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Stressed about Partygate? Let’s order a drone strike on Sue Gray, Boris aide quipped

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

LONDON — Well, that’s one way to deal with an annoying inquiry.A senior aide to Boris Johnson calmed him down by jokingly offering to order a drone strike against Sue Gray, the government official who was leading the “Partygate” probe into lockdown-busting gatherings in Johnson’s government.Speaking to a Global podcast about his brief spell in No. 10 as Johnson’s director of communications last year, Guto Harri said his boss was “literally hysterical” on the night before Gray published her damning report into the saga.As Johnson prepared a parliamentary speech responding to its findings, Harri recalled Johnson getting “more and more angry, uncharacteristically sweary and cross, the more he thought about the impact of this and what Sue Gray had done to his premiership.”Harri then floated an unconventional plan to soothe the frayed prime minister, saying to the then-PM: “Look at me. Here’s what we’re going to do. ...

‘It turned out to be a mistake’: Botched rollout puts DeSantis on his heels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ was a glitch.The Florida governor announced his presidential campaign on Twitter Spaces, in an appearance meant to be a veritable launch hosted by an actual rocket man.But within seconds, it was clear that Tallahassee had a problem.The feed broke, connections got cut off, the hosts seemed confused. It was inauspicious. It also was a black mark on the candidate’s supposed trademarks — expert organization and a comfort with the vanguard of modern media.“It was bold. It turned out to be a mistake,” radio host Erick Erickson emailed supporters about the mishap. “It is recoverable. But it is a reminder that some things should be under full control of the candidate, particularly the launch day.”The risk for DeSantis is the prospect of the botched rollout forming a narrative and cutting against the very argument he is making to Republican primary voters — that he is a competent alternative to the chaotic preside...

Tee Thursday: Take range time seriously

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

I’m not new to golf but I am new-ish to being a true golfer.I’d call myself a hack in the past: I played charity tourneys with friends and a social round here and there but despite growing up in a total golf family and living on a course (If you ever played Hatherly in Scituate, you may have sliced a ball right into our front yard on the second fairway), I never truly knew the game.A little over a year ago, I caught the bug, and as a staunch believer in respecting whatever sport I play, I wanted to do it right. And golf? Boy does golf require – and deserve – respect.So I dove into it full force: Good clubs, regular lessons, scheduled play and most of all, lots of time on the practice range.I’m coming along well, and I think a big part of why is that last step: My teaching pro Dean Hajedemos of Crosswinds Golf Club has shown me the right way to use a practice/driving range.The natural inclination for me before on the range was to grab a big bucket of balls and fire away, focusing on ...

Top Cambodian opposition party loses appeal over registration, barred from contesting July elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s top opposition party was barred Thursday from participating in elections set for July after the Constitutional Council refused to overturn a decision not to register the party over a paperwork issue.The Candlelight Party, the sole credible challenger to the governing Cambodian People’s Party in the upcoming polls, lost its appeal because its complaint was deemed unlawful, the council said in a brief statement.The decision is final and cannot be appealed.Cambodian courts are widely considered to be under the influence of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government and his Cambodian People’s Party.The National Election Committee on May 16 had refused to register the Candlelight Party, saying it failed to provide necessary documents. A few days later the party officially filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council asking it to overturn the election commission’s ruling.Kimsour Phirith, a spokesperson for the Candlelight Party, said he “regretted” Thurs...

In The News for May 25 : New rules for reporting reactions to natural health products

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 25 …What we are watching in Canada …A new plan to force hospitals to report adverse effects of “natural health products” such as herbal remedies and supplements has come as a surprise to manufacturers, who say they were blindsided by the proposed change.The federal government included the plan in the 2023 budget bill, which is still making its way through the House of Commons.It would see natural health products fall under the same category as pharmaceuticals when it comes to how they are monitored once they are on the market.They would be incorporated into Vanessa’s Law, which was passed in 2014 to improve the reporting of adverse health reactions. It was named after 15-year-old Vanessa Young, the daughter of a Conservative member of Parliament, who died in 2000 after her heart rate had been...

Volunteers step up to help lone caretaker of centuries-old New Brunswick cemetery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

FREDERICTON — After three decades of keeping watch over the dead at a New Brunswick cemetery, home to the final resting place for some of the province’s most notable names, Peter Spence now has help.Eight volunteers have stepped up to assist with the landscaping, cleaning and other maintenance tasks for the nearly 200-year-old Dorchester Rural Cemetery, in the province’s southeast corner.“I never mind doing what I was doing,” Spence, 75, said in an interview.“But it became a very lonely job. You never had anybody to get a second opinion no matter what you were doing.”The cemetery is the resting ground for Edward Barron Chandler, one of the Fathers of Confederation, and two premiers — Daniel Hannington and Sir Albert Smith, who was knighted by Queen Victoria. About 1,300 people are buried there.Spence became secretary-treasurer of the cemetery’s board in 1992. Over time, other members died, leaving him to become the “face of the cemeter...

Industry blindsided by Ottawa’s plan to track ill effects of natural health products

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

OTTAWA — A new plan to force hospitals to report adverse effects of “natural health products” such as herbal remedies and supplements has come as a surprise to manufacturers, who say they were blindsided by the proposed change.The federal government included the plan in the 2023 budget bill, which is still making its way through the House of Commons.It would see natural health products fall under the same category as pharmaceuticals when it comes to how they are monitored once they are on the market.They would be incorporated into Vanessa’s Law, which was passed in 2014 to improve the reporting of adverse health reactions. It was named after 15-year-old Vanessa Young, the daughter of a Conservative member of Parliament, who died in 2000 after her heart rate had been affected by medication that was prescribed by her doctor.Putting natural health products under that framework would require hospitals to report on any unintended consequences associated with them, so th...

IEA: Shift to clean energy accelerating, but coal investments too high to meet climate goals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Energy security concerns — worsened by the war in Ukraine — and policy support from rich countries are likely to help investments in clean energy outpace spending on fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency said in a report issued Thursday. But investments in coal are on course to rise by about 10% in 2023, nearly six-times what the IEA has estimated they should be for the world to end its reliance on fossil fuels and achieve emissions cut goals for countering climate change, it said. Some $2.8 trillion is set to be invested in energy globally in 2023, of which more than $1.7 trillion is expected to go to clean technologies including modern electricity grids, energy storage, low-emissions fuels and electric vehicles, according to the organization’s latest World Energy Investment report. Slightly more than $1 trillion is going to coal, gas and oil — fossil fuels that are a major source of emissions that are contributing to global warming. Part of ...

21-year-old sentenced to 5 years for thwarted bomb plot that aimed to build Hong Kong resistance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong man was sentenced to more than five years in prison for participating in a thwarted bomb plot that aimed to build resistance forces, in a closely watched case involving high school students accused of serious crimes following the 2019 anti-government protests. Prosecutors said Alexander Au, 21, and the five others in court Thursday had planned to manufacture explosives and target court buildings. Their plot was foiled due to a police investigation, and no bombs were made and no casualties occurred. Though the six are not among the most prominent activists in Hong Kong’s suppressed democracy movement, their case has drawn attention because they were all students when the prosecution began in 2021 and they were charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist activities under the National Security Law.Earlier this month, Au and four defendants, aged between 17 and 20, pleaded guilty to conspiring to cause explosions that are likely to endanger life and...

But Cool Thursday. Meager Rain Prospects; Potential for Heat Next Week.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:31 GMT

The back-door COLD FRONT'S PASSED and now strong, post-frontal full fetch north/northeast winds have taken hold and are sweeping off Lake Michigan over Chicago's shoreline. Little wonder the winds are strong--with gusts from 30 to 40 mph being reported up and down the western Lake Michigan shoreline.Wednesday morning surface weather map showing a well developed 1037 mb (30.62") high pressure centered over Ontario province in southern Canada. The winds beneath its southern flank are strong.Here's a windy.com depiction of the "full fetch" NNE winds blowing down the length of Lake Michigan. The reference to "full fetch" winds means winds are blowing southward the length of Lake Michigan. That's important because this offers the wind time to transfer its kinetic energy to the lake surface building waves. It's no accident the highest waves to sweep onto Chicago beaches occur in "full fetch" wind set ups like Wednesday's.Here's a snapshot of wind and wind gust reports at 9am CDT Wednesday...