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Poland’s new parliamentary majority hits its first legislative snag over wind power rules

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

WARSAW — A bid to pass a new law easing rules for wind farms is turning into a legislative mess for the newly elected majority in Poland’s parliament. A legislative proposal, submitted to the parliament by Civic Coalition and Poland 2050 — two of the four parties forming a coalition expected to take power in early December — added last-minute changes aimed at the development of wind projects to a draft text otherwise focused on freezing energy prices for households and vulnerable users.It’s an effort to undo years of policy by the outgoing Law and Justice (PiS) party, which largely froze the development of onshore wind power. But the way it was done opened opposition parties to the charge that they were undermining their election campaign pledge to restore legislative procedures often ignored by PiS during its eight years in power, when so-called “throw-ins,” or amendments unrelated to the main bill, were common. The move is also seen as a ploy to outmaneuver P...

Fire crews battling two-alarm blaze at three-storey home in midtown

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

No injuries have been reported at a two-alarm house fire in midtown.Fire crews were met with heavy smoke and flames from a three-storey home on St. Clair Avenue West, just west of Avenue Road, when they arrived just before 5:30 a.m. Saturday.Firefighters say an offensive attack was initiated and a primary search of the residence was carried out but they found no one at the home. Crews have since switched to a defensive mode to try and bring the blaze under control.Paramedics are on the scene but say they have not transported anybody to hospital at this point.

Man in life-threatening condition after North York stabbing

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

A man is fighting for his life following an early morning stabbing in North York.Police were called to the area of Upper Canada Drive and Lord Seaton Road just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday.When they arrived they found a man suffering from a stab wound. He was transported to a nearby trauma centre with life-threatening injuries. There was no immediate suspect description.

7 suspected illegal miners dead, more than 20 others missing in landslide in Zambia

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Seven suspected illegal miners were confirmed dead and more than 20 others were missing and presumed dead after heavy rains caused landslides that buried them inside tunnels they had been digging at a copper mine in Zambia, police and local authorities said Saturday.No bodies had yet been retrieved after the landslides late on Thursday night, police said. Many of the victims were believed to have drowned.The miners were digging for copper ore at the Seseli open-pit mine in the copper-belt city of Chingola, around 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Lusaka, according to police. The landslides happened some time between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Thursday, police said.Police gave names or partial names of seven confirmed victims and said all of the miners in the tunnels are “suspected to have died.” Police didn’t say how many miners in total there were in the tunnels but Chingola District Commissioner Raphael Chumupi told The Associated Press that...

At UN Climate talks, oil companies pledge to combat methane; Environmentalists call it “smokescreen”

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Fifty oil companies representing nearly half of global production have pledged to reach near-zero methane emissions and end routine flaring in their operations by 2030, the president of this year’s United Nations climate talks said Saturday, a move that environmental groups called a “smokescreen.”The announcement by Sultan al-Jaber, president of the climate summit known as COP28 and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., comes as he and others have insisted his background would allow him to bring oil companies to the negotiating table. Al-Jaber has maintained that having the industry’s buy-in is crucial to drastically slashing the world’s greenhouse emissions by nearly half in seven years to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times.The pledge included major national oil companies such as Saudi Aramco, Brazil’s Petrobras and Sonangol, from Angola, and multi-natio...

1 dead, 1 critical after car ends up in Lake Ontario

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

One man is dead and another is in critical condition after a vehicle ended up in the water in the Port Lands.Police say they were called to Polson Street just off Cherry Street shortly after 3:30 a.m. Saturday. When they arrived they found a car with two people in the water. One person was later pronounced dead at the scene while paramedics say a second man was taken to a nearby trauma centre with critical injuries. Both men are believed to be in their late 20s – early 30s. There is no word yet on what may have led up to the car ending up in the water.

Amid housing crisis, decrepit N.L. jail seen as preferable to living on the street

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Michael Keough has to pause in the middle of his phone call from Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest jail to cough and wipe his eyes — there’s black mould on the wall where the phones are, he explains, and it irritates him after a while.The 37-year-old is back at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s after declining a bail hearing in September and consenting to be placed on remand in the 164-year-old crumbling building, where an ongoing rodent infestation led to an inmate being bitten in his sleep.The conditions inside the penitentiary are horrific, Keough said. But outside, he said, they’re worse. Keough is homeless, and he was living in a tent and panhandling before his current stay at the penitentiary. When someone stole his tent and he had nowhere left to go, he started stealing food again, waiting to be picked up by police and sent back to jail, where he’d at least have meals and a bed.“If I was released on b...

Watch six memorable ads from Walker Art Center’s annual British Arrows Awards

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

As usual, the annual British Arrows Awards offer up a series of eye-popping commercials that either warm or break your heart, delight your senses and baffle your brain.Founded in 1976, the British Arrows selects the previous year’s most compelling advertisements and compiles an evening of the best of the best. For decades, Walker Art Center has screened that compilation throughout the month of December. It’s an annual tradition that typically draws more than 30,000 people each season.One surprise this year is the absence of a clip from U.K. retail giant John Lewis. The company’s annual holiday ad, a big-budget affair that typically uses a slowed-down cover of a pop music classic as its soundtrack, was relatively underwhelming when compared to previous efforts. The ad did win a sliver medal, but for whatever reason it did not make the cut for the annual program. (In possibly related news, John Lewis dumped its ad agency of 14 years in May.)This year’s 74-minut...

Steady temperatures through Wednesday, warm-up on the horizon

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- Clouds still remain overhead and will do so for most of the day. cooler temperatures, with highs only in the upper 40s. I'm still on track to see some light rain overnight into early Sunday morning. Temperatures on Sunday will climb into the low 50s with a gradual clearing through the day. Another weak system will bring another round of light rain and sprinkles to the area early Monday morning. Past that, seasonable temperatures continue through Wednesday, with a warm-up for the end of the work week.

Nuggets Journal: NBA in-season tournament is officially a hit. Here are the changes it should make

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:59:24 GMT

There came a miniature breaking point for Michael Malone last week after yet another question about the in-season tournament.“I think everybody’s doing the right thing and saying all the right things, like ‘This is a big in-season game tonight,'” Malone said before the Nuggets’ group stage finale in Houston. “Well for me, we’re 1-3 on the road trip. The last thing I’m thinking about is the in-season tournament. I’m just being very honest.”His answer was illuminating in two ways. First, the obvious: This new NBA endeavor is fun to play along with, but only as long as it isn’t eclipsing a team’s primary goal, which is to win games regardless of whether the court is painted funny. By this point in the group stage, the tournament as a novelty concept — and the accompanying questions from media — had clearly worn off for Malone, who was trying to get a championship-caliber team back on track. Understandab...