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USAID chief pledges US support to Serbia, Kosovo in talks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The United States’ top international development official, Samantha Power, on Wednesday pledged U.S. support to Serbia and Kosovo as the two former wartime enemies work to stabilize relations at a time of heightened tensions.“It will take political courage to find a durable solution, acceptable to both sides, but the support from the U.S. will be steadfast in the coming weeks as Serbia and Kosovo work to take next steps,” Power told reporters in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital.Power spoke after meeting Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic earlier on Wednesday. From Serbia, Power will travel to Kosovo, a former Serbian province which declared independence in 2008. Washington and most European Union countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state but Serbia, along with Russia and China, has not. Washington and Brussels have stepped up efforts to help solve the dispute, fearing further instability in Europe as the wa...

Momentum for EU ethics cop sags despite scandal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

BRUSSELS — Sacks of cash and free flights from autocratic governments don’t seem to have been enough to save the EU’s flagship integrity initiative from political inertia.A forthcoming Commission blueprint for an overarching and independent ethics panel will not include the power to investigate wrongdoing by EU officials, Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová told top MEPs in a closed-door meeting last week, according to a confidential readout obtained by POLITICO.Her plans to limit the scope of the inter-institutional ethics body to a “general framework on ethics and standards” common to all institutions — while then leaving those institutions to decide for themselves how the framework applies to them — drew sharp condemnation from advocates of a stronger enforcement mechanism.“What Jourová outlines has nothing to do with previous debates on the [ethics] body,” said German Green MEP Daniel Freund in a statement. He slammed it as “label fraud.”...

EU riles Portugal by teeing up June dates for 2024 elections

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

STRASBOURG — Thirteen months to go. The European Union is poised to pencil in June 6 to 9 next year as the date of the next EU elections, which will usher in a major changing of the guard in the bloc’s most powerful institutions. But the imminent move by EU governments gathered in Brussels is enraging Portugal — because a national holiday falls on Monday, June 10. “This would be terrible in terms of electoral participation, and the risk of abstention picking up and going through the roof,” Portugal’s secretary of state for Europe, Tiago Antunes, told POLITICO. The Portuguese government fears that voters taking advantage of a long weekend will be less inclined to cast their ballots, and is trying to pull off a somewhat doomed diplomatic coup to change the election dates to May.“We’re trying to build a coalition of other member states trying to gather support for an alternative date,” Antunes said. Voters will determine who wins seats for the European Par...

‘Not acceptable’: EU agri chief rapped for missing big farm debate

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

STRASBOURG — As the European Parliament debated farming and the Green Deal on Wednesday morning, the EU’s agriculture chief Janusz Wojciechowski was nowhere to be seen.One by one, MEPs turned instead to Mairead McGuinness, the EU finance commissioner, who was there in his place.“I’m just wondering where the agriculture commissioner is and why he wanted to avoid this debate,” said Norbert Lins, a German MEP from the center-right European People’s Party and chair of the Parliament’s agriculture committee. “Where is he hiding this morning?”Wojciechowski did attend a later plenary debate on the ongoing crisis in the EU’s Eastern member countries that has been caused by a Ukrainian grain glut and a Polish-led import ban. But by then the damage was done: EPP leader Manfred Weber confronted Wojciechowski over his absence, leaving the farm chief red-faced.“Let me make it very clear: We expect the agriculture commissioner to show respect and be present when we debate agricultu...

‘I’m ashamed’: UK Labour MPs call for action over party aide harassment case

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

LONDON — Senior women in the Labour Party have demanded extra protection for staff after an adviser who sexually harassed a young intern was allowed to keep his job. POLITICO reported Wednesday that a party aide will remain in post despite a groping complaint against him being upheld twice — by parliamentary investigators and, separately, by Labour after a probe which ran for three years.The case again shines a spotlight on the way misconduct allegations are handled in Westminster, following a series of episodes in which complainants expressed dissatisfaction with the process.The outcome of the parliamentary investigation involving the aide was made known to his employer, who is a member of Keir Starmer’s front bench team, according to two people close to the process. Labour declined to say whether the aide’s boss was informed that its own internal investigation had also upheld the complaint, and the employer’s office declined to comment.MP Stella Creasy, a prominent...

FDA advisers vote unanimously in support of over-the-counter birth-control pill

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

(CNN) — Advisers for the US Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Wednesday in support of making the birth-control pill Opill available over-the-counter, saying the benefits outweigh the risks.Two FDA advisory panels agreed that people would use the Opill safely and effectively and said groups — including adolescents and those with limited literacy — would be able to take the pill at the same time every day without help from a health care worker.The advisers were asked to vote on whether people were likely to use the tablet properly, so that the benefits would exceed the risks. Seventeen voted yes. Zero voted no or abstained.If approved, this would be the first birth-control pill available over the counter in the United States.“This would dramatically increase the ability of kids not having unintended pregnancies,” adviser Dr. Leslie Walker-Harding from the University of Washington said, adding that “it’s also equally urgent for ...

Brides and grooms have a new place to register for wedding gifts

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

(CNN) — Brides and grooms, fret no more. While Bed Bath and Beyond and its popular wedding registry service teeter on the edge, Etsy is stepping in to fill any potential void.Etsy announced on Wednesday that the online marketplace for handcrafted items is launching its own wedding registry.In addition to selecting registry items from Etsy’s vast offerings of handmade and vintage items, the company said the Etsy Registry will also provide couples with a personalization service for nuptial-related paraphernalia, such as wedding decor and bridal party items.“On Etsy, we’ve seen a staggering 872% increase in searches for handmade gifts, telling us that couples and their guests are moving away from mass-produced gifts,” Dayna Isom Johnson, trend expert with Etsy, said in a blog post Wednesday.She told CNN in an email that there is a search for a wedding item on Etsy every second. “So, launching Etsy Registry was a natural next step,” she said.Ret...

Ravens returning to London with game against Titans on Oct. 15

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

The last time the Ravens played in London was in 2017 in what was a blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. Afterward, coach John Harbaugh said he had no interest in going back anytime soon.Six years later, the Ravens and Harbaugh are headed back overseas.The NFL unveiled its slate of five international games on Wednesday morning, and the Ravens will play the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 15 in a Week 6 matchup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The game will kick off at 9:30 a.m. and be broadcast on the NFL Network.“We look forward to taking on the Titans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium,” Ravens president Sashi Brown said in a statement. “It’s exciting to witness and play a role in the NFL’s rise in popularity across the globe. This is an incredible opportunity to play in front of and connect with Ravens fans in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.”The team’s full 2023 schedule, which also includes three trips to the West Coast...

Boston mayor: Council must pass new redistricting map by May 30 to avoid election delay

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu said the City Council must act with “urgency” to avoid an election delay, by passing a new redistricting map by May 30, and is seeking approval for a home rule petition that would extend candidate filing deadlines after a federal court ruling upended this process.Submitted to the council ahead of its Wednesday meeting in light of a Monday ruling that barred implementation of the city’s current redistricting map, the mayor’s petition would push the nomination paper filing deadline from May 23 to June 20, and stretch the signature certification process to July 7 for city registrars.These new timelines would be dependent on councilors passing a new redistricting map by May 30, the cutoff date for keeping the city’s preliminary election date, Sept. 12, in place, Wu wrote in a Wednesday letter to the City Council.“This home rule petition gives the Elections Department the tools they may need to facilitate the orderly administration of an election...

4 things to know about Wednesday’s inflation report

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:13:34 GMT

Inflation in April continued its steady cooldown, but its slow pace shows it’s still resilient, too, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index report released Wednesday. Here’s what else you need to know.1. Inflation has slowed for 10 months straightApril marked the 10th month in a row of overall inflation decreases.The consumer price index for all items rose 4.9% for the past 12 months throughout April, down from 5% in March. It’s a small decline, but it makes April the lowest annual increase since April 2021. That includes the peak for overall CPI at 9.1% in June 2022.The month-to-month increase was up slightly: 0.4% for April compared with 0.1% in March.2. Core inflation is now higher than overall inflationAnnual core CPI, which excludes food and energy, decreased from 5.6% in March to 5.5% in April. But for the second time in nine months, the core CPI is higher than the overall CPI rate, on an annual basis.Why would core inflation overpower overall ...