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Secretaries of State are being told that any outgoings which are not contributing towards one of Labour’s “priorities” must be cut as Rachel Reeves vows to wield “an iron fist against waste.” In letters sent by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, departments will be told to brace for “difficult” spending decisions in order to restore trust in the Government’s handling of the public finances. Every pound of departmental spending will be face a “line-by-line review” involving external finance experts from banks and think tanks in order to ensure it represents value for money, the Treasury said. The Chancellor will on Tuesday launch the next round of Government spending, and is expected to warn departments that they “cannot operate in a business-as-usual way when reviewing their budgets for the coming years”. She will insist that areas focused on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s “plan for change”, which includes targets to improve living standards across the country and build 1.5 million homes, must be prioritised. Ms Reeves said: “By totally rewiring how the Government spends money we will be able to deliver our plan for change and focus on what matters for working people. “The previous government allowed millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to go to waste on poor value for money projects. We will not tolerate it; I said I would have an iron grip on the public finances and that means taking an iron fist against waste. “By reforming our public services, we will ensure they are up to scratch for modern day demands, saving money and delivering better services for people across the country. That’s why we will inspect every pound of Government spend, so that it goes to the right places and we put an end to all waste.” Under the Treasury’s plans, departments will ensure budgets are scrutinised by “challenge panels” of external experts including former senior management of Lloyd’s Banking Group, Barclays Bank and the Co-operative Group. These panels, which will also involve think tanks, academics and the private sector, will advise on which spending “is or isn’t necessary”, the ministry said. The Treasury said work has already begun, with an evaluation of the £6.5 million spent on a scheme that placed social workers in schools finding “no evidence of positive impact on social care outcomes”. “Departments will be advised that where spending is not contributing to a priority, it should be stopped,” it said. “Although some of these decisions will be difficult, the Chancellor is clear that the public must have trust in the Government that it is rooting out waste and that their taxes are being spent on their priorities.” Ms Reeves had already announced efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments in her autumn budget as she seeks to put the public finances on a firmer footing. In a speech in east London, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden hinted at a further squeeze. “At the Budget the Chancellor demanded efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments – and there will be more to come,” he said. “As we launch the next phase of the spending review at its heart must be reform of the state in order to do a better job for the public.”Secretaries of State are being told that any outgoings which are not contributing towards one of Labour’s “priorities” must be cut as Rachel Reeves vows to wield “an iron fist against waste.” In letters sent by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, departments will be told to brace for “difficult” spending decisions in order to restore trust in the Government’s handling of the public finances. Every pound of departmental spending will be face a “line-by-line review” involving external finance experts from banks and think tanks in order to ensure it represents good value for money, the Treasury said. The Chancellor will on Tuesday launch the next round of Government spending, and is expected to warn departments that they “cannot operate in a business-as-usual way when reviewing their budgets for the coming years”. She will insist that areas focused on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s “plan for change”, which includes targets to improve living standards across the country and build 1.5 million homes, must be prioritised. Ms Reeves said: “By totally rewiring how the Government spends money we will be able to deliver our plan for change and focus on what matters for working people. “The previous government allowed millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to go to waste on poor value for money projects. We will not tolerate it; I said I would have an iron grip on the public finances and that means taking an iron fist against waste. “By reforming our public services, we will ensure they are up to scratch for modern day demands, saving money and delivering better services for people across the country. That’s why we will inspect every pound of Government spend, so that it goes to the right places and we put an end to all waste.” Under the Treasury’s plans, departments will ensure budgets are scrutinised by “challenge panels” of external experts including former senior management of Lloyd’s Banking Group, Barclays Bank and the Co-operative Group. These panels, which will also involve think tanks, academics and the private sector, will advise on which spending “is or isn’t necessary”, the ministry said. The Treasury said work has already begun, with an evaluation of the £6.5 million spent on a scheme that placed social workers in schools finding “no evidence of positive impact on social care outcomes”. “Departments will be advised that where spending is not contributing to a priority, it should be stopped,” it said. “Although some of these decisions will be difficult, the Chancellor is clear that the public must have trust in the Government that it is rooting out waste and that their taxes are being spent on their priorities.” Ms Reeves had already announced efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments in her autumn Budget as she seeks to put the public finances on a firmer footing. In a speech in east London, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden hinted at a further squeeze. “At the Budget the Chancellor demanded efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments – and there will be more to come,” he said. “As we launch the next phase of the spending review at its heart must be reform of the state in order to do a better job for the public.” The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of “missing opportunities and making self-defeating decisions” in the Budget, and urged it not to “make the same mistakes” in the spending review. The party’s Treasury spokeswoman, Daisy Cooper, said: “Leaving the social care sector in crisis is a false economy that will only put people at risk and damage the public finances. “The Government cannot afford to make the same mistakes in the spending review as they did with the Budget, missing opportunities and making self-defeating decisions. “The Government must use this Review to invest to save, taking into account the billions of pounds that could be saved in the NHS budget by investing.”

Germany to tighten criminal law as people-smuggling ‘action plan’ agreed with UKGambles pay off for Lions against Packers

Northwest miners connect with suppliers at Reverse ExpoIt was the spring of 1991, and St. John’s had just lost to eventual champion Duke in a regional final of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Lou Carnesecca invited the several newspaper writers who covered the team to a season-ending lunch at Dante Restaurant, his longtime hangout near campus. Why not? It seemed like a nice gesture. So this then-30-year-old reporter told his editor he would be gone for a bit and set out from Newsday’s Queens office. Six hours later . . . I left the restaurant with a better sense of what a casual lunch with Carnesecca entailed, and with a quintessential New York experience. Rather than the small table of sportswriters I envisioned, there were long ones that filled the restaurant with several dozen of Looie’s closest friends. Menus? Um, no. Just rounds of Italian food as chosen by the chef, and even more rounds of red wine bottles. Scenes from an Italian restaurant on Union Turnpike, hosted by Lou Carnesecca, complete with heartburn and a hangover. Why bring this up now? Because it is one way among many of illustrating the life and times of Carnesecca, who died Saturday at age 99. To call him old school would be an understatement. The guy was born in 1925, two years before television. His father, Alfredo, ran a grocery store in East Harlem. Carnesecca lived his entire life in and around New York City other than during his service in World War II and evolved only grudgingly. He was a character who reveled in being a character, most of it genuine, some of it shtick and all of it memorable. And as much as he was a New Yorker out of central casting himself, he knew almost every other famous New Yorker in the sports world of the middle-to-late 20th century. And non-New Yorkers, too. Basketball was his bailiwick, though. St. John's basketball coach Lou Carnesecca, center, flanked, by players from left, Ron Steward, Chris Mullin and Bill Wennington, laugh as they hold the trophy for winning the Holiday Festival College Basketball tournament, December 29, 1984 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/G. PAUL BURNETT In an interview with Newsday late in 2023, two weeks before his 99th birthday, he was able to offer firsthand opinions on iconic coaches the likes of Joe Lapchick, John Wooden, Frank McGuire, Adolph Rupp, Nat Holman, Ben Carnevale, Clair Bee and, yes, Rick Pitino. Like others with images so colorful they threatened to overshadow their accomplishments – Yogi Berra comes to mind – it was easy to forget Carnesecca knew basketball in general, knew recruiting the streets of New York City in particular and was no one’s pushover. Most famously, he made the transition from the ancient days of Eastern college basketball’s loose affiliations to become a towering figure in the early Big East. The pinnacle came in 1985, when he led St. John’s to the Final Four before it fell to mighty Georgetown. The rivalry between St. John’s and Georgetown that season was and remains one of the highlights in New York City’s long love affair with college basketball. And it cemented New York’s long love affair with Carnesecca. The feeling was mutual, to understate things. Lou Carnesecca coaches his St. John's team from the sidelines during their game against Niagara on Nov. 23, 1991. Credit: AP/Mark Lennihan Carnesecca never did leave his hometown. Why would he? He lived out his final years in Queens, still sharp and witty. When St. John’s hired Pitino, an old Big East rival, as its coach in 2023, the then-98-year-old showed up at the introductory news conference. “Lou built a legendary program – legendary – and we will get back to those days by exemplifying everything that he taught,” Pitino said, pointing to Carnesecca. As he left the event that day, the old man said, “This is a great day, a great day.” Carnesecca loved all the attention he got in one of his first public outings since the COVID-19 pandemic. People were his lifeblood, and he could kibitz and zing one-liners with the best of them, from recruits to fans to reporters. Asked on the cusp of turning 99 what kept him going, he said, “It must be the olive oil.” Recalling when he denied his father’s wish that he become a doctor, he said, “I thank God in his infinite wisdom. He knew I would have caused more deaths than the bubonic plague.” Journalists usually must approach modern coaching stars through protective public relations folks. How did one get an audience with Carnesecca? By showing up unannounced at his office and asking his secretary, “Is Coach around?” (He was the only coach I called “Coach” in 40 years of sportswriting.) Privately, Carnesecca had a tough side that he could and would aim at those who crossed him. But his public face never wavered, and his famously raspy voice and accent said it all. He was a New Yorker, troo and troo. Next round is on me, Coach. No menu required. Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.

The Romanian Constitutional Court on Friday annulled the first round of the presidential election after declassified intelligence documents suggested Russian influence operations gave nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu his surprising victory. The Romanian president is an influential political leader but has limited power compared to the country’s prime minister. Romanians nonetheless vote for a president to work in tandem with the prime minister and other political leaders. Georgescu, 62, is a former soil scientist who worked for the Romanian environmental ministry and later represented Romania for the United Nations Environment Program. He entered politics as a member of the nationalist Alliance for the United of Romanians (AUR) party, but quit during party squabbles and became an independent candidate. Georgescu is an admirer of President-elect Donald Trump and has expressed agreement with him on numerous issues, including climate change and pushing back against LGBTQ propaganda. He has also expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, deep skepticism of Western support for Ukraine, and very harsh criticism of left-wing billionaire George Soros. This week, Georgescu said he intended to ban Ukrainian grain exports through Russia – a major pipeline for Ukrainian grain to avoid Russian blockades – and would discontinue further military aid to Kyiv. “It is unimaginable that there be a war next to us in the middle of Europe, so a priority will definitely be that this war in Ukraine must immediately be stopped,” he said. One area where Georgescu strongly disagrees with Trump is NATO spending. Trump has insisted NATO members should meet their obligation to spend two percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defense, while Georgescu said he is “not even interested” in increasing military outlays. “The concern of the Romanian people is to be happy. They cannot be happy spending money on other things. If NATO is defensive, then it should remain defensive. I believe one thing – Romania has an obligation to no one,” he said. Georgescu is also an economic nationalist, running on a platform of giving Romanian companies majority control over joint investments with foreign entities, opposing the privatization of state assets, and challenging European Union funding programs that have failed to lift Romania out of poverty. “Have European funds helped us? Are we reliant on European funds? This country can’t produce? Don’t we have other investors? There is money everywhere in this world, let me tell you,” he said on Tuesday. Georgescu ran with strong Christian themes in his campaign, promoting traditional values and appealing to rural Romanians who felt alienated and abandoned by urban political culture. Agence France-Presse (AFP) found voters disgusted with Romania’s political establishment flocked to Georgescu, many of them choosing him over center-right alternatives because of the Christian faith message in his campaign and his resistance to the LGBTQ agenda. Much of that disgust is fueled by Romania’s status as one of the most corrupt nations in Europe; Transparency International regularly ranks it among the nations with the lowest integrity scores on the continent. Another trend among Georgescu voters is that they tended to distrust establishment media and they thought media criticism of the upstart candidate had gone too far overboard. Some told AFP they decided to give Georgescu a chance after watching his TikTok videos and concluding he was not the monster depicted in Romanian and international media. Georgescu was considered an obscure fringe candidate going into the election. He spent very little on his campaign – he claims he spent nothing, but others dispute that boast – and built most of his following with social media platforms, especially TikTok. “The most important existing function for promoting free speech and freedom of expression is social media,” he said when asked if he had any qualms about using the Chinese-owned TikTok as the primary vehicle for his campaign. Romanian media largely ignored him as a sideshow, but he developed a huge footprint online, winning an astounding 31 percent of the youth vote. International media uniformly described him as “far-right,” an “ultranationalist,” or even a “fascist,” but like other upstart right-wing candidates across the free world, he found ways to reach disaffected voters by going around the media. Romanian political observers were therefore stunned when he took first place in last week’s presidential election. When the results were released on Monday, Georgescu was out front with 22.9 percent of the vote. The second-place finisher, former journalist and mayor Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union (USR) party, took 19.17 percent, followed closely by sitting Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the center-left, pro-European Union Social Democrats (PSD). Ciolacu nabbed about 3,000 fewer votes than Lasconi, a narrow loss that excluded PSD from the mandatory second-round runoff election for the first time in three decades. There were actually 14 candidates in the race, most of them more “centrist” than Georgescu, so Monday brought confident predictions that voters for the other parties would rally against the dark-hose nationalist independent and boost Lasconi into office. The only other strongly right-leaning major candidate was populist George Simion, who expected to finish second and was stunned to find himself in fourth place behind Ciolacu. Polling soon made it clear that Georgescu was the front-runner in the second-round election to be held on Sunday, with support from Simion and the AUR party, further stunning the Romanian political and media establishment. On Friday, the Constitutional Court pulled the plug, raising an outcry from Georgescu voters who accused the long-in-power PSD of using the courts to nullify an election it could not win fairly. The Constitutional Court nullified the election after declassified Romanian intelligence documents were released early this week, accusing Georgescu of winning with the aid of some 25,000 phony TikTok accounts controlled by a Russian disinformation campaign. The documents further suggested the Romanian election system was compromised by a wave of over 85,000 cyberattacks. The speed, size, and scale of the assault was presented as evidence of coordination by a state actor, presumed to be Russia. On Thursday, Romania’s top prosecutor opened an investigation of “indications regarding electoral crimes that would have influenced the voting process, through methods such as corrupting voters, including in the online environment.” Several Romanian civil society groups quickly filed petitions demanding the annulment of the election, and on Friday the top court obliged those requests. The Court nullified “the entire electoral process concerning the election of the president of Romania” and said it would set a new date for the election to begin from scratch. Georgescu supporters cried foul. Simion declared the court was conducting a “coup d’etat” to keep PSD in power, and urged his supporters to make their disapproval known without staging messy protests that could be used as an excuse to crack down on them. “We are not taking to the streets, we will not be provoked. This system must fall democratically!” Simion said. “Nine politically appointed judges, scared that a candidate outside the system had all chances to become Romania’s president, decided to annul Romanians’ will,” he said. Lasconi also condemned the court ruling, saying it was “illegal, amoral, and crushes the very essence of democracy: voting.” “We should have moved forward with the vote. We should have respected the will of the Romanian people. Whether we like it or not, from a legal and legitimate standpoint, nine million Romanian citizens, both in the country and the diaspora, expressed their preference for a particular candidate through their votes. We cannot ignore their will!” she declared. “I know I would have won. And I will win because the Romanian people know I will fight for them, that I will unite them for a better Romania. I will defend our democracy. I will not give up,” she said. Prime Minister Ciolacu praised the court decision, calling it “the only correct solution” following the release of the intelligence report. “The Romanian people’s vote was flagrantly distorted as a result of Russian interference,” he said. “The presidential elections must be held again. At the same time, investigations by the authorities must uncover who is responsible for the massive attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election,” he said. Georgescu himself dismissed the investigations into his campaign as the work of George Soros’ minions in an interview with Sky News on Thursday. “I can tell you one sentence. The last Soros Fortress has fallen. This man has made them desperate,” he said. Interestingly, no major media outlet seems to have asked Georgescu what he thinks about the court action as of late Friday morning, or has informed their readers of anything he might have said online. Georgescu’s supporters seem determined to stand behind him, which raises the distinct possibility that he will win the rerun election – perhaps by even broader margins, if enough Romanians agree with Simion that the Constitutional Court staged a coup. As of Friday morning, there does not appear to be any discussion of banning Georgescu from running again.

Ministers warned of cuts as ‘every pound’ of spending to face review

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lynne Roberts wasn’t looking to leave the Utah women’s basketball team. Then she got a call from Los Angeles Sparks general manager Reagan Pebley that changed her thinking. Roberts was introduced Thursday as coach of the Sparks, becoming the second coach to make the leap from college to the WNBA this month. Karl Smesko of Florida Gulf Coast got the Atlanta Dream job last week. “I was 100 percent invested at Utah,” Roberts said. “It just kind of felt like this is a golden opportunity. As a competitor, the chance to coach the best in the world, it’s what I want.” She replaces Curt Miller , who was let go in September and now is general manager of the Dallas Wings. Roberts inherits a team that has a strong young nucleus of Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby. The Sparks have the No. 2 pick in next year’s WNBA draft. “We’ve got kind of a cool combination of some veteran leadership and then we’ve got a really dynamic young group,” Roberts said. “That’s a good roster right there and then we can keep working with it.” Los Angeles finished 8-32 last season for the league’s worst record and has missed the playoffs for four straight years. “I want to compete, I want to win now,” Roberts said. “I know that’s easier said than done, but I’m up for the challenge and I can’t wait to get started.” Roberts is friends with Southern California women’s coach Lindsay Gottlieb and UCLA coach Cori Close. “That was intentional,” Sparks general manager Reagan Pebley said. “That we were bringing somebody into this role that had existing relationships because again this is a community of women’s basketball that is exceptional.” Roberts added, “I want to be the top of that pyramid with the Sparks.” Roberts is returning to her native California. The 49-year-old coach grew up in the Northern California city of Redding. She played college ball at Seattle Pacific and then began coaching at Chico State before moving to Pacific and then Utah. Roberts was 165-116 in nine-plus seasons at Utah and recently signed a six-year extension. She led the team to three straight NCAA Tournament berths and was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2023. The Utes have started this season 3-1 and will be coached by Gavin Petersen, who was promoted from associate head coach. “I poured 10 years of my life into that place and I loved it. I loved every minute of it,” Roberts said. “Where we started wasn’t great, where it is now is great and I’m very proud of that.” Roberts said the current upheaval in college basketball including name, image and likeness, the transfer portal and Utah's move to the Big 12 this season had nothing to do with her leaving. “I'm sitting here because it's a chance to coach the best people in the world and win a championship in LA. That's it,” she said. “As a competitor and as someone that kind of thrives in pressure, being in this market, being in LA, it sounds like heaven to me." AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

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Cabinet ministers have been warned they must find more savings in their departments as the Chancellor said “every pound” of Government spending will be scrutinised in a major budget review. Secretaries of State are being told that any outgoings which are not contributing towards one of Labour’s “priorities” must be cut as Rachel Reeves vows to wield “an iron fist against waste.” In letters sent by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, departments will be told to brace for “difficult” spending decisions in order to restore trust in the Government’s handling of the public finances. Every pound of departmental spending will be face a “line-by-line review” involving external finance experts from banks and think tanks in order to ensure it represents value for money, the Treasury said. The Chancellor will on Tuesday launch the next round of Government spending, and is expected to warn departments that they “cannot operate in a business-as-usual way when reviewing their budgets for the coming years”. She will insist that areas focused on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s “plan for change”, which includes targets to improve living standards across the country and build 1.5 million homes, must be prioritised. Ms Reeves said: “By totally rewiring how the Government spends money we will be able to deliver our plan for change and focus on what matters for working people. “The previous government allowed millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to go to waste on poor value for money projects. We will not tolerate it; I said I would have an iron grip on the public finances and that means taking an iron fist against waste. “By reforming our public services, we will ensure they are up to scratch for modern day demands, saving money and delivering better services for people across the country. That’s why we will inspect every pound of Government spend, so that it goes to the right places and we put an end to all waste.” Under the Treasury’s plans, departments will ensure budgets are scrutinised by “challenge panels” of external experts including former senior management of Lloyd’s Banking Group, Barclays Bank and the Co-operative Group. These panels, which will also involve think tanks, academics and the private sector, will advise on which spending “is or isn’t necessary”, the ministry said. The Treasury said work has already begun, with an evaluation of the £6.5 million spent on a scheme that placed social workers in schools finding “no evidence of positive impact on social care outcomes”. “Departments will be advised that where spending is not contributing to a priority, it should be stopped,” it said. “Although some of these decisions will be difficult, the Chancellor is clear that the public must have trust in the Government that it is rooting out waste and that their taxes are being spent on their priorities.” Ms Reeves had already announced efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments in her autumn budget as she seeks to put the public finances on a firmer footing. In a speech in east London, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden hinted at a further squeeze. “At the Budget the Chancellor demanded efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments – and there will be more to come,” he said. “As we launch the next phase of the spending review at its heart must be reform of the state in order to do a better job for the public.”