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Better together: The European effort on joint defense projects

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

This article is part of the Europe’s strategic impotence Special Report.Europe’s NATO members have a GDP that’s almost as large as that of the United States, but that doesn’t translate into comparable military heft.A big reason is that the alliance’s 29 European members often scatter their defense purchases on rival programs that dissipate their effectiveness.The European Union has been aware of the problem for years, but industrial rivalries and different military priorities have made it very difficult to coordinate efforts on jointly producing weapons. While that may not have mattered much in the comfortable post-Cold War world of low defense spending and distant threats, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the calculus.Although there have been joint defense projects before — like the Eurofighter developed in the 1990s by the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain — there’s now an effort to do more together. “Defence cooperation coupl...

After Russia’s invasion, Brussels is a military player but not a military power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

This article is part of the Europe’s strategic impotence Special Report.The EU has its roots in an effort to end war in Europe, but it’s latest spat is over an effort to finance the production and delivery of a million artillery shells to Ukraine.It’s a sign of how Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine is helping to transform the bloc from a purely economic and regulatory power into one that has some military teeth.The war was a “big wake-up call,” said retired General Tom Middendorp, former chief of defense of the Netherlands who now heads the International Military Council on Climate and Security.The core of the EU’s effort to help Ukraine militarily is the off-budget European Peace Fund (EPF) — which has €1 billion to partly reimburse member countries for ammunition and missiles sent to Kyiv from their stockpiles, and another €1 billion for EU countries to jointly buy ammunition. The bloc sent 220,000 rounds of ammunition in May as well as 1,300 missiles,&nb...

‘Some crimes defy understanding’: Morgue manager at Harvard Medical School, others charged for selling stolen body parts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Several people, including the morgue manager at Harvard Medical School, are facing federal charges for the sale and transportation of stolen body parts, according to officials.An indictment filed in the United States District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania described how at least four people are facing federal charges after authorities say they took part in the sale of body parts stolen from cadavers donated to HMS. Court paperwork identified Cedric Lodge, 55, as the manager of the medical school’s morgue and detailed how, since 2018, he and the three other defendants, listed as Denise Lodge, 63, Katrina Maclean, 44, and Joshua Taylor, 46, worked to move, sell or purchase the body parts.“CEDRIC LODGE was employed as Morgue Manager at Harvard Medical School and, as such, had access to the morgue and the donated cadavers stored in the morgue,” the indictment stated. “At times, CEDRIC LODGE stole dissected portions of donated cadavers… without the knowledg...

No injuries after bucket truck tips over in Concord, Mass.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

No injuries were reported after a bucket truck fell on its side in Concord, Mass., according to officials.Old Road to 9 Acre Corner was closed off to traffic as police and firefighters responded to the scene of the tip over just before 10 a.m., according to the Concord Police Department.Officials at the scene said the operator was reportedly able to get out of the wreckage and appeared to be uninjured.As of noontime, authorities had not yet determined how the vehicle ended up on its side, especially since the truck’s crane was apparently not extended at the time.

Fed keeps rates unchanged for first time in 15 months but signals 2 more potential hikes this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday after having raised it 10 straight times to combat high inflation. But in a surprise move, the Fed signaled that it may raise rates twice more this year, beginning as soon as next month. The Fed’s move to leave its benchmark rate at about 5.1%, its highest level in 16 years, suggests that it believes the much higher borrowing rates it’s engineered have made some progress in taming inflation. But top Fed officials want to take time to more fully assess how their rate hikes have affected inflation and the economy. “Holding the target rate steady at this meeting allows the committee to assess additional information and its implications” for the Fed’s policies, the central bank said in a statement. The central bank’s 18 policymakers envision raising their key rate by an additional half-point this year, to about 5.6%, a...

Celebrate Juneteenth with these food traditions and recipes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Rekaya Gibson | (TNS) The Virginian-PilotJuneteenth — or June 19 — is a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to tell the enslaved that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed two years prior and that they were free. They first celebrated freedom with church gatherings. It then evolved into outdoor festivals with barbecue, red foods and baseball, said Leni Sorensen, a chef and culinary historian living in Crozet, Virginia. Even though she isn’t sure about the origin of the red, others have theories: Red represented the blood of enslaved people who died or it was linked to hibiscus, a native West African flower used to make reddish-purple tea.“The significance of the color red is debatable and it could be symbolic,” she said. “It’s hard to know.”A Juneteenth celebration brought together bakers and butchers for a community potluck of the best dishes. Traditional fare included: barbecue b...

Grim undertaking: Former manager of Harvard morgue charged with trafficking human remains

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue has been charged with alleged trafficking of human remains.“Some crimes defy understanding,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Middle District of Pennsylvania Gerard M. Karam, whose office is handling the case. “The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human.”On Tuesday, Cedric Lodge, 55, the former manager of the school’s morgue, his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, both of Goffstown, N.H.; as well as Katrina MacLean, 44, of Salem; Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Penn., and Mathew Lampi, 52, of East Bethel, Minn., were indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods charges. This followed charges against Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Bloomsburg, Penn., and Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Ark.The alleged ring operated between 2018 and 2022 and would buy and sell human remains stolen from the Harvard Medical School morgue and an Arkansas mortuary.Ce...

RMV on hiring spree ahead of new driver’s license law taking effect in July

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

The Registry of Motor Vehicles is on a hiring spree to prepare for a new law that allows people without lawful proof of presence in the United States to apply for a Massachusetts driver’s license.The agency is hiring more than 200 employees in anticipation of the law, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1. Most of the new hires are frontline service center workers who will work face-to-face with applicants and be responsible for validating the necessary foreign documents to get a license, the top RMV official said.Registrar of Motor Vehicles Colleen Ogilvie said the RMV is in the process of hiring 139 service center workers and 77 road test examiners. Other RMV departments added anywhere from two to eight people depending on the role over the past year, she said.“We anticipate a large demand for this driver’s license with these new customers eligible. So that will put demand on our service centers,” Ogilvie told the Herald. “… We expect appointment demand for permi...

Burnout threatens primary care workforce and doctors’ mental health

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

Lauren Sausser | KFF Health News (TNS)CHARLESTON, S.C. — Melanie Gray Miller, a 30-year-old physician, wiped away tears as she described the isolation she felt after losing a beloved patient.“It was at the end of a night shift, when it seems like bad things always happen,” said Miller, who is training to become a pediatrician.The infant had been sick for months in the Medical University of South Carolina’s pediatric intensive care unit and the possibility that he might not improve was obvious, Miller recalled during an April meeting with physicians and hospital administrators. But the suddenness of his death still caught her off guard.“I have family and friends that I talk to about things,” she said. “But no one truly understands.”Doctors don’t typically take time to grieve at work. But during that recent meeting, Miller and her colleagues opened up about the insomnia, emotional exhaustion, trauma, and burnout they experienced from their time in the pediatric ICU.“This is not a norm...

Freeland says production subsidies for Volkswagen will be tax-free, matching the U.S.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:51 GMT

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Wednesday that the federal government plans to make the production subsidies it’s offering to Volkswagen tax-free to match the incentives offered by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. Her comments came after the  parliamentary budget officer published a report saying Canada’s contract with the German auto giant to build an electric-vehicle battery plant in southwestern Ontario would cost the federal government up to $16.3 billion over the next 10 years. That figure is higher than what Ottawa previously said the deal would cost taxpayers, a sum that included a $700-million upfront capital investment and up to $13.2 billion in production subsidies.The Parliamentary Budget Office estimate included the $700-million contribution for the construction of the plant and $12.8 billion in production support. However, the PBO said that for the production subsidies to be equivalent to the incentives offered by the U.S., the federal gove...