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Germany mulls downsizing China summit, aims to publish strategy in July

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

BERLIN — Germany is saying Willkommen to the Chinese government for a joint summit in Berlin next week — but kindly asking them to not bring too many ministers.Officials from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s office and other ministries have discussed downsizing the German-Chinese government consultations on June 20, three officials with knowledge of the discussions told POLITICO.Berlin is keen to avoid giving the impression that it’s receiving China with all-too-open arms amid tensions over Taiwan and Beijing’s not-so-indirect support for Russia’s war in Ukraine — especially to EU partners, the U.S. and Japan, said the officials, who like all other officials in this piece agreed to speak anonymously to POLITICO due to the sensitivity of the discussions.EU leaders are expected to discuss the bloc’s future relations with China during a summit on June 29 and 30 in Brussels.Scholz and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will lead the government consultations. German Vice Chanc...

Metsola weighs in to push EU Parliament closer to leasing new Strasbourg building

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

STRASBOURG — European Parliament President Roberta Metsola had the casting vote at a closed-door meeting that could entrench the European Parliament even more firmly in its Strasbourg home.Metsola convened her 14 vice presidents on Monday to decide on an offer from the French government, revealed by POLITICO in May, to rent out a new office building to the Parliament for €700,000 per year.After months of dithering about purchasing the building, the Parliament has been considering a May 3 offer from Paris, in which the French government would buy the so-called Osmose building — a state-of-the-art block that boasts 15,000m² of space, not far from the Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg — and then lease it to the Parliament. Paris described the offer as “advantageous” and the Parliament said it’s one-fifth the price it would have been on the open market at the time an assessment was carried out earlier this year. It comes also as part of the French government...

Treat Williams, ‘Everwood’ and ‘Deep Rising’ star, dead at 71

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

(CNN) — Treat Williams, a veteran actor who starred in the TV dramas “Blue Bloods” and “Everwood,” died Monday night as the result of a motorcycle accident in Vermont, his longtime agent, Barry McPherson, told CNN.He was 71.According to Vermont State Police, the crash occurred around 5:00 pm ET Monday on Vermont Route 30 when a driver of a vehicle attempted to turn left into a parking lot and collided with Williams, who was operating a 1986 Honda VT700c motorcycle. Williams was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered critical injuries. He was airlifted to Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.Born Richard Treat Williams in Rowayton, Connecticut, he studied theater in college and moved to New York shortly after graduating. There, he nabbed the understudy role to John Travolta in “Grease” and later replaced him as Danny Zuko.Williams’ versatile screen career included an early role in director Milos Forman’s adaptation of the ...

15 US service members evacuated for treatment after helicopter accident in Syria, defense official says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

(CNN) — A total of 15 US service members have been evacuated for treatment after a helicopter accident in Syria on Sunday, including some who are in serious condition, according to a US defense official familiar with the incident.The service members were taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the official said, a major military hospital that for years has treated US troops injured in combat.Seven other service members were also injured in the accident and treated at the scene, the official said, and some have already returned to duty. All of the troops who sustained injuries are in stable condition, three US defense officials said.The helicopter involved in the accident was an MH-47 Chinook, a specialized heavy-lift chopper used by special operations forces for movement and operations, according to two defense officials.“The cause of the incident is under investigation, although no enemy fire was reported,” said a statement released by US Central Comma...

Ravens WR Rashod Bateman ‘out for a couple days’ after receiving cortisone injection in his foot to help recovery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

Even as the Ravens welcomed Odell Beckham Jr. to the practice field Tuesday, coach John Harbaugh announced one of the team’s other key wide receivers, Rashod Bateman, will miss “a couple days” of minicamp after he received a cortisone injection to help with his recovery from Lisfranc surgery on his foot.“I’m not expecting ‘Bate’ to be a part of it right now,” Harbaugh said. “He had a shot, for healing purposes, a cortisone-type deal, so that’ll keep him out for a couple days. We decided to just let him keep rehabbing and make sure he’s ready to go for training camp.”Bateman was a limited participant in the Ravens’ three weeks of voluntary organized team activities, and Harbaugh gave no indication that his readiness for training camp is in question.The team’s 2021 first-round pick played just six games last season before electing to have surgery on his injured foot. He also missed the beginning of his...

A healthy Odell Beckham Jr. takes the field for first time with Ravens: ‘It feels good to … not feel pain’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

Odell Beckham’s road from a crumpled figure sprawled out on the Sofi Stadium turf in Los Angeles with a torn ACL in Super Bowl 56 to taking the field for the first time as a Raven was an arduous one, physically and emotionally.It’s no wonder, then, that the simple act of slipping on a jersey for the start of a mandatory three-day minicamp Tuesday at the team’s facility in Owings Mills struck him as a “meaningful” moment. The 30-year-old former All-Pro missed all of last season with what was the second major knee injury of his career and was back at the Ravens’ facility for the first time since signing as a free agent in April. It was his first meaningful football action in nearly 500 days.“I’ve been trying to not think about it because there’s been so many disappointments,” Beckham said. “I’ve been in a good mental head space to where I’ve tried to downplay this, but I think I’ll be excited to put a ...

Patriots’ Matthew Judon, DeVante Parker pass on DeAndre Hopkins questions at minicamp

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

FOXBORO — Mac Jones said the Patriots would love to have him.Kendrick Bourne suggested he would welcome him with open arms.Bill Belichick deflected, but at least confirmed the Patriots had interest when asked about DeAndre Hopkins on Monday.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Trent Brown returns, 7 missing at Patriots minicamp Tuesday New England Patriots | DeAndre Hopkins visiting Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday, per report New England Patriots | Mac Jones plays it safe, Jack Jones shines and more Patriots minicamp Day 1 takeaways New England Patriots | Former Patriots captain reportedly skipping mandatory minicamp over contract New England Patriots | Patriots release top free-agent signing after 3 months As for Matthew Judon and DeVante Parker, though, they passed on Hopkins chatter all together.“In the NFL, he’s a great player. He did amazing things, and wherever he lands, he l...

Drug deal likely sparked Denver mass shooting after Nuggets’ NBA win, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

By COLLEEN SLEVIN (Associated Press)DENVER (AP) — A shooting in downtown Denver amid fans celebrating the Nuggets’ first NBA championship victory was likely sparked by a drug deal gone wrong, police said Tuesday. The violence left 10 people wounded, including one of two suspected shooters.All of the injured are expected to survive, including five or six people that police believe were bystanders not involved in the drug deal, Chief Ron Thomas said at a news conference. He said 20 rounds were fired at the scene, roughly a mile from Ball Arena, where the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat on Monday night. Police spokesperson Doug Schepman said the shooting was “in the area where we had the largest gathering of folks celebrating during the night,” but the crowd had “diminished quite a bit at that point.”The gunfire broke out at around 12:30 a.m. — about 3 1/2 hours after the game — the Denver Police Department said in a statement. Scott D...

Trent Brown returns, 7 missing at Patriots minicamp Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

FOXBORO — The big man was back at practice Tuesday.Patriots offensive tackle Trent Brown returned to the field after missing the start of mandatory minicamp Monday after his flight was cancelled due to a hail storm, per MassLive. The 6-foot-8, 380-pound tackle warmed up with the team and did positional work, but did not participate in any team drills. He was the only starter who missed Monday’s practice to return.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | DeAndre Hopkins visiting Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday, per report New England Patriots | Mac Jones plays it safe, Jack Jones shines and more Patriots minicamp Day 1 takeaways New England Patriots | Former Patriots captain reportedly skipping mandatory minicamp over contract New England Patriots | Patriots release top free-agent signing after 3 months New England Patriots | Mac Jones reacts to DeAndre Hopkins’ reported Patriots visit: R...

Eliminating tax cap law among 70-plus amendments to Senate’s $586M tax relief plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:10 GMT

A Marlborough Democrat wants to repeal the state tax cap law that sent billions in reimbursement checks to residents last year, filing the idea as one of the 70-plus amendments to the Senate’s tax relief proposal scheduled for debate later this week.Sen. Jamie Eldridge said he wants to scrap the voter-passed tax cap law known as Chapter 62F because it creates a layer of unpredictability with state spending. The law required state officials to send nearly $3 billion back to taxpayers in 2022, which threw last year’s tax relief talks out the window.“I don’t think it really serves sound public policy,” Eldridge told the Herald. “I didn’t hear from anyone about ‘this made a big difference in my life to get this tax rebate’. So I do think that it’s important to have this discussion to repeal it and make sure that we’re not worried about it being triggered in the future.”Eldridge filed the repeal amendment to Senate Democrats’ $586 million tax relief plan the...