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ConAgra Brands Inc. recalls over 245,000 pounds of Banquet chicken strips meals due to plastic contamination

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

Food manufacturer ConAgra Brands Inc. has issued a recall for one of its popular meal products, Banquet chicken strips, due to potential plastic contamination concerns in more than 245,000 pounds of the product. According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), some Banquet chicken strips meals may contain plastic contaminants. The affected products have best-by-dates of December 11, 2024, January 1, 2025, or January 7, 2025, and lot numbers 5009317120, 5009319220, or 5009319820.Consumers who have purchased Banquet chicken strips with these best-by-dates are strongly advised to dispose of the affected products or return them to the place of purchase for a refund.ConAgra Brands Inc. is actively cooperating with the FSIS to take all necessary steps to address this issue. The company encourages consumers to check their product packaging for the best-by-dates and lot numbers mentioned to verify if their Banquet chicken strips meal falls within the affected batch.Consumers who ...

Steve Harwell, Smash Mouth singer, dead at 56

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

(CNN) — Steve Harwell, the former lead singer of the rock group Smash Mouth, died Monday, his manager tells CNN.He was 56.No cause of death was shared, but Harwell had been receiving hospice care over the weekend. He died at his home in Boise, Idaho, with family and friends by his side, according Robert Hayes, the manager of Smash Mouth.“Steve Harwell was a true American Original. A larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle,” Hayes said in a statement to CNN. “Steve should be remembered for his unwavering focus and impassioned determination to reach the heights of pop stardom. And the fact that he achieved this near-impossible goal with very limited musical experience makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable. His only tools were his irrepressible charm and charisma, his fearlessly reckless ambition, and his king-size cajones.”Harwell was a founding member and longtime lead singer of Smash Mouth, best known for its chart-topping s...

Good news for the college class of 2027: It’s not too late to get more financial aid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

(CNN) — This weekend, the Class of 2027 checks into their college dorms at US institutions, from Columbia University in New York City to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the University of Colorado Boulder.Many of the incoming students will find college more expensive than they expected, and may realize the financial aid package they received in May will not be enough.The good news? It’s not too late to apply for financial aid or appeal the financial aid amount that was given.The average cost of attending a four-year college in the United States stands at $25,707 per year, or $102,828 over four years, according to an April report by the Education Data Initiative. Out-of-state students at state schools pay $44,014 per year. At private, nonprofit universities, add a whopping $10,000 per year to that.Some schools like Northwestern University in Illinois have a “priority deadline” early in the application process for financial aid, but students can still apply year-round. “It doesn...

UK Labour reshuffle: The winners and losers in Keir Starmer’s shake-up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

LONDON — Keir Starmer revamped his Labour frontbench Monday — and not everyone’s thrilled.As the U.K. opposition leader prepares for a general election next year, Starmer chose to promote key figures from his party’s right flank, demoting one-time leadership rival Lisa Nandy and a host of other figures from the party’s so-called “soft left” faction. “I’m really pleased that having put in the hard yards to change the Labour Party, we now have such a strong team on the pitch that is ready to deliver the change our country desperately needs,” Starmer declared as the dust settled.But a spokesperson for the left-wing Labour campaign group Momentum offered up another take, berating the “promotion of a narrow band of Blairites unwilling to offer the decisive change the country is crying out for.”With polls suggesting Labour is on course to form the next British government, here’s POLITICO’s guide to the reshuffle winners and...

Russia ready to restart grain deal if sanctions lifted, Putin tells Erdoğan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

Moscow could revive the Black Sea grain deal and allow Ukraine to export millions of tons of agricultural products to food-importing nations in exchange for Western sanctions on Russia being relaxed, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.Speaking after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Russian resort city of Sochi, Putin said that the U.N.-brokered deal could be restarted “in the coming days,” provided restrictions on Russian agricultural exports were dropped.“We are not against this deal. We are ready to return to it as soon as the commitments towards us are fulfilled,” Putin said. However, at the same time, he claimed that the West “deceived us at the expense of humanitarian goals” in the implementation of the grain deal.Russia, he added, will supply 1 million tons of discounted grain for processing in Turkey and then to be shipped on to poorer nations for free.Erdogan, meanwhile, said that there was no alternative to the now-defunct deal and said he had p...

Steve Harwell, founding lead singer of Smash Mouth, dead at 56

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

(CNN) — Steve Harwell, the founding lead singer of the rock group Smash Mouth, died Monday, according to his manager.He was 56.No cause of death was shared, but Harwell had been receiving hospice care over the weekend. He died at his home in Boise, Idaho, with family and friends by his side, according Robert Hayes, the manager of Smash Mouth.“Steve Harwell was a true American Original. A larger than life character who shot up into the sky like a Roman candle,” Hayes said in a statement to CNN. “Steve should be remembered for his unwavering focus and impassioned determination to reach the heights of pop stardom. And the fact that he achieved this near-impossible goal with very limited musical experience makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable. His only tools were his irrepressible charm and charisma, his fearlessly reckless ambition, and his king-size cajones.”Harwell was a founding member in 1994 and longtime lead singer of Smash Mouth, best known for its ch...

Dorchester man arrested after Caribbean Festival gunfire is accused of shooting 6 victims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

A Dorchester man who had been arrested on gun charges after the Caribbean Festival mass shooting last week is now accused of shooting six of the eight victims, according to Boston Police.Gerald Vick, 30, had been arrested near the annual J’ouvert Parade, part of Boston’s Caribbean Festival, following the gunfire on Saturday morning, Aug. 26.When Boston Police officers took Vick into custody, officers found a 9mm pistol with a large capacity magazine — equipped with a “Glock switch” that enables the gun to fire continuously. Vick was initially charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.Now, Boston Police have charged him with shooting six of the eight victims. Vick has been charged with: six counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon — firearm; armed assault to murder; unlawful possession of a machine gun; unlawful possession of a firearm — subsequent offense; armed career criminal; discharging a firearm within 500′...

Northern Ireland police chief resigns after controversies including huge data breach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Northern Ireland’s top police officer resigned Monday following a series of controversies that plagued the police force, including what he described as an “industrial scale” data breach.The Northern Ireland Policing Board confirmed that Simon Byrne has resigned as chief constable, with immediate effect. Bryne has faced growing pressure to step down since personal data on all serving members of the police force were mistakenly published last month in response to a freedom of information request. The details included the surnames, initials, location and departments for around 10,000 officers and staff. Police said that dissident republicans claimed to be in possession of information about police officers following the incident.The breach was particularly sensitive given the delicate security situation in Northern Ireland, which is still trying to overcome decades of sectarian violence known as “The Troubles.” Twenty-five years after a peace agreement largely ended the vi...

Pope insists Vatican-China relations are on track but says more work is needed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis insisted Monday that the Vatican’s relations with China were going well but said work must still be done to show Beijing that the Catholic Church isn’t beholden to a foreign power.Francis spoke about the Holy See’s dealings with China during a press conference en route home from Mongolia, where Beijing and its crackdown on religious minorities overshadowed an otherwise historic first papal visit to the majority Buddhist nation.Francis sent a telegram of greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping as his aircraft flew through China’s airspace coming and going to Mongolia. The pontiff also gave a special shout-out to the Chinese people at the end of his main Mass in Ulaanbaatar. He brought up to the altar the current and retired bishops of Hong Kong to demonstrate his “warm” affection for the Chinese people.But relations remain strained, particularly over a 5-year-old agreement on nominating Catholic bishops. The 2018 accord aimed t...

Pope wants to keep big Vatican meeting on the church’s future behind closed doors, ideology-free

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:28 GMT

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis defended the decision to keep the discussions of a big Vatican meeting on the future of the Catholic Church behind closed doors, saying Monday the three-week conference was a religious moment for the church and “not a television program” that was open to scrutiny.Francis was asked repeatedly on his way home from Mongolia about the Oct. 4-29 meeting, or synod of bishops, which is opening after an unprecedented two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics around the globe about their hopes for the church.Many Vatican watchers consider the synod to be a defining moment of the Francis pontificate, since the official agenda includes hot-button issues such as the role of women in decision-making roles in the church, the acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics and celibacy for priests.While the meeting is not a decision-making body, many Catholics who participated in the pre-meeting consultations are eager to see how their contributions are considered or...