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OLAF probes potential fraud involving EU recovery funds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

The European Union’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, is investigating potential fraud using the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery cash in a number of EU countries.The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), agreed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a €724 billion cash-pot financed through common EU debt, which disburses funds through grants and loans to EU countries in exchange for investment and reforms. So far, €150 billion has been disbursed under the facility, with Italy and Spain the largest recipients, accounting for over a quarter of the total to date.“OLAF is looking into the use of [RRF] funds in member states. There are currently a number of ongoing investigations into allegations of irregularities with [RRF] funds concerning different member states,” an OLAF press officer told POLITICO and Belgian news weekly Knack. A spokesperson declined to answer further questions on how many and which countries were involved, or how much money was potentially at risk.OLAF’s mandate ...

Heavy clashes rock Sudan’s capital despite truce extension

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Heavy explosions and gunfire rocked Sudan’s capital, Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman early Friday, residents said, despite the extension of a fragile truce between the county’s two top generals whose power struggle has killed hundreds.Turkey also said one of its evacuation aircrafts was hit Friday by gunfire outside Khartoum with no causalities. The escalation came hours after both sides accepted a 72-hour extension of the truce, apparently to allow foreign governments complete the evacuation of their citizens from the chaos-stricken African nation.Multiple short truces have not stopped the fighting, but they created enough of a lull for tens of thousands of Sudanese to flee to safer areas and for foreign nations to evacuate thousands of their citizens by land, air and sea.Residents reported fierce clashes in Khartoum’s upscale neighborhood of Kafouri, where the military earlier had used warplanes to bomb its rivals, the Rapid Support Forces, in the area.Clashes ...

German capital sees 10th day of provocative climate protests

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Climate activists staged a 10th straight day of protests in Berlin, blocking key roads during rush hour and bringing parts of the German capital to a standstill on Friday.Members of the group Last Generation glued themselves to the road, causing long traffic jams for commuters driving into the city. The group wants to draw attention to the threat of global warming and the need for governments to step up measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions.At a crossing in the north of the capital, many drivers waited patiently for police to clear the road, though some hurled abuse at the activists, calling them “terrorists” and “scum.” Several pedestrians applauded the protesters, giving them a thumbs-up, while one passer-by offered them food and water.Last Generation has acknowledged that its protests are provocative, but it argues that by stirring friction it can encourage debate within society about climate change.“Sure, there are those who insult or criticize us,” activist Th...

Russian missile and drone attack in Ukraine kills 12 people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

UMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 12 people, most of them when two missiles slammed into an apartment building in the center of the country, officials said.The attacks included the first one against Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in nearly two months, although there were no reports of any targets hit. The city government said Ukraine’s air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv. The strikes on the nine-story residential building in central Ukraine occurred in Uman, a city located around 215 kilometers (134 miles) south of Kyiv. Ten people died in that attack, according to Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. The Ukrainian national police said 17 people were wounded and three children were rescued from the rubble.The bombardment was nowhere near the war’s sprawling front lines or active combat zones in eastern Ukraine, where a grinding ...

Hong Kong’s economy is recovering, but its freedoms are not

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Like most people in Hong Kong, taxi driver Leung Tat-chong says it feels like the city is recovering after years of protests, crackdowns and pandemic restrictions, while it also has changed forever.He’s earning almost as much as he did before the pandemic. But, Leung said, the city has been divided since the 2019 protests, in which hundreds of thousands of people marched, and many battled police, in opposition to a government they saw as a proxy for Beijing. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the city welcomed more than 2 million visitors in the month of March. Crowds of art collectors and dealers spilled across two floors of a convention center at the Art Basel Hong Kong fair in late March. Excited chatter returned to a dim sum shop at the high-speed rail terminus. Yet Leung sometimes doesn’t turn on the radio in his cab because the news or a public affairs program could get his customers cursing. A supporter of the government, he watches what he s...

In The News for April 28 : How did Canada’s economic growth fare in February?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of April 28 …What we are watching in Canada …Statistics Canada is set to release its February reading for economic growth this morning.The federal agency will also provide estimates for March and the first quarter of the year.After recording zero growth in the fourth quarter, the Canadian economy bounced back in January as real gross domestic product grew by 0.5 per cent.Statistics Canada’s preliminary estimate for February suggests the economy grew by 0.3 per cent. However, RBC says it expects growth to come in lower than the federal agency’s estimate due to lower manufacturing sale volumes, as well as a fall in wholesale and retail sales. The Bank of Canada’s aggressive rate hikes are expected to slow the economy this year, as high borrowing costs constrain spending. —Also this …Worker...

Canada-U. S. meeting to focus on fight against cross-border gun smuggling, opioids

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Co-operation on targeting cross-border gun smuggling will top the agenda today when senior justice and public safety officials from Canada and the United States meet in Ottawa.The Canada-U. S. Cross-Border Crime Forum brings together Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, Justice Minister David Lametti and their U.S. counterparts, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland.The leaders plan to hold a news conference this afternoon.Canada and the U.S. are expected to announce steps to improve collaboration in the fight against the smuggling and trafficking of firearms across the shared border.Other items for discussion include the opioid crisis, addressing human smuggling and advancing criminal justice reform.Through the cross-border forum, the two countries have worked on joint targeting and assessment of potential threats, better information sharing and new ways to co-operate.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Apr...

Trudeau, buoyed by Biden visit, visits Council on Foreign Relations to talk up Canada

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

NEW YORK — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will take his Canadian sales pitch to an influential U.S. audience this morning.Trudeau is at the Council on Foreign Relations, a respected New York think tank, to promote Canada as a wise investment and trusted trading partner. The idea is to capitalize on the momentum that was generated by last month’s visit to Ottawa by U.S. President Joe Biden. The centrepiece of that visit was a new Canada-U.S. strategy for the extraction, development and processing of critical minerals. Experts say would-be investors and developers now want to hear how Canada plans to streamline the regulatory process in order to capitalize on the country’s underground riches. Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s envoy to the U.S., acknowledges the appetite for clarity and says it’s a high priority — although the details likely won’t come today. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Canada’s permitting processes are actually more efficient than those...

High Court to rule on hearing over police misdeeds during gang murder investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada will rule today on a gangland murder case from 2007 out of Surrey, B.C., where two men convicted of the crimes claim the investigation was tainted by police misconduct. Gangsters Cody Haevischer and Matthew Johnston were both found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in 2014, seven years after the executions of six people in a Surrey highrise apartment building. Two of the victims, Christopher Mohan and Ed Schellenberg, were innocent bystanders in the apartment when they were gunned down alongside Corey Lal, Michael Lal, Eddie Narong and Ryan Bartolomeo.The question before the high court is whether police misconduct during the investigation, and Johnston and Haevischer’s treatment in prison, warrants a hearing of evidence to determine if the convictions were tainted by an abuse of process. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in 2021 that there should be a hearing, but Crown prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, claiming n...

Federal workers strike for 10th day as negotiations on pay, remote work continue

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:58:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Workers in Canada’s largest federal public service union are hitting the picket lines for the 10th day as negotiations continue. Both sides are facing pressure to reach a deal, though there is no talk of back-to-work legislation being on the way.According to an update from Treasury Board President Mona Fortier earlier this week, wages and remote work are among the points of contention in the labour dispute. The federal government is offering a nine per cent wage increase over three years, backdated to 2021. Meanwhile, the union says it has adjusted its initial ask for a 13.5 per cent increase over the same period of time — but is not revealing the new number. As the strike continues, Canadians are facing a wide range of federal service disruptions ranging from immigration services to passport applications. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023. The Canadian Press