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Kiss star Gene Simmons turns up to UK parliament … but deputy leaders bicker about WhatsApp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from this week’s session in POLITICO’s weekly run-through.Housekeeping: With Rishi Sunak in D.C., it was the deputies’ turn to allegedly shine at this week’s prime minister’s questions.BUT LET’S BE HONEST: The real news here is that Gene Simmons, the iconic co-leader of Kiss, turned up to watch PMQs from the Commons viewing gallery. No, we don’t really know why — although we’re told he was a guest of the DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr, who is taking the rockstar for dinner this evening, as you do.Just to be absolutely clear: Gene Simmons really did turn up to watch half an hour of MPs grilling Britain’s deputy prime minister. And no, he wasn’t wearing make-up and didn’t stick his tongue out (that much).WHAT THEY SPARRED ABOUT: Now onto the matters of real substance. Oh, who are we kidding, it’s PMQs …...

Mike Pence says ‘Different times call for different leadership’ in video launching 2024 presidential bid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

By JILL COLVIN and THOMAS BEAUMONT (Associated Press)DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence promised “the best days of the greatest nation on earth are yet to come” in a video released Wednesday formally launching his campaign for the Republican nomination for president.“Different times call for different leadership,” Pence, who served four years alongside then-President Donald Trump, says in the video, released via Fox News and Twitter hours ahead of a kickoff event in Des Moines. “Today our party and our country need a leader that’ll appeal, as Lincoln said, to the better angels of our nature.”While it would be “easy to stay on the sidelines,” he adds, ”that’s not how I was raised. That’s why today, before God and my family, I’m announcing I’m running for president of the United States.”With Pence’s entry into the race, the GOP field is largely set. It includes Trump, who’s leading in early polls, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who remains in second, former United Na...

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will meet in a youth-vs.-experience clash at the French Open

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Two weeks ago, before the start of play at the French Open, the brackets were set for the tournament, and one possible semifinal matchup immediately demanded attention: No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, the Next Big Thing in men’s tennis, against No. 3 Novak Djokovic, the Current Big Thing in men’s tennis.The heightened anticipation was not merely because it would be fascinating to see the two of them play at Roland Garros. It also would be fascinating to see them play each other, period: They’ve only met once, and it was 13 months ago, with Alcaraz coming out on top.So get ready: Alcaraz and Djokovic will finally share the stage again on Friday in Court Philippe Chatrier, where they will compete for a spot in the championship match.“Since the draw came out, everyone was expecting that match — the semifinal against Novak. Myself, as well,” Alcaraz said after completing his half of the bargain by outclassing Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5) in the quarterfinals Tuesday night. “I...

Japan supports Sweden’s NATO membership as defense ministers strengthen ties

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense minister expressed his country’s support for Sweden’s NATO membership during talks Wednesday with his Swedish counterpart, as the two sides called for stronger military ties amid shared concern over threats from Russia and China.Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that Sweden sees the need for European countries to reach out to Asian partners because of the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Japan is especially concerned about increasing military cooperation between China and Russia and their joint exercises around Japan. “Sweden and Japan are meeting many of the similar security challenges. Europe is at war once again, and it is obvious to me that the dialogue between the countries in the Euro-Atlantic community and the Indo-Pacific community has to be intensified,” Jonson said.Hamada, in his brief opening remarks at the beginning of the talks, reiterated Japan’s support for Sweden’s NATO membership “while t...

Missouri prosecutor Wesley Bell vies for GOP Sen. Hawley’s seat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Black Missouri prosecutor who stepped into leadership in the aftermath of protests over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown is running for Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley’s seat, the Democrat announced Wednesday. In his campaign announcement, 48-year-old St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell criticized Hawley as divisive while touting his own work in Ferguson, where protests over Brown’s death helped spark the national Black Lives Matter movement. Bell, who now lives in Clayton, lived two blocks from the Ferguson Police Department in 2014. As an angry crowd began to surround officers barricaded in the police parking lot the day after unarmed, Black 18-year-old Brown’s shooting, Bell and a small group of other Black leaders got in the middle and urged calm.Bell at the time worked as a municipal judge and attorney, and his father was a police officer. He has said he understood both sides.“When I faced chaos in Ferguson...

Groundbreaking held for Cambodia’s second expressway, linking capital to Vietnam

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the country’s second expressway, which will link the capital, Phnom Penh, to the eastern border with Vietnam.The road to Bavet city in Svay Rieng province, a total length of 135 kilometers (84 miles), is projected to take 48 months to construct and cost $1.35 billion. It is a project of China Bridge and Road Corp., which is building it under a 50-year build-operate-transfer contract.The road is Cambodia’s second expressway after the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, which opened last year and connects the capital with the country’s main port on the Gulf of Thailand.China is Cambodia’s biggest investor and closest political partner, whose assistance largely underpins the Southeast Asian nation’s economy.Speaking at Wednesday’s ceremony, Hun Sen praised the expressway for being part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, its worldwide infrastructure de...

From swords to fishing lures to “sprinklers,” MLB celebrations have become full-scale productions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — There are very few things that make Scott Bonnett panic.Spending the last 15 years making sure the Pittsburgh Pirates have whatever they need whenever they need it has taught the longtime equipment manager the importance of being prepared for anything.Well, almost anything.Bonnett found himself in the dugout in Seattle late last month watching Andrew McCutchen round third following a leadoff home run against the Mariners when joy was quickly replaced by panic. The pathologically meticulous Bonnett scanned the end of the bench looking not for a helmet or a glove or pine tar but … a rubber sword and a black suit jacket that looks like it got attacked by an overzealous tailor with an affinity for patches.Welcome to major league baseball in 2023, where an ever-increasing number of homers and big hits aren’t met with simple fist bumps or forearm bashes but a full-on production.In Pittsburgh, they swashbuckle. You know, as Pirates do. In Minnesota, the fish. ...

Canadians want revenge on Paul Bernardo, but that’s not how prison works: ex-official

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

One of the architects of the law that governs Canada’s prison system says it’s understandable people want revenge on killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo, but that’s not what the prison system is designed for.Mary Campbell also says it is regrettable the Correctional Service of Canada has not been more transparent in how it handled the matter — which the law allows it to be.Campbell, a lawyer who retired from her role as director-general of the corrections and criminal justice directorate in the Public Safety Department in 2013, said that without question, Bernardo’s crimes were horrific.Broadly speaking, the corrections system has a mandate to rehabilitate offenders.Politicians from all parties and levels of government have decried Bernardo’s transfer from a maximum-security penitentiary to a medium-security prison in Quebec.News of the transfer was confirmed last week by the lawyer for the families of two of his victims, Kristen French and Les...

New York City goes after Hyundai, Kia after security flaw leads to wave of social media fueled theft

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

New York City has filed a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia, joining a host of other cities beset by a social media fueled wave of car thefts due to a flaw that made some car models highly susceptible to theft.Viral how-to videos on TikTok and other sites show how to start the cars using only USB cables and a screwdriver. The reason is that some models sold by Hyundai and Kia in the U.S. came without engine immobilizers, a standard feature on most cars since the 1990s that prevent the engine from starting unless the key is present.The lawsuit, which was filed with the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York late Tuesday, alleges that Hyundai Motor America and Kia America Inc. failed to keep up with other automakers by not adopting immobilizer technology that ensured car ignitions could not be started without their keys.“Hyundai’s and Kia’s business decisions to reduce costs, and thereby boost profits, by foregoing common anti-theft technology have resulted in an...

US Balkan envoy urges Kosovo and Serbia to deescalate tensions or jeopardize progress toward EU

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:36 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A U.S. envoy for the Balkans urged Kosovo and Serbia on Wednesday to deescalate simmering ethnic tensions in the former Serbian province, or both states could jeopardize their proclaimed goal of one day joining the European Union. Gabriel Escobar and EU mediator Miroslav Lajcak have been holding talks with the Serbian and Kosovo leaders on how to resume negotiations between the two former wartime foes. Tensions flared anew late last month in Kosovo, including violent clashes between Kosovo police and NATO-led peacekeepers on one side and local Serbs on the other, leaving dozens injured on both sides.“The European Union, with full support of the United States, has made it very clear that this is a European process. The dialogue and mediation is a European process,” Escobar told reporters in Belgrade, “Turning their back in the process will be turning their back on Europe, with all the consequences that it entails in the failure of closer integration and a clos...