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State Education Board to release 2023 MCAS results, vote on physical and sexual education changes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is set to discuss the latest round of MCAS results and move forward with revisions to physical and health education framework at Tuesday’s meeting.The upcoming meeting is set to first tackle long-discussed revisions to how the state teaches health and physical education.The changes, proposed by the Healey administration and released for a 60-day public comment period in June, have been touted as important updates to an outdated framework including things like media literacy and inclusive of gay, queer, and trans students’ identities and needs.They would be the first updates to the curriculum guidelines in 25 years, and the final say on curriculum would remain at the discretion of local school districts.The department received nearly 5,400 responses of public comment, according to a summary released ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, and the newly updated draft “reflects various changes intended to addressCommen...

Councilors target flow of guns into Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

Facing down the latest mass shooting, the Boston City Council is quickly moving on an ordinance that would task police with compiling annual data on firearms trafficking, a measure aimed at cutting down on gun violence.The ordinance, discussed at a Monday morning hearing of the government operations committee, is listed as “matters recently heard for possible action,” on the Wednesday City Council meeting agenda.Council President Ed Flynn, who co-sponsored the ordinance, said it is modeled in part, after a similar measure that was passed in New York City last year.“From community violence to domestic violence to violence against oneself, guns remain a particularly dangerous weapon of choice,” Councilor Brian Worrell, the other co-sponsor, said. “This data is critical for policymakers and law enforcement to do their jobs and keep our community safe.“We cannot continue to sit idly by while our communities are repeatedly traumatized by violence, mainly because the weapon was purchased ...

UNGA Briefing: Biden, Zelenskyy and what else is going on at the United Nations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — It’s Day 1 of the U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting that brings world leaders together at U.N. headquarters in New York. Here are the highlights of what happened Monday at the U.N. and what to keep an eye on today, Tuesday.WHAT HAPPENED AT AND AROUND THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON MONDAY— While the General Debate had yet to start, Monday saw the beginning of a two-day summit meant to galvanize world leaders on reaching the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by world leaders in 2015. Programming around the summit included appearances by celebrities like Senegalese musician Baaba Maal and actors Natalie Portman and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.— Meeting with media executives on the sidelines of the General Assembly, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi denied his country had sent Russia drones to use in the Ukraine war: “We are against the war in Ukraine,” he said.— As Climate Week in New York kicked off, leaders of the World Health Organization and the upcoming ...

Heading for UN, Ukraine’s president questions why Russia still has a place there

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Days before potentially crossing paths with Russia’s top diplomat at the United Nations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested Monday that the world body needs to answer for allowing his country’s invader a seat at the tables of power.“For us, it’s very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. And if in the United Nations still — it’s a pity, but still — there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me. I think it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations,” Zelenskyy said after visiting wounded Ukrainian military members at a New York hospital.He had just arrived in the U.S. to make his country’s case to the world and to Washington for continued help in trying to repel Russia’s invasion, nearly 19 months into what has become a grinding war.Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied weapons and other assistance, and the U.S. Congress is currently weighing President Joe Biden’s requ...

Man charged with hate crime after Seattle museum windows smashed in Chinatown-International District

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A man has been charged with a hate crime after the windows of the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle’s Chinatown International District were smashed last week. King County prosecutors allege that Craig Milne, 76, used a sledgehammer to break windows at the museum Thursday night as people were touring an exhibit, The Seattle Times reported. Milne, who is white, also was charged with malicious mischief for causing over $100,000 worth of property damage, according to charging documents.Prosecutors say Milne was heard saying he had come to the Chinatown International District to cause damage and that “the Chinese” ruined his life. When Seattle police officers arrived and arrested him, he allegedly told them that “the Chinese have tortured and tormented” him for 14 years and that he didn’t regret what he did. Efforts to find an attorney for Milne who could comment on his behalf were not immediately successful Monday.“The blatant racist motivations behind the def...

Unversed in UNGA? Stumped by SDGs? A glossary of UN General Assembly meeting lingo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly’s yearly meeting of world leaders is here — and with it, an array of acronyms, abbreviations, titles and terms that can be confounding to observers. Here’s some key vocabulary, decoded.FOR STARTERS…UNGA: Acronym (yes, people do pronounce it “UN’-gah”) for the U.N. General Assembly’s “High-level Week.” It’s the international organization’s biggest annual event, inviting presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other top leaders of all 193 U.N. member countries to speak to the world and each other. Although New Yorkers sometimes just use “General Assembly” to describe what many experience mainly as a week of street closures and whizzing motorcades, the assembly actually isn’t just this meeting. It’s a body that convenes countries’ ambassadors throughout the year to discuss a wide range of global issues and vote on resolutions. GENERAL DEBATE: The centerpiece of the week, it giv...

Girl, 12, charged for assaulting teachers and student at Oshawa school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

A 12-year-old girl is facing charges after she assaulted three teachers and a student at a school in Oshawa on Monday morning.Durham Regional Police were called to Sir Albert Love Catholic School in the Hillcroft Street and Wilson Road North area around 11:30 a.m. for reports of a female student assaulting staff and students.Police arrived at the school and said a girl had fled the area. They located the 12-year-old physically assaulting a female staff member in the schoolyard.An officer deployed a Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) to stop the assault, and the girl was taken into custody.Police said the incident was captured on body-worn camera. One victim was taken to a local hospital after being struck in the head by the girl. It’s unclear how serious those injuries are.A 12-year-old girl is facing four counts of assault and mischief. She was released on an undertaking.The girl’s identity is protected under Ontario’s Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).A police spokesp...

Girl found dead in B.C. park had ‘blunt force’ injuries: sexual assault expert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

VANCOUVER — A sexual assault expert testifying at the British Columbia Supreme Court trial of a man accused of killing a 13-year-old girl six years ago says she believes the girl’s injuries were “highly indicative of blunt force trauma.”CAUTION: note graphic content in next three paragraphs. Dr. Tracy Pickett, a doctor specializing in emergency and clinical forensic medicine, says it is unlikely those injuries, to the girl’s vagina, came from a small object such as a tampon, and is more consistent with penial penetration.She told the jury she was not at the autopsy and didn’t see the body in person, but formed her expert opinion from photos and pathologist notes, including descriptions of the injuries in the autopsy report.She says injuries to the rectum and anus are also consistent with “completed penetration.”Ibrahim Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the teen, whose body was found in Burnaby’s Central ...

Iranian soccer fans flock to Cristiano Ronaldo’s hotel after he arrives in Tehran with Saudi team

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Hundreds of soccer fans stormed into a hotel in Tehran on Monday, hoping for a glimpse of star player Cristiano Ronaldo after he arrived with his Saudi teammates ahead of a game.Chanting “Ronaldo, Ronaldo,” the fans pushed past police, filling the corridors and public spaces of the Espians Palace Hotel.Ronaldo arrived on his first visit to Iran with the Saudi football club Al Nassr, which is set to play Iran’s Persepolis in Tehran on Sept. 19. The return game will be played in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Nov. 27.Ronaldo was the first of several big-name players to accept lavish contracts to play for Saudi teams. The oil-rich kingdom is spending billions of dollars to try to transform itself into a sports and entertainment powerhouse.The Asian Champions League games are made possible by the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia following an agreement brokered by China earlier this year. The longtime rivals had severed ties in 20...

Kilogram of fentanyl found in NYC day care center where 1-year-old boy died of apparent overdose

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A taped package containing several thousand dollars worth of fentanyl was discovered inside the New York City day care center where a 1-year-old child died of an opioid overdose last week, according to a court filing.The owner of the day care center, however, maintained she had no knowledge of the presence of the highly potent opioid, which sickened three other young children, including an 8-month-old girl who tested positive for fentanyl use.The drug was found underneath a mat where the children had napped, Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department’s chief of detectives, said at a news conference Monday evening.Grei Mendez, a 36-year-old who operated the Divino Niño day care inside a Bronx apartment, pleaded not guilty on Sunday to murder charges in the death of Nicholas Dominici. A man who rented a room inside the Bronx apartment, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, is awaiting arraignment on the same set of charges.Police said they recovered about one kilogram of fenta...