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Brussels to Berlin: We’ll find a way to save the car engine

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

On the future of the internal combustion engine, Germany has gotten its own way, again.The European Commission and Germany’s Transport Ministry announced a deal Saturday morning that commits the EU executive to figuring out a legal way to allow the sale of new engine-installed cars running exclusively on synthetic e-fuels even after a mandate comes into force requiring sales of only zero-emission vehicles from 2035.“We have found an agreement with Germany on the future use of e-fuels in cars,” the Commission’s Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans said on Twitter. “We will work now on getting the CO2 standards for cars regulation adopted as soon as possible.”The deal heads off a row over car legislation that was all-but-agreed until Germany, along with a small club of allies, slammed on the brakes just days before formal final approval on a law that is the centerpiece of the EU’s green agenda.Timmermans said the Commission would “follow up swiftly” with “legal steps” to turn ...

Fire officials investigating massive blaze that damaged multiple homes in Scituate

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

Fire officials are working to identify the cause of a massive, multi-alarm blaze that damaged at least five homes in Scituate Friday night.As fire crews worked late into the night to identify hot spots and extinguish the flames, heavy smoke cast a large plume across the scene on Glades Road near Minot Beach. In an update, officials said they first received a call about the fire shortly before 8 p.m. Officials said crews soon arrived to find three buildings already in flames. Officials said crews worked to contain the fire as wind blew through the area, though fire eventually spread to two additional homes. More than 60 firefighters joined in the fire response.There were no reported injuries as of around 10 p.m.In a statement Friday night, Scituate police asked anyone not immediately affected by the fire to stay away from the area. Residents, police said, should expect power outages and water related issues including pressure issues and discoloration as a result of the fire. Cell pho...

Mississippi tornadoes kill 23, injure dozens overnight

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — Emergency officials in Mississippi said 23 people have been killed by tornadoes that tore through the state on Friday night, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather that produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states.The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency confirmed there had been 23 deaths as of 6:20 a.m. Saturday with dozens of injuries and four people missing throughout the state. The agency said in a Twitter post that search and rescue teams from numerous local and state agencies were deployed along with personnel to assist those impacted by the tornadoes.The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado caused damage about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Jackson, Mississippi. The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork reported destruction as the tornado swept northeast at 70 mph (113 kph) without weakening, racing towards Alabama through towns including Winona and Amory into the night.The...

Fire breaks out on Spirit of Boston while docked in the Seaport

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

Fire crews rushed to contain a fire that broke out on the lower level of the Spirit of Boston while it was docked in the Seaport late Friday night. Heavy, black smoke could be seen coming from the ship as crews worked from the dock, on the boat, and in the water to extinguish the flames around 11:30 p.m.There was no one on board when the fire broke out and no reported injuries.https://twitter.com/BostonFire/status/1639471646523416576The cause of the fire remains under investigation.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

2 hospitalized after motorcycle hits pedestrian in Cambridge

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

Police are investigating a pedestrian crash in Cambridge early Saturday morning that sent two people to the hospital.Officers responding to the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Exeter Park around 1 a.m. found a serious crash involving a motorcyclist and a pedestrian that left the pedestrian, a male in his 60s, with serious head injuries, police said.The motorcyclist was also hospitalized.A preliminary investigation suggests the motorcyclist had a green light and the right of way when they struck the pedestrian in the crosswalk.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Homes burned to the ground in Scituate fire on Minot Beach

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

The morning will show that multiple homes have burned to the ground in Scituate after flames jumped from house-to-house in the Minot Beach area.Scituate, Hanover, Hull, Duxbury, Rockland, Plymouth and Hanson firefighters all responded. People were displaced but no injuries are being reported.MEMA’s Plymouth County coordinator was on scene and the plume from the blazes could be seen on radar.Scituate fire Chief John Murphy estimated that the fire started sometime between 7:30 p.m. Friday. “Upon arrival, we had three homes well underway with flames,” Murphy told WCVB. “Everybody was evacuated.”This is a developing story …Homes burn along the Glades section of Minot beach at a multi alarm fire on March 24, 2023 in , Scituate, MA. . (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)Homes burn along the Glades section of Minot beach at a multi alarm fire on March 24, 2023 in , Scituate, MA. . (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)Homes burn along the Glades section of Minot beach a...

2 dead, 9 missing after large explosion at RM Palmer factory in West Reading [Video]

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

Two people are dead and nine others are missing after an explosion and fire Friday evening at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading.A large explosion at around 4:57 p.m. destroyed Building No. 2 at the plant at 55 S. Second Ave., and caused damage to Building No. 1 at 77 S. Second Ave., said West Reading Police Chief Wayne Holben at a news conference Friday night.Several people were also injured, Holben said, though he could not specify a number. Eight people were taken to Reading Hospital, a spokeswoman told The New York Times. One of the patients was transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown, according to the spokeswoman. Further details were unavailable.The cause of the explosion is under investigation, Holben said. Rescue efforts remain under way at the scene.The blast and resulting fire, which went to multiple alarms, resulted in a massive response to the scene by fire, EMS and police.Debris covered roads in the area. The 200 and 300 blocks of Penn Avenue are clo...

As South bans abortion, thousands turn to Illinois clinics

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — Dr. Colleen McNicholas is fresh off performing two abortions when a ringing phone quickly stops her.“Oh, ugh,” she said, eyes widened, before she darted off to another room. Just the day before, 58 women had abortions at the Fairview Heights’ Planned Parenthood clinic, 15 miles east of St. Louis. But the new day is still stacked with appointments; as many as 100 abortion and family planning patients might walk through the doors.Every day is busy now. Hundreds of women travel each week to the southern tip of Illinois to secure an abortion, something that is no longer available to millions living in a 1,800 mile stretch of 11 Southern states that have mostly banned pregnancy terminations since the Supreme Court stripped away constitutional protections for women to end pregnancies.But another barrier awaits them once they reach the clinic in one of the country’s most abortion-friendly states. Anti-abortion advocates in neon hazard vests frantically t...

Iran-backed fighters on alert in east Syria after US strikes

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Iran-backed fighters were on alert in eastern Syria on Saturday, a day afte r U.S. forces launched retaliatory airstrikes on sites in the war-torn country, opposition activists said. The airstrikes came after a suspected Iran-made drone killed a U.S. contractor and wounded six other Americans on Thursday.The situation was calm following a day in which rockets were fired at bases housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria. The rockets came after U.S. airstrikes on three different areas in Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq, opposition activists said. While it’s not the first time the U.S. and Iran have traded strikes in Syria, the attack and the U.S. response threaten to upend recent efforts to deescalate tensions across the wider Middle East, whose rival powers have made steps toward détente in recent days after years of turmoil.“The calm continues as Iran-backed militiamen are on alert out of concern of possible new airstrikes,” said Rami Abdurrahm...

Judge rules online archive’s book service violated copyright

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:24:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has sided with four publishers who sued an online archive over its unauthorized scanning of millions of copyrighted works and offering them for free to the public. Judge John G. Koeltl of U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that the Internet Archive was producing “derivative” works that required permission of the copyright holder.The Archive was not transforming the books in question into something new, but simply scanning them and lending them as ebooks from its web site.“An ebook recast from a print book is a paradigmatic example of a derivative work,” Koeltl wrote. The Archive, which announced it would appeal Friday’s decision, has said its actions were protected by fair use laws and has long had a broader mission of making information widely available, a common factor in legal cases involving online copyright.“Libraries are more than the customer service departments for corporate database products,” Internet Archive founder Brewster...