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Senior Treasury officials reiterate dire warnings if debt ceiling isn’t lifted, pour cold water on invoking the 14th Amendment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

(CNN) — Ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between President Joe Biden and Congressional leaders on Tuesday, senior Treasury officials reiterated dire warnings of economic “chaos” and “catastrophe” if the US doesn’t raise the debt ceiling as the country barrels toward default in early June.“I know he wants to set up a process in which spending priorities and levels are discussed and negotiated but these negotiations should not take place with a gun, really, to the head of the American people,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday on ‘ABC This Week.’While congressional Republicans want to tie any debt ceiling hike to spending and budget cuts, the administration has said the two issues are separate.Yellen and her No. 2, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, both painted a stark picture of “economic chaos” if the debt ceiling isn’t lifted and confirmed that the latest Treasury data s...

Warm Week Ahead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

Wow! What a weekend we had with temps in the 70s to near 80, full on sunshine and low humidity. Pretty easy to get used to that pattern, and then overall theme of this week, is to have some similar days showing up in the 7 days forecast. After tracking a little bit of wet weather overnight, we’re drying out quickly and quite nicely this morning as temps will jump from the 50s this morning, right back into the mid 70s this afternoon with low humidity and a refreshing breeze. Tomorrow will be the coolest day of the 7day forecast as highs drop into the 60s for most, although along the coast, temps run in the mid to upper 50s in the afternoon with an ocean breeze. More clouds stream in midday into the afternoon, but the pattern remains dry as wet weather missed us to the south. Chilly air settles in at night, with temps falling into the mid 30s in many of the suburbs, 40s in Boston. After a chilly start Wednesday, the afternoon will be fantastic with highs near 70 under a sunny sk...

Man accused in pair of armed robberies in Jamaica Plain to appear in court

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

A man arrested in connection with a pair of armed robberies at cellphone stores in Jamaica Plain late last month is set to appear in court Monday.Boston Police said local officers working with state police and members of the US Marshals Office arrested Akeem Lahens, 32, of Dorchester around 2:40 p.m. Friday. Lahens is now facing charges including armed robbery and kidnapping linked to the Jamaica Plain robberies on April 26 and April 27, officials said. 7NEWS previously spoke with people who work at the stores, who described their experiences. “He said ‘Don’t play dumb man. I’m not having a good day. Don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to kill you man,’” Emmanuel Sanchez said of the man he said robbed him while wielding two knives on April 27 at a Cricket Wireless store on Centre Street. The robbery Sanchez described happened 24 hours after workers said a man showed two knives while robbing a nearby Boost Mobile store. Store manager Ashley Cruz said the r...

Grace Curley: Biden’s 2024 campaign already reflecting his disastrous first term

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

Team Biden is officially on the campaign trail, and the re-election efforts are going about as well as everything else the octogenarian gets his hands on.This week, President Biden made waves when he told a group of reporters that he would be having a “major press conference” later that Friday.Considering the commander in chief is typically showing reporters the back of his head, this was big news.Alas, it turns out that the president misspoke.When Biden said he would be holding a “major press conference,” what he actually meant was he would be sitting down for a one-on-one interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle later that night.This was a huge bummer for all of the crack scribes in the media who were readying their pertinent questions about ice cream and the First Dog. There’s always tomorrow!Keep in mind that the Biden administration is an example of trickle-down incompetence. So it should come as a surprise to no one that the rest of the best and brightest are also struggling.On ...

Vivek Ramaswamy tours New Hampshire as poll numbers climb

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

It isn’t unusual to see presidential candidates at a diner in New Hampshire, but seldom has the morning crowd at Linda’s Breakfast Place in Seabrook been presented with a candidate quite like Vivek Ramaswamy.The Ohio native was in the Granite State last week for a multi day campaign tour, which on Thursday found him seated in a booth at the back of the eatery off U.S. Route 1 and talking with a pair of voters to explain why he, not former President Donald Trump or another well known Republican, is the right choice to lead the country in 2024.“This is what’s going on in our country: we’re all hungry for a cause, we’re hungry for purpose, and we’re hungry for media identity, at a time when the things that used to fill our hunger — faith, patriotism, hard work and family — these things have disappeared,” he told diners.Voters in New Hampshire, where the country’s first primaries will be held, are used to being treated to early presidentia...

Business confidence falls to lowest level in a year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

Confidence among the state’s employers has fallen to its lowest level in more than a year, a survey of Massachusetts businesses shows.The Associated Industries of Massachusetts, in its monthly Business Confidence Index, said confidence among businesses fell 1.4 points from March to April, dropping from 51.5% to 50.1%, a level which the business association says is “essentially even” with the “the 50 mark that separates optimistic from pessimistic outlooks.”“Businesses report that some customers are postponing buying decisions as they evaluate whether the economy is headed for a soft landing or a recession. At the same time, however, the report on Friday that US employers created 253,000 jobs in April shows that the employment market continues to defy the gravity of any slowdown,” Sara Johnson, the chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors said with the release of the report.That 50.1% confidence score is eight points lower than employers reported this time last year and 8.6 po...

Lucas: Biden should target Mexico’s cartels with troops

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

Joe Biden is sending U.S. troops to the wrong place.They needed to go to New York, a sanctuary city, where hapless Mayor Eric Adams is begging President Biden, a fellow Democrat, for help in dealing with the influx of illegal immigrants flooding his city.Biden’s response has been: “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”While Adams has blamed “the national government” for “turning its back on New York,” he has held President Joe Biden blameless.Adams said that the once great city of New York “is being destroyed by the migrant crisis.”He said that 59,000 migrants had arrived in New York since last spring, which is about the same number that cross into Texas in a slow week.Perhaps the mayor should be reminded that it was Joe Biden who turned the illegal immigrant spigot on, and only he can turn it off, something he refuses to do.And things are only going to get worse when Title 42 expires May 11. Title 42 allows the U.S.to deny illegal immigrant asylum seekers for health reasons.Biden’s respon...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to provide update on provincial wildfire situation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is expected to provide an update on the province’s ongoing wildfires later this afternoon.A press conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. MDT.  Smith will be joined by Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis and other officials.Several thousand people have been ordered to leave their homes as more than 100 wildfires burn across Alberta.Smith activated the cabinet’s emergency management committee Friday and said there would be daily media briefings on the wildfire situation.So far this year, 348 wildfires have burned more than 25,000 hectares across the province. In Fox Lake, about 550 kilometres north of Edmonton, the province said a 4,400-hectare wildfire destroyed 20 homes, an RCMP detachment, a store and the community’s water treatment plant.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2023.The Canadian Press

Ukraine shoots down 35 drones over Kyiv as attacks kill 4

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine air defenses shot down 35 Iranian-made drones over Kyiv in Russia’s latest nighttime assault, as attacks across Ukraine by the Kremlin’s forces killed four civilians, officials said Monday.The bombardments came as Moscow enforced tight security on the eve of traditional Red Square commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.Russian media counted at least 21 Russian cities that canceled military parades — the staple of Victory Day celebrations across Russia — on May 9 for the first time in years. Regional officials cited “security concerns” or vaguely referred to “the current situation.”Parades will go ahead in Russia’s largest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. But the use of drones has been banned in both cities ahead of Victory Day. In St. Petersburg, which is often referred to as “northern Venice” for its network of rivers and canals, using jet skis in certain parts of the city has also been prohibited until May 10. In the ...

China tells US to ‘reflect deeply’ over downturn in ties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:11:28 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister told the U.S. ambassador on Monday that Washington is responsible for the downturn in relations between the two countries and must “reflect deeply” before ties can return to a healthy track, an official said.Qin Gang’s comments follow a suspension of serious dialogue on a range of issues between the world’s largest economies, increasingly at odds over tariffs, attempts by Washington to deprive China of cutting-edge technology, and China’s claims to self-governing Taiwan and large parts of the South and East China Seas.China’s Foreign Ministry quoted Qin as telling Ambassador Nicolas Burns that a “series of erroneous words and deeds by the U.S.” since a meeting in November between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping “have undermined the hard-won positive momentum of Sino-U.S. relations.” “The U.S. side should reflect deeply, meet China halfway, and propel China-U.S. relations out of the difficulties and back...