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Connor Allen

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

Allen’s Japanese employer may be a bit player on a policy scene dominated by Das Auto, but he keeps a high public profile — by design. With less than a decade in the Brussels bubble, he’s pulling back the curtain on everything he’s learned, whether it’s attempting (with mixed success) to distill the EU legislative process into 60-second TikTok clips or interviewing fellow lobbyists as co-host of the Pluxcast podcast. On Twitter, he sometimes plays the part of a typical Gen-Zer, with public displays of compassion and plenty of personal disclosure. But then he mixes that up with good-natured jabs at left-leaning Brussels “bike Twitter” and mockery of the green elite — his public sparring partners are often personal friends — offering an experiment in how the pro-European center right could hold its own in the under-35 space.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Matthew Tabone

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

Few politicians in Brussels are more ambitious than European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, with her make-or-break year lying ahead. And she’s trusting Tabone with the issues most crucial to her political image. Task No. 1: Take advantage of opportunity in the Qatargate crisis by burnishing her chops as a parliamentary reformer. A push for more transparency involves overcoming both her native Malta’s culture of political corruption, as well as her own center-right political group’s resistance to any overhaul that could compromise MEPs’ freedom of mandate. And for Metsola, Tabone is more than a confidant; he’s also family, married to her sister.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Robert Kopitsch

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

Kopitsch isn’t your mere crypto bro — he’s nothing less than Brussels’ crypto godfather, always ready with a sermon on how digital currencies can change the world. Well into his tenure at APCO in 2018, Kopitsch founded Blockchain for Europe, recruiting big players like Coinbase and Ripple. And even if digital money might be impermanent, his influence is concrete: Well-connected in the Commission, Kopitsch recently engineered a powwow with EU officials and the European fintech industry, bringing key U.S. lawmaking advisers to a February fact-finding mission in Brussels.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

New study suggests people dealing with depression after traumatic brain injury may be struggling with unique disorder

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

A new study led by a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital suggests that people dealing with depression after suffering a traumatic brain injury could be struggling with a unique depressive disorder. Findings of the study were published on Wednesday. Researchers now say they hope the study can help those struggling finally find answers.“A lot of times, people who are suffering from depression after a brain injury, they start to blame themselves,” said Dr. Shan Siddiqi. “They start to think, ‘I wish I could recover a little bit faster.” “I’m hoping this will help them recognize that this is actually a complication of the physical trauma independent of everything else that is happening,” Siddiqi continued. “Of course, the emotional trauma is also important, but it turns out, in this case, it’s the physical trauma that is causing it.”Researchers are calling the disorder “traumatic brain injury affective syndrome.” Moving forward, doctors say the...

Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg spark Orioles’ rally as Dean Kremer strikes out career-high 10 Yankees in 6-3 win

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

For about a week, Colton Cowser’s colorful energy and Jordan Westburg’s robotic stoicism were forced apart, Westburg freshly in the majors as Cowser pushed to join him. Wednesday, the pair of top Orioles prospects reunited in a big league ballpark Wednesday.“I gave him a little bit of a hard time already today; he gave me a hard time as well,” Cowser said before his major league debut. “So we’re back to normal.”Perhaps what the pair showed in the sixth inning of a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees will be the Orioles’ new normal. Cowser’s first hit with Baltimore, a left-on-left RBI single, put a scuffling Orioles offense on the board. Westburg, in his eighth major league game, followed with a line drive past left fielder Jake Bauers’ diving effort, his first career triple plating two before he raced home himself on Adam Frazier’s grounder.The four-run frame was a welcome outburst for an Orioles team that had drop...

Cameraman injured by errant throw as Orioles topple Yankees in sloppy defeat

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

The Yankees had a chance to lock up a series win against the rival Orioles on Wednesday, but they coughed up a lead and lost, 6-3, after rookie Randy Vásquez shined in his third major league start.The Yankees scored twice in the fifth thanks to a solo shot from Josh Donaldson — his ninth home run of the year — and an RBI single from Kyle Higashioka. But things took a scary turn in between the runs, as an errant throw from Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson sailed into the camera well next to the Yankees dugout and struck YES Network cameraman Pete Stendel in the head.The Yankees’ in-dugout personnel immediately rushed to help Stendel and passed towels his way as players and coaches watched in fear. A first aid team ultimately carried Stendel off on a stretcher and golf cart.Fortunately, he was able to throw up a peace sign on his way off the field as fans chanted “MVP.” The scary situation created a 17-minute game delay.Once play resumed, the Oriol...

Mets Notebook: Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor amongst All-Star snubs

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

PHOENIX — According to Fangraphs, Brandon Nimmo is the 31st-best player in the league right now. However, he will not be among the 64 players in Seattle next week when the MLB All-Star Game takes place. The center fielder might have been snubbed.Pete Alonso will be the Mets’ lone representative, and while that could change, the Mets understand that their dismal first-half performance probably factored into All-Star voting. Still, they think Nimmo and shortstop Francisco Lindor should have been selected to play in the Midsummer Classic.“I’m biased, I get a chance to watch him every day and I think you could make the case for two or three guys,” manager Buck Showalter said Wednesday at Chase Field. “I think a lot of it is a reflection on your record too. I get it. You can go around to 29 other clubs and they’ll have a tale of woe.”Nimmo is having an outstanding season on both sides of the ball. He’s on pace to shatter his previous ...

12-year-old killed in suspected DUI crash in Oceanside on 4th of July

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A 12-year-old boy was killed by a suspected drunk driver in Oceanside on Tuesday night, authorities said.According to the Oceanside Police Department, a call came in around 11 p.m. reporting a White Volkswagen GTI near Mission Avenue and Myers Street driving with no lights on. An Oceanside officer attempted to pull over the driver, but it turned into a high-speed pursuit north on Myers Street, law enforcement said. The suspect's vehicle then hit a Blue Nissan Altima traveling east on Surfrider Way.Police confirmed a 12-year-old boy, a passenger of the Altima, died in the collision while other passengers in the vehicle, a 27-year-old and 6-year-old, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Two occupants of the Volkswagen suffered non-life-threatening injuries, per OPD. Four people in total were taken to trauma centers. 4th of July shooting in East County leaves 1 dead; suspect at large Edward Minot Jr., 20, of Mill Spring, North Carolina, was arrested on suspici...

Pence says Trump and DeSantis do not understand broader importance of US military aid to Ukraine

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis do not grasp the broader implications of their call for limited military assistance to Ukraine, former Vice President Mike Pence told The Associated Press in Iowa Wednesday. “With all due respect, I think the former president and the governor of Florida just don’t understand Americans’ national interest in supporting the Ukrainian military in repelling the Russian military in Ukraine,” Pence, who is competing with Trump and DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said during the interview before a campaign event in Sioux City. Pence, who visited Ukraine last week, said, “Make no mistake, China is watching.”Pence, who has called for robust aid to the Ukrainian military, said the United States’ commitment to keeping Russia in check signals its willingness to also hold China’s military ambitions in check in Asia. Trump has said opposing Russia in its invas...

In search for accountability on mass shootings, Chicago lawyer charts new course: Suing gun manufacturers

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 14:14:20 GMT

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, was one of the seven people killed in the July 4, 2022 parade attack in Highland Park.  For his daughter, Nubia Hogan, it’s been a year of grieving, reflecting, and searching for solutions to the problem of mass shootings. “I think that they need to ban these weapons,” Hogan said. “They don’t need to be out there. Civilians don’t need it. These are weapons of war.”In the year since the parade attack, Congress has enacted little in the way of gun safety legislation. Last June, President Biden signed into law a series of minor changes to federal gun laws, the most significant aspect closes the so-called 'boyfriend loophole.'The 'Boyfriend Loophole' was a gap in American gun legislation that allowed abusive ex-romantic partners and stalkers with previous restraining orders or criminal convictions access to guns. Before Biden signed the bills, such individuals were prohibited from owning guns only if their victims were their spouse or cohabitant...