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Lucas: A tale of two gun charge cases

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

If anyone deserves the Jack Jones treatment it is Dean Tran.Remember him? He is the former Fitchburg Republican state senator who was indicted by then-Attorney General Maura Healey, now governor, on a questionable gun charge. Tran has pleaded not guilty.Jones, of course, is the 25-year-old, $4.4 million New England Patriot cornerback who walked last week after Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden dropped all serious gun charges against him,In Tran’s case, Healey, running for governor in 2022, drudged up a three-and-a-half-year-old disputed gun theft case against him.Tran at the time was running against Democrat U.S. Rep Lori Trahan of Westford, a Healey supporter, in the Lowell centered 3rd Congressional District.The indictment, the only such indictment Healey sought in the eight years she was attorney general, came after Trahan endorsed Healey in the Democrat gubernatorial primary for governor.Trahan not only twice contributed $1,000 to Healey but raised an additional $30,...

9/11 nightmare never ends for cancer victims, families

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

The 9/11 attacks keep destroying lives even today.Cancer linked to the toxic emissions at Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville “sicken 1,000 people a month,” said attorney Dan Hansen, who has clients from New England to New Jersey.Retired FBI agent Tom O’Connor said he just buried a former colleague who died too young after getting ill from sifting through evidence from the terror attacks 22 years ago.Loved ones of the nearly 3,000 9/11 victims are battling Saudi Arabia in court over the Kingdom’s alleged involvement in bankrolling some of the 19 hijackers who pulled off the nightmare that never ends.And, the military tribunal of five terrorists linked to planning the attacks drag on in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where pleas deals are being pitched.“It’s literally like (Osama) bin Laden is reaching up from the grave and pulling people down,” said O’Connor, a former Northampton police officer who is now head of charities for the FBI Age...

Business confidence steady through August as recession fears dwindle

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

With the U.S. and State economies growing despite nearly a dozen Federal Reserve driven interest rate hikes, employers are reporting they feel somewhat optimistic about the future, according to a survey conducted by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.Labor markets are still presenting challenges to employers, but economic signs that central bank Chairman Jerome Powell may have successfully steered the U.S. away from a recession and toward a so-called soft landing were large enough to overshadow any hiring woes, the Association’s most recent Business Confidence Index showed.The Index fell 0.1-point from July to August to 52.4% confidence, but remained in an optimistic range. Employer economic enthusiasm has spent most of the year hovering around the 50% mark between pessimistic and optimistic, but confidence is buoyed by months of relatively strong job numbers, according to the Association.“US employers added 3.1 million jobs over the past 12 months, including 187,000 in Augu...

Call of duty: Remembering 9/11 means everything that came after, too

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

As the lone veteran on our news staff, it wasn’t terribly surprising when an editor asked me to write a column for 9/11, but this is not about the heroism at Ground Zero, the Pentagon or on Flight 93.It’s about the decision to withdraw from America’s longest war.The War on Terror that dropped veterans like me in Iraq and Afghanistan is what 9/11 means to so many of us today. We carry those memories with us into our lives and we will never forget that duty.Remember SeptemberWhen the Twin Towers fell, for a very brief time, the country came together in a way that hadn’t been seen since World War II.Following commanders-in-chief probably dreamt about seeing the job approval numbers that former President George W. Bush garnered for his handling of the tragic loss of nearly 3,000 American lives to terrorism. Upwards of 88% of voters approved of the 43rd president’s work, up from 35% in just three weeks, according to Pew Research.A majority of U.S. voters — Pew says in October...

FBI won’t release records on reports of 5th 9/11 plane targeted

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

The FBI won’t divulge if suicidal al-Qaeda terrorists intended to hijack a fifth jet on 9/11.In response to a public records request from the Herald, the agency said, “The material you requested is located in an investigative file which is exempt from disclosure … (and) release of the information could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.”What “proceedings?” The agency does not say.Sources and previous reporting suggest hijackers were thwarted — turned away or failed somehow — at JFK Airport in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.A military tribunal is dragging on at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where this case could be linked to the five terrorists charged with plotting the 9/11 attacks — including the mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. No trail date has been set as plea deals are discussed.Twenty-two years ago today 19 al-Qaeda hijackers — 15 of them Saudi nationals — hijacked and crashed four jets, killing nearly ...

France, Bangladesh sign deal to provide loans, satellite technology during Macron’s visit to Dhaka

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron witnessed the signature of a deal Monday to facilitate loans to Bangladesh aimed at infrastructure development, as well as a letter of intent to provide the South Asian country with an earth observation satellite system.This came during Macron’s two-day visit to Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, where he met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to bolster bilateral relations between the two countries.Bangladesh’s Economic Relations Division signed the agreement with the French Development Agency.A letter of intent was also signed to provide Bangladesh with an earth observation satellite system through cooperation between Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited, or BSCL, and Airbus Defense and Space SAS, France.Macron and Hasina witnessed the deals signed at the prime minister’s office. Details remained unclear, with Bangladesh authorities saying they are still ironing out the details.“The satellite that we will buy will travel th...

Greece’s shipping minister resigns a week after a passenger pushed off a ferry ramp drowns

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

Greece’s shipping minister resigned Monday over the death of a man who was pushed off a ferry ramp by a crew member after arriving late.A Greek prosecutor brought criminal charges against the captain of the island ferry and three crew members over the encounter that resulted in the Sept. 5 drowning of Andonis Kargiotis, 36. One crew member faces a charge of homicide with possible intent. Amateur video posted online showed the passenger running onto the Blue Horizon ferry’s loading ramp as the ship had cast off its moorings and was about to leave. He tried to push past two crew members and then was pushed off the ramp when he tried again. “No one can imagine that Greek sailors, violating the age-old rules for the protection of human life at sea, pushed and abandoned an unfortunate young man,” Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Miltiadis Varvitsiotis wrote in an online post after submitting his resignation.Political opponents had accused Varvitsiotis, 54, of initially dow...

Double shooting in Brampton leaves 2 people with serious injuries

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

Two people are injured after a shooting in Brampton on Sunday night.Emergency crews responded to a home on Sea Lion Road, in the area of Bovaird Drive and Highway 410, around 7 p.m.Police say two victims were found at the scene with gunshot wounds. They were brought to Sunnybrook Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.A white SUV was seen fleeing the area.Investigators believe the shooting was targeted and say there is no risk to public safety. The investigation is ongoing.

Moroccan soldiers and aid teams battle to reach remote, quake-hit towns as toll rises past 2,400

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

TAFEGHAGHTE, Morocco (AP) — Moroccan soldiers and aid teams in trucks and helicopters battled Monday to reach remote mountain towns devastated by a monstrous earthquake that killed more than 2,400 people, with survivors desperate for help to find loved ones feared trapped under the rubble.Moroccan officials have so far accepted government-offered aid from just four countries — Spain, Qatar, Britain and the United Arab Emirates — and some foreign aid teams said they were awaiting permission to deploy. Morocco’s Interior Ministry says officials want to avoid a lack of coordination that “would be counterproductive.”The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people were affected by Friday night’s magnitude 6.8 quake, made more dangerous by its relatively shallow depth. Most of the destruction and deaths were in Al Haouz province in the High Atlas Mountains, where homes folded in on themselves and steep, winding roads became clogged with rubble. Residents sometimes cleared away rocks them...

Europe’s economic outlook worsens as high prices plague consumer spending

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:51:57 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union has lowered its forecast for economic growth this year and next, saying inflation is taking a heavy toll on people’s willingness to spend in shops — while higher interest rates are sharply restricting the credit needed for investment and purchases. The revised forecast Monday from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, comes as fears of recession grow and as the European Central Bank faces a key decision this week on whether to keep raising rates, which are aimed at getting inflation under control.The 20 countries that use the euro currency are expected to see growth of 0.8% this year instead of 1.1% projected in the spring forecast, the commission said. For next year, growth expectations were lowered to 1.3% from 1.6%. For the broader 27-country EU, the forecast also was lowered to 0.8% from 1% this year and to 1.4% from 1.7% next year.“Weakness in domestic demand, in particular consumption, shows that high and stil...