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Time to reform UK lawmakers’ trough feeding

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

James Snell is a senior adviser at the New Lines Institute. He is writing a book on the war on Afghanistan.The trading of influence for money is everywhere — and Britain is not immune.Or so the anti-Brexit campaigning group Led by Donkeys found. They set up a fake Korean company, threw together a website and went on a fishing expedition. In so doing, the activists managed to snare some British politicians touting for extracurricular work.It was a fairly cheap sting operation, although the numbers involved were quite large.Four members of parliament bit the hook: Former minister Stephen Hammond, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng and former minister-turned-game-show-contestant Matt Hancock — who were filmed in Zoom meetings, asking for fees of £10,000 per day to consult — as well as Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative Party’s backbench 1922 Committee, who asked for a comparatively small wage packet of £6,000 per day.They all say they did everything by the b...

Will Ursula von der Leyen run again? Germany hopes so.

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen insists she has not yet decided whether to run for a second term atop the EU’s executive. Germany isn’t waiting — it wants her.With speculation mounting ahead of the 2024 EU elections, Berlin is coming around to the thinking that having a German like von der Leyen on the other end of the phone is worthwhile — even if von der Leyen comes from the other side of the political tracks as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition government.Germany’s backing is critical to whether von der Leyen can remain in power. She’ll need the current government to nominate her as the country’s representative on the European Commission before she can continue her reign. And, as the EU’s biggest country, Germany always carries significant weight over who gets the top jobs in Brussels.It’s a judgment that will have sweeping ramifications for Europe — and the world. Von der Leyen has become the EU’s most prominent figure during her term, harvesting more powers for her...

In Belfast, world leaders beg the DUP to play ball. They won’t … for now

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

BELFAST — The great and the good came from London, Dublin and Brussels. From Washington and Florida, New York and Maine too. If their mission was to convince the Democratic Unionist Party to go back into regional government in Northern Ireland, they failed — for now.The official reason for this week’s star-studded political gathering in Belfast — concluding Wednesday with appearances from an ex-U.S. president, multiple past and present British prime ministers, plus EU royalty in the form of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — is to reflect on the Good Friday Agreement peace deal a quarter-century ago.But today’s realpolitik means finding a way to restore the 1998 peace pact’s core aim — stable government in Northern Ireland, uniting the region’s British unionists and Irish nationalists — following years of feuding and failure. The power of veto is currently wielded by the Democratic Unionists, the party that long opposed the 1998 deal and keeps findi...

Eurocrats’ travel freebies trigger new outrage

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

Calls are mounting for the European Commission to come clean over how much free travel its officials have accepted from lobbyists and law firms, after POLITICO found staff in one department took dozens of paid-for trips. EU competition officials went on 150 missions that were “totally or partially paid by third parties” last year, the Commission said in response to a POLITICO request for access to documents. Of those, 23 missions were funded at least partly by law firms, consulting companies and industry groups. The revelations sparked concerns among politicians and transparency campaigners, who fear relations are already too close between industry lobbyists and EU officials responsible for regulating some of the world’s biggest companies and most valuable business deals. “This is deplorable,” René Repasi, a German S&D member of the European Parliament, told POLITICO. He said the risk that staff took paid-for trips from firms that may be working for companies the Commissio...

Shohei Ohtani goes deep while Clarke Schmidt fails to do so again in Yankees loss

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

Exactly 100 years after Babe Ruth christened the original Yankee Stadium with the ballpark’s first home run, a different two-way sensation went deep in the Bronx.Yankees’ fans dreaming of Shohei Ohtani in pinstripes got an up-close look at the damage he can do at the modern Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night when the Angels’ superstar — and impending free agent — made quick use of his left-handed power in the series-opener. Ohtani lined a Clarke Schmidt hanger over the right field wall in the first inning, giving Los Angeles a near-instant lead in a 5-2 win.The two-run homer also spelled the start of another rough night for the right-handed Schmidt.Schmidt failed to complete four innings of work for the third time in four starts this season as the Halos tagged him for four earned runs. Schmidt struck out five and didn’t allow a walk for the first time this year, though he did hit a batter. Either way, the Angels’ six hits did enough to force an...

Mets Notebook: Carlos Carrasco lands on IL with elbow inflammation

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES — The Mets built a team around starting pitching depth, but it seems that a week can’t go by without some of that depth being lost.Right-hander Carlos Carrasco was placed on the injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Sunday, with elbow inflammation. Carrasco, who last started Saturday in Oakland against the A’s, experienced elbow soreness and swelling after throwing Monday in Los Angeles. He was sent back to New York for further imaging and the Mets called up right-hander Jeff Brigham from Triple-A Syracuse.The Mets are encouraged by Justin Verlander’s progress in Florida, but he’s still about two weeks away from a return. They’ll have to find someone to take his start Friday in San Francisco since Brigham is a reliever and they’ll be getting another reliever back Wednesday when Tommy Hunter comes off IL.The Mets are playing whack-a-mole with the pitching injuries.“We’re considering everybody,” manager Buck Showal...

Ralph Yarl armed only with ‘Black skin,’ family lawyer says

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

By MARGARET STAFFORD and JIM SALTER (Associated Press)KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — As Ralph Yarl struggled to come to grips with being shot after going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers, the white Kansas City, Missouri, homeowner who shot the Black teenager turned himself in and was released on bond Tuesday.Andrew Lester, 84, surrendered at the Clay County Detention Center a day after being charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He posted bond Tuesday afternoon. Some civil rights leaders urged a hate crime charge, but Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said first-degree assault is a higher-level crime with a longer sentence — up to life in prison.Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Yarl family, said the case should qualify as a hate crime.“Ralph Yarl was shot because he was armed with nothing but other than his Black skin,” he said. As Yarl recovered from his wounds, supporters, civil rights leaders and politician...

Cavs even series at 1-1 after embarrassing Knicks, 107-90

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

CLEVELAND — A disastrous quarter for the Knicks ended with an energized crowd chanting together, “New York sucks, New York sucks.”And at that moment, it was impossible to argue. The Knicks stunk.Their first half ended with one cringy possession after another. They were outscored, 15-4, over the final three minutes. They committed nine turnovers just in the second quarter. Josh Hart picked up a technical foul. Darius Garland, a dominant force Tuesday, carved up New York with the precision of a LASIK laser.The deficit hit 20 at the break and the Knicks never recovered in a Game 2 107-90 blowout defeat Tuesday, knotting up a series that shifts to MSG for the next two games.The Cavs vowed to get more physical after getting bullied in Game 1. They followed up. Cleveland punished the Knicks, winning the hustle game while holding Tom Thibodeau’s squad to just 60 points through three quarters. Julius Randle drew blood in the second quarter on his arm. He was thrown h...

Toronto renoviction report says ‘displacement is the primary objective’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

A new report claims to confirm that evictions of tenants for the purpose of renovations — or renoviction — has less to do with refurbishing housing and more to do with hiking rent — something many Toronto tenants have long held as fact.The report by housing advocate Philip Zigman and community legal worker Cole Webber is based on more than 160 buildings in Toronto where tenants have or are currently facing renoviction.Zigman says interviews with tenants and public statements made by landlords make it clear that renovictions are simply a money grab.“The same landlords who are proposing to completely gut and renovate a unit are completely neglecting the property until people move out or doing everything they can to evict tenants with other eviction notices, with other kinds of pressure, harassment, intimidation,” he says.“It’s so obvious that this is not being done out of a sincere interest in improving the living conditions of existing tenant...

Panel: Seattle police should apologize for protest violence

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:15:24 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Police Department should “offer a sincere, public apology” for its violent response to people demonstrating after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, a panel of officers, citizens and accountability experts concluded in a report released Tuesday. In its fourth and final review of the Seattle police response to the months of racial justice protests in 2020, the city’s Office of Inspector review panel found officers and commanders repeatedly failed to recognize the difference between the throngs of protesters exercising their First Amendment rights and the few troublemakers, The Seattle Times reported. Police also , according to the report.Panelists — who included community members, police accountability proponents, and police officers and commanders — also acknowledged the “longstanding trauma and fear” many have of law enforcement as a result of racism and discrimination within the department.The police actions that caused the protests, a...