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How Britain’s Tories lost their electoral base

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

ST ALBANS, England — For decades they were U.K. Conservative heartlands; the prim, middle-class shires of southern England which voted Tory come what may.But such has been the ruling Conservatives’ slump in popularity following a prolonged period of chaos at Westminster that strategists believe this so-called Blue Wall of Tory seats may at last be about to fall.“We’re in a situation where approval of the government’s performance, and views of the Conservative party as a whole, are so negative that many of these seats — a good number of which saw 10,000-plus majorities in 2019 — are easily in play,” said Philip van Scheltinga, a pollster for Redfield and Wilton Strategies.During a week spent touring these true-blue Conservative seats, POLITICO spoke to MPs on the ground about the local and national pressures that will feed into the next general election, expected in 2024.The disastrous final stages of Boris Johnson’s premiership — followed by the brief Liz Tru...

Tuesday night’s $1.55 billion Mega Millions drawing could bring largest jackpot in the lottery’s history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

(CNN) — The Mega Millions drawing Tuesday night offers a top prize of an estimated $1.55 billion – which would be the largest jackpot the lottery has ever awarded, according to lottery officials.The whopping prize is up for grabs at 11 p.m. ET Tuesday after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Friday night, Mega Millions said.Were one ticket to win, the holder could choose to spread the full amount in annual payments over 29 years, or receive a lump sum payment estimated at about $757 million, both before taxes, according to Mega Millions.A $1.55 billion jackpot would exceed the current Mega Millions record of $1.537 billion won in South Carolina in 2018, it said.Though Mega Millions’ jackpot has gone unclaimed since the last one was won in New York on April 18, more than 36 million winning tickets have qualified for lower prizes in that time, ranging from a couple bucks to $5 million, the lottery said. That includes 62 prizes of $1 million or more.“...

Hundreds gather to say goodbye to Sinéad O’Connor at funeral procession in Ireland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

London (CNN) — Hundreds of people lined the streets to pay tribute to the late Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor on Tuesday, cheering, clapping and throwing flowers as her funeral cortege drove past her old house in Bray, County Wicklow, in Ireland.O’Connor’s coffin was covered in blue, white and pink flowers. A photograph of the singer was also visible through the back window of the cortege. The singer died last month, age 56.Some in the crowd had been waiting for more than two hours, singing along and dancing to O’Connor’s music which was being played from a Volkswagen Beetle van draped in rainbow flags.Amongst the crowd were children with teddy bears and scooters. People wore Irish hats, scarves and flags, carried flowers, banners and even a guitar. Many brought their dogs along.Whilst O’Connor had a public funeral procession, her burial was held privately.According to Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE, the Irish Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Leo Varadkar was amongst t...

Orioles minor league report: From César Prieto to Darell Hernaiz, a look back at the prospects GM Mike Elias traded this year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

After the Orioles traded for starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, Mike Elias complimented the St. Louis Cardinals on getting a “great deal” from Baltimore.Last Tuesday’s trade deadline was Elias’ first as a buyer since he took over the club’s baseball operations in November 2018, and while the executive vice president and general manager didn’t acquire a marquee name, he did have to part ways with three prospects the organization valued.To get Flaherty, a right-handed rental in his seventh big league season, the Orioles gave up infielder César Prieto, left-hander Drew Rom and right-hander Zack Showalter — Baltimore’s Nos. 13, 15 and 16 prospects, according to Baseball America.“It’s always tough,” Elias said about trading prospects. “You look at the trades this year, these were huge returns, even for the rentals. I think that this landed in an appropriate spot for both teams. I’m sure these players will go ...

Source: Patriots signing ex-DL Trey Flowers after workout

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

Remember him?The Patriots signed free-agent defensive lineman Trey Flowers to one of their two open roster spots Tuesday, a source told the Herald.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick mum on Matt Judon’s contract, Jack Jones leaving practice New England Patriots | Patriots training camp Day 13: Mac Jones can’t finish 2-minute drills over rainy, sluggish practice New England Patriots | Patriots extra points: Matthew Judon’s contract details; good news for offense New England Patriots | Patriots host two-time Super Bowl champion in free-agent workout New England Patriots | Patriots rookie Malik Cunningham impresses QBs in return to old position Flowers, 29, rejoins the team after originally entering the league as a Patriots fourth-round draft pick in 2015. Flowers spent four seasons with the team, winning two Super Bowls and recording 21 sacks over 37 starters. He left Ne...

PayPal launches PayPal USD stablecoin in latest crypto payments push

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

PayPal Holdings Inc. is rolling out a stablecoin, the first by a large financial company and a potentially significant boost to the sluggish adoption of digital tokens for payments.PayPal USD (PYUSD) is issued by Paxos Trust Co. and fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasuries and similar cash equivalents, the San Jose, California-based payments company said on Monday. It’s pegged to the dollar and will be gradually available to PayPal’s customers in the U.S.With PYUSD, Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman is seeking to cement PayPal’s dominance in digital payments by leaning on technology that enables instant and lower-cost transfers without a central intermediary. PayPal shares have slumped 33% in the past 12 months, the sixth-worst performer on the Nasdaq 100 Index, as the pandemic-era surge in online payments abated.“The vision over time is that this becomes a part of the overall payments infrastructure,“ Schulman, who’s preparing to step down in coming months, sa...

Severe thunderstorm warnings for Plymouth County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

The National Weather Service has just issued a severe thunderstorm and torrential rain warning for Plymouth County until 10:15 a.m.A special weather statement also stands for areas around Lynn, Peabody and Haverhill in Essex county, warning of wind gusts up to 40 MPH.The severe weather warning is as follows:* This dangerous storm will be near…New Bedford, Fall River, Warwick, Cranston, Taunton, East Providence,Coventry, Dartmouth, South Kingstown, West Warwick, North Kingstown,Newport, Bristol, Somerset, Portsmouth, Barrington, Middletown,Fairhaven, Narragansett, and Swansea.Here is the NWS alert:The National Weather Service in Boston/Norton has issued aSevere thunderstorm warning in effect until 10:15 a.m. for southwestern Plymouth, Central Bristol, Northeastern Washington, Newport, Eastern Kent, Southeastern Providence and Bristol Counties.At 933 AM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over NorthKingstown, moving northeast at 35 mph.HAZARD…60 mph wind gusts.SOURCE...

Harris says new rule means ‘thousands of extra dollars’ for workers on federal construction projects

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced changes to labor rules that could give higher wages to construction workers on federal projects.Harris will say in a speech in Philadelphia that the Labor Department has provided the first update in decades to the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, a law that requires the payment of prevailing local wages on public works.The new rule is something of a return to the past in that it will use the definition of prevailing wage that the Labor Department previously used from 1935 to 1983, likely raising the hourly earnings of contractors and subcontractors.More than 1 million construction workers with jobs on roughly $200 billion worth of federally supported projects will benefit, the Democratic vice president’s office said in an emailed statement.The new rule “will mean thousands of extra dollars per year in workers’ pockets to help put a down payment on a home, save for retirement, or simply have more breathing room,” the s...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens lower as markets become more cautious

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling in early trading on Wall Street as more caution creeps into financial markets worldwide. The S&P 500 was down 0.7% Tuesday, following up on losses for stocks across Europe and much of Asia. The Dow was off 220 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.8%. Bank stocks dropped after Moody’s cut the credit ratings for several smaller and midsized ones amid a long list of concerns about their financial strength. Stocks sank 1.8% in Hong Kong after a report showed exports for China’s troubled economy shrank by the most since the start of the pandemic in 2020.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street futures slid Tuesday after new data showed sharp declines in Chinese exports and Moody’s downgraded the credit ratings of a number of smaller U.S. lenders.Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.6% before the opening bell.Data on Tuesday showed that China’s e...

Italy proposes bank tax to help people with interest rate hikes, sending stocks plunging

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:14 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian bank stocks plunged Tuesday after the Cabinet approved a proposal to apply a 40% tax on some bank profits this year to help consumers and businesses cope with higher borrowing costs.Transport Minister Matteo Salvini announced the tax at a Monday evening press conference, saying it was a measure of “social equity” to make up for a series of interest rate hikes from the European Central Bank. Those increases are aimed at fighting inflation and make it more expensive for people to get loans to buy homes and cars or for companies to get new equipment or build facilities.UniCredit shares fell over 7%, Intesa Sanpaolo was down more than 8%, Banco BPM dropped more than 8.5%, and BPER and Banca MPS both plummeted over 10% in early afternoon trading on the Milan Stock Exchange.The Association of Italian Banks has not yet commented publicly on the tax, whose approval apparently took banks by surprise. Analysts said banks would surely try to change the proposal or challenge...