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Italy is the final barrier to a major EU migration deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

LUXEMBOURG — It’s all come down to Italy. Rome is now effectively the final obstacle preventing the EU from clinching a deal to overhaul its asylum procedures for the first time in years, according to multiple people involved in the negotiations.The possible accord would change both how asylum seekers are processed at the border and how they are relocated across Europe. And while negotiations have been tense, enough countries — including Germany and France — had come on board by Thursday so diplomats and officials were hoping a deal might be possible during a gathering of home affairs ministers in Luxembourg.But Italy ultimately didn’t come around, leading a coalition of about 10 countries that refused to back the deal Thursday night.The final sticking point for Italy is the deal’s process for returning rejected asylum seekers, said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. Rome wants to broaden the number of countries the EU considers safe enough for denied...

USAID suspends all food assistance to Ethiopia after uncovering scheme diverting aid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

(CNN) — The US government’s humanitarian agency has suspended food aid to Ethiopia after determining “that a widespread and coordinated campaign is diverting food assistance from the people of Ethiopia” – a nation where more than 20 million people require food support.In a statement Thursday, a spokesperson for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said the determination was made “after a country-wide review” and “in coordination with the Government of Ethiopia.”“As a result, we made the difficult but necessary decision that we cannot move forward with distribution of food assistance until reforms are in place,” the spokesperson said.On Thursday, USAID and the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a joint statement that their “two governments are conducting investigations so that perpetrators of such diversions are held to account,” calling the revelations of the diversion “deeply disturbing.”The Washington Post first reported on the suspens...

Republicans set to push mail ballots, voting methods they previously blasted as recipes for fraud

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY (Associated Press)ATLANTA (AP) — After years of criticizing mail voting and so-called ballot harvesting as ripe for fraud, Republicans at the top of the party want to change course.They are poised to launch aggressive get-out-the-vote campaigns for 2024 that employ just those strategies, attempting to match the emphasis on early voting Democrats have used for years to lock in many of their supporters well ahead of Election Day. The goal is to persuade voters who support GOP candidates that early voting techniques are secure and to make sure they are able to return their ballots in time to be counted, thus putting less pressure on Election Day turnout efforts. It marks a notable shift from the party’s rhetoric since 2020, when then-President Donald Trump was routinely sowing doubt about mail voting and encouraging his voters to wait and vote in-person on Election Day. As recently as last year, Republican activists peddling the stolen election narra...

MBTA board of directors unanimously approves $2.7B budget, 7% increase

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

The MBTA’s board of directors unanimously approved the agency’s $2.7 billion fiscal 2024 budget Thursday, a significantly increased spending plan which acknowledges that revenues will be down while employee costs continue to climb.Next year’s budget comes in at about 7%, or $174 million higher than this fiscal year and the spending plan calls for growing the T’s workforce from 6,679 employees to 7,743, an addition of 964 employees not included in this year’s costs.Most of those new hires and the mass of that new spending is safety driven, according to MBTA Chief Financial Officer Mary Ann O’Hara“This budget is very different than the budgets we’ve done in the last three years. It’s unique from prior years just due to the historical investment of state resources into safety and training initiatives,” O’Hara told the Board of Directors ahead of their vote. “The FY2024 budget includes a major investment for safety and training which quadruples prior year efforts...

What is a panic attack?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)A panic attack is an episode of intense fear with an abrupt onset, lasting from several minutes to up to an hour. It has many mental and physical symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, chest pain and a sense of pending doom. These symptoms may cause significant worry in people as they may mimic signs of medical problems such as heart issues. However, panic attacks can occur when there isn’t a real danger or apparent cause.Panic attacks aren’t life-threatening, but they can be frightening for the person experiencing the attack and their loved ones. These attacks can affect your quality of life, especially if you have multiple or unexpected panic attacks.What are the signs of a panic attack?A panic attack usually begins suddenly and without warning. Typically, symptoms peak in minutes, and you may feel tired and worn out after it subsides. Panic attacks can cause chest pain and breathing problems that lead some people to seek...

Knife attack at park in French Alps critically wounds 4 young children as people cry for help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

By JOHN LEICESTER (Associated Press)PARIS (AP) — As bystanders screamed for help, a man with a knife stabbed four young children at a lakeside park in the French Alps on Thursday, assaulting at least one in a stroller repeatedly. The children between 22 months and 3 years old suffered life-threatening injuries, and two adults also were wounded, authorities said. The helplessness of the young victims and the savagery of the attack sickened France. A suspect, identified by police as a 31-year-old Syrian, was detained in connection with the morning attack in the Alpine and lakeside town of Annecy. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said he had refugee status in Sweden.Witnesses reported scenes of terror as the man roamed the park, ambushing victims with his blade. “I said to the police, ‘Shoot him, kill him! He’s stabbing everyone,’” Anthony Le Tallec, a former professional soccer player who was jogging when he came across the attacker, said.Lead ...

Russian citizen mauled to death by tiger shark off Egypt’s Red Sea coast in rare attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A Russian man died after being mauled by a shark on Thursday off one of Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, Egyptian and Russian authorities said.Egypt’s Environment Ministry said the man was killed after being attacked by a tiger shark in the waters near the city of Hurghada. Authorities closed off a 74-kilometer (46-mile) stretch of the coastline, announcing it will remain off-limits until Sunday. The ministry later said it had caught the shark and was examining it in a laboratory to try and determine the reasons for the rare attack.The Russian Consulate in Hurghada identified the man as a Russian citizen but did not give his name.A video circulating online, purportedly of the attack, shows a man thrashing about in the water before being repeatedly attacked by a shark circling around him, then being dragged under. Shark attacks are rare in the Red Sea coastal regions. However, in 2022, two fatal attacks in Hughada within days, killing an Austrian and a Romanian touri...

Baby boomers buoy Transat sales, with no sign of slowdown on the horizon: CEO

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

MONTREAL — Baby boomers have shed their pandemic reticence around travel as they increasingly fly abroad again — a boon for Transat AT Inc., its CEO says.“People from 55-plus — the baby boomers — have resumed their pre-COVID travel pattern, which was not the case in 2022,” Annick Guérard said Thursday.“It represents a good proportion of our clientele. And they have significant disposable wealth and the time to travel and spend,” she told analysts on a conference call, noting older Canadians spend 15 to 20 per cent more than the average Transat customer.“This is really important for us. And they are expected to be much more resilient than younger consumers in the face of higher prices and high inflation, which we know will continue in the upcoming year.”Despite those economic clouds, Guérard said that “we don’t see signs of a slowdown” in bookings on the horizon — for summer or winter. “Demand is holding despite higher fares...

23 freight cars, new vehicles heavily damaged in train derailment in northern Arizona

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

WILLIAMS, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine the cause of a freight train derailment in northern Arizona that heavily damaged 23 cars and a load of new vehicles.Coconino County Emergency Management officials said the derailment occurred around 11:20 p.m. Wednesday east of Williams, which is 33 miles (53 kilometers) west of Flagstaff.They said the BNSF train cars were carrying a variety of new cars, vans and truck. Photos from the derailment scene showed heavy damage to many vehicles and freight cars, white vans poking out of other damaged rail cars and an upside-down vehicle crushed under another freight car.County Emergency Management officials said cleanup was already underway Thursday morning. There was no immediate word from Texas-based BNSF Railway about the derailment.There have been a rash of train derailments across the country in recent months, deepening concerns about rail safety in the U.S.The Associated Press

Russia shells Ukrainian city inundated by dam collapse after Zelenskyy visit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:59 GMT

KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces Thursday shelled a southern Ukrainian city inundated by flooding in a catastrophic dam collapse, Ukrainian officials said, forcing a suspension of some rescue efforts hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to the area to assess the damage.The fresh fighting returned security issues to the region, two days after the collapse of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River set off a scramble to evacuate residents in dozens of flooded areas and get aid to those still there.Officials on both sides said least 14 people were killed in the flooding, thousands are homeless and tens of thousands are without drinking water after the collapse. Kyiv accused Moscow of blowing up the dam and its associated hydropower plant, which the Kremlin’s forces controlled, while Russia said Ukraine bombarded it.The ensuing flooding has ruined crops, displaced land mines, wrought widespread environmental damage, and set the stage for long-term electricity shortag...