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German farmers reignite Berlin’s budget crisis

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

BERLIN — Just days after German leaders claimed to have resolved the country’s budget crisis, cracks emerged in the three-party compromise as thousands of farmers took to the streets of Berlin on Monday to protest a plan to remove key tax privileges.A convoy of 1,700 tractors blocked the main road leading to the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, where thousands of farmers demonstrated against a government proposal to end their tax breaks on fuel and agricultural vehicles. The government wants to introduce the tax increases, which the farmers say would cost the sector about €1 billion per year, to help plug a €17 billion hole in its 2024 budget.“Today we have sent a clear signal to the federal government: Withdraw the tax increases for agriculture,” Joachim Rukwied, a farmer from Baden-Württemberg who serves as president of the German Farmers’ Association, told POLITICO at the demonstration. “Enough is enough, it must be withdrawn. This policy must come to an end, other...

Debris crashes down at MassArt building in Boston as intense weather moves through area

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

Police in Boston taped off a stretch of road by Huntington Avenue after what appeared to be debris from a MassArt building fell across the area.Large chunks of insulation and other items were scattered along part of Evans Way and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design campus after some sort of structure hanging over an entrance collapsed, leaving a large hole in an exterior ceiling.In a statement, the college told 7NEWS that due to the extreme weather moving through the city, part of the Tower building’s exterior “sustained damage, resulting in falling debris.”“The damage was isolated to one area on Evans Way. No injuries were sustained,” a spokesperson said. “Out of an abundance of caution, activity on the adjacent floors of the building was relocated to a different building on campus. The safety of our community is our top priority and our staff continue to monitor the situation.”More information on the impact of today’s...

Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu adds layers to his game while staying true to himself: ‘You can tell he’s from Chicago by the way he plays’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

Ayo Dosunmu knew this moment would come. Even when he was stuck on the bench, settling for 10-minute rotations as the Chicago Bulls sunk into a losing skid in the opening weeks of the season.Dosunmu has never been one to waver. His shot wasn’t falling. The Bulls weren’t winning. None of that mattered. The moment would come.And now, as the Bulls struggle to adapt to injuries — including Zach LaVine, Torrey Craig and Alex Caruso — Dosunmu’s impact has been critical to sparking a 5-3 record over the past eight games.“I just try to always stay ready,” Dosunmu said. “Stay ready and try to grow. Grow each game, try to find ways to get better each game. Each game is not going to be the same but you can learn from your mistakes, learn from trials and tribulations.”That’s what I try to hold myself accountable to, just watch a lot of film and finding ways to be ready, no matter how I’m being guarded, just get any advantage to h...

Quebec doctors say emergency room overcrowding is putting patient health at risk

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

MONTREAL — Emergency room doctors in Quebec say overcrowding in hospitals has reached dangerous levels.Dr. Judy Morris, head of an association of Quebec ER doctors, says occupancy rates are as high as they’ve ever been and some hospitals regularly have twice as many ER patients as they can handle.Her comments come several days after a group representing emergency room chief doctors sent a letter demanding action to the province’s health minister.Morris says Quebec’s hospital system has become so fragile that even a small rise in the number of ER patients can have a major impact.She is recommending the government implement overcapacity protocols that would reduce ER occupancy by transferring more patients to hospital wards.Health data website Index Santé says the average ER occupancy in Quebec this afternoon was 133 per cent and hasn’t been below 100 per cent since Nov. 12.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2023.The Canadian Press

France urges Lebanese leaders to work on bringing calm along the border with Israel

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — France’s foreign minister urged Lebanese leaders on Monday to work on reducing tensions along the border with Israel, warning that the Israel-Hamas war could still spread to other parts of the region.Catherine Colonna’s visit to Lebanon came a day after she visited Israel, where she called for an “immediate truce” aimed at releasing more hostages, getting larger amounts of aid into Gaza and moving toward “the beginning of a political solution.”While she was in Beirut, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group exchanged fire with Israeli troops along the tense frontier, which seen violent exchanges since Oct. 8 — a day after the Palestinian militant Hamas group attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians. In Beirut, Colonna held talks with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri about the situation Lebanon’s southern border. Officials from France, once Lebanon’s colonial ruler, have visited Leban...

Long-delayed Minnesota copper-nickel mining project wins a round in court after several setbacks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed a decision by a state agency to grant a major permit for the proposed NewRange copper-nickel mine, saying regulators adequately considered the possibility that developers might expand the project in the future.It was a win for NewRange Copper Nickel, which remains stalled by court and regulatory setbacks. The $1 billion open-pit mine near Babbitt and processing plant near Hoyt Lakes would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine. It’s a 50-50 joint venture between Swiss commodities giant Glencore and Canada-based Teck Resources. The project was renamed NewRange Copper Nickel in February but it’s still widely known by its old name, PolyMet. The issue in this series of appeals was whether the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency should have looked deeper into whether the developers harbored expansion plans that went beyond what their original permits would allow when regulators issued an air emissions ...

Justice Department creates database to track records of misconduct by federal law enforcement

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

The U.S. Justice Department has created a database to track records of misconduct by federal law enforcement officers that is aimed at preventing agencies from unknowingly hiring problem officers, officials said on Monday.The federal move is a step toward accountability amid growing calls to close loopholes that allow law enforcement officers to be rehired by other agencies after losing their jobs or resigning after misconduct allegations.But the database, which will only contain records for federal officers and not be open to the public, falls short of the national misconduct database called for by some police reform advocates.The National Law Enforcement Accountability Database currently includes only former and current Justice Department officers who have records of serious misconduct over the last seven years. It will be expanded to capture other federal law enforcement agencies such as the Secret Service and United States Park Police, a Justice Department official said.Attorney...

Death of 5-year-old boy prompts criticism of Chicago shelters for migrants

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

A 5-year-old boy living at a temporary shelter for migrants in Chicago died over the weekend after being transported to a hospital after suffering a medical emergency, the city’s mayor said Monday. The boy’s death on Sunday revived community organizers’ complaints about conditions at shelters and questions about how Chicago is responding to an influx of people unaccustomed to the city’s cold winters and with few local contacts. Chicago and other northern U.S. cities have struggled to find housing for tens of thousands of asylum-seekers who have been bused from Texas since the start of the year, with months of cold weather looming. Earlier this month, hundreds of asylum-seekers still awaited placement at airports and police stations in Chicago, some of them still camped on sidewalks outside precinct buildings. Although the city reports that police stations have been mostly cleared, massive shelters are not necessarily a safe alternative, said Annie Gomberg, a ...

Trial set for North Dakota’s pursuit of costs for policing Dakota Access pipeline protests

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A court fight over whether the federal government should cover North Dakota’s $38 million in costs of responding to the lengthy protests of the Dakota Access oil pipeline years ago near its controversial river crossing will continue as a judge said the case is “ripe and ready for trial.”The state filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking $38 million. The lawsuit’s bench trial was scheduled earlier this month to begin Feb. 15, 2024, in Bismarck before U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor, estimated to last 12-13 days.Traynor on Wednesday denied the federal government’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case, and granted the state’s motion to find that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “failed to follow its mandatory permitting procedures” for the protest activities on its land, among several rulings he made in his order.Thousands of people gathered to camp and demonstrate near the pipeline’s controversial Missouri River crossing upstream o...

Police investigating exchange at pro-Palestinian protest against Zara in Eaton Centre

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:20:44 GMT

Toronto police are investigating an exchange between a demonstrator and another person during a pro-Palestinian protest in front of fashion retailer Zara at a busy downtown mall.A video shared online appears to show a heated exchange between some protesters and someone else while the protest takes place at the Eaton Centre on Sunday.A few Toronto police officers can be seen standing nearby on the video. Last week, Zara, a Spanish fashion brand, pulled advertising images that, to some, appeared to reference Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.The images for a line of jackets included what the company called “unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio.” However, some online critics said one image of a model holding a wrapped-up mannequin resembled someone holding a corpse. Other photos included a mannequin with missing limbs and a figure wrapped in fabric or plastic on the floor, according to news reports.The company apologized in a statement posted on Instagra...