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White House asks Cabinet agencies to ‘aggressively execute’ return to in-person work

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

(CNN) — The White House is directing Cabinet agencies to bring federal workers back into the office more frequently in the coming months, according to an internal email obtained by CNN.The email, sent to Cabinet secretaries by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, cites the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency and the benefit of increased productivity from in-person work.“This is a priority of the President – and I am looking to each of you to aggressively execute this shift in September and October,” the email reads.The directive was first reported by Axios.Ahead of the expiration of the public health emergency on May 11, the Biden administration issued guidance saying that the federal workforce needed to “substantially” increase in-person work. The White House Office of Management and Budget’s April guidance called on each department – which set their own work requirements for employees – to design and implement its own plans to promote more in-office work but stopped sho...

Nationwide emergency alert test set for October

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WSVN) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have announced plans for a nationwide emergency alert test.The test is scheduled for October 4 at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time where all consumer cell phones across the country will receive an alert message as part of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System.Cellphone users can expect to see an alert on their devices that reads: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. NO ACTION IS NEEDED.” Depending on individual settings, the test message may also appear in Spanish for some recipients.FEMA and the FCC are working in coordination with wireless providers, emergency managers, and other relevant stakeholders to avoid any confusion or alarm among the public during the test.The purpose of this nationwide emergency alert test is to verify that all systems are fully prepared in case a national emergency situation requires sending ...

Commission VP spars with outgoing top economist over industrial policy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

In his first interview since stepping down as the European Union’s chief competition economist, Pierre Régibeau told Belgian newspaper L’Echo that fear of European deindustrialization was unjustified. If European heavy industry disappears, “so be it, because it has to. What’s the point of producing basic steel here if we can buy it three times cheaper in Indonesia?” Régibeau said, answering a question about the major concerns of steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal. However, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas isn’t buying it.Schinas firmly rejected the idea: “Such views may make for good August headlines, but under no circumstances represent ⁦the EU Commission policy,” he wrote in an X (formerly known as Twitter) post Monday. “It took a pandemic and now a war to realise that Europe needs a solid industrial capacity and strategic autonomy,” he wrote. Régibeau labeled some businesses’ complaints “pu...

Putin could visit Erdoğan at end of August: Turkish media

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin could visit his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the end of this month, Turkish media reported Monday, as Ankara seeks to revive the Black Sea grain deal.Erdoğan’s Cabinet will meet Monday to discuss “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s possible visit to Turkey at the end of this month,” pro-government daily Hürriyet reported.During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Istanbul last month, the Turkish president announced Putin would travel to Turkey in August to discuss extending the deal that allowed Ukraine to continue to export its agricultural goods through the Black Sea after the full-scale Russian invasion.Bu the agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in the wake of last year’s invasion, ended last month after Russia unilaterally withdrew from the deal.Erdoğan has played a strategic balancing act over the course of Russia’s war. While broadly c...

Showers and storms to start the week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

Let’s take a moment to reminisce on the beautiful weather we had this weekend. Have the umbrella with you today. Showers will be around this morning into early afternoon. Storms move in overnight into tomorrow morning. There could be a couple afternoon storms tomorrow as well. Wednesday looks more comfortable! A warm front will lift those showers across our region today. Ahead of a cold front, storms are rolling across the Ohio Valley this morning. Severe weather is expected across the Mid-Atlantic today. As that reaches us, there’s a risk for isolated severe storms tomorrow morning.Here’s a look at rain chances today and into tomorrow.Stay weather aware overnight and into tomorrow morning. There’s a risk for isolated severe storms. Any storms could produce downpours that lead to localized flooding of roads during the morning commute.Wednesday will be more comfortable with less humidity and more sun. Highs stay warm this week in the 80s.-Meteorologist Melanie...

3 passengers dead after charter bus crashes in Pennsylvania, state police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — Three passengers died after a charter bus carrying up to 50 people collided with a vehicle on an interstate in Pennsylvania, state police said.The crash happened during heavy rain about 11:50 p.m. Sunday on southbound Interstate 81 in Dauphin County’s Lower Paxton Township, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania State Police said. The bus struck an embankment, struck the rear end of a car, and flipped on its side.“Three passengers were declared deceased on scene,” the police report said, with others injured ranging from minor to severe. Names were not released. “This is considered a mass casualty incident,” Trooper Megan Frazer said. “We do have eight ambulances that assisted with us, as well as lifeline (emergency response), just because of how many people were involved and the amount of injuries.”It was raining heavily at the time of the crash, WHTM-TV reported Frazer said.Multiple people were taken to Milton S. Hershey Medical Center with inju...

Hong Kong government to appeal against court’s refusal to ban popular protest song

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong government said Monday it was seeking to appeal against the court’s refusal to ban a popular protest song at its request, renewing worries over further erosion of freedom of expression in the city. The court’s decision on July 28 was a setback for Hong Kong leaders who are trying to crush dissidents after a massive pro-democracy movement four years ago pushed hundreds of thousands of people into the streets. Drama ensued after the popular “Glory to Hong Kong” — written during the 2019 protests with lyrics calling for democracy and liberty — was mistakenly played as the city’s anthem at international sporting events instead of China’s “March of the Volunteers.” The Department of Justice said in a statement that its secretary, who acted as “a guardian of public interest,” pressed for the ban on the basis of safeguarding national security. The court can decide whether to review or dismiss the request for an appeal.The department did not share furt...

3 injured in two-vehicle crash in Scarborough

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

Three people were injured in a two-vehicle crash in Scarborough on Sunday night.Toronto police say two vehicles collided near the intersection of Lawrence Avenue and Brimley Road around 10:15 p.m. and one of the vehicles rolled over.According to Toronto paramedics, a woman in her 30s was taken to a trauma centre in serious but non-life threatening conditions.Two others were also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.The cause of the collision is being investigated and no further information about the victims is available at this time.

Stormy weather across northern Europe idles ferries and delays flights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Stormy weather across the Baltic Sea region Monday caused airport delays, suspended ferry service, minor power outages and lots of rain. Ferries linking Poland to Sweden, two German islands to mainland Germany and Norway to Denmark remained in harbor. Ferries and water taxis to the German islands of Hiddensee and Ruegen were canceled for Monday and Tuesday morning, and vacationers were asked to change their travels plans to Wednesday. Latvian television reported trees getting knocked over in wind gusts of up to 108 kilometers per hour (67 miles per hour). Meteorologists in Latvia also reported golf ball-sized hail in Apgulde, a village southwest of Riga, the capital.In Denmark, police in the northeastern part of the country said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that “the weather is still harsh.”The fire department for greater Copenhagen urged people to stay away from parks and forests, saying “the combination of rain-soaked ground and storms i...

Multinational force fights stubborn wildfire in Cyprus, including Lebanon, Greece and Jordan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:50 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A multinational force is helping Cyprus fight stubborn wildfires in the summer heat, with Lebanon joining Greece and Jordan in sending aircraft to fight a blaze that has scorched miles of mountainous terrain, officials said Monday.Cyprus Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis told The Associated Press that neighboring Lebanon is expected to send a pair of choppers as the wildfire continues to reignite on several fronts. Two Greek Canadair aircraft have been dispatched to help douse the fire in the mountains about 11 miles (17 kilometers) north of the coastal town of Limassol. Jordan has sent three aircraft of its own, including two Super Puma helicopters and a Russian-made Mi26 helicopter. The multinational effort is battling a blaze that according to Agriculture and Environment Minister Petros Xenophontos scorched around 3.2 square miles (8.5 square kilometers) of land. Environment Ministry Secretary Andreas Gregoriou, who is coordinating firefighting ef...