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Hundreds charged with more than $830M in COVID-19 fraud

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of people have been charged with the theft of more than $830 million in COVID-19 emergency aid following a nationwide operation conducted by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday.More than 60 of the defendants have alleged connections to organized crime, the department said, including members of a criminal gang accused of using stolen pandemic aid to pay for a murder. Stolen items offered to CU for display returned to England “This latest action, involving over 300 defendants and over $830 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud, should send a clear message: the COVID-19 public health emergency may have ended, but the Justice Department’s work to identify and prosecute those who stole pandemic relief funds is far from over,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.The three-month operation, which ended in July, resulted in more than 300 people being charged, underscoring the pervasivenes...

Rolling Stones appear to tease new album in fake ad in local newspaper

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

London (CNN) — If you’re looking for a rock ‘n’ roll end to the summer, then the Rolling Stones may have you covered.The British rock legends appear to have teased a new album through a fake ad for a glass-repair business placed in a local London newspaper.The cryptic ad, which appeared in the east London-based Hackney Gazette last week, looks at first glance like a promotion for the new business, Hackney Diamonds, but on closer examination it contains references to several of the band’s biggest hits.“Our friendly team promises you satisfaction,” it reads. “When you say gimme shelter we’ll fix your shattered windows.”A quick call to the phone number listed in the ad leads to a recorded message.“Welcome to Hackney Diamonds, specialists in glass repairs,” a Cockney-accented male voice says. “Don’t get angry, get it fixed.”Hackney Diamonds supposedly opens for business in early September – something fans are interpreting as a hint at an album release date.The Stones have yet to make a ...

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian welcome second child

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

(CNN) — The score is two and plenty of love for Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian.The couple have welcomed their second daughter, according to a post Ohanian’s verified Instagram account.“Welcome, Adira River Ohanian,” he wrote in a post featuring a series of family photos with the newborn. “I’m grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama.”The tech entrepreneur went on to write “Feeling grateful.”“@serenawilliams you’ve now given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT,” he wrote. “Thanks to all the amazing medical staff who took care of my wife & our daughter. I’ll never forget the moment I introduced @olympiaohanian to her baby sister.”Williams publicly shared she was expecting another baby in May at the famed Met Gala in New York City.The tennis legend and Ohanian married in 2017, the same year their daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. (who goes by Olympia) was born.

Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez finalize divorce after 8 years of legal proceedings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

(CNN) — Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez have finalized their divorce nearly eight years after the former couple filed their initial petitions.They have agreed to share joint legal and physical custody of their 9-year-old son Maceo, according to a copy of the judgment filed on Tuesday and obtained by CNN.Berry has also agreed to pay Martinez $8,000 a month in child support.The Oscar-winner and “Unfaithful” actor announced in a statement shared with CNN in October 2015 that they had “come to the decision to divorce.”“‎We move forward with love and respect for one another and the shared focus of what is best for our son. We wish each other nothing but happiness in life and we hope that you respect our and, most importantly, our children’s privacy as we go through this difficult period,” the statement read.At the time, Berry and Martinez filed separate petitions for divorce in the days that followed their statement, both citing irreconcilable differences.The former couple bec...

Biden admin shrugs at Prigozhin’s death as questions about Wagner’s future linger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

While the news of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death stunned the world, the response within official Washington was a collective shrug.Officials demurred from commenting on the circumstances of the downing of a flight with Prigozhin aboard, stressing instead that everyone knew this was the likely outcome of his failed mutiny against Moscow in June and that it doesn’t change the U.S. calculation on Russia or its war in Ukraine.Asked during his vacation in Lake Tahoe if Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind the crash of Prigozhin’s private plane, carrying him and nine others, President Joe Biden said “there’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind, but I don’t know enough to know the answer.”The Wagner Group chief, a once-close Putin confidant and a backer of coups and repressive governments around the world, had widely been considered a dead man walking ever since his June insurrection. Russia’s civil aviation agency confirmed Wednesday that Prigozhin was aboa...

UMass Memorial Health moving forward with plan to close Leominster birthing center in September

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

The clock is ticking for the birthing center on the Leominster campus of UMass Memorial Health Alliance-Clinton Hospital, which is set to close next month. UMass Memorial Health announced the closure in May. As the planned closure date of Sept. 23 now approaches, the organization is moving forward with plans despite pushback from the community and nurses in the maternity ward.“I still have hope,” said registered nurse Tara Corey. “I know we’re cutting down to the wire here.” “We will not have our jobs anymore,” Corey said of the pending closure. “There won’t be a need for us in that hospital as far as if we want to stay with obstetrics which is sad.” “It’s crazy that everyone is speaking out against this and the hospital is not hearing us,” Corey continued. The state Department of Public Health recently set out a list of requirements for UMass Memorial Health to proceed with the closure. In response, the hospital wrote a 17-page letter explaining, in part, “The H...

Early testing suggests variant BA.2.86 has been detected in US wastewater, CDC report says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

(CNN) — Preliminary testing of wastewater in the United States has detected the new highly mutated coronavirus variant BA.2.86, according to a risk assessment posted Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The CDC did not give details on where the positive wastewater sample had been collected but said it was part of routine monitoring through its National Wastewater Surveillance System.Around the world, nine sequences of the new variant have been reported from human Covid-19 infections: three in Denmark, two in the United States, two in South Africa, one in the UK and one in Israel. It has also been detected at low levels in wastewater from Switzerland.The two US sequences came from patients in Michigan and Virginia. The Michigan person is an older adult who has not been hospitalized, according to the state Department of Health. The person who tested positive in Virginia was a woman who had just returned from a trip to Japan ...

Chicago Cubs are watching the standings in a tight NL wild-card race. Takeaways from their series in Detroit.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

With their sights set on winning a division title, the Chicago Cubs weren’t focusing on the National League wild-card chase.Next week’s three-game series at Wrigley Field against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers should be a chance to narrow the 3 1/2-game margin between the NL Central rivals, and the Cubs have Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele and Kyle Hendricks set up to start.But beggars can’t be choosers, and if the wild card is the Cubs’ only path to the postseason, they’ll take it.“I probably check (the wild-card standings) this year more than in the past,” manager David Ross said with a grin Wednesday morning.Of course, there was no need to check them in 2021 and ‘22, when the Cubs were out of contention by this point.“This is what’s so much fun to me about baseball — getting into this time of the year and rooting against the teams around you,” Ross said. “It’s funny, with all candidness, I can&#...

Ticker: FTC asked to probe ads directed at kids; Feds settle safety probe at dollar stores

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

Children’s advocacy groups including Fairplay and Common Sense Media are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google, saying the tech giant serves personalized ads to kids on YouTube despite federal law prohibiting the practice.The letter follows a report from The New York Times last week that found that ads on YouTube may have led to the online tracking of children. The federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, requires kid-oriented websites to get parents’ consent before collecting personal information of children under 13.In response to the Times report, Google said last week that it did not run personalized ads on children’s videos and that its ad practices fully complied with COPPA. When ads appear on children’s videos, the company told the Times, they are based on content, not user profiles.Google’s parent company, Alphabet, agreed in 2019 to pay $170 million to settle allegations that YouTube collected personal dat...

Wu names new Boston School Committee member

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:13 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu has appointed Chantal Lima Barbosa to fill the open School Committee seat ahead of the coming school year, city officials announced Wednesday, making her the first Cabo Verdean woman to serve on the board.“Chantal is a dedicated public servant whose education background, experience as a BPS alum from an immigrant family and love for BPS communities will benefit all BPS families, educators, and staff,” Wu said in the announcement Wednesday.Lima Barbosa will fill the seat left open after committee member Lorena Lopera announced her resignation in June. Applications opened in mid-July and were reviewed by the Boston School Committee Nominating Panel.The new member will serve out the remainder of Lopera’s four-year term ending on Jan. 1, 2024, after which she may be re-appointed to serve a full term.Lima Barbosa is the daughter of Cabo Verdean immigrants and lived there with her parents until the family moved to Boston in 2010, the city release stated...