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Be open to foreigners, Pope Francis tells Hungarians

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

Pope Francis called for open doors and inclusivity during a visit to Hungary on Sunday. The Hungarian government has long faced criticism over anti-immigration policies and rhetoric that has stoked xenophobia at home. Concerns about Budapest’s treatment of minorities were exacerbated on the eve of the pope’s three-day visit when Hungarian President Katalin Novák unexpectedly pardoned a far-right terrorist. Speaking to a large crowd in central Budapest on Sunday morning before wrapping up his trip, the pope did not directly address the Hungarian government’s policies but was blunt about the need to embrace outsiders. “How sad and painful it is to see closed doors,” the pope said at an outdoor mass, pointing to “the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer; the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor.”“Please, brothers and sisters, let us open those doors!” he added. “Let us tr...

Knicks took out Kevin Love’s last team, bringing playoffs full circle for Heat forward

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

Kevin Love hasn’t made the calls yet. Too soon, he said.But at the moment, it is hard to argue that the veteran power forward isn’t in a better place. As in the playoffs with the Miami Heat.The place Love left in mid February, the Cleveland Cavaliers, are done for the season.“Those guys I’ll eventually speak to,” Love said, “but I wanted to let ‘em get through this.”It was on Wednesday night, shortly after the New York Knicks eliminated the Cavaliers in the first round of these NBA playoffs that Love and the Heat did the same to the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.Now it’s Heat vs. Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, starting with Sunday’s Game 1 at Madison Square Garden.For Love, it wasn’t as much about forcing his way away from the Cavaliers when he requested a buyout in mid-February as much as wanting the opportunity for a featured playoff role. So here he stands, after Cleveland has fallen.“There’s...

Man kills 3, self, in dispute among Portuguese pigeon racers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

MADRID (AP) — A man fatally shot three people before turning his gun on himself, Portuguese police said Sunday, in what local media described as a dispute among rival pigeon racers.Andreia Gonçalves, police commissioner in the city of Setubal, south of Lisbon, described a dispute between four men aged between 30 and 60, and said one of them had killed the others before shooting himself.She described the deaths as “an isolated situation” related to an unresolved issue between the men.The four dead individuals were participating in a pigeon race, Portuguese media reported from the scene, and their disagreement also centered on an illegal vegetable garden.Portugal has restrictive gun laws but firearms are legal for hunting. Of the 80 or so annual homicides that Portugal has registered on average since 2015, around a fifth are committed with firearms, according to police statistics.The Associated Press

Emergency aid supplies reach Sudan, as fighting sputters on

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — An aircraft carrying eight tons of emergency medical aid landed Sunday in Sudan to resupply hospitals devastated by more than two weeks of fighting between forces loyal to rival generals.The supplies are enough to treat hundreds of wounded, as the civilian death toll from the countrywide violence topped 400. The conflict erupted on April 15 between the nation’s army and its paramilitary force, and threatens to thrust Sudan into a raging civil war.More than two-thirds of hospitals in areas with active fighting are out of service, a national doctors’ association has said, citing a shortage of medical supplies, health workers, water and electricity.On Sunday, the aircraft carrying medical aid took off from Jordan and landed in the city of Port Sudan, said the International Committee of the Red Cross. The supplies, including anesthetics, dressings, sutures and other surgical material, are enough to treat more than 1,000 people wounded in the conflict, the ICRC s...

What’s behind shortages of Adderall, Ozempic and other meds?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

Shortages of drugs like Adderall are growing in the United States, and experts see no clear path to resolving them. For patients, that can mean treatment delays, medication switches and other hassles filling a prescription. In recent months, unexpected demand spikes, manufacturing problems and tight ingredient supplies have contributed to shortages that stress patients, parents and doctors. For some drugs, such as stimulants that treat ADHD, several factors fueled a shortage and make it hard to predict when it will end. Shortages, particularly of generic drugs, have been a longstanding problem. The industry has consolidated and some manufacturers have little incentive to solve shortages because cheap generics generate thin profits. Here’s a deeper look at the issue.HOW MANY DRUG SHORTAGES ARE THERE?There were 301 active national drug shortages through this year’s first quarter, according to the University of Utah Drug Information Service. That’s 49% higher than the 202 r...

Facebook agrees to pay $725M settlement: What's the deadline to file a claim?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – If you haven't submitted your claim for a piece of the $725 million Facebook has agreed to pay in a class action privacy lawsuit, you still have time. Facebook users have just about four months until the claim deadline on Aug. 25, 2023, to submit an application online or by mail. To be more specific, not all Facebook users are eligible – but more than 100 million are. Basically, anyone who was a Facebook user in the U.S. between May 24, 2007, and Dec. 22, 2022. (Double check you meet the criteria here.) Facebook privacy settlement: Who is eligible for a payment? The lawsuit stems from accusations that Facebook allowed users’ personal data to be shared with third parties, the most famous being Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm that supported Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The firm harvested the data of as many as 87 million Facebook users, the Associated Press reported.Meta has agreed to settle the claim for $725 million, but denies any wrong...

Sunday Forecast: Cloudy, breezy and cold

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

CHICAGO — Sunday's forecast has increasing clouds and will be breezy & cold. PM rain at times likely. High: 45 Sunday Night: Rain/snow showers, gusty & cold. Low 37, colder in the suburbsMonday: Cloudy, windy & cold for the season. Chance of AM rain/snow, PM showers. NW 20-30, G40 mph. High: 44  Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Extended outlook calls for more sunshine by Tuesday with temps back into the low 50s. Upper 50s and sunny skies for Wednesday. Back into to the 60s for Thu. That sun continues into the end of the week with highs Fri/Sat near 60. 

Biden's coronation no-show is no snub – more telling is whom he sends to King Charles' big day

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

(THE CONVERSATION) – The fact that first lady Jill Biden, but not her husband, President Joe Biden, will be attending King Charles III’s coronation on May 6, 2023, has not gone down too well with sections of the U.K. press. A “royal snub,” screamed headlines, while commentators grumbled about “Irish Joe” and his “hatred” of the Brits.The truth is, no U.S. president has ever attended a British coronation ceremony. Indeed, American presidents tend to avoid royal ceremonies of all stripes. Biden did attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022, but that was very much the exception, not the rule.Given the U.S.’s particular history – and its parting of ways with the U.K. back in 1776 – it’s easy to see why a president might feel uneasy about witnessing the anointing of a new sovereign. No matter how “special” the relationship, some distinctions need to be preserved.But as a historian of America’s relationship with the U.K. monarchy, I believe it would be wrong to ...

Willie Nelson's birthday was yesterday, but it's also today. Here's why

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you missed Willie Nelson’s birthday yesterday, don’t sweat it. He’s got another one today.Nelson, one of the most revered and prolific artists in country music, is currently celebrating his 90th birthday with an all-star concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where he’s sharing the bill with artists such as George Strait, Roseanne Cash, Chris Stapleton, The Chicks and Sheryl Crow, among dozens of other acts.Appropriately enough, the concert was billed as a two-day event — just like Nelson’s own birthday. PHOTOS: Willie Nelson through the years Nelson, who was born just north of Waco in the small town of Abbott, Texas, entered the world on April 29, 1933. But as he’s explained in the past, he observes his birthday on the 30th, too.Why? As Nelson once said during his SiriusXM radio show in 2018, it’s because he was born quite late at night — and apparently too late for the county clerk to record his birth.“I was born before midnight on the 29th bu...

Real World Economics: Dollar is an ugly nag yet still prettier than the rest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:58 GMT

Edward LottermanThere is much news of countries moving to use currencies other than the U.S. dollar for international trade and investment. In March, Brazil and China agreed to use their real and renminbi currencies for settling import and export bills rather than U.S. dollars. This comes in the wake of China supplanting the United States as Brazil’s largest trading partner, a status that we took away from Britain more than a century ago.Should we worry?The issue is the degree to which the U.S. dollar is the “reserve currency” for all other countries for international payments and for maintaining stocks of “foreign exchange.” This still includes gold, but mostly is currencies of other nations that are immediately and automatically accepted. The dollar predominates, but the Euro, pound, Swiss franc and the Japanese yen all meet the standard.Worry? Yes and no. First, bi-lateral agreements by nations to price or invoice trade in their own currencies are largely symbolic. Moreover, desp...