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Visitors flock to see David sculpture after Florida uproar

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Visitors flocked to see Michelangelo’s David sculpture in Florence on Tuesday, following an uproar over a Florida school’s decision to force the resignation of the principal over complaints about a lesson featuring the Renaissance masterpiece.Tourists, many of them Americans on spring break or studying abroad, posed for selfies in front of the giant marble statue, which features the Biblical David, naked with a sling over his shoulder and a rock in his hand, ready for battle with Goliath.Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia, which houses the sculpture, reopened Tuesday after its weekly Monday closure, and both tourists and locals alike couldn’t get over the controversy.“It’s part of history,” said Isabele Joles from Ohio, who is studying French and Italian art with her school group. “I don’t understand how you can say it’s porn.”She and other visitors were reacting to the decision by Tallahassee Classical School board to pressure Principal Hope Carrasquilla...

DeSantis to visit Israel to speak at Jerusalem museum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will travel to Jerusalem next month and speak at a museum event as Israel faces a spiraling domestic crisis, giving the potential 2024 presidential candidate a stage to tout his foreign policy credentials.The Jerusalem Post and Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem say DeSantis will deliver a keynote speech at an event that will address the tensions in Israel, a key U.S. ally. The governor’s office confirmed the travel plans, noting the visit coincides with the 75th anniversary of Israel’s independence.“At a time of unnecessarily strained relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Israeli people,” DeSantis is quoted in a press release announcing his visit.A controversial judicial overhaul plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked waves of unprecedented street protests in Israel. Netanyahu delayed the plans earlier this week, saying he wanted to “avoid civil war,” and rival political fac...

US suspends sharing nuke information with Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

The U.S. has stopped sharing information about its strategic nuclear stockpile with Russia in response to Moscow’s decision last month to suspend its participation in a treaty that limits the deployment of atomic warheads.The decision was conveyed to Russia on Monday, the Pentagon’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb told the House Armed Services’ Strategic Forces subcommittee on Tuesday.The move comes after Russia said it was suspending participation in the post-Cold War nuclear agreement, and throws the future of Washington’s participation in the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty into question at a time of heightened tensions with Moscow. Last weekend, Vladimir Putin said he plans to stage tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus as his troops suffer staggering losses in his 13-month old war in Ukraine.New START, which was reupped at the beginning of the Biden administration, caps the number of deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550 and places other limits on...

Mike Pence must testify about conversations he had with Donald Trump leading up to January 6, judge rules

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

 (CNN) — A federal judge has decided that former Vice President Mike Pence must testify to a grand jury about conversations he had with Donald Trump leading up to January 6, 2021, according to multiple sources familiar with a recent federal court ruling.But the judge said — in a ruling that remains under seal — that Pence can still decline to answer questions related to his actions on January 6 itself, when he was serving as president of the Senate for the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to one of the sources.Pence still has the ability to appeal. Trump has repeatedly lost executive privilege assertions he’s tried to make in the special counsel’s investigation.It’s another win for special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the Trump-aligned effort to subvert the 2020 election. Smith subpoenaed Pence for testimony and documents earlier this year.Days after news broke of the subpoena, Pence and his advisers indi...

Mass. Schools Still Have More Than $1.4 Bil In Fed Aid Funds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

More than half of the roughly $2.6 billion in emergency education aid the federal government steered to Massachusetts during the pandemic remains unspent, according to a top Department of Elementary and Secondary Education official.DESE Chief Financial Officer Bill Bell told the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday that “plenty of federal money” is still uncommitted and ready to be used with deadlines approaching this fall and next fall.The federal government awarded tranches of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) aid in three rounds. The first batch of about $215 million, deployed via the March 2020 CARES Act, has been fully expended, Bell said.In December 2020, a second round of ESSER awards made $740 million in grants available to Massachusetts districts. Bell said about 71 percent of that money has been used so far ahead of the Sept. 30, 2023 deadline.The third and largest pot of money, $1.7 billion authorized in April 202...

Scratch Ticket Rebound Lifts Lottery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

Sales at the Massachusetts Lottery were up more than 20 percent in February, due in large part to a sizable bump in sales of a key product that Lottery officials have been concerned about in the last year.The Lottery sold $513.3 million worth of its products last month, an increase of $88.5 million or 20.8 percent over February 2022.Scratch tickets accounted for about 71 percent of February sales, or $363.8 million, up $82.3 million or just more than 29 percent, according to a report that Interim Executive Director Mark William Bracken planned to give Tuesday morning at a meeting of the Lottery Commission.The month’s sales combined with a $23.9 million decrease in scratch ticket grand prizes paid out during the month to help the Lottery turn a monthly profit of $94.3 million, $23.5 million more than in February 2022.The Lottery also paid out a smaller percentage of its revenue in prizes last month, 74.72 percent compared to 76.26 percent in February 2022.Treasurer Deborah Gold...

Police investigating after man succumbs to injuries from ‘worksite incident’ in Nashua, NH

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

Authorities in Nashua are investigating after a man suffered fatal injuries “related to a worksite incident,” according to the police department.In a press release, the Nashua Police Department said officers, AMR and Nashua Fire Rescue personnel responded to an address on Prescott Street around 8:44 a.m. for an ambulance call.First responders went on to find an adult male who suffered “significant injuries related to a worksite incident,” according to Nashua PD. “The adult male was transported to a local hospital, but ultimately the adult male succumbed to his injuries,” the release stated.The department noted that while an investigation is underway, the worksite incident appeared to be accidental in nature.Authorities ask that anyone who may have more information about what happened contact the police department’s Crime Line at (603) 589-1665.

Bruins notebook: Pavel Zacha looks like a fit at center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

For the Bruins, there are benefits to securing a playoff spot and home ice so early in this season. One has been the ability to rest some of their older players the last couple of weekends on the second half of back-to-backs. The other has been he ability to take a peek into the future beyond this magical season.Two Sunday’s ago, the B’s sat David Krejci in Buffalo and last Sunday in Carolina, it was Patrice Bergeron’s turn to rest the aching body.Both times, Pavel Zacha, expected to be moved to the middle whenever Krejci and Bergeron retire, has jumped into the center spot and played well in the two victories.Coach Jim Montgomery has liked what he’s seen.“I think it’s been very encouraging. The Carolina game is probably the best 200-foot game he’s had,” said Montgomery after Tuesday’s morning skate. “He’s had a lot of games where he’s helped us at center. It’s pretty amazing how seamlessly he’s gone from left wing to...

Nashville school shooter sent alarming messages before the massacre +video

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale sent alarming messages to a former middle-school basketball teammate shortly before Monday’s deadly massacre, the ex-classmate said.Hale wrote she planned to commit suicide and that she’d likely be covered on the news in a series of direct messages to Averianna Patton over Instagram at 9:57 a.m. Monday, Patton told the Nashville news station WTVF.“One day this will make more sense,” Hale wrote, according to the messages published by the TV outlet. “I’ve left behind more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.”Police say they received an active-shooter call at the Covenant School, where Hale was a former student, at 10:13 a.m. The shooting left three 9-year-old students and three adults dead, and Hale was fatally shot by police, officials said.Patton says she tried to help Hale after receiving her messages.“I tried to comfort and encourage her and subsequently reached out to the Suicide Prevention Help Line after being i...

Covenant School Shooting: Nashville shooter didn't target specific people, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:23:26 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN/NEXSTAR) — Police in Nashville are still searching for answers after six people were killed in a shooting at the Covenant School on Monday.On Tuesday afternoon, Metro Nashville Police Department addressed "rumors" that have circulated in the wake of the tragedy. One such rumor, according to Mayor John Cooper includes misinformation that the shooter — identified as 28 year-old Audrey Hale — targeted specific individuals."We have no evidence that specific individuals were targeted by the shooter," Cooper said. "The school was targeted, but we have no indication that individuals were targeted." Bodycam video shows moments police killed active shooter at Nashville school Nashville resident Hale, who was also killed during the shooting, was reportedly armed with two assault-style rifles and one handgun. On Tuesday, MNPD Chief John Drake explained that Hale had obtained the three weapons used in the shooting legally and were part of seven total she'd purchased loc...