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Liz Truss sparks outrage with resignation honors for allies

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, has handed out peerages and other honors to 11 political allies despite staying in office for only 49 days, sparking a backlash. Her resignation honors list rewards a key Brexit architect and a major donor to the Conservative Party with seats in the House of Lords. Former prime ministers are entitled to gift knighthoods, peerages and other honors to colleagues and allies upon leaving office. But current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced calls to block Truss from submitting a list, given that she served such a short and controversial tenure, which ended with her resignation in October 2022 after a tax-cutting budget proposal sent markets into meltdown. Nevertheless, Truss was permitted to send three close allies to the House of Lords — Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign for Brexit; Jon Moynihan, a Tory donor and Vote Leave chairman; and her former deputy chief of staff Ruth Porter. She also nomina...

Patriots-Bills preview: Can Bill Belichick upset Josh Allen and Co. again?

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

A year ago, the Patriots’ season ended with a painful trip to Buffalo.In their shared regular-season finale, the Bills pulled away with a 12-point win that killed the Pats’ playoff hopes and punctuated a season defined by dysfunction. Almost 12 months later, the Pats are again headed to Buffalo with a ball-and-chain offense. But now, there’s nothing to lose.Their postseason dreams died weeks ago. The team has rallied around a new quarterback with a few road wins, most recently upsetting the Broncos in Denver. A repeat of that performance won’t be good enough to beat the Bills, but might the Bailey Zappe Patriots be building to something?Will they play like a team with nothing to lose? Here’s what to watch for in Orchard Park:When the Patriots runLast Sunday’s win at Denver marked a severe step back for what had been one of the most consistent run games in the league all season.Ezekiel Elliott averaged 2.3 yards per carry, while the Patriots failed...

NFL notes: 9 Patriots share Bill Belichick’s impact on them

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

Next weekend, Bill Belichick might coach his final game for the Patriots.Speculation over his future has dominated much of the team’s 4-11 season to date, fueled by reporting that ownership decided it would part ways during a mid-November bye week. Belichick’s contract reportedly runs only through next season. He owns a 29-26 record over the last four seasons and hasn’t clinched a playoff year in five.Of course, Belichick’s legacy as the greatest coach of all time still remains intact. A record Super Bowl rings as a head coach cemented that long ago, though his impact runs even deeper in Foxboro. Speaking to that, nine players spoke with the Herald this week about what Belichick has meant to them during their time in New England.Author’s note: The following answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.CB Jonathan JonesEighth season in New England, originally signed as an undrafted rookie in 2016“Just a model of consistency. You can’t fin...

Thousands accuse Serbia’s ruling populists of election fraud at a Belgrade rally

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of people rallied in Serbia’s capital on Saturday, chanting “Thieves!” and accusing the populist authorities of President Aleksandar Vucic of orchestrating a fraud during a recent general election. The big rally in central Belgrade capped nearly two weeks of street protests against reported widespread irregularities during the Dec. 17 parliamentary and local ballot that were also noted by international election observers.The ruling Serbian Progressive Party was declared the election winner but the main opposition alliance, Serbia Against Violence, has claimed the election was stolen, particularly in the vote for the Belgrade city authorities. Serbia Against Violence has led daily protests since Dec. 17 demanding that the vote be annulled and rerun. Tensions have soared following violent incidents and arrests of opposition supporters at a protest last weekend. The crowd at the rally on Saturday roared in approval at the appearance of Marinika T...

Taiwan’s presidential candidates emphasize peace in relations with Beijing

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s presidential candidates expressed desire for peaceful relations with Beijing, which has described Jan. 13 elections on the self-ruled island as a choice between war and peace and stepped up harassment of the territory it claims as own. William Lai, the frontrunner and currently Taiwan’s vice president from the ruling Democratic People’s Party, said in a televised debate Saturday that he was open to communicating with the government in Beijing, which has refused to talk to him or President Tsai Ing-wen.Beijing favors the candidate from the more China-friendly Nationalist, or Kuomintang, Party, and has criticized Lai and Tsai as “separatists” and accused them of trying to provoke a Chinese attack on Taiwan. Taiwan split from China amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to regard the island of 23 million with its high-tech economy as Chinese territory and has been steadily increasing its threat to achieve that goal by military force if necess...

3 injured in overnight downtown shooting

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

Three people have been injured after a shooting in downtown Toronto overnight.Police were called to Queen and Parliament Streets at 4:30 a.m. Saturday to reports of a shooting.Two men were found with non-life-threatening injuries and transported to hospital. A third victim made his way to hospital as well with non-life-threatening injuries.There has been no suspect information released by police at this point.

Eurostar cancels trains due to flooding, stranding hundreds of travelers in Paris and London

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Eurostar services to and from London were canceled Saturday after a tunnel under the River Thames became flooded due to heavy rain, disrupting festive travel plans.Hundreds of travelers trying to get across the English Channel were stranded at London’s St. Pancras International station and the Gare du Nord station in Paris. Eurostar, which runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, said it would be running no high-speed train services throughout Saturday because of the flooding.The U.K. has been battered by strong, gusty winds and heavy rain brought by Storm Gerrit throughout the festive period. More stormy weather and travel disruption is expected during the last weekend of the year.Chris Dillashaw, from San Antonio, Texas, was among many whose plans for New Year’s Eve were ruined by the travel chaos.“Our entire family is here. … We were celebrating Christmas in Paris and then headed to London for our New Year’s Eve plans,” he told The Associate...

Man dies in stabbing near Bathurst and Lake Shore, 1 arrested

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

A man has died after being stabbed early Saturday morning near Lake Shore Boulevard West and Bathurst Street.Police were called to the area just before 2 a.m. for reports of a stabbing. A man in his 50s was found with stab wounds. He was taken to hospital and was pronounced dead.A 25-year-old man has been arrested and the homicide unit is investigating.No further information about the incident has been released.

Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion have blocked part of the highway around Amsterdam

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Climate activists blocked part of the main highway around Amsterdam near the former headquarters of ING bank on Saturday to protest its financing of fossil fuels.Amsterdam Municipality said in a message on X, formerly Twitter, that traffic authorities closed part of the road and diverted traffic “to prevent a life-threatening situation.”Hundreds of activists walked onto the road in the latest road blockade organized by the Dutch branch of Extinction Rebellion. Earlier this year, the activist organization repeatedly blocked a highway leading into The Hague.Some of Saturday’s protesters walked along the closed A10 highway carrying a banner emblazoned with the words “Change or die” as two police vans drove slowly behind them.Another person carried a handwritten banner that said: “ING get out of oil and gas now!”The protest came despite ING announcing earlier this month that it is accelerating its moves to phase out loans for fossil fuel exploration.ING made...

Russia says it thwarted a Kyiv drone attack following its own aerial assault against Ukraine

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 19:30:51 GMT

Thirty-two Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russia on Saturday, Moscow officials reported, a day after an 18-hour aerial barrage across Ukraine killed at least 39 civilians.Drones were seen in the skies over Russia’s Moscow, Bryansk, Oryol, and Kursk regions, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement. It said that all of the drones had been destroyed by air defenses.Cross-border shelling also killed two people in Russia. A man died and four other people were injured when a missile struck a private home in Russia’s Belgorod region late Friday evening, regional head Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media. A 9-year-old was killed in a separate incident in Russia’s Bryansk region, said local governor Aleksandr Bogomaz.Cities across western Russia have come under regular attack from drones since May, with Russian officials blaming Kyiv. Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for attacks on Russian territory or the Crimean peninsula. However, larger aerial str...