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MEP Maria Arena and her son: A joint passion for cannabis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

BRUSSELS — The Belgian member of the European Parliament Maria Arena and her businessman son share a common interest: cannabis.The socialist EU lawmaker, whose properties police raided in connection with the Qatargate corruption scandal this summer, has taken a prominent role in efforts to harmonize EU cannabis laws in the European Parliament.Her son, Ugo Lemaire, co-founded a company called BRC & Co that sells CBD products, made from an extract of cannabis that does not cause a high and that are legal in most EU countries including Belgium. Lemaire’s cannabis business was already in the spotlight for conflict-of-interest concerns in June when it emerged that he co-founded and co-ran BRC & Co with the son of Michel Claise, the judge leading the Qatargate investigation. Claise recused himself shortly after. Then, in July, police raids targeting Arena discovered €280,000 in cash at Lemaire’s home next door to hers.The mother and son’s interests have sometimes overlapped,...

Putting hearts first when it comes to aging healthily

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

In 2021, approximately 20.5 million people died from a heart-related condition, far outnumbering the death toll from COVID-19 or any other disease.1,2 With an aging population (the number of people aged 60-plus is expected to double by 2050 to 2.1 billion),3 health care systems are set to face an influx of age-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, putting people at higher risk of heart failure.To ensure that heart health is maintained as people age, we need to increase people’s understanding and recognition of heart failure symptoms.Collectively called cardiometabolic diseases, they are a huge threat to our collective health and the strength of our global health ecosystems. The economic burden of heart failure is estimated to cost €282 billion per year in Europe.4 In recognizing the scale of the problem, the U.N.’s Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) is a global collaboration aimed at ‘adding life to our years’ and aligns with the final 10 years o...

Why we need to improve heart health in Europe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one killer in Europe. They cost the EU an estimated €282 billion in 2021, larger than the entire EU budget itself.[1] Sixty million people live with CVDs in the EU, while 13 million new cases are diagnosed annually.[2]Behind this data are individual stories of suffering and loss, of lives limited and horizons lowered by, for example, heart attack and stroke. These diseases directly affect every community in every country. And they strain our health services which must respond to cardiac emergencies as well as the ongoing care needs of chronic CVD patients.Sixty million people live with CVDs in the EU, while 13 million new cases are diagnosed annually.Cardiovascular health is a priority not just because of the scale of its impact, but because of the scope we see for significant advances in outcomes for patients. We should take inspiration from the past: between 2000 and 2012, the death rate from CVDs fell by 37 percent in the five largest...

Chicago Cubs are swept out of Atlanta with a 5-3 loss to the Braves, leaving them with slim wild-card hopes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

The only outcome the Chicago Cubs could not allow to transpire against the Atlanta Braves this week at Truist Park was being a handed a three-game sweep.Two one-run losses, featuring a two-run error on a dropped fly ball by Seiya Suzuki in the opener and three blown saves in a 10-inning defeat in Game 2, and an underwhelming all-around performance in the series finale created a worst-case scenario for the Cubs and their postseason hopes.The Braves completed the sweep Thursday, handing the Cubs a 5-3 loss and complicating the North Siders’ path to securing the third National League wild-card position.The Cubs fell a half-game behind the Miami Marlins for the No. 3 spot, pending the Marlins’ result late Thursday against the Mets in New York. That game at Citi Field went into a rain delay at 8:41 p.m. CDT with two outs in the top of the ninth after Miami erased the Mets’ one-run lead to go ahead 2-1 in the inning. The Marlins own the tiebreaker against the Cubs, wh...

Orioles clinch 1st AL East title since 2014, reach 100 wins with 2-0 victory over Red Sox: ‘It’s a special group’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

Dean Kremer’s arrival six seasons ago signaled the beginning of the Orioles’ rebuild. His performance Thursday night helped deliver the club’s biggest win since.Behind the calm Kremer, the Orioles defeated the Boston Red Sox, 2-0, to win their 100th game of the season and clinch the franchise’s first American League East title since 2014. In the most important start of his life, Kremer pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, needing only Anthony Santander’s solo home run in the first and a steady bullpen behind him for the victory.As the tight game neared an end, the 27,543 fans at Camden Yards, who earlier in the night learned of the club’s new lease to remain at the park for 30 years, grew progressively more animated. When Tyler Wells recorded the final out, they made the park shake in a way it rarely has the past six seasons.The last time the Orioles won 100 games was in 1980. The division title is just their third in the past 40 seasons. Baltim...

Thursday’s high school roundup/scores: Lynn Classical posts football win over Medford

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

Brian Vaughan Jr. threw four touchdown passes, three of them going to John Nasky, as Lynn Classical (3-1) defeated Medford 38-14 in the Greater Boston League.Aiden Astorino ran for two scores and Tommy McLeish threw a pair of touchdown passes as King Philip (4-0) defeated Taunton 28-7 in the Hockomock League. … Jack Buckley completed 11-of-17 passes for 184 yards and four touchdown passes, all going to Andrew Rivera (seven catches, 144 yards) and also ran for two scores as Milford (4-0) coasted to a 48-14 win over Attleboro.Will St. Pierre ran for 218 yards and two scores as Hingham (1-3) defeated Plymouth North 28-8 in the Patriot League.GolfJeff Nelson accrued his 200th career win as Reading topped Middlesex League foe Stoneham, 44.5-27.5.Field hockeyEmily Carr notched a hat trick, Ryan Crook had two goals and an assist and Reagan Killoran added two more goals as Somerset berkeley (7-0) shutout West Bridgewater 9-0.In the Middlesex League, Molly Driscoll scored three times as Wate...

David Montgomery runs wild as Lions beat Packers 34-20 to take early command of NFC North

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — David Montgomery rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns, and the Detroit Lions asserted themselves as the team to beat in the NFC North, dominating the first half and beating the Green Bay Packers 34-20 on Thursday night.Montgomery carried the ball 32 times after he sat out the Lions’ victory over Atlanta last Sunday with a thigh bruise. He became the first Lion to rush for three touchdowns at Green Bay and the first Detroit player to top 100 yards rushing with three TDs since James Stewart in 2000.The Lions (3-1) beat the Packers (2-2) for a fourth straight time, a streak that also includes the final game of last season, when Detroit denied Green Bay a playoff spot in Aaron Rodgers’ last game with the Packers.Rodgers’ replacement, Jordan Love, threw for a touchdown and ran for another as he tried to rally the Packers in the second half. He finished 23 of 36 for 246 yards and was picked off twice by Jerry Jacobs.Detroit led 27-3 at halftim...

REVIEW: Saw X is a terrifying and terrific addition to the 21st century’s best horror series

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

When it comes to horror in the 21st century, few series are as iconic as Saw. The voice of the Jigsaw Killer explaining the rules of deadly games, Billy the puppet rolling in on his tricycle, the grungy settings stained with rusted blood. This series invented the horror sub-genre known as torture porn, but despite a couple of additions in the past few years Saw mostly felt like a series past its prime.Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young in Saw X, courtesy of Lionsgate.But Saw X is one of the more unique additions to this series, and one that could resuscitate the series’ popularity. Two of the more famous players in the franchise, Tobin Bell (from 24) and Shawnee Smith (from Anger Management) return to their most famous roles. Bell plays the Jigsaw Killer, who has becomes one of the more iconic horror villains of recent years, and Smith plays his once victim and now apprentice Amanda Young.Saw X is an interquel, set between the first and second entries of the series. Jigsaw, also kn...

186.000 migrants and refugees arrived in southern Europe so far this year, most in Italy, UN says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency said Thursday that some 186,000 migrants and refugees arrived in southern Europe so far this year, the vast majority in Italy.Between January and Sept. 24, over 2,500 people seeking to cross the Mediterranean were found dead or are still missing, a significant increase from the 1,680 people who died or were missing during the same period in 2022, Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the New York office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told the U.N. Security Council. The UNHCR estimates that over 102,000 refugees and migrants from Tunisia — a 260% increase from last year— and over 45,000 from Libya tried to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe between January and August, she said.Some 31,000 people were rescued at sea or intercepted, and disembarked in Tunisia while 10,600 disembarked in Libya, Menikdiwela said.The majority of migrants and refugees who made it to southern Europe arrived in Italy— over 130,000, an increase of 83%...

Youth arrested in fatal stabbing of Joyous Magdirila

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:45 GMT

A young person has been arrested in connection to a fatal stabbing in the north end of the city last weekend. Police say 23-year-old Joyous Magdirila of Toronto was found suffering from stab wounds in the southbound curb lane on Yonge Street and Hendon Avenue, north of Finch subway station, just before 10 p.m. on Sunday night. Magdirila was taken to a trauma centre, where he was later pronounced dead. Police said Thursday they have charged a youth with second degree murder. Due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act the name of the suspect cannot be revealed.