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PMQs scorecard: Starmer and Sunak scrap over housebuilding hypocrisy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 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.What they sparred about: Housing policy. Labour’s Keir Starmer went for Rishi Sunak on the Tory target to build 300,000 homes a year, which was included in the 2019 manifesto yet … looks a rather tall order.UK politics in a paragraph: Starmer pointed out that some Tories oppose housebuilding in their constituencies, yet national Conservative policy is to build more homes. Sunak hit back by pointing out that while national Labour policy is to build more homes … some senior Labour figures oppose housebuilding in their own constituencies. It’s gonna be a long, long election year.Biggest Labour cheer of the day: Starmer: “At least the Tories are not claiming to be the party of home ownership — because we are!”Second biggest Tory cheer of the day: Sunak said shadow Cabi...

New Quran-burning in Sweden risks inflaming Turkey tensions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

Swedish police have authorized another Quran-burning in Stockholm planned for Wednesday afternoon, risking new tensions with Turkey as Sweden waits for Ankara’s backing for it to gain entry to the NATO military alliance in July.The Quran protest — which reportedly includes two people only — is planned in front of the main mosque in the Swedish capital, according to Swedish media, on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha.Earlier this year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that if Sweden did not show respect to Turkey or Muslims, he would not support the country’s NATO bid. The remark came after a far-right politician burned a Quran in Stockholm near the Turkish embassy, exacerbating tensions between the two countries. The police said that the burning “may have foreign policy consequences,” but the security risks and potential ramifications linked to the protest did not allow for the application to be rejected.It comes after Sweden’s cou...

EU lawmakers agree to make non-consensual sex a criminal offense

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

European Union lawmakers on Wednesday agreed on a push to make non-consensual sex a criminal offense across the bloc, heralding a clash in future negotiations with EU governments, which rejected the plan. Several forms of cyberviolence like revenge porn, AI-generated porn deepfakes and online harassment could also become criminal offenses after a majority of lawmakers in the committees on civil liberties and for women’s rights adopted their version of a first-ever EU law to protect women from abuse.“We are facing a crisis of violence in Europe. Women are increasingly the target,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.”It’s not only about best practices or recommendations that will deal with it but legislation that can be enforced.”The directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence garnered the support of lawmakers on a 71-5 vote. Seven lawmakers abstained. The vote will have to be confirmed in a Parliament plenary sessi...

Former Tyngsboro day care worker to appear in court on child porn charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

A former day care worker is slated to appear in federal court Wednesday in connection with a child pornography case, officials said. Lindsay Groves, 38, of Hudson, New Hampshire. is accused of taking nude pictures of children at the Creative Minds Early Learning Centers day care in Tyngsboro, where she was an employee. Nashua police later announced the arrest of Stacie Laughton, a former New Hampshire state representative, in the case.From May, 2022 to June of this year, the US Attorney’s Office said Groves allegedly took nude pictures of children at Creative Minds and sent the photos to someone she was previously in an intimate relationship with.Groves, the US Attorney’s office said, allegedly took the pictures during routine diaper changes. Investigators said they found 2,500 text messages on Groves’ phone talking about the exchange of images, as well as at least four sexually explicit photos of children around three to five-years-old. The US Attorney’s Office said Groves wa...

Gallery: Frog Pond opens for season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu joined Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ryan Woods to celebrate the opening of the Boston Common Frog Pond spray pool for the summer season.

Belarusian leader approved forced transfers of Ukrainian children, says opposition figure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian opposition activist says that he has provided the International Criminal Court with materials allegedly detailing President Alexander Lukashenko’s involvement in the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Belarus, accusations angrily rejected by Minsk.Lukashenko has been Moscow’s closest ally, allowing the Kremlin to use Belarusian territory to send troops and weapons into Ukraine, welcoming a continued Russian military presence in Belarus and the deployment of some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons there. The authoritarian leader has also agreed to a “union state” project that has seen Moscow and Minsk tighten their economic, political and defense ties, while so far stopping short of a full merger. Pavel Latushka, a former Belarusian culture minister, said Tuesday that the materials he has handed over to the ICC indicate that more than 2,100 Ukrainian children from at least 15 Russia-occupied Ukrainian cities have been f...

NATO chief convenes July 6 talks hoping to convince Turkey to let Sweden join

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that he has called a meeting of senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on July 6 to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the military organization.The meeting is a last-ditch effort by Stoltenberg to have the Nordic country standing among NATO’s ranks as a member at a major summit next month. It would be a highly symbolic moment and another indication of how Russia’s war in Ukraine is driving countries to join the Western alliance.“The time is now to welcome Sweden as a full member of NATO,” Stoltenberg told reporters as he announced the date for the meeting. Foreign ministers, intelligence chiefs and security advisors from Turkey, Sweden and Finland, which joined NATO in April, will be taking part in the talks in Brussels.NATO requires the unanimous approval of all members to expand. Turkey accuses Sweden of being too lenient on groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, incl...

Families worry over the future of Medicaid caregiver payments that were expanded during the pandemic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

Nathan Hill started receiving $12.75 an hour from a state Medicaid program to help care for his severely disabled son during the pandemic, money he said allowed his family to stop using food stamps.The program was designed to provide a continuation of care and ease a home health worker shortage that grew worse after COVID-19 hit.But now, with the COVID-19 public health emergency over, he worries that the extra income will disappear. Some states have already stopped payments while others have yet to make them permanent. “The success of this during the pandemic was tremendous … for the first time we were able to pay our own way,” said the Meridian, Idaho, resident. “We’re not relying on charities to help us pay our rent and utilities.”A total of 39 states, with the help of the federal government, either started paying family caregivers or expanded the population eligible for payment during the pandemic, according to a survey last summer by KFF, a non-profit that studies health care is...

Your DoorDash driver? He’s the company’s co-founder

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — On a recent afternoon in San Francisco, a DoorDash driver was circling the neighborhood — first in his car, then on foot — trying to find the restaurant where he needed to pick up two orders. Finally, he Googled the location and realized DoorDash’s app sent him to the wrong address.It’s an error he vowed to fix, and he probably will. Because that worker is Andy Fang, DoorDash’s chief technology officer and one of the company’s three co-founders.“If it happens with one restaurant, it might actually be happening with a lot of other restaurants as well,” Fang said after he retrieved the orders and settled back into his car. “If we can see why that happened, maybe we can fix other issues too.”Fang is one of a growing number of executives who occasionally do the hourly work that makes their companies hum. Starbucks’ new CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, is a trained barista and puts in a half-day of work at a store each month. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Lyft CEO David Rish...

Oak Flat Timeline: Native American vs. pro-mining interests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:59 GMT

SUPERIOR, Ariz. (AP) — Oak Flat, a piece of national forest land in central Arizona, is at the heart of a years long struggle between Native American groups and mining interests that both consider it important for their future. Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of international mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP, wants to develop the large deposit of copper ore deep under Oak Flat into a massive mine. The nonprofit Apache Stronghold considers the land sacred and say it should be preserved for religious ceremonies. The project is on hold pending an environmental review that the Forest Service earlier withdrew to consult further with tribes and others. There is no time frame for its completion. Here is how developments have played out over nearly a decade: November 2013: Resolution Copper introduces its initial general plan of operations for a proposed mine at Oak Flat.Dec. 12, 2014: The U.S. Senate approves a must-pass military spending bill that included the Oak Flat land swap, giving th...