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Passport processing times drop by 2 weeks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

Watch Video: U.S. passport demand overwhelms State DepartmentIf you need to get a new passport or renew it soon, the process should be a bit quicker.The State Department says it has lowered expected wait times by two weeks following a 2023 that so far has resulted in weeks-long and sometimes months-long waits to get passports.All passport applications received Monday and beyond will have wait times of 8-11 weeks for routine service with times shortened to 5-7 weeks for expedited service, the State Department said in a statement. The change in processing time does not apply to applications received before Monday.More than 24 million passport books and cards were issued in the fiscal year that ended over the weekend, the State Department said. That number was a record, eclipsing the previous year’s record of 22 million.Over late spring and early summer, the State Department was receiving approximately 450-500,000 applications each week, CBS News reported.The State Department su...

The Nashville Predators hope to speed transition and rebuild with new GM, coach

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

NASHVILLE PREDATORSCOACH: Andrew Brunette (51-18-6 in one season as Florida’s interim coach). SEASON OPENER: Oct. 10 at Tampa Bay.DEPARTURES: D Mattias Ekholm, C Ryan Johansen, F Matt Duchene, F Tanner Jeannot, F Mikael Granlund, F Nino Niederreiter, coach John Hynes.ADDITIONS: C Gustav Nyquist, C Ryan O’Reilly, D Luke Schenn.GOALIES: Juuse Saros (33-23-7, 2.69 GAA, .919 save percentage) and Kevin Lankinen (9-8-1-, 2.75 GAA, .916).FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK STANLEY CUP ODDS: 70-1.LAST SEASON: The Predators missed the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons by finishing three points out of the Western Conference’s second wild-card slot. They came up short after taking the first steps toward a rebuild at the trade deadline. That included the Predators announcing Feb. 26 that their first coach, Barry Trotz, would be taking over as the franchise’s second general manager with David Poile’s retirement after the NHL draft.STRENGTHS: Saros finished fourth in voting...

Parliament votes through Buch as EU banking cop

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

The European Parliament today voted through Germany’s Claudia Buch to become the EU’s next chief banking supervisor after a standoff with the European Central Bank.In a plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs voted 357 to 195, with 42 abstentions, in a secret ballot to support Buch’s candidacy to become the next chair of the European Central Bank’s Supervisory Board, a job overseeing the bloc’s biggest lenders.Buch’s appointment would remove a hurdle for Spain’s Finance Minister Nadia Calviño to become the next head of the European Investment Bank. Buch had been vying with Spain’s Margarita Delgado, deputy governor of the Bank of Spain, for the Supervisory Board post. Delgado was the unanimous choice of key lawmakers on Parliament’s economics committee. But appointing Buch clears the way for Calviño to the EIB since two Spaniards taking top finance jobs would have been difficult for other countries to swallow.The ECB’s decision to nominate Buch provoked the ire of MEPs on th...

Paris bedbugs ‘hell’: Don’t panic, health chief urges

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

French Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau wants the public to stay calm over bedbugs in Paris. In an interview with France Inter on Tuesday, Rousseau reassured citizens that there is “no reason for a general panic” and that France has not been “invaded by bedbugs.”The tiny insects have been spotted on public transport in the French capital over the past few weeks, raising alarm among residents and public officials.Last week, Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire asked the government to take action to fight the “scourge” of bedbugs ahead of the 2024 Olympics, set to take place in the city next summer and bring a huge influx of tourists.Despite inviting the public to relax, Rousseau did add Tuesday that “when you have bedbugs, it’s hell.”In recent weeks, videos of bedbugs in trains and on the Paris metro have circulated on the internet. According to French news, bedbugs disappeared from France around 1950 before making a comeback in the 1990s due to incre...

Dutch lawmaker Sophie in ‘t Veld joins Belgian party

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

Top Dutch European lawmaker Sophie in ‘t Veld is set to be a European election candidate for Volt in Belgium, in a bid to continue her two-decade parliamentary career. In June, in ‘t Veld quit her Dutch liberal party D66, citing policy disagreements, and joined Volt, a federalist movement with parties in all EU countries. But after making the switch, Volt rejected her candidacy for the 2024 European election, as she needed a special dispensation to become a Volt candidate for 2024 because she had not been a party member for the requisite three months before being nominated as a candidate.That looked like the end of her career in the European Parliament. But in ‘t Veld has now joined Volt Belgium, she announced Tuesday. If she’s elected as a candidate at the Volt Belgium party congress later this month, she can run again. “Volt is a truly European party and I am a truly European politician,” ‘in t Veld said. She argues parliamentary demo...

If Putin goes to Armenia he’d be arrested, as lawmakers back ICC entry

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

Armenia has accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court after lawmakers on Tuesday ratified its founding documents, effectively obliging the former Soviet republic to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he ever returns to the country.Parliamentarians voted in favor of the Rome Statute on Tuesday, with 60 MPs backing its ratification and 20 opposition lawmakers voting against. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said last week he was confident there was sufficient support for the move, despite fierce objections from Moscow, traditionally an ally of Yerevan.Last Thursday, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that accepting the jurisdiction of the court in The Hague would be seen as “extremely hostile,” given it has issued an arrest warrant for Putin on war crimes charges over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.“Armenia knows very well that we are not parties to the [Rome Statute], and Armenia is well aware of the difficult decision adop...

8-year prison sentence for New Hampshire man convicted of running unlicensed bitcoin business

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday sentenced a New Hampshire man to eight years in prison for running an unlicensed bitcoin exchange business and fined him at least $40,000, although a hearing will be held to determine how much money multiple people who said they were victimized by his enterprise will get.Ian Freeman was taken away in handcuffs following his sentencing in U.S. District Court in Concord. Prosecutors said Freeman, a libertarian activist and radio show host, created a business that catered to fraudsters who targeted elderly women with romance scams, serving as “the final step in permanently separating the victims from their money.”“Love you, Ian,” supporters shouted as he was led out of court.Freeman, who is in his 40s, said in court he did not believe he broke the law. He said he was trying to get people to adopt bitcoin. He said there were times he detected fraud and protected many potential scam victims. He apologized for not being able to help the...

Summer’s Back

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

Alright you Fall fans, your pumpkin spiced latte weather is on hold over the next few days as summer weather surges back into Southern New England. Although, with that said, it doesn’t feel that way this morning as a bit of a Fall chill is in the air. That’ll change quickly though, as sunshine and a southwesterly breeze will send temps soaring into the upper 70s to mid 80s this afternoon. Expect temps to be a bit cooler across the Cape and Islands. Although quite warm, we’ll likely fall just shy of records. Day off? Solid beach weather for sure. August in October continues tomorrow with more 80s showing up. At the coast, the ocean breeze kicks in easier, so beach temps run 70-75 degrees. More sunshine is expected. Thursday is another nice day with highs in the mid 70s to near 80. Friday, clouds increase and we’ll track a few spotty interior showers in the afternoon. A better chance for wet weather, surprise, surprise, comes in over the weekend as Saturday in...

Early Red Sox offseason means start of search for new baseball boss, planning to remember Wakefield

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The next head of the Boston Red Sox baseball operations department might or might not have experience running a team. Come from inside the organization, or outside. Have a lofty title like Chief Baseball Officer — or not.It might even be more than one person.“We just don’t know where it’s going to go,” Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said on Monday, a day after the regular season ended with a third last-place finish in four years. “I think you’d be irresponsible not to consider all options.”Kennedy said the Red Sox could begin interviewing candidates to replace fired Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom this week, but the job or jobs could look different than the one that he had. Bloom was fired with less than three weeks left in the season after failing to meet his mandate to shed payroll — and stars like Mookie Betts — while still winning in the major leagues and building a successful farm system at the same time.“We should be playing right now. That’s th...

Requiem for a rebuild: Orioles fans weathered several ‘hopeless’ years. Their reward? A return to ‘Orioles Magic.’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:47:12 GMT

Caleb Ellison went to Camden Yards in August, wearing an Orioles Hawaiian shirt, a black-and-orange baseball cap and, notably, nothing covering his face.He was happy to be seen.It had been five years since Ellison wore a paper bag over his head to a few games during the 2018 season as he and the Orioles endured a franchise-worst 115 losses. A common trope in sports, Ellison wore the cut-out brown bag — captured by a Baltimore Sun photographer during one September loss — to symbolize his embarrassment. The Orioles were awful. And they were going to be awful. For Ellison, then a 16-year-old student at Old Mill High School in Millersville, that time felt “hopeless.”“[I’d] show up to the Yard completely normal and then as soon as the score became 9-3 or whatever, I’d put it on, you know, hide the shame,” he said.There’s been no need to hide this year. The Orioles, expected to finish below .500 and out of the playoffs by spor...