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Hundreds storm Swedish embassy in Baghdad to protest Quran burning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

Protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad in the early hours of Thursday in response to a planned burning of the Quran in Sweden.Videos shared online showed protesters shouting, climbing the walls of the embassy and setting fire to the building, Reuters reported. Security forces were later deployed and were able to clear the area, as firefighters extinguished the fires.All embassy staff were safe, according to a statement by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also condemned the attack, Reuters said. Sweden also summoned Iraq’s charge d’affaires on Thursday, newswire AFP reported.The protests came in response to the planned burning of a Quran — the second authorized by Swedish police in weeks — reportedly due to take place outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday. The demonstration in Baghdad was called by supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, one of Iraq’s most powerful figures.Iraq’s foreign ministry a...

Bike couriers face the heat — or risk losing income

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

This article is part of POLITICO’s Global Policy Lab: Living Cities, a collaborative journalism project exploring the future of cities. Sign up here.As a heat wave grips Southern Europe, people are urged to stay inside during the hottest hours of the day — but for those making food deliveries to doorsteps, that’s exactly when the orders pour in.Self-employed bike couriers in countries like Spain, Italy and Greece now face a dilemma: take on delivery work in record-breaking temperatures during the lunchtime rush, or miss out on much-needed income in exchange for staying cool.  “At midday, when it’s hottest, [it’s] when we get the first orders,” a courier told Spanish news agency Atlas late last week. Another said that “the best thing would be for us to stay home,” but added that it’s not a real option because they need the income.Such a harsh choice put the focus on these workers’ self-employed status as they do platform-based...

Training camp countdown No. 6: How will the Patriots defense replace Devin McCourty?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

Welcome to 7 Patriots training camp questions!Each day leading up to the start of camp, the Herald will explore one of the biggest questions facing the Pats this summer. Several pertain to the offense, which welcomed back Bill O’Brien this offseason and added JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki. Other questions cover the defense and special teams, units that might rely heavily on rookies and must overcome the loss of longtime captain Devin McCourty.Once the Patriots hit the practice field, here’s what they must learn before the season kicks off versus Philadelphia on Sept. 10.The New England Patriots understand better than anyone that there is no single replacement for retired safety and defensive captain Devin McCourty, but players seem optimistic about the team’s approach to filling the gap at free safety as they head into a season without the three-time Super Bowl champion for the first time since 2009.Amazingly, Week 1 will only be the sixth game New England has pla...

Chicago White Sox are limited to 3 hits against Justin Verlander in a 5-1 loss to the New York Mets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

Andrew Benintendi lined a single back up the middle to begin the fourth inning.It was the first hit of the game for the Chicago White Sox against New York Mets starter Justin Verlander. They wouldn’t get another until a seventh-inning home run by Luis Robert Jr.The Sox were limited to three hits against Verlander and reliever Adam Ottavino in a 5-1 loss to the Mets in front of 34,873 on Wednesday at Citi Field.“He had his good stuff tonight,” first baseman Gavin Sheets said of Verlander. “He threw the ball well. He attacked us. Attacked us in multiple different ways. It’s a veteran guy who threw the ball well tonight.”A night after a wild 11-10 Mets win in the series opener, Verlander’s pitching took over. He allowed the one run on three hits — the Benintendi single, Robert homer and an infield hit by Sheets — with seven strikeouts and one walk in eight innings.“There were some really good things we’ve been doing in t...

Tee Thursday: Proper attire can help your game

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

It wasn’t long into my official golf life that I realized something quickly: how you dress truly impacts how you play.It’s not just about looking good on the course, although I confess, when it comes to sports, to being a bit of a classicist when it comes to dressing.There’s something, after all, that just feels right about dressing snappy for a sport. To garble the iconic Coco Channel quote: “Dress shabbily and they remember the outfit. Dress impeccably and they remember the player (and the game).”But there’s more to it than that. Proper attire keeps you comfortable no matter what you face out there. Quick shower? Waterproof works. Muggy as can be? Wicking materials save the day. Cool or even cold? Warm but not restricting solves that. It may seem oversimplified, but there is something to it: Dress well to help you play well.With that in mind, I’ve been searching and slowly building a proper golf wardrobe. While I’m still en process, I’ve found some winners, pieces that look great,...

Battenfeld: Mayor Wu refuses to answer key question about sending list of critics to police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu still refuses to answer a key question about compiling a list of vocal critics and protesters and forwarding it to her police department.What did police do with the list, which critics have compared to a Nixonian enemies list?The email from a top Wu aide to police included the names of 15 people, including North End restaurant owners, anti-vaccine activists who had been protesting at Wu’s house, and a City Council candidate.Did police follow these people? Conduct surveillance or background checks? Wu’s office won’t say.Have police alerted other police departments to put them on some kind of watch list?Does the new commissioner push back? Or does the mayor’s press office pull the strings of the police department?Several were arrested after the list was compiled, according to a Wu opposition group.She also has tried to portray the story as a right-wing attack on her because of her liberal policies.“This is really a matter of safety and having to protect the ci...

Landslide triggered by heavy rains kills 10 and traps many others in western India

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

RAIGAD, India (AP) — A landslide triggered by torrential rains in India’s western Maharashtra state killed 10 people, with many others feared trapped under piles of debris, officials said Thursday.A team of 60 rescuers and trained trekkers has been deployed to help save people trapped by the landslide, which occurred late Wednesday night, the state’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted. Harsh weather conditions have hampered rescue efforts and authorities have sent in medical teams to help the injured, he added.While 75 people have been rescued, many others are still stuck, an official told the Press Trust of India news agency.The landslide hit the Irshalwadi village in Raigad district and buried 17 of the 50 houses there. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde arrived at the site on Thursday and told reporters “the priority now is to rescue those still trapped beneath the rubble.”India’s weather department put Maharashtra on alert as the state has been las...

Alabama to carry out first lethal injection after review of execution procedures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama plans to execute an inmate on Thursday for the 2001 beating death of a woman as the state seeks to carry out its first lethal injection after a pause in executions following a string of problems with inserting the IVs. James Barber, 64, is scheduled to be put to death Thursday evening at a south Alabama prison. It is the first execution scheduled in the state since Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey paused executions in November to conduct an internal review. Ivey ordered the review after two lethal injections were called off because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men’s veins. Advocacy groups claimed a third execution, carried out after a delay because of IV problems, was botched, a claim the state has disputed. “Given Alabama’s recent history of botched executions, it is staggering that James Barber’s lethal injection is set to take place,” Maya Foa, director of the anti-death penalty group Reprieve, said. “Three executions in a row went horri...

Ex-Israeli security chief backs reservists’ protest as Netanyahu allies advance judicial overhaul

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The former head of Israel’s internal security agency voiced support on Thursday for military reservists refusing to serve in protest of the government’s planned judicial overhaul, drawing fierce criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultranationalist allies days before parliament was set to vote on a key piece of legislation.A parliamentary committee approved late Wednesday a bill that would curtail the high court’s remit in using the “reasonability standard,” a legal yardstick allowing judges to overturn decisions made by elected officials deemed beyond the pale. The bill, which will come up for a final vote in parliament next week, is one of several keystone pieces of the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul plan, which seeks to curb what he and his allies consider excessive powers of unelected judges. Critics of the plan say the legislation will concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies and unde...

The UK’s governing Conservatives are braced for a drubbing from voters in 3 special elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:32:21 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Voters went to the polls Thursday in three electoral districts of England, with the governing Conservative Party braced for a drubbing over a cost-of-living crisis and a morale-sapping string of political scandals.The elections for House of Commons seats are being closely watched because they let voters in three distinct areas of England — a small town in the north, the rural southwest, and the London suburbs — deliver a verdict on the party that has governed Britain since 2010, ahead of a national election due next year.Three opinion polls this week gave the left-of-center Labour Party a lead of at least 15 points over the Conservatives nationwide.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Conservative lawmakers the three by-elections would be a “tough battle,” but said he still thought the party could win the next general election.“I promise you we can do this, but we can only do it together as one team,” he told the fractious Conservative caucus on Wednesday evening.The specia...