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Boris Johnson faces a four-hour grilling over Partygate. He’s going to hate every minute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

LONDON — It will be an evidence session like no other.After weeks of anticipation, former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be hauled before the House of Commons privileges committee on Wednesday afternoon to account for his actions over the so-called Partygate scandal. The cross-party group of MPs, chaired by Labour grandee Harriet Harman, is examining whether he knowingly misled parliament about COVID rule-breaking parties in Downing Street during the pandemic.For Johnson, the stakes are high. In an initial update earlier this month, the committee suggested he may have misled parliament multiple times. If that assessment is confirmed, Johnson could face suspension from the House of Commons — and perhaps a difficult by-election to defend his seat. In short, Johnson’s stuttering political career hangs in the balance. Four hours have been set aside for the hearing, and every moment will be broadcast live on TV.Wednesday’s showdown will be compulsory viewing ...

Italy’s Meloni needs the cash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

Mujtaba Rahman is the head of Eurasia Group’s Europe practice and a columnist for POLITICO Europe. He tweets at @Mij_Europe.To the surprise of many, Italy’s newPrime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proven to be very positive in her dealings with the European Union — unexpected given her aggressive anti-EU rhetoric over the past decade and the far-right post-fascist political tradition to which she and her Brothers of Italy party belong.So far, however, Rome has avoided a fight with Europe. Is that about to change?Meloni’s constructive approach to Europe is pragmatic — she needs the bloc’s cash. The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), established in the aftermath of the pandemic, is set to dole out up to 10.5 percent of Italy’s GDP in soft loans and grants or, put differently, roughly 2 percent of its GDP per year until 2026.Italy will also be assigned some additional funding this year as part of RePowerEU — the European Commission’s plan to top up and partly redirect RRF funds towar...

Has the Tory Party finally tired of fighting about Brexit?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

LONDON — The Tory Party’s forever war over Europe may finally be drawing to a close. Weeks of fevered speculation about a premiership-threatening Tory rebellion over Brexit melted away last month after U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced their long-awaited deal on trade in Northern Ireland.Westminster had been gripped for months by speculation that scores of Conservative MPs could vote against any potential deal the prime minister brought forward to fix the Northern Ireland protocol — a mass rebellion on the scale of the 2019 “Brexit Wars” that brought down Theresa May.But with the first House of Commons vote on a key part of the Windsor Framework due to take place Wednesday afternoon, it now seems clear that a Brexiteer backlash on that scale is just not coming.Sunak finds himself in a strong position, having banked a series of quick wins — the Northern Ireland deal, confirmation of the AUKUS n...

UPDATE: 77-year-old woman reported missing in Newton found safe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

A 77-year-old woman reported missing in the West Newton Square area of Newton was located Tuesday night, police announced. Police previously asked for the public’s help in a search for Sheila Walsh.Police said in an update around 10:30 p.m. that Walsh had been found safe. Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said in a separate update that Walsh was found at her former home in Charlestown.“We appreciate the help we received and all the efforts of the Newton Police Department,” Fuller said.

Mike Lupica: Willis Reed was the beating heart of the champion Knicks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

It couldn’t have happened without all of them, without Clyde who played the game of his life in that Game 7 against the Lakers that May night in 1970, the night at Madison Square Garden when the Knicks finally won it all, 36 points from him and 19 assists and seven rebounds.It wouldn’t have happened without Dave DeBusschere, the bartender’s kid from Detroit, and Bill Bradley, the Rhodes Scholar out of Crystal City, Mo., and then Princeton. And it sure wouldn’t have happened without Red Holzman, the basketball lifer out of the NBA in the 1950s, the quiet leader of the band, growling at them to all see the ball.But none of it could possibly have happened without Capt. Willis Reed, who limped out that night on a ruined leg and made two jumpers against Wilt Chamberlain and the Lakers, in the greatest basketball moment of them all in New York City, the one that officially turned what Pete Hamill used to call the Basie band of pro basketball into as beloved and sto...

Willis Reed, two-time Knicks champion and NBA Hall of Famer, dead at 80

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

Willis Reed, one of the greatest players in Knicks history whose gutsy return from injury for Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals solidified him as a symbol of toughness and perseverance, has died at age 80, the team announced Tuesday.Reed, a Hall of Fame center who played each of his 10 NBA seasons with the Knicks, was the MVP of both of the franchise’s championships.“As we mourn, we will always strive to uphold the standards he left behind — the unmatched leadership, sacrifice and work ethic that personified him as a champion among champions,” the Knicks said in a statement. “His is a legacy that will live forever.”Born in Lincoln Parish, La., Reed was the eighth overall pick by the Knicks out of Grambling State in 1964. The 6-foot-10 Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds in 650 career games from 1964-74 and made seven NBA All-Star teams.He was the MVP of the NBA’s regular season and All-Star Game during the 1969-70 campaign and led the Kn...

Tough decisions await Buck Showalter with five Grapefruit League games remaining

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets are in the home stretch of spring training.Five Grapefruit League games are left on the slate, and manager Buck Showalter scheduled an exhibition next week to prep the Mets for Opening Day in Miami. The team had their final off day of spring training Tuesday, getting a much-needed break.It’s been a rough few weeks for the Mets as the club has been dealt injuries to key players Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo. There is some optimism that Nimmo could be healthy for Opening Day but as of right now, it’s still unclear. Left-handed reliever Brooks Raley is the only one of the injured players expected to be ready by March 30.Injuries aside, there’s still plenty to gain in this final week of tuning up.Many of the Mets’ core players are returning from the World Baseball Classic. Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar and Omar Narvaez are back in camp. Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil are expected to return this week and they will head north from Mi...

Is this San Diego's rainiest 'water year' on record?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- This year has been off to a rainy start for much of California, and San Diego is no exception.With all the wet weather the region has experienced as of late, San Diegans may be surprised to learn that when it comes to the number of (measurable) rain days, these last few months haven't exactly shattered any records.The National Weather Service in San Diego compiled a ranking to show how this "water year" is stacking up against previous ones. (A water year, sometimes called a hydrologic year, starts Oct. 1 and goes through Sept. 30 in the Northern Hemisphere.) What California’s recent storms indicate about climate change The current water year thus far -- Oct. 1 through March 21 -- comes in at No. 11 with 45 rain days in San Diego.So, which same time period does hold the record? Oct. 1, 1951 through March 21, 1952 saw 53 rain days. RankNumber of rain daysYear1531951-19522501914-19152501943-19444491889-18904491936-19374491943-19447481972-19738471977-19788472004-200510461...

Arkansas restricts school bathroom use by transgender people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed a law prohibiting transgender people at public schools from using the restroom that matches their gender identity, the first of several states expected to enact such bans this year amid a flood of bills nationwide targeting the trans community.The bill signed by the Republican governor makes Arkansas the fourth state to place such restrictions at public schools, and it comes as bills in Idaho and Iowa also await their governor’s signature. And it might be followed by an even stricter Arkansas bill criminalizing transgender adults using public restrooms that match their gender identity.Arkansas’ law, which won’t take effect until later this summer, applies to multi-person restrooms and locker rooms at public schools and charter schools serving prekindergarten through 12th grade. The majority-Republican Legislature gave final approval to the bill last week.“The Governor has said she will ...

Disconnecting the brain helps kids with epilepsy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:54:06 GMT

Disconnecting half the brain to stop seizures sounds unthinkable but it’s an actual procedure to help children with a rare form of epilepsy. R.J. Walters loves to play basketball, like many 8-year-olds. And he doesn’t let much slow him down.Jamilah Doyle-Walters is RJ’s mother.“April 2019, when he was 4 years old, is when he had his first generalized seizure,” she said.And they kept coming.Randall Walters, Sr. is RJ’s father.“With focal seizures, you see a kid (and) they are just staring off into space and you think they are daydreaming,” he said. “And they are still able to respond to you. I wanted to be that dad, the sports dad, ‘Let’s go climb a tree’ dad. And that was all taken away.”Dr. Sandi Lam is a neurosurgeon at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.“The right side of the brain doesn’t quite look like the left side of the brain,” Lam said. “There’s less brain matter on the right side than the left side.” ‘I was too young to die.’ How research and funding can help ped...