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OBF: Only a changed Bill Belichick can hang onto his job

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

The 2-7, worst-in-the-AFC Patriots play the Colts on Sunday in Germany.Bill Belichick may get das boot once this season is over.Or sooner.Let’s catch up.In January 2020, two months before Tom Brady headed south, we urged the Patriots to tankand begin the post-Brady rebuild immediately.They opted for Cam Newton and a three-plus-year run of sub-par play and mediocrity wehaven’t seen since we spent Thursday nights with “Friends.”RIP Williamstown-born Matthew Perry.In July, we told you with all the irony we could muster in print that Belichick’s future with thePatriots was inextricably tied to the performance of Mac Jones on the field this season.Ouch.In August, we reminded you that the Patriots twin-monarchy Robert Kraft and Belichick werebeing delusional when it came to spending cash on legitimate offensive players, like DeAndreHopkins.In September, we warned you about the perils of a slow start.Bill Belichick is 71.Brady fought Father Time to a draw.But the Old Man is coming for his ...

Tuesday’s high school roundup/scores: Mansfield girls soccer team nets milestone win for coach Kevin Smith

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

Four different players found the net as Mansfield doubled up Westborough 4-2 in a Div. 2 second-round girls soccer contest.It was head coach Kevin Smith’s 200th win for the Hornets.Charlotte DiRocco and Caroline Coletti led the offense with goals and Ally Berlam posted the shutout in net for No. 9 Concord-Carlisle in a 2-0 Div. 1 second round win over No. 8 Winchester. … Ella Maher was stellar in net for No. 9 Millis (8-10-2) all the way through the end of penalty kicks, helping lead a 2-1 marathon win over No. 8 St. John Paul II in Div. 5 second round action.Field hockeyRyan Hallisey scored twice as No. 4 Hingham (17-2-1) defeated No. 20 Milton 4-0 in Div. 2 second round action. … Ryan Crook and Addie Finlaw got the goals for third-seeded Somerset Berkley (19-0-1) during a 2-1 victory over No. 14 Oliver Ames. … Shea Larkee scored twice for No. 2 Norwood (18-2) in a 3-0 shutout win over No. 15 Notre Dame Academy of Hingham. … With a pair of goals from Izzy Digirolamo and anoth...

Sweden’s largest egg producer to cull all its chickens following recurrent salmonella outbreaks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s largest egg producer, which had nearly 1.2 million chickens or 20% of all laying hens in the country before a salmonella outbreak, has been ordered to euthanize all of them so the facility can be fully cleaned.The Swedish Board of Agriculture has given up on attempts to clean the hen houses at CA Cedergren, which has had recurring salmonella outbreaks in the past year, Sweden’s main farming news outlet, ATL, said Wednesday.Swedish authorities have tried to clean infected hen houses at the southern Sweden company. “It was not successful and now that we have re-infection, we needed to do something different,” Katharina Gielen, the board’s head of infection control, told ATL. It was unclear how many chickens would be killed. There was no immediate comment from CA Cedergren.In July, Sweden experienced a brief shortage of eggs as a result of a December 2022 salmonella outbreak that affected the company, ATL said. In April, all deliveries from CA Cedergren ...

Ukraine gets good news about its EU membership quest as Balkans countries slip back in the queue

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia received positive news on Wednesday about their quests to join the European Union but countries in the volatile Balkans region that have waited years longer to become members of the world’s biggest trading bloc appeared to slip back in the queue.In a series of reports, the EU’s executive branch recommended that war-ravaged Ukraine should be permitted to open membership talks, once it’s addressed some shortfalls.The European Commission lauded Ukraine, which Russian troops invaded last year, saying that the government “has shown a remarkable level of institutional strength, determination and ability to function.” But it said that talks should only start once it has addressed corruption, lobbying concerns, and a law on national minorities.Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova was delivered a similar message.Georgia was told that it should officially be named as a candidate to join once it addresses shortcomings, including in the fight against cor...

Croatia recommends people drink tap water after several fall ill from drinking bottled drinks

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Authorities in Croatia on Wednesday recommended people drink only tap water as they investigated reports of several cases of people falling ill and suffering injuries allegedly after consuming bottled beverages.Health Minister Vili Beros said several people have sought medical help for “injuries inflicted by suspected chemical elements.” Most have had mild symptoms and will be released home, he said.Health authorities ordered the “suspected” products pulled out from shops, restaurants and elsewhere. They did not say which products were being withdrawn, but photos on social media from shops suggested they were Coca-Cola brands.“Preliminary we can say that two (cases) were directly linked to the consuming of certain drinks while we are yet to determine the rest,” Beros said. “There is no need for panic but there is for caution.”The Coca-Cola Co. in Croatia offered full cooperation in a statement. It said it had conducted an internal investigation that “sho...

Chinese auto sales surged 10% year-on-year in October in fastest growth since May, exports up 50%

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Sales of passenger cars rose 10.2% in October over a year earlier, an industry association said Wednesday, as makers ramped up promotions and customers opted for electric and hybrid vehicles. Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles climbed 37.5% from a year earlier, accounting for 767,000 of the 2.03 million vehicles sold in October, the China Passenger Car Association said. Exports of passenger cars jumped nearly 50% to 391,000 units in October and have risen 66% this year, to just over 3 million units. The robust improvements partly reflect slow growth a year earlier, when China was grappling with factory shutdowns and other disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for vehicles also tends to be stronger in September and October, which are dubbed the “nine silvers and 10 golds,” the report said.So far this year, auto sales in China have climbed 3.2% to just under 17.3 million units. The report said Tesla delivered 47,164 Model Y vehicles and 24,951 Model 3s...

To help 2024 voters, Meta says it will begin labeling political ads that use AI-generated imagery

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram will require political ads running on their platforms to disclose if they were created using artificial intelligence, their parent company announced on Wednesday.Under the new policy by Meta, labels acknowledging the use of AI will appear on users’ screens when they click on ads. The rule takes effect Jan. 1 and will be applied worldwide.The development of new AI programs has made it easier than ever to quickly generate lifelike audio, images and video. In the wrong hands, the technology could be used to create fake videos of a candidate or frightening images of election fraud or polling place violence. When strapped to the powerful algorithms of social media, these fakes could mislead and confuse voters on a scale never seen.Meta Platforms Inc. and other tech platforms have been criticized for not doing more to address this risk. Wednesday’s announcement — which comes on the day House lawmakers hold a hearing on deepfakes — isn&#...

Nasty drought in Syria, Iraq and Iran wouldn’t have happened without climate change, study finds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

A three-year drought that has left millions of people in Syria, Iraq and Iran with little water wouldn’t have happened without human-caused climate change, a new study found.The west Asian drought, which started in July 2020, is mostly because hotter-than-normal temperatures are evaporating the little rainfall that fell, according to a flash study Wednesday by a team of international climate scientists at World Weather Attribution.Without the world warming 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid-19th century, “it would not be a drought at all,” said lead author Friederike Otto, an Imperial College of London climate scientist.It’s a case of climate change unnaturally intensifying naturally dry conditions into a humanitarian crisis that has left people thirsty, hungry and displaced, concluded the research, which has not yet undergone peer review but follows scientifically valid techniques to look for the fingerprints of global warming.The team looked at temperatures...

Blazing hot October almost guarantees 2023 will be the hottest year ever recorded

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

This October was the hottest on record globally, 1.7 degrees Celsius (3.1 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the pre-industrial average for the month — and the fifth straight month with such a mark in what will now almost certainly be the warmest year ever recorded.October was a whopping 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the previous record for the month in 2019, surprising even Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European climate agency that routinely publishes monthly bulletins observing global surface air and sea temperatures, among other data.“The amount that we’re smashing records by is shocking,” Burgess said.A surfer rides a wave in the Atlantic Ocean in Biarritz, southwestern France, Oct. 7, 2023. October was the fifth straight month that Earth set a record for the hottest month in recorded history. (AP Photo/Bob Edme, File)After the cumulative warming of these past several months, it’s virtu...

Showers developing Wednesday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:00:44 GMT

Mild weather continues Wednesday. Cloudy skies with scattered showers developing late afternoon. A few thunderstorms are possible., NW 5-15 G20. High 58 Interactive Radar: Track showers and storms here Wednesday night will see a few lingering showers and decreasing clouds late, NW 10-15. 42Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog Thursday will be mostly sunny, windy, W 15-20 G35. High of 52