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Commission launches pilot of Deforestation Information System to help authorities, companies and traders prepare for EU Deforestation Regulation  

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

The Commission is starting pilot testing of the Deforestation Information System, a key step to operationalise the Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR). The system will help operators, traders, competent authorities and customs submit and process due diligence statements. Once the EUDR is fully in force, such statements will serve as proof that products are deforestation-free and can therefore be placed on the EU market or exported from it.100 stakeholders from all relevant sectors concerned by the EUDR will participate in the pilot which will run until the end of January. Following this, the Commission will provide a training environment and “train-the-trainers” sessions toall interested companies in the summer of 2024, in coordination with member states' authorities. The Commission will also make available user manuals and other relevant self-learning material such as video tutorials. More information is available in the news item.

Dear Abby: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I don’t know what to do

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

DEAR ABBY: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I’m sure he’d cheat on me the instant he has the chance.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: I’m sure it’s the bride who made this hurtful decision Advice | Dear Abby: My sister doesn’t know it, but my husband’s demand is non-negotiable Advice | Dear Abby: I’m not sure I can spend the rest of my life with babyman in tow Advice | Dear Abby: I can’t believe my wife thinks it’s normal how she lives Advice | Dear Abby: My wife’s snubbing of my parents could cost me a lot of money We have been together for 12 years. When we met, he was 24 and I was 31. I realize now that while I had four long-term relationships and a fair share of sexual partners, my husband has had little sexual experience outside of our relationship.Any time he’s around women, whether I am there or not, he mak...

Freshman McCown leads UTSA to 35-17 Frisco Bowl win over Marshall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Redshirt freshman Owen McCown recovered from a shaky beginning to his first start of the year to complete 22 of 31 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns as UTSA rallied from a 14-0 deficit to beat Marshall 35-17 in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night.Robert Henry had touchdown runs of 3 yards and 1 yard and Rocko Griffin one for 17 yards for UTSA (9-4), which won a bowl game for the first time following four bowl losses including in each of the previous three seasons.Joshua Cephus caught a 44-yard TD pass and David Amador II caught one for 19 yards.Marshall (6-7) lost seven of its final nine games to finish with its first losing season since 2016.One play into the second period, UTSA trailed 14-0, had been outgained 114 yards to 16, had one first down, two interceptions thrown and three punts.“The grit of that team, to be down 14 to nothing — I bet if all the Roadrunner fans were honest, a bunch of ’em were probably ready to give up,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said...

Power returning to South Shore, nearly 25,000 still in dark Wednesday morning

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

Nearly 25,000 in Massaschusetts were still without power Wednesday morning, two days after the area was hit with a wet and windy storm.The South Shore bore the brunt of the storm’s power outages. More than 25 percent of Norwell was still in the dark Wednesday morning. Neighboring Pembroke remained 19 percent unpowered, better than its neighbor, Duxbury, where 14 percent of residents were left waiting.Norwell resident Alison Demong said her husband described the scene around Norwell as “Treemageddon.”“There’s just trees down and branches everywhere,” she said. “Most people in our town have generators at this point, not everyone, but it’s more and more common that we lose power. Norwell has so many big trees and the power lines come down so fast.”Scituate, which suffered widespread outages through Tuesday, was mostly back online Wednesday; just 5 percent of residents there were still without power, down from nearly 100 percent during the height of the storm.Nat...

Doctors in England begin a 3-day strike over pay at busy time of the year in National Health Service

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Doctors in the early stages of their careers in England started a 72-hour strike Wednesday in their long-running dispute with the British government over pay levels.Patients in Britain’s state-owned National Health Service have been warned that there will be “significant disruption,” with thousands of appointments and procedures postponed or even canceled. The strike began at 7 a.m. and will run until Saturday morning.Tens of thousands of so-called junior doctors, which make up around half of the medical workforce in the NHS, will also go on strike for a six-day stretch early next year, the longest walkout in the health service’s 75-year history.They are seeking a 35% pay rise, a figure they say takes into account years of below-inflation rises and will prevent an exodus of staff to other countries. The government though is offering junior doctors an average increase of 8.8% and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated there won’t be more on off...

A Japan court orders Okinawa to approve a modified plan to build runways for US Marine Corps

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court on Wednesday ordered the governor of Okinawa to approve the central government’s modified plan for landfill work at the planned relocation site of a key U.S. military base on the southern island despite persistent opposition and protests by residents. The decision will move forward the suspended construction at a time Okinawa’s strategic importance is seen increasingly important for the Japan-U.S. military alliance in the face of growing tensions with China as Japan rapidly seeks to buildup its military in the southwestern region. The ruling by the Fukuoka High Court Naha branch allows the Land and Transport Ministry to order the modification work designed to reinforce extremely soft ground at the designated relocation site for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, overriding Gov. Denny Tamaki’s disapproval. The ruling ordered Tamaki to issue the approval within three working days.If completed, the new site will serve a key Marine Corps fac...

The French parliament approves a divisive immigration bill, prompting a heated debate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

PARIS (AP) — The French parliament approved a divisive immigration bill intended to strengthen France’s ability to deport foreigners considered undesirable, prompting a heated debate after the far-right decided to back the measure. The bill passed the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, with a 349-186 vote late Tuesday. It had previously been voted by the Senate.Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the text of the bill includes “useful, efficient provisions that were expected by our citizens.” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who championed the bill, said the government wants “greater firmness against foreign offenders.”“Who here can say that we must allow criminals, people on our land, who attacks us, attack our professors and who attack our police forces and who attack the youth on the cafe terraces, without reacting?” he said in a speech at the National Assembly.The bill still needs to be officially enacted into law.The vote comes after parliament members from Fren...

In the news today: Pharmacare not a priority for most and East Coast outages persist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed tobring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Pharmacare not a top health priority for most CanadiansAs Liberals and New Democrats negotiate what a future national drug plan should look like, a new survey suggests pharmacare is not at the top of the priority list for most Canadians.The survey shows that when asked to name their top two health-care priorities, only 18 per cent of those surveyed said the government should prioritize creating a new, universal, single-payer drug plan.More funding toward surgical wait times, building more long-term care homes and expanding mental-health services all garnered significantly more support, at 36 per cent, 32 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.The Liberals promised to pass pharmacare legislation that would serve as the foundation of a national drug plan by the end of 2023, as part of their political pact with the NDP.Outages persist in parts of Atlantic CanadaA li...

Pharmacare not the top health priority for most Canadians: survey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

OTTAWA — As Liberals and New Democrats negotiate what a future national drug plan should look like, a new survey suggests pharmacare is not at the top of the priority list for most Canadians.The survey shows that when asked to name their top two health-care priorities, only 18 per cent of those surveyed said the government should prioritize creating a new, universal, single-payer drug plan.More funding toward surgical wait times, building more long-term care homes and expanding mental-health services all garnered significantly more support, at 36 per cent, 32 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. “All of that comes before having a universal single-payer drug plan,” said Christian Bourque, Leger’s executive vice-president.“It’s not at the top of Canadians’ priority list.”The Leger polling firm conducted the web survey of 1,622 Canadians from Friday to Sunday. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they are not considered...

‘A front row to our funeral’: Canadian local news coverage erodes in 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:57 GMT

Jessica Wallace stood in Ottawa’s Rideau Hall in June as she and her co-workers at the British Columbia newspaper Kamloops This Week were recognized as finalists for the Michener Award, a top journalism prize in Canada.On a short list with the likes of the Globe and Mail and Global News, the newspaper’s stories uncovered questionable spending at the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, including a $500,000 retirement payout for a chief administrative officer and lavish spending at steak houses and champagne rooms.The work was praised by the judges as “an outstanding example of the bedrock of journalism.”The newsroom was closed less than six months later, leaving the community of about 100,000 people in B.C.’s Interior without a newspaper for the first time since 1884. Wallace is left with an ever-expanding list of ideas for stories she keeps on her phone, with nowhere else to put them. She has a deeply rooted concern for the future of local news and the r...