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Wales changes 13 to face Portugal at Rugby World Cup but retains Rees Zammit and Faletau

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

NICE, France (AP) — Wales made 13 changes to its starters to face Portugal at the Rugby World Cup, with only wing Louis Rees Zammit and No. 8 Taulupe Faletau retained from the breathless win against Fiji.Four Welsh will make their World Cup debuts against the Portuguese in Nice on Saturday in centers Mason Grady and Johnny Williams, lock Christ Tshiunza and hooker Dewi Lake, who is captain. Taine Basham may also get a first World Cup appearance off the bench.Leigh Halfpenny is at fullback and set to play his 101st test and appear in a third Rugby World Cup.Gareth Anscombe comes in for Dan Biggar at No. 10 and will combine with scrumhalf Tomos Williams, who’s set for a 50th test appearance. Tommy Reffell and Dan Lydiate complete the back row alongside Faletau.Club teammates Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins are the locks, with loose forward-lock utility Tshiunza also starting his first game in the second row for Wales.Wales rested most of its frontliners and is expecting an easier ga...

Stock market today: Wall Street churns after highly anticipated inflation data

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are churning in place on Wall Street Wednesday after a highly anticipated report showed inflation accelerated across the country last month, but not by much more than expected.The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in midday trading after earlier drifting between small gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 83 points higher, or 0.2%, at 34,729, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.4%.The moves follow a shaky immediate reaction across financial markets to the inflation report, where bond yields and stock prices swung sharply several times. The report said U.S. consumers paid prices last month that were 3.7% higher than a year earlier, up from July’s inflation rate of 3.2%.That’s discouraging for shoppers paying higher prices, but much of the acceleration was because of higher fuel costs, which can swing very sharply and quickly. Ignoring those, underlying inflation trends still look to be pointing toward continued moderation, econo...

Ultra-Orthodox men block Jerusalem traffic in protest against Israeli military draft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men on Wednesday blocked a major Jerusalem intersection, snarling traffic and crippling public transportation across the city, in a demonstration against an attempt to force a community member to comply with the country’s mandatory military draft..The demonstrators formed a large circle on the tracks of the city’s light rail, singing, dancing and praying. Train service was halted, and traffic was backed up for blocks.The demonstration was a precursor of a looming battle over the country’s military draft.Military service is compulsory for Jewish males, but politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won exemptions for their communities to allow men to study full-time in religious seminaries. These exemptions have prompted widespread anger and resentment from the secular majority.With the government working on a new draft law, ultra-Orthodox parties, which are a key coalition partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, hope to strengthen t...

High gas prices push up inflation, but prices overall are slowly moving in the right direction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation jumped last month largely because of a spike in gas prices but other costs rose more slowly, suggesting price pressures are easing at a gradual pace. In a set of conflicting data released Wednesday, the Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 3.7% in August from a year ago, up from a 3.2% annual pace in July. Yet excluding the volatile food and energy categories, so-called core prices rose 4.3%, a step back from 4.7% in July and the smallest increase in nearly two years. That is still far from the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.The big rise in gas prices accounted for more than half of the monthly inflation increase, the government said.Despite the seemingly divergent figures, the decline in the core measure points to inflation coming under control, but at a much more gradual pace than earlier this year. The Federal Reserve closely tracks core prices because they are seen as a better indicator of future inflation trends. The Fed is widely expecte...

Families who lost loved ones in Surfside condo collapse meet with developers planning new building

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

Families of the victims of the Surfside condo collapse met with developers who are planning to build a new condo on the site. They now want to make sure that a solemn memorial is part of the new space.On Wednesday, families continued to fight for a memorial on 88th street after ninety-eight people died when the Champlain Towers South building collapsed back in June 2021.They met with developers and commissioners to talk about the placement of garbage collection and a loading dock for the building that would encroach on the memorial site.Surfside’s Planning and Zoning Board on Sept, 1 approved a proposal by a Dubai-based developer to build a luxury condominium at 88th Street and Collins Avenue.Families asked developers to consider presenting a plan where the garbage collection and loading dock could be moved to Collins Avenue. According to the developers, they are working on solutions but claim they need to focus on submitting plans that are code compliant. They mentioned that h...

McCarthy shores up Republican support for Biden impeachment inquiry, as White House goes on offense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s sudden decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden appears to have won over even the most reluctant Republicans, and some GOP lawmakers are pushing for it to move quickly rather than drag into the 2024 election year.McCarthy opened and closed a private meeting Wednesday of House Republicans justifying his reasoning for the inquiry sought by former President Donald Trump, the party’s frontrunner to challenge Biden next year.The White House mobilized to fight allegations against the president regarding his son Hunter.In a 14-page memo to news media leaders, the White House urged them to accurately report on “the Republicans’ unprecedented, unfounded claims underlying an impeachment inquiry.”The moment is a politically pivotal one for the embattled Republican speaker McCarthy whose job is targeted Trump’s right-flank allies mounting a daily effort to oust him.In the inquiry, House Repu...

MDPD searching for hit-and-run suspect after leaving 1 critically injured in Miami

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

The Miami-Dade Police Department is investigating a hit-and-run after a driver left one person injured. The incident occurred on July 15 when the victim was on a scooter along the intersection of Northwest 103rd Street and Northwest 35th Avenue. Just before 2 a.m., the unidentified subject driving a 2023 Toyota Corolla was traveling westbound on Northwest 103rd Street. As the two vehicles reached the intersection of Northwest 35th Avenue, the subject vehicle made a left turn, colliding with the scooter and critically injuring the motorist. The driver of the subject vehicle fled the scene without stopping to render aid or contact emergency services. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the scene and quickly transported the scooter driver to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Authorities are actively seeking information related to this hit-and-run crash and are urging anyone with knowledge of the incident to come forward. Individua...

Firefighters extinguish house fire in NW Miami-Dade; no injuries reported

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

Firefighters responded to a house fire in Northwest Miami-Dade Wednesday morning and averted a potential disaster as they successfully controlled the blaze. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the incident. The fire occurred at a residence located on Northwest 89th Terrace and 23rd Avenue. Firefighters rushed to the scene, confronting heavy smoke and flames emanating from both the front door and the attic of the house.Upon arrival, firefighters immediately initiated their firefighting efforts, including pulling the ceiling to gain access to the flames and extinguishing it. Fire crews quickly controlled the fire.Despite the intensity of the fire, there were no reported injuries.Currently, the cause of the fire remains under investigation as authorities work to determine the circumstances that led to the incident.

Von der Leyen doles out political gifts in campaign-like State of the Union speech

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

For a politician who won’t say if she plans to run for reelection, Ursula von der Leyen sure sounds a lot like a candidate.Her State of the European Union speech, delivered Wednesday morning in Strasbourg, was as close as you can get to a campaign launch short of unveiling a “Make Europe Great Again” baseball cap — down to the way she handed out political gifts to every group that would have a say in her reelection.Take her rather blatant outreach to European conservatives. While the choice of who becomes the next Commission president will ultimately be made by European heads of state and government sometime next summer, von der Leyen still needs to lock in support from her own political family, the European People’s Party (EPP).It’s the biggest political group in the European Parliament and is likely to remain so after the election in June, despite big losses since 2019. Von der Leyen did not disappoint her brethren. Tossing out red meat...

Local schools placed on lockdown after report of shots fired in Lynn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:05:05 GMT

Police in Lynn are investigating after shots were fired near an intersection Wednesday morning, prompting nearby schools to go on lockdown.The Lynn Police Department said investigators were working in the area of Neptune Boulevard and Astor Street after receiving a call of shots being fired there just before noontimeSKY7-HD spotted nearly a dozen police cruisers closing off the roadway, where several bullet casings could be seen on the ground.As a result of the shooting, several nearby schools were placed on lockdown as police responded, including Lynn Vocational Technical Institute.Authorities did not say whether there were any victims as they continue to investigate.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.