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New government emerges in Slovakia, with Robert Fico as prime minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

Slovakia has a new government — at least on paper.Following Tuesday’s announcement by the social democratic Hlas (Voice) party, which finished third in the September 30 election with 14.7 percent, that it would focus on coalition talks with leftist-populist Smer (Direction), the victor of the ballot with 23 percent, the two parties on Wednesday announced agreement on forming a ruling coalition.The incoming government will include the conservative populist Slovenská národná strana (Slovak National Party, SNS), which won 5.6 percent. The three parties control 79 seats in Slovakia’s 150-seat parliament.“This is the basis of a coalition agreement, which we want to sign as soon as possible,” said Smer leader Robert Fico. While conceding the parties of the new government would face multiple fiscal and geopolitical challenges, he claimed their previous experience of ruling Slovakia — from 2006 to 2010, and 2012 to 2020 — proved they were up to the task.“[If we are going] to hell, then fine...

Brothers accused of orchestrating deadly Russian strike on Ukrainian village

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

Two Ukrainian brothers helped Russia orchestrate a missile attack on a shop and a café in the village of Hroza, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement Wednesday.  The SBU named the brothers as Volodymyr, 30, and Dmytro Mamon, 23, both former police officers.Russia attacked the village in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region as people were gathering to commemorate a slain local soldier. It was originally believed that 50 people were killed but that has since been revised up to 55, as local prosecutors identified more bodies. Hroza had a population of 350, meaning one in seven residents was killed.During a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday, the attack was condemned as a war crime. Russia’s U.N. ambassador Vasilii Nebendzya at first said Russia does not strike civilian targets but later said that an “influential Ukrainian nationalist funeral was held in Hroza with many Nazis attending.” The people of Hroza had gathered to commemorate Ukrainia...

As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel forms unity government to oversee war sparked by Hamas attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading opposition figure on Wednesday created a war-time Cabinet to oversee the fight against Hamas militants after their stunning weekend attack. In the sealed-off Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas, Palestinians struggled to find safety as Israeli bombardment demolished entire neighborhoods and the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel.The new war-time Cabinet will consist of Netanyahu, Benny Gantz — a senior opposition figure and former defense minister — and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a statement released by Gantz said. The Cabinet will focus only on issues of the war. It appeared that the rest of Netanyahu’s existing government partners, a collection of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, would remain in place to handle other issues.The unusual arrangement cobbles together a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics, as the military appears increasingly likely to launch...

Mac Jones will remain Patriots’ starting QB this week against Raiders, Bill Belichick says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The Patriots are making some big changes to try to improve their offense.For now, a change at quarterback won’t be one of them.New England coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday that Mac Jones will remain the starter when the Patriots visit the Las Vegas Raiders.“Yeah, we’re not making any changes,” Belichick said.Jones is having his worst season since being drafted 15th overall in 2021. He completed just 12 of 22 passes for 110 yards and two interceptions in New England’s 34-0 loss to New Orleans last week. It computed to a 30.5 passer rating, the second-worst mark of his career.He has had six turnovers over the past two weeks, one of the biggest impediments for an offense that has managed just three points during that stretch. The Patriots (1-4) haven’t scored a touchdown in 10 quarters of play.As bad as things have been, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien believes there is time to fix the issues.“There’s a lot of season left,” O’Brien said this wee...

Mum On Fixes, But T Says GLX Back Up To Speed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

Just more than two weeks after the MBTA suddenly announced its newest tracks were too narrow to support travel above a walking pace, the slow zones on the Green Line Extension have been eliminated.MBTA officials said Wednesday that full-speed travel has resumed on both the Union Square branch and on the larger Medford branch. The Union Square branch was slated to be closed until Friday for an unrelated highway bridge repair, but reopened to riders ahead of schedule on Wednesday, officials said.About a mile of track on the Green Line Extension had been limited to speeds of 3 mph, agency data showed. MBTA leaders previously said inspections determined the rails were too narrow to support faster travel, but they have not disclosed how those mysterious problems — experts say rails typically widen over time — occurred, or were fixed.“The track defects discovered during last month’s inspection have been corrected, allowing trains to operate agai...

A ‘Monk’ reunion movie is coming to Peacock

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

(CNN) — “Monk” is returning.Tony Shalhoub will resume his titular role in “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie,” which premieres on Dec. 8 on Peacock.“It’s been twelve years since the world has seen a fresh installment of ‘Monk.’ The world has changed mightily in those intervening years and ‘Monk’ 2023 reflects the changing world,” executive producers Andy Breckman, David Hoberman and Randy Zisk said in a statement.In the series, Shalhoub played detective Adrian Monk, a character who lives with obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to the official film synopsis, Monk returns to solve a “very personal case involving his beloved step-daughter Molly, a journalist preparing for her wedding.”Also returning for the movie are Melora Hardin, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, and Hector Elizondo.Breckman, who created the series, wrote the film.“Monk” ran for eight seasons and Shalhoub won the Emmy for best actor in a comedy series three times.

Bill Belichick insists re-signing Jakobi Meyers was priority for Patriots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

FOXBORO — Among the Patriots’ offseason decisions to second guess, electing to sign wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster over bringing Jakobi Meyers back in free agency ranks at the top.The Patriots signed Smith-Schuster to a three-year, $25.5 million contract one day after Meyers signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Raiders.After Smith-Schuster’s deal was originally reported as a three-year pact for $33 million, Meyers tweeted “cold world lol” in response.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick: Mac Jones will start at QB, Patriots ‘not making any changes’ New England Patriots | Could Patriots CB J.C. Jackson start Sunday against the Raiders? New England Patriots | Patriots return speedy WR to practice Tuesday, lose 2 others New England Patriots | Do the Patriots expect QB Mac Jones to start Sunday? Bill O’Brien answers New England Patriots | ...

Lidia dissipates after killing 1 person, injuring 2 near Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta resort

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Lidia dissipated Wednesday after hitting land as a Category 4 hurricane near the resort of Puerta Vallarta, where one person was killed by a falling tree and two others injured The hurricane knocked over trees and blew roofs off houses with winds as high as 140 mph (220 kph) before moving inland. Laura Velázquez, the head of Mexico’s civil defense system, said one person died on the northern outskirts of Puerto Vallarta after being hit by a falling tree, and two others were injured elsewhere in the area.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday that Lidia’s winds were down to 35 mph as it dissipated about 145 miles (235 kilometers) north-northeast of the city of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and the capital of the western state of Jalisco.Lidia made landfall on a sparsely populated peninsula and then moved inland south of Puerto Vallarta, still with winds of 105 mph (165 kph). Victor Hugo Romo, the head of the Jalisco state civil defense of...

Climate activist Greta Thunberg fined again for a climate protest in Sweden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish court on Wednesday fined climate activist Greta Thunberg once again for disobeying police during an environmental protest in July in southern Sweden.The Malmo District Court ordered her to pay a 2,250 kroner ($206) fine.Thunberg, who already had been fined for a similar offense, took part in a July 24 environmental protest at an oil terminal in Malmo, where activists temporarily blocked access to the facility by sitting down and were removed by police.On Sept. 15, she was charged with disobedience to law enforcement for refusing to obey police asking her to leave the scene. She then was dragged away by two uniformed officers. Thunberg, 20, has admitted to the facts but denied guilt, saying the fight against the fossil fuel industry was a form of self-defense due to the existential and global threat of the climate crisis.”We have the science on our side and we have morality on our side. Nothing in the world can change that and so it is. I am ready to act ba...

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have been separated since 2016, she says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:59 GMT

Jada Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith have lived “completely separate lives” since 2016, she revealed in an interview with Hoda Kotb. The prominent Hollywood couple married in 1997 and have addressed separations and marital troubles, but never this specifically.Though it’s not a legal divorce, Pinkett Smith told Kotb in a clip released Wednesday on “Today” that it is essentially a divorce without papers. Smith and Pinkett Smith share two children, Willow and Jaden, as well as a son, Trey, from Smith’s first marriage.Representatives for Smith and Pinkett-Smith did not immediately respond to request for comment.The news came as a surprise to many, considering Pinkett Smith’s candor in her “Red Table Talk” series, in which she and Smith addressed her extramarital relationship in an episode in 2020, and the slap at the 2022 Academy Awards. At the ceremony, Smith infamously walked up on stage and struck presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s hair.The full i...