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EU and Japan reach deal on cross-border data flows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

The EU and Japan completed a deal on cross-border data flows, the European Commission said today.The agreement will make doing business in the online world “easier, less costly and more efficient,” the Commission said in a statement.The agreement was concluded on the sidelines of a gathering of G7 trade ministers in Japan, which was co-chaired by EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis and the Japanese ministers of trade and foreign affairs. Once ratified, the deal’s terms will be included in the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan. The data economy, which represented 2.6 percent of EU economic output in 2019, is expected to almost triple by 2025, the Commission said.“That is why this is a landmark deal,” Dombrovskis said in the statement. “It is essential to ensure the free flow of data with trust and to help us [in] shaping global rules on data flows.” The EU has already made similar data rules part of agreements with trade p...

Gaza offensive in ‘next stage,’ Israel says, as bombing causes blackout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

Israel expanded its military operations in northern Gaza, including bombardments that cut off communications and internet connections, as military officials suggested an anticipated ground offensive against the Hamas militants was starting.“We moved to the next stage in the war,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in remarks broadcast Saturday. “Last evening, the ground shook in Gaza. We attacked above ground and underground,” he added.“The instructions to the forces are clear. The campaign will continue until further notice,” Gallant said.Aid groups and civil society organizations said they have lost touch with staff and families in the Gaza Strip as a result of the connection outages.“Last night, the ground forces entered and continued expanding the ground force operations. Infantry, engineering and artillery are accompanied by heavy gunfire,” Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said on Saturday. Senior Hamas officials, including...

Investigation underway at Worcester State University after double shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

Worcester State University canceled events this weekend after double shooting on campus early Saturday morning, university officials said.Massachusetts State Police said the incident around 2:30 a.m. was the result of an altercation near the parking garage. Two victims were transported to UMass Medical Center.“Neither the victims or the suspected assailants are students of Worcester State University,” the Worcester County DA’s Office said in a statement.Around 8 a.m., university officials issued a shelter-in-place order and confirmed a large police presence on campus. By 9 a.m., the order was lifted, but students and community members are asked to avoid the area.University officials are also asking for the public’s help for photos and videos around the locations of Wasylean parking lot and Sheehan Hall. Worcester State’s homecoming and family day weekend are also canceled. Officials said that there is no immediate threat to campus.This is a developin...

Best Buy recalls nearly 1 million Insignia pressure cookers over burn risks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

New York (CNN) — Best Buy is recalling nearly a million pressure cookers because they pose burn risks.About 930,000 Insignia Multi-Function pressure cookers sold between October 2017 and June 2023 have inaccurate volume markings, meaning that some users may fill them beyond their intended capacity, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a post Thursday. This can cause hot food and liquid to erupt when the pressure cooker is opened.The defective cookware was sold in both the United States and Canada.In the United States, Best Buy has received 17 complaints of burn injuries from these appliances, some of which were second-degree and other severe burns, according to the CPSC. The retailer has received 31 reports of instances where food was ejected under pressure.There have been no reports of injuries in Canada, according to the country’s health department.“Consumers should always check that the inner pot is not filled beyond two-thirds capacity when pressure cooking, th...

Federal judge hints that Big Tech companies may have to face consumer allegations of mental health harm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

Washington, DC (CNN) — A federal judge in California hinted Friday that Google, Meta, Snap and TikTok could very likely have to face allegations by consumers that the social media companies harmed young Americans’ mental health with addictive features built into their respective platforms — and that Big Tech’s signature liability shield, known as Section 230, may not be enough to deflect those claims.The judge overseeing the litigation — which includes nearly 200 individual cases against the social media companies — said repeatedly that the tech companies may be unable to escape liability for what the consumer plaintiffs allege are vast harms to America’s children posed by algorithmic rabbit holes, image filters that encourage eating disorders or limitless content feeds.Should the claims be allowed to proceed, it could mark a significant blow to the tech industry, which is currently fending off a nationwide legal assault on their services linked to mental health allegations. An...

NFL Notes: The secret behind the Patriots’ No. 1 defense against No. 1 WRs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

For most Patriots practices, all Jalen Reagor needs is a standard uniform.He grabs a helmet, shoulder pads, cleats, the same faded jersey, and a couple other pieces of equipment common to every NFL player.But last week, in order to properly prepare for Buffalo, he needed more.Reagor requested four sweatbands from the team’s equipment staff, two for each forearm. He slid one under each elbow, then tugged the leftovers above each wrist. Because in those practices, he would no longer be Jalen Reagor.He was the second-most targeted receiver in the league, a three-time Pro Bowler and armband enthusiast: Bills star Stefon Diggs. The coaching staff tasked Reagor with simulating Diggs on the scout-team offense, his home for most of the season as a practice-squad player (the Patriots signed Reagor to their active roster Thursday). Each week, the Patriots’ scout-team offense practices against their starting defense, running plays the coaches expect to see from their next opponent....

Maine embarks on healing and searches for answers a day after mass killing suspect is found dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — The city of Lewison, Maine, embarked upon a healing process — and a search for answers — on Saturday, a day after the body was found of a U.S. Army reservist who authorities said opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and killed 18 people.Thirteen people were also injured when 40-year-old Robert Card of Bowdoin — a firearms instructor who grew up in the area — was found dead in nearby Lisbon from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Maine Gov. Janet Mills at a Friday night news conference called for the healing process to begin.“Like many people I’m breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing that Robert Card is no longer a threat to anyone,” Mills said on Friday night.Whitney Pelletier hung a hand-drawn “Lewiston Strong” sign in the glass door of her downtown cafe, Forage, on Saturday morning.Like other local businesses, Forage has been closed for days as police searched for the man who fatally shot 18 people at a bar and a bowling alley in Maine’s second largest ...

Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries. The war robs Gaza of funeral rites

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — It was neither the place nor the time for a proper goodbye, said Omar Dirawi. Not here, in this dusty field strewn with dead people wrapped in blankets and zipped up in body bags. And not now, as Israeli airstrikes crashed around him for the third week, erasing more of his neighborhood and sundering hundreds of families and friendships.Yet on this October week in Gaza’s central town of Zawaideh, the 22-year-old Palestinian photojournalist buried 32 members of his family who were killed in Israeli air raids last Sunday.Dirawi’s aunts, uncles and cousins from Gaza City had heeded Israeli military evacuation orders and taken refuge in his home farther south. Days later Dirawi was unloading their bodies from the back of a truck, digging a narrow trench partitioned with cinder blocks and reciting abbreviated funeral prayers before nightfall, when Israeli warplanes screeched and everyone ran indoors.“There’s nothing that feels right about this,” Dirawi sai...

North Macedonia police intercept a group of 77 migrants and arrest 7 suspected traffickers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Police in North Macedonia said Saturday they found 77 migrants in the country’s south and arrested seven Pakistanis suspected of human trafficking.Police said in a statement the arrests took place late Thursday near the southern town of Negorci when they responded to reports of a large group of people on the move.The 77 included 52 Syrians, 13 Pakistanis, five Iraqis, five Turks and two Indians.Seven of the Pakistanis, believed to be the organizers of the group’s illegal entry into North Macedonia from neighboring Greece, were arrested and criminal charges were filed against them.It was the first large group of migrants crossing into North Macedonia in recent months.The migrants were being sheltered in a reception center in the border town of Gevgelija pending deportation back to Greece.According to the police, a total of 5,280 attempts at illegal crossing were prevented in the first six months of 2023, the vast majority of them at the southern border ...

Less boo for your buck: For the second Halloween in a row, US candy inflation hits double digits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:42 GMT

Spooked by the high price of Halloween candy? There’s not much relief in sight.For the second year in a row, U.S. shoppers are seeing double-digit inflation in the candy aisle. Candy and gum prices are up an average of 13% this month compared to last October, more than double the 6% increase in all grocery prices, according to Datasembly, a retail price tracker. That’s on top of a 14% increase in candy and gum prices in October 2022.“The price of candy has gotten to be outrageous,” said Jessica Weathers, a small business owner in Shiloh, Illinois. “It doesn’t make sense to me to spend $100 on candy.”Weathers said she usually buys plenty of candy for trick-or-treaters and events at school and church. But this year, she only bought two bags and plans to turn off her porch light on Halloween when she runs out. Other consumers are changing what they buy. Numerator, a market research firm, said its surveys show about one-third of U.S. consumers plan to trade down to value or store brands...