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Orbán says EU must answer ‘difficult questions’ before starting Ukraine membership talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday that some “very long and difficult questions” still need to be answered before the European Union can start membership talks with Ukraine.The European Commission, which is assessing Ukraine’s progress, is due to publish its annual enlargement package next month, and EU leaders are set to decide in December whether to open accession negotiations with Ukraine.But Orbán told state radio the EU must decide whether it can “seriously consider” membership for a country that is currently at war, reported Reuters.“We don’t know how big the territory of this country is, as the war is still ongoing, we don’t know how big its population is as they are fleeing,” Orbán said. “To admit a country to the EU without knowing its parameters, this would be unprecedented.” The EU granted so-called candidate status to Ukraine last summer, kicking off an exhaustive procedure that could last many years. But Ukrainian leader...

Gates will be locked and thousands of rangers furloughed at national parks if government shuts down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Entrances to national parks will be blocked and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed if Congress doesn’t reach a budget agreement this weekend, the Department of Interior said Friday.The stance is a reversal from five years ago when the Trump administration kept some iconic parks open in a move that has been lambasted as illegal by the Government Accountability Office, the congressional watchdog.This time around, the majority of more than 420 national park units will be off-limits to the public, Interior officials said. The governors of Arizona and Utah vowed to keep some of the most iconic parks open with state funding, including Grand Canyon and Zion.Whether tourists can access other national parks will depend on size, location and other factors. Generally, if a site is closed or locked during non-business hours it will remain that way, Interior officials said. Places like the National Mall will stay open, but there are no guara...

The far right has been feuding with McCarthy for weeks. Here’s how it’s spiraling into a shutdown.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — With little time left to prevent a government shutdown, the House is in a familiar position: effectively paralyzed as conservatives feud with Speaker Kevin McCarthy over matters large and small.McCarthy has pushed the Republican conference to embrace a short-term funding plan that would also include a sweeping Republican proposal for the southern border. But a small group of hardline conservatives has defied the speaker in a quest to get rid of stopgap funding plans, known as continuing resolutions, even if opposing them means forcing a government shutdown.It’s left McCarthy at an impasse. He will likely be left with the political damage of a shutdown unless he turns to Democrats for help in passing a bipartisan bill. But working with Democrats would give hard-right Republicans reason to remove him as speaker.Here’s what to know about the House Republicans’ conflict and where it may be headed:WHAT ARE THEY F...

The Orioles have won the AL East. Here’s everything you need to know about the MLB postseason.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

For the first time since 2014 and just the third time in the past 40 seasons, the Orioles are division champions.Baltimore clinched the American League East title Thursday night with a 2-0 win over the Boston Red Sox.The Orioles had already secured a playoff berth — their first since 2016 — earlier this month, but the division championship is a rare feat for an organization accustomed to finishing in the AL East’s cellar. It also provides the club advantages heading into the postseason, such as a bye in the wild-card round and, thanks to a 100-59 record entering Friday that is now guaranteed to be the best in the circuit, home-field advantage up to at least the World Series.While there are still three regular-season games remaining, the focus shifts to the postseason, which begins next week. After the wild-card round ends, the Orioles will play in their first AL Division Series since 2014, hoping to make it to the AL Championship Series for the first time since ...

With Orioles’ new lease agreement, focus on the future can be all about the team | ANALYSIS

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

Amid the revelry of the Orioles’ celebratory clubhouse Thursday night, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias paused to ask an all-important question.“I don’t know what happened in Triple-A,” he said. “Did they win?”There was, in fairness, a lot going on. Elias could be excused for missing that, on the same night the Orioles clinched the American League East and announced a new 30-year lease agreement to keep the team at Camden Yards, the Triple-A Norfolk Tides beat the Durham Bulls in a winner-take-all game to secure the International League championship.A young Orioles team will finish atop the toughest division in baseball, and the organization’s top minor league affiliate won a title. Those achievements show how bright the club’s future is. The midgame lease announcement means there’s no longer anything to distract from it.As the Orioles enjoyed their best season in years — reaching 100 wins T...

A bandwagon fan’s guide to the 2023 AL East-champion Orioles: ‘They’re gonna like how we play’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

For much of the past half decade, sparse crowds greeted Orioles baseball as the team weathered a rebuild. Several sections in the left field upper deck at Camden Yards were usually closed to fans and entirely vacant — a green eyesore bereft of orange-clad supporters.Only the very committed regularly attended: In 2018, 2019 and then again in 2021, the team set low marks for attendance at a single open-admission game at Oriole Park. But the crowds have returned this year as the Orioles are in the midst of their best season in years and, by some measures, decades. Soon, fans will fill those upper deck seats — and everywhere else in the ballpark — as Baltimore hosts in early October its first postseason MLB game in seven years.Some Baltimore-area residents who have tuned the ballclub out during a long, but productive, rebuild, might need an introduction to these newly crowned American League East champions. Let slugging, switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander p...

Thursday high school scores and highlights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

FIELD HOCKEYEmily Carr notched a hat trick, Ryan Crook had two goals and an assist and Reagan Killoran added two more goals as Somerset berkeley (7-0) shutout West Bridgewater 9-0.In the Middlesex League, Molly Driscoll scored three times as Watertown (8-0) blanked Wakefield 7-0. … Olivia Scally and Grace Tobias each scored twice as Stoneham defeated Melrose 4-0. … Alyssa Stack’s eight saves were crucial for Wilminton in a 2-1 win over Burlington.Ava Meehan’s goal was the difference for Bishop Feehan (6-1-1) to edge St. Mary’s of Lynn in Central Catholic League play, 1-0. … Madison Faragi and Madi Moseley each found the back of the cage to give Bishop Fenwick its offense in a 2-1 win over Bishop Stang.Kate Schneider finished with four goals and an assist as Walpole dominated Framingham 13-1 in a Bay State Conference contest.Brooke Shaughnessy set up a Caitlyn Collins for the lone goal of the game as Essex Tech edged Amesbury, 1-0, in Cape Ann League play. … Alyssa Persichetti buried...

Tyler Wells missed the Orioles’ first clinch celebration. He made sure to ‘cherish’ the second.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

As Tyler Wells approached Camden Yards’ mound Thursday night, he took a brief moment for himself.He knew the task at hand — three more outs to secure the Orioles an American League East title — and he was ready. But after his jog from the bullpen, as he walked to the rubber to throw his warmup pitches, he paused, looked around and reveled in the moment, knowing the journey he’s taken to get there.“I looked around and said, ‘Wow, this could be it,’ Wells said. “I knew I still had a job to do, but hearing Birdland and hearing Camden just go absolutely nuts … it was so incredible to be a part of it.”Wells was the Orioles’ best starting pitcher in the first half of the season, but as fatigue set in after the All-Star break, he was optioned to the minor leagues and temporarily transitioned back into a reliever. He didn’t return until last week, missing the first clinch celebration despite the important ro...

Callahan: Bill Belichick can’t beat Cowboys coaching conservatively

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

FOXBORO — Anyone else getting déjà vu?A new Patriots season kicks off, full of promise and hope. The Pats start slowly, inviting outside panic. Then here come the Cowboys, proud and talented, offering a stepping stone back to .500 and perhaps even greater things for Bill Belichick and Mac Jones.Two years ago, the Patriots failed to take that step, the same that awaits them Sunday. Belichick tied their shoelaces together with conservative game management over a 35-29 loss, while Dallas walked off on a long CeeDee Lamb touchdown in overtime.To review: leading 14-10 with 1:30 left in the first half, Belichick opted to kneel out the clock instead of pursuing a chance to score right before halftime and on the first possession of the second half. The decision ran contrary to most of the calls he made from 2001-18, when the Pats led the NFL in double-scores. His offense had averaged 7.5 yards per play to that point and only needed 35 more yards for a field goal.In overtime, Belichick punte...

Unifor sets Oct. 9 deadline for contract talks with General Motors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:28 GMT

TORONTO — Unifor has set a deadline for its contract talks with General Motors for 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 9.Negotiations between the union and the U.S. automaker resumed this week after workers at Ford Motor Co. of Canada voted to approve a new contract.The GM talks cover about 4,300 workers at the automaker’s St. Catharines Powertrain Plant, the Oshawa Assembly Complex and the Woodstock Parts Distribution Centre. Unifor is looking to use its agreement at Ford as a pattern agreement in its talks with GM and Stellantis.The Ford deal included wage hikes, pension and benefit improvements, and special EV transition measures for workers at Ford’s assembly plant in Oakville, Ont.It also added two new paid holidays. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2023.The Canadian Press