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EU lawmakers reject proposal to cut the use of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a plan to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030 and to ban all pesticide use in areas such public parks, playgrounds and schools.After a series of amendments watered down the proposal of the EU’s executive Commission, the bill was rejected in a 299 to 207 vote, with 121 abstentions. It buried the bill for good and any new proposal would need to start from scratch after June elections for members of the European Parliament. “This is a bitter blow for the protection of the environment and public health. To put it bluntly, the majority of MEPs put the profits of big agri over the health of our children and the planet,” said Sarah Wiener, a Green lawmaker who was rapporteur for the proposal.“There is not going to be a new sustainable use of pesticides regulation,” Wiener said.The European Commission said last year that current rules limiting the use of pesticides were too weak and had not been applied co...

Judge denies corrupt Baltimore ex-detective’s request for compassionate release

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge has denied a compassionate release request filed by a former Baltimore police officer convicted in 2018 as part of the department’s Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal.Daniel Hersl, the oldest member of the deeply corrupt and now-disbanded Baltimore police unit, was sentenced to 18 years behind bars after a jury found him guilty of racketeering and robbery.Last month, he filed the request for release, saying he was recently diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer that has spread to his lymph nodes, liver, lungs and more. He said a prison doctor concluded he has less than 18 months to live, and asked for home detention.Hersl, 53, was one of eight indicted members of the once-lauded Gun Trace Task Force, which was created to get illegal guns off the streets of a city plagued by violent crime. But instead, members robbed drug dealers, planted narcotics and firearms on innocent people and assaulted random civilians. More than a dozen officers have ...

Albania’s prime minister calls for more NATO troops in neighboring Kosovo following ethnic violence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama urged NATO on Wednesday to further boost its military forces in Kosovo and secure the country’s borders with Serbia, warning that recent ethnic violence in Kosovo could potentially trigger a wider Balkan conflict.Kosovo’s border with Serbia was “out of control,” Rama said after an informal meeting of Western Balkan NATO members in North Macedonia. He said the frontier was being used for a host of illegal activities, including drugs and arms smuggling and infiltration by ultra nationalists, that could lead to “great disturbances” in the region.Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority, is a former Serbian province. It gained independence with the help of a NATO military campaign, launched in 1999 to end a bloody Serb crackdown on an armed separatist movement.Tensions remain high, with violence breaking out twice in recent months, and Western countries fear that Russia could try to foment trouble in the Ba...

Chow disappointed in feds fiscal update, says Toronto needs ‘faster action’ to address refugee crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

Both the City of Toronto and the province of Ontario are calling on the federal government to invest more in housing and infrastructure, following the release of the Trudeau government’s fall economic statement.Mayor Olivia Chow says the federal government’s mini-budget fails to meet the ambition of Toronto’s housing plan and argues the city needs more urgent funding to tackle an ongoing crisis, citing the hundreds of refugees currently sleeping on the city’s streets.“It’s raining out there, there are people in tents,” said Chow, speaking with Breakfast Television on Wednesday morning. “Our need is now. We are hoping for faster action.”“We need funds to house and shelter the refugees. It’s going to get very cold soon.”As part of Tuesday’s fiscal update, the federal government announced $15 billion in new loan funding to build more than 30,000 new rental units in Canada, with an additional $1 billion over t...

Authorities warn that fake HIV drugs are found in Kenya despite a crackdown on counterfeits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan authorities issued a warning Wednesday about the sale of counterfeit HIV prevention drugs in the country, saying their “safety, quality and efficacy cannot be assured.”The Pharmacy and Poisons Board said the drugs were in two batches falsely labeled as Truvada, a commonly used HIV prevention drug worldwide.The board said on X, formerly Twitter, that it will take “stern legal and regulatory action” against anyone found trading, distributing, selling or dispensing from the batches.Kenyan police fear that thousands of counterfeits of Truvada could already be in circulation on the market.Around 1.4 million people have HIV in Kenya, according to UNAIDS data in 2022. Of those, 1.2 million are on antiretroviral therapy drugs.Truvada is manufactured by U.S.-based Gilead Sciences Inc., which in January warned that millions of dollars’ worth of fake versions of its HIV drugs were being sold in the U.S., posing dangers to patients.But their discovery in Kenya...

New images released of man who placed cell phone in U of T campus washrooms, recorded victims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

Toronto police have released additional surveillance footage photos of a man who allegedly placed a cell phone inside a washroom at the University of Toronto (U of T) campus and recorded victims over several months.Between July 2023 and October 2023, U of T Campus Safety received reports of voyeurism in the Spadina Avenue and Willcocks Street area.In collaboration with U of T, Toronto police took over the case and began investigating seven reports of voyeurism.It’s alleged a man loitered inside women’s washrooms and gender-neutral showers, and in some of the incidents, he placed a cell phone underneath the stalls to record people.Police said the victims ranged from 14 to 21 years old. No one was physically injured.Between July 2023 and October 2023, U of T Campus Safety received reports of voyeurism in the Spadina Avenue and Willcocks Street area. Photo: Toronto police.The man is described as five-foot-two to five-foot-seven with short black hair and a medium build. On o...

New AP analysis of last month’s deadly Gaza hospital explosion rules out widely cited video

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

___EDITOR’S NOTE: The Associated Press is publishing an updated visual analysis of the Oct. 17 explosion at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital. The AP initially assessed that the explosion was likely caused by a rocket launched from within Gaza that misfired, and that assessment has not changed. However, new images that emerged after AP’s story was published show that a key video used in the initial analysis is no longer tied to the hospital explosion.___An updated Associated Press visual analysis of last month’s deadly Gaza hospital explosion has ruled out a widely cited Al Jazeera news channel video that initially appeared to show a rocket fired from the Palestinian territory that broke up in the air and crashed to the ground. But even without that footage, additional videos of rocket fire in the direction of the hospital, photos from the explosion site and other evidence leave unchanged AP’s original assessment that a rocket launched from Gaza the night of Oct. 17 most likely went astray an...

FIFA renews with Qatar Airways as a sponsor for the men’s World Cup in 2026 and 2030

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

ZURICH (AP) — Qatar Airways has been renewed as the airline sponsor for the men’s World Cup in 2026 in North America and the 2030 tournament expected to be in Europe, Africa and South America, FIFA said Wednesday.The state-owned airline initially had a two-tournament deal for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 edition in Qatar.The World Cup airline slot should next be vacant for the 2034 tournament, which is expected to be hosted by Saudi Arabia. The Saudis plan to launch a second national carrier called Riyadh Air.The value of the new Qatar Airways deal was not disclosed but is likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars. At World Cup finals, trophy and medal presentation assistants are dressed in the airline’s uniform.The airline was among seven top-tier men’s World Cup sponsors in the 2019-2022 commercial cycle, which FIFA said earned almost $1.8 billion in total marketing rights sales.It includes selected FIFA youth tournaments and the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which...

How grief, creating characters and wigs helped comic Heather McMahan to build a loyal following

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

When Heather McMahan recently debuted her first Netflix comedy special, “Son I Never Had,” the fan reaction was as though their best girlfriend had achieved a major win.“The coolest thing about this job is a lot of people have been on this journey with me from the beginning,” said McMahan recently over Zoom. “They found me on social media years ago and they’ve been rooting for me. It kind of feels like I’ve been in this giant life sorority and everyone’s like, ‘She did it.’”McMahan moved from Los Angeles back home to Atlanta when her father died from pancreatic cancer in 2015. As a distraction from grief, McMahan would create characters and post short bits on social media and built a following. There was boozy Brenda Carlyle, Mississippi’s (self-proclaimed) No. 1 real estate agent and “Hollywood assistant to the stars” Margie McDaniels. “I just said, ‘I want to make stuff that makes me laugh’ so I started doing a ton of characters on Instagram, and that’s wha...

Where can you shop on Black Friday? Here's what's open — and when

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:21 GMT

Black Friday is almost upon us, when retailers kick off the holiday season with offers meant to get customers in the shopping mood.The term “Black Friday” in relation to shopping the day after Thanksgiving is most often traced to Philadelphia where police had to deal with large crowds who thronged the streets of the city before the annual Army-Navy game and to take advantage of sales. According to the Dec. 18, 1961, issue of Public Relations News, a newsletter, it became customary for police to refer to post-Thanksgiving shopping as Black Friday and Black Saturday because of the headaches they created.Retailers began taking ownership of the term in the late 1980s as the opening bell for the holidays. Of course Black Friday has morphed more accurately into a month of offers that begin in October, when Halloween jack-o'-lanterns are still flickering.A number of stores that were closed on Thanksgiving, including Walmart and Target, reopen early Friday as the holiday shopping ...