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EU Socialists urged to kick out Slovakia’s pro-Russian election winner Robert Fico

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

STRASBOURG — Europe’s Socialists are under mounting pressure to boot out Robert Fico, who is poised to return to power in Slovakia after his Smer party won last weekend’s election on an anti-Ukraine ticket.Fico, who is in poll position to form a coalition government, was booted out of government amid an anti-corruption uprising in 2018 but has now surged to victory by proposing to end military support to its neighbor Ukraine and criticizing the EU’s sanctions on Russia, setting off alarm bells in Kyiv and Brussels. European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber plunged the knife in at a press conference at the European Parliament on Tuesday, comparing the Slovak politician to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who took his MEPs out of Weber’s center-right group in 2021 as the EPP mulled expelling him.“Whenever we listen to Fico it sounds like Orbán,” Weber said, referring to the Slovak’s stance on Russia and “toward minorities” in his co...

Climate commissioners’ confirmation delayed as MEPs ask more questions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

STRASBOURG — Lawmakers are asking the European Commission’s new climate leadership duo to answer additional questions before making a final decision on whether to back them on Wednesday.Wopke Hoekstra, the incoming climate action commissioner, faced a three-hour hearing in the European Parliament on Monday evening. Maroš Šefčovič, tapped to be the EU’s new Green Deal chief, faced a similar grilling Tuesday morning.Neither fully convinced members of the environment committee during their respective hearings, resulting in a decision to request responses to written questions by 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Peter Liese, environmental spokesperson for the European People’s Party, told POLITICO.Lawmakers will then convene again at 8:30 a.m. to make a final decision on both candidates.Two people with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed that the candidates will receive written questions.Commission President Ursula von der Leyen nominated Šefčovič and Hoekstra to replace F...

Boston police make arrest in Dorchester shooting that left 5 people wounded, including 2 juveniles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

Boston police say a suspect is in custody and that a search for another is ongoing as authorities continue to investigate a shooting in Dorchester that left five people wounded, including two children.The Boston Police Department said several of its units, as well as Lynn police and US Marshalls, assisted in the arrest of 24-year-old Gianni Johnson of Dorchester, who is facing charges for a shooting on Ames Street that occurred on Sept. 17.Five people were injured during the shooting, which happened in the area of 50 Ames Street around 8:30 p.m. According to officials, three adults and two juveniles were wounded, with one of the children suffering life-threatening injuries.As of Oct. 3, Boston police say the child remains in critical condition.Police said that following his arrest on Monday night, Johnson will be charged with five counts of Assault to Murder, in addition to several firearm-related charges, including Unlawful Possession of a Machine Gun.While Johnson is scheduled to ...

Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to three federal gun charges filed after his plea deal collapsed

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three federal firearms charges filed after a plea deal imploded, putting the case on track toward a possible trial as the 2024 election looms.His lawyer Abbe Lowell said in court he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, challenging their constitutionality.President Joe Biden’s son faces charges that he lied about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days.He’s acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law. Gun charges like these are rare, and an appeals court has found the ban on drug users having guns violates the Second Amendment under new Supreme Court standards.Hunter Biden’s attorneys are suggesting that prosecutors bowed to pressure by Republicans who have insisted the Democratic president’s son got a sweetheart deal, and that the charges were the result of poli...

Trapped driver rescued from overturned semi-truck

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A driver was rescued after his semi-truck overturned on a freeway in Otay Mesa early Tuesday.The rollover crash happened around 2 a.m. on the Siempre Viva off-ramp from southbound Interstate 905.By 6:30 a.m., all of the lanes had reopened. Campland on the Bay storage facility erupts in flames Check back for updates on this developing story.

I-805 north connector to SR-15 closed due to fatal crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The northbound Interstate 805 connector to northbound state Route 15 was closed Tuesday morning due to a fatal crash.Traffic was backed up to state Route 54. Campland on the Bay storage facility erupts in flames The crash was first reported around 4:38 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol's online incident log.Check back for updates on this developing story.

More evidence that the US job market remains hot after US job openings rise unexpectedly in August

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in August, another sign the U.S. labor market remains strong desite higher interest rates — perhaps too strong for the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve.American employers posted 9.6 million job openings in August, up from 8.9 million in July and the first uptick in three months, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Economists had expected only another 8.9 million vacancies. The number of layoffs and of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects — were both essentially unchanged from July.Nick Bunker, head of economic research at the Indeed Hiring Lab, noted that most of the August increase in openings came from just one industry: professional and business services. “”Yes, the job market is still retaining a lot of heat,” he said, “but it hasn’t gone back on the boil.”The Federal Reserve wants to see the red-hot U.S. job market cool off, reducing pressure on busi...

EU demands answers from Poland about visa fraud allegations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — Poland must clarify allegations that its consulates in Africa and Asia sold temporary work visas to migrants for thousands of dollars each in a scheme that could undermine free travel in Europe, a senior European Union official said Tuesday.European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said that travel within the 27-nation ID-check free travel zone known as the Schengen area relies on trust between the members, which include most EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.“What happens in a Schengen state affects the functioning of all Schengen countries. That is why the alleged cases of fraud and corruption in the Polish visa system are extremely worrying,” Schinas told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.“If third-country nationals have been allowed the right of free movement within Schengen, without respecting the appropriate conditions and procedures, this would amount to a violation of EU law, in particular the EU visa code,” he said...

Zimbabwe’s opposition boycotts president’s 1st State of the Nation speech since disputed election

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s main opposition party on Tuesday boycotted President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation address following his reelection in a disputed August election, revealing the widening political cracks in the southern African nation amid allegations of a post-vote clampdown on government critics.Citizens Coalition for Change spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said the party’s lawmakers stayed away from the speech because it views Mnangagwa as “illegitimate.”The CCC accuses Mnangagwa, 81, of fraudulently winning a second term and using violence and intimidation against critics, including by having some elected opposition officials arrested.The ruling ZANU-PF party, which has been in power in Zimbabwe since the country’s independence from white minority rule in 1980, also retained a majority of Parliament seats in the late August voting. Western and African observers questioned the credibility of the polling, saying an atmosphere of intimid...

Chanel takes a dip: Viard’s spring show brings Paris stalwart down to earth

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:25 GMT

PARIS (AP) — As Chanel’s models took their sashay down the Paris runway, guests could practically hear the faint splashes from the pools of the villa Noailles. This historic cubist space in the south of France, once graced by luminaries like Buñuel, Man Ray, Dali —and also Karl Lagerfeld — has for more than a century been a beacon for art. Virginie Viard’s spring collection emerged as a sun-drenched ode to liberty and movement, inspired directly from the villa’s gardens. With Gigi Hadid leading the pack in flip-flops, the stalwart was stripped of its typical high-brow allure, grounding Chanel styles in an earthy, relaxed summer vibe.Here are some highlights, including when Penélope Cruz told The Associated Press why heartfelt memories of her grandmother drew her to fashion.VIARD MAKES CHANEL RELATEABLE“Sophistication juxtaposed with informality, the ever-present tweed, sporty touches, and delicate lace: I aimed for a harmonious blend of contrasts,” Viard said. Using the sunlit...