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Ruud van Nistelrooy’s winning start, Palace’s rare victory, Tiger Woods eyes comebackTSX Fades Tuesday
The Prime Minister is set to promise a named, contactable police officer for every neighbourhood in England and Wales as he lays out his “plan for change” on Thursday. In a speech billed as setting out the “next phase” of his Government, Sir Keir Starmer is expected to detail ambitious “milestones” for achieving the five missions laid out in Labour’s manifesto. He will say: “My Government was elected to deliver change, and today marks the next step. People are tired of being promised the world, but short-term sticking plaster politics letting them down.” But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has already branded the speech an “emergency reset” after a challenging five months in office. Downing Street said the milestones would focus on raising living standards, rebuilding Britain, ending hospital backlogs, putting more police on the beat, giving children the best start in life and securing home-grown energy. Among the promises expected to be announced on Thursday is a guarantee that every neighbourhood will have a named, contactable police officer responsible for dealing with local issues. The Prime Minister is expected to describe the move as “a relief to millions of people scared to walk their streets they call home”, and promise a range of policing reforms to improve performance alongside £100 million to support neighbourhood policing. Labour has already pledged to recruit 13,000 new police officers, PCSOs and special constables, which would bring the total police workforce to a level above its 2010 peak. Police numbers following the 2010 election, before rising again after 2019 as the previous government pledged to recruit 20,000 police officers. While the number of officers reached record levels, the number of PCSOs and special constables continued to decline. The promise of a named officer for each community is intended to improve relations between the police and the public. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Out neighbourhood policing guarantee is about more than just increasing numbers. It’s about rebuilding the vital connection between the public and the police. “This marks a return to the founding principles of British policing – where officers are part of the communities they serve.” But the Conservatives said only a third of the 13,000 new recruits would be full police officers, while the £100 million would not cover what was needed to pay for them, leading to cuts elsewhere. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “The Conservatives recruited over 20,000 extra police officers and gave the police an extra £922 million for policing this year, ensuring the police could protect the public and prosecute more criminals. “Starmer has once again misled the public by claiming to recruit an extra 13,000 officers when the actual number is 3,000, and even that is not properly funded.” Sir Keir’s policing announcement is expected to be one of several focused on the “missions” Labour set out in its manifesto, which were securing the “highest sustained growth” in the G7, making Britain a “clean energy superpower”, halving serious violent crime, breaking down “barriers to opportunity” and building an NHS “fit for the future”. Along with the targets set to be announced on Thursday, the Prime Minister is expected to propose a significant programme of public sector reform as his Government continues to face questions on how it will achieve its aims without further raising taxes or borrowing. The Prime Minister will say: “Hard working Brits are going out grafting every day but are getting short shrift from a politics that should serve them. “They reasonably want a stable economy, their country to be safe, their borders secure, more cash in their pocket, safer streets in their town, opportunities for their children, secure British energy in their home, and an NHS that is there when they need it. “My mission-led Government will deliver.”Wake Forest 67, Detroit 57FACT FOCUS: Vermont ruling does not say schools can vaccinate children without parental consent
Guardiola hits back at claims of De Bruyne riftLiverpool's lead cut in Premier League and Man City ends slump. Chelsea and Arsenal winAP News Summary at 5:46 p.m. EST
A landmark defence pact between North Korea and Russia, signed by its leaders in June, has gone into effect after the two sides exchanged ratification documents, North Korea's official KCNA news agency said Thursday. The formalization of the treaty comes as the United States and South Korea have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine. Experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is keen to acquire advanced technology from Moscow and battle experience for his troops in return. Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the strategic partnership deal during the Kremlin chief's visit to Pyongyang. It obligates both states to provide military assistance "without delay" in the case of an attack on the other, and to jointly oppose Western sanctions. It came into effect from Wednesday, when the ratification documents were exchanged in Moscow by the countries' vice foreign ministers Kim Jong Gyu and Andrei Rudenko, KCNA reported. Lawmakers in Moscow last month voted unanimously for the deal and it was later signed by Putin. Pyongyang said it was ratified by a decree from Kim. The treaty will serve "as a strong driving force accelerating the establishment of an independent and just multi-polarized world order without domination, subjugation and hegemony," KCNA said. Analysts have suggested Pyongyang could be using Ukraine as a means of realigning its foreign policy. By sending soldiers, North Korea is positioning itself within the Russian war economy as a supplier of weapons, military support and labour — potentially even bypassing traditional ally, neighbour and main trading partner China, they say. North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Both countries are under rafts of UN sanctions -- the former for its nuclear weapons programme and the latter for the Ukraine conflict. Kim said last week during a visit to Pyongyang by Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov that his government, army and people would "invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity". Putin hailed the deal in June as a "breakthrough document". bur-sst/bjt
Commanders star Jeremy Reaves proposes to girlfriend on the field after helping team reach playoffsThousands of protesters marched in the Georgian capital Tbilisi Saturday for the 10th day of rallies sparked by a disputed election and the government's decision to shelve EU accession talks. Demanding fresh elections and a return to European integration, the demonstrators headed towards parliament, undeterred by a police crackdown on pro-EU protesters and attacks on the opposition. The Caucasus nation has been engulfed in turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party declared victory in a disputed October 26 election. The government last week said it would suspend talks to join the European Union, sparking a fresh wave of demonstrations. Its critics accuse it of creeping authoritarianism and of steering the country back towards Russia. Georgia's pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili -- at loggerheads with the ruling party -- said on social media she had had "in-dept discussion" with the US president-elect Donald Trump and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris. She said they had discussed the "stolen election and extremely alarming repression against the people of Georgia. "Underscored the need for a strong US," she added. "The Georgian people have a friend in Donald Trump." Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky -- whose country has been fighting a Russian invasion for almost three years -- said Saturday he fully backed Georgia's anti-government protesters. Zelensky urged Tbilisi to stop "surrendering" to Moscow in a meeting with Zurabishvili in Paris. He has warned of Russian influence in Georgia for months. Zurabishvili has denounced widespread fraud in October's parliamentary polls, branding the freshly elected legislature and government "illegitimate". Blowing horns and whistles, pro-European protesters marched Saturday from Tbilisi State University towards parliament, blocking one of the city's main traffic arteries, an AFP reporter saw. As on previous nights, some demonstrators banged on the metal barriers blocking the parliament's entrance. Others pointed laser beams at the building and the police blocking the adjacent streets. "They are trying to arrest us, punish us, but we won't back down, we are not afraid," said 19-year-old protester Giorgi Romanadze. "This is our last chance to be free, to be happy. We want Europe, and Europe only." Some demonstrators held signs reading "We demand free and fair elections" and "Free all unjustly arrested," as calls for stronger international backing grew louder among the protesters. "We are fighting for our freedom... and we want the international community to help us," said 32-year-old Teona Chakvetadze. "We need the international community to sanction our oligarchs and this illegitimate government.... We can't win this fight on our own." Independent television station Pirveli reported that dozens of masked men had severely beaten its journalists. Police officers stood by without intervening during the incident near the protest venue. The opposition alliance, For Change, released CCTV footage showing the masked men raiding its office and badly beating opposition figure Koba Khabazi. The Georgian Dream government's security forces had faced persistent accusations of deploying plainclothes security agents to target and attack political opponents. The crackdown has triggered outrage at home and mounting international condemnation. Officers have made hundreds of arrests, including 48 at a protest on Friday. The country's rights ombudsman has accused the police of "torture" against those detained, with scores reporting mistreatment or showing visible injuries. With both sides ruling out a compromise, there appeared to be no clear route out of the crisis. The United States, France and Germany are among the Western countries to have denounced the crackdown on protests, but the government has refused to back down. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has praised his security forces after several opposition party offices were raided and their leaders arrested. "We have won an important battle against liberal fascism in our country," he told journalists, using language reminiscent of Kremlin rhetoric against its political opponents. Demonstrators have rejected Kobakhidze's characterisation of the protest movement. Thousands have also staged daily protests in other parts of Georgia, including the cities of Batumi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Zugdidi, and Telavi, local media reported. Critics of Georgian Dream are enraged by what they call its betrayal of the country's bid for EU membership, enshrined in the constitution and supported by around 80 percent of the population. Georgian Dream, in power for more than a decade, has advanced controversial legislation in recent years, targeting civil society and independent media and curbing LGBTQ rights. Brussels has warned that such policies are incompatible with EU membership, while domestic detractors accuse the government of copying Russia's playbook. ub-im/jj
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