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5 credit card scams to watch out for this holiday season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

By Jae Bratton | NerdWalletIn the list of things you want to be doing around the holidays, fending off scam artists has to be at the bottom. And yet, the holidays can be a prime time for scammers hoping to take advantage of the busy season. One fraudulent transaction is easily overlooked in a bank statement full of gift purchases, and there may not be time to dispute suspicious charges when you’re hosting out-of-town guests.Research-based advisory firm Javelin Strategy & Research defines an identity fraud scam as a tactic that a criminal uses to steal someone’s personal information for the purpose of illegal financial gain. Consumers lost $43 billion in 2022 to these scams, according to Javelin’s 2023 Identity Fraud Study.If there’s good news, it’s that there were fewer reported victims of identity fraud in 2022 as compared with 2021, with a 17% decrease in the amount of money lost to scams. The bad news is that scammers have become more sophisticated in their methods and have a...

New health, sexual education guidelines pass state board unanimously

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education unanimously passed the state’s first health and sexual education guideline changes in 25 years Tuesday morning — revising the framework to include more LGBTQ+ inclusive language, update sexual health and consent standards, bring in media and technology considerations, and more.“The overarching goal of this framework is to foster healthy, safe, equitable and inclusive learning environments that enable success in school and in life for students of all identities and backgrounds,” said DESE Student and Family Support Associate Commissioner Rachelle Engler Bennett, presenting the 2023 revised framework to the board Tuesday.The vote is the culmination of a review of the 1999 Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Framework launched in June 2018 under the Baker administration. The Healey administration announced the draft of the framework update convened by about 50 review panelists of various backgrounds in June, followe...

Ukraine complains to WTO about Hungary, Poland and Slovakia banning its food products

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Ukraine is filing a complaint at the World Trade Organization against Hungary, Poland and Slovakia after they banned grain and other food products coming from the war-torn country, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Tuesday.It heightens a political showdown pitting farmer against farmer and widens a rift between Ukraine, a major global food supplier, and three members of the European Union, which has been a pivotal backer of Kyiv as it works to fight off Russia’s invasion.In a break with the wider EU, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia last week announced bans on imports of Ukrainian food to their local markets. They were joined Tuesday by Croatia. But all four will keep allowing those products to move through their borders to parts of the world where people are going hungry. The four countries, two of which have elections within the coming weeks, say the bans are needed to protect their farmers from a supply glut that drives down local prices and hurts liveli...

‘It was effective’: Police defend use of conducted energy weapon on girl, 12, at Oshawa school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

A Durham regional police spokesperson defended an officer’s use of a conducted energy weapon on a 12-year-old at an Oshawa school on Monday morning saying it effectively halted an ongoing assault and didn’t cause any serious injuries.Police were called to Sir Albert Love Catholic School in the Hillcroft Street and Wilson Road North area around 11:30 a.m. for reports of a female student assaulting staff and students.Sgt. Joanne Bortoluss told reporters on Tuesday that when police arrived the girl was inside a classroom armed with scissors.“They immediately tried to de-escalate the situation,” she explained. “They requested that she drop the scissors, which she complied with.”But Bortoluss said the girl, who she described as “irate” suddenly ran through an unlocked door into the schoolyard, where she allegedly began assaulting a staff member.“She was violently assaulting a staff member at the school, to stop that assault the office...

Police are investigating the death of a man following an ‘incident’ at a New England Patriots game

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Police are investigating the death of a New Hampshire man following an “incident” in the stands at a New England Patriots home game over the weekend, a county attorney’s office said. Police and personnel responded to the upper deck at Gillette Stadium shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday. Dale Mooney, 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, “was in apparent need of medical attention,” the Norfolk County district attorney’s office said in a news release Monday. Mooney was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the news release said.Results of an autopsy were expected Tuesday, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said. Further information was not provided.“The death of a 53-year old New Hampshire man following an incident in the 300’s tier of Gillette Stadium during the September 17, 2023 game is, according to normal protocol, under investigation by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office,” the rel...

Fighting flares again in a breakaway region in the Caucasus Mountains

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijan’s forces rained artillery fire on Armenian positions in Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, and local officials reported at five civilians were killed and scores wounded in shelling around the breakaway region’s capital. Authorities in Azerbaijan accused the other side of killing a civilian.Ethnic Armenian authorities in the Caucasus Mountains region urged Azerbaijan to sit down for talks, but Azerbaijan’s presidential administration said what it called the “anti-terrorist operation” will continue until “illegal Armenian military formations” surrender and the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh dismantles itself.The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have faced off for more than three decades in a conflict over the mountainous territory. The most recent heavy fighting there occurred for six weeks in 2020.Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry announced the start of ...

Network of ancient American Indian earthworks in Ohio named as UNESCO World Heritage sites

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A network of ancient American Indian ceremonial and burial mounds in Ohio described as “part cathedral, part cemetery and part astronomical observatory” was added Tuesday to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Preservationists, led by the Ohio History Connection, and indigenous tribes, many with ancestral ties to the state, pushed to recognize the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks for their good condition, distinct style and cultural significance — describing them as “masterpieces of human genius.” The application process for the heritage designation was slowed by a protracted court battle to restore public access to the earthworks site leased to Moundbuilders Country Club, whose members-only golf course sits inside it. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee approved the application during a meeting in Saudi Arabia. The massive earthworks join a list of famed sites that includes Greece’s Acropolis, Peru’s Machu Picchu and the Great Wall of China. “Pure excitement ...

Climate change made storm that devastated Libya far more likely and intense, scientists say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

The devastating storm that dumped torrential rains along the Libyan coast this month was up to 50 times more likely to occur and 50% more intense because of human-caused climate change, according to an analysis released Tuesday.Before crossing the Mediterranean, the storm raged for four days and caused extensive damage in central Greece and parts of Bulgaria and Turkey, a region where such extreme storms are up to 10 times more likely and up to 40% more intense because of climate change, scientists said.Heavy one-day rains from Mediterranean storm Daniel caused massive flooding across eastern Libya that overwhelmed two dams, sending a wall of water through the coastal city of Derna that destroyed entire neighborhoods and swept bridges, cars and people out to sea. The death toll has varied, with government officials and aid agencies giving tallies ranging from about 4,000 to 11,000 dead.The analysis was conducted by the World Weather Attribution group, which aims to quickly evaluate ...

Minnesota professor dismissed over showing Islamic art can proceed with lawsuit, judge rules

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former Hamline University adjunct art professor can proceed with her lawsuit against the private Minnesota school but only on the basis of religious discrimination, a federal judge has ruled.Erika López Prater sued Hamline University earlier this year after she was dismissed following a complaint from a Muslim student that she showed ancient images of the Prophet Muhammad in a global art course last year. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez on Friday dismissed several other claims in López Prater’s lawsuit, including those claiming reprisal, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and retaliation, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported. López Prater’s attorney has argued that the school would have treated her differently if she were Muslim.The judge noted that López Prater’s religious discrimination argument is novel and that it will likely be hard to show that the university would have treated her differently if she were Muslim. ...

Bagels and lox. Kugel. Babka. To break the Yom Kippur fast, think made-ahead food, and lots of it

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:56 GMT

The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which begins this year on Sunday evening (Sept. 25), is a solemn 25 hours of fasting and atonement.But when it’s over, fast turns to feast.The spread at a “break fast” gathering (not to be confused with breakfast) traditionally consists of foods that are made ahead, served either at room temperature or reheated right before serving. Observant Jews don’t cook on Yom Kippur, and even if you’re less observant, it’s pretty hard to stand in the kitchen cooking while you’re fasting.BAGELS, LOX, THE FIXINGSPerhaps the most common foods used to break the fast are bagels and lox (or smoked salmon) with all the fixings. Those typically involve dairy and fish dishes, such as smoked fish, whitefish salad, flavored cream cheeses (“schmears” or “shmears”), pickled herring, capers and cucumber salad.The break fast meal is usually meat-free, since meat and dairy don’t mix in kosher foods.I always include a noodle kugel in my break fast menu,...