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5 real-life impacts of the EU’s foot-dragging on chemicals law reboot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

For months, European lawmakers, NGOs and scientists have been calling on Brussels to set out a long-awaited revamp of the bloc’s chemicals rules before the summer break.But as the corridors of the EU institutions empty out and policymakers head off on vacation, those hopes are being dashed. With next year’s European election looming, many now worry the proposal will come too late to be scrutinized and signed off by lawmakers before the end of the Commission’s mandate, kicking the can even further down the road. The revamp of the legislation — known as REACH — was initially due to be presented in November of last year, before the deadline was pushed back to March. Amid internal disagreements over whether the revision should come at all and heavy lobbying from industry, the Commission again pushed back the revision, saying it would come by the end of this year. The delay is likely to affect countless sectors and millions of consumers across the bloc. REACH isn’...

Editorial: GOP should continue to pursue Hunter Biden probe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

For the second time in a week, Donald Trump has been indicted. Perhaps he’s Hunter Biden’s lucky charm.The latest Trump charges — filed Tuesday by special counsel Jack Smith — stem from the former president’s failure to go quietly after he lost the 2020 election. The charges allege that Trump enlisted six co-conspirators in “his criminal efforts to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election and retain power.”Trump lashed out in typical fashion, calling it a “fake indictment.” It’s an approach that his ardent supporters relish. As of yet, there’s no evidence that Trump’s legal troubles will cripple his efforts to compete for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.What his legal troubles are doing, however, is obscuring the burgeoning Hunter Biden scandal.On Monday, Hunter Biden’s former business partner told a congressional hearing that Joe Biden would “would occasionally put his father on speakerphone at business dinners and in other situations,” The Wall Street...

Graham: Pence says Trump lying about VP’s role in electoral vote count

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

As his former boss was standing before a Washington judge pleading not guilty to four criminal counts of conspiracy, Mike Pence was pleading his case to New Hampshire GOP primary voters.Pence’s pitch: “President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution, and I always will.”In an interview with a local radio host, Pence declined to pre-judge the president’s case.“I can’t say whether the government can make a criminal case,” Pence said, adding that “like every American,” Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence. However, Pence also repeatedly said Trump was “wrong” about how the electoral votes should have been handled on Jan. 6, 2021, and the vice president’s role in it.“I had no right to overturn the election. I had no right to reject or return votes, and the president was wrong to ask me to do it,” Pence said. “Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. And anyone who asks some...

Kris Delmhorst joins songwriters for Fruitlands concert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

If you’re a locally renowned singer-songwriter, you’re bound to touch base, talk shop and get support from other renowned songwriters. And sometimes that interaction even happens onstage. “It’s a strange job and a strange life,” says Kris Delmhorst, who made her name locally and now lives in Western Massachusetts. “There’s become a network of trust and collaboration that I rely on creatively. And no matter how long I live out here, I’ll always feel that the Cambridge scene will be part of my home community.”She will join a pair of fellow songwriters, Deb Talan and Heather Maloney, for an “in the round” concert at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard next Wednesday; with all three onstage together. All three started their careers here and went onto build a national following. Talan has returned to solo status after a successful run with the Weepies, a duo with her then-husband. And Delmhorst has earned a rep as one of the more inventive songwriters around, drawing from alternative pop as...

Lowry: Fear factor looms large with GOP candidates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

Donald Trump has gotten indicted yet again, and, as usual, most of the other Republican candidates have been sympathetic, if not outright deferential, to him.It’s another episode that raises the question: Can someone who is afraid of Trump defeat him?Of all the advantages that Trump has in the competition for the 2024 Republican nomination — immediate past president, ability to generate enormous media attention, etc. — perhaps foremost among them is the fact that the other Republican candidates are afraid.It’s hard to think of anyone who has ever won a major-party nomination while showing fear, especially of someone else in the field.A successful candidate might be careful around certain issues or constituencies, or back off of an unpopular position. But being clearly scared by an opponent is something else, entirely.Until now.When asked about Trump, most of the candidates might not actually lick their lips, or swallow hard or begin to blink faster, but you w...

Dear Abby: Kids stunned, angered by dad’s secret life

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

Dear Abby: My brother and I recently found out my father, who has been married for more than 30 years, is having sexual relations with other men. This man accused my brother of being gay (he’s not), claims to be religious and sleeps next to my mother every night. I am not sure how to approach this because, honestly, I’m still in shock. My brother is furious.We found a secret email address of Dad’s along with messages to men he has been meeting. Some of them describe him bringing men over while our mother is at work. He tells us he is going to a store, to visit a friend in the hospital, etc., but we found out that he’s really been sneaking around with other men.Our mother doesn’t know any of this, and it was an accident that my brother and I found out. (We were ridding his computer of a virus.) Should I say something to my father? How do I approach it? How do I forgive him for accusing my brother of being gay when it’s him all along? Should I say s...

California Congressman Adam Schiff discusses Trump indictments, Senate campaign: 'This is the most serious set of charges yet'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

(FOX40.COM) — While campaigning in Sacramento to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein, Rep. Adam Schiff spoke to FOX 40 about the indictments of former President Donald Trump and his campaign to become a U.S. Senator. On the Trump indictments, Schiff said, "This is the most serious set of charges yet.""They go really to the heart of our democracy," he added while listing the alleged events that led to the charges. ‘Inside California Politics: The Race for the Senate,’ a special program on the leading candidates for U.S. Senator for California Regarding his campaign, the California representative said he's going to be, "hitting the ground every hour of the day up until election time." He also noted that his grassroots movement is what separates him from the competition."The strength that I have in fundraising is that it comes from the grassroots. That it comes from tens, even hundreds of thousands of people."Schiff then added that the average contribution to his campai...

Mega Millions players spurned again as jackpot climbs to $1.55 billion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

Another Mega Millions drawing, another night without a jackpot winner.The numbers drawn Friday night were: 11, 30, 45, 52, 56 and the gold ball 20.Because no one matched all six numbers and won the estimated $1.35 billion jackpot, the top prize increased to $1.55 billion for the next drawing Tuesday night.There now have been 31 straight drawings without a jackpot winner. The last time someone won the Mega Millions jackpot was April 18.The $1.55 billion prize would be for a sole winner who chooses the annuity option with payment stretched over 30 years. Most winners opt for a lump-sum payment, which would be an estimated $757.2 million on Tuesday.A big slice of those winnings would go toward federal taxes, while many states also tax lottery payouts.The jackpot is so hard to win because of the 1 in 302.6 million odds of matching the numbers on five white balls and a separate mega ball. The odds are better to win smaller prizes, which start at $2.Mega Millions is played in 45 states, W...

Artificial intelligence is gaining state lawmakers’ attention, and they have a lot of questions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — As state lawmakers rush to get a handle on fast-evolving artificial intelligence technology, they’re often focusing first on their own state governments before imposing restrictions on the private sector. Legislators are seeking ways to protect constituents from discrimination and other harms while not hindering cutting-edge advancements in medicine, science, business, education and more.“We’re starting with the government. We’re trying to set a good example,” Connecticut state Sen. James Maroney said during a floor debate in May.Connecticut plans to inventory all of its government systems using artificial intelligence by the end of 2023, posting the information online. And starting next year, state officials must regularly review these systems to ensure they won’t lead to unlawful discrimination.Maroney, a Democrat who has become a go-to AI authority in the General Assembly, said Connecticut lawmakers will likely focus on private industry ne...

Cost of federal census recounts push growing towns to do it themselves

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:49 GMT

Officials in the city of Lebanon worried that the amount of state money distributed from Tennessee agencies based on 2020 census figures wasn’t keeping pace with their explosive growth. So they reached out to the U.S. Census Bureau to ask about conducting another head count, or “special census,” for the city on the edge of metro Nashville.But Lebanon officials balked at the $880,000 price tag and decided to do it themselves.“We think we can do it cheaper,” said Paul Corder, planning director for Lebanon, which has a population of 44,000 residents.Their census is rolling out later this summer. Officials hope to spend less than half the federal quote for a count that accurately captures Lebanon’s rapid growth, with a goal of bringing in just under $1 million extra each year in state funding through the end of the decade.The bureau’s special head counts don’t change political maps, unlike the federal census every decade, but they can lead to more state and federal funding. Communities ...