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France demands EU corruption-busting watchdog with teeth

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

France wants the European Union to create an independent watchdog authority to fight corruption in the EU institutions, which have been rattled by ongoing scandals in recent months.France’s President Emmanuel Macron and French Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurence Boone are proposing an independent anti-corruption body that would have powers to check officials’ income and spot conflicts of interest, Boone told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook.And now they’re pushing for other EU countries to endorse the plan. Earlier this year, the European Commission proposed the creation of an ethics body with lofty goals but no enforcement power to impose standards across the EU institutions, in an attempt to show their commitment to anti-corruption measures. But to Boone — and others who criticized the plan at the time — that’s not enough.“The Commission’s proposal is a start, but I think we can and must be much more ambitious,” Boone said. “After the shock caus...

EU Commission supports FIFA in row with football agents

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

The European Commission is backing FIFA’s attempt to regulate the world’s top football agents.Strict new laws imposed by the world football governing body — including a cap on fees that agents can make from a player transfer deal — have won approval in Brussels ahead of a hearing at the Court of Justice of the European Union, according to the Commission’s written submission to judges.The EU executive also came down in favor of a ban on agents representing all parties in the same transfer deal, the beefed-up requirements to become a licensed football agent and a rule by which players (not clubs) must pay their agents, said the written observations to the CJEU in Luxembourg, dated October 25 and seen by POLITICO.The Commission’s full-throated backing for FIFA is the latest twist in a bitter feud between the governing body and top agents, who say FIFA is unfairly moving to clamp down on their earning potential while acting against EU competition law.But in its observations, the C...

Police investigating stabbing in Dorchester

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

Boston police have launched an investigation after a stabbing overnight in Dorchester.Officers responding to a reported stabbing on Adams Street around 2:40 a.m. Tuesday found a victim suffering from non-life-threatening injuries, police said.No arrest has been made.Police could be seen leaving evidence markers outside a multi-use building on Adams Street that has a laundromat on the first floor.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Senior Halloween dance

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

Patriots-Dolphins film review: The simple reason Bill Belichick and Mac Jones lost again at Miami

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

Who would’ve thought?The Patriots lost at Miami.Mike McDaniel’s offense out-flanked and out-gunned Bill Belichick’s defense. The Dolphins dictated terms to the Patriots offense at the line of scrimmage. All of this took place Sunday, but Miami laid the foundation for its sixth win over the Pats in their last seven meetings during the last few offseasons.Over the last three years, the Dolphins successfully stockpiled talent in a way the Patriots have failed to for years. That talent gap manifested in a flexibility and crucial margin for error Sunday.Despite missing four starting offensive linemen for stretches, the Dolphins passed at will. Tua Tagovailoa flipped a bad first-half interception, just like Mac Jones, yet knew he could still comfortably control the game in a double-digit win. Why?Because Tagovailoa knew his defense, stocked with Pro Bowlers and former first-round picks, would buy him time. Not that his offense ever needs it. The Dolphins scored the next ...

‘My TV has gone crazy’: Peel police share inappropriate 911 call, urge public not to misuse emergency line

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

Police in Peel Region have shared an inappropriate 911 call in an effort to once again urge the public to not misuse the emergency line.Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah took to X on Monday to share a call where a woman sought help for her television, which was apparently acting up.“My television has gone crazy,” the caller says to the 911 operator. “I can’t get any channels, or nothing.”“Sorry? Your TV?” the operator responds. “You’ve dialed into 911 right now, do you have a life-threatening emergency?”The caller then asked who they should call instead, with the operator reminding them they should have called 611 and not the emergency line.Over 40% of all calls to 911 are inappropriate or misuse. When every second counts, our 9-1-1 operators should be responding to critical incidents only. For non-emergencies call 905-453-3311. #EmergencyServices #911AwarenessPeel@DeputyAndrews @DC_Milinovich @DeputyOdoardi pic....

India-led alliance set to fund solar projects in Africa in a boost to the energy transition

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — An alliance of nations that push for more solar power worldwide are set to announce nearly $35 million for projects such as mini grids and rooftop installations, mainly in Africa, according to the group’s director general.At the sidelines of the group’s annual meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, Ajay Mathur said the International Solar Alliance expect a $25 million investment from the Indian government, alongside its own cash injection of $10 million for smaller solar power infrastructure.Officials from 116 nations are discussing how to harness solar power to ramp up clean energy use and reduce reliance on planet-warming fossil fuels at the gathering, which runs until Thursday. The United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, as well as more than 30 African countries are members of the ISA. China, the market leader in solar energy, is not yet part of the alliance. India’s power minister and ISA president R. K. Singh said that the alliance’s fu...

3 energy companies compete to build a new nuclear reactor in the Czech Republic

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Three energy companies including U.S. Westinghouse, France’s EdF and Korea’s KHNP, have submitted their final bids to build the Czech Republic’s newest reactor at the Dukovany nuclear power station as the country strives to become more energy independent and wean itself of fossil fuels.State-controlled power company CEZ said Tuesday it would assess the bids for the multi-billion-dollar contract before sending its decision to the government for final approval of the winner.The three companies that met Tuesday’s deadline already submitted preliminary bids in November in a tender launched earlier in March 2022 after passing a Czech government security appraisal.The new reactor should become operational by 2036. The winner of the lucrative contract will then have an option to build three more nuclear reactors in the country.Last year, the Czech government excluded Russia’s energy giant Rosatom and China’s CNG from the tender process on security grounds.Prime Minister...

Deaf family grieves father of 4 and beloved community leader who was killed in Maine shootings

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

LISBON FALLS, Maine (AP) — Most survivors of the mass shootings that killed 18 people at a Maine bowling alley and a bar attempted to flee when they heard gunfire.But Josh Seal, who is deaf, couldn’t hear the gunfire — though some deaf survivors said they felt startling jolts, his wife said. Seal, an American Sign Language interpreter who translated Maine’s daily COVID-19 briefings during the pandemic, was mortally wounded along with three other deaf people in Lewiston, delivering a blow to the state’s tight-knit deaf community.The 36-year-old father of four deaf children was director of interpreting services for Pine Tree Society, an organization that helps people with disabilities, and he started a camp for deaf kids and teenagers. But most of all, he was a doting, energetic, outgoing father who loved his kids dearly, his wife said.“I want the world to remember him and his passion, his love, his patience, his kindness, his motivation, his zeal for life, his ability to get th...

UN experts call on the Taliban to free 2 women rights defenders from custody in Afghanistan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:43 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — U.N. experts on Tuesday demanded the Taliban immediately release two women rights defenders who have been in detention for more than a month with no reason given for their arrest.The Taliban have barred women from most areas of public life and work and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed after taking power in 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan following two decades of war. U.N. experts, including the special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, described the release of Neda Parwan and Zholia Parsi and their family members as an urgent matter. They have not been granted legal representation, charged with a crime or brought before a court. “We are increasingly concerned about their physical and mental wellbeing,” the experts said in a statement. They urged Taliban authorities to demonstrate respect for rights and freedoms and said there was no justification for the det...