WBZ Update For February 22, 2021

WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben and Sarah Wroblewski have your latest news and weather.

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  • Meghan and Harry: How much did Diana leave in inheritance for Harry?

    Princes received full amount of money from mother’s estate when they turned 30

  • Harry implies family were jealous of Meghan’s Diana-like connection to public

    Harry says wife’s success ‘brought back memories’ of his mother for royal family

  • Oprah targeted by bizarre QAnon conspiracy theory after Harry and Meghan interview broadcast

    Not first time Oprah has been subject of conspiracy theory about wearing ankle monitor

  • Meghan Markle and Prince Harry secretly got married 3 days before their royal wedding

    Meghan Markle revealed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that she and Prince Harry married privately before their televised wedding in 2018.

  • Prince Harry says Meghan Markle made him realize he was 'trapped' in royal life

    Prince Harry told Oprah Winfrey "I was trapped, but I didn't know I was trapped" in a candid sit-down interview with his wife, Meghan Markle.

  • Swiss voters agree to 'burqa ban'

    Voters in Switzerland have agreed to outlaw facial coverings in a referendum criticized as Islamophobic.It was instigated by the same far-right group that organized a successful vote on banning new minarets in 2009.The measure to amend the Swiss constitution passed by a narrow margin according to provisional official results. The proposal under the Swiss system of direct democracy does not mention Islam directly and also aims to stop violent street protesters from wearing masks.Yet local politicians, media and campaigners have dubbed it the 'burqa ban'.Before the vote a member of parliament for the Swiss People's Party had described face veils as quote "a symbol for this extreme, political Islam which has become increasingly prominent in Europe and which has no place in Switzerland."Muslim groups condemned the vote and said they would challenge it.It promised legal challenges to laws implementing the ban and a fundraising drive to help women who are fined.

  • Meeting set to help plan COVID-19 vaccinations for teachers

    A meeting will be held to help plan COVID-19 vaccinations for Massachusetts educators.

  • Biden news - Cuomo faces fresh allegations as Obama praises president on Covid-19 relief bill

    Follow the latest in US politics

  • Meghan accuses UK royals of racism

    MEGHAN MARKLE: "I didn't want to be alive anymore."Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, has accused the British Royal Family of racism, lying and pushing her to the brink of suicide.The bombshell revelations were made during a highly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on CBS on Sunday.Meghan, whose mother is Black and father is white, said the Royal Family refused to make her son a prince because they were concerned about the colour of his skin.MEGHAN MARKLE: "So we have in tandem the conversation of, you won't be given security, he's not gonna be given a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."The Duchess said she was naive before she married into the Royal Family in 2018, and that things got so desperate she had suicidal thoughts and considered self harm.OPRAH WINFREY: "Did you hear this one about you making Kate Middleton cry?"MEGHAN MARKLE: "This I heard about."OPRAH WINFREY: "You heard about that?"MEGHAN MARKLE "That was a turning point."Meghan said the reverse had happened...that Kate had made her cry.She also accused the royal institution of not only failing to protect her against malicious claims, but lying to protect others.The comments risk inflaming an already tense relationship between Meghan and Harry on one side, and the British monarchy on the other.Last year, the couple stepped down from their royal duties to build a new life in the United States.To their detractors, they want the glamour of their positions without the dedication it requires or scrutiny it brings.While their supporters view the monarchy as an outdated institution that has lashed out against a modern, biracial woman, with undertones of racism.Harry was also interviewed by Oprah. He said he left the Royal Family because he wanted to avoid history repeating itself, in reference to the media's behaviour before the death of his mother Diana in 1997.He added that his father stopped taking his calls during the build-up to the announcement he was leaving.Harry said that if it hadn't been for Meghan he wouldn't of been able to step away from the Royal Family because, like his father and brother, he was trapped.

  • Lauren Boebert: Congresswoman linked to QAnon attacks Democrats for being ‘obsessed with conspiracies’

    Freshman Republican complains: ‘Judge Jeanine, this is complete bonkers that we are keeping people out the United States Capitol’

  • Biden signs executive order to expand voting rights: ‘If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide’

    ‘Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have it counted’

  • 6 takeaways from the Senate's approval of Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill

    What it means for Joe Biden politically for millions of Americans awaiting relief.

  • Biden's German shepherds have been sent home to Delaware after a 'biting incident' with White House security officers

    The two German shepherds were sent back to the Biden family home after 3-year-old Major displayed aggressive behaviour to White House security staff.

  • A new lab study shows troubling signs that Pfizer's and Moderna's COVID-19 shots could be far less effective against the variant first found in South Africa

    A mutation called E484K appeared to help the variant, first found in South Africa, to evade antibodies produced by the vaccines, the authors said.

  • $1,400 checks could start arriving within weeks under latest COVID-19 relief package

    The Internal Revenue Service could begin delivering payments in about two weeks under President Biden's COVID-19 relief package, analysts say.

  • Prince Harry has lit a slow burn stick of dynamite that will cause the greatest devastation of all

    To outward appearances, the Markle Sparkle was fully in evidence as the Duchess smilingly worked the room, her hand touchingly entwined with Harry’s. With her midnight blue ball gown shimmering in the glare of the flash bulbs, the five-month pregnant royal appeared in sparkling form as she joined her husband for the premiere of Cirque du Soleil in Jan 2019. Yet following an extraordinary TV interview with Oprah Winfrey that has left the Royal family reeling, we now know that the “suicidal” former actress only went ahead with the engagement at the Royal Albert Hall because she did not think she should be left alone. The claim, along with the suggestion that an as-yet unnamed Windsor questioned how dark Archie’s skin might be when he was born, form the main charge of the bomb dropped on the monarchy during the couple’s two-hour tell all.

  • 5 hidden details you might have missed in Meghan Markle's Oprah Winfrey interview outfit

    Through her jewelry and Armani lotus dress, Meghan Markle sent a message of hope, paid tribute to Diana, and may have made a nod to the Commonwealth.

  • Meghan: Archie's title was not royal family's "right to take away"

    A century ago, King George V decreed the children and grandchildren of the monarch automatically get prince or princess titles. Queen Elizabeth made a special ruling to extend that to William's children.

  • A mask-less Trader Joe's customer in Texas had a meltdown after being denied entry - and it reveals how states' new rules endanger workers

    In Texas, frontline workers are forced to impose corporate rules on masks without the support of the state, exposing them to customer backlash.

  • Nearly 11,000 women could be living with undiagnosed breast cancer following 'protect the NHS' drive

    Nearly 11,000 women could be living with undiagnosed breast cancer following last year’s drive to “protect the NHS”, new analysis reveals. A reluctance to burden the health service during the pandemic’s first wave, coupled with a drop in GP referrals and suspensions of screening programmes is wreaking a “tragic cost”, experts said. Research by the charity Breast Cancer Now found there were 10,700 fewer people diagnosed with breast cancer across the UK between March and December last year. The team analysed a range of data to reach the figure, including the number of people starting their first treatment for breast cancer, the number of women screened each month and the length of time for which services were paused. During the first wave of the pandemic, breast screening services were paused for different amounts of time across the UK, including around four months in Scotland and five months in Wales. While services were not officially paused in England, Breast Cancer Now said this still happened because hospitals turned their attention to fighting Covid. Overall, it said nearly 1.2 million fewer women in the UK underwent breast screening between March and December. Meanwhile, there was a 90,000 drop in referrals to a specialist for patients with possible symptoms of breast cancer in England between March and December. Even though services have resumed, the charity said they are operating at around 60 per cent capacity due to the need for social distancing and infection control. The charity on Tuesday warned of a forthcoming "perfect storm", with health workers in imaging and diagnostic services under unprecedented pressure due to the pandemic, having already been "chronically under-resourced" beforehand. Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: "The tragic cost of almost 11,000 missing breast cancer diagnoses is that in the worst cases, women could die from the disease. "And looking ahead, while we cannot know the full impacts of the pandemic, what we do know now is that over the coming years the number of women coming forward could overwhelm our already over-stretched workforce. "Women with breast cancer have already paid an unacceptable price due to the pandemic – we simply cannot afford for any more time to pass before UK Governments invest in and tackle the crisis facing the cancer workforce.” Overall, it put the number of patients undiagnosed with breast cancer due to the pandemic at around 8,900 cases in England, 890 in Scotland, 687 in Wales and 248 in Northern Ireland.