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Tory rising star Kemi Badenoch held secret talks with Rupert Murdoch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

LONDON — A Tory leadership hopeful held clandestine talks with media mogul Rupert Murdoch within days of joining the U.K. Cabinet, then failed to declare it in transparency data.Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, the bookmakers’ favorite to become the next Conservative Party leader, met privately with Murdoch and other News Corp executives in New York in September 2022.Murdoch, who stepped down this month as chairman of Fox and News Corp but retains a hugely powerful role at the media empire, questioned Badenoch for 20 minutes in an atmosphere described as akin to a job interview by one of those in attendance.An official briefed on the meeting said a nervous Badenoch — who had not expected Murdoch himself to be in attendance — asked her aides afterward: “How did I do?”The encounter was never recorded in Badenoch’s public log of ministerial meetings.The U.K. government’s ministerial code of conduct clearly states that “meetings with newspaper and other...

Former Patriots, 49ers TE Russ Francis dies in plane crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

Former New England Patriots player Russ Francis died at the age of 70 over the weekend after the plane he was flying in crashed in upstate New York.In a Facebook post, a family member announced that Francis was killed when the plane he was travelling in crashed at Lake Placid on Sunday, Oct. 1.According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), two people were killed in the crash, with the other victim identified as pilot Richard McSpadden.Their plane, a Cessna 177 Cardinal, appeared to experience an emergency after takeoff, which led to the plane attempting to return to the airport but failing to make the runway, the AOPA stated.Francis was a pilot himself, as well as President of Lake Placid Airways, according to the company’s website.Starting his career in 1975, Francis played 13 seasons in the NFL and spent much of his time in New England, including his first five seasons before heading to the San Francisco 49ers.Francis was a part of San Francisco’s 19...

Patriots great Russ Francis dies in plane crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

Former Patriots tight end Russ Francis died in a plane crash Sunday in Lake Placid, New York, the team announced Monday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Mac Jones takes blame for worst loss of Bill Belichick era: ‘I let my team down’ New England Patriots | Patriots captain backs Bill Belichick after worst loss of head coach’s career New England Patriots | Patriots teammate gives ominous response about Matthew Judon’s injury New England Patriots | Patriots OLB Matt Judon reportedly suffers bicep tendon tear, could miss months New England Patriots | Mac Jones to remain Patriots’ starting QB; Bill Belichick clarifies benching Francis, 70, played 13 NFL seasons, including two stints in New England from 1975-80 and 1987-88. Francis made two All-Pro teams and three Pro Bowls during his career. The Patriots drafted him in the first round of the 1975 NFL Draft out of Oregon.In...

Driver, 27, dies in rollover crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- A 27-year-old man died Sunday evening in a rollover crash in San Marcos, authorities said.Around 5:50 p.m., the driver was speeding westbound on San Elijo Road when his Toyota Rav-4 veered off the road and collided with a fire hydrant and a pedestrian signal pole, San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a release. The SUV then crossed Ledge Street, crashed onto a dirt embankment and rolled onto its roof.San Marcos Fire Department arrived at the scene and found the driver, a San Marcos resident, "had not been seat belted and was partially ejected." Paramedics took the man to Kaiser-San Marcos Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Man killed in Vista No one else was inside the SUV, and no other vehicles were involved in the crash, authorities said.

Manager Bob Melvin's job appears to be safe with the underwhelming Padres

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Manager Bob Melvin's job appears to be safe with the underwhelming San Diego Padres after owner Peter Seidler said in a statement Monday morning that the current leadership team “continues to have my full support.”The announcement came less than 24 hours after the Padres finished the most disappointing season in franchise history at 82-80. They were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday night, a bitter result for a team that came into the season with World Series expectations after making a stirring run to the NL Championship Series last fall and then increasing their payroll to around $250 million, the third highest in baseball.There have been numerous reports of a fractured relationship between Melvin, who finished his second season with San Diego and 20th overall as a big league manager, and general manager A.J. Preller, who has had just two winning records in a full season since being hired in August 2014.“We entered 2023 with expectations that we would b...

Man who sought to expose sexual predators fatally shot during argument in Detroit-area restaurant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

A 40-year-old Detroit-area man who posed as a 15-year-old girl on social media to identify alleged sexual predators has been fatally shot during an argument in a restaurant.Police arrested two males, ages 17 and 18, Saturday in Friday night’s slaying of Robert Wayne Lee of Pontiac, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.Lee had gone by the name “Boopac Shakur” on social media. His crusade had led to criminal charges against several men — including a jail deputy, but his work also misidentified one person as a sexual predator, according to the sheriff’s office.Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Monday that Lee had confronted an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old as they sat in a Pontiac restaurant, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. Lee and the 18-year-old got into an argument, at which point the 17-year-old pulled a gun at the table and shot Lee, Bouchard said. Lee later died at a hospital.Authorities did not release the name of either suspect. The case h...

Couple killed by bear in Banff National Park experienced in outdoors: family friend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA — An Alberta bear expert who’s a family friend of one of two people killed by a grizzly bear in Banff National Park says the couple was experienced in the outdoors and could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.Kim Titchener, who has a company called Bear Safety and More, said both the couple and their dog died in the backcountry on the weekend.“These were very experienced outdoors people. I don’t know if they had bear spray on them. I highly doubt they had food sources that were left out,” she said in an interview. “This might be a wrong place, wrong time situation.”Parks Canada has not provided those details, and did not immediately respond to a request for an interview Monday.The federal agency said in a statement Saturday that its dispatchers received an alert at about 8 p.m. Friday from an inReach GPS device about a bear attack west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, which is about 200 kilometres northwest of Calgary...

New York fraud trial accusing Trump of lying about his wealth opens as he denounces it as a ‘scam’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The fraud lawsuit that could cost former President Donald Trump control of some of his most prized properties went to trial Monday, with New York state lawyers vowing to hold him accountable while he denounced the case as a politically motivated “scam.”The civil case, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accuses the business-mogul-turned-politician and his company of deceiving banks, insurers and others by habitually misstating his wealth in financial statements.“They were lying year after year after year,” Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in James’ office, said in an opening statement as Trump sat at the defense table. He looked straight ahead, arms crossed, facing away from a screen that showed details of Wallace’s presentation. Defense lawyers, in their openings, said that the financial statements were true. Trump’s holdings are “Mona Lisa properties” that can command top dollar, attorney Alina Habba said.“That is not fraud. Tha...

TTC launching app to give Wheel-Trans customers more options

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

The TTC has announced that they have launched a new mobile app that will allow Wheel-Trans customers to schedule and manage trips from their smartphones.The Wheel-Trans mobile app, available for both iOS and Android devices, supports most of the same functions that are currently available on the Wheel-Trans self-booking website.The app can be used to plan both door-to-door and Family of Services (FOS) trips.Customers can use the Wheel-Trans app to book, review, modify or cancel trips, use the ‘Where is My Ride?’ option to see the vehicle location on a map in real time (available only for buses), schedule and manage both door-to-door and Family of Services trips, and receive service alerts and view trip history.The app is now one of four ways that Wheel-Trans customers can book trips, along with using the existing Wheel-Trans self-booking website, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or by contacting Wheel-Trans reservations.

Environmental groups demand emergency rules to protect rare whales from ship collisions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:37 GMT

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A coalition of environmental groups is calling on the federal government to enact emergency rules to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with large ships.The groups filed their petition with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Sept. 28 in an effort to protect the North Atlantic right whale. The giant whale numbers less than 340 and has been in steep decline in recent years.Ship collisions are among the most dire threats to the survival of the whale, according to NOAA. The groups cited a proposed rule from the agency designed to prevent such ship strikes by making more vessels slow down for whales. NOAA has yet to release a final updated speed rule despite proposing new rules more than a year ago, the environmental groups said.The groups argue it’s critically important to get new rules on the books before the upcoming calving season, during which the whales migrate hundreds of miles from waters off New England an...