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Hungary’s Orbán says he won’t hesitate to slam the brakes on Ukraine’s EU membership

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday his country will have plenty of opportunities in the future to interrupt Ukraine’s process of joining the European Union, the day after the right-wing leader’s stunning turnaround allowed an EU summit to move forward on bringing the war-torn country into the bloc.Orbán had spent weeks vigorously declaring that his country would not consent to the EU beginning talks with Ukraine on its eventual membership, arguing such a decision would be catastrophic and that Kyiv was unprepared to begin the process. But in a dramatic reversal in Brussels on Thursday, Orbán left the room where the leaders of the EU’s 27 member nations were debating the measure and allowed a unanimous vote of 26 to approve the start of accession talks for Kyiv. In an interview Friday with Hungarian state radio, Orbán said that EU leaders told him he would “lose nothing” by dropping his veto since he’d have chances in the futu...

Hague court rejects bid to ban transfer to Israel of F-35 fighter jet parts from Dutch warehouse

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court on Friday rejected a request by a group of human rights and humanitarian organizations to order a halt to the transfer to Israel of parts for F-35 fighter jets.The organizations went to court Dec. 4 arguing that delivery of parts for F-35 jets makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its war with Hamas. The parts are stored in a warehouse in the Dutch town of Woensdrecht.In a written statement, the Hague District Court said the judge who heard the civil case concluded that the government of the Netherlands “weighed the relevant interests” before agreeing to the delivery of parts.Lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld told the court that the Dutch government decided to continue transferring F-35 parts to Israel even after the deadly Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas triggered the Israel-Hamas war.“The warning that the fighter jets can contribute to serious breaches of the laws of war does not, for the (Dutch) state, ...

UK police say they’re ‘overjoyed’ that British teen missing for 6 years has been found in France

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. police said Friday that they are “relieved and overjoyed” to learn that a teenager found walking along a road in southwestern France is a British boy who went missing six years ago. Greater Manchester Police said the teen claiming to be Alex Batty had held a video call with his grandmother, Susan Caruana.“Whilst she is content that this is indeed Alex, we have further checks to do when he returns to the United Kingdom,” Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes said.He said police were “still establishing the full circumstances around his disappearance and where he has been all these years.”“Our main priority now is to see Alex returned home to his family in the U.K. and our investigation team are working around the clock with partner agencies and the French authorities to ensure they are all fully supported,” Sykes said.Batty, now 17, went on vacation to Spain in 2017 with his mother and grandfather, who are not his legal guardians, and failed to return to his ...

Eclipse children's book brings Mars family to Austin; teaches kids eye safety

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A total solar eclipse will pass over Austin on April 8, 2024. It won't be the only solar event visiting the area. A family of four from Mars, the Moonies, will fly down to Central Texas, hoping this year they won't miss out on this rare lunar event.That's the premise for Meg Jerit's new children's book, "The Moonies". "A children's book definitely provides this opportunity to really get all the significance of this moment," Jerit said.According to Jerit, the family comes to Central Texas after missing the 2017 eclipse. The get to enjoy the sights of the area and witness the eclipse while also learning about proper eclipse safety. Each copy of the book comes with two pairs of eclipse glasses."I just feel like to experience a total solar eclipse as a child would be a pretty amazing experience," Jerit said.The Austin-based author comes with strong ties to the eclipse. Her father is the owner and CEO of American Paper Optics. "We make all of the eclipse glasses, the lar...

Section 2 laden Cortland team to play for national title

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

CORTLAND, NY (NEWS10) -- The Cortland Red Dragons have made it to the Stagg Bowl for the first time in program history, preparing to play for their first Division-III national title. They've done so with the help of ten Section 2 players on the roster. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! 13-1 Cortland will take on defending champion, 14-0 North Central. Two of the local standouts that helped the Red Dragons get to this point are senior wide receiver and Greenwich native Cole Burgess, and senior running back and Saratoga Springs native Ashton Capone. They both found the endzone in Cortland's semifinal win over Randolph Macon. Burgess had 12 catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns. They don't take this journey for granted, and want to end their college careers on top of the mountain. "Me and Ashton, we're locker buddies so I feel like we talk about it every day, how special this is especially being seniors," said Burgess." We realize this...

Red Raiders girls hand Tamarac first loss of the season

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Coming into the night the Tamarac Bengals haven't lost a game this season. However, all that changed when they lost to Mechanicville 48-39. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! The Bengals led by as many as seven but the Raiders managed to tie the game late in the second quarter just before halftime. That led to a back-and-forth third quarter but Mechanicville managed to pull away with a four-point lead before the end of the frame. The Raiders pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure the win. They will play against Watervliet on December 18, with tip-off set for 6 p.m.

UAlbany football treated to send-off on campus prior to departure for South Dakota

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The University at Albany football team, in the words of the great Willie Nelson, is "on the road again." Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! The Great Danes departed from campus for South Dakota Thursday morning for their first-ever semifinal appearance in the FCS playoffs, and were sent off in style.A number of fans lined Collins Circle in a huge send-off for the team as they boarded their buses.Not that UAlbany needed any more motivation for Friday night's semifinal game with South Dakota St., but the Danes got some from a fan base that has rallied around them amid their greatest season in program history."It means everything, man," said junior wide receiver Roy Alexander. "Really enjoy having the fans out here, man. Just knowing that we've got all this support and love back at the crib, it's just gonna make it way better when we get this 'dub this weekend."It's the team's ninth away game of the season. With journ...

Moon and beyond: New section with data on the space economy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

In the past 10 years, all that is related to outer space has seen increasing interest. The space economy is now a hot topic among enterprises, citizens and governments, involving more and more areas. From the support of climate change monitoring to security and defence mechanisms, and the development of high-level digital and communication systems, the space economy has an expanding role in today’s society. Following this growing importance, the demand for reliable and timely statistics on the space economy also increased. To answer this need, Eurostat teamed up with the European Space Agency.(ESA) and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to create a thematic account for space economic activities in Europe. There is a new webpage on the European space economy thematic account as part of our section on experimental statistics. This thematic account will provide consolidated statistics on the main gross domestic product (GDP) indicators for the space economy...

Ukraine needs Europe’s support - Don't give in to Orbán's blackmail

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

The EU must increase its support for Ukraine, and move ahead swiftly on its integration into the EU. The European leaders should not give in to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's blackmail, the European Green Party comments on the historic EU leaders' summit in Brussels. The attempts by the Hungarian prime minister to blackmail the European Union, and block aid to Ukraine and its accession to the EU, are deplorable. These cynical machinations undermine the trust of European citizens in the EU institutions.  European Green co-presidents Thomas Waitz and Mélanie Vogel comment: “This case, where a single leader can act as a Trojan horse for Putin, and block the whole process of helping Ukraine, shows once again that the need for unanimity among European member states on foreign policy issues prevents the EU from taking the right decisions”, Waitz and Vogel say. At the Conference on the Future of Europe, European citizens gave a clear message that they want more power for the Europ...

PM reaffirms Pakistan's support to Kashmiris - rejects Indian SC verdict as politically motivated

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:53:30 GMT

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Thursday (14 December) reaffirmed Pakistan's moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir, and rejected the recent verdict of the Indian Supreme Court calling it a politically motivated and a tool to consolidate Indian illegal occupation.The prime minister, in his address at the special session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (AJK LA), called for India to desist from consolidating its occupation, revoke the illegal unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 and not change the demography of the disputed territory.Chaired by AJK LA Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar, the session was attended by AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq and Assembly members.PM Kakar also stressed upon India to halt the human rights abuses in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK), repeal emergency laws, withdraw heavy military presence and provide unhindered access to the United Nations bodies and the internatio...