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Broward County School Board vote to increase pay for school employees; struggling teacher speaks out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

The Broward County School Board has voted to increase the pay for several employees within the school system. On Tuesday, the board agreed to give employees that work with students in the district more money, which includes new hires. Cafeteria workers and bus drivers will now receive signing bonuses. “So the ayes have it on items one, two, three, four, five and six,” said Broward County School Board member Lori Alhadeff.Paychecks for teachers to bus drivers will immediately be bigger after a voter referendum that passed back in 2022.“This helps retain our staff and our employees to make sure that they know we respect them,” said Broward County Superintendent Peter Licata.The breakdown for how the money will be distributed for staff members includes the following: bus drivers, clerical staff, facilities staff, food service staff and skilled workers will all receive an additional 5.5%.The referendum also includes money for teachers too; an average of $10,600....

‘It’s almost like your twin brother’: Police apologize after fugitive task force takes down, mistakes man for murder suspect 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

A South Florida man who has never been in trouble with the law is traumatized after being mistaken for a murderer, and police body cameras were rolling.Karen Hensel has tonight’s 7 Investigates.Errol Leath reads his Bible everyday.He suffers from epileptic seizures and has difficulty speaking.Errol Leath/mistaken for murder suspect: “I couldn’t like, correct proper terms or read properly, so I’ll often always read.”Because of his epilepsy he can’t drive so he takes the bus. But his ride turned frightening when he got off the bus on July 19.Officer: “You right there! Don’t [expletive] move.” Within seconds, Errol is on the ground surrounded by a fugitive task force with rifles pointed down at him. Errol Leath: “What did I do?”Officer: “Don’t [expletive] move man.”Errol Leath: “What did I do? I got epilepsy, bro.” Officer: “It’s alright. Be cool, bro.” Errol Leath: “...

No injuries reported after home goes up in flames in Plantation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

Crews worked to put out a house fire in Plantation. The incident happened near Southwest Seventh Street and 56th Terrace, Tuesday afternoon.Heavy smoke poured out of the home after, firefighters said, a mattress caught fire.Crews rescued a dog and three other pets that were inside at the time.One person also got out safely.What sparked the fire is not yet known.

How conspiracy theories infected British politics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

LONDON — Welcome to Britain, where an elected member of parliament openly rages against “crime against humanity” COVID vaccines and a £12.50-a-day pollution charge is a “trojan horse” for government “control.”Conspiracy theories are not a new force in British politics. But there’s mounting concern that, on a host of issues, once-fringe ideas are increasingly being ushered into the mainstream — with a little help from politicians.Such worries stepped up a notch earlier this year when Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative MP since 2010, lost the party whip after comparing the COVID-19 vaccine rollout to the Holocaust.Since being ousted from the Tories, Bridgen sits as the sole parliamentary member of TV actor Lawrence Fox’s avowedly “anti-woke” Reclaim Party. Although Fox and his other MP hopefuls have failed at every race they’ve run in, adopting Bridgen into the fold means Reclaim has achieved parliamentary representation without having to win an election.Rod Dacombe, a reader in politics ...

As Azerbaijan launches attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh, Moscow leans back

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

While Armenia called on Russian peacekeepers to intervene after Azerbaijan launched “anti-terrorist” operations in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Dmitry Medvedev, the chairman of Russia’s security council, wrote cryptically on Telegram about someone from a so-called brotherly country who had flirted with NATO.“Guess what fate awaits him …” added Russia’s former President Medvedev.The thinly veiled verbal jab reflected Russia’s current stance as Turkey-backed Azerbaijan escalated a three-decades-old conflict with Armenia. With a military base in the ex-Soviet country, Russia has long held the role of Armenia’s security guarantor, including managing tensions around Nagorno-Karabakh, which is inside Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders and has been held by its ethnic Armenian majority since the fall of the Soviet Union. In 2020, Russia negotiated a ceasefire agreement, monitored by Russian peacekeepers, between the two South Caucasus co...

We don’t know if Elon Musk brought Armageddon closer — all we know is uncertainty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

Sergey Radchenko is the Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has written extensively on the Cold War, nuclear history, and on Russian and Chinese foreign and security policies.In an opinion piece published this month, historian Timothy Snyder launched a fiery critique of tech billionaire Elon Musk for his apparent refusal to turn on Starlink satellite coverage for Crimea last year, which would have enabled a Ukrainian drone attack on Sevastopol.Snyder argued that the failure to provide Starlink coverage was inexcusable, and that the entrepreneur was “duped” by Russian nuclear blackmail, leading to needless casualties and making nuclear war more likely.Not only is this argument quite unsound, but its vehement presentation also falls far short of what academics — as opposed to political activists — should be aiming at.The key point in Snyder’s take is that Ukraine’s successful operations in Crimea against military ...

Why Europe’s next president may be made in France

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

PARIS — Thierry Breton, Europe’s self-proclaimed digital “enforcer” and scourge of Elon Musk, has his eye on one of the biggest jobs in Brussels: President of the EU Commission. Emmanuel Macron may be about to give him a leg up. Macron’s Renaissance party is frantically searching for the best candidate to lead its campaign in next year’s European Parliament elections. Whoever gets that role would be well placed to become the party’s nominee to take over from Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president when her term ends after the elections next June. According to reports in French media, and officials familiar with discussions inside Macron’s team, Breton, a flamboyant former telecoms executive and France’s current EU commissioner, is now firmly in the mix. “Everyone knows he wants to continue,” a French diplomat told POLITICO when asked about Breton’s future chances. “Some are wondering whether he doesn’t need to run as a lead candidate if he wan...

Trying to persuade Ukraine to negotiate with Putin would be an error

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former political prisoner and CEO of Yukos Oil company, is the author of “How to Slay a Dragon: Building a New Russia After Putin.”As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pointless brutality against Ukraine continues, so too does Ukraine’s valiant resistance.However, three months into their counteroffensive, while Ukrainian forces have made modest gains, they are yet to deliver a decisive blow. As winter approaches and the war grinds on, siren voices urging Ukraine’s leaders to negotiate a ceasefire will get louder — and Putin will be hoping these voices will be further amplified as the United States presidential campaign looms.Based on everything I know about Putin and the nature of his regime, my own view is that such attempts to persuade Ukraine to negotiate with him would be an error — and no ceasefire agreed under the current circumstances would bring peace in the long-term.Instead, it would provide Putin’s regime with an opportunity to strengthen its abil...

Germany’s Greens and Liberals call for action on immigration as far-right strengthens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

BERLIN — You know fears over immigration and the rise of the far-right are boiling over in Germany when even the Greens are calling for a crackdown on illegal asylum seekers.In a remarkable intervention on Monday, Green co-chair Ricarda Lang — whose party is usually known for advocating a moderate course on migration — criticized key officials from her two coalition partners for not doing enough to ensure that asylum seekers without a valid reason to stay, such as fleeing a warzone, are being sent back to their home countries.There’s no doubt the political temperature is rising fast in Germany. A poll published Tuesday showed that the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party has become the strongest political force in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, making it the fourth eastern German state — after Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony — in which the far-right is leading in polls. This is particularly spooking established parties as the latter three states are heading to the polls i...

Teens in Las Vegas face murder charges as adults for hit-and-run they captured on video, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:13:49 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two teenagers have been arrested and face murder charges as adults after targeting a bicyclist in Las Vegas and capturing the moments they hit the former California police chief on video, authorities said Tuesday.Las Vegas police said they have tied the teens to at least three hit-and-run incidents on the morning of Aug. 14. They believe the death of 64-year-old Andreas Rene Probst, a former police chief in Bell, California, ended the spree.Graphic video shows a dashboard view from the front seat of a vehicle approaching Probst from behind while he was riding near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. Laughter and comments from inside the car are heard before the bicyclist, wearing a red shirt and dark shorts, was struck and thrown against the windshield.A final image from the moving car shows Probst on the ground next to the curb. Deputy Police Chief Nick Farese called the recording from inside a stolen vehicle appalling and a “cowardly act.” Clark Coun...