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4 things to know about Patriots free agency

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

Two months ago, Patriots owner Robert Kraft issued a letter to season ticket holders inspiring hope.He promised no one in the organization was satisfied with an 8-9 finish. He said all elements of the football operation would be evaluated. And when fans returned for the 2023 season, Kraft anticipated an improved product on the field.The time has come for Kraft and the Patriots to put their money where their team is.The Pats have ranked among the lowest-spending teams in the NFL during free agency over the past three seasons. Mac Jones continues to play out his cost-controlled rookie contract. Already, the Dolphins have begun loading up by trading for All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey, and the Jets could be on the verge of adding a future Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.Meanwhile, the Patriots are entering free agency with clear roster holes in the short and long-term. They will not address all of them in the coming week, when the NFL’s “legal tampering” period wi...

Nintendo, Square Enix to return for PAX East

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

This year’s PAX East will feature the return of a some of the big name game developers absent since COVID-19 upended the long running gaming convention which annually draws tens of thousands to the city.“Nintendo’s presence at the show will be dedicated to competitive play activities. More details will be revealed at a later date,” a spokesperson for the Japan based game developer told the Herald.First started in Washington state in 2004 by the authors of the popular web comic of the same name, the Penny Arcade Expo was built as a convention focused entirely on the gaming industry for gamers. The event has grown to include a series of satellite conventions as far away as Melbourne, Australia, features live play, cash prize tournaments, and visits by industry insiders.Boston’s first convention, in 2010, brought over 50,000 attendees. According to event producer ReedPop, PAXEast has grown to be a four day event that hosts over 750 gaming companies — many of them local — and draws an a...

Lucas: DiZoglio shaking up Beacon Hill; it’s about time!

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

No one in memory has shaken up the State House—and its leaders– the way Diana DiZoglio, the fiery new state auditor has done in just one week.The public loves it and DiZoglio knows it.From Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell down to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, DiZoglio has openly declared that there is a new sheriff on Beacon Hill and that she means business.And while some may think that the newly elected DiZoglio, once a member of the House and the Senate herself, is exceeding her authority, that has not hampered DiZoglio from acting aggressively in the name of woke watchwords including “transparency, accountability and equity.”The state auditor is charged with auditing all state departments and agencies. DiZoglio has either given the sleepy office new life, or is creating a Frankenstein monster.DiZoglio was elected auditor in 2022 along  with fellow women candidates Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Attorney General Andrea Cam...

Cohen to testify before grand jury in Trump hush money probe

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is poised to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf.Cohen’s impending grand jury appearance was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly about grand jury proceedings and did so on condition of anonymity.Cohen’s closed-door testimony is coming at a critical time as the Manhattan district attorney’s office closes in on a decision on whether to seek charges against Trump.A Trump loyalist turned adversary, Cohen is likely to provide critical details about whatever involvement the Republican presidential candidate may have had in the payments, made in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, to two women who alleged affairs with him.Cohen has given prosecutors evidence, including voice recordings of conversations he had with a lawyer for one of the women, as well ...

Iran says 22,000 arrested in protests pardoned by top leader

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran announced Monday that the country’s supreme leader has pardoned 22,000 people arrested in the recent anti-government protests that swept the Islamic Republic. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the mass release. The statement by Iran’s judiciary head Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi offered for the first time a glimpse of the full scope of the government’s crackdown that followed the demonstrations over the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country’s morality police. It also suggests that Iran’s theocracy now feels secure enough to admit the scale of the unrest, which represented one of the most-serious challenges to the establishment since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tens of thousands also were detained in the purges that followed the revolution. However, anger still remains in the country as it struggles through the collapse of the nation’s curr...

Bank stocks drop in Europe over jitters on US bank failure

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Bank stocks sagged in Europe and U.S. stock futures fell Monday ahead of the market’s open in New York, shaken by a Wall Street tumble that set off worries the biggest U.S. bank failure in nearly 15 years might have ripple effects around the world. Broader markets, however, were mixed.The STOXX Banks index of 21 major European lenders was off 4.4%, with some members seeing intraday drops in double digits. Germany’s Commzerbank was down 10.5%, and Spain’s Banco de Sabadell down 10.1%.Dow futures were off 1.1% in premarket trading, and the S&P 500 was 1.4% lower.France’s CAC 40 lost 2.6% to 7,030.32. Germany’s DAX dropped 2.7% to 15,012.94. Britain’s FTSE 100 dove 2.3% to 7,570.18. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.1% to finish at 27,832.96. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5% to 7,108.80. South Korea’s Kospi recouped earlier losses to gain 0.7% to 2,410.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2% to ...

Nepal’s newly elected president takes oath of office

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s newly elected president — the third since the Himalayan nation abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008 and became a republic — took the oath of office Monday in Kathmandu. Ram Chandra Poudel was elected Thursday by members of the Federal Parliament and provincial assemblies. Top officials, diplomats and Parliament members lined up to congratulate the new president at the ceremony where the military band played national songs and gave him a salute. Outgoing President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, having completed the maximum completed two terms in office, passed the position on immediately after the swearing-in ceremony.The president is largely a figurehead with little political power. But the election triggered a feud among partners in the governing alliance headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who took office in December after a hung parliament left a fragile coalition government.Dahal backed Poudel, who is also now the supreme commander of the ...

BBC reverses Gary Lineker’s suspension for post on Twitter

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Gary Lineker will return to airwaves after the BBC reversed the former soccer great’s suspension on Monday for a post on Twitter that had criticized the British government’s new asylum policy.“Gary is a valued part of the BBC and I know how much the BBC means to Gary, and I look forward to him presenting our coverage this coming weekend,” BBC director general Tim Davie said.Britain’s national broadcaster was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming after commentators, analysts and Premier League players refused to appear as a show of support of Lineker.Lineker, one of English soccer’s most lauded players and the corporation’s highest-paid television presenter, was suspended Friday after he compared the Conservative government’s language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. The BBC said the tweet breached its impartiality rules, but critics accused it of suppressing free speech.Davie said there would be an independent review of the BBC’s soci...

US, South Korea hold drills as North sub test-fires missiles

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean and U.S. militaries launched their biggest joint exercises in years Monday while North Korea said it tested submarine-fired cruise missiles in an apparent protest of the drills it views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea’s launches Sunday signal the country likely will conduct provocative weapons testing during the U.S.-South Korean drills that are expected to run for 11 days. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to be ready to repel rivals’ “frantic war preparation moves.”North Korea’s increasing nuclear threats, along with concerns about China’s ambitions, is pushing the United States to beef up its Asian alliances. In the past year, North Korea has been steadily expanding its nuclear arsenal, as China and Russia repeatedly blocked U.S.-led efforts to toughen sanctions on the North despite its barrage of banned missile tests.The South Korean-U.S. drills include a computer simulation and several combined field t...

UK boosts defense spending in response to Russia and China

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:39:12 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Monday to increase U.K. military funding by 5 billion pounds ($6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the “epoch-defining challenge” posed by China.The increase, part of a major update to U.K. foreign and defense policy, is less than military officials wanted. Sunak said the U.K. would increase military spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product “in the longer term,” but did not set a date. Britain currently spends just over 2% of GDP on defense, and military chiefs want it to rise to 3%.The extra money will be used, in part, to replenish Britain’s ammunition stocks, depleted from supplying Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Some will also go towards a U.K.-U.S.-Australia deal to build nuclear-powered submarines.Sunak will meet U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego on Monday to confirm next steps for the military pact, known as AUKU...