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‘We are in a state of emergency’ — DC’s push to pass an emergency crime bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

The mayor of D.C. and several members of the city council are putting their support behind an emergency crime bill that is aimed at curbing a spike in violent crimes in the nation’s capital. The legislation introduced by Ward 2 council member Brooke Pinto.“We are in a state of emergency right now,” Pinto said during a press conference and community question and answer session at the Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in Northeast.The session comes as the city reports a 33% spike in violent crime over the same period last year. Crimes considered violent includes homicide, sexual abuse, assault with a dangerous weapon and robbery.“The criminal activity occurring in our neighborhoods is unacceptable,” said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.Among the most recent crimes, the killing of 25-year-old Maxwell Emerson, a teacher from Crestwood, Kentucky who was killed on the campus of Catholic University on July 5. Also, the shooting death of Nasrat Ahmad Yar, who was killed while driving for Lyft on Ju...

Runner Caster Semenya wins human rights court appeal over track and field’s testosterone rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Runner Caster Semenya wins human rights court appeal over track and field’s testosterone rules.Source

For first time, every player at the Women’s World Cup will be paid at least $30K

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

A group of players across the globe asked FIFA late last year to increase the prize money for this summer’s Women’s World Cup. There had been pleas from the women to boost those funds before, but this time it was different. The players not only wanted a prize pool equal with the men’s World Cup, they also sought a guarantee that a percentage of the prize money would go directly to the players themselves. While it wasn’t true equity with the men’s World Cup, FIFA indeed raised the prize pool for the women’s tournament by more than three times that of the 2019 event in France. But more than that, soccer’s governing body agreed in June that a chunk of those funds should be paid straight to the players — all 732 of them. Every player will earn at least $30,000, with the amount increasing the further along that teams progress in the tournament. The 23 players in the title-winning squad will each get $270,000.That’s significant for many of t...

Local opera company stages Shakespeare in Virginia churches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley previews Shakespeare Opera Theatre (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); In 2015, she founded Shakespeare Opera Theatre to combine her dual passions of opera and Shakespeare, but no one initially understood her vision. In the first year, some of her Shakespearean actors quit because they didn’t want to sing opera, while some of her opera singers quit because they didn’t ...

Signed ‘Great Gatsby’ first edition to be offered in auction of Charlie Watts’ book collection

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

(CNN) — A collection of first-edition books and jazz memorabilia belonging to the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts will go up for auction in September.More than 500 items, including a first edition of “The Great Gatsby” with inscriptions by the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, will be on offer in a sale in London on September 28 and an online sale between September 15 and 29, according to auction house Christie’s.“Charlie Watts holds a unique position within music history and Christie’s is proud to pay tribute to his extraordinary achievements and multifaceted legacy,” Christie’s specialists Benedict Winter and Mark Wiltshire said in a press statement Monday.“Charlie built his collection of modern literature and jazz with passion, intelligence and dedication, and this two-part auction celebrates his distinguished collecting taste,” they added.The musician, who died in August 2021, had what Christie’s describes as the “rarest obtainable editions” of books by renowned authors suc...

Finnish deputy PM under fire for racist remarks in old blog

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

Finland’s Deputy Prime Minister Riikka Purra is facing harsh criticism for making racist comments in online blog posts published in 2008. Purra — from the right-wing populist Finns Party — has been accused of writing: “Is anyone up for spitting on beggars … ?” as well as using racist slurs historically used to demean Black people. The racist comments were published under the acronym “riikka” in the guestbook of former Finns Party leader Jussi Halla-aho’s online blog Scripta. The Finns Party entered government last month, in coalition with the conservative National Coalition Party who narrowly won April’s election. According to Finnish media, after online detective work around the posts, the “Riikka” from the Scripta blog is Purra, who is also Finland’s new finance minister. Halla-aho was also known for publishing his anti-immigrant ideology on his blog and is now the speaker of the Finnish parliament.“I have expressed myself in wa...

Fire response forces dozens of people from Arcadian Hotel in Brookline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

Dozens of people were forced out into the street overnight while fire crews responded to an incident at the Arcadian Hotel in Brookline.Crews using ladder trucks could be seen operating on the roof of the hotel.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Red Sox Midseason Report Card

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

The Red Sox have taken some big hits, but here at the All-Star break the club is still in the hunt.After finishing the first half with eight wins in its last nine games, Boston now find itself just two games out of the playoffs and only one game back of the struggling New York Yankees. Despite having nearly its entire starting rotation and middle infield corps wiped out for large stretches of the season, the Red Sox have found a way to stay afloat.So who’s carried their weight, and where do the Red Sox need to see improvement down the stretch? Here is a position-by-position look at how the Red Sox have performed through the first half.Catchers: BGoing into the season with Connor Wong and Reese McGuire as the full-time catching tandem was risky, but so far the duo has more than gotten the job done.Wong has broken out as one of the best everyday catchers in the big leagues. He currently ranks sixth in MLB in wins above replacement (1.9), only a fraction behind Baltimore Orioles ...

‘Grinder’ Austin Hays represents Orioles as All-Star starter: ‘He’s wound to play’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

Austin Hays won’t have long between when he reaches center field at T-Mobile Park and the start of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game. But within that handful of minutes, he’ll reflect on a lifetime.“When the first pitch is thrown and I’m standing out there,” Hays said, “I’ll just really be able to sit in that moment and think about how far I’ve been able to come.”Hays, 28, will bat seventh and start in center for the American League as one of four Orioles who made his first All-Star team, individual recognition for a team that holds the major leagues’ third-best record (54-35) after the first half of the season.Hays will represent Baltimore alongside catcher Adley Rutschman and relievers Félix Bautista and Yennier Cano. Each has had a different journey to this moment. Rutschman, a 2019 first overall draft pick, has long seemed destined for All-Star status. Bautista was released as a teenager and spent nearly a decade...

Campus visits and travel by Supreme Court justices put them in the company of big money donors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas headlined a 2017 program at McLennan Community College in Texas, his hosts had more than a speech in mind. Working with the prominent conservative lawyer Ken Starr, school officials crafted a guest list for a dinner at the home of a wealthy Texas businessman, hoping an audience with Thomas would be a reward for school patrons -– and an inducement to prospective donors.Before Justice Elena Kagan visited the University of Colorado’s law school in 2019, one official in Boulder suggested a “larger donor to staff ratio” for a dinner with her. After Justice Sonia Sotomayor confirmed she would attend a 2017 question-and-answer session at Clemson University and a private luncheon, officials there made sure to invite $1 million-plus donors to the South Carolina college. The Associated Press obtained tens of thousands of pages of emails and other documents that reveal the extent to which public colleges and universities have seen vi...