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Former Labor Party minister to investigate possible coalitions after Wilders’ Dutch election win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch election winner Geert Wilders tapped Tuesday a former minister from the center-left Labor Party to investigate possible coalitions, a day after the far-right leader’s first choice quit amid fraud allegations.Ahead of a meeting that confirmed the appointment of Ronald Plasterk as “scout” to hold talks with political leaders about possible coalitions, Wilders also said on social media that his Party for Freedom, or PVV, known for its anti-Islam, anti-migration platform “is for everyone.”“The PVV is a broad popular party. The largest in the Netherlands. 2.4 million people voted for us,” Wilders wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. He said his party represented people of all levels of education as well as “native” Dutch citizens and immigrants, “workers, retirees, young people and the elderly. From the city, the countryside. The PVV is for everyone.”The president of the lower house of the Dutch parliament, Vera Bergkamp, confirmed that a...

Greek officials angry and puzzled after UK’s Sunak scraps leaders’ meeting over Parthenon Marbles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Greek officials said Tuesday that they will continue talks with the British Museum about bringing the Parthenon Marbles back to Athens, despite U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceling a meeting with his Greek counterpart where the contested antiquities were due to be discussed.Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis planned to raise Greece’s decades-old demand for the return of the ancient sculptures when he met Sunak at 10 Downing St. on Tuesday. The two center-right leaders were also slated to talk about migration, climate change and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.Sunak called off the meeting hours before it was due to take place, sparking a diplomatic row between the two European allies. Mitsotakis was instead offered a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, which he declined.British officials gave no reason for the cancellation, but they were annoyed that Mitsotakis had appeared on British television Sunday and compared the removal of the sculptures fr...

France to ban smoking on beaches as it seeks to avoid 75,000 tobacco-related deaths per year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France will ban smoking on all beaches, in public parks, forests and some other public areas as part of a national anti-tobacco plan presented by the health minister on Tuesday.Tobacco products cause 75,000 avoidable deaths a year in France, Minister of Health and Prevention Aurélien Rousseau said on BFM television. The government will introduce legislation at the start of next year to enlarge the scope of places where fines can be levied for smoking, he said.“Beaches, parks, around schools -– lots of places had started these experiments and now, it’s true, we’re heading to a general rule to show our determination,” he said.Legislators also intend to outlaw single-use disposable e-cigarettes, with an initial vote on a draft law to ban them expected in the National Assembly next month.The Associated Press

Scotiabank reports Q4 profit down from year ago, provision for credit losses up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

TORONTO — Scotiabank reported its fourth-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as the amount it set aside to cover bad loans more than doubled.The bank says its net income totalled nearly $1.39 billion or $1.02 per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, down from $2.09 billion or $1.63 per diluted share in the same period a year earlier.Revenue totalled nearly $8.31 billion, up from nearly $7.63 billion in the same quarter last year.The bank says its provision for credit losses for the quarter amounted to nearly $1.26 billion, up from $529 million a year earlier.On an adjusted basis, Scotiabank says it earned $1.26 per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $2.06 per diluted share a year earlier.Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $1.65 per share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 28, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:BNS)The Canadian Press

Kenya court strikes out key clauses of a finance law as economic woes deepen from rising public debt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Kenyan High Court on Tuesday struck out key clauses of a contentious finance law that has been blamed for significantly raising taxes and the cost of living in East Africa’s largest economy.High court judges David Majanja, Christine Meoli and Lawrence Mugambi said parts of the Finance Act 2023, including a mandatory housing levy, were unconstitutional and couldn’t be enforced.“The levy against persons in formal employment to the exclusion of other nonformal income earners without justification is discriminatory, irrational, arbitrary and against the constitution,” according to the 160-page judgment.The housing levy is a significant agenda of President William Ruto, who has pledged to construct 1 million homes by 2027 under his affordable housing program already underway in parts of the country.Political analyst Herman Manyora said that the court ruling was a big blow to the government, “which has lost public support by pushing an unpopular legis...

Thick fog likely caused a roughly 30-vehicle collision on an Idaho interstate, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — A thick layer of fog is believed to have caused a roughly 30-vehicle collision on an Idaho interstate, state police said.The collision occurred Monday morning on eastbound Interstate 86, near milepost 56, west of Pocatello, near the Pocatello Regional Airport. Police said the fog caused visibility to significantly decrease in a short amount of time.“Due to the fog, vehicles slowed down suddenly,” the Idaho State Police said in a news release. “Commercial and personal vehicles collided with one another causing a chain reaction of approximately thirty vehicles.”One person with minor injuries was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Several others were taken by personal vehicles, police said.Traffic on I-86 was blocked between exits 56 and 59 for seven hours, allowing for emergency responders and tow trucks to assist those involved and to clear the scene.“This is unusual to have this many vehicles involved, but when we’re driving in winter conditions in Idaho, we n...

Tornadoes forecast in the Black Sea region as storm reportedly impacts Russian military operations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

Tornadoes were forecast for the Black Sea region on Tuesday, a day after a storm that left more than 2 million people without electricity in Crimea, Russia and Ukraine. A think tank said that the weather also impacted Russian military operations.The storm killed at least 14 people in Russia and Ukraine officials said as it toppled trees, tore down power lines and flooded coastal areas.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least five people died in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine, and that engineers were working to restore electricity to villages that have been cut off. On Tuesday morning, almost 100,000 people were still without power on the Crimean Peninsula and some still had no water supply, the Russia-installed governor said, announcing that several regions were still under a state of emergency.Crimea, which was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, is a key military and logistics hub for Russia as it pursues its war in Ukraine.The damage caused by the storm affected “the...

As Dubai prepares for COP28, some world leaders signal they won’t attend climate talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai prepared to host the COP28 climate talks Tuesday as world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden signaled they would not be attending the negotiations that come during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war roiling the wider Middle East. Workers under a still-scorching November sun stapled up bunting and decorated Dubai Expo City’s iconic Al Wasl Dome with trees and other green foliage ahead of the summit, scheduled to start Thursday in the United Arab Emirates. Armed United Nations police patrolled about half the area of Expo City where the delegates will debate, while the other half will host other climate events. Airport-style security screenings greeted those coming into both areas. The two-week meeting of international leaders aims to assess where the world stands when it comes to limiting emissions to slow global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times. Emirati officials said Tuesday th...

More cities crack down on homeless encampments. Advocates say it's not an answer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Tossing tent poles, blankets and a duffel bag into a shopping cart and three wagons, Will Taylor spent a summer morning helping friends tear down what had been their home and that of about a dozen others. It wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last.Contractors from the city of Portland had arrived to break down the stretch of tents and tarps on a side street behind a busy intersection. People had an hour to vacate the encampment, one of more than a dozen cleared that July day, according to city data.Whatever they couldn't take with them was placed in clear plastic bags, tagged with the date and location of the removal and sent to an 11,000-square-foot (1,020 square meter) warehouse storing thousands like them.A woman gathers possessions to take before a homeless encampment was cleaned up in San Francisco, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. Cities across the U.S. are struggling with and cracking down on tent encampments as the number of homeless people grows, largely...

Downtown Austin Alliance to discuss proposed light rail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:36 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The future of how Austin moves its people around the city and its downtown will the main topic of a panel discussion Tuesday on transportation.The Downtown Austin Alliance said it will host leaders from Austin Transit Partnership to talk about the proposed Austin light rail.The Alliance said ATP will talk about how it is designing the rail system to move people around downtown better. ATP is also expected to talk about how the rail system will focus on “the user experience that puts people first,” the Alliance said. What does next year look like for Project Connect's light rail development? ATP will send the following three representatives to the panel, according to the announcement. Lindsay Wood is executive vice president of engineering & construction. Peter Mullan is executive vice president of architecture and urban design. Courtney Chavez is senior vice president of equity & community partnerships.The panel happens from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. at St. David’s ...