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With Timmermans out, we can do deals on farm reforms, says EPP chief

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber said Tuesday that it would become easier to reach agreement on sustainable farming reforms now that Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans is no longer in office.Weber and Timmermans jousted repeatedly in the European Parliament as his center-right group fought a rearguard action against new EU rules to restore degraded natural areas and, with an eye to the farm vote in next year’s elections, hit out at key elements of the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy.Timmermans resigned last month to lead an alliance of the left-wing Socialist Party and the Greens in the Dutch general election. Now, with low-key pragmatist Maroš Šefčovič taking charge of the green agenda, things have suddenly gotten easier.“I want to be very clear, with the departure of Frans Timmermans there is an atmosphere where people see now that there is a chance that all aspects [of the Green Deal] can be content based, in a fair discussion, and b...

Ukraine hits back at NYT report it accidentally bombed its own market

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

KYIV — Ukraine on Tuesday pushed back against a New York Times investigation, which said evidence suggested that Kyiv accidentally bombed a local market in its own town of Kostiantynivka killing 15 people. According to the New York Times‘ report published Monday, a combination of witnesses, findings in Kostyantynivka and open-source investigation of video footage and local anonymous Telegram channels indicated the September 6 attack was actually a tragic accident, caused by a Ukrainian BUK missile system firing toward Russian forces from the Ukrainian-controlled nearby town of Druzhkivka.Ukrainian law enforcement, however, says the evidence they have about the strike points at another Russian war crime.“The enemy hit this civilian object from the S-300 complex. This is evidenced, in particular, by the identified fragments of the rocket recovered at the scene of the tragedy,” Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) spokesman Artem Dehtiarenko told POLITICO. “The investigators are als...

Keir Starmer gives Emmanuel Macron an Arsenal shirt, some warm words

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

LONDON — Keir Starmer met Emmanuel Macron in Paris and all the French president got was a t-shirt.Starmer, the U.K. Labour leader, told Macron Tuesday he intends to improve relations between France and Britain if his opposition party wins power.And Starmer came bearing a gift: a die-hard Gunners fan, he gave Macron an Arsenal Football Club t-shirt. It had “Macron 25” on the back — a reference to the fact Macron is France’s 25th president. The president gave Starmer a pair of cufflinks emblazoned with the Elysée logo. The U.K. opposition leader met France’s president in Paris Tuesday, as he attempts to build on his international reputation and establish links with foreign leaders. Starmer has a commanding polling lead over current U.K. prime minister Rishi Sunak ahead of an expected general election next year.Speaking following his meeting with Macron, Starmer told Sky News the behind-closed-doors talks had been his first chance to say how much he values the r...

UK foreign secretary confirms China invite to AI summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

LONDON — Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed the British government has invited China to its November summit on artificial intelligence.In a press release Tuesday, Cleverly said: “We cannot keep the U.K. public safe from the risks of AI if we exclude one of the leading nations in AI tech. That’s why China has been invited to our AI Safety Summit in November.”“The U.K.’s approach to China is to protect our institutions and infrastructure, align with partners and engage where it is in the U.K.’s national interest.”It’s the first time a senior member of Rishi Sunak’s government has confirmed the invite, first reported by POLITICO in late August. U.K. government officials did however previously confirm the China invite to reporters at a background briefing in Washington two weeks ago. The invite to Beijing has ruffled feathers, especially among the U.K.’s allies in the G7. Japan has voiced particular opposition to Chinese involvement, believing it to be too soon to involve t...

United Lowrider Coalition champions state bill as it cruises to governor's desk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A bill that could legalize lowrider cruising in California is now just waiting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. The National City-based United Lowrider Coalition worked with Assemblymember David Alvarez to help author the bill.“We all listened and just tears, tears of joy.”That was Jovita Arellano’s reaction last Thursday when AB 436 was among some of the bills to be passed by the California legislative deadline. Arellano is president of the coalition. California campsite reservation bill heads to governor’s desk AB 436 passed both the State Assembly and the Senate with overwhelming support.“It shows that they understand. They embrace the lowrider community, they embrace our culture, they embrace the art,” Arellano said to FOX 5.Since the 1980s, state vehicle code has allowed local governments across California to stop drivers from cruising and driving cars modified to be a certain height. AB 436 would remove those restrictions.“It’s not the late 80’s, early 90’...

Tampa Bay Rays finalizing new ballpark in St. Petersburg as part of larger urban project

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The playoff-bound Tampa Bay Rays are putting the finishing touches on plans for a new 30,000-seat ballpark in St. Petersburg as part of a huge $6 billion development project that includes affordable housing, retail, bars and restaurants and a Black history museum.The site is on the same 86-acre (34-hectare) tract of downtown land where Tropicana Field now sits. That domed, oddly-tilted ballpark will be demolished once the new one is built, in time for Opening Day 2028, said Brian Auld, co-president of the Rays, in an interview Monday.The plan, which still has some political hurdles on funding and approvals to clear, would keep the Rays in St. Petersburg for the foreseeable future despite constant talk of the team moving across the bay to Tampa, possibly to Nashville, Tennessee, and even a plan to split home games with Montreal that was shot down by Major League Baseball.“We’re going to be here for a very long time,” Auld said. “We’re all reall...

The UN chief summons world leaders to action. But, he says, they seem ‘incapable of coming together’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Insisting that international cooperation is critical, the United Nations chief delivered a dire warning to leaders from across the world Tuesday, declaring that the planet is becoming unhinged with mounting global challenges and geopolitical tensions — and warning that “we seem incapable of coming together to respond.”Addressing presidents and prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level meeting, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ticked off a list of “existential threats” the world is facing, from climate change to disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence.“Our world is becoming unhinged. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond,” Guterres told the people who run the world’s nations. He said that the United Nations — and the ways that countries cooperate — must evolve to meet the era.“The world has changed. Our institution...

Judge rejects defense effort to throw out an Oath Keeper associate’s Jan. 6 guilty verdict

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday upheld an obstruction conviction against a Virginia man who stood trial with members of the Oath Keepers extremist group in one of the most serious cases brought in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected a defense effort to throw out the Washington jury’s guilty verdict against Thomas Caldwell, a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer who was convicted last November in the U.S. Capitol attack alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes. Mehta said there was sufficient evidence to find Caldwell, of Berryville, Virginia, guilty of obstructing an official proceeding — in this case, Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over President Donald Trump — and tampering with documents or proceedings.The judge said that while Caldwell didn’t enter the Capitol, evidence supports the argument that he aided extremists who stormed the building. The judge pointed to Caldwell’s own...

Azerbaijan opens fire on Armenian positions in Nagorno-Karabakh and 3 people are reported killed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Azerbaijan’s forces opened fire Tuesday on Armenian positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in what it called an “anti-terrorist operation,” and ethnic Armenian officials reported at least two civilians were killed and 23 wounded amid heavy artillery fire around the region’s capital. Azerbaijan’s authorities also accused Armenian forces of killing a civilian, which brought the civilian death toll of Tuesday’s hostilities to at least three. The Azerbaijani defense ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war over the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought heavily for six weeks in 2020. The ministry did not immediately give details, but said front-line positions and military assets of Armenia’s armed forces were being “incapacitated using high-precision...

Police say 12-year-old pointed replica gun at Oshawa homeowner

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:56:25 GMT

Durham regional police have charged a 12-year-old boy after he allegedly pointed a pellet gun at a homeowner in Oshawa on Saturday. Police were called to the Mary Street North and Taunton Road area at around 5:25 p.m. after the boy allegedly showed up at a home and started kicking the front door. When the homeowner opened the door, police say the boy pulled a black pellet gun from his backpack and pointed it at the homeowner. He then fled the area. A Oshawa boy was later charged with pointing a firearm, assault with a weapon, possess weapon for committing offence, mischief under $5000 and failing to comply with an undertaking. He was held in custody for a bail hearing.