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Timmermans to quit as EU climate czar as he returns to Dutch politics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

Frans Timmermans, the chief architect of Europe’s Green Deal, will resign from the Commission as he seeks to become Dutch prime minister. A Commission official told POLITICO on Tuesday that Timmermans would quit after a left-wing alliance formally chose him as its lead candidate for the upcoming Dutch parliamentary election. His departure leaves a big hole in a crucial portfolio in the European Commission, complicates the final push on the bloc’s Green Deal legislation and creates a headache for the caretaker Dutch government.Members of the Labor and Green parties — which will contest the November 22 general election on a joint ticket — backed Timmermans by a 91.8 percent margin. The party vote opened on August 14 and closed at noon Tuesday. The climate commissioner was the sole nominee to become the coalition’s candidate for prime minister. Timmermans leaves open three powerful positions in the Commission; existing commissioners will have to jostle for t...

18 people die in Greek forest amid raging wildfires

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

Eighteen dead bodies have been found in a Greek forest, as wildfires that have swept parts of the country during a ferocious heat wave turned deadly. The charred remains were found near the national park of Dadia, roughly 10 kilometers away from the Turkish border in the northeast of Greece. The area is a frequent entry point for migration said Yannis Artopios, Greek fire brigade spokesperson, adding that an identification team has already been tasked to investigate the deaths.“Given that there have been no reports of disappearances or missing residents from the surrounding areas, the possibility of people who entered the country irregularly is being investigated,” Artopios said about the corpses, according to Greek outlet Ekathimerini. Dozens of hospital patients had to be evacuated onto a ferry in the port city Alexandroupoli earlier Tuesday, after a fire broke out on Saturday. On Sunday, five Greek villages near the Turkish border were evacuated and on Monday Greek a...

French publishers accuse Elon Musk of trying to dodge EU copyright rules

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

PARIS — French press publishers are accusing Elon Musk of using new features on X, formerly known as Twitter, to avoid paying for copyright-protected content. X is expected to remove headlines and text from news stories shared on the platform, according to Fortune. Musk confirmed the move and claimed the reason behind it was “aesthetics.” In France, however, representatives for press publishers see it as a “coarse attempt to evade neighboring rights.”The EU’s copyright directive allows the press industry to seek remuneration when its content is displayed on online platforms. Canada drafted similar, albeit stricter, rules forcing Meta and Google to pay news publishers for content, leading to an ongoing tug-of-war with the U.S. tech giants. In France, after years of tense talks, media companies eventually inked deals with Google and Meta — but not Twitter. Twitter has long argued, even before the world’s richest man took over, that the company is not ...

First Trump co-defendant surrenders to Fulton County jail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

(CNN) — Scott Hall, one of former President Donald Trump’s 18 co-defendants in Georgia, turned himself in to the Fulton County jail on Tuesday.Hall, who works as a bail bondsman in Atlanta, was charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis with crimes related to his alleged involvement in the Coffee County, Georgia, voting systems breach.His experience will likely demonstrate how most defendants in the case are treated. He had signed a bond agreement with Willis on Monday, then was given an inmate identification number and released after spending roughly an hour at the jail on Tuesday.The Fulton County grand jury indictment accuses Hall of conspiring to unlawfully access voter data and ballot counting machines at the Coffee County election office on January 7, 2021. Hall is facing seven charges, including the racketeering count that’s central to Willis’ prosecution, as well as several charges stemming from the Coffee County allegations.He spent hours ins...

The first 2 children are rescued from a cable car dangling hundreds of feet in the air in Pakistan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Military commandos in helicopters rescued two children from a cable car dangling hundreds of meters (feet) above a canyon in a remote part of Pakistan on Tuesday, an emergency service official said. They were were working to save four more children and two adults. The commandos could be seen on local TV trying to lower themselves on ropes from the choppers toward the cable car. An expert warned the rescue was incredibly delicate because the wind created by the helicopters’ blades could further weaken cables holding the car aloft.The rescue of the two children was announced by Bilal Faizi, an emergency services spokesman who provided no further details.Relatives of those trapped prayed while anxiously watching the operation unfold. The rescue has also transfixed Pakistanis across the country who crowded around televisions in offices, shops, restaurants and hospitals.According to Pakistani TV stations, some of those trapped were in contact with their fa...

Attorney John Eastman surrenders to authorities on charges in Georgia 2020 election subversion case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — John Eastman, the conservative attorney who pushed a plan to keep Donald Trump in power, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday on charges in the Georgia case alleging an illegal plot to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss.Eastman was booked at the Fulton County jail before being released by authorities. He’s expected to have an arraignment set in the coming weeks in the sprawling racketeering case. He was indicted last week alongside Trump and 17 others, who are accused by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of scheming to subvert the will of Georgia voters in a desperate bid to keep Joe Biden out of the White House. Eastman said in a statement provided by his lawyers that he was surrendering Tuesday “to an indictment that should never have been brought.” He lambasted the indictment for targeting “attorneys for their zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients” and said each of the 19 defendants was entitled to rely on the advice of lawyers a...

‘Get out of my house!’ Video shows 98-year-old mother of Kansas newspaper publisher upset amid raid

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

MARION, Kan. (AP) — Newly released video shows the 98-year-old mother of a Kansas newspaper publisher confronting police officers as they searched her home in a raid that has drawn national scrutiny, at one point demanding: “Get out of my house!”Video released by the newspaper Monday shows Joan Meyer shouting at the six officers inside the Marion, Kansas, home she shared with her son, Marion County Record Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer. Standing with the aid of a walker and dressed in a long robe or gown and slippers, she seems visibly upset.“Get out of my house … I don’t want you in my house!” she said at one point. “Don’t touch any of that stuff! This is my house!” she said at another.The raids of the newspaper and the homes of the Meyers and a City Council member happened on Aug. 11, after a local restaurant owner accused the newspaper of illegally accessing information about her. Joan Meyer died a day later. Her son said he believes that the stress contr...

In his new book ‘The Fall,’ author Michael Wolff foresees the demise of Fox News

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The next book from “Fire and Fury” author Michael Wolff is both a recounting of the recent past and a prediction for the near future. Wolff’s “The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty” will come out Sept. 26, publisher Henry Holt announced Tuesday. A spokesperson told The Associated Press that Wolff, whose previous books include “Rupert Murdoch, The Man Who Owns the News,” interviewed “people throughout the Murdoch organization, including many with direct knowledge of Murdoch and his family.”Wolff will offer behinds-the-scenes accounts of everything from Tucker Carlson’s ousting, to Rupert Murdoch’s clashes with former President Donald Trump to tensions within the Murdoch family that mirror HBO’s “Succession.” Fox’s decline is inevitable, Wolff contends.“I have been telling the story of the great power of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News for many years,” he said in a statement. “This power is now reaching a natural en...

Jailed Sam Bankman-Fried can’t prepare for trial on bread, water and inadequate meds, lawyers say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried can’t adequately prepare for trial in six weeks while in jail without proper access to computers, necessary medications to help him concentrate, and a better diet than bread, water and peanut butter, his lawyers told a magistrate judge Tuesday.The lawyers made their complaints at a Manhattan federal court hearing after Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to seven charges he’ll face at his Oct. 3 trial, including wire fraud and multiple conspiracy counts.Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas in December after prosecutors said he stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits, spending tens of millions on his businesses, speculative venture investments, charitable donations and on illegal campaign contributions aimed at influencing cryptocurrency regulation in Washington.The 31-year-old California man was making his first court appearance in a drab beige prison uniform since his $250 million bail was revoked 10 days ago by J...

Rays’ Wander Franco moved to administrative leave while MLB, Dominican authorities investigate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

NEW YORK. (AP) — Wander Franco was placed on administrative leave indefinitely by Major League Baseball on Tuesday while authorities in the Dominican Republic investigate the All-Star shortstop for an alleged relationship with a minor.The 22-year-old will be paid and receive service time while on administrative leave under an agreement with the players’ association that did not set a timetable for a decision on whether he will be disciplined.Franco was placed on the restricted list for a week on Aug. 14 while MLB launched an investigation following social media posts suggesting he was in a relationship with a minor. The AP has not been able to verify the reported posts. MLB said the shift to administrative leave was not disciplinary under the sport’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. The administrative leave did not have the usual seven-day limit under the policy, so it is possible Franco will not return this season.Ángel Darío Tejeda Fabal, a pro...