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Don’t go slow on electric cars, says Shapps

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

LONDON — The U.K. should be “leaning into” the phase-out of petrol and diesel vehicles as a way to boost investment in British battery manufacturing, Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said.Ministers are divided over plans to hit car manufacturers with fines from next year if they miss electric vehicle sales targets, with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch pushing colleagues inside government to soften the rules. The discussions come amid a wider rethink of net zero policies in the Conservative party.But Shapps said the U.K.’s “clear picture” — including proposals that 22 percent of new cars sold must be zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) by 2024 — had been instrumental in securing a recent £4 billion Gigafactory investment from the Tata Group, to make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover and other manufacturers.Asked whether he would be arguing inside government in favor of the 22 percent target, Shapps claimed personal credit for securing the Tata deal, and pushed back against any suggestion...

State police investigating hit-and-run in South Boston that left pedestrian seriously injured

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

State police are investigating a hit-and-run pedestrian crash in South Boston early Thursday morning that left a man with serious, potentially life-threatening injuries, officials said.Troopers responding to a report of a pedestrian struck on Columbia Road at the Exit 14 ramp from Route 93 north in South Boston found a man suffering from serious injuries, according to state police. The driver of the vehicle that hit him fled the scene.The man was transported to Boston Medical Center. His condition was not immediately available.The crash is under investigation by Troop H of the Massachusetts State Police, the State Police-South Boston Barracks, the State Police Detective Unit for Suffolk County, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section. No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

State police offering $10,000 reward as search continues for ‘Bad Breath Rapist’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

The Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, United States Marshals Service, and Quincy police continue to search for rapist and kidnapper Tuen Kit Lee, who fled during his trial in 2007 and was convicted in absentia.Investigators determined that Lee, whose family owned the Kagawa restaurant in Quincy, raped a waitress from the restaurant after he broke into her home on Feb. 2, 2005. Lee, who was masked, held the victim at knifepoint, zip-tied her to a bed face-down, and sexually assaulted her. Lee left the victim zip-tied to the bed; she was found there several hours later by her boyfriend, who went to her house after being unable to reach her by phone.Among the evidence establishing that Lee was the assailant was his foul breath, which the victim recognized. He was subsequently dubbed by media as the “Bad Breath Rapist.”After his arrest, Lee posted $100,000 cash bail set by a bail clerk and was not in custody pending and during trial. After he testified at...

Tropical Storm Khanun drenches South Korea as it churns toward Seoul

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — Tropical Storm Khanun was pouring intense rain on South Korea on Thursday, turning roads into chocolate-colored rivers and leaving at least one person dead as it advanced north toward major urban centers near the capital.More than a foot of rain fell in eastern and southern areas after the storm made landfall on the mainland in the morning. Emergency workers responded to increasing reports of flooding and landslides by the afternoon. More than 16,000 people, mostly in southern regions, were evacuated from their homes. The number was expected to grow as the heavy rains continue and rivers and streams rise.Officials shut down hundreds of freeways, streets and public parks and sent text alerts warning about the perils posed by Khanun, which is hitting South Korea weeks after torrential rains caused flash floods and landslides that killed at least 47 people.Khanun made landfall around 9:20 a.m. near the southeastern port city of Geoje, Khanun and was approachin...

Big fashion is getting bigger. Parent of Coach will buy Versace owner Capri in $8.5 billion deal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Tapestry, the parent company of luxury handbag and accessories retailer Coach, is buying the owner of fashion brands including Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo, Capri Holdings. Big fashion has been getting even bigger through a spate of acquisitions as U.S. players seek more sway in Europe. The approximately $8.5 billion (7.7 billion euro) deal puts Tapestry in a better position to do just that in going-to-toe with rivals like LVMH and Kering.Tapestry Inc., whose brands also include Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, said Thursday that the combined company had global annual sales of more than $12 billion (10.9 billion euro) and has a presence in more than 75 countries. Tapestry has a market cap of nearly $10 billion (9.1 billion euro), while Capri’s is around $4 billion (3.6 billion euro).“The combination of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman together with Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors creates a new powerful global luxury house,” Tapestry CEO Joann...

Biden is in Utah to mark the anniversary of the PACT Act expanding veterans benefits

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — President Joe Biden will mark the first anniversary of a law that is delivering the largest expansion of veterans benefits in decades on Thursday by showcasing the bipartisan PACT Act in the company of Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox.The Democratic president and the GOP governor will visit the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center to promote a law that is intended to improve health care and disability compensation for exposure to toxic substances, such as burn pits that were used to dispose of trash on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 348,000 veterans have had their claims approved in the last year, and about 111,000 who are believed to have toxic exposure have enrolled in health care.The president is winding up a three-state western swing in which he has been combining events focused on achievements from his first term with campaign fundraisers aimed at helping him win a second. Both Biden and Cox have stressed the ...

Russia says it intercepted Moscow-bound drones for a second straight day

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian air defense systems on Thursday shot down two drones heading toward Moscow for a second straight day, officials said. The reported attack disrupted flights at two international airports as Ukraine appeared to step up its assault on Russian soil.One drone was downed in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow and another near a major Moscow ring road, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and the Russian Defense Ministry, which blamed the attack on Ukraine.No casualties or damage were immediately reported.Domodedovo airport, south of the city, halted flights for more than two hours and Vnukovo airport, southwest of the city, stopped flights for more than two and a half hours, according to Russian news agencies. Ten flights were diverted, Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport said.Firing drones at Moscow after more than 17 months of war has little apparent military value for Ukraine, but the strategy has served to unsettle Russians and bring home to t...

West African leaders are meeting on Niger, but options are few as a military junta defies mediation

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — West African heads of state began meeting Thursday on next steps after Niger’s military junta defied their deadline to reinstate the nation’s deposed president, but analysts say the bloc known as ECOWAS may be running out of options as support fades for a military intervention.Nine of the 11 heads of state expected to attend resumed crucial talks at the ECOWAS summit in neighboring Nigeria. They include the presidents of Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone. The non-ECOWAS leaders of Mauritania and Burundi are also at the closed-door meeting.As Niger’s junta turns away most efforts at mediation, one analyst asserted that Russian meddling in the country has spiked in the two weeks since mutinous soldiers overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has refused to step down and is under house arrest. The junta announced a new government on Wednesday night. More than half of the 21 positions we...

Virgin Galactic all set to fly its first tourists to the edge of space

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

Virgin Galactic is taking its first space tourists on a rocket ship ride after years of delays, including one passenger who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.The flight window opens Thursday morning at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert for a ride to the edge of space. If all goes well, Richard Branson’s company will begin offering monthly trips to customers on its winged space plane, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.Virgin Galactic passenger Jon Goodwin, who was among the first to buy a ticket in 2005, said he had faith that he would someday make the trip. The 80-year-old British Olympian — he competed in canoeing in 1972 — has Parkinson’s disease and wants to be an inspiration to others.“I hope it shows them that these obstacles can be the start rather than the end to new adventures,” he said in a statement.Goodwin has said he paid $250,000 for his ti...

Kuwait and Lebanon move to ban ‘Barbie’ over gender and sexuality themes ahead of Mideast release

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:26:53 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — “Barbie” is set to open across the Middle East on Thursday, but moves by Kuwait and Lebanon to ban the film over its themes on gender and sexuality have raised questions over how widely it will be released.Kuwait announced its ban late Wednesday, saying the film promotes “ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order,” without elaborating, according to a statement published by the state-run KUNA news agency.In Lebanon, Culture Minister Mohammad Mortada said the film was found to “contradict values of faith and morality” and “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation.” His request to ban the film was forwarded to Lebanon’s General Security agency, which falls under the Interior Ministry and traditionally handles censorship decisions, to make the final verdict. The move has already sparked an uproar in Lebanon, which has long been an island of relative tolerance for homosexuality. Across the Middle East, many Mu...