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Parliament easily backs measure aimed at restraining Hungary’s EU presidency

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Parliament on Thursday approved a resolution questioning Hungary’s ability to helm a key EU policymaking apparatus in the second half of 2024. The nonbinding measure easily cleared Parliament by a 442-144 vote, earning support from five political groups spanning from the far left to the center right — a sign of the discontent with Hungary’s track record on democratic backsliding in recent years. The overwhelming vote is the culmination of days of conversation about whether Brussels may take steps to hem in Hungary’s upcoming turn overseeing the Council of the EU, a power center in Brussels where government ministers hash out EU policy. Countries take six-month turns helming the Council’s rotating presidency, giving them the authority to chair meetings, set agendas and negotiate policy texts. The Parliament resolution passed Thursday only offers vague proposals for restraining Hungary’s scheduled presidency. It “quest...

Boris Johnson got ‘bored’ with COVID, former aide claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

LONDON — Boris Johnson declared himself “epileptically bored with COVID” in 2022 as he mulled scrapping free tests for the virus, according to his former communications chief.Guto Harri, who served as a senior aide to Johnson in 2022, told his Global podcast series that the U.K.’s then-prime minister grew to see the pandemic as an “irrelevance,” and made those views known in tense government debates about whether to keep using state cash to provide Brits with free tests for the virus. Harri said that there was “an almighty row” over the issue between Johnson and his Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who eventually resigned in the summer of 2022 in a move that dealt a mortal blow to Johnson’s struggling administration.According to Harri, Johnson was concerned that providing free tests was “dwarfing the budgets of entire departments,” and argued that the U.K. should instead focus on trying to “spot the next COVID.”The...

Djokovic doubles down on ‘Kosovo is the heart of Serbia’ remark

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

Serbia’s star tennis player Novak Djokovic stood behind his controversial comments that “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia,” which had prompted fierce criticism from the French sports minister. “I would say it again, but I don’t need to because you have my quotes,” Djokovic told reporters at Roland-Garros after his second-round victory late Wednesday night at the French Open tennis tournament, according to French newswire AFP.“I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but it is what it is,” the 22-time Grand Slam winner added. “It’s something that I stand for.”Djokovic, one of the most successful athletes in tennis history and a superstar in his home country Serbia, sparked criticism Monday at the Paris tournament. “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence,” Djokovic wrote in Serbian on a TV camera screen after his first-round win.Clashes between police and Kosovo Serb protesters in n...

Parliament backs EU funds-for-ammo plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

The European Parliament on Thursday voted in favor of a Commission proposal aimed at diverting EU funds toward ramping up the production of ammunition.The move has attracted criticism because it represents a shift in resources away from green and digital projects. It still needs the approval of the bloc’s national governments.Legislation was presented in April as part of a three-track plan agreed by EU leaders to provide Ukraine with one million pieces of ammunition in 12 months. It’s another step toward using the EU budget for defense purposes — despite “expenditure arising from operations having military or defense implications” technically being banned by EU treaties.Officials argue the budget is not being used for military operations but to boost the bloc’s industrial capacity.This bill, known as the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), is part of a bigger push, spearheaded by France and French EU Defense and Industry Commissioner Thierry Br...

Arlington Heights-area school districts reach agreement with Churchill Downs on racecourse property taxes, deal with Bears still being sought

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

Local school districts and the former owner of Arlington International Racecourse have agreed on how large the property tax bill payable this year should be, but negotiations with the new owners — The Chicago Bears Football Club — for future tax years and payments are still ongoing.Former racetrack owner Churchill Downs Inc. will pay $7.9 million in property taxes this year, up from the $2.7 million it paid before closing the track in 2021.Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214, Palatine-based Township High School District 211 and Palatine Community Consolidated School District 15 — an elementary school district — all receive property tax revenue from the racetrack site.District officials confirmed the schools and Churchill Downs Inc. reached the agreement May 31, though the Cook County Board of Review still must approve it.But because the settlement is only good for one year, the Bears — new owners of the 326-acre property as of Febr...

After a ‘frenzy’ of learning as a rookie, Chicago Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon feels more relaxed during his 2nd OTAs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

When Chicago Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon wrapped up a hectic rookie season, one of the first things he did was sort through his game film two or three times.He examined the good plays and bad ones and figured out what he needed to work on as he entered his second offseason program. The time to reflect was valuable.From the moment the Bears drafted him in the second round last spring, Gordon had a lot on his plate. He learned outside cornerback and nickel in the Bears defense and started 14 games, totaling three interceptions and six passes defended.Now, with a year of experience and the enhanced study, he feels like he has a better understanding of what’s going on and where he fits.“I definitely feel way more comfortable in the situations I get put in,” Gordon said Wednesday during the second week of organized team activities at Halas Hall. “I feel like I can be in the same spot I was in last year and have more knowledge in that area and not make the same m...

Trial opens for 3 charged with aiding Chinese campaign to pressure expats into returning home

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — An American sleuth and two Chinese men faced jurors Wednesday in the first trial to come out of U.S. claims that China’s government has tried to harass, intimidate and arm-twist dissidents and others abroad into returning home.Michael McMahon, Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong are charged with being part of a conspiracy to hound a former Chinese city official, his wife and their adult daughter to get him to go back to his homeland, where the government alleges he took bribes.“If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right,” read a translated note that Zheng helped tape to their New Jersey door in 2018, though his lawyer said Zheng quickly had second thoughts and took the note down.Prosecutors say it was one in a series of pressure tactics that included flying in the man’s then-octogenerian father to warn him that relatives would suffer if he didn’t come home.“The victim and his family endured years of ha...

Toronto and GTA under heat warning for next two days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

Toronto and much of the GTA are under a heat warning for the next several days.Environment Canada says the two-day heat event will see maximum daytime temperatures of up to 31 C in some areas.“Daytime high temperatures are expected to be near 30 degrees Celsius today and Friday. Overnight temperatures are expected to be in the high teens, providing little relief from the heat,” it said in the advisory issued Thursday. “Cooler temperatures return on Saturday.”It’s possible Toronto could set several new temperature records in the process.“The record for June 1, 28.3 set in 1948, we could easily break that with our guaranteed high of 31, and tomorrow’s record of 30.2 set in 2016 …certainly we could break that,” said CityNews 680 meteorologist Jill Taylor.The national weather service also warned that hot and humid air can also bring deteriorating air quality and can result in the Air Quality Health Index approaching the high risk cat...

Laurentian Bank reports Q2 profit down from year ago, raises quarterly dividend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

MONTREAL — Laurentian Bank of Canada raised its quarterly dividend as it reported a second-quarter profit of $49.3 million, down from $59.5 million a year ago.The Montreal-based bank says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 47 cents per share, up a penny from 46 cents.The increased payment to shareholders came as Laurentian says it earned $1.11 per diluted share for the quarter ended April 30, down from $1.34 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.Revenue for the quarter totalled $257.2 million, down from $259.6 million in the second quarter of 2022, while the bank’s provision for credit losses amounted to $16.2 million, up from $13.0 million a year earlier.On an adjusted basis, Laurentian says it earned $1.16 per diluted share in its most recent quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1.39 per diluted share a year earlier.Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $1.12 per share, based on estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv....

Coast Guard suspends search for Carnival Magic passenger who went overboard off Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:32 GMT

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a 35-year-old man who was reported missing from a Carnival cruise ship off of Florida’s Atlantic Coast.The agency said the man fell from the Carnival Magic about 185 miles (300 kilometers) east of Jacksonville early Monday.The man’s companion reported him missing, and the ship’s crew notified the Coast Guard. Security footage on the ship shows that the man “leaned over the railing of his stateroom balcony and dropped into the water” around 4 a.m., a statement said.The Coast Guard searched for 60 hours, covering some 5,171 square miles (13,392 square kilometers) through Wednesday evening. The search included air crews and the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba, along with U.S. Navy ships and aircraft in the area.Carnival said the ship returned to port in Norfolk, Virginia. The ship can hold nearly 4,000 guests and is about 1,000 feet (300 meters) long.The Associated Press