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Spanish socialists strike coalition deal with far-left Sumar alliance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

Spain’s Socialist Party (PSOE), led by outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and Yolanda Díaz’s far-left Sumar coalition on Tuesday signed an agreement to form a coalition government.The deal includes a range of social measures, including proposals to regulate job cuts, raise the minimum wage and reduce working hours without decreasing salaries, according to Spanish outlet El Pais.Spain has been in political limbo since July after an inconclusive national election failed to give any of the major parties a clear path to form a government.Sánchez’s Socialists, which came in second, were tasked with forming a government earlier this month, after the center-right Popular Party, which got the most votes in the election, failed to secure the support of a majority in parliament.An agreement between the Socialists and Sumar was widely expected but it is not enough to secure a majority, so Sánchez still needs to gain the backing of smaller regional parties.His hardest task will ...

Poland’s opposition proposes forming new government

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

WARSAW — Poland’s three largest opposition parties on Tuesday said they were ready to build a coalition to replace the incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) party and asked President Andrzej Duda to allow them to form a government.“Today, together with the leaders of the democratic parties, we confirmed our readiness to fully cooperate and form a new majority in the future parliament,” Donald Tusk, the leader of Civic Coalition, the largest opposition party, and a former Polish prime minister and European Council president, told reporters.His grouping, together with the center-right Third Way and the Left, has 248 seats in the 460-member lower house of parliament.The October 15 election saw PiS come in as the largest party, taking 194 seats, but it is unlikely to be able to find partners to bring it to the needed parliamentary majority of 231.Duda has said that presidents traditionally have chosen the largest party to have the first try at forming a new government; Tuesd...

Macron calls for ‘decisive relaunch’ of peace process during Israel visit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

French President Emmanuel Macron attempted a delicate balancing act during his visit to Israel on Tuesday, calling for the peace process with the Palestinians to be re-energized as he pledged solidarity with Israel in the wake of Hamas’s deadly attacks against Israel. “The security of Israel cannot be long-lasting without a decisive relaunch of the political process with Palestinians,” Macron said at a press conference with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Palestinian militant group Hamas does “not carry the Palestinian cause” and should be fought, but Palestinian aspirations must be heard “with reason,” Macron said.The French president said he was in Israel to share his condolences after the attacks on October 7 and show his support for Israel, which is in the midst of its most deadly outbreak of violence in decades. Macron also suggested the remit of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State terror ...

No more rate hikes (for now)! ECB set to take its foot off the brake

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank is set to end a year-long sequence of interest rates hikes this Thursday and usher in a policy pause that is expected to stretch well into next year.The base case for all 85 economists in a recent Reuters survey is that the pause will ultimately come to represent the start of a plateau for interest rates, as a weakening economy removes the need for further hikes. The bank raised its key deposit rate to a record 4 percent in September with a 10th straight hike — by far the most aggressive tightening of monetary policy in its 25-year existence. With the Eurozone economy now expected to stagnate or even contract in the second half of this year, the majority of economists expect the ECB’s next move to be a cut — albeit not until the third quarter of next year. Against that backdrop, President Christine Lagarde is expected to play for time at her regular press conference after the meeting. That’s partly because uncertainty over the outlo...

Emergency crews respond to crash involving school bus in Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

Several people were evaluated for possibly minor injuries following a multi-vehicle crash involving a Boston Public Schools bus on Tuesday morning.Troopers responding to a reported crash on the Riverway around 7:30 a.m. found a crash between a vehicle and a school bus with children aboard, according to a state police spokesman.Occupants of the bus, including students, the driver, and an adult monitor were evaluated at the scene for possible minor injuries.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Police responding to school bus crash on Riverway, evaluation for ‘minor’ injuries underway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

A  Boston school bus carrying children was involved in a crash this morning with another vehicle, according to police.State police and Boston EMS are at the scene on the Riverway evaluating passengers “for possible minor injuries,” according to the state police.The collision occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m.Occupants of the bus including the driver, bus monitor and students are being evaluated.– Developing

Crews clear wreckage after ‘superfog’ near New Orleans causes highway crashes that killed at least 7

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Crews worked into Tuesday morning clearing the wreckage of more than 150 vehicles involved in a series of crashes the day before on Interstate 55 near New Orleans caused by a “superfog” of marsh fire smoke and dense fog that killed at least seven people and injured another 25.Hazardous driving conditions Tuesday morning prompted several schools in the area to close or delay.An estimated 158 vehicles were involved and 25 people injured, according to the Louisiana State Police, who warned Monday night the death toll could climb as first responders looked for victims, the smell of burnt wreckage still heavy in the air.The crashes began before 9 a.m. Monday and there were several crashes along a one-mile span of the highway, Louisiana State Police Sgt. Kate Stegall said in a news briefing. The highway was expected to remain closed at least until the bridge could be inspected for damage in daylight Tuesday, Stegall said.The crashes left a long stretch of mangled and sc...

Michelle Obama to narrate audio edition of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A new digital audio edition of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” will have a very well known narrator: former first lady Michelle Obama.HarperCollins Publishers announced Tuesday that the audio download will go on sale Oct. 31, the 60th anniversary of the book’s original release. Michelle Obama has read from “Where the Wild Things Are” before. In 2016, she and President Barack Obama acted out the classic picture book for an Easter event at the South Lawn of the White House. “Maurice Sendak would have been absolutely delighted with Mrs. Obama’s superb rendition of ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ and her strong commitment to children is much admired by us all in the Sendak household,” Lynn Caponera, president and treasurer of the Maurice Sendak Foundation, said in a statement.Sendak, one of the world’s most famous children’s authors, died in 2012 at age 83. His other books included “In the Night Kitchen,” “Chicken Soup with Rice” and “Ou...

Extremists with ties to the Islamic State group kill at least 26 people in eastern Congo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Extremists with ties to the Islamic State group killed at least 26 people in eastern Congo, authorities said on Tuesday. Attackers with the Allied Democratic Forces killed people in the city of Oicha in North Kivu province on Monday, said Beni Charles Ehuta Omeonga, the military administrator for the area. “Among the victims were seven members from the same family killed by the assailants in their home,” he said.Most of the victims were shot in their homes, said Nicolas Kikuku, a deputy governor in the region, adding that the death toll is likely higher than what’s been reported. Conflict has been simmering in eastern Congo for decades where more than 120 armed groups are fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some are trying to protect their communities.ADF has been expanding and intensifying operations in recent years, spreading from North Kivu to Ituri province despite military interventions meant to stop th...

Oprah Winfrey selects Jesmyn Ward’s ‘Let Us Descend’ for her book club

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey’s new book club pick highlights an author she has long admired, Jesmyn Ward. On Tuesday, Winfrey announced she had selected Ward’s “Let Us Descend,” which comes out this week. “Let Us Descend” is a slave narrative set in the 19th century and follows a teenage girl’s journey across the American South. Ward, 46, is among the most acclaimed writers of her generation. Her previous works include the novels “Salvage the Bones” and “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” both winners of the National Book Award.In 2022, she became the youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.“I have read all of Jesmyn Ward’s books and have been a fan of her writing for years,” Winfrey said in a statement. “‘Let Us Descend’ is a vital work for our culture and I’m so excited to have her newest offering as part of our Book Club.” Ward has also written such nonfiction as “Men We Reaped” and “Navigate Your Stars.” In a statement Tuesday, she expressed ...