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The Tory heartlands where Liz Truss’ name is mud and ‘Boris’ is a dirty word

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

ST ALBANS, England — For decades they were U.K. Conservative heartlands; the prim, middle-class shires of southern England which voted Tory come what may.But such has been the ruling Conservatives’ slump in popularity following a prolonged period of chaos at Westminster that strategists believe this so-called Blue Wall of Tory seats may at last be about to fall.“We’re in a situation where approval of the government’s performance, and views of the Conservative party as a whole, are so negative that many of these seats — a good number of which saw 10,000-plus majorities in 2019 — are easily in play,” said Philip van Scheltinga, a pollster for Redfield and Wilton Strategies.During a week spent touring these true-blue Conservative seats, POLITICO spoke to MPs on the ground about the local and national pressures that will feed into the next general election, expected in 2024.The disastrous final stages of Boris Johnson’s premiership — followed by the brief Liz Tru...

Ukraine declares war on Russia’s Black Sea shipping

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

Russian ports and ships on the Black Sea — including tankers carrying millions of barrels of oil to Europe — could justifiably be attacked by the Ukrainian military as part of efforts to weaken Moscow’s war machine, a senior Kyiv official warned Monday in the wake of two recent attacks on Russian vessels.“Everything the Russians are moving back and forth on the Black Sea are our valid military targets,” Oleg Ustenko, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, told POLITICO, saying the move was retaliation for Russia withdrawing from the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal and unleashing a series of missile attacks on agricultural stores and ports. “This story started with Russia blocking the grain corridor, threatening to attack our vessels, destroying our ports,” Ustenko said. “Our maritime infrastructure is under constant attack.”Over the weekend, Ukraine declared the waters around Russia’s Black Sea ports a “war risk area” from August 2...

Drug-resistant killer bugs linked to air pollution, top scientists say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

As if air pollution wasn’t deadly enough.Now new research suggests tiny airborne pollutants may be linked to higher rates of drug-resistant lethal bacteria.In the study, researchers from Zhejiang University, China and the University of Cambridge, England, concluded that air pollution is one of the leading factors driving antimicrobial resistance (AMR) after compiling data from 116 countries between 2000 and 2018, with more than 11.5 million lab test results covering nine bacterial pathogens and 43 types of antibiotics. The world is battling to combat the growing threat from antimicrobial resistance — a phenomenon caused by bugs such as bacteria, fungi and parasites evolving to survive against drug treatments. Without effective antibiotics, routine operations and previously minor infections, for example, could once again turn deadly. “Our analysis presents strong evidence that increasing levels of air pollution are associated with increased risk of antibiotic resistance,” said the au...

Stick with net zero, Tory voters tell Sunak

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

LONDON — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been under pressure ever since he watered down government rhetoric on net zero targets — from campaigners, industry leaders, and his own warring MPs. Now he faces a challenge on another front: his own voters. Even as the Tories prevaricate on key climate policies, new polling shows that voters planning to support the Conservative Party at the next election overwhelmingly back the government’s target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.Around two thirds of all voters support the 2050 deadline, with support among Conservative voters slightly higher at 73 percent, according to a poll from the research company Focaldata, alongside the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank. The data comes as the government continues to shift its tone on green policies, more than a fortnight after the Conservatives narrowly clung onto their Uxbridge seat in a by-election by campaigning against the expansion of an anti-air pollution sc...

Brazil’s Lula pushes end to deforestation, stumbles on fossil fuels

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

Under pressure from the EU to rein in deforestation or face trade restrictions, Amazon countries must figure out how to bring prosperity to the region without destroying the forest. And that’s proving difficult.At a two-day summit starting Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is looking to corral countries to speed up efforts to stop deforestation and decide on a common strategy to save the rainforest. But it’s likely to be an uphill climb, with countries disagreeing on whether they should commit to a zero deforestation goal and on whether oil and gas drilling should be banned in the region. The summit comes as the EU is rolling out new rules to ban commodities’ imports driving deforestation abroad and is asking countries to police their supply chains against environmental and human rights violations. That’s increasing pressure on the Amazon region — and particularly on Brazil, one of the largest exporters of agri-food products to the EU and home to 60...

Pablo Reyes’ walk-off grand slam propels Red Sox to victory

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

Looking to snap a 4-game losing streak, Red Sox clubhouse manager Tommy McLaughlin decided an extreme makeover was in order.So, it was the Yellow Sox who greeted and defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-2 at Fenway Park on Monday evening.“In case of emergency, wear yellow,” Alex Cora joked pregame.Since debuting their City Connect uniforms in April 2021, the Yellow Sox are 21-4 in their banana-and-blue outfits, which pay homage to the Boston Marathon and Patriots Day. The squad entered Monday with a 9-game winning streak in the unorthodox ensemble, dating back to July 28 of last year.Make that 22-4, thanks to Pablo Reyes.It was a solid night for Brayan Bello, too, though he had to get himself in and out of several jams.“Kind of grinding through it early,” his manager said.For the first time since the All-Star break, he recorded an out in the seventh inning. He walked off the mound with two outs in the seventh, having allowed six hits, two walks, and striking out...

Scooter rider seriously hurt in trolley crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A 29-year-old man riding a scooter collided into a trolley train in the Logan Heights neighborhood Monday, law enforcement said.The crash occurred around 3:06 p.m. at 3100 Commercial Street, Officer Robert Heims with the San Diego Police Department said in a news release. Authorities say the man was riding a 2016 Vespa scooter eastbound on Commercial Street when for unknown reasons he lost control of the Vespa and hit the back of a trolley traveling westbound on Commercial Street. Suspect killed after allegedly shooting police dog identified The man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, police confirmed. Alcohol was not a factor in the collision.Anyone with information related to the above incident is encouraged to call the listedCommand handling the investigation or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

Volunteers head off plastic waste crisis by removing tons of rubbish from Hungarian river

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

TISZAROFF, Hungary (AP) — Thousands of muddy plastic bottles, chunks of Styrofoam and other waterlogged pieces of rubbish are piled onto a flatbed trailer on the banks of the Tisza River in Hungary — a metric ton of waste that was removed by hand from the waterway and its floodplain in a single day.It’s the haul of volunteers participating in a 10-day competition that draws over 150 people, life-jacketed rivergoers of all ages that pile into dozens of canoes to scour Hungary’s second-largest river for trash that has flowed downstream.Since its start in 2013, participants in the annual Plastic Cup competition — which offers a prize for those who collect the most trash each year — have gathered more than 330 tons (around 727,000 pounds) of waste from the Tisza and other Hungarian waters.Zsolt Tamas, the Plastic Cup’s competition director, says the effort aims not only to improve and preserve Hungary’s natural environment, but to interrupt a growing global ecological crisis by preventi...

Local favourite Raonic outlasts Tiafoe in opener at National Bank Open in Toronto

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

Canada’s Milos Raonic made a triumphant return to his hometown tournament on Monday night, outlasting American Frances Tiafoe in an epic first-round encounter at the National Bank Open.Raonic, from nearby Thornhill, Ont., lost a 20-minute tiebreaker on an unusual finish before rebounding for a 6-7 (12), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win to eliminate the No. 9 seed.This is Raonic’s third tournament appearance since returning to the ATP Tour in June after an injury absence of nearly two years.He last played at Sobeys Stadium in 2018 and the partisan crowd showed him the love at every turn.Tiafoe broke the Canadian in the opening game but Raonic found his form later in the set. He touched 229 km/h with his first serve at times and kept pace with the fleet-footed American.Raonic later broke back to set up a tiebreaker that had several momentum swings. The Canadian had three chances to take the set, but it was Tiafoe who finally converted on his fifth set point.On the deciding point, a Raonic...

Australian police charge 19 men with child sex abuse after FBI tips about dark web sharing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:17:54 GMT

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Police have charged 19 men in Australia with child sex abuse offenses and rescued 13 children from further harm following tips from the American FBI of an international online criminal network, officials said Tuesday.Two of the 19 men already were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of almost 15 years in the Australian Capital Territory and five years in New South Wales state, Australian Federal Police Commander Helen Schneider said.“We will allege that these men were members of a technologically sophisticated online child abuse network that was operating across the country,” Schneider told reporters.The 19 had been charged with a total 138 offenses related to peer-to-peer sharing of video and images on the dark web. Most were information technology professionals with a high degree of technical competence, she said.The men, aged 32 to 81, allegedly used software to anonymously share files, chat on message boards and access websites within the network.S...