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CDC’s Rochelle Walensky resigns, citing pandemic transition

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, submitted her resignation Friday, saying the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic was a good time to make a transition.Walensky’s last day will be June 30, CDC officials said, and an interim director wasn’t immediately named. She sent a resignation letter to President Joe Biden and announced the decision at a CDC staff meeting.Walensky, 54, has been the agency’s director for a little over two years. In her letter to Biden, she expressed “mixed feelings” about the decision and didn’t say exactly why she was stepping down, but said the nation is at a moment of transition as emergency declarations come to an end.“I have never been prouder of anything I have done in my professional career,” she wrote.The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, and the U.S. public health emergency declaration will expire next week. Dea...

Despite TikTok ban threat, influencers are flocking to a new app from its parent company

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

 (CNN) — In the days after TikTok’s CEO was grilled by Congress for the first time, many TikTok users began posting about an alternative platform called Lemon8, sometimes with eerily similar language.Multiple creators described the app as being like “if Pinterest and Instagram had a baby, with TikTok’s algorithm.” Some compared it to TikTok circa 2020 and encouraged other influencers to join the app before it grows. They also asked followers to share their Lemon8 usernames in the comments.As it turned out, the app wasn’t just a random alternative to TikTok. Lemon8 is a social media platform launched in the United States earlier this year by TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance amid federal and state efforts to ban or restrict TikTok in the country over national security concerns.The similarities in the videos comparing the new service to Instagram and Pinterest, which were posted by both English and Spanish-speaking creators, raised que...

Father of former UFC star Jorge Masvidal charged with attempted murder

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

The father of Miami native and former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Jorge Masvidal has been charged with second-degree attempted murder following a shooting that took place inside the fighter’s Southwest Miami-Dade home.Jorge Masvidal Fernandez, 67, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Thursday evening. Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue responded to the scene of the incident along the 5800 block of Southwest 118th Avenue near 56th Street, just after 3 p.m., Thursday.“The alleged shooter in this case also stated, along with the victim, that they were in a heated discussion that turned into an argument, and the argument escalated to the point where the shooter shot the victim in this case,” said MDPD detective Chris Thomas.When paramedics showed up, investigators said, they found a man who had been shot at least two times, along with Fernandez. Investigators said the victim, identified as 58-year-old Luis Leoncini, was shot in both arms and was t...

Brockton Fire Department investigating arson at vacant home on Clifford Avenue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

The Brockton Fire Department is investigating an arson at 15 Clifford Avenue Friday morning. Fire officials say “multiple intentional fires” were set in a vacant house on the street. Three people fled the scene when firefighters arrived. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Brockton Fire at 508-583-2933 or the Arson Watch Hotline at 1-800-682-9229.https://twitter.com/Brockton_Fire/status/1654478814154567682This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Newton Police respond to playground for gun scare, find teens playing game with ‘glock’ style pistol water guns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

Newton Police have issued a warning about water guns that appear to be real firearms after an incident on Wednesday evening. Officers were dispatched to a local playground for a report of a “male party coming out of the woods carrying what looks like a firearm.” At the time of the report, police say there were between 25-40 children playing in the area.Police say they located the person, a juvenile resident, who was in possession of a “glock” style pistol water gun. The juvenile told police they were playing in a “Senior Assassin” game, a form of man hunt/hide and seek/tag that uses water guns to hit targets.“What may seem like a fun game, it can turn extremely dangerous and create fear in community members if participants use what appear to be real guns,” police said in a statement. “We want to thank the caller for being vigilant and showing concern for the numerous children playing in the area yesterday, our patrol officers for their swift and profes...

Mets pitcher Kodai Senga not thrilled by the extra time off: ‘A little hard to stay focused’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

When Kodai Senga takes the Citi Field mound Friday night, eight days will have passed since the last time he pitched in a game. The Mets wanted to give him a few extra days in between starts, with the reason being that the team thought he would benefit from a schedule closer to that of the one he adhered to during his career in Japan in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.“The plan going in this season was to try and give him as much of a semblance of what he’s come from,” manager Buck Showalter said earlier this week. “Many times he would pitch every seventh day or every sixth day.”Pitchers in Japan take the ball every sixth day instead of every fifth day as they do in North America. They also throw more pitches in each outing, often throwing more than 100, which is not typical in North America.But eight days is still more than Senga is used to and more than he really wanted.“It’s a little hard to stay focused and stay concentrated in t...

Manslaughter conviction set aside due to delay caused by Crown, Supreme Court says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada says it set aside manslaughter and firearm convictions because of an unwarranted delay in a man’s trial caused by the Crown. In reasons released Friday for a decision made from the bench last month, the top court said the net delay of about 35 months violated Dia ‘Eddin Hanan’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time. Hanan was charged in the shooting of two people in December 2015. His jury trial was slated to begin in Windsor, Ont., in November 2018 but didn’t get underway until October of the next year. The defence had offered to proceed by judge alone to speed up the process, but the Crown refused.Hanan applied for a stay of proceedings, arguing his constitutional right to timely justice had been breached. Under a framework established by the Supreme Court in the 2016 R. v. Jordan case, an unreasonable delay is presumed if proceedings — from the criminal charge to conclusion of a trial — exceed 30 months in ...

Biden taps WH aide Neera Tanden as domestic policy adviser

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Friday that he has chosen Neera Tanden, a veteran Washington insider who currently serves as White House staff secretary and senior adviser, to be his new domestic policy adviser. Tanden will be the first Asian American to lead any of the three major White House policy operations, he said. She will succeed Susan Rice, a longtime foreign policy expert who surprised Washington by shifting to a domestic policy focus when she joined Biden’s White House. In her current role, Tanden has overseen decision-making involving his domestic, economic and national security teams. He cited her 25 years of experience in public policy, her past work for Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and her tenure running the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, one of the country’s largest think tanks, for nearly a decade. She also helped write the Obama-era Affordable Care Act health care law. Biden initially had nominated Tanden, the ...

Poor communication, inconsistent information behind record increase in complaints: Toronto ombudsman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

Toronto’s ombudsman says a record increase in complaints to his office is an indication that the City isn’t always putting the public first.Kwame Addo says his 2022 annual report shows a 28 per cent increase in complaints over 2021, up to a total of 3,587 cases, noting that unclear communication, inaccessible services, or inconsistent decision-making were at the root of most complaints.“The vast majority of complaints continue to be about poor communication, including delays in the City getting back to people and staff providing inconsistent information or unclear messages,” said Addo.He acknowledged that 2022 was a difficult year with the pandemic, job losses, rising costs and increased food insecurity exacerbating the housing crisis in the city.Graph showing percentage of where complaints were coming from to Toronto ombudsman. OMBUDSMAN TORONTO ANNUAL REPORT/HORELATED: Toronto opted for speed over people in clearing encampments last summer: OmbudsmanThe ombudsman says ...

Messi apologizes to PSG for unapproved Saudi Arabia trip

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:04 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Lionel Messi apologized to Paris Saint-Germain and his teammates on Friday for going to Saudi Arabia on an unauthorized trip that resulted in his suspension.Messi posted a short video on Instagram to ask for forgiveness and chalk up the controversy to a scheduling misunderstanding.He missed practice on Monday while he was on a promotional trip to Saudi Arabia, and a day later the French club announced it suspended the World Cup winner.Messi said he thought the team had Monday off.“Hello, I wanted to make this video about what is happening. First of all, ask for forgiveness from my teammates and the club. Honestly, I thought we were going to have an off day as it had been the case in the weeks prior. I had this trip to (Saudi) Arabia organized, which I had canceled before, and this time I couldn’t cancel. Again, ask for forgiveness from what I did and I will be waiting for whatever the club decides. Hugs.”Earlier on Friday, coach Christophe Galtier said the club and Mess...