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Before Deonte Banks became Edgewood’s first NFL draft pick, he was ‘a man amongst boys’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

Charles Johnson was coaching at Joppatowne when, at an offseason seven-on-seven camp at Edgewood, then-Rams coach John Siemsen told him to keep an eye out for Deonte Banks.“I wasn’t really concerned about some ninth grader at the time,” Johnson, who later took over Edgewood’s program before Banks’ junior season, remembers thinking. “But he told me [Banks] could be the program’s next high Division I guy or professional football player.”Edgewood hasn’t been known as a pipeline for top football players, but Banks became the program’s first graduate to be drafted to the NFL on Thursday when the cornerback out of the University of Maryland was taken by the New York Giants with the 24th pick in the first round.Siemsen saw the potential early on when Banks transferred in from St. Frances midway through his freshman year. He saw a quiet confidence and perpetual hunger that would transform into the uber-physical defensive back bound...

Unclear who would help Taiwan in a war: foreign minister

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Taiwan intends to fight for itself in any armed conflict with China and is unclear as to what countries might stand beside it, the self-governing island’s foreign minister said. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and concerns are rising about a possible armed conflict. In an interview last Friday with Sky News Australia, Joseph Wu said Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared to China’s 1.4 billion, has to defend itself and is not asking other countries to fight for it. However, asked who might fight alongside Taiwan in the event of a war with China, Wu answered, “This is a very good question.” “A lot of people are debating strategic ambiguity or strategic clarity, but to us, we know our own responsibility,” Wu told the news channel from Taipei.“Taiwan has to defend itself, the people have to defend Taiwan, this country, and we are determined to defend ourselves and we are no...

Loneliness poses risks as deadly as smoking: surgeon general

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic.About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an 81-page report from his office.“We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It’s like hunger or thirst. It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing,” Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. “Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that’s not right. That’s why I issued this advisory to pull back the curtain on a struggle that too many people are experiencing.” The declaration is intended to raise awareness around loneliness but won’t unlock federal funding or programming devoted to combatting the issue. Rese...

Inflation inches up in Europe ahead of interes rate decision

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s painful inflation inched higher last month, extending the squeeze on households and keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to unleash another large interest rate increase.Consumer prices in the 20 countries using the euro currency jumped 7% in April from a year earlier, just down from the annual rate of 6.9% in March, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday. Food prices eased a little, falling to an annual 13.6% from March’s 15.5%, while energy prices rose a more modest 2.5%.Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel, slowed slightly but was still high at 5.6%, underlining the expectation that the ECB will press ahead with its campaign to beat inflation into submission with rate hikes. The question is: How quickly will the bank go? Analysts say the ECB’s meeting Thursday in Frankfurt could end in an increase of a quarter- or a half-percentage point. A quarter-point hike would be a moderation in the b...

Stock market today: Global stocks mixed after bank failure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were trading mixed Tuesday with some markets closed or anticipating holidays and investors showing muted reaction to the latest U.S. banking failure.France’s CAC 40 lost 0.4% in early trading to 7,459.14. Germany’s DAX fell nearly 0.4% to 15,866.12. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched down nearly 0.1% to 7,864.44. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures slipping 0.2% to 34,090.00. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2% to 4,179.50. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.9% to 7,267.40, after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates by a quarter-percentage point, an unexpected move that signaled further tightening might be ahead. “We think that the RBA has done more than enough and we have reached the peak in rates. Continuing to raise rates from here adds to the rising risk of plunging the economy into a recession,” said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP in Sydney. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.9% to 2,524.39. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng...

Kenyan police clash with anti-government protesters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya clashed with anti-government protesters in the capital, Nairobi, in a fresh round of demonstrations called by the opposition leader.Protesters who turned up early Tuesday morning to erect barricades on major roads around the city threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas. A bus was torched.Business was paralyzed in Kisumu County, an opposition stronghold, as police clashed with protesters.The opposition is calling for action to tackle the cost of living and reforms to the electoral commission that oversaw last year’s election that was won by President William Ruto.Opposition leader Raila Odinga rejected the government’s position that the Tuesday protests are illegal and urged his supporters to turn up in large numbers.Odinga said the protests will be peaceful. The police chief had banned the protests, citing previous violent protests that led to businesses being looted and Kenyans being robbed.Ruto on Monday warned opposition supporter...

Who will replace Tucker Carlson at Fox News? Here are some top contenders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

(The Hill) - Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News, which means the network now has a massive hole to fill in its formidable prime-time lineup.It’s a high-profile job that promises to make whoever gets it more famous and powerful, and the network is buzzing a week after Carlson’s surprise exit over who might get the position.Here are some of the names most likely to be in the conversation.Jesse Watters Watters is the odds-on favorite to replace Carlson at 8 p.m.Waters, a star who has risen through the network’s ranks over the past several years, hosts a show in the hour preceding Carlson and is a leading panelist of the network’s top-rated debate show “The Five.” A sharp-tongued conservative who, like Carlson, has proven willing to attack Republicans and Democrats, Watters would be a consistent successor to the former Fox star, providing an audience with tested populist takes and quirky nonpolitical segments.The only downside to putting Watters at 8 p.m., from Fox’s point of v...

Hollywood writers go on strike, slam 'gig economy'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Television and movie writers declared late Monday that they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood girded for a walkout with potentially widespread ramifications in a fight over fair pay in the streaming era.The Writers Guild of America said that its 11,500 unionized screenwriters will head to the picket lines on Tuesday. Negotiations between studios and the writers, which began in March, failed to reach a new contract before the writers’ current deal expired just after midnight, at 12:01 a.m. PDT Tuesday. All script writing is to immediately cease, the guild informed its members.The board of directors for the WGA, which includes both a West and an East branch, voted unanimously to call for a strike, effective at the stroke of midnight. Writers, they said, are facing an “existential crisis.” Hollywood writers to go on strike Tuesday after negotiations fail “The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workfor...

'I Love my Park Day' Saturday at Grafton Lakes State Park

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

GRAFTON, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The annual "I Love My Park Day" at Grafton Lakes State Park will be on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Volunteers of all ages are invited to a morning of service on park trails, shores, and fields. Interested eventgoers can pre-register online. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Participants can check in at 8:30 a.m. near the Beach Tent, located on the right side of the main parking lot at the end of the main park road. Those who have pre-registered will receive a t-shirt provided by Parks and Trails NY. Snacks will be provided by the Friends of Grafton Lakes State Park before the event, with a pizza party to be held afterward.There is no entry fee for volunteers at this event. Grafton Lakes State Park is located off Route 2, 12 miles east of Troy. Anyone with further questions can call the park at (518) 279-1155.

Play of the Week winner - Burnt Hills' Emily Martin

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

BURNT HILLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Congratulations to this week’s winner of our Play of the Week poll, Burnt Hills' Emily Martin! Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Martin robbed a home run in the Spartan's matchup Webster Schroeder. Vote here for this week’s Play of the Week poll!