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France confirms facial fracture for star Dupont at Rugby World Cup, yet to know how long he’s out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France is seeking a specialist opinion on a facial fracture suffered by captain and star player Antoine Dupont at the Rugby World Cup before knowing how long he will be sidelined, the French Rugby Federation said on Friday.The host nation was holding its breath over the fate of Dupont after he sustained the serious-looking injury in a 96-0 blowout victory over Namibia on Thursday night. The federation confirmed it was a facial fracture and needed a “a specialist surgical opinion” to know how long it will be without its best player and the man regarded as the best in the world.Scrumhalf Dupont would remain with the squad, the federation added.Dupont’s injury came in an illegal high tackle by Namibia’s Johan Deysel, who was red-carded for the hit.Dupont, the world player of the year in 2021, will likely not be so badly missed for France’s last Pool A game against Italy in two weeks, but his absence for the quarterfinals might be critical, with France on ...

15-year-old in critical condition after shooting in SW Miami-Dade housing development, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

An incident unfolded in a Southwest Miami-Dade housing development Thursday night, leaving a 15-year-old in serious condition after being shot while sitting in an SUV. Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue units rushed to the scene along the 28000 block of Southwest 126th Court just before 9:45 p.m., responding to a ShotSpotter alert. Paramedics airlifted the young victim to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where the teenager is currently undergoing surgery and listed in critical condition. At the scene, 7News cameras captured a significant police presence and a maroon Honda SUV with a shattered driver’s side window. Miami-Dade Police Department Detective Alvaro Zabaleta provided preliminary information, revealing an adult male, identified as a family friend, was also present in the vehicle but escaped unharmed. Detective Zabaleta added that the motive for the shooting remains unclear. Authorities are investigating whether the 15-year-old was the intended target, if the 21-year-old i...

An asteroid sample is about to land on Earth. Here’s what to expect

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

(CNN) — When the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft swings by Earth on Sunday, it is expected to deliver a rare cosmic gift: a pristine sample collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will release a capsule containing an estimated 8.8 ounces of asteroid rocks and soil from space toward a landing zone in the Utah desert.NASA will provide a live stream of the sample delivery beginning at 10 a.m. ET Sunday. The capsule is expected to enter Earth’s atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. ET, traveling about 27,650 miles per hour (44,498 kilometers per hour). It will land in Utah about 13 minutes later.After releasing the capsule, OSIRIS-REx will continue on its tour of the solar system to capture a detailed look at a different asteroid named Apophis.Studying the sample can help scientists understand key details about the origins of our solar system because asteroids are the “leftovers” from those early days 4.5 billion years ago. But the sample can a...

Medicaid coverage restored to about a half-million people after computer errors in many states

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — About 500,000 people who recently lost Medicaid coverage are regaining their health insurance while states scramble fix computer systems that didn’t properly evaluate people’s eligibility after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, federal officials said Thursday.The computer issues affected people in 29 states and the District of Columbia and likely included a significant number of children who should have been eligible for Medicaid at higher income levels even if their parents or caregivers were not, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.All states are undertaking a massive review of their Medicaid rolls after a three-year, pandemic-era prohibition on ending coverage expired this spring. While the freeze was in effect, Medicaid enrollment swelled by nearly one-third, from 71 million people in February 2020 to 94 million in April 2023.States often use computer programs as a first step in determi...

Nice Now, Weekend Is Wet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

The weather winning streak rolls on today with another nice afternoon of low humidity and comfortable temps after a seasonably chilly start. Clouds do start to increase at the mid to high levels, foreshadowing the wet weather to move in the weekend. Highs today top off near 70. It’ll be dry and comfortably cool this evening if you’re heading out. The dry weather comes to a close tomorrow as we track rain moving in from south to north. The earliest arriving of the rain will be along the South Coast, in the morning with showers likely developing either midday or in the afternoon across northern Mass. Rain will be steadiest/heaviest midday/afternoon across Southeast Mass. We’ll certainly have a cool, raw feel to the air with temps in the 50s to low 60s and a busy northeasterly breeze developing. The winds will be strongest across the Cape/Islands with gusts 30-40mph there. Rain tapers to patchy drizzle tomorrow night into Sunday morning before more showers return Sund...

Spat over visas for Indian Asian Games athletes sparks diplomatic row between New Delhi and Beijing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

HANGZHOU, China (AP) — A long-standing border dispute between India and China has left three Indian martial arts competitors stranded at home and unable to make it to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, while sparking a diplomatic row Friday between the two countries.The three women wushu athletes are from India’s eastern Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. Unlike the rest of India’s athletes competing at this year’s games who were given Asian Games badges that also serve as visas to enter China, the three were given visas stapled to their passports. Olympic Council of Asia official Wei Jizhong told reporters in Hangzhou on Friday that the three athletes, Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu, had refused to accept them because they differed from those given the rest of the team.“According to the Chinese government regulations, we have the right to give them different kind of visa,” he said.In July, the same athletes did not compete at the World Un...

Syria and China announce strategic partnership as Asian Games diplomacy kicks off

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China and Syria announced the formation of a strategic partnership on Friday as Chinese leader Xi Jinping kicked off a series of diplomatic meetings ahead of the upcoming Asian Games.Xi met Syrian President Bashar Assad in the southern Chinese city of Hangzhou, which is hosting the 15-day sports competition. “In the face of the unstable and uncertain international situation, China is willing to work with Syria to firmly support each other … and jointly safeguard international fairness and justice,” Xi said in a video clip posted online by state broadcaster CCTV.Assad’s visit parallels in some ways that of Russian President Vladimir Putin last year for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Both leaders are virtual pariahs in the West but welcomed by China as it tries to expand its global influence and promote an alternative to the U.S.-led international order.The Syrian leader will attend the Asian Games opening ceremony on Saturday night alo...

Gases from Philippine volcano sicken dozens of children, prompting school closures in nearby towns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Smog containing gases from a restive Philippine volcano sickened dozens of students and prompted 25 towns and cities to shut their schools on Friday as a health precaution, officials said.There was no imminent threat of a major eruption of Taal Volcano, which authorities said remains at a low level of unrest in Batangas province south of Manila. But they said its emission of sulfur dioxide-laden steam in recent days caused skin, throat and eye irritation for at least 45 students in nearby towns.Classes were suspended in 25 towns and cities in Batangas to keep students safely at home. Some schools resumed online classes and home learning that were in wide use at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.Smog has also been reported in Manila north of Taal in recent days, but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it was largely caused by vehicle emissions and not the volcano.Taal, one of the world’s smallest volcanoes, is am...

Double shooting at Scarborough plaza leaves two men injured

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

Two men are in hospital with serious injuries following an overnight shooting in a Scarborough parking lot on Friday.Officers responded to a plaza parking lot on Birchmount Road near Vauxhall Drive, south of Ellesmere Road, around 1:30 a.m.Paramedics tell CityNews two men were rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.No suspect information has been made available.The investigation is ongoing.

India’s Parliament passes law that will reserve a third of legislature seats for women from 2029

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:35 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Parliament has approved landmark legislation that reserves one-third of the seats in its powerful lower house and in state legislatures for women to ensure more equal representation, ending a 27-year impasse over the bill amid a lack of consensus among political parties.But the wait is still not over, as the new law will not apply to next year’s national elections.It will be implemented in the 2029 national elections following a new census and adjustment of voting districts after next year’s polls, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during a debate in the upper house of India’s Parliament on Thursday night.The lower house of Parliament approved the legislation on Wednesday with a 454-2 vote, and the upper house passed it unanimously, 214-0, late Thursday.India’s once-a-decade census was to be held in 2021 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All opposition parties supported the bill and said the delay in its implementation is an injustice to w...