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Britain’s Labour Party is winning over business chiefs, poll suggests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

LONDON — Labour leader Keir Starmer’s pre-election love-in with business is continuing to bear fruit, according to a new poll.The focaldata survey, carried out for Lodestone Communications and shared with POLITICO’s London Influence newsletter, comes as both parties seek to repair battered ties with business after a chaotic few years in Westminster.Nearly half (49 percent) of the 751 C-suite business representatives surveyed now believe Starmer, the U.K. opposition leader, is most “in touch” with the needs of businesses and employers. That compares with just 34 percent who think Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is most in touch with business needs — and represents an increase of 7 percentage points for Starmer since April.The survey also finds that 70 percent of business leaders expect a Labour majority at the next election — down just 1 percentage point in the last six months — with almost two-thirds (64 percent) expressing some level of optimism at the prospect.T...

MEPs confirm EU’s new climate chiefs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

Lawmakers in the European Parliament have approved Maroš Šefčovič and Wopke Hoekstra as the EU’s new climate leadership duo. During a plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs voted for Hoekstra’s appointment as climate action commissioner by 279 to 173 with 33 abstentions, and in favor of Šefčovič as new Green Deal chief by 322 to 158 with 37 abstentions. They replace Frans Timmermans, who quit the Commission in August to run in the upcoming Dutch election. Both can now formally take up their jobs; Hoekstra is expected to represent the EU at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai starting November 30. The vote came after hours-long fractious hearings that saw conservatives and Socialists threatening to vote down each other’s candidates. Former Dutch foreign minister Hoekstra belongs to the center-right European People’s Party, while Šefčovič is a Slovak Social Democrat. MEPs in the environment committee, however, eventually approved both candidates — with the...

The 10 best moments from the Orioles’ historic 2023 regular season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

During the rebuild, coming up with 10 great moments from an Orioles season would’ve been a herculean task.This year, keeping it to 10 is the challenge.In a season with 101 wins, 48 comebacks, 11 extra-inning wins, six walk-offs, five prospect debuts, four All-Stars, two clinch celebrations and one playoff appearance, the 2023 Orioles provided more than their fair share of memorable moments.Here are the 10 best, in chronological order.Adley Rutschman’s 5-for-5 opening day at Fenway ParkEntering the season, the Orioles were expected to win about 75-78 games, according to projections systems and sportsbooks. Rutschman’s dominant performance on opening day kicked off the season and was the first piece of evidence that the Orioles were ready to exceed expectations.The second-year catcher made history in the Orioles’ 10-9 win over the Boston Red Sox on March 30. He went 5-for-5 with a home run to become the first hitter to do so on opening day since 1937. Since...

Russia launches more drone attacks as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy attends a European forum

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia targeted Ukraine with drones in another massive attack early Thursday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Spain to rally support from Western allies at a summit of some 50 European leaders.Ukraine’s air force said that the country’s air defenses intercepted 24 out of 29 Iranian-made drones that Russia launched at the southern Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions.Andriy Raykovych, the head of the Kirovohrad regional administration, said that an infrastructure facility in the region was struck and emergency services were deployed to put out a fire. He said there were no casualties.The attack came as Zelenskyy arrived in Granada in southern Spain to attend a summit of the European Political Community, which was formed in the wake of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.“The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defense, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners,” he said in a statement pos...

Slovakia halts military aid for Ukraine as parties that oppose it negotiate to form a new government

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s president has refused a plan by her country’s caretaker government to send further military aid to Ukraine, saying it doesn’t have the authority and parties that oppose such support are in talks to form a government following last week’s election.The presidential office said in a statement Thursday that the current government of technocrats has only limited powers because it lost a mandatory confidence vote in Parliament on June 15, a month after President Zuzana Caputova swore it in.The technocrat Cabinet was created with the aim of leading the country to Saturday’s early election.Caputova on Monday asked the leader of the winning party in the election to try to form a coalition government. Populist former prime minister Robert Fico and his leftist Smer, or Direction, party captured 22.9% of the vote on Saturday. It will have 42 seats in the 150-seat Parliament.Fico has vowed to withdraw Slovakia’s military support for Ukraine, and his v...

Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker could cost the GOP its best fundraiser heading into 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kevin McCarthy spent years raising mountains of Republican campaign cash, flying around the country to recruit top candidates in key districts and painstakingly building political relationships as he worked his way toward becoming speaker of the House. Now that he’s been ousted from the post after less than nine months, some in the GOP are wondering if anyone can take his place as a fundraising dynamo and party builder.The House isn’t scheduled to vote on who could replace McCarthy until at least next week with all legislative work suspended as the chamber navigates a situation never before seen in the nation’s history. In the meantime, House Republicans have no clear leader heading into next year’s election as they cling to a razor-thin majority. “Nobody can raise money like him,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D. “And no matter who is the next speaker of the House, none of them can do what Kevin McCarthy did.”The National Republican Congressional Committee,...

Israeli suspects to plead to charges of raping of a British woman after defense lawyers get material

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Five Israelis accused of gang raping a British woman in a Cyprus hotel room won’t plead to charges including rape, sexual assault and abduction until prosecutors hand over key material including DNA tests, fingerprints and eyewitness testimony, a lawyer said Thursday. Yannis Habaris, a lawyer representing three of the five Israeli nationals, told The Associated Press that the judge adjourned the trial until Oct. 16 to give the prosecution enough time to give the material to defense lawyers.Habaris said DNA results, which prosecutors told the court would be ready within 24 hours, are essential in counselling his clients on the best course of action that should be taken for their defense.He said without that material, which also includes testimony from one witness who was inside the hotel room at the time of the alleged rape, he would not be in a “position to counsel his clients regarding their plea.”The Israelis will remain in custody in a Paralimni detention c...

Jon Fosse, a Norwegian master of spare Nordic writing, wins the Nobel Prize in literature

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Jon Fosse, a master of spare Nordic writing in a sprawling body of work ranging from plays to novels and children’s books, won the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday for works that “give voice to the unsayable.”Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel literature committee, said Fosse’s work is rooted “in the language and nature of his Norwegian background.”“I was surprised when they called, yet at the same time not. I have cautiously prepared myself for the possibility that this could happen in the past 10 years,” Fosse, 64, told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. “It was a great joy for me to get the phone call.”One of his country’s most-performed dramatists, Fosse has written some 40 plays as well as novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry and essays. The Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, said it was “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”Mats Malm, permanent secretary of the academy, reached Fosse by telephone...

Baltimore police ask for help IDing ‘persons of interest’ seen in video in Morgan State shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore police have asked for the public’s help identifying a group of people seen in the area of a shooting at Morgan State University that left five people injured.Police released surveillance video late Wednesday that shows several people walking in a grassy area. They are seeking the identities of “persons of interest” in Tuesday night’s shooting. Earlier in the day, Police Commissioner Richard Worley said at least two people opened fire during a dispute between two groups at the university’s homecoming events, but the victims were likely not the shooters’ intended targets. Preliminary evidence indicates the shooters were targeting one person, who wasn’t among the victims, Worley said. All five are expected to survive. Worley said a third person also pulled a gun during the dispute, though it wasn’t clear whether they pulled the trigger. He said ballistics testing will reveal how many shooters were ultimately involved.Wednesday morning’s upda...

Mysterious injury of 16-year-old Iranian girl not wearing a headscarf in Tehran’s Metro sparks anger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:57 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A mysterious injury suffered by a 16-year-old girl who boarded a Metro train in Iran’s capital without a headscarf has reignited anger just after the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and the nationwide protests it sparked. What happened in the few seconds after Armita Geravand entered the train on Sunday remain in question. While a friend told Iranian state television that she hit her head on the station’s platform, the soundless footage aired by the broadcaster from outside of the car is blocked by a bystander. Just seconds later, her limp body is carried off. Geravand’s mother and father appeared in state media footage saying a blood pressure issue, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter’s injury.Activists abroad have alleged Geravand may have been pushed or attacked because she was not wearing the hijab. They demand an independent investigation by the United Nations’ fact-finding mission on Iran, citing ...