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German budget crisis: Government reaches spending deal for 2024

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

Germany’s three-party ruling coalition has agreed on a new spending plan for next year after weeks of tense negotiations that have mired the government in political and fiscal crisis.The deal, reached in the early hours of Wednesday, is set to be publicly announced in a statement to the press by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, his Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner at noon local time. Scholz is also scheduled to address parliament shortly thereafter.“Habemus budget 2024!” wrote Andreas Schwarz, a budget policy lawmaker from Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). An official from the ruling coalition told POLITICO that a joint meeting of leading politicians from the three ruling parties — the SPD, Habeck’s Greens and the fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party (FDP) of Lindner — is scheduled for this afternoon.Germany’s ruling coalition had been in disarray since a bombshell Constitutional Co...

Scientists discover ‘staggering’ features in massive Milky Way star explosion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

(CNN) — Thousands of years ago, a star in our galaxy violently exploded and created a glowing supernova remnant called Cassiopeia A that has intrigued scientists for decades.Now, a new image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the closest and most detailed look inside the exploded star, according to astronomers. Analyzing the image could help researchers better understand the processes that fuel these massive incendiary events.The space observatory has also allowed astronomers to glimpse mysterious features that haven’t appeared in images taken of the remnant using telescopes like Hubble, Chandra or Spitzer or Webb’s other instruments.The new image was shared on Monday by first lady Dr. Jill Biden as she debuted the first-ever digital White House Advent Calendar, which includes Webb’s new perspective of Cassiopeia A that seems to shine like a Christmas ornament.“We’ve never had this kind of look at an exploded star before,” said astronomer Dan...

OBF: Did Taylor Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ predict Bill Belichick’s demise?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

Taylor Swift turns 34 today.What to give the woman who has everything, except a history of stable relationships?Would-be hubby Travis Kelce can jump out of her cake.Taylor has a hold over the NFL not seen since Park Avenue was ready to go to the Supreme Court against Tom Brady.After all, have you ever seen Swift on TV after the Chiefs make a bad play, lose, or allow the opposing team to score? We only see her cheering. That’s gotta be in the contract somewhere.Perhaps Roger Goodell gifts the Kansas City Swifties a reversal on the Kadarius Toney offside call. The Commissioner is omnipotent. There is nothing to stop him from overturning the outcome of Kansas City’s loss to Buffalo and giving the Chiefs the victory.Let them eat cake, right Roger?Hey, 2 billion Swifties can’t be wrong.It’s more probable than not Swift returns to Foxy Foxborough Sunday as the K.C. Swifties visit as 9.5-point favorites to face the mathematically eliminated New England Patriots.But there will be no sellout...

Howie Carr: John Kerry just an old fart at 80

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

As John Forbes Kerry turned 80 on Monday, the words of Louis Prima came to mind, from the song that serves as an epitaph for Liveshot’s lavish life.“Just a Gigolo.”“And there will come a day,” Prima crooned, “and youth will pass away/ What will they say about me?”I know what I would say. First of all, I would mention what has made it all possible — his second wife’s first husband’s trust fund.Then I would quote a few of his own most memorable statements over the years.“I actually did vote for the 87 billion dollars before I voted against it.”“Everybody knows I botched a joke.”“I’m fascinated by rap and hip hop.”So many punch lines, so little time. But on this solemn occasion, let us remember his greatest accomplishment. Most gigolos only make one major score in life. Then they go crazy, or drink themselves to death.There’s an old saying about gigolos that applies to Kerry. He made his money the old-fashioned way. He married it.But John Kerry did something that few, if any gigo...

Indhu Rubasingham named as first woman to lead Britain’s National Theatre

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s National Theatre announced Wednesday that Indhu Rubasingham will be the next artistic director of the United Kingdom’s pre-eminent public stage company.Rubasingham, who currently runs the small but influential Kiln Theatre in north London, will be the first woman and first person of color to lead the National, whose six previous artistic directors include Laurence Olivier, Peter Hall and Nicholas Hytner.She will join as director-designate in the spring of 2024 and take over in early 2025 from Rufus Norris, who is stepping down after a decade at the helm.Rubasingham will also become the company’s joint chief executive alongside Kate Varah, who is currently executive director of the theater.Rubasingham said it was “a huge honor” to lead a venue that “has played an important part in my life.”“Theater has a transformative power — the ability to bring people together through shared experience and storytelling, and nowhere more so than the National,” she said.At th...

Indian police arrest 4 intruders for breaching security in the Parliament complex

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police arrested two people who jumped from the visitors’ gallery into the lower house of India’s Parliament on Wednesday, the speaker said, in a major security breach on the anniversary of a deadly 2001 attack on the complex.Two accomplices also were arrested outside the chamber, Parliament Speaker Om Birla said. Security guards overpowered the intruders as one of them climbed over the tables of the lawmakers’ seating area, TV images showed. They carried small canisters that emitted yellow smoke, said Senthil Kumar, a lawmaker who was present in the chamber.One of the arrested said she was a student protesting rising unemployment. “People’s voice is not being heard by the government. There can’t be a dictatorship in the country,” she told reporters as she was taken away by the police.Lawmakers earlier in the day observed the anniversary of the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament by armed assailants who killed six police officers, two security guar...

Suicide attacker used 264 pounds of explosives to target police station in Pakistan, killing 23

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The suicide bomber who rammed his car into a police station’s main gate in Pakistan’s northwest used 120 kilograms (about 264 pounds) of explosives, authorities said Wednesday. The attack — one of the deadliest in months — killed 23 officers and wounded 32 others the day before. Inayat Ullah, head of the bomb disposal unit, told The Associated Press the explosives were fitted in the suicide attacker’s vehicle.The assault — which also included five other militants opening fire before officers gunned them down — targeted Daraban police station in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan and is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP. The militant Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan group — believed to be an offshoot of the TTP — claimed responsibility for the attack.A large number of security forces from across Pakistan were recently deployed at the station for intelligence operations against militants in th...

In the news today: Liberals to talk UN ceasefire stance and AI fears spark concerns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Liberal caucus meets after UN ceasefire voteLiberal MPs are set to gather for what is expected to be their final caucus meeting of the year, a day after Canada shifted its stance to join international calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Canada’s vote at the United Nations General Assembly was a departure from its long-standing policy of voting alongside Israel at the international body, which on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to demand a humanitarian ceasefire. The decision came amid conflict within Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal caucus over how to respond to the conflict triggered by an attack by Hamas militants in Israel on Oct. 7. Addressing MPs and staff gathered at a holiday party Tuesday evening, Trudeau acknowledged the war was reverberating across the world and within the Liberal party. Recent report: Deepfake h...

Sri Lanka will get the second tranche of a much-need bailout package from the IMF

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The International Monetary Fund executive board approved the release of the second tranche of a $2.9 billion dollar bailout package to help Sri Lanka recover from the worst economic crisis in its history. In a statement, the fund said the decision Tuesday to release $337 million came after Sri Lanka had made “commendable progress” toward debt sustainability, raising revenue, rebuilding its reserves, reducing inflation and safeguarding financial stability. It said a strong commitment to improving governance and protecting the poor and vulnerable remains critical.In September, the IMF delayed the release of the second tranche of the four-year package, saying Sri Lanka’s economy was recovering but the country needed to improve its tax administration, eliminate exemptions and crack down on tax evasion.Sri Lanka plunged into its worst economic crisis last year, suffering severe shortages and drawing strident protests that led to the ouster of then-President Gota...

Turkish referee leaves hospital after attack by club president that halted all matches

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:40 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish referee was discharged Wednesday from a hospital where he was treated for a facial fracture after being punched by the president of a top-flight soccer club.The attack led to the Turkish Football Federation suspending all league games.MKE Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca attacked Halil Umut Meler on the pitch after the final whistle of a 1-1 draw in a Super Lig home game against Caykur Rizespor on Monday. The referee, who fell to the ground, was also kicked in a melee that occurred when fans invaded the pitch after Rizespor scored a last-minute equalizer.Koca and two other people have been placed under pretrial detention, facing charges of causing injury to a public official.The soccer federation was scheduled to hold a meeting later Wednesday to decide on the possible resumption of league games in Turkey, which has been selected to co-host the 2032 European championship with Italy.Meler, who was treated for a fracture near his eye, walked out of Ankar...