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Von der Leyen vows EU strategy to combat drug trafficking

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

The European Commission is planning a strategy to combat drug trafficking with a focus on Europe’s ports.While President Ursula von der Leyen made no mention of either ports or drugs in her State of the Union address Wednesday, her letter of intent to the European Parliament and Council of the EU promised an “action plan on anti-drug trafficking,” trailing a “European Ports Alliance” as a part of that effort.The plans are among a limited number of new initiatives in response to “emerging challenges,” which von der Leyen wrote will be “detailed and complemented in our work programme for 2024.”The pledge comes amid increased worries about drug trafficking and drug-related crime in the bloc. In Belgium, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne warned earlier this year that violence had reached the “phase of narco-terrorism,” while Brussels is grappling with a crack epidemic. Last week, Belgium’s new drugs czar Ine Van Wymersch told POLITICO that a European stra...

EU risks trade war with China over electric vehicles

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

BRUSSELS — This is how it starts.In the midst of an invasion by Chinese electric cars, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched an anti-subsidy investigation Wednesday against Chinese imports. It’s a step that risks snowballing into a trade war that could make a tussle over solar panels with Beijing a decade ago look like a tea party.“Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars. And their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies,” von der Leyen said in her annual State of the Union address. “This is distorting our market.”The stakes couldn’t be higher: China’s massive investments have established it as the dominant maker of the battery technology that powers clean cars. Global sales of electric vehicles are forecast to grow by nearly a third in 2023 alone to nearly more than 14 million units — worth $560 billion — and without fair competition the EU sees its industry losing out.First reported ex...

Flood Watch Up, Hurricane Lee Update

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

Another day, another flood watch is up across the area as we expect more scattered showers and storms to push through late this morning, into this afternoon. As the showers and storms rumble through, the potential for locally heavy rain is there, and where the storms line up and continue over the same areas, a quick couple inches of rain is likely, with a few localized totals pushing 3-4″. With that in mind, in addition to swollen streams and saturated grounds, it’ll be easy for additional stream/street flooding to get going, thus the flood watch. Highs today max out in the mid 70s. A few of the afternoon storms could contain strong wind gusts too. Tomorrow and Friday will be much more comfortable with highs in the 70s and a return to lower humidity. Our attention then turns to Hurricane Lee. Lee’s closest pass to us come Saturday morning/midday. As Lee’s max sustained wind lower, the wind field in Lee actually expands. That means a large wind field, capable ...

International crews in Morocco to recover bodies days after deadly 6.8 quake earthquake struck

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

IMI N’TALA, Morocco (AP) — The stench of death wafted through the village of Imi N’Tala high up in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains four days after a deadly earthquake struck, slicing off a chunk of mountain, killing residents and razing the hamlet to the ground.Bulldozers, rescue crews and Moroccan first responders work around the clock trying to dig through the wreckage to unearth the eight to ten corpses still underneath.“The mountain was split in half and started falling. Houses were fully destroyed,” Ait Ougadir Al Houcine said as rescuers worked on recovering bodies, including his sister’s. “Some people lost all their cattle. We have nothing but the clothes we’re wearing. Everything is gone.”The scene in Imi N’Tala, which mainly houses herders and famers and where 96 residents perished in Friday’s earthquake, mirrors that of dozens of places situated along the treacherous mountain roads south of Marrakech: Men in donated djellabas neatly arrange ru...

A fishing vessel in Greenland will try to free a cruise ship that ran aground with 206 people

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A fishing vessel owned by Greenland’s government will attempt to use a high tide to pull free a Bahamas-flagged Norwegian cruise ship carrying 206 people that ran aground in the world’s northernmost national park, authorities said.Capt. Flemming Madsen of the Danish Joint Arctic Command told The Associated Press that the passengers and crew on the ship stranded in northwestern Greenland were doing fine and ”all I can say is that they got a lifetime experience.”The scientific fishing vessel was scheduled to arrive later Wednesday and would attempt when the conditions were right to pull the 104.4-meter- (343-foot) long and 18-meter- (60-foot) wide MV Ocean Explorer free. The cruise ship ran aground Monday in Alpefjord in the Northeast Greenland National Park, which is known for icebergs and the musk oxen that roam the coast.The Alpefjord sits in a remote corner of Greenland, some 240 kilometers (149 miles) away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoor...

Japanese boy-band production company sets up panel to compensate sexual assault victims

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese boys-band production company at the center of an unfolding sexual abuse scandal, Johnny & Associates, chose three former judges Wednesday to head its effort to compensate hundreds of victims.The Tokyo-based agency also said it will not take its usual cut from its performers’ earnings for the next year “in an effort to win back public trust,” and all the money for shows and other appearances will go to the individuals. The actions come after Johnny’s, as the company is known, acknowledged last week that Johnny Kitagawa, its late founder and former chief, had sexually assaulted at least several hundred teens and children over half a century.A special online site will be set up for people who worked under Johnny’s so they can be financially compensated, the company said in a statement. Privacy will be protected, and the monetary amount will be worked out in direct talks with each person, it said. Kitagawa died in 2019 and was never charged.Julie Keiko Fuji...

Simanic returns to Serbia with World Cup silver medal winners hoping to play basketball again

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Borisa Simanic, the Serbian player who needed a kidney removed during the Basketball World Cup, has been discharged from a Philippines hospital and was able to join his team for its silver-medal celebration in Belgrade.Simanic told Radio Belgrade that he must rest for three months, and then the process of determining whether he can play basketball again will begin. Doctors who treated Simanic in Manila believe it is possible that the 25-year-old forward can resume his career.Simanic was injured during an opening-round game against South Sudan on Aug. 30. He was elbowed in his side as a South Sudan player attempted to get around him for a shot near the basket. Simanic needed emergency surgery that night to stop internal bleeding and fix other issues, and then doctors performed a second surgery to remove the kidney on Sept. 3 after determining how badly the organ was damaged.Serbia kept Simanic’s jersey draped over a chair throughout the rest of the tourn...

Russian spaceport visited by Kim has troubled history blighted by corruption and construction delays

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Vostochny space launch facility where President Vladimir Putin hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday reflects an ambitious attempt by Moscow to burnish its scientific glory that faded after the collapse of the Soviet Union.The new spaceport has a troubled history tarnished by construction delays and widespread corruption.Here is a glance at Vostochny’s creation and capability.POST-SOVIET CREATIONAfter the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia leased the Baikonur cosmodrome from Kazakhstan and continued to use it for most of its space launches. The agreement with Kazakhstan allows Russia to keep leasing Baikonur for $115 million a year through 2050.The relatively small Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia has been used for some military satellite launches and military missile tests.Amid occasional disputes with Kazakhstan over Baikonur’s use, Russian authorities declared that the country needs a full-fledged space facility of its own whil...

Arrest made after victim shot during botched carjacking in Toronto’s west end

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

A Toronto man is facing nearly a dozen charges after someone was shot during a failed carjacking attempt in the city’s west end.Toronto police officers responded to reports of a robbery near Weston Road and Black Creek Drive on Aug. 11.It is alleged a victim was driving a 2016 Mercedes sedan and parked the car to attend a restaurant with a friend. Two vehicles pulled up on either side of the Mercedes and three suspects got out when the victim and his friend returned to their parked car.Police say two suspects attacked the victim while the third suspect got into the Mercedes. The two suspects who assaulted the victim fled the area in the two suspect vehicles.The third suspect was unable to start the victim’s Mercedes and attempted to run away. The victim confronted the man while he was trying to flee. The suspect pulled out a handgun and shot the victim before making good on his escape.The victim, a man in his 20s, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.Investigators...

3 wounded in southern Syria after shots fired at protesters at ruling party’s local headquarters

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:32:59 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Security guards from the Syrian president’s Baath party on Wednesday fired shots at protesters trying to raid its local headquarters in southern Syria, wounding at least three people, activists said.The incident marked a major escalation in anti-government protests over the past month that have otherwise been calm.Anti-government protests have rocked the Druze-majority Sweida province over the past month. Hundreds continue to gather in demonstrations that were initially driven by the war-torn country’s spiraling economy and skyrocketing inflation but quickly shifted focus to calling for the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government.Protesters have raided and closed offices of Assad’s Baath party across the province and have torn images of Assad. On September 4, protesters smashed a statue of Assad’s father and predecessor, Hafez, as they they marked the 2015 assassination of a prominent anti-government Druze leader. Some of the offices h...