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French, British leaders meet in efforts to mend relations

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet Friday in Paris for a summit aimed at mending relations following post-Brexit tensions, as well as improving military and business ties and toughening efforts against Channel migrant crossings.The French-British summit, the first since 2018, is set to show a “new chapter” is opening in relations between the two countries, according to Macron’s office. Such an event was previously held almost every year. Relations between the U.K. and France chilled amid post-Brexit wrangling over fishing rights and other issues, and hit rock-bottom under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who took delight in needling the French. His successor, Liz Truss, ruffled French feathers last year when she said the “jury is out” on whether Macron was a friend or a foe.But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought Britain and its European neighbors closer together in support of Kyiv, and the mood improved after pragmatic, tec...

Russia and ‘fugitive oligarchs’ pile pressure on Moldova, top minister says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

The situation in Moldova is “extremely volatile,” Interior Minister Ana Revenco said Friday, amid fears that Russia is fomenting a coup to topple the pro-EU Moldovan government.“We are seeing how Moscow, interest groups and fugitive oligarchs are putting together all of their efforts and resources to increase the level of destabilization in the Republic of Moldova [and] change the democratic course in Chișinău,” Revenco said at a joint press conference with European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson in Brussels.Asked if Moldova could become the next Ukraine, Revenco said “democracy and peace in Europe” were Russia’s next targets, and called on the EU to keep supporting the former Soviet republic. “Moldova is only in the way of Russia’s intention to break [Europe’s] stability,” the minister said. “We can only keep it and protect it if we are united.”Moldova — which was granted candidate status to the EU&nb...

Georgian parliament kills Russian-style bill that sparked mass protests

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

TBILISI — Georgia’s parliament on Friday formally voted down the controversial Russian-style bill on foreign agents after several days of massive street protests in Tbilisi.Crowds cheered at the entrance of the parliament, after learning that the bill had been killed. The vote will likely trigger disquiet in the Kremlin, where Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to keep former Soviet republics from turning toward Europe and the West. “Having turned towards Europe, Georgia knows it can count on the friendship of France,” French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted minutes after the vote.On Thursday, ruling Georgian Dream party officials pledged the bill would be revoked on March 21. But a plenary session was hurriedly scheduled for Friday after thousands continued to protest in the streets, waving EU flags and denouncing Russia, demanding the draft law be killed earlier.“I’m proud of every person who came out, every single person who has expressed his or her will and European-ne...

MBTA: All trains restricted to 25 mph speed limit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

The MBTA announced Thursday that all Red, Orange, Green, and Blue line trains are restricted to a speed limit of 25 miles per hour, effective immediately. The restrictions come in response to findings of a site visit by the Department of Public Utilities on Monday to check on track maintenance conditions on the Red Line between Ashmont and Savin Hill stations, according to the MBTA.The next day, the DPU sent the MBTA letters laying out a list of areas where immediate action needs to be taken. Some of the problem areas include track conditions, third rail insulators, headlight use within tunnels, and PPE compliance. The DPU is also asking the T to investigate two incidents of operators overshooting the station entirely.The MBTA’s Chief Safety Officer Ronald Ester says that some of these problems needed to be addressed within 24 hours, and they have already provided those reports to the DPU. For other issues, the DPU needs a response from the T by the end of the business day Fri...

Howie Carr: Lobbyists seeing green over city rent control

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

The Mafia may be gone, but one of their greatest business innovations – the protection racket – has endured, and it may be more profitable than ever.Only now, the protection is being offered not in the North End or South Boston, but at the State House.An attempt by the lunatics at Boston City Hall to restore rent control now moves to the Legislature. Can somebody say… payday! At least for the lobbyists.The lobbyists lurking about the State House needed a sell sheet to share with their potential marks, I mean clients, and that’s where Doug Rubin’s new poll this week comes in. Don’t waste your time reading the actual numbers, the headline makes the pitch:“New statewide poll shows strong support for rent control.”Oh my God! Every lobbyist worth his Cape Cod mansion has already sent out that scare headline to every landlords’ organization in the state.Once they see the poll commissioned by a “political consultant,” the landlords get a frantic follow-up phone call from a hack former legi...

Ukrainians who fled war face end of temporary US sanctuary

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — When U.S. officials at the U.S.-Mexico border stamped the Ukrainian passports of Mariia and her daughter last April and gave them permission to stay for a year, she figured she would return home within months.Now with that year almost up and the war that caused them to flee still raging, their permission to stay in the U.S. — known as humanitarian parole — is set to expire April 23. “The word `worry’ doesn’t capture what I’m feeling,” said Mariia, who spoke through an interpreter and asked that only her first name be used over concerns that speaking publicly would hurt their immigration case. “This is something that frightens me, mainly because of my daughter and my daughter’s future.”The 46-year-old woman and her daughter, now 13, are among 20,000 Ukrainians in a similar situation, according to resettlement agencies. Most arrived to the United States at its southern border after fleeing to Mexico, where it was easier and faster to get a visa to enter the country in...

Ukraine rebounds from Russian barrage, restores power supply

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s capital restored most of its power supply on Friday, officials said, as the country again responded swiftly and defiantly to the latest Russian missile and drone barrage targeting critical infrastructure.In what has become a familiar Russian tactic since last fall, the Kremlin’s forces struck Ukraine from afar amid months of a grinding battlefield stalemate on the front line in eastern areas. The apparent aim is to weaken Ukraine’s resolve and compel the Ukrainian government to negotiate peace on Moscow’s terms.Ukrainian authorities scrambled to counter the bombardment’s consequences, part of a recurring cycle of urban smash-and-repair that has brought little change in the course of the war that recently moved into its second year.The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in an assessment that “these missile strikes will not undermine Ukraine’s will or improve Russia’s positions on the front lines.”Ukrainian mi...

Georgia drops foreign agents law after massive protests

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

Georgia’s parliament on Friday voted to drop a controversial bill that opponents — and thousands of protesters who swarmed the capital earlier this week — warned could stifle dissent and curtail media freedoms, ushering in Russian-style repression.The law would have required media and nongovernmental organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources to register as “agents of foreign influence.” Its opponents argued the bill was inspired by a similar law in Russia that is used to silence critics, and could hinder Georgia’s aspirations of one day joining NATO and the European Union.Lawmakers voted 35-1 against the bill on Friday morning, at a session that lasted just four minutes and featured no discussion. The vote came less than a day after Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, said it would withdraw the legislation, after protests in Tbilisi swelled to tens of thousands despite being met with tear gas and water canons. Demonstrations continued on Thur...

Sexual assault reports increase at US military academies

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reported sexual assaults at U.S. military academies shot up during the 2021-22 school year, and one in five female students told an anonymous survey that they had experienced unwanted sexual contact, The Associated Press has learned.A Pentagon report on reported assaults at the Army, Navy and Air Force academies shows an overall 18% jump in assaults reported by students compared with the previous year. The increase was driven largely by the Navy, which had nearly double the number of reported assaults in 2022, compared with 2021. It’s unclear whether the phasing out of COVID-19-related restrictions contributed to the increase, including at the U.S. Naval Academy, which is directly adjacent to bars in downtown Annapolis, Maryland.An anonymous student survey accompanying the report shows increases in all types of unwanted sexual contact —- from touching to rape — at all the schools. And it cites alcohol as a key factor. The military services and the academies have st...

Biden, EU leader to discuss proposal on electric vehicles

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:11:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are set to unveil on Friday a plan that the White House hopes will help turn the page on the ongoing spat between the U.S. and European Union over electric vehicle tax credits. Biden and von der Leyen are expected to agree to open negotiations between the U.S. and the EU on a deal that could boost the use of European minerals critical in the production of electric vehicle batteries that are eligible for U.S. tax credits through Biden’s roughly $375 billion clean energy law that passed last year, according to administration officials. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the leaders’ meeting. Biden and von der Leyen are also expected to use their Oval Office meeting to discuss Western coordination to support Ukraine in the war against Russia, joint efforts to decrease Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels and the Biden administration’s growi...