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EU summit points to reforms the bloc needs in order to welcome Ukraine and others as new members

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

GRANADA, Spain (AP) — European Union leaders acknowledged Friday that just as aspiring members must meet exacting criteria to join the bloc, the 27 member nations also must work hard to reform the EU to make sure it can work smoothly with 30-plus nations. Although Ukraine was hoping for a swift timetable for joining, the 27 leaders declined to adopt a target date of 2030 for Kyiv’s membership as had been proposed by EU Council President Charles Michel.The group pledged unwavering support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, but the summit ended by saying that any aspiring member must complete the EU’s long and tortuous merit-based process that can last years or decades. Shortcuts for geopolitical reasons were ruled out.“Aspiring members need to step up their reform efforts, notably in the area of rule of law, in line with the merit-based nature of the accession process,” said the joint declaration of the leaders. “In parallel, the Union needs to lay th...

Online News Act not perfect but necessary: Heritage Minister

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

TORONTO — Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says that while the Online News Act isn’t perfect, the media landscape is changing too fast for the government to wait any longer.“We need to put our foot in the door and start doing it,” St-Onge said Friday while speaking at the MINDS international news agency conference in Toronto.“Even though it’s not perfect, even though some are not pleased with what we’re doing, but this new challenge is coming so fast that we need to address it as quickly as possible.” St-Onge says that part of the challenge is that the government waited too long to regulate digital platforms, so it’s starting with this law and can adapt it over time.The act, meant to help a struggling news industry, will force tech companies to compensate news publishers for work that is shared or otherwise repurposed on their platformsThe act doesn’t come into force until December, but Facebook started removing news for Canadians this past...

A judge rules against a Republican challenge of a congressional redistricting map in New Mexico

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico state judge ruled against a Republican Party challenge of new congressional boundaries approved by Democrats that divvied up a politically conservative oil-producing region, in an order published Friday.Judge Fred Van Soelen wrote that the redistricting plan enacted by Democratic state lawmakers in 2021 succeeded in substantially diluting votes of their political opponents, but that the congressional redistricting changes fell short of “egregious” gerrymandering.“Because ‘entrenchment’ is the touchstone of an egregious partisan gerrymander which the New Mexico Constitution prohibits, the court finds that the congressional redistricting map enacted under Senate Bill 1 does not violate the plaintiff’s equal protection rights,” the judge wrote.The order can be appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court. A final decision will have a major influence on which party represents a congressional swing district along the U.S. border with Mexico where part...

Louisiana Republicans are in court to fight efforts to establish new Black congressional district

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal appeals court judges in New Orleans closely questioned voting rights advocates and attorneys for Louisiana Republican officials Friday on whether Louisiana must follow Alabama’s court-ordered path in drawing a new mostly Black congressional district — and how quickly that could and should be done ahead of next year’s elections.Louisiana is among multiple states still wrangling over congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court decided in June that Alabama had violated the Voting Rights Act when its Republican legislature failed to create a second Black-majority congressional district when it redrew the state’s congressional map after the 2020 census. At issue Friday was an injunction by a federal judge that Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and Landry, both Republicans, are fighting. The injunction in 2022 by U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick found that a congressional map drawn up by the Republican-dominated Legislature that year likely violat...

Fire in Lebanese prison leaves 3 dead and 16 injured

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Prisoners in a Lebanese jail on Friday set their cells on fire, leaving three inmates dead and 16 others injured, according to a police statement.Police said the fire started in several cells on the second floor in the main prison in the eastern city of Zahle after an apparent escape attempt. It said 19 prisoners suffered from smoke inhalation and were taken to hospital where three died later.The police statement said guards had discovered a hole that was being dug in a wall, angering the inmates who then set their rooms on fire.Reinforcements were sent to the area of the prison to boost security and make sure no one escaped, local media reported.Living conditions in Lebanese prisons have deteriorated sharply since the country’s historic economic crisis began in October 2019.The Associated Press

Ivory Coast’s president removes the prime minister and dissolves the government in a major reshuffle

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has removed the country’s prime minister and dissolved the government, a senior public official announced Friday, in yet another major reshuffle in the West African nation.Prime Minister Patrick Achi is being removed alongside the members of the government after the president signed a decree terminating their roles in exercising his constitutional powers, the presidency’s secretary-general, Abdourahmane Cissé, said in a statement.Ivory Coast, which is preparing for an election in 2025, has had three prime ministers since 2020. Achi succeeded Hamed Bakayoko, who died of cancer in March 2021. Bakayoko’s predecessor had also died in office because of illness.“The president expresses his gratitude to Prime Minister Patrick Achi and to all members of the government for their commitment to serving the nation over the past years,” Cissé said. The outgoing officials will continue to function until later this month whe...

A Texas killer says a prison fire damaged injection drugs. He wants a judge to stop his execution

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Attorneys for a condemned Texas killer have asked a federal judge to stop his execution, alleging the drugs he is to be injected with next week were exposed to extreme heat and smoke during a recent fire, making them unsafe.The Texas Attorney General’s Office says testing done after the fire on samples of the state’s supplies of pentobarbital, the drug used in executions, showed they “remain potent and sterile.”Jedidiah Murphy is scheduled to be executed Tuesday. He was condemned for the fatal October 2000 shooting of 80-year-old Bertie Lee Cunningham, of Garland, a Dallas suburb, during a carjacking.In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Austin, Murphy’s attorneys allege that during an Aug. 25 fire that caused “catastrophic damage” to the administration building of a prison unit in Huntsville, the execution drugs the state uses were exposed to excessively high temperatures, smoke and water.Records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice show the agenc...

‘It doesn’t make sense’: Not all auto insurance companies offer discounts for anti-theft device

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

As vehicle thefts continue to rise, more and more auto insurance companies are offering discounts for anti-theft devices – but not for all customers. One man, who drives one of the most stolen cars in the GTA, is questioning what he calls unequal policies.Tony Waldron, who lives in the Peel region, is one of those customers who remain loyal to brands, including his auto insurance company.“I have been an Allstate customer for more than 20 years,” he said.But that loyalty is being tested.“I have no problem with the company as a whole, but this is a sticking point,” said Waldron pointing to Allstate’s policy when it comes to giving out discounts to drivers who install anti-theft devices on their vehicles. Waldron drives a Honda CRV, which according to the latest statistics, is one of the most stolen vehicles on the market in the GTA. He started to shop around for anti-theft products and wanted to know if he’d be given a discount.“I was told it’s only for Quebec Allstate customers...

Rifts in Europe over irregular migration remain even after ‘success’ of new EU deal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

GRANADA, Spain (AP) — Despite a breakthrough in negotiations earlier this week, the leaders of the European Union clashed again Friday on how to handle the human drama of migration that has tested their sense of common purpose over the past decade.The world’s largest club of wealthy countries remains split between those that support Brussels’ initiatives focused on distributing migrants between members in an act of solidarity and those countries, like Hungary or Poland, whose far-right governments flatly refuse any shared responsibility for migrants arriving to other member states. Italy is even going outside the EU to establish links with the United Kingdom to crack down on unwanted arrivals.Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was blunt about how far Europe’s leaders still are from reaching a consensus before they met in Granada, Spain. Orbán, who has pushed back against EU policy repeatedly and taken a hard-line approach against migration, said that he won’t sign off...

Man arrested in connection to Willowbrook Juneteenth shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:28 GMT

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — A man has been arrested and charged in connection to the deadly Juneteenth shooting this summer in unincorporated Willowbrook.Anthony Mothershed, 19, of Aurora, has been charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm - direction of another person and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.Authorities allege Mothershed was in a group of individuals standing outside Legacy Beauty Supply, located near Route 83 and Honeysuckle Rose Lane, when he began shooting a .45 caliber pistol in the direction of others at the celebration.Police allege Mothershed fled the scene after the shooting. He was arrested on Wednesday.On the night of June 18, police said a peaceful Juneteenth gathering turned into a "chaotic scene" as gunfire erupted in the parking lot of the strip mall. Records reveal new details in Willowbrook Juneteenth mass shooting Reginald "Reggie" Meadows, 31, was shot and killed and over 20 others were wounded. Meadows left behind two children and a GoFundMe rais...