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Hungary’s rule of law disputes with Brussels explained

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

BRUSSELS — Hungary and its combative leader Viktor Orbán have long been a thorn in the EU’s side, and this week promises to be a big one for that relationship.On Thursday and Friday, EU leaders meet to discuss a number of issues — Ukrainian membership of the EU, the bloc’s long-term budget, migration — on which Hungary has the potential to cause major disruption.But before that, the European Commission is set to allow Hungary to access billions in EU funds that have been frozen by Brussels over concerns about judicial independence. That decision could come as early as Tuesday.But how much money is at stake? And what does it mean for the health of the EU? Here’s POLITICO’s guide.What’s at stake? An awful lot of money.In December 2022, the Commission decided to freeze about €22 billion of EU cohesion funds intended for Hungary. Cohesion funds are meant to help poorer EU member countries invest in their economies. They are in large part paid as reimbur...

Dutch PM Rutte presses for EU to reach €5B Ukraine arms deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

BERLIN — EU leaders should back Ukraine with significant military financing this week to avoid a “double block” to support for Kyiv on both sides of the Atlantic, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned Monday.“With the problems in the United States, where the fresh money is blocked, it’s quite crucial that we don’t have a double block against Ukraine,” Rutte said at the Hertie School in Berlin.The U.S. Congress is deadlocked over fresh funding for Ukraine, while the EU is yet to come to a deal over the future of the European Peace Facility (EPF), a pot of cash used to partially reimburse states for arms deliveries to Kyiv.EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to hash out a proposal for a €5 billion cash addition to the EPF rather than the four-year €20 billion fund pitched earlier this year.But with Germany in a budget crisis and Hungary threatening a veto, the outcome of this week’s talks are still unclear. “We need to agree on the m...

Reports of antisemitism, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias continue to surge across the US, new data shows

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

(CNN) — As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its third month, reports of hate crimes and bias incidents targeting Jews, Muslims and Arabs continue to surge across the United States.New data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reveal a dramatic spike in reported incidents of both antisemitism and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias.The ADL said it recorded 2,031 antisemitic incidents in the two months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including reports of physical assault, vandalism and “anti-Israel rallies that included classically antisemitic, anti-Zionist and/or terror-supportive rhetoric.”The organization said it received reports of 465 antisemitic incidents during the same two-month period in 2022.The new data, released Monday, reflects a more than 330% increase in reported incidents of antisemitism from the 2022 timeframe, the ADL said.“This is historic but can be directly linked back to the...

Bill Belichick gives detailed assessment of Patriots QB Bailey Zappe’s recent play

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t name a starting quarterback ahead of Sunday’s contest with the Chiefs.Belichick said Monday morning on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” that he’s “not announcing who’s doing what.”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots-Steelers film review: Did Bailey Zappe prove something in Pittsburgh? New England Patriots | Patriots mailbag: What’s Bailey Zappe’s future with organization? New England Patriots | Patriots lose veteran LB again to Dolphins New England Patriots | Source: Patriots lose offensive coach with 4 games left New England Patriots | Patriots release hybrid RB/WR to make room for ex-Eagles linebacker Still, Belichick seems fairly pleased with Zappe’s performance over the last two weeks, when the second-year pro has started two gam...

Matt Eberflus finally has a signature win after 30 games. Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the Chicago Bears’ Week 14 victory.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

Impactful decisions that will shape the future of the Chicago Bears will be based on the entire body of work this season, but a future with Matt Eberflus still patrolling the sideline would have been harder to imagine with a loss Sunday.10 thoughts on a decisive 28-13 victory over the Detroit Lions, the NFC North front-runner, that improved the Bears to 5-8 and opened the imagination for the future.1. I try hard to avoid weekly referendums on decisions that are off in the distance.Yes, it’s great fodder for talk shows and social media, but Bears general manager Ryan Poles — and the powerful folks in his tight circle at Halas Hall — won’t make a decision due in January based on a four-game slide to begin the season, a bad loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in late October or a meltdown in Detroit in November.Similarly, they won’t cement a call on Eberflus’ future based on the franchise’s first two-game winning streak since the final weeks of th...

Column: White Sox stasis continues while Cubs move on from another failed pursuit of Shohei Ohtani

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

The Chicago White Sox acquired veteran catcher Max Stassi shortly after the news of Shohei Ohtani’s record $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers was released.Suffice to say there were no Stassi-related celebrations on the South Side posted on Instagram.The domino effect of the Ohtani signing means free agency should pick up. The Cubs will now turn to their lesser-priced targets, but whether the Sox plan to fully participate remains to be seen.The acquisition of a 32-year-old, defensive-minded catcher who hasn’t played since 2022 provides the Sox with a veteran to handle what should be a very young pitching staff, albeit at the expense of providing any offense.But the unintentional timing of the move, coming on the heels of the Dodgers’ gargantuan expenditure, only magnified the apparent direction (or misdirection) of the Sox. The offseason stasis adds to the litany of Sox lowlights, from the unsolved gunshots at Guaranteed Rate Field to the end of the ...

BlackBerry names new CEO, calls off plans for IPO of Internet of Things business

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

WATERLOO, ONT. — BlackBerry Ltd. has promoted John Giamatteo to the job of chief executive and called off plans for an initial public offering of its Internet of Things business, but still plans to split its operations.Giamatteo, who was president of BlackBerry’s cybersecurity business unit, takes over the job after the retirement of John Chen as chief executive and executive chairman earlier this year.Richard Lynch, who has served as interim chief executive since Nov. 4, will continue as board chair. The company also says it will no longer pursue a subsidiary initial public offering of its Internet of Things business unit.Instead, BlackBerry says the board has decided to establish its Internet of Things and cybersecurity businesses as stand-alone divisions. It says the plan includes the separation and streamlining of its centralized corporate functions into business-unit specific teams, with a view to each division operating independently.“The board, with input from its...

Celine Song nabs Golden Globe noms for best film direction, screenplay

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song has snagged Golden Globe nominations for best film direction and screenplay for her debut feature, “Past Lives.”The movie has also been nominated in the best drama category. The movie is about two childhood sweethearts who contemplate the nature of their relationship as they grow apart over the course of 24 years.  Song, 34, was born in South Korea and her parents moved to Markham, Ont., when she was 12. She now lives in New York. Other Canadian nominees this year include Ryan Gosling, for his supporting acting role in the blockbuster “Barbie.”This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2023.The Canadian Press

Putin visits a shipyard to oversee the commissioning of new Russian nuclear submarines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday traveled to a shipyard to attend the commissioning of new nuclear submarines, a visit that showcased the country’s nuclear might amid the fighting in Ukraine.Putin’s trip to the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk in Russia’s northwestern Archangelsk region comes three days after he declared his intention to seek another six-year term.Putin announced his decision to run in the March 17 presidential election, which he is all but certain to win, while speaking to soldiers who fought in Ukraine after a Kremlin award ceremony — a setting that underlined his focus on the military action in Ukraine.Monday’s visit to Sevmash, where Putin oversaw raising the navy’s flag on the newly built Emperor Alexander III and the Krasnoyarsk nuclear submarines, also appeared to emphasize his focus on bolstering Russia’s nuclear forces amid the tensions with the U.S. and other NATO allies over Ukraine. Putin has ca...

Is climate-friendly beef even a possibility?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:40:31 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, if you know one food that’s bad for the planet, it’s probably beef. It’s one of the worst polluters in the entire food industry, and its popularity means the scale of the beef industry is enormous. So much so that convincing people to give up beef has been a staple of the climate movement.But people who like beef don’t want to forego their steaks and hamburgers, so one of the world’s largest producers is now selling “climate-friendly” beef, and it’s been USDA approved.Kenny Torrella is a staff reporter at Vox. In the United States, Torrella said the carbon footprint per pound of beef is lower due to improvements made in the supply chain.“Even though we’ve taken those efforts and made those strides, you could still argue that beef is essentially the coal of the food sector,” said Torrella. So how “friendly” is it? Is it enough to offset the damage? And will we ever be able to enjoy both pr...