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Back to the 90s as Sunak and Starmer’s deputies stand in (again)

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from the latest session in POLITICO U.K.’s weekly run-through.THANKS, NATO: For the second week running, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour’s Keir Starmer were missing in action at PMQs — thanks to the former’s starring role at the NATO summit in Vilnius. That left us with the dubious honor of watching deputies Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner have a pop at each other.History lesson: Rayner pointed out that the last time a PM missed two of these sessions in a row was … March 1996.Alternative history lesson: Dowden made the reasonable excuse that Sunak is at the big military summit — before claiming that, under Rayner’s old boss and former leader Jeremy Corbyn, Labour would have abandoned Ukraine (probably not really true but hey, it’s PMQs) … Leave NATO (not true) … and abolish the army (really not true). What the...

Boris Johnson’s ‘political assassination’ laid bare in new book from ally Nadine Dorries

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

LONDON — What brought down Boris Johnson — a cascade of self-inflicted scandals or a shadowy plot?The former British PM’s closest political ally Nadine Dorries believes the latter — and is penning a book as she seeks to prove it.The ex-culture secretary — already a bestselling author — has written ‘the Plot’, which, according to a Harper Collins release, will tell the “seismic, untold story of how the most charismatic politician of his generation was driven from office.” The book is due for release on September 28 this year. The release states that Dorries spoke to “dozens of inside sources” for the book to piece together “a profoundly shocking story of powerful, unaccountable forces operating behind the scenes who became the architects of a prime minister’s downfall.”Johnson resigned in Summer 2022 as restless Tory MPs demanded change. Ministers already wounded by the Partygate scandal resigned en masse when Johnson w...

Former Chelsea owner Abramovich sanctioned for fame, his lawyers argue in EU court

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

LUXEMBOURG — Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich never stood a chance of avoiding EU sanctions despite having no link to the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, his lawyers argued Wednesday.“A real myth has grown around the personality of Roman Abramovich,” his lawyer Thierry Bontinck told the EU’s second highest court, the General Court.“He can’t go for a coffee at Starbucks without the next day’s headlines announcing his intention to buy the chain. His visit to any city in the world will automatically imply that he will buy the local football club,” he added. The former owner of Chelsea Football Club was sanctioned in March last year for allegedly benefiting from his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and for contributing to the Kremlin’s war chest through his economic activities. The EU’s measures include assets freezes and visa bans.Shortly after, Abramovich sold the English Premier League club for the highest price ever paid for a football team. A foundation set up to distr...

Zelenskyy puts brave face on lackluster NATO membership signal

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

VILNIUS — NATO didn’t give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy what he was looking for, but on Wednesday he toned down his public anger over the alliance’s cautious stance on Kyiv’s membership bid.“Nobody is willing to have a world war, which is logical and understandable,” Zelenskyy told reporters gathered at the NATO leaders’ summit in Vilnius, speaking through an interpreter. The Ukrainian leader’s muted tone contrasted sharply with his messaging from a day earlier, when he blasted a NATO leaders’ communiqué as “absurd” for not providing Kyiv with a timeline and concrete path to membership. On Wednesday, rather than fixate on the terms under which the alliance would accept Ukraine once the war ends, the Ukrainian president praised Western capitals for offering Kyiv security assurances while insisting that the ultimate goal for Ukraine remains NATO accession. The assurances “will surely become a very important and specific success,” he said. “We can state that t...

Vermont turns to recovery after being hit by flood from slow-moving storm

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

ANDOVER, Vt. (AP) — Floodwaters receded in Vermont cities and towns pummeled by a storm that delivered two months of rain in two days, enabling officials to focus on recovering from a disaster that trapped residents in homes, closed roadways and choked streets and businesses with mud and debris.In the capital city of Montpelier, where streets were flooded Tuesday by the swollen Winooski River, officials said that water levels at a dam just upstream appeared to be stable.“It looks like it won’t breach. That is good. That is one less thing we have to have on our front burner,” Montpelier Town Manager Bill Fraser said.Fraser said the dam remains a lingering concern but with the water receding the city was shifting to recovery mode. Public works employees were expected out Wednesday to start removing mud and debris downtown and building inspections will start as businesses begin cleaning up their properties.Gov. Phil Scott planned to tour areas impacted by the flooding with Deanne...

3 dead and 14 injured in Illinois crash involving Greyhound bus and tractor-trailers, police say

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

HIGHLAND, Ill. (AP) — Three people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, early Wednesday when a Greyhound bus crashed into three tractor-trailers parked along a highway exit to a rest area in southern Illinois, state police said.Illinois State Police said an initial investigation indicates a Greyhound passenger bus was westbound along Interstate 70 in Madison County around 1:55 a.m. when it crashed into the three tractor-trailers, which were parked on the exit ramp to the Silver Lake Rest Area.“Three fatalities are confirmed and multiple others were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, four by helicopter and at least 10 by ambulance,” state police said in a news release.The agency said no one in the three trucks was injured in the crash near the city of Highland about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of St. Louis.State Police spokesperson Melaney Arnold said those killed and injured were all on the Greyhound bus. She was not sure if the bus driver was among those kil...

Iran summons Russian ambassador over comments on Persian Gulf territorial dispute in a rare spat

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran summoned Russia’s ambassador on Wednesday after Moscow released a joint statement with Arab countries earlier this week challenging Iran’s claim to disputed islands in the Persian Gulf.It marked a rare spat between Iran and Russia, which have deepened ties since Moscow invaded Ukraine, with Iran supplying killer drones that have been used to devastating effect there. Iran and Russia are also strong backers of President Bashar Assad in Syria’s civil war.Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the ambassador was summoned over a joint statement released Monday after a meeting in Moscow between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.In the statement, the ministers affirmed their support for efforts “to reach a peaceful solution to the issue of the three islands, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, through bilateral negotiations or the...

Autobody repair company Boyd Group Services names Jeff Murray as CFO

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

WINNIPEG — Boyd Group Services Inc. has named Jeff Murray as the company’s chief financial officer.The autobody repair company says Murray has filled the job on an interim basis since the start of the year following the retirement of Pat Pathipati at the end of 2022.Murray joined the finance team at Boyd in 2004 as the manager of external financial reporting after working for accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP.He has been vice-president, finance, since 2013.Boyd Group operates in Canada under the Boyd Autobody & Glass banner as well as Assured Automotive.In the U.S., the company operates under the name Gerber Collision & Glass and other banners.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:BYD)The Canadian Press

Live Updates | Zelenskyy welcomes US decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Follow along for updates on the summit of the NATO military alliance in Lithuania’s capital:What to know: — NATO backs Ukraine’s fight vs. Russia but doesn’t invite Kyiv to join— Sweden’s rocky road from neutrality toward NATO membership— What is NATO doing to help Ukraine in the war with Russia?——Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the recent U.S. decision to send cluster munitions to his country, saying Russia also uses the controversial and widely banned weapons.“Russia constantly uses cluster munitions on our territory. It wages war exclusively on our land. It kills our people,” he said Wednesday at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.“This is about justice,” Zelenskyy added. “We defend ourselves, without using (these) weapons on the territory of other states.” Zelenskyy said. Any cluster munitions supplied to Ukraine, he said, would be used “purely for military purposes” and “purely” in Russian-occupied parts ...

US inflation falls to 3%, lowest level in more than 2 years, as price pressures ease

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:21:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — After two years of painfully high prices, inflation in the United States has reached its lowest point in more than two years — 3% in June compared with 12 months earlier — a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have steadily slowed price increases across the economy.The inflation figure the government reported Wednesday was down sharply from a 4% annual rate in May, though still above the Fed’s 2% target rate. Over the past 12 months, gas prices have dropped, grocery costs have risen more slowly and used cars have become less expensive.From May to June, overall prices rose 0.2%, up from just 0.1% in the previous month but still comparatively mild.At the same time, underlying inflation remains persistently high and a nagging concern for the Fed, which is all but certain to increase its key interest rate again when it meets in two weeks. The Fed has raised its benchmark rate by a substantial 5 percentage points since March 2022, the steepest pace of in...