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EU wards off Russian tech investment via its startup fund

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

LISBON — The European Union’s €10 billion startup fund has introduced new rules allowing it to exclude co-investments from countries like Russia in sensitive technologies in Europe, the president of the fund’s board has said. “Russian co-investors are totally banned,” Michiel Scheffer, who chairs the board that advises the European Innovation Council (EIC), told reporters at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon Wednesday.Under the fund’s rules, startups must arrange a co-investor before the EIC can acquire a minority stake for up to €15 million. In October, in new guidelines, the European Commission asked the EIC to be on the alert for foreign investors joining the ticket of startups developing sensitive technologies like microchips.The new policy corresponds with a wider effort by the EU to maintain control of strategic assets in its economy. The bloc previously drafted rules preventing sensitive technology from being exported to certain countries,...

Scottish minister blames £11K iPad bill on his kids watching football

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

LONDON — A senior Scottish government minister has blamed a £11,000 data roaming charge — incurred on a parliamentary iPad — on his sons watching football.The Scottish National Party’s under-fire Health Secretary Michael Matheson made the admission in the Scottish Parliament Thursday, as he came under pressure for the huge bill he ran up while on holiday in Morocco last year.The expense from his parliamentary iPad was initially met by the Scottish Parliament, which was told by Matheson that the device was only used for work. He has since paid the money back after the Scottish media reported on the charges last week. As the pressure for an explanation grew, Matheson told Scottish lawmakers Thursday that he was not aware that other family members had used the device until last Thursday. He explained that his failure to come clean about this in a statement last Friday or in response to questions from journalists earlier this week was down to a desire to protect his family “...

EU takes Greece to court over failure to update flood risk maps

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

The European Commission Thursday launched legal action against Greece for failing to update its flood risk and flood hazard maps as required under EU law.According to the EU executive, Greece failed to update the maps by March 2020 as stipulated in the bloc’s 2007 Floods Directive, making it the only member country to fail to comply. The Greek government initially said it would fulfil its obligations under the EU law by June 2023, but before summer said it couldn’t comply before the end of the year, the Commission said, citing the delay as a key reason for taking the country to court.The EU executive stressed that the maps are “key instruments” for flood prevention and risk management, as “they help raise awareness about areas at risk of flooding and help communities develop strategies for reducing these risks.” They can also be used by civil protection, firefighters and first responders to “plan emergency responses” and “support...

George Santos announces he won’t seek reelection following damning Ethics Committee report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

(CNN) — Republican Rep. George Santos announced he will not seek reelection to the House next year, following the Ethics Committee’s release of its long-awaited report on Thursday, concluding that there is “substantial evidence” that the New York congressman used campaign funds for personal purposes.The report said Santos engaged in “knowing and willful violations” with regard to financial disclosure statements filed with the House, and “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission.”A statement from the committee accompanying the report said the panel unanimously voted to adopt the report. The committee said it uncovered additional “uncharged and unlawful conduct” by Santos that go beyond the criminal allegations already pending against him, and would immediately refer these allegations to the Justice Department for further investigation.The panel concluded Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit ever...

Big Month Shows Sports Betting Is Growing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

People in Massachusetts wagered more than $571.76 million on sporting events that took place in October, pumped another $794.1 million into slot machines and risked an untold amount on casino table games. All that gambling activity translated into about $39 million in tax revenue for the state, the Mass. Gaming Commission said Wednesday.The state’s slots parlor and resort-style casinos (Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor in Everett) generated $96.67 million in gross gaming revenue last month, and the physical sportsbooks at those facilities plus eight online sports betting platforms raked in a cumulative $59.18 million in taxable sports wagering revenue. Casino gambling yielded $27.23 million in tax revenue for the state last month and sports betting added nearly $11.79 million, totaling roughly $39.02 million for the state.Sports bettors wagered more money on October sporting events ($571.76 million) than for events in any other mon...

Ravens step into prime time as rival Bengals come to Baltimore: ‘This feels like a playoff game in November’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson called the all-black uniforms Baltimore will wear for its “Thursday Night Football” showdown against the division rival Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium “sexy.” Linebacker Roquan Smith said the motif brings to mind a “death row” defense. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. told The Baltimore Sun, “My daddy always said when the lights is on, it’s time to perform.”Whatever hyperbole or emotions come to the fore, the Ravens’ prime-time showdown against the AFC North foe has all the trappings of a huge game, from uniform selection, to being under the lights as the NFL’s stand-alone contest, to a battle between superstar quarterbacks Jackson and Joe Burrow leading a pair of teams with Super Bowl aspirations.“They’ll be excited to play,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of his players. “It’s a big deal.”Added Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callah...

Internet, phone networks collapse in Gaza, threatening to worsen humanitarian crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

By NAJIB JOBAIN and KAREEM CHEHAYEB (Associated Press)KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Internet and telephone services collapsed across the Gaza Strip on Thursday for lack of fuel, the main Palestinian provider said, bringing a potentially long-term communications blackout even as Israel signaled its offensive could next target the south of the territory, where most of the population has taken refuge.Meanwhile, Israeli troops for a second day searched Shifa Hospital in the north for traces of Hamas. They displayed guns they say were found hidden in one building, but have yet to release any evidence of the central Hamas command center that Israel has said is concealed beneath the complex. Hamas and staff at the hospital, Gaza’s largest, deny the allegations. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.The communications breakdown threatens to worsen the severe humanitarian crisis in southern Gaza, where Israeli airstri...

98.5’s Jim Murray is ‘100% not interested’ in Toucher and Rich job opening; Mike Felger ‘stunned’ that Shertenlieb left

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

A 98.5 The Sports Hub fan favorite who had been floated as a possible replacement for host Rich Shertenlieb on “Toucher and Rich” is adamant that he won’t be switching to the “miserable” morning hours.Jim Murray, also known as “Big Jim,” says he’s “comfortable and happy” in the afternoons as the third chair on “Felger and Mazz.”So even if Beasley Media Group offered Murray double the money for him to fill the Shertenlieb role in the mornings, Big Jim says he would pass.On Wednesday, Murray was asked if he was in the running for the open “Toucher and Rich” role, and if he would start waking up at 3:30 a.m.“I’ve had a conversation with my agent about it. I told him I’m 100% not interested,” Murray said on Facebook Live during the “Off-Air Show” with Mike Felger.“Why not?” Felger asked.“I’m comfortable with where I’m at,” Big Jim re...

California authorities arrest man in death of Jewish demonstrator

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California authorities have arrested a man in connection with the death of a Jewish protester during demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war.The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said the 50-year-old suspect was arrested Thursday and will be booked into jail in the investigation of involuntary manslaughter — the unintentional killing of another person. The district attorney will decide whether there is enough evidence to bring a formal charge.Paul Kessler, 69, died early Nov. 6 at a hospital following a Nov. 5 confrontation with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator in Thousand Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles. Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said subsequently that that deputies determined Kessler had fallen backward and struck his head on the ground. The pro-Palestinian demonstrator stayed at the scene and told deputies he had called 911, Fryhoff said.Authorities did not say in a news release why an arrest was warranted. They are still seeking more video evi...

Rep. George Santos won’t seek reelection after scathing ethics report cites evidence of lawbreaking

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:26:26 GMT

By KEVIN FREKING (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics committee in a scathing report Thursday said it has amassed “overwhelming evidence” of lawbreaking by Rep. George Santos of New York that has been sent to the Justice Department, concluding flatly that the Republican “cannot be trusted” after a monthslong investigation into his conduct.Shortly after the panel’s report was released, Santos blasted it as a “politicized smear” in a tweet on X but said that he would not be seeking reelection to a second term. The panel said that Santos knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; and engaged in violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to financial disclosure statements filed with the House.Santos has maintained his innocence and had long refused to resign despite calls from many of his colleague...