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Priest, scientist on trial in Germany over climate protest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A Jesuit priest and a scientist are appearing before a German court Wednesday charged with coercion in connection with a climate protest last year.The Rev. Joerg Alt and Cornelia Huth, a biologist and member of the group Scientist Rebellion, blocked a road in Munich on Oct. 28.Numerous similar protests have taken place across Germany and other countries recently as climate activists try to draw attention to the urgency of tackling global warming.The public and political response to such road blockades has been mixed. While some German mayors have said they support the protesters’ cause, if not their means, activists have also faced violence from enraged motorists and calls for tough punishment from conservative politicians.So far most courts have acquitted the protesters or handed down fines, though in at least one recent case a judge sentenced three activists to prison terms ranging from three to five months.Also appearing before the Munich regional court is Luc...

In The News for May 3 : Families of Canada’s Afghan advisers are pleading for help

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 3 …What we are watching in Canada …Canadians who served as military advisers in Afghanistan say many of their Afghan family members don’t qualify to come to Canada, even though their lives are at risk.The Canadian government recruited some 45 Canadian citizens with Afghan heritage to serve as language and cultural advisers during the mission in Afghanistan. They were granted top-secret security clearance and risked their lives to serve alongside soldiers.One adviser, who was given the military code name “Sam,” says his sister’s family was threatened repeatedly by the Taliban over his involvement with the Canadian military and her husband was killed before she fled the country in 2018. The Canadian Press is not revealing his real name because his sister is now at risk of being deported f...

Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 1 after prisoner’s death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

At least one person was killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said Wednesday, after hours of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the coastal enclave following the death of a prominent hunger-striking prisoner.A tense cease-fire held hours after Palestinian militants launched around 100 rockets into southern Israel late on Tuesday. The Israeli military said it bombed tunnels, arms production sites and military installations belonging to the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said Hashil Mubarak, 58, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. His family said he was injured by falling debris and died at the hospital.The cross-border fighting was some of the most intense since an 11-day war in 2021 between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. It came hours after Khader Adnan, a leader in the Islamic Jihad militant group, died in Israeli cust...

UN: 258 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2022

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

ROME (AP) — More than a quarter-billion people in 58 countries faced acute food insecurity last year due to conflicts, climate change, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, according to a report published Wednesday.The Global Report on Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian organizations founded by the U.N. and European Union, said people faced starvation and death in seven of those countries: Somalia, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen.The report found that that the number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food aid — 258 million — had increased for the fourth consecutive year, a “stinging indictment of humanity’s failure” to implement U.N. goals to end world hunger, said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.While the increase last year was due in part to more populations being analyzed, the report also found that the severity of the problem increased as well, “highlighting a concerning trend of a de...

‘It’s a spiritual thing:’ Long history between Gordon Lightfoot and Massey Hall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

TORONTO — It was a relationship that lasted a lifetime: Gordon Lightfoot got his start at Massey Hall as a teenager, and never stopped returning to the Toronto venue, no matter how successful he became.  Hundreds of famous musicians have played the stage in its long history, but none so often as Lightfoot. The folk legend and the concert hall fed off each other’s fame, sharing a sort of symbiosis that spanned more than half a century. “It’s a spiritual thing,” Lightfoot told The Canadian Press in 2018. “I have an affinity for Massey Hall that’s very strong.” When the concert hall closed down for major renovations that same year, his was the last performance. And when it reopened three years later, he was the one to usher in its new era with three consecutive shows.They would be his last at the venue before his death on Monday at age 84. The first of Lightfoot’s 170-odd performances on the Massey stage happened when he was just 13 years old, ...

French constitutional body rules on pension referendum call

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s top constitutional body is to rule Wednesday on a last-ditch effort by opposition lawmakers to thwart President Emmanuel Macron’s move to raise the retirement age to 64, through a possible referendum or new bill restoring the age to 62. The move has been prompted by opposition legislators who are seeking to launch a complex, lengthy process in hopes of rejecting Macron’s unpopular pension law that was enacted last month. The Constitutional Council’s role is to assess whether the opposition’s request meets the legal conditions for a potential referendum. If so, supporters would have nine months to collect signatures from at least 4.8 million, or 10%, of French voters.Macron’s government would then be able to choose between sending the opposition’s text to parliament for debate and eventually a vote, or waiting for six months to put the measure before voters in a referendum. The proposal would only go to a national referendum if it were not debated by lawma...

Stock market today: World shares mixed before Fed decision

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

European shares opened higher Wednesday following losses in Asia ahead of a decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve. U.S. futures rose while oil prices were little changed. Markets in Japan and China were closed Wednesday for holidays. As worries over struggling banks and a slowing economy pile up, a political stalemate has left the U.S. edging ever closer to what would be a catastrophic default on government debt. President Joe Biden invited the top four congressional leaders to face-to-face talks at the White House next week to try to resolve the impasse over the debt. The Federal Reserve was expected to wrap up a two-day policy meeting later in the day by raising its key rate by a quarter percentage point to 5%-5.25% to try to finally tamp down inflation. In European trading, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.6% to 7,425.17 and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.5% to 7,425.17. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.5% to 7,813.37. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones I...

Parliamentary Internship Programme in flux, as academics seek House involvement

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

OTTAWA — A program that for five decades has had young Canadians shadow MPs from across the political spectrum is facing an uncertain future because the model that has kept it running grates against modern labour codes and tax laws.“The main goal for me is just to avoid any disruption to the intern experience,” said Paul Thomas, head of the Parliamentary Internship Programme.The internship brings 10 young professionals and recent university graduates onto Parliament Hill to shadow two MPs — one from the sitting government and the other in opposition — for 10 monthsThe interns help MPs with analysis and writing while also researching their own academic paper.The program started in 1970 after a motion from a backbench MP called for the government to create a non-partisan program for young Canadians to learn about the parliamentary process and the role of MPs.The House of Commons helps run the program with the Speaker as its patron. The Canadian Political Scienc...

Terrified of the Taliban, families of Canada’s Afghan advisers plead for help

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

OTTAWA — The threats started with phone calls in 2011 to her home in Kandahar.The mother of six had no idea her Canadian brother was working so close by, just 10 or 15 kilometres away, until the Taliban told her.“Your brother is working for foreigners and your life is at risk because your brother works with foreigners,” she recalls the insurgents telling her in that first frightening phone call.Her 25-year-old brother, who was given the code name “Sam” by the Canadian military, was in Afghanistan in secret to help Canadian troops navigate the unfamiliar cultural landscape and give advice to the commanders on the ground.The Canadian Press has agreed not to use Sam’s real name or reveal his sister’s identity because of the threat she still faces from the Taliban.The phone calls continued every four or five days for years. Sometimes the woman’s husband, a police officer, would pick up the phone.Then one day in 2013, her husband was shot dead ou...

As Canada stays mum, which Commonwealth countries will put the King on their money?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:58 GMT

OTTAWA — Countries around the world whose currencies pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II now have a new monarch — and a decision to make about whether the King has a place on their money.Since the queen’s death in September, Canada has stayed mum on whether or not it intends to put the King’s likeness on its coins and bills. But other members of the Commonwealth have moved more quickly towards enshrining his visage on their cash — or instead moving away from any kind of royal tribute. Unsurprisingly, the United Kingdom was the first country to move forward with new banknotes that will feature King Charles, unveiling the designs in December. The Bank of England says the new banknotes will come into circulation in mid-2024. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand also said after the queen’s death that it would be preparing to change out the image it uses on coins for one approved by the new King. It said the transition would take several years. Australia went in the o...