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Former European Commission President Jacques Delors is dead at 98

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

BRUSSELS — Jacques Delors, who headed the European Commission between 1985 and 1995 and is seen as one of the most important architects of a European internal market and single currency, died on Wednesday, aged 98.His death was confirmed by his daughter, Martine Aubry. “He died this morning at his home in Paris in his sleep,” said Aubry, the socialist mayor of the French city of Lille, according to French media.Before becoming European Commission President, Delors was a French finance minister and European Parliament lawmaker.

Worker killed in Westborough after trailer collapses onto victim

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

Authorities say a worker in Westborough was killed after a tractor-trailer fell onto the victim Wednesday morning.According to officials, the incident happened around 9:20 a.m. in a lot off of Computer Drive near Route 9, where a semi-trailer appeared to fall on an employee, killing the worker and trapping their body beneath it.Authorities who spoke with 7NEWS said firefighters, state and local police were called in to assist as rescue crews attempted to lift the trailer using air bags, hoping to perform life-saving measures on the employee.As of 11:30 a.m., officials were unable to remove the worker’s body from under the trailer.Multiple fire engines remained on scene throughout the morning as officials with OSHA arrived to investigate.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

From the Archives: Babe Ruth on wallpaper and a timeless taunt

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

A brother-in-law fascinated by the newspaper clippings he found glued to his walls while peeling off old wallpaper just had to see the original page from the Herald archives.That’s how I became useful on Christmas Day. The spark of curiosity is alive in all of us and I vowed to dig up that clip.“It was about Babe Ruth!” he told me. “From Sept. 29, 1932.”“Found it,” I texted back the next day.Here it is! If you have a historical itch you need to scratch, the Herald archives go back to the mid-1800s and I can assist. The better the story, the more we can share in the discovery. It’s fascinating stuff. Here’s the full story from that day in time when Babe Ruth, alas no longer a Red Sox, helped the Yankees win the World Series:BOSTON_HERALD__September_29_1932__p1BOSTON_HERALD__September_29_1932__p25BOSTON_HERALD_September_29_1932__p32This series — a four-game sweep — included Game 3 on Oct. 1, 1932, when Babe Ruth hit one...

7 ways to hang on to more money in 2024

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

By Melissa Lambarena | NerdWalletAfter the high-spend holidays, it’s a good time to take inventory of those 2023 financial decisions — the good and the bad.Perhaps you could have saved more money, paid off debt or taken that trip. Reflect on where your money went and the expenses that got in the way. And, just as you might intend to change your diet or workout plan in the new year, resolve to make changes that will allow you to meet financial goals. A few money moves can add up in savings over the year.Here’s how to potentially keep more money in your pocket in 2024.1. Update your budgetReview your budget for opportunities to cancel unused subscriptions and swap products or services you won’t miss for less costly alternatives. Comparison shop for better deals on expenses like medications, supplements, streaming services and others.Also consider what’s going to be different in 2024, says Melinda Perez, an accredited financial counselor at Meli The High Flyer, a financial counseling a...

Comedian Tom Smothers, one-half of the Smothers Brothers, dies at 86

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers and the co-host of one of the most socially conscious and groundbreaking television shows in the history of the medium, has died at 86.The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family, said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died Tuesday at home in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle.“Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years,” his brother and the duo’s other half, Dick Smothers, said in the statement. “Our relationship was like a good marriage — the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”When “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” debuted on CBS in the fall of 1967 it was an immediate hit, to the surprise of many who had assumed the network’s expectations were so low it positioned their s...

Thousands flee widening Israeli assault in central Gaza as military launches new strikes

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and LEE KEATH (Associated Press)DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of Palestinian families fled Wednesday from the brunt of Israel’s expanding ground offensive into Gaza’s few remaining, overcrowded refuges, as the military launched heavy strikes across the center and south of the territory, killing dozens, Palestinian health officials said.On foot or riding donkey carts loaded with belongings, a stream of people flowed into Deir al-Balah — a town that normally has a population of around 75,000. It has been overwhelmed by several hundred thousand people driven from northern Gaza as the region was pounded to rubble.Because U.N. shelters are packed many times over capacity, the new arrivals set up tents on sidewalks for the cold winter night. Most crowded onto streets around the town’s main hospital, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, hoping it would be safer from Israeli strikes.Still, no place is safe in Gaza. Israeli offensives are crowding most of the population...

A lifestyle and enduring relationship with horses lends to the popularity of rodeo in Indian Country

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Kicking up a cloud of dust, the men riding bareback were in a rowdy scramble to be the first to lean down from atop their horses and grab hold of the chicken that was buried up to its neck in the ground.The competition is rarely on display these days and most definitely not with a live chicken. And yet, it was this Navajo tradition and other horse-based contests in tribal communities that evolved into a modern-day sport that now fills arenas far and wide: rodeo.With each competition, Native Americans have made them decidedly theirs — a shift from the Wild West shows and Fourth of July celebrations of centuries past that reinforced stereotypes. Rodeo has provided a stage for Native Americans, many of whom had nomadic lifestyles before the U.S. established reservations, to hone their skills and deepen their relationship with horses.“It was really a way to bring something good out of a really tough situation and become successful economically and, of course, hav...

4 arrested after violent assault in St. Catharines bar

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

Niagara police have arrested four people following an investigation into an assault incident in St. Catharines from October.Officers met with a male victim in his 40’s regarding the assault, and initial investigation determined that on Oct. 11, at approximately 2:15 a.m. the victim had been in Canucks Ale House located on Carlton Street in St. Catharines.The victim was standing at the bar and began a conversation with a man and a woman standing near him. Within a minute, the man allegedly punched the victim in the face, and two other men joined in punching the victim.As the victim fell to the floor, he was repeatedly kicked, stomped, punched, and had a bar stool thrown at him. The victim was knocked unconscious but the assault continued. The suspects eventually fled from the bar.An unknown female bar patron approached the unconscious victim, took his wallet and stole approximately $300 in cash.Niagara emergency services were not called at the time of the incident, the victim s...

Man arrested in stabbing at New York’s Grand Central Terminal charged with hate crimes

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man has been charged with hate crimes following the Christmas Day stabbing of two teenage tourists from Paraguay at a restaurant inside Grand Central Terminal, authorities said. Esteban Esono-Asue, 36, also known as Steven Hutcherson, made derogatory comments about white people shortly before the unprovoked attack on the 14- and 16-year-old girls Monday morning, according to a criminal complaint. He was being held without bail Wednesday after pleading not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and assault as hate crimes, and child endangerment.According to the complaint, Esono-Asue initially was asked to leave the Tartinery dining area by an employee, who said Esono-Asue responded by saying: “I’ll leave, I don’t want the white man to get at you,” or something similar. A second employee said he made another anti-white comment after he approached her and asked for a table to place an order. “I don’t want to sit with Black people. I want to...

Are we ready? Should we do this? The debate on expanding medical assistance in dying

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:55:38 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals face a choice early in 2024. They can allow a sunset clause to take effect so that eligibility for medical assistance in dying expands to adults whose only reason for seeking it is a mental disorder. Or they can do what they did in 2023 and postpone it further, even indefinitely.Justice Minister Arif Virani says the government is weighing its options as the March deadline looms. The first step, he says, will be to see what members of Parliament and senators recommend after committee hearings that probed the issue this past fall. To find answers, The Canadian Press spoke with many of the medical and legal experts who participated in that process.Here are five questions that strike at the heart of the debate. Is Canada ready?Assessors and providers of medical assistance in dying, as well as medical regulators, say they are ready for eligibility to be widened.“Our hope is that government will not be influenced by the concern that the regulators will ...