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Belgium bans TikTok on government phones 

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

Belgium’s National Security Council Friday banned the use of TikTok on work phones of government officials, the latest in a series of European governments cracking down on the Chinese-owned social media app.“We can’t be naive: TikTok is a Chinese company that currently is mandated to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a statement shared with POLITICO.The Belgian ban is based on a risk analysis by the country’s intelligence services and recommendations by the national cybersecurity center. It was issued for a period of six months, after which Belgian authorities will re-evaluate its guidelines.The popular Chinese video app was banned by EU institutions at the end of February in a series of decisions that prevent staff from using and installing the app on work-related phones. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance, this week launched a European charm offensive and promised changes to its data...

MBTA: All trains restricted to 10-25 mph speed limit

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

The MBTA announced Thursday that all Red, Orange, Green, and Blue line trains are restricted to a speed limit of 10-25 miles per hour, effective immediately. The restrictions come in response to findings of a site visit by the Department of Public Utilities on Monday to check on track maintenance conditions on the Red Line between Ashmont and Savin Hill stations, according to the MBTA.The next day, the DPU sent the MBTA letters laying out a list of areas where immediate action needs to be taken. Some of the problem areas include track conditions, third rail insulators, headlight use within tunnels, and PPE compliance. The DPU is also asking the T to investigate two incidents of operators overshooting the station entirely.The MBTA’s Chief Safety Officer Ronald Ester says that some of these problems needed to be addressed within 24 hours, and they have already provided those reports to the DPU. For other issues, the DPU needs a response from the T by the end of the bus...

Biden’s 2024 budget request includes $350M to replace Cape Cod bridges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

President Joe Biden unveiled his massive 2024 budget proposal on Thursday, which includes funding to replace the bridges to Cape Cod. The president is allocating $350 million to replace the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges, which were built in the 1930s.Biden has also committed to giving $600 million in total to complete the project. Officials say the new bridges will look similar to the current bridges, with some modern updates.Out of three different designs considered, the current arch design proved most popular with the public, MassDOT says. However, there will be some upgrades to improve efficiency and cost.

Unborn child among seven killed by shooter at Jehovah’s Witnesses center in Germany

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

(CNN) — An unborn child was among the seven victims of a shooting at a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall in Hamburg, the interior minister for the city said in a press conference Friday.German police are still searching for a possible motive after the shooter opened fire on Thursday evening. ”Hamburg has never seen a mass shooting like this,” Interior Minister Andy Grote told reporters.The Interior Minister went on to say that the gunman ”killed himself” after police stormed the building, and that he acted alone. ”There could have been more victims if police had not intervened so quickly,” he said.The city’s police said in their latest statement: ”Eight people are dead — including the alleged perpetrator.“Other people were injured in the incident, some seriously.”The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany said in a statement: “The religious community is deeply saddened by the horrific attack on its memb...

Car drives onto tarmac and crashes into terminal at North Carolina airport, deputies say

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

(CNN) — A driver in North Carolina is accused of crashing a car through doors and windows into a terminal at Wilmington International Airport after driving onto the tarmac.The suspect, whom investigators have not identified, faces state and federal charges, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said.The white, compact car broke through an airport fence shortly before 7 p.m. and was driven around on the tarmac, according to a sheriff’s office news release and photos.The driver was engaged by deputies, then crashed the car into the terminal and was detained, the sheriff’s office said.The car, its windsheld smashed and front end crumpled, later rested next to a potted tree on the ivory and blue terminal floor, a photo shows.No one from the public was injured, the airport said in post on Twitter. The airport remained open Thursday night with “minimal impact to operations,” the post said.

More than 3.2 million Calico Critters toys recalled after deaths of two children

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

(CNN) — More than 3.2 million Calico Critters toys that were sold in a set with a baby bottle and pacifier accessories are being recalled because they pose a serious choking hazard for small children, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.Epoch Everlasting Play, based in Pine Brook, New Jersey, makes the products. It said it is aware of three incidents involving the pacifier accessory, including two deaths.One fatal incident involved a 2-year-old child in 2018 in New Mexico, and the other fatal incident involved a 9-month-old child in 2015 in Japan, the CPSC said.This recall involves all Calico Critters flocked animal figures and sets sold with bottle and pacifier accessories. The bottle accessories were sold in yellow, pink, blue and orange colors.One style of the bottle has two yellow handles. The pacifier accessories were sold in yellow, orange, pink, dark pink, blue and teal colors.The sets, priced between $10 and $80, were sold at Walmart, Meijer, and ...

Cactus League report: ‘A rough night’ for Dylan Cease — while a Cubs pitcher opens some eyes in bid for a bullpen spot

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

It was a “mental game” for the likes of the Chicago White Sox’s Oscar Colás and Romy Gonzalez, who watched Thursday’s game along with coaches from the dugout.Catcher Carlos Pérez had two hits and one RBI for the Sox in a 5-4 loss to Team Colombia in an exhibition game at Camelback Ranch.“(Colás is) off from the physical stuff but not from the mental side of it or the development side of it,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “The guys who are there and not in the game, the young guys coming up, it’s a mental game for them. We have to take full advantage of that.”Jameson Taillon didn’t let a long three-run first inning derail his outing Thursday against the Cincinnati Reds. The veteran right-hander got the work in he wanted, going 3⅔ innings in the Cubs’ 8-6 comeback win, their eighth straight Cactus League victory.“Sometimes days like that can be valuable,” said Taillon, who gave up four hits...

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH 2023: New York Liberty play it forward

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

The championship buzz is building for the New York Liberty’s coming season. Thanks to recent signings and trades that added Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot and Jonquel Jones to the roster, players and staff feel New York City’s WNBA team is poised for glory.“We want to bring the championship back to New York,” said Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, referencing the 1973 Knicks NBA championship win, the last time a city team won it all.“It’s been a great offseason, and we had the ability to bring great players in. They complement the players we have, and I am excited to get to the work,” Brondello continued.Liberty CEO Keia Clarke is just as optimistic about the coming campaign. “There is something exciting going on. We have a long legacy of fans and partners and this is the third season in our Barclays home. We want to restore our place as New York City’s team,” Clarke said.New York is known as a basketball town, and...

Many kids need tutoring help. Only a small fraction get it

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

David Daniel knows his son needs help.The 8-year-old spent first grade in remote learning and several weeks of second grade in quarantine. The best way to catch him up, research suggests, is to tutor him several times a week during school.But his Indianapolis school offers Saturday or after-school tutoring — programs that don’t work for Daniel, a single father. The upshot is his son, now in third grade, isn’t getting the tutoring he needs.“I want him to have the help,” Daniel said. Without it, “next year is going to be really hard on him.”As America’s schools confront dramatic learning setbacks caused by the pandemic, experts have held up intensive tutoring as the single best antidote. Yet even as schools wield billions of dollars in federal COVID relief, a small fraction of students have received school tutoring, according to a survey of the nation’s largest districts by the nonprofit news organization Chalkbeat and The Associated Press.In eight of 12 school systems that provided d...

Iran, Saudi Arabia agree to resume relations after tensions

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:28:18 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after years of tensions between the two countries, including a devastating attack on the heart of the kingdom’s oil production attributed to Tehran. The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a yearslong war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched. The two countries released a joint communique with China on the deal, which apparently brokered the agreement. Chinese state media did not immediately report on the deal. Iranian state media posted images and video it described as being taken in China with the meeting. It showed Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National...