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France’s new health minister under investigation for accepting undeclared gifts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

France’s newly appointed health minister is under investigation for accepting undeclared luxury gifts while working as a pharmacist. Agnès Firmin Le Bodo is suspected of having received over €20,000 worth of undisclosed gifts between 2015 and 2020, when she was working as a pharmacist in Normandy, according to an investigation by French website Mediapart.According to the outlet, she received 21 deliveries of luxury products — including watches, bottles of champagne, smartphones and a television —over the years in question from Urgo laboratories, which she failed to declare. The heart of the case hinges on France’s anti-gift laws that impose transparency rules over both companies giving presents and professionals receiving them. Authorities opened a judicial investigation in June 2023, and a hearing is scheduled for January 2024.Le Bodo’s spokesperson told Mediapart that she “will only respond to the competent authorities” during January’s hearing.The investig...

UK waters down plan for £38,700 minimum salary to bring over foreign spouses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. government softened its controversial plan to make it more difficult for people to bring non-British spouses to the U.K.Under a major legal migration shake-up announced earlier this month, the Home Office declared that it would significantly raise the minimum salary that British citizens or migrants already settled in the U.K. would need to show they are earning to allow relatives to join them under a family visa. The threshold is currently £18,600 but was set to rise to £38,700 — including when existing visa holders renew.That prompted warnings the policy would wrench families already living in the U.K. apart, and throw plans to bring relatives to the country into chaos.But, in a change slipped out just before the Christmas break, the department now says the threshold will rise to just £29,000 in the spring.Further rises are still penciled in, the government says, but they have no fixed implementation date. The Home Office said the threshold “will be increas...

Winter’s Chill To Milder Air

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

First full day of winter, feeling like winter as temps start off in the teens and lower 20s and early morning wind chills run between 5 and 15 degrees. The good news?… It’s bright, and with a dry day upon us, great weather overall for those Christmas travel plans or last minute shopping. Yes it be cold, but winds taper off too, so a manageable chilly day overall. We’ll have more clouds in the mix tomorrow as high temps recover into the lower 40s afternoon a chilly start. If there’s any chance of some precipitation, it’ll be late Saturday night into Christmas Eve. It won’t amount to much, but a few patchy light snow showers/sprinkles are possible, especially overnight Saturday and early Sunday. The best chance for the flakes will be across the interior. Christmas Eve afternoon temps run in the low to mid 40s. Christmas Day looks milder too, near 50 as we stay dry from start to finish. Temps hold near 50 mid to late week, and that means the next st...

FDA says it’s seized ‘thousands of units’ of counterfeit Ozempic

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration warned Thursday that it’s seized “thousands of units” of counterfeit versions of the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic from the US drug supply chain, and it’s urging suppliers, pharmacies and patients to use caution. Five people have gotten sick in connection with the products, but none of the cases has been serious, the FDA said.The FDA warns pharmacies, health care systems, wholesalers and patients to double-check their semaglutide products to make sure they are the real thing. One-milligram injectable Ozempic products with the lot number NAR0074 and serial number 430834149057 on the box should not be used.The agency and drugmaker Novo Nordisk are testing the fakes to determine whether they’re dangerous and to identify what the substance is. The pen label, carton, information for patients and health care professionals, and needles that come with the injectors are also counterfeit, the FDA said. The needles’ steri...

Shootings are ‘spreading like a disease in Europe,’ says survivor of deadly Prague attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

(CNN) — Jakob Weizman, a Danish student at the Charles University in Prague, was taking an exam on Thursday when he started hearing gunshots and screams.His first instinct was shock, he said – he never thought a school shooting would happen near him, in Europe.“I lived in the US for a very long time, if it would happen anywhere, it would have happened in the US,” he told CNN afterward. “Now it’s spreading like a disease to Europe as well.”He pointed to a recent spate of shootings elsewhere in the continent, saying: “You see this happen in Denmark, Serbia, and now here. This is incredibly frightening, you know?”Weizman and his professor locked the door of their exam room and barricaded it with chairs and tables, staying inside for an hour until the police arrived and escorted them out of the building.The gunman killed at least 14 people and wounded 25, in the Czech Republic’s deadliest mass shooting in decades. Police said the gunman, a 24-year-old man, was a stud...

Callahan: Handing out 7 holiday gifts to the Patriots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

FOXBORO — Late Wednesday morning, Patriots center David Andrews received an early Christmas gift.I know because I presented it to him.Andrews won the 2023 Good Guy award, an annual media honor bestowed by every NFL beat to a player who “respectfully fulfilling their media obligations with class and professionalism.” The truth is, Andrews has done that for years. But no one player has taken public accountability during this miserable 3-11 campaign quite like Andrews.He’s first to the podium after wins, losses and rip-your-heart-out defeats. He’s available to reporters during the week, and takes every question, pointed or otherwise, in his slow, southern stride. He addresses fans, protects his teammates and stands by his coaches,Andrews is a captain’s captain. So in the giving spirit of this season, let’s hand out a few more gifts near the end of a tough Patriots season.QB Mac JonesA month-long, all-inclusive vacation on a remote Caribbean islandGet away....

Division 3-4 boys hockey preview: State powers eye return to the TD Garden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

After realignment among Div. 3 and Div. 4 boys hockey teams, the 2023-24 season will see rivalries new and old ignited along the way to the TD Garden. With Nashoba Regional moving out of Div. 3, there will be a new champion come March, while a strong Norwell team aims to defend its title against improved competition with eyes on the Div. 4 throne.Division 3Scituate played in the state final last year, losing to Nashoba Regional 2-1 in OT. Senior captain James Sullivan will lead the charge after collecting 16 goals and 36 assists during the last campaign, amassing 100 career points.Goaltender Thomas McMellen returns for the Sailors after minding the net in the run to the final.An ever-dangerous Lynnfield team was in the quarterfinal last season and the semifinal two years ago. The Pioneers return 18 players, including 12 seniors, in a campaign “deliberately put together against top tier D1 and D2 teams” to tune them up for the tournament, according to coach Jon Gardner.Watertown made...

Man arrives at hospital with serious injuries after shots fired in North York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

One person has serious injuries after a suspected late night shooting in North York.Police were called to the area of Jane Street and Shoreham Drive around 11:30 p.m. for reports of gunshots.Officer did not find a victim at the scene but say a male arrived at a hospital on their own with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.No suspect information has been made available.The investigation is ongoing.

HSBC expects deal with RBC to close in early 2024 following federal approval

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

HSBC says it expects the sale of its Canadian operations to RBC to officially close in the first quarter of 2024 after the transaction passed its final hurdle on Thursday with the approval of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.The green light from Freeland came after the Competition Bureau approved the $13.5-billion takeover in September and carries conditions on RBC, including that none of HSBC Canada’s 4,000 employees be fired within six months of the closing date, or two years for front-line staff.Banking services must also continue to be provided at a minimum of 33 HSBC branches for four years.HSBC said in a brief update Friday that it and RBC continue to make progress on implementation of the transaction following the federal approval.Many had called for RBC’s takeover of HSBC Canada to be blocked, arguing it would decrease competition in what is already a heavily concentrated banking sector.RBC chief executive Dave McKay said in an interview Thursday that there is ...

Pakistan’s top court orders Imran Khan released on bail in a corruption case. He won’t be freed yet

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:51:51 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered in a surprise ruling Friday the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of his party deputies on bail in a case involving alleged corruption.Khan — currently serving a three-year sentence in jail in a graft case — won’t be presently freed as he still faces two other corruption cases. Friday’s ruling, which Khan’s defense team viewed as a legal victory and a political boost, was issued over charges of the former premier revealing state secrets when he waved an allegedly confidential document, dubbed Cipher, last year at a rally following his ouster from power. The document has not been made public.“The court’s order is proof enough that the charges against Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were fabricated,” said Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar. Qureshi is a senior vice president at Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.Pakistan’s government said the Cipher document was diplomatic correspondence betwee...