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New Slovak coalition embraces revenge, radicalism

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

BRATISLAVA — Slovakia’s new prime minister, Robert Fico, presented a tax-and-spend program for approval by the country’s parliament on Tuesday as his government embarked on a four-year term. Pensioners, mortgage holders, and low-income groups were the principal targets of extra public money. Nominations to the government, however, suggest the ruling coalition has another policy agenda, which includes protecting key allies from legal jeopardy and thumbing its nose at liberal democracy.His cabinet features politicians previously charged with crimes, including Fico himself and former Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, who now has the defense portfolio. Deputy Justice Minister Pavol Gašpar was also previously charged; cases against all three men were later dropped. But Pavol Gašpar’s father, Smer MP Tibor Gašpar, remains indicted as the alleged head of a criminal group that operated within the police — as is central bank governor Peter Kažimir, a former finance ministe...

Portugal still ‘safe’ for mining investments, minister says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

Despite an ongoing corruption probe, Portugal remains “safe” for investments in lithium mining, the country’s economy minister said Wednesday. “I think Portugal is one of the safest places in the world” for investments in lithium mining, António Costa Silva told POLITICO’s Sustainable Future Week summit. “We are a country where the rule of law is crucial, and no one is above the law.”Portuguese authorities are investigating possible acts of corruption, influence peddling and malfeasance in connection with the concession of lithium mining projects in the north of the country, a green hydrogen mega-project and a data center in Sines. The projects add up to an investment of €23.5 billion.The scandal has dealt a heavy blow to Brussels’ ambitions to diversify its supply of raw materials needed for green and digital technologies, as Portugal’s lithium deposits are seen as central to those efforts.Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa ...

Ukraine hopes for more air defenses from Germany’s spending boost

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

BERLIN — German lawmakers on Thursday will debate doubling next year’s military aid to Ukraine to €8 billion, and Kyiv is hoping that a lot of that new cash will go to air defense.There’s also pressure to use the money to send Ukraine Germany’s bunker-busting Taurus cruise missiles — something Berlin has so far avoided doing.“We need to strengthen both air defense to protect strategic facilities and infrastructure facilities, as well as front-line air defense,” said Illarion Pavlyuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s defense ministry. “Our needs remain the same.”Pavlyuk added that “Ukraine also needs ammunition of various types.” And not just conventional small arms ammunition or artillery and tank shells, but most importantly, the surface-to-air interceptors and antiaircraft ammunition that protect Ukraine’s skies. This kind of ammunition “is a constant need.”Germany is already the largest military aid donor to Ukraine in Europe and second in the world behind the U...

Abington police looking to ID truck owner and driver after 18-wheeler spilled cement on street and drove off

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

Police in Abington are looking to identify who it was that drove off after spilling a load of cement in town, causing damage to multiple vehicles.Posting to their Facebook page, the Abington Police Department said it was Tuesday morning when a truck carrying cement spilled some of its cargo on Bedford Street, near the fire station.Citing multiple eyewitnesses, police said that after the spill occurred, the driver allegedly pulled over and stopped before driving off toward Route 18.Multiple cars were damaged as a result of the spill, Abington PD said. To prevent further damage, three lanes of traffic ended up having to be closed as DPW crews cleaned up the area.Police later shared images of what appeared to be the truck mid-spill, captured on surveillance video from local businesses.The yellow vehicle, initially described as a Mack truck, was sighted traveling on the roadway around 8:25 a.m.As Abington PD works to identify the driver and the company that owns the truck, police ask th...

Bill Bans Native-American Mascots At Mass. Public Schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

The 23 schools in Massachusetts that use an image of an indigenous person as their school mascot would have to start looking for new names and logos under a bill that advocates are hoping will get passed this session.After years of contentious debate over Native American mascots in school districts, some indigenous activists say it’s time to take the decision out of local hands.“Unfortunately, today, the remaining schools with native mascots are stubbornly attached to controlling our native identities, which they’re using against our permission,” said Rhonda Anderson, a Iñupiaq – Athabascan Native American and western Massachusetts representative on the state Commission on Indian Affairs.The Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley and Sen. Joanne Comerford bill (H 477 / S 245) would require that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education bar Massachusetts public schools from using an athletic team or school mascot name that represents or is associated with Nativ...

Mass. Legislature to vote on long-term care, prescription drug bills on last day of formals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

House lawmakers are expected to vote on legislation overhauling the long-term care industry Wednesday while the Senate will take up a bill that looks to address the increasing costs of prescription drugs.The two votes on major health care proposals cap off formal law making for the year. Legislators on Beacon Hill will head into the holiday break Thursday with only informal sessions — where a single lawmaker can object to a bill — scheduled until the new year.The two votes come as the House and Senate are also working out a separate multi-billion proposal that closes out the books on fiscal year 2023 and shuttles $250 million to shelters in Massachusetts housing migrant and homeless families with children as well as pregnant people.Both health care bills are priorities of House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka. Mariano said the nursing home sector has “long faced” workforce and financial challenges that were made worse by the pandemic.“Addressing persistent c...

Vincenzo Mario Santoro: Here’s why the Chicago Cubs had to move on from manager David Ross

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer shocked Cubs fans when he flew out to Florida to inform beloved manager David Ross that he had been fired. He was being replaced by Craig Counsell, former manager of the Cubs’ division rivals the Milwaukee Brewers.Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon and Cody Bellinger were some of the big names that Hoyer acquired during the 2022-23 MLB offseason. Adding Bellinger would rectify the center field situation, pairing Swanson with Nico Hoerner would make for the best defensive middle infield in the league, and adding Taillon would help solidify the rotation for Ross’ 2023 Chicago Cubs.Even with the many players the Cubs had acquired, baseball statistics site FanGraphs projected them to finish third place with a 78-84 record. A couple of the reasons for the low projections was that the Cubs were still missing an “impact” bat and lacked pitching. But they had their impact bat in Bellinger, who was projected a .230/.309/.406 slash line. T...

Markwayne Mullin says ‘maybe we should bring’ back canings to Senate after battle with Teamsters’ Sean O’Brien

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

The Oklahoma senator who challenged Teamsters’ boss to a fight is defending his actions during a Senate hearing, saying “maybe we should bring” back canings to Congress to “keep people from thinking they’re so tough.”Republican U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a former MMA fighter, confronted Teamsters President Sean O’Brien during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday. Mullin challenged Charlestown’s O’Brien to a physical fight after O’Brien had ripped the senator on social media.Mullin doubled down on his antics after the chaos in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.“This isn’t anything new,” the senator said on Fox Business. “Andrew Jackson challenged nine people to a duel when he was president, and he also knocked one guy out at a White House dinner. There’s been canings before in the Senate, too.“Maybe we should bring some of that back,” Mullin add...

Matthew Perry’s ‘Friends’ costars reminiscence about late actor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew Perry’s “Friends” co-stars are sharing more remembrances of the star in their first personal social media posts since the actor’s death last month.Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer posted heartfelt notes about Perry, who died Oct. 28, on Instagram. The posts on Tuesday and Wednesday were accompanied by photos from the “Friends” set.“In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again,” Aniston posted Wednesday, sharing a text message where Perry sent her photo of a script reading session where Perry made her laugh.“Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before,” Aniston’s post read.The stars, including Lisa Kudrow, issued a joint statement a few days after Perry’s death, saying they were “all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We...

Vote on tentative contract with General Motors too close to call as more tallies are reported

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:07 GMT

By TOM KRISHER (AP Auto Writer)DETROIT (AP) — Voting on a tentative contract agreement between General Motors and the United Auto Workers union that ended a six-week strike against the company appears too close to call after the latest tallies at several GM factories were announced Wednesday.The union hasn’t posted final vote totals yet, but workers at several large factories who finished voting in the past few days have turned down the four year and eight month deal by fairly large margins. However a factory in Arlington, Texas, with about 5,000 workers voted more than 60% to approve the deal in tallies announced Wednesday.The vote tracker on the UAW’s website Wednesday shows the deal by 958 ahead by votes. But those totals do not include votes from GM assembly plants in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Lansing Delta Township, Michigan, and a powertrain plant in Toledo, Ohio, which all voted against the agreement, according to local union officials.In most cases the vote tall...