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The problems of political namesakes and how to perform plastic surgery on Putin

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.We’ve reached the ‘what’s going on with Vladimir Putin’s cheeks?’ stage of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Rumors about the Russian president’s health have been swirling for a long time, with the Kremlin having to repeatedly deny that he’s dead. (Putin’s not a laugh-a-minute kind of guy so when he does go he’s unlikely to copy comedy legend Spike Milligan’s famous epitaph: “I told you I was ill.”)The latest round of claims about Putin’s health involves his puffy cheeks, with suggestions that he’s either been attacked by a swarm of bees or has been using whatever “butt filler” is (no, you Google that on your work computer!). Imagine being Putin’s plastic surgeon and having to make a man not exactly known for his movie-star good looks — earlier this year it was reported that a group of Russian lawyers was planning a lawsuit against Ha...

Azerbaijan can become a constructive player in the Caucasus

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

Janusz Bugajski is a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. His latest book is titled “Failed State: A Guide to Russia’s Rupture.”Not all wars have to end in disaster alone. In fact, some can create conditions for more durable regional stability.After Azerbaijan regained its occupied territories in a military offensive this September, following three decades of armed conflict with Armenia, the world is faced with the possibility of the country becoming a constructive player in the South Caucasus. However, in order to succeed, such a transformation would require much more coordinated involvement from the United States and the European Union.The first priority, of course,  would be to forge a comprehensive peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with both parties vowing to recognize each other’s territorial integrity. The U.S., EU and Turkey must lead this mediation process, as they would directly benefit from such a settlement, which could foster security links and econ...

The latest Tory worry: China’s grip on solar power

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

LONDON — Hawkish Conservative MPs spooked by China’s influence in the U.K. have a new worry to add to the list: solar power.China controls 80 percent of the global solar manufacturing market, including both finished solar panels and the raw materials needed to build them. The U.K. has ambitious plans to scale up its use of solar power in the next decade, aiming to ramp up from 15 gigawatts of annual generation today to 70 gigawatts by 2035. But it has no domestic manufacturing capacity. And that means U.K. solar imports from China run to hundreds of millions of pounds every year — and are set to grow still further. Now Conservative MPs fear this reliance puts Britain’s clean energy goals in jeopardy, while directly exposing the U.K. to a supply chain hit by claims of human rights abuses.China has a “chokehold” on global supply of solar tech, said Alexander Stafford, a Conservative MP who sits on parliament’s energy security and net zero committee. That dependency on one supply...

The Spanish dog has his day: How ‘Perro’ Sánchez won

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

It began as an insult. For years, conservative critics of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez contemptuously referred to him as Perro Sanxe — a deliberate mispronunciation of his name that translates as “Sánchez the dog.”The barb irked the Socialist politician’s supporters, who said it showed a lack of respect not only for Sánchez, but for the office of the prime minister itself.But rather than fight back, the canny politician chose to embrace his derogatory nickname.  During a bitterly fought election campaign in the heat of the summer, Sánchez turned the “dog” slur to his advantage in a tactic to win the youth vote. Analysts now say that say helped him cling on to power against all the odds. On Thursday, Spain’s parliament confirmed Sanchez as prime minister at the head of a new minority coalition. It was a remarkable turnaround for a leader who was dismissed four months earlier as a burden on his party. “Pedro is a tremendously competitive and determin...

What you need to know about David Cameron as UK foreign secretary

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

LONDON — He was prime minister for six years — and now he’s back, as the U.K.’s foreign secretary. So what can David Cameron’s record in No. 10 Downing Street tell us about the approach he will take as the country’s top diplomat?Cameron’s new boss Rishi Sunak appeared to struggle in the House of Commons this week when asked to name the biggest foreign policy achievement of his prime ministerial predecessor — eventually citing the G8 summit at Lough Erne, Northern Ireland way back in 2013. Notable by its absence was the Brexit referendum Cameron called and lost, casting him into the political wilderness for seven years.Cameron may be hoping to add more distinction to his record as he hits the diplomacy circuit. Foreign envoys will already by poring over his views on Donald Trump, his approach to Israel and Gaza, and his response to the rise of India and China as they evaluate what exactly Cameron will mean for self-styled “Global Britain.”ChinaCameron’s approach to China as prim...

EU’s Ukraine ammo failure means looking elsewhere, says Latvian president

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

Because the EU has failed to provide the ammunition to Ukraine according to the timetable promised earlier this year, it’s time for the bloc to look abroad for shells to deliver to Kyiv, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs told POLITICO. EU leaders pledged to deliver 1 million rounds of ammunition by March. It was a target that always looked difficult to achieve for a bloc created as a peace project, and so it has proved; only 300,000 rounds have been shipped since early this year under a program to send shells from national stockpiles to Ukraine.“We have to assume that the 1 million will not be achieved,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the start of a summit of EU defense ministers on Tuesday. What makes it worse is that North Korea has exported 1 million rounds to Russia since August, according to media reports.The EU will deliver a million artillery shells to Ukraine — but not by the March deadline, the CEO of the European Defence Age...

Firefighters battle fire at home in Westwood

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

Firefighters were on scene in Westwood Thursday night after a fire broke out in a home on Mill Street. Crews were seen hosing down hot spots while smoke still rose from the building. The front of the home was visibly charred. The scene remained active around 10 p.m. No further information was immediately available. This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Mattapan youth football team fundraising for trip after clinching spot in national tournament

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

They are the 14U Mattapan Patriots and for the first time in 40 years, they have made the national tournament in Naples Florida. The team recently clinched its spot as one of two teams from New England headed to the American Youth Football League’s tournament in Florida. While they don’t currently have enough funding for their trip, they are not giving up hope, now working hard to raise the money they need to play. “I was at a loss for words,” said coach Mick Brunache, describing the moment he learned the team had qualified for the tournament. “I couldn’t believe it. Brunache has been coaching the Mattapan Patriots for the past three years. Speaking with 7NEWS, he said the moment he broke the tournament news to his players kicked off “pandemonium.” “Guys running around the field, guys saying that they can’t wait to go swimming,” he said. “I’m like, ‘You got to focus on football,’ but whatever.” The team has been putting in the work. Just ask its defensive phenom,...

REVIEW: May December is an actor’s dream, and a family’s nightmare

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

To be an actor is to inhabit a character. That could be a fictional person, a character simply created for a production. But an actor can also play real people, which can be a huge challenge. To capture their charms and quirks, their essence. To represent them in a way so that those close to them and those who know nothing of them can understand who this person is. Whether Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up, Liam Neeson in Schindler’s List, or Meryl Streep in the Iron Lady it’s a fine line to walk between imitation and character creation. But what if the person an actor is playing is someone who committed a terrible crime?May December. (L to R) Natalie Portman as Elizabeth Berry and Julianne Moore as Gracie Atherton-Yoo in May December. Cr. Francois Duhamel / courtesy of NetflixMay December isn’t about any real people, but it does run with this question as its premise. It stars Natalie Portman (from Black Swan) and Julianne Moore (from Still Alice). Portman plays Elizab...

Lawsuit filed hours after CTA Yellow Line crash

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:34:19 GMT

CHICAGO — Of the dozens of people injured in the CTA Yellow Line crash Thursday, one is now a client of Clifford Law Offices, who have filed a lawsuit against the CTA on his behalf."It’s not something anyone would ever want to go through," Henry Simmons told WGN's Jenna Barnes in a sit-down interview Thursday evening.The lawyers — Simmons and Joseph T. Murphy — said 52-year-old Cleon Hawkins was seated in the second car of the Yellow Line train when the collision sent him flying into one of the metal poles in the car, injuring his shoulder and leg."Metal and the human body when there’s force," Simmons said. "Metal usually wins."Murphy and Simmons filed the lawsuit just hours after the crash and said that time is of the essence to figure out what went wrong."This isn’t just some random piece of equipment that was on the tracks, it was another CTA vehicle," Murphy said. "One hand should be talking to the other, and that’s not what happened." At least 23 injured after CTA train crash...