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Tory Euroskeptics pan Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal, don’t say if they’ll vote against

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

LONDON — Euroskeptic Conservatives will hold an 11th-hour meeting on Wednesday after failing to decide whether to back Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal.After three weeks of deliberations, a ‘Star Chamber’ of lawyers convened by the European Research Group today gave a withering verdict on the Windsor Framework, arguing it will keep EU law supreme in Northern Ireland.ERG chairman Mark Francois said a green lane for goods to avoid checks was “not really a green lane at all,” and that the Stormont Brake — meant to allow the Northern Ireland devolved assembly the power to challenge EU laws applying to Northern Ireland — is “practically useless.”“The framework itself has no exit, other than through a highly complex legal process,” he added. Asked if the ERG had been “misled” about its contents, Francois said: “I am going to leave that to others to judge.”But despite issuing a 52-page assessment, the ERG did not co...

Boris Johnson says no evidence he ‘intentionally or recklessly’ misled MPs over Partygate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

LONDON — Boris Johnson accepted that he misled the House of Commons over the Partygate scandal — but denied doing so “intentionally or recklessly,” as he hit out at his aide-turned-nemesis Dominic Cummings.Johnson will face the cross-party privileges committee of MPs Wednesday over the accusation he lied to parliament about the Partygate row, which saw a host of rule-breaching parties held in government offices in 2020 and 2021 despite strict lockdown restrictions. Johnson was among those later fined by police for breaches.In a 52-page dossier setting out his defense ahead of a marathon committee grilling Wednesday, the former prime minister said the only evidence supporting claims he intentionally misled parliament came from his former top adviser, Cummings, who he said could not be “treated as a credible witness” given the “animus” he bears towards Johnson.The inquiry is centered around statements Johnson made in the House of Commons in December...

Stop overthinking it: An indictment would be bad for Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

Alexander Burns is an associate editor for global politics at POLITICO. His Tomorrow column explores the future of politics and policy debates that cross national lines.The widely expected indictment of Donald Trump in Manhattan has all the makings of a political disaster for him. It should be the climactic event in a yearslong saga involving marital infidelity, sleazy financial dealings and now the first-ever criminal charge against a former American president.Naturally, the question arises: Could this actually be good for Trump?That thought generates itself by reflex in America’s political brain. It is a habit forged in 2016, when Trump defied countless terminal prognoses to defeat Hillary Clinton.It is not irrational speculation. Americans have a history of sticking with flamboyant politicians with more than a passing relationship with the criminal justice system, from Marion Barry in Washington, D.C., to Edwin Edwards in Louisiana. Trump is a character from a similar mold, with ...

Crane collapses at construction site in Chelsea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

A crane collapsed at a construction site in Chelsea Tuesday morning.Firefighters responded to the scene at 40 6th Street around 8 a.m. No injuries were reported and no additional information has been released. This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Crash the one-eyed cat wins Cadbury Bunny commercial contest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

A cat from Boise, Idaho has won the fifth annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts.Crash the one-eyed cat won out of ten rescue pets who were named finalists in the competition, including a mini horse from Andover named “Stewie Vuitton.”After breaking his leg and jaw and losing an eye after a car hit him, Crash was rescued by Simply Cats animal shelter. “He charmed his way into becoming our resident shelter cat, impressing visitors by performing tricks (high five, sit pretty, & more),” Simply Cats said in a statement. “He reminds our community that every cat is worth saving.”Cadbury says it received thousands of entries from pet parents all over the country, including everything from dogs and cats to beavers and horses.Crash will now take home the Cadbury Bunny ears and star in the 2023 “Cadbury Clucking Bunny” Easter commercial.The winner also receives a cash prize of $5,000 and another $5,000 for animal shelter of their choice.

Nazier Mulé, a 2-way prospect the Chicago Cubs drafted last year, will undergo Tommy John surgery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

Chicago Cubs two-way prospect Nazier Mulé’s professional baseball debut will be delayed.Mulé is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery next week to repair his ulnar collateral ligament, sources told the Tribune.The Cubs drafted Mulé, 18, in the fourth round last year and signed the right-hander to an above-slot $1 million bonus. During his senior high school season at Passaic Tech in New Jersey, Mulé was shut down from pitching midway through the spring because of arm fatigue.Mulé is ranked by MLB.com as the Cubs’ No. 27 prospect. A roughly 14-month rehab timeline sets up Mulé for a midseason return in 2024.Mulé’s upside is higher as a pitcher — the Cubs love his potential thanks to a fastball that can hit 100 mph and an effective slider. As a shortstop, his raw power makes him an intriguing hitter. ()

Five questions facing the Orioles as spring training winds down and roster speculation heats up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

Orioles spring training ends in six days.Unlike during the rebuild, the expectations are higher this spring, as the club came off a surprise 2022 season and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias has declared the goal is to make the playoffs.However, the organization has several important decisions to make in the coming days, with opening day March 30 at the Boston Red Sox fast approaching.Here are five questions facing the Orioles during the final week of spring training.Who will be the opening day starter and what will the order of the rotation be?The first half of this question is an easier guess than the second.Kyle Gibson, the 35-year-old veteran the team signed for $10 million this offseason, is the clear front-runner to get the opening nod. That contract was the largest Elias has handed out to a free agent since he took over the Orioles’ front office in November 2018.While manager Brandon Hyde isn’t announcing the team’s opening day starter ...

Reborn Ringling Bros. circus to leap on tour – minus animals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus has been reimagined and reborn without animals as a high-octane family event with highwire tricks, soaring trapeze artists and bicycles leaping on trampolines.Feld Entertainment, which owns the “Greatest Show on Earth,” revealed to The Associated Press what audiences can expect during the show’s upcoming 2023 North American tour kicking off this fall.The 75 performers from 18 countries will include performers on a triangular high wire 25 feet off the ground, crisscrossing flying trapeze artists, a spinning double wheel powered by acrobats and BMX trail bikes, unicycle riders and skateboarders doing flips and tricks.The tour kicks off in Bossier City, Louisiana, from Sept 29-Oct. 1 and then goes to Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana and ends the year in Oklahoma. It restarts in 2024 in Florida, home to Feld Entertainment.The show is a complete rethink of a modern ...

Canada’s annual inflation rate cooled in February

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

OTTAWA — The annual pace of inflation cooled in February as it posted its largest deceleration since April 2020.Statistics Canada said Tuesday its consumer price index in February was up 5.2 per cent compared with a year earlier.The reading compared with an annual inflation rate of 5.9 per cent in January and was the lowest annual inflation rate since January 2022 when it was 5.1 per cent.Statistics Canada noted that the decline was due to a steep monthly increase in prices in February 2022 when the global economy was significantly affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Despite the overall cooling, grocery prices remained elevated and outpaced overall inflation.Prices for food purchased from stores in February were up 10.6 per cent compared with a year ago, the seventh consecutive month of double-digit increases.Meanwhile, energy prices were down 0.6 per cent year over year as gasoline prices fell 4.7 per cent compared with a year ago when prices began to rise due to the Russia...

Journalist freed in Mali welcomed in France by Macron

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:35:13 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French journalist Olivier Dubois, who was held hostage by Islamic extremists for nearly two years in Mali, was welcomed home by French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday, one day after he was released. Dubois was kidnapped in April 2021 from northern Mali, a region of the country wracked by jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.Leaving the plane at the Villacoublay military airport, southwest of Paris, with a big smile on his face, Dubois was applauded by the group of people waiting for his arrival. He was greeted with great joy by his sister and father, and then hugged Macron. The conditions of Dubois’ release, including whether it involved a ransom, have not been disclosed.Reporters Without Borders, also known by its French acronym RSF, thanked French authorities on Monday for “having implemented the necessary means to obtain his release,” without elaborating.Dubois’ release took place on the same day that an American aid worker was freed in Ma...