble.Building collapses are common in Egypt, where shoddy construction and a lack of maintenance are widespread in shantytowns, poor city neighborhoods and rural areas.The state-run MENA news agency reported that rescue teams recovered at least seven bodies from under the rubble of a four-story building in Cairo’s neighborhood of Hadaeq el-Qubbah.Four survivors were also recovered and taken to hospital and authorities evacuated a neighboring apartment building, MENA said.Police forces cordoned off the area as rescue teams were combing the rubble in search for possible survivors, according to local reports.It was not immediately clear what caused the building to collapse.The government has tried to crack down on illegal building in recent years after decades of lax enforcement. Authorities are a...

Schools and stock market are closed as Typhoon Talim sweeps south of Hong Kong

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:52 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Schools and the stock market were closed in Hong Kong on Monday as Typhoon Talim swept south of the city. As the financial hub braced for rainy and windy weather, more than 100 people sought refuge at temporary shelters. Some government and ferry services were halted and various events were postponed. The city’s airport authority said 16 flights were canceled.The Hong Kong Observatory raised a No. 8 typhoon signal, the third-highest warning under the city’s weather system, early Monday. It was the first warning of its kind issued this year.As Talim — with maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour — gradually moved away from Hong Kong in the afternoon, the observatory downgraded its warning for the city. China’s National Meteorological Center forecast the typhoon would make landfall in neighboring Guangdong province and Hainan province on Monday night before entering the Gulf of Tonkin and striking land again in the Guangxi region on T...