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Biden quietly shelves trade pact with UK before 2024 elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

LONDON — President Joe Biden has quietly shelved plans for a “foundational” trade agreement with the U.K. ahead of the 2024 election — following Senate opposition and disagreements over the scope of the deal.A draft outline of the pact and its 11 proposed chapters, prepared by the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) office earlier this year, indicated negotiations would begin before the end of 2023.But after facing multiple headwinds, the deal is not expected to go ahead, two people briefed by the British and U.S. governments respectively told POLITICO. Both were granted anonymity to speak on a sensitive matter.“I don’t think we’re going to see that re-emerge,” said one of the people briefed on the proposed negotiations. The proposal’s timeline for talks — which would not consider market access or meet the World Trade Organization’s definition of a free trade agreement — set out that negotiations would wrap up ahead of elections in Britain and the U.S. next ...

15 suspected drug smugglers killed in clash with Thai soldiers near Myanmar border, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Fifteen suspected drug smugglers were killed and about 2 million methamphetamine tablets seized in northern Thailand near the Myanmar border after a shootout with Thai soldiers, Thai officials said.The clash, which occurred Saturday night, came after the local army received a tip that there would be smuggling activity near the border in Chiang Rai province, said Phanurat Lukboon, acting secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board. Officers found a group of about 20 people carrying backpacks in the area, Phanurat said on Sunday. After the officers identified themselves and asked to inspect the bags, the group began shooting at them, he added.The clash lasted around 15 minutes and the Thai officers were all safe, Phanurat said while on a visit to the site where the incident occurred. He thanked the officers for their help in “preventing these awful things from entering our country and destroying our youth.”Seventeen backpacks made from fertilizer sack...

European Council conclusions on Ukraine, enlargement and reforms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

I. UKRAINE1. The European Council reiterates its resolute condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a manifest violation of the UN Charter, and reaffirms the European Union’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and its inherent right of self-defence against the Russian aggression.2. The European Council recalls its previous conclusions and confirms the European Union’s unwavering commitment to continue to provide strong political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes.3. The European Union and its Member States will continue to address Ukraine’s pressing military and defence needs. In particular, the European Council insists on the importance of timely, predictable and sustainable military support for Ukraine, notably through the European Peace Facility and the EU Military Ass...

Family of man fatally gunned down say first responders 'negligent'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

While authorities are still searching for a gunman that opened fire at a Willowbrook shopping plaza on Friday, killing one man and wounding four others, the family of the victim who died is speaking out.  Los Angeles County deputies received calls of an assault with a deadly weapon on the 200 block of East El Segundo Boulevard at around 2:23 p.m. Arriving deputies found the victim, identified by family as 32-year-old Rahson Jerrel Bradford, suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper torso. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The 32-year-old's family spoke with KTLA Sunday and criticized the response of both L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies and paramedics.  “For the police, I feel like they’ve been negligent,” Kayana Bradford, one of the victim’s sisters, said. “They’ve given us no information. We still haven’t been able to see our brother.”  Quanika Bradford, another sister of the victim, said her brother was pleadin...

No. 23 UNLV making most of trip to New York for the holidays

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — UNLV coach Lindy La Rocque plans on taking her team on a destination trip each year right before the holidays because the Lady Rebels’ home arena is being used for a rodeo.Last season it was Hawaii, this year it’s New York.“Travel is such a huge part of the student-athlete experience and you know, New York City, it’s such an iconic place,” La Rocque said. “You know people think we live in one in Vegas, and when you live there, you don’t always get the mystique of it. It’s fun to bring our team cross country and let them enjoy another major city that maybe they won’t get to travel to on their own.”No. 23 UNLV is making the most of its week-long trip east off the court. Besides playing games against Seton Hall and Fairleigh Dickinson, the team took in the sights while staying in New York. They went to “Hamilton” on Sunday and planned to visit the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center and Times Square later this week.“It’s excit...

Congress unlikely to finish work on Ukraine, border deal this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

The Senate looks unlikely to advance new border security restrictions alongside billions more for Ukraine aid this month, as negotiators work through complex border law in difficult closed-door discussions with the Biden administration and top Senate aides.Negotiating Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) met for three hours on Sunday and continued to cite forward progress afterward, with Sinema saying some portions of the challenging border language had been finalized. But the full deal is not complete enough for even a cursory framework or summary to be released yet, and senators on the Republican side suggested the bill shouldn’t be taken up until January when the House is back in session.Lankford said that waiting until January for final votes was a “realistic timeline” for completing their work and said senators are “working through this as fast as we possibly can.” The senators will continue discussions on Monday, when the Senate c...

EU countries destroy €4B worth of COVID vaccines

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

At least 215 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines purchased by EU countries at the height of the pandemic have since been thrown away at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of €4 billion, an analysis by POLITICO reveals. And that’s almost certainly an underestimate.Since the first coronavirus vaccines were approved in late 2020, EU countries have collectively taken delivery of 1.5 billion doses (more than three for every person in Europe). Many of these now lie in landfills across the Continent.Calculations based on available data show that EU countries have discarded an average of 0.7 jabs for every member of their population. Top of the scale is Estonia, which binned more than one dose per inhabitant, followed closely by Germany, which also threw away the largest raw volume of jabs.If this average waste rate is projected across the rest of the EU, it would equal more than 312 million destroyed vaccines.It’s not easy to discover how many vaccines have been thrown out. Gover...

Darnell Mooney’s Hail Mary drop will make the Chicago Bears’ lowlight reel, but far more went wrong for the offense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

As a mass of players leaped into the air to catch Justin Fields’ pass Sunday afternoon at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Chicago Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney found himself at the front of the pack, tumbling to the grass in the end zone with the football in his hands.And then in an instant the football — and the upset win — got away. Bounced off Mooney’s chest. Rolled up his leg. Popped into the hands of Browns safety D’Anthony Bell.Fields’ 45-yard Hail Mary pass to win the game with no time left on the clock instead was a Browns interception to seal a 20-17 comeback victory over the Bears.Afterward, Mooney laid back in his locker looking at his phone. He had already watched the replay and read the comments on social media decrying the missed opportunity for the Bears, who could have extended their winning streak to three games for the first time since December 2020.“Everybody is killing me right now,” Mooney said. “But it’...

A suspected cyberattack paralyzes the majority of gas stations across Iran

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Nearly 70% of Iran’s gas stations went out of service on Monday following possible sabotage — a reference to cyberattacks, Iranian state TV reported.The report said a “software problem” caused the irregularity in the gas stations. It urged people not to rush to the stations that were still operational. Israeli media, including the Times of Israel, blamed the problem on an attack by a hacker group dubbed “Gonjeshke Darande” or predatory sparrow.State TV quoted a statement by the Oil Ministry as saying more than 30% of gas stations remain in service. The country has some 33,000 gas stations.In recent years, Iran has seen a series of cyberattacks on its filling stations, railway system and industries. Surveillance cameras in government buildings, including prisons, have also been hacked in the past.In 2022, the Gonjeshke Darande group hacked a major steel company in the southwest of the country. A cyberattack on Iran’s fuel distribution system in 2021 paralyzed gas ...

Farmers protest against a German government plan to cut tax breaks for diesel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:13:48 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German farmers gathered in Berlin on Monday to protest against planned cuts to tax breaks for diesel used in agriculture, part of a deal reached by the government to plug a hole in the country’s budget.Leaders of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition last week agreed on measures to fill a 17 billion-euro ($18.5 billion) hole in next year’s budget, saying they would achieve that by reducing climate-damaging subsidies and slightly reducing some ministries’ spending, among other measures. That was necessary after Germany’s highest court annulled an earlier decision to repurpose 60 billion euros originally meant to cushion the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country. The maneuver fell foul of Germany’s strict self-imposed limits on running up debt.As more details of the deal have emerged, so has discontent, notably over a plan to cut tax breaks for agricultural diesel and scrap...