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The NHS is facing the longest strike in its history. Here’s why

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

LONDON — It might be a new year, but England’s cherished public health service is facing the same old problems. And its legions of striking junior doctors are just getting started. From January 3, junior doctors working for the National Health Service in England will start a six-day walkout — the longest single period of strike action the NHS has ever faced — as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.It comes at a time when pressure on the service is already acute, and leaves junior doctors — the backbone of many hospitals — as major outliers amid deals in other parts of the NHS. POLITICO unpacks the row as the latest walkout gets underway.What’s the dispute about? Since 2022, workers across the NHS have been demanding substantial pay hikes to keep pace with inflation. And junior doctors aren’t backing down.The British Medical Association (BMA), whose members include junior doctors, says the cohort has faced a “steep decline in pay” since ...

EU targets world’s biggest diamond miner as part of Russia war sanctions

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union imposed sanctions on the world’s biggest diamond mining company and its chief executive officer on Wednesday as part of what it called its “unwavering commitment” to Ukraine in the war against Russia.The move targeted Alrosa, which accounts for about 90% of Russia’s diamond production, and CEO Pavel Marinychev. The EU headquarters said the company “constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue” to Moscow.It means Alrosa’s assets in Europe will be frozen and EU citizens and companies will be barred from making funds available to the company. Marinychev, who was appointed CEO last May for three years, also faces a travel ban in Europe.The EU had already banned the import, purchase or transfer of Russian non-industrial natural and synthetic diamonds and diamond jewelry from Jan. 1. The measure applies to diamonds originating in Russia, exported from Russia, transiting through Russia and Russian diamonds proc...

Live updates | Fighting rages in southern Gaza and fears grow the war may spread in the region

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

Heavy fighting raged in central and southern Gaza on Wednesday as fears mounted of a regional escalation following a strike in Beirut that killed one of the top Hamas leaders. The strike was widely blamed on Israel but it’s implications for the war remain unclear. Israeli officials have not commented on the strike Tuesday that killed Saleh Arouri, the most senior Hamas member slain since the war in Gaza erupted nearly three months ago. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said “we are on high readiness for any scenario.” Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack from Gaza into southern Israel killed around 1,200 people, and some 240 others were taken hostage. Israel’s air, ground and sea assault in Gaza has killed more than 22,100 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.Israel’s campaign has driven some 85% of Gaza’s population from their ...

Israel on alert for possible Hezbollah response after senior Hamas leader is killed in Beirut strike

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel was on high alert for an escalation with Hezbollah on Wednesday after one of the top leaders of the Palestinian Hamas was killed in a strike in Beirut that was widely blamed on Israel and heightened the risk of a broader Middle East conflict.The killing of Saleh Arouri, the most senior Hamas member slain since the war in Gaza erupted nearly three months ago, provided a morale boost for Israelis still reeling from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack as the militants put up stiff resistance in Gaza and continue to hold scores of hostages.But its implications for the war remain unclear. Israel has killed several top Hamas leaders over the years, only to see them quickly replaced. And the strike in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold could cause the low-intensity fighting along the Lebanon border to boil over into all-out war.Much depends on how Hassan Nasrallah — who has led Hezbollah since an Israeli strike killed his predecessor in 1992 — chooses to respond. He h...

Extreme cold grips the Nordics, with the coldest January night in Sweden, as floods hit to the south

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Temperatures fell below minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Nordic region for a second day in a row Wednesday, with the coldest January temperature recorded in Sweden in 25 years.In Kvikkjokk-Årrenjarka in Swedish Lapland, the mercury dropped to minus 43.6 C (minus 46.5 F), the coldest temperature in the country in January since 1999, Sweden’s TT news agency reported. On Tuesday, Nikkaluokta, a village inhabited by indigenous Sami people in northern Sweden, recorded a temperature of minus 41.6 C (minus 42.8 F). The village is in Lapland, which stretches from northern parts of Norway through Sweden and Finland to Russia.Ida Dahlström of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute said northern Sweden had overnight temperatures of minus 25–35 C (minus 13-31 F) “and the cold seems to stay there for the rest of the week,” TT reported. The coldest Swedish temperature in January — minus 49 C (minus 56 F) — was recorded o...

Biden will start the year at sites of national trauma to warn about dire stakes of the 2024 election

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is starting the campaign year by evoking the Revolutionary War to mark the third anniversary of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and visiting the South Carolina church where a white gunman massacred Black parishioners — seeking to present in the starkest possible terms an election he argues could determine the fate of American democracy. On Saturday, Biden will travel to near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago. There, he’ll decry former President Donald Trump for the riot by a mob of his supporters who overran the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Two days later, the president will visit Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where nine people were shot and killed in a June 2015 white supremacist attack.Biden’s kicking off 2024 by delving into some of the country’s darkest moments rather than an upbeat affi...

Hong Kong prosecutors allege democracy publisher Jimmy Lai urged protests, sanctions against China

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Prosecutors on Wednesday alleged that Hong Kong activist and publisher Jimmy Lai had encouraged the city’s residents to protest and urged the U.S. to take action against the “oppressive” Chinese authorities in Beijing.The 76-year-old media tycoon, who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on massive pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019. The central government in Beijing responded by imposing a sweeping national security law aimed at stamping down opposition. Lai has been in jail for over three years.Lai’s national security trial is being closely watched by foreign governments, business professionals and legal scholars. Many view it as a trial of the city’s freedoms and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiring to collude with foreign countries and another count of conspiring to publish seditious material. He smiled at famil...

CSU holds off New Mexico in Mountain West opener

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

FORT COLLINS — The first win of the Mountain West schedule for the Colorado State men’s basketball team didn’t come easy.Despite taking a 17-point lead in the second half, the Rams had to hold off a late run by New Mexico, but eventually came away with a 76-68 victory Tuesday night at Moby Arena.With the win, the No. 13 Rams improved to 13-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play.“We know it is a new season,” CSU guard Isaiah Stevens said. “We have a lot of guys that it might be their first time stepping into this. We understand that the Mountain West is extremely deep this year. So being able to protect Moby, which is what we say all the time, especially to start conference play is huge.”Leading by three at halftime, the Rams wasted little time extending their lead in the second half.A 3-pointer by Patrick Cartier pushed the CSU lead to six at 36-30, but the Lobos were able to whittle the Rams’ lead to three at 41-38 with 15:56 left in the game and then again at 43-40 with 15:34 ...

Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: Council adds 1 person and 1 entity to EU sanctions list

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

The Council today introduced additional restrictive measures against one person and one entity responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.The new listings target the company PJSC Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev. PJSC Alrosa is the largest diamond-mining company in the world, owned by the Russian state and accounts for over 90% of all Russian diamond production, and the company constitutes an important part of an economic sector that is providing substantial revenue to the government of the Russian Federation.These designations complement the import ban of Russian diamonds included as part of the 12th package of economic and individual sanctions adopted on 18 December 2023 in view of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.The ban on Russian diamonds is part of a G7 effort to develop an internationally coordinated diamond ban that aims at depriving Russia of this importan...

P2P investments, bonds and deposits build an optimal portfolio in 2024

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:10:50 GMT

According to Robocash platform estimates, in 2024, the optimal solution will be to keep two-thirds of the investment portfolio in fixed-income instruments.Robocash specialists analyzed 9 different investment assets to determine the optimal portfolio structure. The research examined 10 portfolio allocation models* and considered asset correlations.The Black-Litterman model portfolio promises the highest returns in 2024 but suggests allocating all funds in crypto. “Of course, this approach contradicts the idea of diversification and significantly increases the risks of investments”. - the specialists comment. In conditions of economic instability, the trend towards portfolio diversification remains relevant. “Konno-Yamazaki and HRP algorithm methods suggest that we allocate all 9 analyzed assets into one portfolio. This approach mitigates some risks, but it is definitely not the most efficient in terms of returns”.The most optimal option is the structure identified in the Pareto-...