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‘Inspiration to the community’: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami celebrate their 2023 graduating class

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami held its annual graduation for those who successfully completed their mentorship program and graduated from their respective high schools.On Thursday evening, 276 graduating mentees and 600 high school juniors and seniors of the program joined together at Florida Memorial University to be honored for their achievements highlighting their resilience and determination. Many who walked the stage were the first in their family to receive a high school diploma. Hispanic students made up 62% of the graduating class. The guest speaker was Victor Fontanez, a 21-year-old self-made motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and barber. He’s known by his social media handle Vic Blends, who is described as the most famous barber in the world and the leading motivational voice of the new generation. For decades, Big Brothers Big Sisters has paired caring role models with disadvantaged children to help shape their future and allow them to reach their full potential.

Teen survives after being hit on scooter by speeding car. Neighbors say street next to Miami-Dade park is dangerous

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

A South Florida teenager is lucky to be alive after being hit on his scooter and thrown into the air. Neighbors are outraged because they’ve been telling the county for years the intersection is dangerous. Karen Hensel has tonight’s 7 investigates.A life-threatening moment for 18-year-old Kenny Bowers was caught on camera. He was riding his electric scooter when he was hit by a car.We are stopping the video before Kenny is sent flying and flipping into the air.Sharmaine Bowers, mother: “No, I can’t watch that. I watch everybody’s expression when they do watch it. And from their expression, I know I don’t want to see it.”Kenny was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center.He was hospitalized for more than a month with broken bones and a skull fracture. He is now learning to walk again and feed himself.Sharmaine Bowers: “Hold a spoon, you know, now he holds it now, but his hand shakes, like when he’s holding his spoon. He has a lot...

‘They have been sent to death’: Home Commissioner on migrants’ journeys to EU

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

A perilous sea route from eastern Libya to Europe taken by thousands of migrants, including hundreds involved in a fatal shipwreck Wednesday, has seen an increase of vessels carrying migrants by nearly 600 percent in 2023 alone, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson told POLITICO. “They have not been sent to the EU, they have been sent to death,” she said. In what the U.N migration agency IOM called “one of the biggest tragedies in the Mediterranean,” the overcrowded fishing boat sank while attempting to reach Italy. It refused help from a Greek coast guard boat, Greek authorities said. The boat sank just days after EU interior ministers reached a deal to unblock key issues in long-disputed migration reform. At least 79 people died in the fatal wreck but a joint statement from the IOM and the U.N.’s refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated hundreds are dead and missing. Johansson skirted a question about whether Frontex, the European Border and Coast...

The EU is getting a German-infused PR machine — with double the money

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

Ursula von der Leyen wants to sell you on Europe — via Germany.Starting in 2024, the EU’s top executive is planning to double the European Commission’s annual communications budget from €30 million to €60 million. There’s a war on, the rationale goes, and Europe can’t afford to lose out in the battle to capture the narrative. Disinformation is rampant. Disillusionment is creeping in.“Particularly, in times of crisis, it is more important than ever that democratic institutions communicate clearly to all citizens about their actions to solve our most pressing challenges,” a Commission spokesperson said.But the Commission’s plan to operate and fund the endeavor already has people bristling.On the operation side, von der Leyen has brought in another aide from Berlin to steer the project, adding to a pile of criticism that she is too reliant on German confidants. And a big, €5 million PR contract was also recently awarded to two German sister companies under an accelerated procedure, fue...

Neglect is a choice. We must choose a different path

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

Janez Lenarčič is the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and civil protection. Jan Egeland is the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.Last year, funding for the world’s many humanitarian crises fell $22 billion short of meeting the most basic requirements of people in need. This may sound like a lot of money — but it is roughly what Europeans spend on ice cream each year.“We’ve seen many atrocities, and we now feel forgotten by everyone,” explained Sabine, a school director in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).Sabine is one of the 6.2 million people who have been internally displaced by the escalating conflict in eastern DRC and remain worryingly invisible. “We haven’t received any support or assistance since. We just wish that the international community would see us,” she said.Currently, over 1 million people have been displaced in Sabine’s province alone, yet humanitarian funding for the Congo has dried up. And hum...

Trump, Johnson and Berlusconi: The unholy trinity of false outrage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.Spare a thought for poor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The actor’s iconic “Terminator” line “I’ll be back” has now been used by a slightly less imposing but equally scary figure: Boris Johnson, when discussing his political future. As part of his ongoing war of words with current British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the former British prime minister — who announced last week that he’s stepping down from parliament to spend more time with his ego — told the Conservative Party “we must fully deliver on Brexit and on the 2019 manifesto. We must smash Labour at the next election.”He added: “Nothing less than absolute victory and total Brexit will do — and as the great Arnold Schwarzenegger said, ‘I’ll be back.’” Johnson has used an iconic Terminator line before, saying in his final House of Commons session as prime minister: “Hasta la vista, baby.”Alas, Schwarzenegger has not repaid the favor by repeatedly s...

WATCH: Bear climbs into work truck, steals lunch from worker at job site in NH

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

The crew of a local auto glass company recently had an unusual encounter when a bear showed up to their job site and stole one of their lunches before running off into the woods.The incident happened on Wednesday in Sunapee, New Hampshire. Two family members later spoke with 7NEWS about the encounter. “I thought that they were playing a joke on me of a man in a bear suit in the truck,” said Melinda Scott. Scott watched Wednesday’s bear encounter through a FaceTime call while her son-in-law, who works for American Plate Glass, experienced it all first hand. “I see something move out the corner of my eye and I turn and it was a bear nonchalantly just having lunch in the front seat of the truck,” said Curtis Fidler. Fidler said he was startled by the sighting and “kind of jumped back a bit.”Speaking this week, Scott said she believes this was not the average bear. Rather, she said this unexpected moment meant much more to her, nine months after her husband passed aw...

Three-peat for Needham: Rockets top Newton North for another state title

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

WORCESTER — There’s a expression Needham boys volleyball head coach Dave Powell reminds his team beyond the daily motto of cornering their own performance: Pressure is a privilege.But after a whole year of fighting the background noise of how the two-time defending champions’ reign could be over this season, the longtime unbeaten Rockets finally saw that pressure alleviate in yet another historic accomplishment.With a 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-19) win over No. 7 Newton North on Thursday in the Div. 1 state final at Worcester State, top-seeded Needham (27-0) became the third program in the sport’s MIAA history to win three consecutive state titles as part of its now 73-game win streak.Only New Bedford has a longer win streak with 92 games in the early 1990s, and is the other program besides Westfield to three-peat.“We had a wave of good kids after COVID, people were guess doubting, questioning if the reign was over, and these kids responded,” Powell said. “To win 72 in a row before this ...

Why the Chicago Cubs optioned prospect Matt Mervis to Triple-A Iowa with the return of Cody Bellinger

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

Cody Bellinger hadn’t played a major-league game at first base since 2021, and even then it consisted of only two starts.The lack of regular playing time at the position Bellinger spent the majority of his time during his first two big-league seasons (2017-18) with the Los Angeles Dodgers hasn’t diminished his confidence playing there. Bellinger came off the injured list Thursday and was back in the lineup, getting the start at first against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field. The Cubs optioned struggling first baseman Matt Mervis to Triple-A Iowa as the corresponding move.Bellinger went on the IL on May 16 with a bruised left knee, causing him to miss 26 games. Both of Bellinger’s rehab starts at Triple A came at first base, at which he played only 20 innings in 2021 and 143 innings over 16 starts in 2020.“His energy walking in today was pretty special,” manager David Ross said. “He’s a guy that loves to play baseball and is happy to b...

Tornado devastates Texas Panhandle town, killing 1 person and injuring dozens

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 13:10:36 GMT

PERRYTON, Texas (AP) — A tornado ripped through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday, killing one person, injuring dozens more and causing widespread damage as another in a series of fierce storms carved its way through Southern states.The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that a tornado hit the area Thursday afternoon. But there was no immediate word on its size or wind speeds, meteorologist Luigi Meccariello said. “There are still reports of ongoing rescues,” he said.Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told Amarillo TV station ABC 7 that a person was killed in a mobile home park that took a “direct hit” from a tornado. Dutcher said at least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed. At 6 p.m., firefighters were rescuing people from the rubble.First responders from surrounding areas and from Oklahoma descended on the town, which is home to more than 8,000 people and about 115 miles northeast of Amarillo, just south of the Oklahoma line.Storm chaser Brian Emfinger ...