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EU confirms 2024 election dates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

It’s official: European voters will head to the polls from June 6-9, 2024 to choose the next class of MEPs.EU diplomats signed off on the election dates Wednesday, according to the Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU.  #COREPERII | The EU Ambassadors just approved setting 6 to 9 June 2024 as the dates for the next European Parliament elections.— Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU (@sweden2023eu) May 17, 2023In selecting some 705 parliamentarians to serve from 2024 to 2029, EU citizens could shake up not just the Parliament, but the EU executive as well. Europe’s political groups are inching toward a historic realignment, as the European People’s Party eyes alliances with the far right, fraying its tacit pro-EU coalition with the center left.  The choice to hold balloting from Thursday, June 6, to Sunday, June 9 next year marks a defeat for Portugal. Lisbon said those dates would depress turnout in Portugal, due to a national holiday on Monday, June 1...

Nicolas Sarkozy loses appeal on corruption conviction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

PARIS — A Paris court on Wednesday upheld a three-year prison sentence for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy over corruption charges.The Paris Court of Appeals confirmed a 2021 first-instance sentence to three years in jail: two of which will be suspended while one will be served under house arrest, wearing an electronic bracelet. The ruling is unprecedented for a former French president. Sarkozy will also be banned from running for public office for three years. Sarkozy will appeal Wednesday’s decision before France’s top court, the Court of Cassation, French media reported. The former conservative heavyweight, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, had been convicted for having offered a judge a plum job in exchange for confidential information related to another trial he was facing. His lawyer Thierry Herzog, one of France’s most famous criminal lawyers, and judge Gilbert Azibert were handed down the same three-year sentence at the time.Corruption alle...

UK vows to work with ‘friends’ in the EU on cross-Channel migration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. and European Union agreed to “strengthen cooperation” on migration, in a move that will see London work with the EU’s border agency.Following talks between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Downing Street announced overnight Wednesday that British agencies will partner with Frontex on “critical operational and strategic challenges including the situation in the Channel.” Brussels and London will exchange intelligence, expertise and personnel to combat people smugglers, No. 10 said, as Sunak faces domestic pressure to curb the number of asylum seekers making the dangerous journey from French to British shores.Sunak has made “stopping the boats” in the English Channel one of his political priorities. But his government’s bill to effectively ban those arriving in the U.K. on small boats from claiming asylum altogether has been criticized by the EU and the United Nations’ re...

WATCH: Group caught on camera riding bikes through O’Neill Tunnel in Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

New video captured on Massachusetts Department of Transportation cameras shows a group of people on bicycles riding through the O’Neill Tunnel in Boston last week.In one clip, a group of five people can be seen riding into the tunnel. Another clip shows the group later exiting the tunnel. In a separate clip, members of the group can be seen doing wheelies on their bikes while in between cars inside the tunnel. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said the incident happened on Friday around 5 p.m. The spokesperson said bicyclists illegally entered a ramp at O’Brien Highway into the O’Neill Tunnel. The spokesperson continued, saying the group then got out of the roadway without incident. “It’s just a big distraction,” said Massachusetts driver Craig Tankard this week when asked about the incident. “It’s hard enough to drive around here with all the construction and everything without having to deal with that.”Video clips show...

Police investigating crash on Route 1 in Lynnfield

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

Police are investigating a crash in Lynnfield late Tuesday night that left a pickup truck teetering on a jersey barrier.Crews could be seen working to remove the vehicle from Route 1 around midnight.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.No additional information was immediately available.

Stock market today: Global stocks trade mixed amid worries about China, US economies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were trading mixed Wednesday as Japan’s benchmark jumped on the news of solid economic growth data, while the rest of Asia was mired in uncertainty.In Europe, France’s CAC 40 declined nearly 0.1% in early trading to 7,399.51, while Germany’s DAX added 0.3% to 15,950.96. Britain’s FTSE 100 was slightly higher, inching up less than 0.1% to 7,755.25. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.3% at 33,150.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% to 4,132.00. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.8% to finish at 30,093.59. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5% to 7,199.20 after a better-than-expected wage increase report. The wage price index rose 3.7% year on year. But that could mean an interest rate hike in coming months, according to some analysts.South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6% to 2,494.66. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.1% to 19,560.57, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2% to 3,284.23. Japan’s encouraging GDP data released...

Top German ministry official resigns after accusations of favoritism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A top official at the German economy and climate ministry resigned Wednesday following accusations that he was involved in choosing his best man to head the federally owned German Energy Agency and signed off on financial support for a project in which his sister was involvedPatrick Graichen was one of Economy Minister Robert Habeck’s closest aides and had been in charge of developing and implementing the government’s energy policies with the goal of achieving net zero emissions in Germany in 2045.Graichen had been under pressure for weeks after media revealed his involvement in the job selection, but last week Habeck still said Graichen could keep his job.On Wednesday, however, Habeck told reporters in Berlin that Graichen had also violated ministry compliance violations when he signed off on the ministry’s planned financial support for a project of the Berlin branch of the BUND environmental group, on whose board Graichen’s sister sat.“Against this backgr...

Canada, South Korea agree to work together on clean-energy supply chains

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Canada and South Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding on supply chains for critical minerals and the transition to clean energy.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached the agreement with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during an official visit to Seoul today, where they also announced a new youth mobility arrangement.The Prime Minister’s Office says both countries can play a “leading role” as “reliable partners” when it comes to the supply chain for electric vehicles and the critical minerals needed to make their batteries.The announcement comes as Canada’s federal government is in a dispute with automaker Stellantis, which has halted construction on an electric-vehicle battery plan in Windsor, Ont., in partnership with South Korean battery-maker, LG Energy Solution.Both countries have released Indo-Pacific strategies within the past year, which provide road maps for strengthening military and economic rel...

Dozens of Serbia schools receive bomb threats amid concerns following mass shootings in early May

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Dozens of Serbian schools on Wednesday received bomb threats, the education ministry said, amid security concerns following two mass shootings early this month, including one in an elementary school. The education ministry said 78 elementary schools and 37 high schools in Belgrade received warnings by email early on Wednesday that explosive devices had allegedly been planted. Classes were postponed and students evacuated as police checked the buildings. There have been no reports that bombs were found in any of the schools, and police are yet to issue their report. Similar multiple threats have been sent to school addresses in the past, in Serbia and other countries in the region, and have proven false each time. However, the threats could further heighten security fears after the May 3 and May 4 shootings that left 10 people dead and 21 injured. Authorities already have deployed police in schools and launched a gun crackdown. The first shooting happened at a...

Katie Taylor worries loss of Olympic boxing would be ‘huge blow’ to the sport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:11:42 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Katie Taylor had Olympic dreams long before she became one of the faces of women’s professional boxing.The Irish fighter won a gold medal at the 2012 London Games, setting her on course for a hugely successful pro career.She’s worried that future generations won’t get the same chance because of a long-running dispute between Olympic officials and the International Boxing Association. The International Olympic Committee has declined to confirm boxing’s place in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.“It will be a huge blow to boxing overall, even professional boxing,” Taylor told The Associated Press ahead of her fight against Chantelle Cameron in Dublin on Saturday. “The biggest incentive for amateur boxers is the Olympics. If they (don’t) have that, I think it might put a lot of people off the sport. It could be a big blow for the sport as a whole really.”The impact on women’s boxing could be particularly damaging considering it only made its Olympic debut...