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Callahan: It’s a prove-it season for the Patriots — and they know it

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

Minutes after passing his summer conditioning test, one last dead sprint away from the rubble of last season, Patriots captain Matthew Slater stood behind a podium Tuesday and looked forward.He smiled.Soon, though, the line of questioning dragged Slater’s grin sideways and his focus to the past. Last year, his special teams allowed half of the kick return touchdowns in the NFL. Oh, and the punters shanked everything in sight. And the kickoff team couldn’t produce enough oft-taken-for-granted touchbacks, which were partially responsible for those return touchdowns.How did Slater plan to fix all this? He answered the question, but more to the point, offered an inadvertent state of the franchise address.“I think the time for excuses is up,” Slater said. “We’ve had enough excuses the last couple of seasons. It’s time for us to put up or shut up.”Amen.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick provides update on Patrio...

Cambodia’s Hun Sen, Asia’s longest serving leader, says he’ll step down and his son will take over

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday he will step down in August and hand the position to his oldest son, though Asia’s longest-serving leader is expected to continue to wield significant power.The widely anticipated move comes after the autocratic Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party secured a landslide victory on Sunday in elections that Western countries and rights organizations criticized as neither free nor fair, partially because the country’s main opposition was barred from competing.The rise to power of Hun Sen’s son — 45-year-old Hun Manet, who won his first seat in Parliament just days ago and is chief of the country’s army — is part of a larger generational shift: Many younger lawmakers are expected to take up ministerial positions, including Hun Sen’s youngest son and others related to other older party members.Many were educated in the West, like Hun Manet, who has a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Ac...

Doctors in England escalate pay dispute as they announce another 4-day walkout in August

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of doctors in Britain’s state-funded health service will go on strike for a further four days in August as their pay dispute with the government shows few, if any, signs of resolution, their union said Wednesday.Fresh from a five-day walkout that was described as the longest in the history of the National Health Service, doctors at the early stages of their careers will stage a walkout in England between Aug. 11 and Aug. 15. “It should never have got to the point where we needed to announce a fifth round of strike action,” said Dr. Robert Laurenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi, co-chairs of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee.“Our message today remains the same: act like a responsible government, come to the table to negotiate with us in good faith, and with a credible offer these strikes need not go ahead at all,” they added.The approximately 75,000 so-called junior doctors are asking for a 35% pay bump to get pay back to 2008 levels...

Edmunds compares: 2023 Honda Accord vs. 2023 Kia K5

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

The midsize sedan market lacks the diversity of models it once did, yet what remains is a competitive set of vehicles. Honda’s Accord has been a long-standing fixture in this class and for 2023 it receives a full redesign that introduces added legroom, greater fuel efficiency and new styling elements. A key rival is the Kia K5, which has been one of Edmunds’ top-rated sedans since its introduction a few years ago. Both sedans scored well in Edmunds’ testing, but which one should you buy? Edmunds experts compared them to find out.COMFORT AND INTERIORThe Accord and K5 feature straightforward yet elegant interiors that have traditional physical buttons for climate controls and volume adjustments. The Accord does have an advantage in rear seat legroom, as it offers 40.8 inches compared to the Kia K5’s 35.2 inches. But Edmunds experts noticed some faults. Shorter drivers may have a harder time seeing the gauges when the driver’s seat is raised, and the front seats could benefit from more...

Palestinian man killed by Israeli troops during arrest raid in West Bank refugee camp

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the latest bloodshed in one of the most violent stretches of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in years.Israeli forces entered the Al-Ein refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus and arrested a man suspected of shooting at an Israeli bus earlier this week, Palestinian media reported. During the incident, Mohammed Nada, 23, was shot in the chest and later died of his wounds, the Palestinian health ministry said. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Wednesday’s incident came a day after Israeli troops killed three Palestinian gunmen who opened fire on soldiers near Nablus. Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the occupied West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a hoped-for ...

Security risks in Sweden rise due to Quran desecrations and protests, security agency says

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s security situation has deteriorated after recent Quran burnings in the country and protests in the Muslim world, both of which have negatively impacted the Nordic nation’s image, its domestic security service said Wednesday.The agency, known by its acronym SAPO, said the burning and desecration of religious books in Sweden, and ongoing disinformation campaigns on social media and elsewhere, have negatively affected Sweden’s profile.The image of Sweden has changed “from a tolerant country to a country hostile to Islam and Muslims, where attacks on Muslims are sanctioned by the state and where Muslim children can be kidnapped by social services,” SAPO said in a statement.This risks fueling threats against Sweden “from individuals within the violent Islamist milieu,” the agency said, adding the current risk of terrorism in Sweden remains at an elevated level, at three on a five-point scale.“It’s a serious situation that we’re in,” Susanna Trehörning, SAP...

These five American women will appear on new quarters in 2024

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

(The Hill) - The U.S. Mint has announced five new women who will be circulated on quarters in 2024 as part of the third year of the American Women Quarters Program. The circulation is an initiative of the U.S. Mint in consultation with the Smithsonian National Women’s History Museum, which was approved by Congress alongside the National Museum of the American Latino in 2020.The fate of the Latino Museum is up in the air amid a dispute in Congress, but thus far the women’s museum is moving forward and set to be built in the next 10 years — its backers hope on the National Mall.  Patsy Mink honored in U.S. quarter series highlighting the contributions of women “The idea for the museum has actually been decades in the making,” Melanie Adams, who is serving as the museum’s interim director following Nancy Yao’s departure from the position, told The Hill. “This was based on the belief that the country really needs and deserves physical National Museums dedicated to showcasing...

Nurses union to deliver petition to Ascension Seton hospital management

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- National Nurses United, the union representing registered nurses at the Ascension Seton hospital on 38th Street, announced it would be delivering a petition to hospital management Wednesday morning to demand urgent improvements. The union said in a news release that the short-staffing at the hospital is creating unsafe conditions for patients because nurses cannot spend as much time with each person. The union also said the short-staffing is creating an environment nurses do not want to work in. In the news release, the union said, "short-staffing also creates a revolving door of nursing staff, who suffer moral injury and distress because they can’t provide the care they know results in the best patient outcomes."The union said the hospital has enough financial resources to hire more staff. This petition comes a month after nurses organized a 24-hour strike. PAST COVERAGE: Ascension Seton Medical Center nurses on strike Tuesday An issue of staffing and culture Se...

Bret Stephens: What I learned in Ukraine

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

WARSAW, Poland — Last week, a friend asked me what I could learn from a four-day trip to Ukraine I was planning that I couldn’t glean just by reading the news. It was a fair question. With the trip now behind me, I can answer.I learned how strange it is to visit a country to which no plane flies and, as of last Monday, no ship sails — thanks to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cruel and cynical withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative through which Ukrainian farm products reached hungry countries like Kenya, Lebanon and Somalia. The only feasible way for a visitor to get from the Polish border to Kyiv, Ukraine, is a nine-hour train ride, where the sign inside the carriage door urges, “Be Brave Like Ukraine.”I learned that you need to download the Air Alert! app to your smartphone as soon as you enter the country.It sounds an alarm every time the system detects drones, missiles or other incoming aerial threats in your vicinity, something that happened time and again during my...

Fast, summery, little effort: 5 perfect recipes for the heat wave

Published Mon, 30 Dec 2024 23:30:24 GMT

There are times when you don’t want to cook, and there are times when you can’t bear to cook — that extra tablespoon of desperation keeps you from walking into the kitchen and turning on the stove. I feel that most acutely at the height of the summer, when it’s just too hot to do much of anything.So: Don’t cook! And if you do decide to cook, keep it minimal. The recipes below are fast, summery and require little in the way of effort.(And from now until Aug. 15, text a fruit or vegetable emoji to 361-COOK-NYT (361-266-5698) and get free recipes for your summer produce.)Chopped Salad With Jalapeño-Ranch DressingThis chopped salad is fresh, festive and excessive in a celebratory way. While most salads opt for the lightest layer of dressing to optimize the produce’s flavors, this one calls for the dressing to generously coat the crisp ingredients. Inspired by Caesar salad, ranch dressing and the dinner-worthy salads popularized at chain restaurants such as California Pizza Kitchen, this...