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Cormac McCarthy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ‘The Road’ and ‘No Country For Old Men,’ dies at 89

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who in prose both dense and brittle took readers from the southern Appalachians to the desert Southwest in such novels as “The Road,” “Blood Meridian” and “All the Pretty Horses,” died Tuesday. He was 89.McCarthy died of natural causes in Santa Fe, New Mexico, publisher Alfred A. Knopf said.McCarthy, raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, was compared to William Faulkner for his Old Testament style and rural settings. McCarthy’s themes, like Faulkner’s, often were bleak and violent and dramatized how the past overwhelmed the present. Across stark and forbidding landscapes and rundown border communities, he placed drifters, thieves, prostitutes and old, broken men, all unable to escape fates determined for them well before they were born. As the doomed John Grady Cole of McCarthy’s celebrated “Border” trilogy would learn, dreams of a better life were only dreams, and falling in love an act of folly.McCarthy’s own story was one of be...

Trump pleads not guilty in historic court appearance in secret documents case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

By Erick Tucker, Associated PressFormer President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he hoarded classified documents detailing sensitive military secrets and schemed to thwart government efforts to get them back.Trump appeared before a judge in Miami’s federal courthouse on Tuesday in a stunning moment in American history days after he became the first former president charged with federal crimes.Authorities say Trump schemed and lied to block the government from recovering the documents concerning nuclear programs and other sensitive military secrets stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.Supporters of former US President Donald Trump pray during a demonstration outside of Trump Tower in New York City on June 13, 2023. Former US President and 2024 Presidential hopeful Donald Trump is appearing in court in Miami for an arraignment regarding 37 federal charges, including violations of the Espionage Act, making false statements, and conspiracy regarding his misha...

Cape Cod great white shark researchers looking at using drones to spot sharks off beaches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

Cape Cod great white shark researchers this summer will be using drones to spot the apex predators off beaches, as the scientists look at whether the technology is effective for shark surveillance off the Cape.This comes after a high-profile drone shark study out of California — finding that juvenile white sharks were close to people on 97% of the days surveyed, and no one was bitten during the 2-year drone study.Along the Cape, scientists last summer started to use drones in a pilot study.“When water conditions are clear and nice, this is an incredible tool to study sharks and their activities off of our beaches,” Atlantic White Shark Conservancy staff scientist Megan Winton said during the conservancy’s media day on Tuesday.“One thing we want to do is get an idea of how they’re using the nearshore waters right off our beaches with these direct observations,” Winton added of the great whites.This summer, the researchers will be trying to fi...

Brian Daboll mum on Saquon Barkley amid contract controversy: ‘Each year’s different’ for RB values

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

Giants coach Brian Daboll tried to preempt any questions about Saquon Barkley on day one of mandatory minicamp Monday.“Relative to — I know you’re probably going to ask Saquon questions — my position hasn’t changed on that from a couple weeks ago,” Daboll said before practice. “Every conversation I have about Saquon will be private.”That doesn’t fly now, though, because Barkley said Sunday at his AMPT Events kids’ football camp in Jersey City that his problem is the Giants didn’t keep their negotiations private.“We say ‘family business is family business’ in that facility, in that building, and I’m gonna stick to that,” Barkley said. “The thing I’m frustrated most about is, like how I said ‘family business is family business,’ and then sources come out and stories get leaked, and it didn’t come from me … I feel like it’s trying to paint a narrativ...

Bill Belichick raves about improvement from Patriots S Jabrill Peppers: ‘Oh my god’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

FOXBORO — For the Patriots, replacing longtime captain and free safety Devin McCourty will take several months and multiple players.Among those players is Jabrill Peppers, a 7-year veteran who re-signed on a 2-year deal this offseason. His return fit neatly into the overarching theme of the Patriots’ offseason on defense: let’s run it back.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots’ Matthew Judon, DeVante Parker pass on DeAndre Hopkins questions at minicamp New England Patriots | Trent Brown returns, 7 missing at Patriots minicamp Tuesday New England Patriots | DeAndre Hopkins visiting Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday, per report New England Patriots | Mac Jones plays it safe, Jack Jones shines and more Patriots minicamp Day 1 takeaways New England Patriots | Former Patriots captain reportedly skipping mandatory minicamp over contract For Peppers, running actually feels lik...

Gadgets: These potential Father’s Day gifts won’t disappoint

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

Gregg Ellman | Tribune News Service (TNS)Your dad doesn’t want a new shirt, shorts or a tie for Father’s Day. It’s all about him. That’s why I asked some local fathers about two potential gifts — a new power drill or a prominent Bluetooth speaker — and they all approved. Some even asked me to tip off their families about them.DeWalt, a Stanley Black & Decker brand, recently launched a pair of tools to make any dad happy. The 20V Max Brushless 1/2-inch Drill/Driver (DCD793) is an amazingly small and powerful cordless tool. It’s built with a more petite body than previous models (about 2 inches shorter) but with 16% more power.The new light and powerful tool (6.38-by-7.88-by-2.49 inches, 2.38 pounds) is built with an efficient brushless motor and 15 clutch positions, and it’s keyless, so no chuck key needed. It works off a 20V MAX 2.0 Ah rechargeable battery and has easy-to-control variable speeds. An on-tool LED helps light up tough-to-get dark areas.A more powerful 20V Max Brush...

Instant Pot maker seeks bankruptcy protection as sales go cold

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

The maker of Pyrex glassware and Instant Pot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the company that was already struggling is stung by inflation, with Americans pulling back on spending. According to a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas this week, Instant Brands, based outside of Chicago, has more than $500 million in both assets and liabilities. Inflation has buffeted consumers after a pandemic-fueled binge on goods for the home, but spending has also moved elsewhere as people are again able to travel, or go to restaurants and shows. And Instant Pots, which became a must-have gadget several years ago, have been disappearing from kitchens. Sales of “electronic multicooker devices,” most of which are Instant Pots, reached $758 million in 2020, the start of the pandemic. Sales had plunged 50% by last year, to $344 million. Dollar and unit sales have declined 20% from last year in the period ending in April, according to the...

Trump pleads not guilty in Miami federal court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom Tuesday to dozens of felony counts that he hoarded classified documents and refused government demands to give them back.The history-making arraignment kickstarts a legal process that will unfold at the height of the 2024 presidential campaign and carry profound consequences not only for his political future but more urgently for his own personal liberty.Former President Donald Trump leaves his Trump National Doral resort, Tuesday, June 13, 2023 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)Trump approached his arraignment with characteristic bravado, posting social media broadsides against the prosecution from inside his motorcade and insisting as he has through years of legal woes that he has done nothing wrong and was being persecuted for political purposes. But the gravity of the moment was unmistakable as he answers to&nbs...

Bunge and Viterra sign merger agreement to create global agribusiness giant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

A US$8.2-billion merger between U.S. company Bunge Ltd. and Viterra Ltd. will create a massive global agricultural giant in an industry that has already seen a significant amount of consolidation in recent years.The deal was announced Tuesday by the Missouri-based Bunge — which is the world’s largest oilseeds processing company, operating 300 facilities  in more than 40 countries worldwide — and Viterra, which is owned by Swiss commodities giant Glencore, as well as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and B.C. Investment Management Corp.Under the terms of the agreement, Viterra’s shareholders will receive 65.6 million Bunge shares, valued at a total of about US$6.2 billion, and about US$2.0 billion in cash. Bunge will also assume US$9.8 billion of Viterra debt.Viterra shareholders will own 30 per cent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis when the deal closes and about 33 per cent after completion of a planned US$2-billion share repurchase plan by Bunge.V...

Wildfires force some forestry companies to pause operations: industry association

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:34:12 GMT

Wildfires across Canada are forcing some forestry companies to pause operations, particularly in Quebec. Close to five million hectares have been burned so far, and workers in some forestry communities have been evacuated, said Derek Nighbor, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada. “The impact is significant,” he said, adding, “it’s really varying across the country.” Some mills and woodlands operations across the country are unable to operate right now for safety reasons, he said.One of the companies forced to suspend operations is Montreal-headquartered Resolute Forest Products Inc. “For Resolute, we are particularly impacted by the boreal forest devastation in Quebec, where 2023 is already shaping up the be the worst year in over three decades in terms of the extent of area affected,” spokesman Seth Kursman said in an email. “Although wildfire is a natural part of forest regeneration, the unseasonal heat and ...