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Chinese official expected at King Charles’ coronation was key player in Hong Kong crackdown

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

LONDON — Han Zheng, China’s vice-president who oversaw the crackdown on liberties in Hong Kong, is expected to attend the king’s coronation in the U.K., in a move likely to antagonize British critics of Beijing.The newly-appointed deputy to President Xi Jinping will officially represent his country in London at the May celebrations for King Charles, according to two U.K. officials speaking on condition of anonymity. His presence would draw the ire of Conservative MPs who are critical of the Chinese government and fear that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is too friendly toward Beijing.Han was in charge of Hong Kong affairs for the Chinese government between 2018 and March this year. His new role as China’s vice president gives him oversight of foreign policy and involves representing Xi abroad. His predecessor, Wang Qishan, attended the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September.China’s crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong since 2019 has led to a deterioration in...

Who is running Georgia?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

Arshan Barzani is a student at Yale Law School, where he is an editor of the Yale Law Journal. His writing has appeared in outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Lawfare, and his book “Chronicles of Caesar’s Wars” is the first translation of Napoleon’s history of Julius Caesar.It’s impossible to go very far in Georgia without seeing a Ukrainian flag.Blue and yellow decks out email signatures and hotel bills, the menus of chic Tbilisi wine bars and the walls of rural huts. Rude graffiti calls for Russian vacationers to pack their bags, while a placard on a restaurant’s door bans fans of Russian President Vladimir Putin — inside, its tables are full.Russia conquered 1-in-5 acres of Georgia in a five-day war in 2008, and it still holds these lands — the long-restive Abkhazia and South Ossetia — today, with troops stationed just an hour’s drive from the capital.That war turned out to be only the first in Russia’s revanchist trilogy, followed by the anne...

Turkey’s jailed electoral kingmaker predicts Erdoğan’s demise

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

The man who stands to shape Turkey’s historic election next month — in which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is seeking to consolidate his 20 year grip on power — is running his campaign from a prison cell, and he reckons he has an edge. Selahattin Demirtaş, a former presidential candidate and party leader, is spending his seventh year behind bars on terrorism charges in a high-security prison near the Greek border. Even so, he still wields huge influence in the knife-edge May 14 presidential and parliamentary election, largely because of the votes of millions of Kurds, who represent around a fifth of the NATO member’s population of 85 million. Those Kurdish votes are now likely to prove decisive, and Demirtaş estimates his party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), represents about two-thirds of them. “In this critical election where even half a percent is crucial, Kurdish voters will be very influential in determining the outcome,” he told POLITICO in...

EU warns Rishi Sunak against plan to bypass human rights courts

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

LONDON — The EU has issued private warnings to the U.K. government against any attempt to bypass decisions by the European Court of Human Rights in order to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, multiple senior diplomats have said.European Commission and member state officials have expressed repeated concerns about the Illegal Migration Bill, a key plank of Rishi Sunak’s pledge to stop small boat crossings of the English Channel, which is back in the Commons for further scrutiny Wednesday. The proposed law would mean anyone who arrived in the U.K. illegally would be deported, even if they had made an asylum claim.After weeks of talks with restless backbench MPs on both sides of the Tory Party, U.K. ministers struck twin deals late last week — with right-wing Conservatives to make the law even tougher, and with moderate Tories to establish more “safe and legal routes” to Britain.As a result, the U.K. government appears on a collision course with EU politicians who have already voiced...

Rocky road ahead as EU reforms government spending rules

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

BRUSSELS ― The European Commission has inched closer to meeting German demands over reforms to how the EU polices government spending ― but it’s unlikely to be enough to win Berlin’s immediate support.The thrust of the proposals, the draft of which was obtained by POLITICO, is to force EU countries to shrink public debts at their own speed rather than having to comply with a uniform rate of reduction as is currently the case. The idea, to be unveiled on Wednesday, is that governments will “own” the rules and so become more likely to adhere to them, and that the Commission will enforce them more strictly than in the past.The spending rules, known as the Stability and Growth Pact and beefed up amid the eurozone debt crisis a decade ago, have long been one of the fundamental tensions at the heart of the European Union. With the COVID pandemic and war in Ukraine leaving countries with increasing piles of debt, Brussels seized the opportunity to adapt the rules and make ...

FDA grants accelerated approval for new drug to treat rare form of ALS

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

There is a new tool available to fight a rare form of ALS after the FDA on Tuesday granted accelerated approval for a new injectable drug from the Cambridge-based company Biogen.The company’s drug is the first drug approved to treat the inherited form of ALS, a deadly and debilitating disease that destroys nerve cells needed for walking, talking and even breathing. ALS treatment and research has advanced significantly with the help of money raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge, which was inspired by former Boston College baseball captain Pete Frates. Frates passed away in 2019 after a seven-year battle with ALS. 7NEWS spoke to Frates’ mother, Nancy Frates on Tuesday. Nancy Frates was on the patient advisory board for the drug, tofersen, and said this treatment is one step closer to finding a cure. “What we’re doing is we’re building,” she said. “We know this is not going to be be one pill to cure this disease. But what we’re build...

Police investigating after person stabbed in Dorchester

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

Police responded Tuesday night after a person was stabbed in Dorchester, officials said. The incident happened on Oldfields Road, leaving a victim with life-threatening injuries, according to police. The person was taken to a hospital. Police did not say whether they had made any arrests. This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Boston city councilor proposes new pest control department and ‘rat czar’ to tackle rodent complaints

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

A Boston city councilor has a plan to address a rise in rodent complaints in Boston as he calls for a new pest control department and a so-called “Rat Czar” in the city. The plan is being implemented in other big cities. In Boston, City Council president Ed Flynn recently discussed his idea.“It’s impacting public health,” Flynn said of the city’s rat problem. “It’s impacting public safety, quality of life of residents.”Several city departments are currently tasked with responding to rodent complaints. Flynn said they’re trying to tackle the issue, responding to complaints and even putting rat traps outside some restaurants and homes. He continued though, saying he believes a team dedicated strictly to rodents could make a difference. The team, he said, would be “one department, one individual that would oversee the whole operation, coordinating efforts.”Part of the mission would involve educating people about the right way to take out trash with...

Yankees’ offense, defense come up short in loss to Twins

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

MINNESOTA — With the Yankees’ offense struggling, Aaron Judge made it known Monday that he wanted the Bombers to score sooner.The Yankees had just wrapped up a loss to the Twins and a stretch of games that saw the majority of their limited runs come in the eighth inning or later. It was a case of too little, too late, and Judge hoped to end it.“We got to try to just jump out early on teams, score early and kind of put the pressure on them,” Judge said. “Right now, we’re kind of taking a while getting into the game, feeling it, and just not doing the job. So we gotta jump on ‘em early.”On Tuesday, the Yankees fulfilled the captain’s wish with some help from Judge himself. The outfielder singled with two outs in the first, and DJ LeMahieu drove Judge in with a single after the latter advanced on a wild pitch.But the early run hardly solved the Yankees’ offensive woes, and they dropped another game to Minnesota, 6-2.The Yankee...

Revolution top Hartford Athletic 2-1 in U.S. Cup match

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 14:58:27 GMT

FOXBORO – The New England Revolution advanced to round four of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 2-1 victory over Hartford Athletic on Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium.Hartford Athletic (1-4-2) competes in the United Soccer League.The Revolution (7-1-2) extended their unbeaten streak to seven games and improved to 5-0-1 at home. The Revolution resume MLS play at Gillette on Saturday night (7:30) against FC Cincinnati with first place in the Eastern Conference up for grabs.“All of these things are a little bit challenging and this stuff gets a little bit crazy,” said Revolution head coach Bruce Arena. “Our players have to learn to play three games in a week.“This is the first time this year we are put to that test and we are going to need to prevail in these types of situations. As we move into the second half of the MLS season, we will be playing games in the middle of the week as well.”Arena promised to put a competitive team on the pitch against Hartford following the Revs 2-1 ...