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EU Parliament backs new innovation commissioner Iliana Ivanova

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

The European Parliament’s plenary meeting has given its approval for the European Commission to appoint Bulgarian economist Iliana Ivanova as the new EU innovation and culture commissioner. EU lawmakers voted to support Ivanova’s candidacy, with 522 votes in favor, 51 abstentions and 27 votes against. The approval comes as no surprise: Ivanova didn’t get into trouble during her hearing in front of a select group of lawmakers from the industry and culture committees last week, after which lead members “unanimously agreed” that Ivanova is qualified for the job. The Parliament’s powerful Conference of Presidents subsequently closed the hearing process and put the nomination up for a vote in the plenary. Ivanova, who was present during the vote in Strasbourg, thanked lawmakers for their trust.In the appointment of a new European Commissioner, the bloc’s Parliament only has a consultative role. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will consi...

Poland won’t reopen its border to Ukrainian grain imports, PM says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

Poland will not reopen its border to Ukrainian grain imports regardless of what the European Commission decides this week, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Tuesday.Imports of Ukrainian grain, including wheat and maize, are currently banned from the territory of five eastern EU countries — including Poland, Hungary and Romania — under a deal struck with Brussels earlier this year. Only transit to other destinations is allowed. The restrictions expire on Friday and the Commission has yet to decide whether to let them lapse or extend them.“Poland will not allow Ukrainian grain to flood us. Whatever the decision of Brussels officials, we will not open our borders,” Morawiecki said in a message on the X platform, formerly Twitter.The move would violate the bloc’s common trade rules and is not the first time Morawiecki has threatened to do so. The issue of cheaper Ukrainian products flooding the Polish market as a result of Russia’s war of aggression has proved divisive ...

Trudeau to leave India (at last) after plane problems delay G20 exit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is finally set to leave India on Tuesday, after technical issues with his aircraft left him stranded in New Delhi for days after the G20 summit.“The technical issue with the plane has been resolved. The plane has been cleared to fly,” Mohammad Hussain, press secretary for Trudeau, told multiple news outlets.Trudeau was supposed to depart New Delhi on Sunday, after attending the G20 over the weekend. But a mechanical fault with his plane forced the prime minister and his delegation to extend their stay in India’s capital for an extra two days.The plane, a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-150 Polaris, had experienced “technical difficulties” which were not “fixable overnight,” according to statements from Trudeau’s office. In a statement to BBC News, Canada’s Department of National Defense said a component would have to be replaced.The defense department initially said a replacement plane was on its way to New Delhi to retrieve T...

With Apple’s iPhone 15, the EU wins the charger war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

BRUSSELS — Made by Apple. Designed — at least in part — by Eurocrats. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant is expected to present its new iPhone 15 — including more expensive variations — in a much-anticipated product launch Tuesday night. According to leaks ahead of the reveal, the iPhones are expected to use Apple’s first new charging technology in more than a decade: They will feature a USB-C charging port, instead of Apple’s proprietary Lightning solution. It’s an adaptation that Apple was pressured into after European Union rules will require smartphones and other electronic devices to have a USB-C port by the end of 2024 at the latest. Apple has vehemently pushed back against the rule change in the past, saying it would stifle innovation.The port switch ends more than a decade of arm-wrestling between the EU and Apple over the company’s most lucrative — and ubiquitous — product. It proves the EU can compel even the world’s most valuable tech...

State of emergency declared in Leominster as flooding swamps roads, damages businesses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

City officials declared a state of emergency in Leominster Monday night as heavy rains battered the region, also triggering a flash flood emergency for Leominster and the surrounding area. The flash flood emergency declared by the National Weather Service included Leominster, Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Princeton and Sterling as of around 11 p.m. A larger swath of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire was included under a series of flash flood warnings earlier in the evening.In Leominster, rescues were underway in several spots Monday night and officials said they were in the process of rushing mutual aid from neighboring communities and state agencies into hard hit areas while rain continued to fall.“Do not venture out,” said Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella in a message on Facebook around 6:30 p.m. “It is not safe.” In a subsequent Facebook Live video, Mazzarella shared a view from a parking lot near the Leominster police station which he said had been flooded since around ...

Some Leominster residents asked to evacuate due to possible issue at nearby dam

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

Residents in low-lying areas of the Fall Brook tributary to Fall Brook along Central Street, Fall Brook, and the North Nashua River in Leominster are being urged to evacuate and safely leave the area due to a potential issue at the Barrett Park Pond Dam, MEMA announced Tuesday morning.Shelter for residents in that area is available at Skyview Middle SchoolNo additional information was immediately available.https://twitter.com/MassEMA/status/1701531642597122538This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

‘We’re starting from scratch’: Leominster business owners cleaning up after flooding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

Flash-flooding in Leominster forced first responders to use inflatable boats to rescue residents who became trapped by the flood waters. And as the waters recede, loacl business owners are getting their first look at the damage.Those rescued said the water came so quickly that they didn’t have time to evacuate.“When I left there was four feet of water on my porch,” said Arlene Sauler. “We had to get evacuated, the water just kept coming and coming and coming.”The severe weather caused some buildings housing businesses in the area to collapse.On Pleasant Street, the ground beneath the front portion of a house had been washed away and the road made impassable by a large break in the street.Heather Dinitto was among the business owners who said they lost their livelihoods in the storm.“I heard the dam let go and the river ran right through it and took out the entire first floor,” she said. “The bay doors, the garages, gone, the dumpsters ...

More Wet Weather, Latest on Lee

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

With a flood watch up yesterday for the potential of slow moving storms, and rain rates of 2-3″/hr, unfortunately the flooding rains did come into fruition. As the same storms trained over the same locations, dumping locally up to 6-8″+ of rain, flooding became serious very quickly. Some of the higher totals landed in Leominster, and with all the rushing water cascading down the hilly terrain, life threatening, damaging flooding occurred. That prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood emergency. In the wake of the flooding rains, today is a relatively quieter day with just a few pop-up showers from time to time. They won’t last nearly as long, nor produce nearly as much rain, as the storms of yesterday did. Still, it’ll be another muggy and murky day overall with highs in the 70s. Scattered showers and storms slide through tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night. A few of those storms will be locally strong and we’ll also track the pote...

Maryland plans to spend $1.2 billion on stadium improvements for the Orioles and Ravens. How much money is that really?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

There is a small group of predominantly Black neighborhoods in East Baltimore where the homicide rate has plunged, vacant homes have been renovated, property values are rising and new residents have arrived without displacing existing ones.The coalition of religious leaders overseeing those improvements — a nonprofit called BUILD — wants to take its model to neighborhoods across Baltimore and tackle the city’s crisis of empty lots and vacant homes. But many people have balked at the plan’s estimated price tag: $2.5 billion in government bonds.It’s a big number, acknowledged the Rev. George Hopkins, BUILD’s co-chair, but he wishes people could see the same value in Baltimore’s neighborhoods that they see in the stadiums where the Ravens and Orioles play.Those stadiums are slated to receive $1.2 billion of public money — $600 million each — in the coming years. To Hopkins and other Baltimore advocates, it’s proof that politic...

Orioles minor league report: From Samuel Basallo to Jackson Holliday, a look at the biggest risers — and fallers — on the farm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:54 GMT

Samuel Basallo’s promotion is just further proof of his standout 2023 campaign.At 18 years old, the catcher began his first year of full-season ball with Low-A Delmarva. He’s ending it in Double-A.Basallo, now 19, hasn’t just zoomed up the Orioles’ prospect rankings, but he’s been one of the biggest risers in the sport. He began the season ranked by Baseball America as Baltimore’s 15th-best prospect, nowhere near the publication’s top 100. He leapfrogged up to No. 4 on the Orioles’ list and No. 44 in the top 100 thanks to his impressive production.Basallo, the best player the Orioles have signed internationally under general manager Mike Elias’ regime, posted solid numbers in Low-A (.887 OPS) but then broke out with High-A Aberdeen over the summer, slashing .333/.444/.688 — good for a 1.131 OPS — in 27 games. In his 110 contests between the two levels, he totaled 25 doubles, 20 home runs, 84 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and ...