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Keir Starmer seeks election tips from Obama, Trudeau and Blair

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

LONDON — Keir Starmer dreams of being the next U.K. prime minister. Can rubbing shoulders with proven winners really help him pull it off?In the past week the U.K. Labour leader has visited The Hague, Montreal and Paris for a series of public engagements with senior political figures as he seeks to project a statesmanlike image on the world stage.Behind closed doors, Starmer has been picking the brains of some of the 21st century’s highest-profile progressive leaders on how to govern — and how to win. “He is always asking ‘What are they doing? What can we learn from that? And what do we disregard?’” a senior Labour Party official said.Given Labour’s 18-point poll lead over the ruling Conservatives — and with an election looming in 2024 — more and more progressives want to talk to Starmer. A member of Starmer’s shadow Cabinet said that while it had once been an “uphill struggle” to convince foreign leaders to make time to see the Labour leader, it was “becoming much...

Europe blinks amid calls to stop backing Ukraine 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

BRUSSELS — Russian President Vladimir Putin has made little secret of his plan to keep up the pressure on Ukraine until Western resolve breaks. More than 500 days into his war of aggression, he now has reason to believe things are working out the way he hoped, even if events are not playing out how he might have imagined.Governments in Poland, Estonia, Slovakia and others in Central and Eastern Europe have been among Kyiv’s staunchest allies since the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Beyond sending weapons and welcoming millions of Ukrainian refugees, they have been Ukraine’s loudest advocates in the West, pushing for a tough line against Moscow in the face of reluctance from countries like France and Germany.But as the leaders of some of these ride-or-die allies face reelection battles or other domestic challenges, and governments get nervous about the impact of Ukraine one day joining the European Union, that support is starting to waver. The most strik...

Restoration of crumbling UK parliament slips beyond next election 

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

LONDON — Major restoration works on the Palace of Westminster are unlikely to progress before the next U.K. general election, with MPs no longer expected to choose their preferred refurbishment option before the end of this year. Plans for a massive overhaul of the famous British parliament buildings have already suffered a litany of setbacks and delays over the five years since MPs first approved proposals to temporarily vacate the estate while essential works were carried out. Much of the landmark palace dates back to the 19th century — parts are considerably older still — yet it has not been properly refurbished since before World War II. Experts say the risks posed by fire and falling masonry are growing. The parliamentary authorities have spent much of this year producing a shortlist of two options — a “full decant” of MPs into temporary accommodation while work is carried out, versus some form of “continued presence” — on which MPs were expected to vote before Chris...

The best gifts ever? Being named after drugs and declaring war on the French

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.What’s the most important gift you can give someone? Perhaps it’s to give your child a great name — something cool but not weird, and not one of those names that everyone has, like Methamphetamine Rules!What? Yes, an Australian journalist has called her son Methamphetamine Rules (Meth for short?). What were the parents thinking? Methamphetamine is obviously a girl’s name! Kirsten Drysdale said she was testing whether the authorities had the power to change a baby’s name if the one submitted by the parents was deemed offensive or unacceptable. Drysdale said she was mulling between Methamphetamine Rules and Nangs Rule, which is the Australian slang for nitrous oxide canisters that some people use to get high. Thank goodness they didn’t pick the latter, or the kid would have been bullied mercilessly!Politicians don’t have to worry about naming a child when they visit their counterparts, but they do need ...

Ukraine’s forces say NATO trained them for wrong fight

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe. Did NATO screw up when training Ukraine’s counteroffensive units? Did it train them for the wrong battlefield?These questions are at the heart of a raging debate about why, after three months of grueling fighting, the counteroffensive in southeast Ukraine hasn’t yet managed to punch through to the Sea of Azov, cutting off the so-called land bridge that connects annexed Crimea with southern Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.With progress painstakingly slow on the Zaporizhzhia front — the main axis of three lines of attack — there’s been plenty of second-guessing and armchair generalship going on, apportioning blame, identifying missteps or highlighting things that could have been done better.But among them, the most intriguing thinking is coming from soldiers on Ukraine’s front lines, or those who have newly returned, and they fault NATO for preparing them for a different fight.Of course, Ukraine has been encountering cr...

Polish FM: We will continue to back Ukraine, but we must protect our farmers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

Zbigniew Rau is the Polish foreign minister.In February 2022, millions of victims of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine — primarily women and children — found safety in neighboring Poland.Poland was the first to come to Ukraine’s aid.And in what has turned out to be Kyiv’s most valuable resource, Poles made their own territory available as strategic depth for Ukrainian defense, establishing a critical military hub for arms supplies from around the world.Above all, however, Poland believed in Ukraine’s victory as other allies concluded it was too late to arm the country. Polish-donated tanks helped defend Kyiv, and Polish-made howitzers helped liberate Russian-occupied territories in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.This came at a tangible price for Poland. Of all the allies, Poles took upon themselves the heaviest burden when it came to helping Ukraine — equivalent to over 3 percent of the country’s GDP, nearly four times as much as wealthy Germany and a...

Hungary’s baby-making summit dominated by paranoia, not policy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

BUDAPEST — The children’s tricycle parade began a little past 10 a.m. on a cool, overcast Saturday morning across from Vajdahunyad Castle in the Budapest City Park.The dirt path around the faux-gothic castle was dotted with newly erected booths, set up to sell baked goods or provide children’s entertainment. A low rumble drifted across the bridge that spanned the castle’s moat, growing steadily louder, until a wave of furiously pedaling children burst into view, parents running beside them.The parade opened the third, and final, day of the Budapest Demographic Summit — Viktor Orbán’s biannual get-together of right-wing thought leaders who gathered to discuss Europe’s declining population and falling birth rates. But the family festival, which featured face painting, carnival games, and a petting zoo, cut a sharp contrast with the siege mentality that pervaded the gathering of politicians and conservative luminaries over the previous two days.“We live in an era wher...

FAA investigating after laser pointed at helicopter landing at a Boston hospital

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

The FAA will investigate after a helicopter crew reported being hit by a laser while landing at a hospital in Boston Thursday night, officials said. The FAA in a statement said the crew reported the incident around 8 p.m. No one was injured, according to the FAA, and local authorities were notified. No further information was immediately available about the incident Thursday night. This, though, came hours after the FAA said two JetBlue flight crews reported being illuminated by a laser around 5:40 a.m. Thursday near Boston. As with the incident Thursday night, the FAA said no one was hurt in the early-morning laser strikes. Later speaking with 7NEWS, aviation expert and former Massport Director Tom Kinton said incidents involving lasers and aircraft “(are) happening way too often.” “It’s a very dangerous way to play around that can cause injury to the pilots and loss of sight at a critical phase of flight could involve an accident or a missed approach,” Kin...

Biden administration seeks to remove medical bills from credit reports

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

(CNN) — Millions of Americans with unpaid medical bills would no longer have that debt show up on credit reports under proposals being considered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.The agency, which is soliciting feedback from small businesses that may be affected, expects to issue a proposed rule next year, the bureau said Thursday.If the rule is finalized, consumer credit companies would be barred from including medical debt and collection information on reports that creditors use to make underwriting decisions.Creditors would only be able consider non-medical information when evaluating borrowers’ loan applications. And debt collectors would no longer be able to use the listing of medical debt on credit reports as leverage to pressure consumers into paying questionable bills, the bureau said.“Research shows that medical bills have little predictive value in credit decisions, yet tens of millions of American households are dealing with medical debt on their...

Wakefield girl battling brain cancer wins national hat design contest

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:53 GMT

A Wakefield girl battling brain cancer can now add the title of fashion designer to her resume after her sparkly hat design won a national contest. The hat 11-year-old Leah Ellis created will be sold to benefit other children battling cancer. Speaking with 7NEWS, Ellis and her family said they were delighted by the honor. “Everybody was pretty psyched about winning,” said Ellis’ father Neal Ellis. “Love Your Melon” is an outdoor and lifestyle brand dedicated to giving a warm beanie to every child battling cancer. This year, Love Your Melon decided to hand over the creative reins for the first time to the children themselves through a contest. “She was so excited,” said Ellis’ mother, Elena Proakis, describing her daughter’s reaction after winning the contest.  Ellis has been battling brain cancer for the last 2.5 years. After this contest, Ellis and the rest of her family are proudly wearing her beanie, which includes sparkles, her favorite co...