EC to meet Congress team, hear out poll process complaints
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement. Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Northampton Chronicle and Echo, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. It's inevitable that as battery technology progresses, portable power stations will become more, well, portable. And the latest developments have seen a raft of new, compact power stations arriving in 2024 that can keep gadgets topped up without adding too much bulk to your backpack. The Anker brand Solix has been one of the latest companies to throw its hat into this particular ring, and it's doing things a bit differently. Unlike some small portable power stations, the new Solix C300 is tall, narrow and designed to be carried with a strap. That makes it more versatile, and the fact it's 15% smaller than its rivals really helps. There are two versions of the C300, one has a pair of AC sockets with a small inverter built in, the other has just a 12v selection of outputs. I've been testing the AC version for a while, using it to power and charge all sorts of devices, and it hasn't missed a beat. The inverter can cope with constant loads of up to 300 watts , or a surge of up to 600 watts, so it'll comfortably run any laptop, or even some power tools, or a projector. The USB sockets, of which there are four, can pump out 140 watts , which is impressive, and the battery has a 288Wh capacity , which is effectively the same as around 90,000mAh. So it has plenty of power for most of the devices you could plausibly take with you on an outdoor excursion, or a camping trip. And it weighs just 4kg. The DC version , without the two three-pin sockets, is even lighter, and that one comes with a clever pop-out lamp on the top . The AC version makes do with a light bar, but it's pretty bright. They both have Anker's LCD display on the front, which makes monitoring inputs and outputs really easy, with a clear indicator of how much charge is left in percentage terms. Recharging can be done through the USB sockets , more slowly through the car charging socket, through a solar input up to 100 watts or, in the case of the AC version , at 330 watts through an AC input. The DC version, however, can accept two charging loads through its USB-C sockets , instead of just one on the AC version. This means you can potentially hose in 280 watts. It won't charge quite as quickly as the AC version, then, but it's very impressive. In fact, I do think the DC version is the more versatile device , overall. It's a bit lighter and smaller, it has that neat pop-up lamp, and unless you really need an AC socket , it's just as useful. In fact, using an inverter is quite inefficient, and you'll have to cope with a phantom load just by turning it on. If you can, you should always use the 12V supply. And then there's the price. This is where it gets interesting. At the time of publication, the DC version costs £149.99, down from its usual £199.99. Meanwhile the AC version, usually priced at £269.99, costs £189.99. It makes it something of a dilemma for buyers, because there's only a £40 difference between the two. And that £40 gets you a robust inverter and two AC sockets. But, like I say, if you don't need AC power , if you can cope with some very powerful USB sockets and you'd prefer the lightness and smaller size, go for the DC version . You won't be disappointed. They're both really good bits of kit.Trump aims to appoint son-in-law’s father as US ambassador to France
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican immigration authorities have broken up activists said Saturday. Some migrants were bused to cities in southern Mexico, and others were offered transit papers. The action comes a week after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to slap 25% unless the country does more to stem the flow of migrants to the U.S. border. On Wednesday, Trump wrote that had agreed to stop unauthorized migration across the border into the United States. Sheinbaum wrote on her social media accounts the same day that “migrants and caravans are taken care of before they reach the border.” Migrant rights activist Luis García Villagrán said the breaking-up of the two caravans appeared to be part of “an agreement between the president of Mexico and the president of the United States.” The first of the caravans started out from the southern Mexico city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, on Nov. 5, the day Trump was elected. At its height it had about 2,500 people. In almost four weeks of walking, it had gone about 270 miles (430 kilometers) to Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca. In Tehuantepec, Mexican immigration officials offered the tired migrants free bus rides to other cities in southern or central Mexico. “They took some of us to Acapulco, others to Morelia, and others from our group to Oaxaca city,” said Bárbara Rodríguez, an opposition supporter who left her native Venezuela after that country’s contested presidential elections earlier this year. Rodríguez said by telephone she later caught a bus on her own to Mexico City. The second caravan of about 1,500 migrants set out on Nov. 20 and made it about 140 miles (225 kilometers) to the town of Tonala, in Chiapas state. There, authorities offered a sort of transit visa that allows travel across Mexico for 20 days. Sheinbaum has said she is confident that can be averted. But her statement — the day after — did not make clear who had offered what. Apart from the much larger first caravans in 2018 and 2019 — which were provided buses to ride part of the way north — no caravan has ever reached the U.S. border walking or hitchhiking in any cohesive way, though some individual members have made it. For years, migrant caravans have often been blocked, harassed or prevented from hitching rides by Mexican police and immigration agents. They have also frequently been rounded up or returned to areas near the Guatemalan border. ___ Follow AP migration coverage at Edgar H. Clemente, The Associated PressKeir Starmer takes on nimbys holding major projects ‘to ransom’
Great politicians seem to have two main things in common: they pick the right time to be born and they pick the right time to leave office. Everything in between will be recast in their favour if they only get these two things right. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel recently released her memoir . She, without a doubt, picked the right time to be born. She was 35 when the Berlin Wall fell, creating a cause – an East German voice and self-determination in reunifying with the West – that impelled her into politics. She was undeniably smart, but also the right age and the right symbolic vehicle to catch chancellor Helmut Kohl’s eye and become his protegee. In just under 15 years, she became chancellor. If she’d left after one term – two at most – her greatness would never have been questioned. But after that, her legacy as a crucial advocate for East Germans in the process of unification and her historic ascent was overwritten by a series of decisions that have turned out to be disastrous for Germany, economically and geostrategically. A shadow has fallen over Anthony Albanese’s prime ministership in 2024. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen US presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton could also be said to have picked the right time to be born and, thanks to term limits in the US, also the right time to leave office. Reagan performed a necessary service in deregulating a sclerotic US economy, mired in stagflation, while presiding over the end of the Cold War. Clinton presided over a peaceful age of free trade and international co-operation. While neither was a flawless leader and the numerous mistakes they made can easily be identified, they avoided leading their nations into catastrophe. Anthony Albanese also picked the right time to be born: at the beginning of the ’60s, as the fruits of a social revolution against the rigid morality of the war generation were ripe and not yet spoiled. He was a beneficiary of the blossoming of the self-actualisation century, in which the chains of the traditional family were being rejected, to be replaced by a paternal social welfare state. As the child of a single mother, his timing was especially fortuitous; he and his mother were poor, but in highly relative terms historically. They lived in government-owned housing and his mother was entitled to (and received) a disability pension, as she was unable to work. His own university degree – nominally in political economy, mainly in ruthless campus politics – was free (to him, but of course not the taxpayer). Loading Albanese was, as it were, born into a cause: to call for more of this, which made him possible: more social solidarity delivered by the state to replace the sticky ties of family and community obligation that had been found to be unreasonably oppressive by his generation and some in the one before it. Though it wasn’t visible at the time – transformations of this kind are mostly visible only with the benefit of hindsight – Albanese was in on the ground floor of the transformation of Labor from the party of the worker to the party of the left-liberal, the party of welfare. Operating the politics of this movement, Albanese gained the respect of his colleagues and parts of the public. In retrospect, his ideal moment to leave, with this legacy at its zenith, might have been the day in 2013 when he fronted cameras to lament the self-harm playing out within the Labor Party during yet another spill of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era. Had he left then, he would have gone out channelling the disgust of Australians at the shenanigans of self-absorbed politicians, an avatar and hero of the people. Or maybe he could even have drawn it out a little longer and left a few years later, at the height of his “everyman” identity (according to The Daily Telegraph , which campaigned to “Save our Albo” in the face of a challenge to his seat from a group of further-left candidates). In either scenario, he would have been remembered as a likeable character in the soap opera of politics – good for future cameos to rally the faithful, positioned for a plum public role. Instead, he became prime minister. And the times have not suited him at all. Loading I could talk about inflation and the cost of living, misjudging the mood of the nation over the Voice referendum, the war in the Middle East and antisemitism at home. Or his approach to change, which has been deemed too incremental by some, too radical by others. I could point to the grip in which he finds himself pinioned, between the forefinger of his younger self in Green-on-the-outside, red-on-the-inside ideologist Max Chandler-Mather and the thumb of John Setka loyalists and the rebellious union movement. But none of these things are as fatal to his legacy as the luck of timing, because Albanese is a man built for an era of liberal gentility, who became PM just as the liberal era was drawing to an end. Albanese can, at least in part, blame Merkel for ending it. The post-Cold War leader of Germany, which, as the largest European economy, has an outsized role in underwriting the European Union, placed her faith in diplomacy over energy security and military deterrence. Germany and Europe are now less able to stand up against Russian strongman Vladimir Putin ’s attempt to seize Ukraine because of her miscalculations. The chief foreign affairs columnist at the Financial Times , Gideon Rachman , also implicates former US President Barack Obama for compounding Merkel’s mistakes by responding weakly or seeking to appease dictators. He concludes that “decisions taken by the two leaders – or often the decisions not taken by them – had a damaging, if delayed, impact on global stability”. Loading When even liberals like Rachman recognise that liberal heroes have made the world more dangerous, it is no wonder that voters around the world (who are usually quicker than FT columnists to sniff approaching dangers) are choosing a rougher cut of leader to champion them into the second quarter of the 21st century. Albanese will never be that. His political tradition is liberal largess, not protective menace. With the bad luck of timing hanging over him, whether he scrapes over the line at the coming election is moot. The politician he might have been remembered as has been overwritten. The question now is only whether his career is ended by his friends or his foes – with a bang, or with a long, drawn-out whimper. Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Political leadership Anthony Albanese Angela Merkel Barack Obama Putin's Russia Vladimir Putin More... Parnell Palme McGuinness is managing director at campaigns firm Agenda C. She has done work for the Liberal Party and the German Greens. Most Viewed in Politics Loading
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REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Icelanders voted to elect a new parliament Saturday after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call an early election. This is Iceland’s sixth general election since the 2008 financial crisis devastated the economy of the North Atlantic island nation and ushered in a new era of political instability. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
NoneMr Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker”. Mr Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former senior Trump adviser who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka. The elder Mr Kushner was pardoned by Trump in December 2020 after pleading guilty years earlier to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations. Prosecutors alleged that after Charles Kushner discovered his brother-in-law was co-operating with federal authorities in an investigation, he hatched a scheme for revenge and intimidation. Mr Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his brother-in-law, then arranged to have the encounter in a New Jersey motel room recorded with a hidden camera and the recording sent to his own sister, the man’s wife, prosecutors said. Mr Kushner eventually pleaded guilty to 18 counts including tax evasion and witness tampering. He was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison – the most he could receive under a plea deal, but less than what Chris Christie, the US attorney for New Jersey at the time and later governor and Republican presidential candidate, had sought. Mr Christie has blamed Jared Kushner for his firing from Mr Trump’s transition team in 2016, and has called Charles Kushner’s offences “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was US attorney”. Mr Trump and the elder Mr Kushner knew each other from real estate circles and their children were married in 2009.
Red Cat Holdings Reports Financial Results for Fiscal Second Quarter 2025 and Provides Corporate UpdateA role reversal doomed the No. 22 Xavier Musketeers in their only loss of the season, against Michigan at the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Wednesday. Normally a team that avoids committing turnovers and pressures its opponent into making them, Xavier (6-1) will try to recapture its early-season winning form when it hosts South Carolina State on Sunday in Cincinnati. Through their six wins, the Musketeers had just 58 turnovers while forcing 82 by their opponents. But against the Wolverines, they lost the turnover battle 19-10 and the game 78-53. The Musketeers committed 14 turnovers in the first half and fell behind 41-30. Xavier head coach Sean Miller credited his team for typically playing an up-tempo style while avoiding mistakes, while also acknowledging that the turnover bug really bit them against the Wolverines. "We lost to a really good team; no shame in that," Miller said. "We, on top of that, didn't play well." "And that (avoiding turnovers) is something you (usually) do well? That's going to be hard to overcome against a quality team like Michigan." Leading scorer Ryan Conwell (17.6 points per game) gave the Musketeers a boost with 19 points. Zach Freemantle, second on the team at 15.4 ppg, added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Problematically, however, they also contributed to the turnover problem with three apiece. "We didn't play well enough to win the game," Miller said. "The game got out of hand. It's not like our guys quit. Their depth just continued to wear on us." The Musketeers also get 11 points and a team-high 4.4 assists per game from Dayvion McKnight. The guard had just one turnover against Michigan, but he also made just one of his eight shot attempts. Xavier may have an opportunity get right in the turnover area against the Bulldogs (4-4), who are No. 207 in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.11. South Carolina State is fresh off an 82-53 road loss to Marshall on Wednesday, in a game in which turnovers weren't a huge problem. But assists and made shots were hard to come by for the Bulldogs. Leading scorer Drayton Jones (12.0 ppg) again paced his team in points with 10 vs. Marshall, but the Bulldogs as a team managed just six assists and shot terribly at the 3-point (18.8 percent) and the free-throw (47.1 percent) lines. Jones is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.1 a game, but no Bulldogs player is averaging more than two assists. It's all part of the learning process for coach Erik Martin, whose first team went 5-26 in 2022-23. The Bulldogs improved to 14-18 last season, including 9-5 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. "The only way you can grow sometimes is by failure or by struggling," Martin said this offseason. "You have to fail in order to learn how to deal with failure and move on and become the person you're supposed to be." --Field Level Media
A SELF-PROCLAIMED hot gran has revealed that she has been able to spend more time with her family this Christmas, after being paid to dress up as sexy Santa. Jessika Rains, 41, spent 20 years as a nurse before ditching her career to earn five times more stripping off. 2 Jessika has been paid to dress up as a sexy Santa over Christmas Credit: Instagram.com/nursejessxx 2 She has been able to spend more time with her grandkids thanks to her career change Credit: Instagram.com/nursejessxx The mum of four loves dressing up in racy outfits for her job, and said the best part is that she gets to spend more time with her grandkids. And during the festive period, Jessika has loved making cash by dressing up as a sexy Santa and a naughty elf. Jessika first entered the industry back in 2020, during the pandemic, and balanced both of her careers before quitting nursing for good in 2022. She now has over a million followers across her social media platforms, all desperate to see her content. Read more real life stories HOT STUFF I’m a hot gran - young men always try to date me and shower me with compliments GLAM GRAN I'm a hot gran that loves working out with my 19-year-old granddaughter Jessika said that she loves satisfying her customers but only makes content she is comfortable with. "I'm trying to please you but at the same time I'm trying to respect my feelings on situations and create genuine content that's going to come off that I'm enjoying it too", she told the Daily Star. "I need some type of self-reward. "So if it's something I haven't done, and I'm curious to see if it's going to pleasure me, then I will perform it. Most read in Fabulous CRIMBO CRAZY I keep Christmas tree up 365 days a year, people think I'm crazy but I love it SORT YOU OUT I’m a decluttering pro - the 9 items to get rid from your home before 2025 SHORT WORK I splashed out on the viral H&M sparkly shorts but it was an epic fail MAKE SCENTS Perfume trend set to take 2025 by storm - you'll never spray on your neck again "But if I know that it's just not in my wheelhouse, or not something that I'm going to connect with, I just decline the requests." Discussing her favourite parts of the job, she said: "I like to dirty talk, I'm a dirty talker." I'm a hot gran, trolls say it's 'inappropriate' to wear a bikini but I won't stop Jessika also loves dressing up, stating: "When it comes to dressing up, it's great because in October costumes were my content. "In November someone actually asked for bride content, and I didn't have bride content." Jumping at the chance to film more content, Jessika made some solo bride content, and also got her husband involved, as he got frisky with the "maid of honour." "I did a strip tease for my girlfriend," she added. Tips to age well There are a number of habits you can take up to care for your health and wellbeing as you age. Age UK shared the following tips: Do things that you enjoy everyday - whether that's cooking, seeing friends or enjoying a good book Stay hydrated - drink six to eight cups of water a day Eat plenty of fruit and veggies to lower your risk of heart disease and certain cancers, have beans, pulses, fish, eggs and meat to repair your body after injury, starchy carbs for energy dairy to help keep bones strong Manage long-term health conditions to prevent them progressing or having a greater impact on your health Quit smoking and reduce alcohol intake to no more than 14 units a week Make mental health a priority and get treatment for it, as it can also impact physical health Make sure you're getting quality sleep Keep socialising - and call a friend or loved one if you can't make it out the house Be physically active to lower the risk of depression and dementia, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s and some cancers In this scenario, her friend put on a veil and things escalated after the strip tease. "So just cute little role-play things. It's just a scenario really", she said. Read more on the Scottish Sun 'DISGUSTING' Festive fly-tippers slammed for dumping mountains of rubbish at Scots Asda GHOST TOWN Former Scots shopping hotspot 'decaying' as multimillion pound revamp ‘failing’ Another theme that has cropped up in her content is sleeping with her husband's best friend. "It's just all that taboo stuff", she said.Former officials urge closed-door Senate hearings on Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for intel chief