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Poland cleared for $12B attack helicopter deal with US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

The U.S. government has agreed to the sale of Apache helicopters and related equipment worth $12 billion to Poland’s military, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said Monday.Following the launch of Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine last year, Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said Warsaw intended to procure Apache helicopters to beef up its deterrence. But any foreign sale of military equipment from U.S. contractors needs to be notified in advance to Congress by the DSCA, a process that is now complete for the potential Apache sale. Until the Boeing-made helicopters are ready, Błaszczak said on social media late Monday that the U.S. army had agreed to supply existing aircraft from its own resources in the meantime. According to the DSCA’s notification, in addition to the sale of 96 Apache attack helicopters the deal also includes missiles, ammunition, guidance systems, night vision sensors and access to U.S. training staff among...

Large police response amid active investigation in Randolph

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

Randolph police have blocked off a neighborhood amid an investigation that began overnight and has carried over into Tuesday morning.Multiple police cruisers and fire trucks and officers using a drone could be seen in the area of Moulton Street.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Fresh Air

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

Whoosh! Just like that, the slightly higher humidity is gone as refreshing northerly breezes take over this morning. That breeze is behind a cold front that came through late yesterday/last night with the scattered downpours that rolled through. The rain, now well off our coast this morning, won’t return to the forecast until Thursday evening. That’ll leave us nice and dry the next few days with mostly sunny skies today and tomorrow. The forecast is almost a cut and paste from this afternoon, to tomorrow afternoon as temps run low to mid 70s coast to upper 70s to 80 inland. All and all, superb weather the next couple of days with low humidity and comfortable cool overnights. Clouds start to increase Thursday afternoon and as a warm front approaches us, we’ll likely track scattered showers and storms with localized downpours Thursday night, into early Friday morning. A few scattered showers and storms will be with us Friday afternoon, into the weekend, but likely be...

Thousands of Massachusetts police disciplinary records released by regulators

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

The state’s police licensing board released thousands of disciplinary records Tuesday for law enforcement officers across Massachusetts as part of a long-awaited database that they were required to create under state law.The database, available in PDF and spreadsheet formats, fulfills a requirement in a 2020 police reform law and offers the public an easily accessible look at the backgrounds of their hometown cops. The publication of the database also clears from the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission’s plate a challenging project that took years to make.Regulators published 3,413 disciplinary records from 273 of the 440 law enforcement agencies under the POST Commission’s purview. The Boston Police Department has the third-most disciplinary records in the database behind the Springfield Police Department in second and the Massachusetts State Police in first.The remaining agencies not represented in the database are those that confirmed to regulators they have no histor...

Real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin wins vote to become Thailand’s 30th prime minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A populist Thai party linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra won a vote in parliament to lead the country, hours after the divisive former leader returned from years of self-imposed exile and began an eight-year prison sentence.Real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin’s victory, with 482 votes out of 727 lawmakers present, ends months of suspense, legal wrangling and horse trading that followed the May elections. The progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most votes in the national election, was blocked from taking power by conservative senators.Thaksin’s return was an emotional moment for supporters of the 74-year-old billionaire, who won the loyalty of millions with populist policies that directed attention, and funding, to the country’s largely rural, often impoverished, north.Hundreds of people gathered outside of the airport early in the morning, donning red clothes and holding sign with welcoming messages. They sang and chanted in antic...

Iran unveils armed drone resembling America’s MQ-9 Reaper and says it could potentially reach Israel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Defense Ministry unveiled a drone on Tuesday resembling America’s armed MQ-9 Reaper, claiming that the aircraft is capable of staying airborne for 24 hours and has the range to reach the country’s archenemy Israel. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency published a photograph of the drone, called the Mohajer-10, on display at a conference marking Defense Industry Day with what appeared to be smoke-machine fog underneath it. “Mohajer” means “immigrant” in Farsi and has been a drone line manufactured by the Islamic Republic since 1985.IRNA said the drone is able to fly up to 24,000 feet with a speed of 210 kph (130 mph), carrying a bomb payload of up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds). It also said the drone could carry electronic surveillance equipment and a camera. Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, a protégé of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also viewed the drone on Tuesday.“Today, we can firmly introduce Iran as an adva...

Haiti and Dominican Republic brace for Tropical Storm Franklin as Harold approaches Texas coast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Franklin churned through the Caribbean Sea Tuesday as authorities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic warned residents to prepare for landslides and heavy floods.The storm was centered early Tuesday about 255 miles (415 kilometers) south of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). It was moving northwest at 3 mph (5 kph) and was expected to turn northward. Franklin was expected to strengthen before making landfall early Wednesday in Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The storm is forecast to drop up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in both countries, with up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) in isolated areas. Heavy rainfall is of great concern to Haiti, where severe erosion in many places often leads to dangerous flooding. More than 40 people died in June following a day of heavy rain from a thunderstorm.“The mudslide risk there is just awful...

Spain’s acting prime minister calls Women’s World Cup champions an inspiration for youth

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s acting prime minister greeted the country’s Women’s World Cup champions at the presidential palace on Tuesday.“You have achieved something very important. The girls who watch you see soccer as a place where they can develop athletically and personally,” Pedro Sánchez said while posing for a group photo with the soccer team.“The 21st century will be the century of women on all fronts, and the century of effective equality between men and women,” he added.Sánchez said the team members will be awarded Spain’s golden medal of sports achievement in honor of their victory.Players and staff landed late Monday in Madrid after a flight from Sydney, Australia, where Spain beat England 1-0 in Sunday’s final. They were greeted by thousands in the Spanish capital in a celebration that lasted until past midnight.Gender equality and women’s rights have been cornerstones of Sánchez’s leftist government. But Spain’s Wome...

Major wildfires in Greece, Spain’s island of Tenerife burn out of control, prompting evacuations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

ALEXANDROUPOLIS, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters struggled Tuesday to control major wildfires burning out of control for days in northeastern Greece and on Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, with strong winds fanning the flames and prompting evacuations of villages and a city hospital in Greece. Hot, dry and windy conditions have seen dozens of wildfires break out across Greece, with the most severe entering its fourth day and encroaching on the northeastern port city of Alexandroupolis. On Monday, two people died and two firefighters were injured in separate fires in northern and central Greece.The fire risk level for several regions, including the wider Athens area, was listed as “extreme” for the second day Tuesday. Authorities have banned public access to mountains and forests in those regions until at least Wednesday morning and ordered military patrols.In Spain’s Canary Islands, firefighters battled to control a wildfire burning for a week on the popular tourist ...

Pakistani rescuers try to free 6 kids and 2 men in a cable car dangling hundreds of feet in the air

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:40 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A cable car carrying six children and two adults dangled hundreds of meters (feet) above the ground in a remote part of Pakistan after it broke on Tuesday, trapping the occupants for hours before rescuers arrived in helicopters to try to free them. Army commandos could be seen on local TV trying to lower themselves on ropes from the choppers toward the cable car. An expert warned the rescue was incredibly delicate because the wind created by the helicopters’ blades could further weaken cables holding the car aloft.Relatives of those trapped prayed while anxiously watching the operation unfold. The rescue also transfixed Pakistanis across the country who watched on television.One of the cables snapped while the eight people were crossing a river canyon in Battagram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Villagers frequently use cable cars to get to school, government offices or businesses in Pakistan’s mountainous regions, but the cars are often poor...