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Cabinet of ‘fuckpigs’ and a team with ‘no plan’: 9 Boris bombshells from the UK’s COVID inquiry

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

LONDON — From sweary tirades against the Cabinet to a prime minister convinced he was the mayor from “Jaws,” Tuesday was an eye-opening day at Britain’s official inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic.In a day of high drama, Boris Johnson’s former top aides — ex-chief adviser Dominic Cummings and former director of communications Lee Cain — took the stand, shedding light on how the British state struggled to get to grips with the magnitude of the crisis that unfolded in 2020 and 2021.Plenty of key players — including Johnson and current PM Rishi Sunak — are still to put their side of the story across. But POLITICO has rounded up nine major claims from a big day at the inquiry, which saw a mass of previously private WhatsApp messages and internal government emails disclosed for the first time.1) Britain’s COVID-19 ‘plan’ that wasn’tTestimony from Cain on Tuesday morning painted a deeply unfavorable picture of the British state’s prepa...

Macron pursues nuclear deals in Russia’s back yard

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron travels on Wednesday to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where he hopes to secure uranium for his country’s nuclear plants. The trip comes as geopolitical tensions grow with the EU’s current major suppliers, Niger and Russia.Macron’s visit to the two countries aims to expand French influence in an area which has strong ties with Russia and is now also growing closer to China, an Elysée official said. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are respectively France’s largest and third-largest suppliers of uranium, which is burned to fuel nuclear plants.Last summer a military junta took over Niger, which supplies 15 percent of France’s uranium needs, sparking questions as to whether the African country can continue to be a reliable source. Uncertainty has also surrounded imports of Russian uranium since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “Niger raises questions, Russia could raise questions in the long term [if] the EU imposes sanctions on the nuclear ...

Fiat, maker of Italian cars, is opening an apartment building in New Jersey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

(CNN) — Fiat, the Italian car brand best known in the United States for its tiny, retro-styled cars, is putting its name on an apartment building across the river from Manhattan.While Fiat isn’t the first car company to put its name on a residential tower, it’s a branding exercise more often associated with ultra high-end auto brands such as Aston Martin, Porsche and Bentley. And with places like sunny South Florida.The Fiat House residences will be in a far more pragmatic location, near the western approaches to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The bridge, widely acknowledged as the world’s busiest, crosses the Hudson River from New Jersey to upper Manhattan.Fiat currently only offers only the 500X small SUV in the US but the famous retro-styled subcompact 500 model will return next year in its new electric version, the 500e. Fiat House residents will have access to a car-sharing fleet of Fiat 500e electric cars, acc...

Saudi Arabia set to host 2034 World Cup as Australia withdraws interest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

(CNN) — Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 men’s FIFA World Cup after Australia withdrew its interest in hosting the global showpiece just hours before the bid deadline on Tuesday.“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and – having taken all factors into consideration – we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” Football Australia said in a statement.Instead the Australia football federation has opted to proceed with their bids for the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2029.Australia’s withdrawal leaves Saudi Arabia as the only confirmed bidder. The Gulf nation announced its bid on October 4 immediately following FIFA’s surprise invitation for expressions of interest from only Asia and Oceania for the 2034 tournament.In a press release sent out on Tuesday, FIFA confirmed that Saudi Arabia was the only bidder for the 2034 tournament. However, FIFA said that it will still “conduct tho...

Has enthusiasm for electric cars waned?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

By Phillip Molnar | The San Diego-Union-TribuneGeneral Motors, Ford and Tesla have all warned of an electric vehicle slowdown because they say demand might drop.Auto makers mainly say higher borrowing costs are the issue but some car dealerships say EVs are sitting longer than regular cars. They say consumers are concerned about the range of EVs and lack of infrastructure.In a Cox Automotive survey, 53 percent of consumers said EVs will eventually replace internal combustion engines, but less than a third of dealers agreed. Several dealerships interviewed by CNBC said EVs were taking longer to sell and there was a supply and demand imbalance with the vehicles.Ford said two weeks ago it would increase production on its hybrid F-150 pickup trucks because of waning demand for its all electric model.EV advocates insist the demand is still there, but consumers are only temporarily shying away because of high interest rates that make EVs — typically more expensive than your average car — ...

Canada may face ‘big fight’ with U.S. over digital tax plans, American envoy warns

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

OTTAWA — The United States ambassador to Canada says there could be a “big fight” looming if the federal government goes through with its plans for a digital services tax. U.S. envoy David Cohen made the remarks today in a question-and-answer session following a luncheon speech hosted by the Canadian Club of Ottawa. The three per cent levy, which is slated to take effect in January, targets foreign companies such as streaming services that generate revenue from Canadian users.It was delayed until 2024 in hopes of waiting out a similar international digital tax regime being assembled under the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.Cohen says the U.S. understands Canada’s position, but wants more time for the OECD framework to fall into place. Last month, members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee wrote to warn of “significant consequences” if Canada proceeds with the tax. “That will be an area of contention unless it is...

Construction of at least 25,000 housing units blocked in Quebec: survey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

MONTREAL — A new survey by a housing construction industry association suggests that stalled construction projects are holding up the delivery of at least 25,000 homes across Quebec.The survey of 42 real estate developers found that more than half of those units, around 14,500, were planned for Montreal and the regions to its north and south.Association vice-president Isabelle Demers says the number of blocked units is likely much higher since many developers might have hesitated to disclose projects that are ongoing or contested.Respondents cited factors including burdensome permit-granting processes, zoning obstacles and public resistance to densification projects in residential areas as reasons for the holdups.That last kind of opposition, known as the “not-in-my-backyard” phenomenon, is characterized by existing residents’ suspicion of attempts to alter the character of their neighbourhoods with multi-dwelling buildings.Demers gives the example of a recent proj...

Biden to welcome Trudeau to Washington this week: U.S. Ambassador David Cohen

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to be in Washington on Friday as part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s push for greater economic integration across the Western Hemisphere.U.S. Ambassador David Cohen says Trudeau will be part of meetings in to help shape the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, a Biden-backed trade framework.The project aims to create more jobs and restore faith in democracy by having roughly a dozen countries bolster the region’s economic competitiveness.Biden announced the program at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June 2022.Cohen says Canada shares the values the U.S. is trying to champion in the region, adding there will be “some nice and interesting announcements” at the meeting.Trudeau’s office is not confirming the prime minister’s schedule.“I’m pretty sure that the first invitation that was extended, to come to this conference, was extended to Prime Minister Trudeau,” ...

Trial moved to late 2024 for Indiana man charged in killings of 2 girls slain during hiking trip

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — The trial for an Indiana man charged in the killings of two teenage girls slain in 2017 during a hiking trip was moved Tuesday from January to next October after the presiding judge told the suspect she will not allow his former attorneys to represent him.At Tuesday’s hearing, Special Judge Fran Gull officially removed Allen’s former court-appointed defense attorneys, Bradley Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin, from the case after they had sought to represent him pro bono, or at no cost.“I cannot and will not allow these attorneys to represent you,” Gull told Allen during a hearing in Fort Wayne. “I’m sorry that this has happened, Mr. Allen.”Gull had announced before a scheduled Oct. 19 hearing that Baldwin had made an oral motion to withdraw from the case and that she expected Rozzi to submit a motion to withdraw within days amid questions about the security of evidence in the case.Allen, 51, was arrested in October 2022 and charged with two counts o...

Antisemitism policies at public city colleges in New York will be reviewed, the governor says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:49 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An independent party will review antisemitism policies at the City University of New York, the nation’s largest urban public university system, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday, as protests about the war between Israel and Hamas erupt on college campuses across the country. Hochul, a Democrat, said the review will assess how the college system handles antisemitism complaints and will make recommendations on how administrators can better protect Jewish students and faculty. It will be conducted by Jonathan Lippman, a former chief judge of New York’s highest court.Political tensions over the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict have long run high at City University of New York schools, which include 25 campuses and almost a quarter-million students, with protests and rallies sometimes gaining widespread attention and leading to accusations of antisemitism. “We will take on the antisemitism we have seen on college campuses,” Hochul said. “The prob...