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UK MPs are again pushing to tighten rules around backbench groups

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

LONDON — The British parliament’s controversial backbench groups have been back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Now some MPs want to tighten the rules that govern them.A new report from the U.K. parliament’s Committee on Standards has probed the membership and financial affairs of so-called All-Party Parliamentary Groups, and is now recommending a cap on the number of backbench groups in which an MP can hold an role, and a ban on secretariats which are “either provided or funded by a foreign government.” The groups are subject to less stringent rules than the House of Commons’ better-known select committees, but are still able to use parliamentary premises for their meetingsNew proposals include mandatory annual reports for groups that receive over £1,500 a year, while MPs will be banned from acting as an officer for more than six APPGs at once. The plan for toughening the rules comes almost a year after a previous report identified improper ...

The politics of poo: How sewage-strewn beaches became Britain’s new election battleground

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

LONDON — British politics has long been seen as a shitshow. It’s taken on a more literal meaning of late.Rishi Sunak’s government is scrambling to manage rising public anger over the dumping of untreated sewage into Britain’s rivers and oceans by privately-owned water firms. The unpalatable results are often visible to the naked eye, enraging locals and holidaymakers and rendering once-proud British beaches unusable for days at a time.Under mounting pressure — three separate national newspapers now have “clean water” campaigns running — Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey pushed out a raft of measures Tuesday aimed at improving water quality, including the threat of unlimited fines for water companies that break the rules. The announcement — the government’s second such action plan in seven months — is unlikely to quell public discontent. Britain’s waterways have become the focus of toxic claims and counter-claims since a viral social media campaign two...

Same trip, different plans: EU’s von der Leyen dances around Macron in China

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

Ursula von der Leyen’s plate-spinning in China is going to be tricky.As the European Commission president heads to China this week, she’ll need extra room for all the agendas she’s carrying: The differing views of the 27 countries she represents, constant background pressure from the U.S. — and a French president traveling alongside her, but not fully in conjunction with her. The result will be a delicate diplomatic dance playing out over the next three days, as von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron seek to present a united European face despite differing plans while on the ground. Commission officials have stressed that von der Leyen is pursuing an entirely different program than the French president, who is visiting regional parts of China and bringing a large delegation of business leaders with him.Instead, they will share just one formal meeting — the three-way pow-wow with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Von der Leyen will also conduct her own m...

Ji Hwan Bae’s 1st career homer helps Pirates top Red Sox 4-1

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Ji Hwan Bae hit his first career homer, Bryan Reynolds went deep for the third time in two games, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Tuesday night.Roansy Contreras (1-0) held the Red Sox to three hits over 5 2/3 innings. He retired 13 straight after giving up a run in the first. David Bednar got the final three outs for his third save.Reynolds’ drive off Nick Pivetta (0-1) went into Boston’s bullpen and made it 3-1 in the third. He added an RBI single in the seventh.The Red Sox, who scored at least six runs in each of their first four games, managed just one on Masataka Yoshida’s first-inning groundout.Canaan Smith-Njigba reached on McGuire’s passed ball following his swinging strikeout with two outs in the second. Bae then hit Pivetta’s 95-mph fastball barely over the Green Monster.Pivetta gave up three runs, one earned, with six strikeouts in five innings.Bae, who started at second base and moved to center in the eighth, robbe...

Team makes emergency repairs after Falmouth osprey nest platform falls due to wind, rotted boards

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

An nest platform for the rare osprey bird at Waquoit Bay Reserve in Falmouth was recently rebuilt after high winds and rotted boards destroyed the platform over the weekend. The platform fell away around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge. A team soon worked together to reassemble the structure. “We are so grateful to everyone who played a role in the effort,” the Friends of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge said in a statement. “The platform was quickly replaced, and the ospreys, who had been soaring overhead the whole time, seem happiest of all.”“It was an amazing response by dedicated people determined to not let a fallen nest stand in the way of a successful nesting season,” the organization continued.Video from the Friends of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge showed the platform falling while an osprey was standing on it. The bird can be seen flying away and later returning to the area. The video later showed wor...

Seals show off painting skills through new experience available at New England Aquarium

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

Some of the seals at the New England Aquarium are showing off some of their talents through a new experience available for aquarium guests. The experience offers guests the opportunity to join trainers for what the aquarium describes on its website as “an exclusive inside-the-exhibit visit and art-making session” with Atlantic harbor seals. Guests participating in the experience will ultimately receive a painting made by a seal. 7NEWS got a look at how the experience works, meeting Chacoda, a seal also known as “Chuck.”Seal trainer and curator Patty Leonard said, by getting Chuck to focus on tasks using rewards like his favorite fish, he can do much more than some might expect. “They know anywhere from fifty to a hundred behaviors, and panting is just one of the many that we love to show off to our guests because it shows off the intelligence of the animals and its really interesting to watch the animals create their own designs as well,” Leonard said. Harbor seals are some of ...

Nets lose to Timberwolves, fail to clinch playoffs while clinging to one-game lead for 6th spot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

Oh so close, but no cigar.The Nets had an opportunity to cement a playoff spot with a victory in their matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.They instead lost in a nail-biter, 107-102, and must fight for their playoff lives another day.The Nets entered Tuesday night in control of their own destiny: Two straight wins would have guaranteed a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference, helping steer the Nets away from the sudden-death Play-In Tournament.The seventh-seeded Miami Heat compounded matters by beating the Detroit Pistons, 118-105, on Tuesday. The Heat now trail the Nets by only one in the Eastern Conference standings. Both teams only have three games left on their schedules.And be sure to check the NBA’s Last Two Minutes Report on Wednesday, because Spencer Dinwiddie — who had strung together an excellent scoring night — was robbed of a foul call on the game’s final possession.The Nets trailed 105-102 with just seconds remaining in the fou...

Domingo German allows two home runs as Phillies beat Yankees to pick up first victory of season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

Domingo German pitched better than his stat line indicated Tuesday night, but the Phillies nonetheless left Yankee Stadium with their first win of the season.Philadelphia, which won 4-1, jumped on the right-handed German early in his first appearance of 2023. Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, the second batter of the game, launched a ball into the right-center field seats for a solo home run. The 2022 National League home run champ showed exactly why Yankees fans have longed to see his left-handed swing call Yankee Stadium home, as Schwarber drove the ball 415 feet at 104.4 miles per hour for the 200th dinger of his career and his first of the season.Brandon Marsh one-upped his teammate two innings later when the center fielder crushed another German fastball 436 feet at 109.8 mph. Another solo shot, it was also Marsh’s first homer of the season.“Sometimes when you try to attack with certain pitches, and it’s not exactly the location you want, you pay for it,”...

Democrats’ choice wins key Wisconsin Supreme Court race

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

By SCOTT BAUER (Associated Press)MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic-backed Milwaukee judge won the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race Tuesday, ensuring liberals will take over majority control of the court for the first time in 15 years with the fate of the state’s abortion ban on the line.Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz, 60, defeated former Justice Dan Kelly, who previously worked for Republicans and had support from the state’s leading anti-abortion groups. It’s his second loss in a race for Supreme Court in three years.“I feel great. I could not feel better,” Protasiewicz told The Associated Press after her win. “I am surprised of the results and the magnitude of the victory here. We are absolutely delighted and thrilled.”The new court controlled 4-3 by liberals is expected to decide a pending lawsuit challenging the state’s 1849 law banning abortion enacted a year after statehood. Protasiewicz made the ...

Celtics can’t overcome Joel Embiid’s epic 52-point performance, fall to 76ers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:39 GMT

If the Celtics and 76ers ultimately meet in the second round of the playoffs, the C’s will have the edge. But Joel Embiid, as he showed again Tuesday, poses a major challenge that would make that a competitive and entertaining series.Down two regulars – missing Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams – the Celtics nearly stole one in Philadelphia. Despite a frustrating offensive performance, the Celtics almost overcame Embiid’s epic performance, and somehow, nearly erased a seven-point deficit with less than 10 seconds remaining. But the MVP frontrunner’s 52 points and 13 rebounds were too much in a 103-101 loss.The Celtics, after taking the first three games against the Sixers this season, fell three games back of the first-place Bucks with three games to go, almost ensuring that they’ll be the No. 2 seed in the East. That would likely mean a second-round series against the No. 3 seed 76ers, one that the Celtics should continue to feel good about after Philadelphia needed a memorable Embi...