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Grain debacle makes mockery of EU support for Ukraine

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

BRUSSELS — Nearly two weeks after its Eastern front-line member countries banned imports of Ukrainian grain, the European Union is still struggling to come up with a plan to clear a massive and disruptive supply glut, in a debacle that threatens to make a mockery of Europe’s declared solidarity with its war-torn neighbor.Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission’s top trade official, has been holding video conferences all week with ministers from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania on finding ways to clear the surplus and to compensate hard-pressed farmers — so far to no avail. EU ambassadors will meet again on Friday but, without a deal with the five Eastern European countries, such a step would make little sense.At stake is a delayed decision on whether to extend the tariff-free status for imports of Ukrainian produce, originally granted last June for 12 months in a gesture of solidarity following Russia’s full-scale invasion. “It’s strange that...

Can sneakers help bridge the partisan factions that divide America? Yes, says sneakerhead and congressman Jared Moskowitz

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

Anthony Man | South Florida Sun SentinelU.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz wears sneakers just about everywhere: to his swearing in as a member of Congress, to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address — even at his wedding party.How committed is he to sneakers? “Besides maybe the White House, no place where I would not wear my sneakers come to mind,” Moskowitz said via text.Now the Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat is forming a congressional caucus devoted to, yes, sneakers.U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., wears sneakers just about everywhere. (Congressman Jared Moskowitz/TNS)It’s not as grave a subject as gun violence, antisemitism, LGBTQ rights, or climate change, all of which are among the subject matters of congressional caucuses. But Moskowitz has just as serious purpose in mind: bringing together people who have a shared love of the footwear in an attempt to promote social connections in the often bitterly divided Congress.If Democratic and Republican members of Congress can...

4 Boston Police officers acquitted of overtime fraud federal charges

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

Four Boston Police officers who were accused by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of overtime fraud have been acquitted of all charges.A jury on Thursday found the four cops — Lt. Timothy Torigian, Sgt. Robert Twitchell, Officer Henry Doherty, and Officer Kendra Conway — not guilty of three federal charges.In early February, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged the four officers in a superseding indictment in connection with the ongoing investigation of OT fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse.The officers — 57-year-old Torigian of Walpole, 61-year-old Twitchell (retired) of Norton, 64-year-old Doherty (retired) of Dorchester, and 52-year-old Conway of Boston — were facing charges of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.The four officers were found not guilty of all three charges on Thursday.Related Articles...

Marcus Smart: Celtics ‘played not to lose’ in stunning Game 5 meltdown vs. Hawks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

ATLANTA — The Celtics didn’t need to be back here. All they had to do was go for the kill.Midway through the fourth quarter of Game, the C’s were in complete control. Up 13 with 6:10 remaining. Leading by 12 with 5:24 to go. But after asserting themselves for 42-plus minutes, they relaxed. They got complacent and passive. They failed to close out the Hawks, who led by Trae Young pulled off a miraculous comeback to force a Game 6.“We played not to lose instead of just playing to win the game,” Marcus Smart admitted Thursday morning at Celtics shootaround. “And that happens. Unfortunately it happened to us and we just made things a little bit harder for ourselves. We’ve got another great opportunity to be here. God has blessed us to wake up today and come out and try to bring it home.”Even after blowing the lead, the Celtics found themselves in a position to survive in the final seconds of Game 5. But two plays proved to make the difference.The C’s led 115-114 with 25 seconds to go af...

No decision whether guardsman accused of leaks to be held

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, ERIC TUCKER and TARA COPP (Associated Press)WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts Air National guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents kept an arsenal of guns and talked of “violence and murder” on a social media platform and an “assassination van,” prosecutors said in arguing Thursday that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should remain in jail for his trial.But the judge at Teixeira’s detention hearing put off an immediate decision whether he should be kept in custody or released to home confinement or under other conditions. Teixeira was led away from the court in handcuffs, black rosary beads around his neck, pending that ruling.The court filings raise new questions about why Teixeira had such a high security clearance and access to some of the nation’s most classified secrets. They said he may still have material that hasn’t been released, which could be of “tremendous value to ...

Pandemic sent high school sex to new low, survey finds

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

By MIKE STOBBE (AP Medical Writer)NEW YORK (AP) — The first years of the pandemic saw a huge decline in high school students having sex, according to a government survey.Teen sex was already becoming less and less common before COVID-19.About three decades ago, more than half of teens said they’d had sex, according to a large government survey conducted every two years. By 2019, the share was 38%. In 2021, 30% of teens said they had ever had sex. That drop was the sharpest ever recorded by the survey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released reports analyzing the latest findings from the survey that looks into risky youth behaviors, including smoking, drinking, having sex and carrying guns.More than 17,000 students at 152 public and private high schools responded to the 2021 survey. Participation was voluntary and required parental permission, but responses were anonymous. The CDC also noted declines in students who said they were currently hav...

Westbound I-8 in El Cajon closed after multi-vehicle collision

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

EL CAJON, Calif. — All lanes of westbound Interstate 8 in El Cajon were closed Thursday following a multi-vehicle collision, Caltrans said.The crash happened around 10:20 a.m. on westbound I-8 near East Main Street, according to the California Highway Patrol's Traffic Incident Information Page.A Sig Alert was issued around 10:40 a.m., prompting all westbound lanes to close. Rules of the Road: Are tinted windows legal in California? All vehicles are being detoured to the East Main Street off-ramp, Caltrans said.The circumstances that led to the collision were not immediately available and it is not yet known if there were any reported injuries related to the crash.SkyFOX footage captured of the crash showed one vehicle overturned in the middle of the traffic lanes.You can monitor the latest traffic conditions with the FOX 5 Traffic Map.Officials have not announced how long the freeway closure is expected to last.

Concerned about North Korea, South’s Yoon seeks more US help

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol urged ever more strengthening of the U.S.-led security alliance against nuclear-armed North Korea on Thursday, drawing cheers from Congress as he saluted the “great American heroes” who helped preserve his country’s democracy in the Korean War.Democratic and Republicans lawmakers rose to their feet again and again to applaud during Yoon’s address to a joint meeting of the House and Senate, in a speech that stressed security cooperation at a time of increased tension with both North Korea and China. Yoon also cited U.S.-Korean high-tech trade ties creating thousands of jobs in the United States.Yoon praised the U.S.-South Korea security partnership since the Korean War seven decades ago as “the linchpin safeguarding our freedom, peace and prosperity.” Lawmakers roared with approval when the South Korean leader closed with, “God bless our alliance.” They flocked to him afterward on the House floor, pressing him to sign...

Former UD athlete gets more prison time for sexual assaults

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A former University of Delaware athlete already serving a six-year prison sentence for sex offenses was sentenced Thursday to 2 1/2 additional years behind bars for other sexual attacks on young women.Clay Conaway, 27, was sentenced in a southern Delaware courtroom more than a year after he pleaded guilty to third-degree rape and no contest to three counts of fourth-degree rape. He took plea agreements as he faced five counts of second-degree rape involving four separate women.Conaway was sentenced to two years for third-degree rape, 90 days each on two counts of fourth-degree rape, and probation for the other fourth-degree rape charge. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors had agreed to ask for no more than four additional years in prison.Had Conaway been tried and convicted of second-degree rape, he faced a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison on each count. Second-degree rape involves intentional penetration with any object or body part without cons...

Health minister denies interfering in arm’s-length drug-price agency before committee

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:09:58 GMT

OTTAWA — Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says he has not exercised any undue political pressure on the independent federal agency that regulates the price of patented drugs on its efforts to lower medicine costs. NDP health critic Don Davies is accusing the minister of halting the implementation of a new rule intended to lower the cost of drugs at the behest of drug companies that have resisted the change. The new regulation came into force in July, and would see the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board compare Canadian drug prices to those in a wider range of similar countries. The agency was in the process of consulting on the finer details associated with the rule in November when Duclos wrote to its acting chair and suggested the consultation process be paused to give drug companies, patient groups, provincial ministers and himself more time to understand the changes.One of the agency’s board members resigned shortly afterward, saying Duclos undermined the board’s ...