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A Parliament of bullies

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

EU authorities have repeatedly failed to protect victims of bullying by powerful politicians, amid a culture of indifference toward harassment within the European Parliament, a major POLITICO investigation reveals. A picture built up over four months, based on dozens of interviews and confidential documents, showed a system in crisis that has left junior staffers scarred by years of abuse. Witnesses and victims, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, described feeling “physically and mentally dead” or even suicidal as a result of harassment, and suffering anxiety and sleep deprivation as they waited for several months — or longer — for their complaints to be processed. One likened the experience of the delays to waiting like “prisoners on death row.” Some insiders said the scale of bullying within the headquarters of EU democracy was “out of control” while others alleged they had suffered sexual harassment and said “mind games” were rife. Often, it was eas...

The Tiananmen massacre and China’s pragmatist soft power

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

Jianli Yang, a Tiananmen massacre survivor and former political prisoner of China, is the founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China and the author of It’s Time for a Values-Based “Economic NATO.”The Tiananmen pro-democracy movement of 1989 stood against government corruption and for freedom, attracting countless democracy-seeking supporters before ultimately ending in the bloody Tiananmen massacre.The massacre caused a global outcry, focusing the world’s attention on China’s human rights atrocities. And since then, the country has been unable to escape condemnation and sanctions from the international community over human rights violations.Over the past 34 years, however, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hasn’t just survived the Tiananmen crisis, but it has also established “pragmatist soft power,” which poses a significant challenge to liberal democracy as the only path to modernity.So, how did this happen? And how should the...

From Russia Without Love! The return of the spy whale

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.When you think of a spy it’s probably the usual, James Bond-style tropes: Smart suit, fancy car, bulging forehead, blowhole. Wait, what?Yes, this week has seen the reappearance of a beluga whale that is believed to be a Russian spy. Back in 2019, marine experts in Norway noticed a white-colored whale that they suspected was trained by the Russian navy as part of a program to use underwater mammals as a special ops force. The whale was said to be actively seeking out fishing vessels and trying to pull ropes from the sides of boats, and it was wearing a tight harness which seemed to be for a camera or weapon, raising suspicions that the animal had been given military-grade training by Russia. Inside the harness were the words “Equipment of St. Petersburg” and “Actual Spy” (maybe).Suspicions were also aroused when the whale ordered some herring “shaken, not stirred” and tried to shag everything.Anyway, th...

Three juveniles in custody after teens wave weapons during fight in Worcester

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

Three juveniles were taken into custody this week after a fight in Worcester where teenagers were seen waving weapons outside a local store, police said.The incident near the Gala Foods supermarket was captured on a surveillance camera. Witnesses said a large group of teenagers were yelling at each other. Video then showed one person who appeared to pull a knife. Another person was seen pointing a gun. “This is a tough neighborhood,” one area community member told 7NEWS. “But that scared me.” “Roughly 30 seconds later, we heard the sirens in the background,” the same person said.Investigators said officers responded to the area on Main Street for what was reported as a fight between the teens, possibly involving a firearm and a knife just after 6:30 p.m.The group ran away. Later Wednesday night, though, Worcester police said three of the individuals had been arrested. Worcester police said their investigation into this incident is ongoing, asking anyone with information to...

Local man among those preparing to take on upcoming Best Buddies Challenge

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

Hundreds of people are set to pedal from Boston to Hyannis Port this weekend in this year’s Best Buddies Challenge. As he gears up for the ride, 7NEWS recently spoke with one local man who says the Best Buddies charity helped shape his life. “You can do whatever you want to do if you set your mind to it,” said James Day Keith. Keith has been involved with Best Buddies since high school. “It’s about making friendships and it’s also about mentoring and work related,” he said. Keith, now 25, volunteers with a guinea pig rescue organization in Salisbury where he said he helps take care of the animals, sweeping hay and feeding them.“I love volunteering because it makes me happy,” he said. “And if I’m happy, then other people are happy and I just love making people really happy.”Through volunteer opportunities, jobs and friendships, Best Buddies empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live full lives. Keith said h...

Dog-friendly outdoor dining begins in Boston under new city policy

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

Dog-friendly outdoor dining began in Boston this week, with dogs now allowed on certain outdoor patios in the city. Made possible by a new city policy, many locations are welcoming the new additions. Dog owners, in turn, are thrilled. “It’s awesome to be able to have people bring in their entire family now,” said Dorchester Brewing Company Lead Bartender Bailey Alton. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced the dog-friendly outdoor dining policy early last month, allowing dogs to tag along with their owners at outdoor restaurant patios and beer gardens that apply for and receive a variance from the city. The policy went into effect on Thursday. “The availability to allow dogs on the patio — we’ll get so much more business,” said 75 on Liberty Wharf Manager Tre Spain. 75 on Wharf is one of over 20 businesses that applied for a variance. With its dog-friendly space, the business is even creating a new dog treat menu to cater to its new customers. Spain b...

Just days to spare, Senate gives final approval to debt ceiling deal, sending it to Biden

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

By LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING, STEPHEN GROVES, FARNOUSH AMIRI and MARY CLARE JALONICK (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Fending off a U.S. default, the Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, grinding into the night to wrap up work on the bipartisan deal and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline.The compromise package negotiated between Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy leaves neither Republicans nor Democrats fully pleased with the outcome. But the result, after weeks of hard-fought budget negotiations, shelves the volatile debt ceiling issue that risked upending the U.S. and global economy until 2025 after the next presidential election.Approval in the Senate on a bipartisan vote, 63-36, reflected the overwhelming House tally the day before, relying on centrists in both parties to pull the Biden-McCarthy package to passage.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the...

Red Sox 8-2 win overshadowed by Sale leaving start with shoulder soreness

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

After beginning the season 0-8 against National League Central teams at Fenway Park, the Red Sox kicked off the month of June with an 8-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.Unfortunately, the victory is bittersweet, overshadowed by Chris Sale leaving his start early with left shoulder soreness.The game began as a pitchers’ duel, with Sale and Reds starter Hunter Greene combining for 12 strikeouts over the first three frames. After allowing a leadoff single, Sale got three consecutive strikeouts to end the first inning, then set down the Reds 1-2-3 in the second, including back-to-back swinging strikeouts for the second and third outs.Sale scuffled in the top of the third, allowing back-to-back 1-out doubles to give the Reds a 1-0 lead, but settled back down and got the next two outs.It was the top of the fourth when things took a concerning turn for the southpaw. After another set of back-to-back doubles, Alex Cora and the team’s athletic trainer, Masai Takahashi, came out...

Dev Shah wins National Spelling Bee, going out on top after up-and-down spelling career

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Soft-spoken but brimming with confidence, Dev Shah asked precise questions about obscure Greek roots, rushed through his second-to-last word and rolled to the Scripps National Spelling Bee title Thursday night.Dev, a 14-year-old from Largo, Florida, had his spelling career interrupted by the pandemic, then didn’t make it out of his regional bee last year. He got through his highly competitive regional this year for a third and final try at the national title, and he ended up holding the trophy over his head as confetti fell.His winning word was “psammophile,” a layup for a speller of his caliber.“Psammo meaning sand, Greek?” he asked. “Phile, meaning love, Greek?”He soaked up the moment by asking for the word to be used in a sentence, something he described a day earlier as a stalling tactic. Then he put his hands over his face as he was declared the winner.Charlotte Walsh, a 14-year-old from Arlington, Virginia, was the runner-up, and she gave Dev a cong...

Drought, water overuse prompt Arizona to limit construction in some fast-growing parts of Phoenix

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:01:33 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the fast-growing edges of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater thanks to years of overuse and a multi-decade drought that is sapping its water supply. In a news conference Thursday, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the restrictions that could affect some of the fastest-growing areas of the nation’s fifth-largest city. Officials said developers could still build in the affected areas but would need to find alternative water sources to do so — such as surface or recycled water.Driving the state’s decision was a projection that showed that over the next 100 years, demand in metro Phoenix for almost 4.9 million acre-feet of groundwater would be unmet without further action, Hobbs said. An acre-foot of water is roughly enough for two to three U.S. households per year.Despite the move, the governor said the state isn’t running out of water. “Nobody who has water is going to lose their water,” Hobbs said.Officials ...