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Greece’s main opposition party cracks up some more

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

ATHENS — Greece’s main opposition party Syriza continues to dissolve, with another exodus of members, accusing the party leader of “authoritarian behavior.”Nine lawmakers, including ex-ministers and senior party officials, announced on Thursday they are leaving the party, leaving Syriza with just 36 MPs in the 300-seat parliament, just four more than the third party, the socialist Pasok party.The radical left-wing Syriza party gained Europe-wide notoriety at the peak of the financial crisis in 2015, winning power on a promise to end and reverse the fiscal austerity imposed by the country’s creditors in exchange for bailout loans. A crushing election defeat in June sparked the resignation of Alexis Tsipras after 15 years as the party leader.The unlikely election of Miami expat and ex-Goldman Sachs banker Stefanos Kasselakis as Syriza leader in September infuriated a large segment of the party core, which sees him as out of touch with Greece and its left. Kasselakis has also failed to...

Euroskeptics applaud shock Wilders win in Dutch election

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

Europe’s far-right politicians are lining up to congratulate the anti-Islam, Euroskeptic radical Geert Wilders on his shock victory in Wednesday’s Dutch parliamentary elections.Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Rally, said she was “delighted” by Wilders’ triumph. “Geert Wilders and his movement are allies of the National Rally,” Le Pen told French public radio broadcaster France Inter Thursday morning. “They demonstrate that more and more countries within the European Union are contesting the way it works,” Le Pen said.Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) made an unexpected breakthrough, securing 37 of the 150 parliamentary seats, according to the latest polls on Thursday morning — making PVV the biggest party in the country.The election results sent shudders through Brussels, as Wilders has openly called for a “Nexit” referendum on leaving the EU. Asked whether a potential “Nexit” referendum would be good news, Le Pen answere...

Ravens TE Mark Andrews’ absence leaves a big hole in the passing attack. Can Isaiah Likely fill it?

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

The Ravens — and quarterback Lamar Jackson — will soon journey into uncharted territory.When Baltimore travels to Los Angeles this weekend and takes the field against the Chargers, it will mark the official beginning of the Ravens’ new normal for likely the remainder of the season: life without Mark Andrews.Jackson was honest Tuesday when asked if the Ravens are more prepared for this reality than in years’ past.“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” said Jackson, who followed his frank uncertainty with his typical praise for the Ravens’ pass catchers.Replacing a player like Andrews — a three-time Pro Bowl selection, 2021 All-Pro and one of the best tight ends in the NFL — is a tall task. It will, as coach John Harbaugh noted after Andrews injured his ankle in Thursday’s win, need to be done in the aggregate.But the player with the best chance to help fill Andrews’ large shoes is Isaiah Likely. Can he?“...

Hot Property: A pristine beach house in Osterville

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

Picture this: it’s the second week of June, you wake up to a soft Cape Cod sunrise gently filtering through your window. You tip-toe downstairs before everyone, start a pot of coffee, take that prized first cup and pause on a deck overlooking Nantucket Sound before continuing just a little farther to a private white sand beach.It’s not heaven, it’s Osterville — 807 Sea View Avenue to be exact — an eye-popping oceanfront property tucked into a prized, quiet enclave.Revamped in 2019, the property takes your quintessential beach house and elevates it with modern architectural details, clean, crisp lines, and an abundance of windows that let the pristine ocean views do most of the heavy lifting. With unobstructed water views as far as the eye can see, it makes sense for the property to prioritize walls and walls of glass, perfectly framing the seascape.A mostly open floor plan on the main level flows between intimate spaces like the sitting and family rooms, and grand entertaining areas...

Slovakia’s government signs a memorandum with China’s Gotion High-Tech to build a car battery plant

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — The Slovak government signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday with Chinese electric vehicle battery maker Gotion High-Tech and its local partner, InoBat, to build a car battery plant in Slovakia.The two companies formed Gotion InoBat Batteries, a Chinese-Slovak venture to build the plant in the town of Surany, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Bratislava. It should create about 1,500 jobs and become operational in 2026 with an initial production of 20GWh.Financial details about the investment were not given.German car giant Volkswagen is the largest shareholder in Gotion High-Tech with a 24.77% stake. Volkswagen has a car plant in Slovakia.Gotion High-Tech began production in its first European plant in Gottingen, Germany, in September.The Associated Press

CSX promises Thanksgiving meals for evacuees after train derails spilling chemicals in Kentucky town

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

LIVINGSTON, Ky. (AP) — A railroad company promised hotel rooms and Thanksgiving meals for people asked to evacuate a small Kentucky town after a train derailed, catching fire and spilling chemicals.The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near Livingston, a remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County.Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached, CSX said in a statement.Crews were still working to extinguish the fire Thursday morning, the company said.CSX promised to pay the costs of anyone asked to evacuate, including a holiday dinner.It’s believed that the fire is releasing sulfur dioxide, but officials have not released results of measurements taken from air monitoring equipment that was being deployed Wednesday night.According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, depending on the concentration and length of exposure. The gas is commonly produced ...

Prosecutors say Kosovar ex-guerrilla leaders on trial for war crimes tried to influence witnesses

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Prosecutors are seeking to restrict visits to three former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders who are on trial in The Hague for war crimes because they allegedly tried to manipulate witnesses and leak confidential testimony.Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, Parliament ex-speaker Kadri Veseli and former lawmaker Rexhep Selimi were all top leaders of the KLA which waged Kosovo’s 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia and are now on trial in the Hague.A document seen by the Associated Press on Thursday showed that prosecutors from the Kosovo Specialist Chambers – a branch of the Kosovo legal system that was set up at The Hague in part due to fears about witness safety and security – had found that individuals visiting the three defendants had later approached protected witnesses “attempting to prevent or influence their testimony.”Prosecutors have asked that all visits be restricted except those from family members which will be recorded. They̵...

Europe’s far-right populists buoyed by Wilders’ win in Netherlands, hoping the best is yet to come

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — If ever the hard right in Europe needed a set of jumper cables to rev up their electoral engine again in the wake of last month’s major setback in Poland, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands provided it.Congratulations rolled in Thursday from all sides where the far right holds some sway on the continent after anti-Islam firebrand Wilders scored an election victory as unexpected as it was massive. His party more than doubled in size in parliament to tower over mainstream parties that long specialized in marginalizing him.Suddenly on Thursday, there was hope in the air again for nationalist conservative populists, especially with an European Parliament election coming up in June.“All of Europe wants a political turnaround!” said Alice Weidel, the leader of German far-right pary AfD, or Alternative for Germany, much more in hope than certainty as she congratulated Wilders on his win. It will be tough to match Wilders’ turnaround though. He more than doubled th...

On the cusp of global climate talks, UN chief Guterres visits crucial Antarctica

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

KING GEORGE ISLAND, Antarctica (AP) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived Thursday at the bottom of the world on the cusp of international climate talks at COP28. He has previously said the world must slash carbon emissions to prevent this delicate environment from melting. Warming air and ocean temperatures are causing Antarctic ice to melt. The frozen continent plays a significant role in regulating Earth’s climate because it reflects sunlight away and drives major ocean currents.For years, scientists and environmentalists have kept an eye on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet as an important indicator of global warming. A study published in Nature Climate Change last month said warming has increased to the point that the ice sheet will now experience “unavoidable” melting regardless of how much the world reduces emissions of planet-warming gases like carbon dioxide. The study’s lead author, Kaitlin Naughten, estimated that melting ice in Antarctica’s most at-risk ...

Gaza has become a moonscape in war. When the battles stop, many fear it will remain uninhabitable

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:05:49 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells.Nearly 1 million Palestinians have fled the north, including its urban center, Gaza City, as ground combat intensified. When the war ends, any relief will quickly be overshadowed by dread as displaced families come to terms with the scale of the calamity and what it means for their future.Where would they live? Who would eventually run Gaza and pick up the pieces?“I want to go home even if I have to sleep on the rubble of my house,” said Yousef Hammash, an aid worker with the Norwegian Refugee Council who fled the ruins of the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya for southern Gaza. “But I don’t see a future for my children here.”The Israeli army’s use of powerful explosives in tigh...