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Boris Johnson faces COVID inquiry grilling next week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face a two-day grilling by the country’s official COVID-19 pandemic next week.Johnson will appear Wednesday, December 6 through Thursday, December 7 for a marathon session that will look at how his government handled the pandemic. It’s likely to make for an uncomfortable time for Johnson, who was ousted as prime minister last year and has been the subject of damaging testimony at the inquiry so far as former aides and officials questioned his judgment and grip during the crisis.This developing story is being updated.

France bans ministers from WhatsApp, Signal; demands French alternatives

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne has banned widely used messaging apps WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal for ministers and their teams due to security vulnerabilities, according to a memo obtained by French news outlet Le Point. “These digital tools are not devoid of security flaws, and therefore cannot guarantee the security of conversations and information shared via them,” reads the document, dated November 22. Borne set a deadline of December 8 for the government to switch to using the French app Olvid instead, which is certified by France’s cybersecurity watchdog ANSSI. “My team and I have been using it since July 2022. In December, the entire government will be using [Olvid], the world’s most secure instant messaging system,” French digital minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed on X. Tchap, the government-developed secure messaging and collaboration app, launched in 2019, is also allowed.The government previously ordered civil servants to rem...

Trump will attend super PAC fundraiser instead of 4th GOP primary debate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

While GOP presidential hopefuls duke it out on stage at the fourth Republican primary debate in Alabama next week, former President Donald Trump will attend a fundraiser in Hallandale Beach, Florida, to raise money for MAGA, Inc., the super PAC supporting his candidacy, multiple sources told CNN.A text message sent from his campaign to supporters Sunday announced the “VIP reception” and told recipients that if they donated to Trump’s campaign, they would be automatically entered to win a trip to meet the former president at an end-of-year reception on December 6, the same day as the debate.Trump has not attended any of the debates, citing a commanding lead in the polls. Instead, he has sat with Tucker Carlson for an interview, held an event for autoworkers in Detroit amid the union strike and put on a competing Florida rally.Earlier this month, Trump’s campaign called on the Republican National Committee to cancel all future deb...

Elon Musk apologizes for antisemitic tweet but tells advertisers ‘go f**k yourself’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

New York (CNN) — Elon Musk, in his first interview with mainstream media since his antisemitic post on X earlier this month, apologized Wednesday for what he called his “dumbest” ever social media post. But he lashed out at advertisers leaving his platform because of rising antisemitism on X.“I don’t want them to advertise,” he said at the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York. “If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go f**k yourself. Go. F**k. Yourself,” he said. “Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel” he added, referring to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who spoke earlier at the summit on Wednesday.Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk’s remarks.Musk made the remarks as the X CEO, Linda Yaccarino, sat in the audience. Yaccarino was brought into the company to woo back big-name advertisers.In a meandering conversation that lasted well over an hour, Musk also said he has no problem being hated. “Hate...

The case for and against the Red Sox signing Whit Merrifield

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

Of all the potential free agent signings the Red Sox could make this offseason, veteran infielder Whit Merrifield has emerged as perhaps the most polarizing.To some fans adding Merrifield seems like a no brainer. To others he’d be a waste of money and the Red Sox would be better off without him. With such a thin class of free agent infielders there aren’t many viable alternatives, so the Merrifield question has become particularly charged among certain portions of the fanbase.So, who’s right? Should the Red Sox sign Merrifield to take the reins at second base or should they steer clear? There are pros and cons to each approach, so here’s an argument for and against bringing Merrifield aboard this winter.Why Merrifield makes senseRight now the Red Sox options at second base include rookies Enmanuel Valdez and David Hamilton and journeyman utility player Pablo Reyes, who had his moments last season but who has primarily been a minor leaguer throughout his caree...

Teenage suspects accused of plotting to blow up a small truck at a German Christmas market

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A 15-year-old boy and an alleged accomplice are accused of plotting to blow up a small truck at a Christmas market in western Germany in an attack modeled on the methods of the Islamic State group, prosecutors said Thursday.The teenager was detained Tuesday in Burscheid, a town near Cologne, and a court in Leverkusen on Wednesday ordered him kept in custody pending a possible indictment. Another teenager was arrested in the eastern German state of Brandenburg.Officials say the 15-year-old wrote in a chat group about attack plans. Prosecutors in Duesseldorf said Thursday that he and the other suspect are accused of agreeing to attack a Christmas market in Leverkusen, a city in the western Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia state, at the beginning of December by using fuel to blow up a small truck.The teenager claimed he had acquired gasoline for the plan, according to a statement from prosecutors. The two suspects allegedly planned to leave Germany together after th...

UN weather agency says 2023 is the hottest year on record, warns of further climate extremes ahead

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.N. weather agency said Thursday that 2023 is all but certain to be the hottest year on record, and warning of worrying trends that suggest increasing floods, forest fires, glacier melt, and heat waves in the future.The World Meteorological Organization also warned that the average temperature for the year is up some 1.4 degrees Celsius (2.5 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial times – a mere one-tenth of a degree under a target limit for the end of the century as laid out by the Paris climate accord in 2015.The WMO secretary-general said the onset earlier this year of El Nino, the weather phenomenon marked by heating in the Pacific Ocean, could tip the average temperature next year over the 1.5-degree (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) target cap set in Paris.“It’s practically sure that during the coming four years we will hit this 1.5, at least on temporary basis,” Petteri Taalas said in an interview. “And in the next decade we are more or less goi...

South Korean farmers rally near presidential office to protest proposed anti-dog meat legislation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Dozens of South Korean dog farmers scuffled with police during a rally near the presidential office on Thursday to protest a push by authorities to outlaw dog meat consumption.Earlier this month, government and ruling party officials agreed to introduce legislation by the year’s end that would ban the centuries-old practice. Individual lawmakers have submitted similar anti-dog meat bills in the past, but this would be the first time for the government to back such legislation.About 200 farmers, restaurant owners and others involved in the dog meat industry gathered in Thursday’s rally. They sang, raised their fists and took turns making speeches criticizing the government’s move. One protester said he would kill himself if the government and governing party move ahead with the legislation.Some farmers brought dogs in cages on their trucks but were prevented from taking them to the protest site. A shoving match between some protesters and p...

Russian missile strikes in eastern Ukraine tear through buildings and bury families in rubble

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, local officials said Thursday, killing at least one person and burying families under rubble as the Kremlin’s forces continued to pound the fiercely contested area with long-range weapons.Russian military units simultaneously launched six S-300 missiles during the night, according to Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko.The missiles struck three Donetsk cities — Pokrovsk, Novohrodivka and Myrnohrad, he said. The cities lie 25-40 kilometers (15-25 miles) from the front line.Emergency workers pulled the body of a 62-year-old man from the wreckage of a destroyed multi-story building in Novohrodivka. Four more people may be under the rubble, including a child, authorities said.In Pokrovsk, the strikes destroyed a multi-story building, nine houses, a police office and cars. Emergency crews helped rescue a man with a 6-month-old baby, covered in blood, in his hands, off...

Inflation in Europe falls to 2.4%. It shows interest rates are packing a punch

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:53:45 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Europeans again saw some relief as inflation dropped to 2.4% in November, the lowest in more than two years, as plummeting energy costs have eased a cost-of-living crisis but higher interest rates squeeze the economy’s ability to grow.Inflation for the 20 countries using the euro currency fell from an annual 2.9% in October, according to numbers released Thursday by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency. It’s a far cry from the peak of 10.6% in October 2022 as an energy crisis left Europe’s households and businesses struggling to make ends meet.The new figure is close to the European Central Bank’s inflation target of 2% following a rapid series of interest rate hikes dating to summer 2022. But the tradeoff is stalled economic growth.With energy prices plunging 11.5% from a year earlier, it raises expectations that the ECB would hold rates steady for the second time in a row at its next meeting Dec. 14.ECB President Christine La...