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EU lawmakers urge Commission to tax big biz in face of soaring debt

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

BRUSSELS — European parliamentarians are calling on the Commission to introduce EU-wide taxes in order to cover soaring interest rates on the bloc’s joint debt.In a 356-199 vote, EU lawmakers on Wednesday backed a report urging the EU’s executive to raise levies on big businesses to finance its budget for 2024, which is under strain from record inflation and soaring interest on its common debt.Euroskeptic parties that oppose centralized EU tax-and-spend policies voted against such plans and called on the Commission to find additional funds from its annual budget, which ranges from €160 to €180 billion. But supporters point out that extra cash is not only essential to prop up the Recovery and Resilience Facility (or RRF — the first-ever instance of EU joint debt), but also to sustain responses to rising challenges, from climate change to the war in Ukraine.“We can’t stick to the EU budget being 1 percent [of the EU’s GDP], it’s a dogma and a limit we can’t work with,” Fren...

Woman hit by utility box at Harvard station plans to sue MBTA

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

The woman hit by a utility box at the Harvard Red Line station plans to sue the MBTA.The 28-year-old Harvard University PhD. student has serious injuries, including a detached clavicle. The victim says her injuries will require long-term medical treatment and impact her studies. The incident happened on May 1 when the approximately 200 pound piece of equipment fell on the station’s Red Line inbound platform.The equipment had been suspended from a pole within the station and hit the woman as it came down. MBTA officials later determined that a corroded support strap led to the utility box falling.The equipment was one of 14 utility boxes that were part of a pilot program from 2011 that was led by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory and had been funded by the Department of Homeland Security. However, it had not been in use for ten years. On Friday, the T announced it had finished removing all remaining utility boxes from three Red Line stations. This incident comes just two months after a ceil...

Chicago Bears won’t play in Germany this year — and the rest of the NFL schedule will be released tomorrow

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

The Chicago Bears will not play in Germany during the 2023 season.The NFL announced its five-game international slate Wednesday morning, and the Bears were not part of the lineup.Rumors and news reports this spring suggested the NFL was considering sending the Bears to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany. But NBC Sports’ Peter King reported this week the Chiefs requested the Bears not be their international opponent.The Chiefs will play the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt on Nov. 5.And later this year, the Chiefs will host the Bears at Arrowhead Stadium. The date and time of that matchup will be announced Thursday when the full NFL schedule is released.The Bears’ 2023 opponents already are set. At home, they will play the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The Bears will go on the road to play the Lions, Packers, Vikings, Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Ta...

Man shot during e-bike robbery in North County; suspect at large

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Authorities are searching for a suspect after a man was shot during an e-bike robbery in North County Tuesday night.The Oceanside Police Department said they received a call shortly after 10 p.m. reporting a shooting near the the 3500 block of College Boulevard in Oceanside. Responding officers found a man with a gunshot wound to the foot. Video shows bullet strike ground during Little League game in San Marcos The victim, who has not been identified, was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.Authorities described the suspect as a Hispanic man who stands 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs around 180 pounds. OPD says the suspect was reported to be wearing a black leather jacket with white letters and was riding a white e-bike which was stolen from the victim.The suspect was last seen fleeing in the riverbed westbound towards El Camino Real, police said. A San Diego Sheriff’s Department helicopter (ASTREA) flew over the a...

Death toll rises to 5 in gun attack on Tunisian synagogue

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The number of people killed in a gun attack on a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba during an annual Jewish pilgrimage has risen to five, Tunisia’s TAP news agency said Wednesday. The victims were two Jewish pilgrims and three Tunisian police guards. A police guard who had been hospitalized after Tuesday’s attack died from his injuries on Wednesday, according to a medical official cited by TAP. Four other members of the security forces remain hospitalized in Djerba, including one in critical condition, according to TAP. The motive for the attack was still under investigation.Israeli authorities and Tunisian authorities and the family identified the civilian victims as cousins: Aviel Haddad, 30, who held dual Tunisian and Israeli citizenship, and Benjamin Haddad, 42, who was French. Four civilians were also injured, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said. The attacker was slain by security guards.In a statement, the French foreign ministry expre...

US prices stay high, showing inflation pressures persist

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices in the United States rose again in April, and measures of underlying inflation stayed high, a sign that further declines in inflation are likely to be slow and bumpy. Prices increased 0.4% from March to April, the government said Wednesday, up from a 0.1% rise from February to March. Compared with a year earlier, prices climbed 4.9%, down slightly from March’s year-over-year increase. The nation’s inflation rate has steadily cooled since peaking at 9.1% last June but remains far above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate.For everyday consumer items, Wednesday’s inflation report was mixed. Gasoline prices jumped 3% just in April. By contrast, grocery prices dropped for a second straight month. Used car prices surged 4.4% after nine months of declines. Rental costs rose but at a slower pace.Still, the data offered some signs that inflation is continuing to cool. Airline fares dropped 2.6% in April, and hotel prices plunged 3% after f...

Suspect sought after 2 men attacked with bouquet of flowers at Sheppard-Yonge station

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a suspect accused of attacking multiple people at a TTC station in North York last month.Officers were called to Sheppard-Yonge station around 4 p.m. on April 21 for reports of an assault.Police allege a woman got into an argument with a man on the subway platform before striking him with a bouquet of flowers.The woman then attacked a second man who began filming the incident. Police say she struck him with the flowers and punched him in the shoulder.The suspect allegedly threatened to push the second man onto the subway tracks.Police are looking for a suspect described as a woman in her 30s. She was last seen wearing a black and green camouflage Nike jacket, a black and green Gucci bandana, a blue toque, and black sunglasses. The suspect was carrying two green bags and a black backpack.Police have released photos in hopes someone will be able to identify the suspect.Anyone with information is being asked to contact police.

Biden to host Indian leader Modi June 22 during state visit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month as part of Modi’s trip to the United States that will include honors at an elaborate White House state dinner.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Modi’s June 22 visit “will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together.”It will be Modi’s first visit to the Biden White House, though the two leaders have met at international summits since Biden took office. Modi is the third world leader to be invited on a U.S. state visit by Biden, following French President Emmanuel Macron late last year and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April. Biden and Modi will focus on their countries’ commitment to a free and secure Indo-Pacific region, as well as on their partnerships in technology, including in the areas of defense, clean en...

Blast at Sweden ammunition factory injures at least 1

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — An explosion at an ammunition factory in southern Sweden seriously injured at least one person Wednesday, police said.Police said they were investigating the blast as an industrial accident. The factory in Karlsborg, some 220 kilometers 137 miles) southwest of Stockholm, was manufacturing small-caliber ammunition.While there was “uncertainty about how the explosion happened, it probably did not occur in the manufacturing process itself, but probably in connection with maintenance work as a pure accident,” a police statement said.Police said the the injured person was a man who was alone inside the room where the explosion occurred. Officers have not entered the facility because a safety assessment must be conducted first. Authorities said other workers were unharmed and the explosion did not cause a fire. “The situation for us is quite calm at the moment,” Peter Brandels of the local rescue service told Swedish broadcaster SVT.The factory is operated by defense manu...

Catholic, Coptic Orthodox popes offer joint Vatican blessing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:52 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis and the Coptic Orthodox pope, Tawadros II, delivered a joint blessing Wednesday from St. Peter’s Square in a significant ecumenical gesture to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a historic meeting of their predecessors.Tawadros, the Coptic Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, joined Francis on the stage for the entirety of Francis’ weekly general audience. He delivered a lengthy speech at the start in Arabic and then joined Francis in blessing the crowd at the end during a rainy morning.In welcoming Tawadros to the Vatican, Francis recalled that Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the meeting of St. Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III, a first between a Catholic and Coptic Orthodox pope. During that May 10, 1973, encounter, the two popes signed a joint statement on their shared faith in Christ and their rejection of proselytism, while also voicing concern for the plight of the Palestinian people and calling for peace in the Middle East.Francis ha...