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Belgium in race to burn seized cocaine before gangs steal it back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

Belgium’s drug gangs want their cocaine back.The country has seized so much of the white powder lately that it now faces a new problem: Its stashes of confiscated cocaine are becoming a target for criminals looking to steal them back.Belgium and the Netherlands are among the top European destinations for drugs coming from Latin America — mostly cocaine — and seizures in Belgium have ramped up over recent months. But while the Netherlands has the ability to incinerate any cocaine it seizes the same day, Belgium is not there yet — giving criminals an irresistible opportunity.“We used to seize quantities that were part of the calculated risk for criminal organizations,” Ine Van Wymersch, Belgium’s drugs commissioner, told public broadcaster VRT on Tuesday evening. “But the quantities we seize today are much bigger and no longer part of the calculated risk. [Drug criminals] are clearly willing to go great lengths to recuperate the drugs.”On Friday, t...

Ukraine fumes as Polish truckers block border crossings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

WARSAW — Polish truckers are blocking border crossings with Ukraine to protest an EU deal that allows easy access for much cheaper Ukrainian drivers into the bloc.This follows a Polish ban of Ukrainian grain imports to protect farmers from an influx of cheap produce from its war-torn neighbor. Unlike the grain blockade, which was imposed by the Polish government, the trucker protests aren’t sanctioned by Warsaw.Starting Monday, the protesters blocked three key border crossings at Dorhusk-Yagodin, Korczowa-Krakovets and Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska and said they’re going to halt commercial traffic until the government in Warsaw and decision-makers in Brussels restore limits on transport operations for Ukrainian haulers that used to be in place before Russia invaded Ukraine last year.“We’re going to do it the way farmers did — keep protesting until the government acknowledges there is a problem and does something about it,” said Jacek Sokół, who owns a small trucking company in Łuków in ...

‘Tiger King’ star pleads guilty to trafficking endangered species

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

(CNN) — Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, who appeared in the 2020 Netflix docuseries “Tiger King,” has pleaded guilty to wildlife trafficking and money laundering charges, according to federal court records.Antle, 63, who is not the first figure from “Tiger King” to face criminal charges, admitted in court to directing the sale or purchase of two cheetah cubs, two lion cubs, two tigers and one juvenile chimpanzee – all of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the US Attorney in South Carolina said in a news release.“Antle used bulk cash payments to hide the transactions and falsified paperwork to show non-commercial transfers entirely within one state. Antle also requested that payments for endangered species be made to his nonprofit so they could appear as ‘donations’,” the release said.“The defendant held himself out as a conservationist, yet repeatedly violated laws protecting endangered animals and then tried to cover up those violations,” Assistant Attorney ...

House Looks To Require “Overflow” Site For Families On Shelter Waitlist

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

House Democrats are moving this week to steer $250 million more into the emergency shelter system and impose several new requirements on the state’s response as part of a larger spending bill that also seeks to tie off a score of legislative loose ends.The House Ways and Means Committee opened a poll Tuesday morning on a $2.74 billion supplemental budget (H 4090) that matches the dollar amount of Gov. Maura Healey’s mid-September shelter funding request, but adds specific requirements on how the money would be distributed, including $50 million for the creation of an “overflow site” for families who are waitlisted for a traditional shelter placement.If the state fails to create that location within 30 days after the bill is enacted, the legislation would instruct the Healey administration to revoke its declared capacity limit of 7,500 families “until said overflow site or sites are secured and operational.”The bill also calls for the administratio...

Syphilis cases in US newborns skyrocketed in 2022. Health officials suggest more testing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Alarmed by yet another jump in syphilis cases in newborns, U.S. health officials are calling for stepped-up prevention measures, including encouraging millions of women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested for the sexually transmitted disease.More than 3,700 babies were born with congenital syphilis in 2022 — 10 times more than a decade ago and a 32% increase from 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Syphilis caused 282 stillbirth and infant deaths, nearly 16 times more than the 2012 deaths.The 2022 count was the most in more than 30 years, CDC officials said, and in more than half of the congenital syphilis cases, the mothers tested positive during pregnancy but did not get properly treated.The rise in congenital syphilis comes despite repeated warnings by public health agencies and it’s tied to the surge in primary and secondary cases of syphilis in adults, CDC officials said. It’s also been increasingly difficult ...

How WeWork’s bankruptcy could have a painful effect on cities

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

New York (CNN) — America has a glut of empty offices.Now, some offices face losing WeWork, which has more than 600 locations in major cities.WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, throwing the future of the real estate company up in the air. WeWork said it would terminate some of its US leases.WeWork’s bankruptcy will increase financial stress on commercial landlords that have rented large chunks of their office buildings to the co-working company.Office landlords for years rushed to rent out space to WeWork, viewing flexible office spaces as the future of office life. But these bets have soured, and some property owners have taken on debt to stay afloat. About $270 billion in commercial real estate loans held by banks will come due in 2023, according to Trepp, a commercial real estate data provider.The loss of WeWork will increase vacancies, might lower rent for tenants, meaning less cash for some landlords already struggling to make debt payments in a high i...

Where does Patriots’ Tyquan Thornton go from here after Week 9 benching?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

With Kendrick Bourne on injured reserve, DeVante Parker out with a concussion and JuJu Smith-Schuster recently demoted, second-year pro Tyquan Thornton had a golden opportunity to ascend up the Patriots’ wide receiver depth chart and carve out a starting role in the offense Sunday.Instead, Thornton, who came into the game questionable with a toe injury, was benched early in the second quarter after catching one pass on four targets for 7 yards through the first 19 minutes of the 20-17 loss. Head coach Bill Belichick said Monday morning that Thornton was available in the final two and a half quarters.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots add wide receiver depth with positional group struggling New England Patriots | Patriots-Commanders film review: The Patriots are risking becoming the NFL’s worst team New England Patriots | Patriots work out two free agents after Week 9 loss to Commanders New England Patriots | ...

Top House Democrats propose $250M to respond to Massachusetts migrant influx

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

Top House Democrats proposed spending $250 million to support Massachusetts’ response to an influx of migrants and the creation of an overflow site for families who are placed on a waitlist for emergency shelter once the emergency shelter system hits capacity.House budget writers were in the process of advancing Tuesday morning a $2.7 billion supplemental budget that included hundreds of millions for the “ongoing humanitarian crisis.” The House plans to vote on the bill during a Wednesday formal session.The migrant-related dollars matched a funding request Gov. Maura Healey made earlier this year but differed on the details.The proposal includes more stipulations on specific spending items and even the potential to delay a cap on the number of families in emergency shelters the Healey administration put in place if an overflow site is not created.House lawmakers include $50 million to create the emergency shelter overflow site for families who are on a waitlist as a result of the sy...

Dan Rodricks: Why do the Orioles and Ravens need $1.2 billion in stadium improvements? | STAFF COMMENTARY

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

On the first day of October, Matt Williams, the co-founder and sales director of Mount Royal Soaps in Baltimore, asked me why the Ravens and Orioles needed $600 million each to improve the stadiums where the teams play.“What is wrong with how the stadiums are now?” Williams wondered in an email. “I go to games at both stadiums all year, and the experience is always amazing.”The soap man has a point. I mean, $1.2 billion is a lot of green, and these publicly owned stadiums are not that old. Oriole Park opened in 1992, M&T Bank Stadium in 1998. I have cookie sheets older than that.Obviously, there can be unforeseeable expenses in the upkeep of sports stadiums used over years by millions of football, baseball, soccer and rock fans.But $1.2 billion? How did the Maryland General Assembly, in authorizing the Maryland Stadium Authority to borrow that amount, arrive at that figure? And what will it be used for?Some of this information has already trickled out.In ...

Patriots coach trying to change the ‘narrative’ on apparent cornerback benchings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:25:20 GMT

Hopes were high for the Patriots’ secondary in recent weeks with their top three cornerbacks finally healthy, but things have not gone according to plan.For a number of different reasons, Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones and J.C. Jackson have all shared the field on just two plays this season. It didn’t help in Sunday’s loss to the Commanders that Jackson and Jack Jones were seemingly benched for the start of the game.Shaun Wade, who hadn’t played since Week 6, started in place of Jackson, who joined the team via trade from the Chargers ahead of Week 5, and Jack Jones, who missed the first six weeks of the season due to injury. Jackson didn’t enter the game until the third defensive series. Jack Jones didn’t play until the second quarter.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots add wide receiver depth with positional group struggling New England Patriots | Patriots-Commanders film review: The Patriots are risking becoming the NFL’s worst team N...