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EU’s energy sovereignty is built on a robust internal market

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

Leonhard Birnbaum, via EurelectricThe energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the weaponization of energy have put European values and unity to the test like rarely before. Faced with soaring gas and electricity prices last year, EU policymakers decided to initiate a reform of the internal market for electricity. It is a genuine political dilemma. A major reform of the market had just been completed and further intervention could affect investor confidence and slow EU pathway to energy sovereignty. At the same time, a prolonged situation with historically high price levels would be untenable.Energy has always been the lifeblood of the European project. The European Coal and Steel Community was founded on the belief that shared energy resources would make conflict between member countries “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible”. When closed national systems were opened to competition, European consumers started reaping the benefits of growing innovatio...

Vestager faces blowback over selecting US professor for key competition post

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

BRUSSELS — A number of European Commission officials complained they were caught by surprise when antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager named a U.S. professor as an adviser to its competition department, a senior Commission official told POLITICO.Appointing a United States citizen to a powerful European Union job to oversee U.S. Big Tech firms is “super questionable,” the senior official said, adding there was “no discussion internally” on the appointment before it was announced Tuesday. The senior official was granted anonymity to speak freely about internal decision-making. Fiona Scott Morton’s name merely appeared as new chief economist for the Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition on a list of internal job moves circulated at a meeting of the heads of commissioners’ cabinets before the commissioners met in Strasbourg — their last full meeting before the summer break, according to the senior official.In counterpoint, ano...

Rancho Bernardo Shell gas station reports 7,300 gallons of diesel fuel stolen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police are investigating thousands of gallons of stolen diesel fuel from the Shell gas station in Rancho Bernardo. The station owner said they are out tens of thousands of dollars.  “What can you say to that, I’m at a loss for words,” said Ash Keshavarz, the Rancho Bernardo Shell owner. The Rancho Bernardo Shell, a family business since 2006, is halting their diesel fuel sales. Keshavarz said a group of people stole thousands of gallons of diesel fuel worth tens of thousands of dollars. “It made me very angry. It’s a horrible feeling to have someone steal from you,” Keshavarz said. On July 8, Keshavarz noticed they had low diesel fuel numbers. Keshavarz added their diesel inventory from July 1 to the four deliveries between the 1st through the 10th. Keshavarz then subtracted their sales for the ten days, then subtracted their inventory from July 10. “So that equals 7,368 gallons that are unaccounted for. You multiply that by the retail valu...

San Diego man arrested in attempted child porn case

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego man was arrested last week on suspicion of contacting minors in an attempt to engage in sexual activities, then re-arrested days later, authorities said.Eric Jacob Layton was first arrested Thursday at 6400 Panel Court in the University City area before he was booked into San Diego County Jail and held on $275,000 bail, according to an FBI San Diego news release. The following day, Layton was released on bond with a hearing set for Monday.Three days after he was released, the FBI arrested Layton near his home on federal charges out of the Southern District of Florida on attempted production of child pornography charges, the FBI said. Layton was taken into federal custody awaiting extradition to Florida. Woman scalped with sword at park Layton is suspected of targeting minors in youth sports on many occasions, the release stated."He initiated contact as a doctor, sports reporter, massage therapist, and youth sports modeling agent to establish a relationship...

Two hospitalized, buildings damaged in Kyiv by Russian drone strike overnight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces unleashed a barrage of self-exploding Iranian-made Shahed drones early Thursday morning, according to the Kyiv City Administration. Nearly ten drones were identified and shot down, the municipal authorities wrote on Telegram. Explosions were heard in different parts of the city, and debris from intercepted drones fell on five districts of the Ukrainian capital. Some buildings were damaged, and two people hospitalized with shrapnel wounds.The Associated Press

El Nino is threatening rice crops while grain supplies already are squeezed by the war in Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Warmer, drier weather because of an earlier than usual El Nino is expected to hamper rice production across Asia, hitting global food security in a world still reeling from the impacts of the war in Ukraine.An El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts global weather patterns, and climate change is making them stronger. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this one in June, a month or two earlier than it usually does. This gives it time to grow. Scientists say there’s a one in four chance it will expand to supersized levels.That’s bad news for rice farmers, particularly in Asia where 90% of the world’s rice is grown and eaten, since a strong El Nino typically means less rainfall for the thirsty crop.Past El Ninos have resulted in extreme weather, ranging from drought to floods.There are already “alarm bells,” said Abdullah Mamun, a research analyst at the International Food Policy Re...

High times in Thailand: New weed laws draw tourists from across Asia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A Japanese tourist reaches into a baggie of cannabis he’s just bought in a central Bangkok weed shop, pulling out a gram of buds to chop down in a small black grinder, before rolling them neatly into a joint.Only the slight spillage onto the smoking lounge’s table — and his cough as he lights up and inhales deeply — betray the fact that until two weeks ago, he’d never tried marijuana.Most Asian nations have strict drug laws with harsh penalties, and Thailand’s de facto legalization of marijuana last year has brought a wave of tourists from the region like the visitor from Japan, intrigued by the lure of the forbidden leaf.“I was curious about how I would feel after smoking,” said the 42-year-old tourist who spoke on condition that his name not be used, for fear his experimentation in Bangkok could lead to legal issues at home.“I wonder why Japan bans it?” he pondered. “I wanted to try it.”Even as more countries around the world legalize marijuana, Thailand...

LA County sheriff says deputy punching baby-holding mother in the face was ‘completely unacceptable’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the second time in a week, the Los Angeles County sheriff decried the use of force by deputies in the Antelope Valley after the Sheriff’s Department released video on Wednesday of a deputy punching a woman twice in the face as she held her baby.The edited video from body camera footage shows the July 2022 encounter during a traffic stop in Palmdale, northeast of Los Angeles.At a news conference, Sheriff Robert Luna said he found the punching “completely unacceptable” and has sent the case to the county district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file criminal charges against the deputy. The FBI also was alerted, Luna said.Luna said the deputy, whom he didn’t name, has been taken off field duty. Last week, Luna said two deputies had been pulled from field duty after video surfaced of a deputy in neighboring Lancaster violently tackling a woman while she filmed a man being handcuffed, then pepper-spraying her in the face on June 24...

UN says raging conflict in Sudan has displaced over 3 million people. UK sanctions warring sides

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A raging conflict in Sudan has driven more than 3 million people from their homes, including over 700,000 who fled to neighboring countries, the U.N. said Wednesday. The United Kingdom announced sanctions on the warring factions, amid growing concerns the country is sliding into a “full-scale civil war.”Sudan has plunged into chaos since mid-April when monthslong tensions between the military and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the northeastern African nation.The conflict derailed Sudanese hopes of restoring the country’s fragile transition to democracy, which had begun after a popular uprising forced the military’s removal of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. A coup, led by the military and RSF, disrupted the democratic transition in October 2021.More than 2.4 million people have fled their homes to safer areas inside the country, according to the International Or...

Here are Wednesday's winning numbers for the estimated $750M Powerball jackpot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:05 GMT

(NEXSTAR) - After yet another drawing without a winner on Monday, the Powerball jackpot reached an estimated $750 million ahead of Wednesday's drawing. Should a ticket (or tickets) match the winning numbers drawn below, this could be the sixth-largest Powerball jackpot in history.The winning numbers drawn Wednesday were: 23, 35, 45, 66, 67, and red Powerball 20. The Power Play multiplier was 3X.Before the drawing, officials estimated the jackpot to be $750 million. It decreased slightly during the day, coming in at an estimated $746.3 million at the time of the drawing. Didn’t win the Powerball jackpot? You may still have won money. Here’s how The Powerball jackpot hasn't been hit since mid-April when a ticket sold in Ohio matched the winning numbers for a $252.6 million prize.If the jackpot isn't hit Wednesday, it will likely eclipse the only other Powerball jackpot won this year — a prize worth $754.6 million, the fifth-largest in Powerball history. The winner, a Washington woma...