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A top EU official helps run a luxury hotel in Bali — and never had to tell Brussels

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s executive body requires all employees to submit their “outside activities” for scrutiny — an attempt to catch possible conflicts of interest before they become a problem.But buying a hotel in Bali? That apparently doesn’t count. In 2009, Gert Jan Koopman did just that, purchasing the plush Munduk Moding Plantation Nature Resort & Spa. Yet Koopman wasn’t a hotelier — he was, and is, one of the most senior officials within the European Commission in Brussels. At the time, the property was just five rooms. But over the next decade, Koopman, head of the EU executive’s powerful DG NEAR enlargement division, and his family developed the resort into a premiere destination, billed as an “eco-luxury resort” renowned for its infinity pool.During that period, Koopman and his family — who took over ownership at some point — visited the hotel regularly, were in frequent contact with its managers and signed off on developments, accordi...

It’s time for more majority decision-making in EU foreign policy

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

Annalena Baerbock is the federal minister for foreign affairs of Germany. Hadja Lahbib is the minister of foreign affairs, European affairs and foreign trade, and the federal cultural institutions of Belgium. Jean Asselborn is the minister for foreign and European affairs of Luxemburg. Wopke Hoekstra is the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of the Netherlands. Bogdan Aurescu is the minister of foreign affairs of Romania. Tanja Fajon is the minister of foreign and European affairs of Slovenia. José Manuel Albares Bueno is the minister for foreign affairs of Spain.In the face of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the European Union has proven its ability to act. It has done so by standing by Ukraine diplomatically, financially and militarily; by cutting its energy dependence on Russia; and by offering Ukraine, as well as the Republic of Moldova, a clear EU membership perspective.As we look to the future, this ability to take swift and resolute action will ...

Police: 10-year-old Dorchester boy reported missing has been safely located

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

Boston police say they’ve located a 10-year-old boy who was reported missing. Darnell Martin, of Dorchester, was reported missing Sunday.https://twitter.com/bostonpolice/status/1668089120109785089https://twitter.com/bostonpolice/status/1668060088047751168This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Red Sox rally to beat Yankees 3-2 in extra innings, win series

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

The Red Sox rallied in the eighth inning and won it in extras after their bullpen snuffed out a number of attempted Yankees rallies to win 3-2 and take two of three from their divisional rivals.In the tenth, Red Sox second baseman Enrique Hernandez drilled a single off Ron Marinaccio (2-3) into left to score ghost runner Adam Duvall and put the Red Sox (33-33) ahead. The Yankees (38-29) escaped further damage in the rest of inning when Billy McKinney robbed Pablo Reyes of extra-bases (or more) with a leaping catch at the wall in left.In the bottom of the inning, Chris Martin got D.J. LeMahieu to fly out before striking out Jose Trevino and Anthony Volpe to record his first save of the year.Things began to go south for the Yankees in the eighth inning when Hernandez singled to left and advanced to second when Gleyber Torres let Billy McKinney’s return throw get past him, resulting in an error. A Reese McGuire walk and sacrifice bunt by Pablo Eyes put runners on second and third...

‘Unabomber’ died by suicide, sources say

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

Ted Kaczynski, known as the “Unabomber,” who carried out a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, died by suicide, four people familiar with the matter said.Kaczynski, who was 81 and suffering from late-stage cancer, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday.Emergency responders performed CPR and revived him before he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later Saturday morning, the people told the AP. They were not authorized to publicly discuss Kaczynski’s death and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.Kaczynski’s death comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in the last several years following the death of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, who also died by suicide in a federal jail in 2019.Kaczynski had been held in the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, since May 1998, when he...

10 killed when wedding bus rolls in Australia

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia — Ten people were killed in Australia when a bus carrying a group of more than 50 returning wedding guests rolled overnight in the heart of wine country, according to police and media reports Monday.Police said 25 people were injured in the accident and were taken to area hospitals by helicopter and by road. A further 18 passengers were uninjured in the accident in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales state north of Sydney.The driver of the bus, a 58-year-old man, has been arrested and will be charged, Police Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said.She would not detail the allegations, but she told reporters “there is sufficient information … for us to establish that there will be charges.” She would not comment on whether speed was a factor.If the driver was hurt, his injuries were minor and he was a nearby Cessnock police station on Monday, Chapman said.The accident happened just after 11:30 p.m. in foggy conditions at a roundabout on...

J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell make history as first openly nonbinary winners of Tonys for acting

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Awards history was made Sunday when Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee became the first nonbinary people to win Tonys for acting as the Broadway community seized the moment amid a Hollywood writers’ strike that left theater’s biggest night without a script.“Thank you for the humanity. Thank you for my incredible company who raised me up every single day,” said leading actor in a musical winner Ghee, who stars in “Some Like It Hot,” the adaptation of the classic cross-dressing comedy film.The soulful Ghee stunned audiences with their voice and dance skills, playing a Chicago musician, on the run from gangsters, who tries on a dress and is transformed.Newell, who plays Lulu — an independent, don’t-need-no-man whiskey distiller in “Shucked” — has been blowing audiences away with their signature number, “Independently Owned.”“Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here as a queer, nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts. And to anyone...

German shepherd wounded in Ukraine gets new start as Hungarian police dog

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — After a rocket attack in eastern Ukraine, half of Rambo’s face was mangled and bloody. Shrapnel had ravaged the right side of his head, and it was uncertain if he would survive. The 3-year-old German shepherd, who had accompanied Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines of the war, underwent emergency surgery that saved his life. Now, Rambo is training with the Budapest police department in neighboring Hungary and serving as a reminder that dogs — and people — with disabilities can do great things.Recovered from his brush with death in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv province, Rambo is learning how to interact with children, older adults and disabled people at police demonstrations and rehabilitation institutions, according to Lt. Col. Maria Stein with the Budapest Metropolitan Police.Demonstrating the tasks performed by canine units is part of the department’s crime prevention program, with a goal of teaching young people to be more tolerant a...

Police: 1 dead, several wounded in shooting at Maryland home

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland police chief said that at least one person was killed and several others wounded in a shooting Sunday night at a house in the state’s capital city. Annapolis Police Chief Ed Jackson told The Baltimore Sun that several people were shot and at least one of the victims had died. Numerous police cars were seen in the residential area where the shooting happened south of the city center and near the waterfront. The police department issued a news release confirming multiple people were hurt and that one was flown to a trauma center. The release did not elaborate further on the victims. The police statement said that a suspect was in custody and that there was no further threat to the public. Brian Witte, The Associated Press

China struggles with weak post-COVID economic recovery

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:30:21 GMT

SHIYAN, China (AP) — Sales of Yizhuan Automobile Co.’s trash trucks picked up after China ended anti-virus controls in December, but their growth is in low gear as managers struggle to rebuild business lost during the pandemic.China’s economy rebounded at the start of 2023, but after a good first quarter, factory output and consumer spending are weakening. An official survey in April found a record 1 in 5 young workers in cities were unemployed.Yizhuan’s sales are up only by single-digit percentages from last year’s depressed level, according to its deputy general manager, Yu Xiongli. The 300-employee company is in Hubei province, where the first coronavirus cases were detected in late 2019.″It is still in the process of recovering,” Yu said. “Growth is quite slow.”China’s economic growth accelerated to 4.5% over a year earlier in the three months ending in March from the previous quarter’s 2.9%, but forecasters say the peak of that recovery might already be past.Growth would...