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German opposition seeks inquiry over Scholz and tax scheme

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s main opposition party said Tuesday that it will seek a parliamentary inquiry into Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s handling of a tax evasion scam involving a private bank before he became the country’s leader.The center-right Union bloc said it will call for the national parliament to set up a commission of inquiry when it returns after the Easter break in mid-April. That should be a formality because it requires the backing of a quarter of all lawmakers, and the Union — with 197 of the lower house’s 736 seats — holds more than that.The issue has been a longstanding, though so far minor, irritant for Scholz. An inquiry is already underway in the state legislature in Hamburg, where Scholz was mayor from 2011 to 2018. He then served as Germany’s finance minister until becoming chancellor in late 2021.Testifying in Hamburg in August, Scholz denied intervening on behalf of the bank involved in the scam. He said that “there was no political i...

Pakistan court rules delay of provinces’ votes unlawful

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled a panel’s decision to delay provincial elections was unconstitutional and ordered the votes held next month, according to a lawyer involved in the case. Ali Zafar, the attorney for former premier Imran Khan’s Tahreek-e-Insaf party, said the three-member panel of judges headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandyal set the new vote for May 14.The elections board on March 22 postponed the vote in Punjab province until October 8 for lack of funds and security. The date for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was under review when the panel said a vote there could not be held by a constitutional deadline. The court’s decision comes months after after Khan’s party dissolved the regional assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in a failed bid to force snap national elections. Since his ouster last April in a no-confidence vote in Parliament, Khan has been demanding early elections. Prime Minister Shahbaz S...

EU lashes out at China for support of Russia in Ukraine war

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief on Tuesday lashed out at China for its support of Russia amid the invasion of Ukraine and called it “a blatant violation” of Beijing’s United Nations commitments. “There cannot be siding with the aggressor,” Josep Borrell said. “There is a clear expectation from a permanent member of the (U.N.) Security Council to stand up in defense of international rules-based order and China as a moral duty to contribute to a fair peace.” Standing alongside visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Borrell was forceful in his condemnation of a nation that has increasingly moved from being a partner to being a rival on the global stage. The comments come just ahead of a visit of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen together with French President Emmanuel Macron to China, where both will press the point that EU-China relations will pivot on Beijing’s friendship with Russia. Macron and von der Leyen are set to...

Más de 45 millones de personas, desde Dallas hasta Milwaukee, enfrentan amenazas climáticas severas de vientos dañinos y posibles tornados

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

(CNN) — Más de 45 millones de personas, desde Dallas hasta Milwaukee, corren el riesgo de sufrir un clima severo este martes, ya que otro poderoso sistema de tormentas amenaza con azotar a los estados que aún se recuperan de tornados mortales.El clima severo está en camino para el sur de Missouri, el noroeste de Arkansas y el sureste de Oklahoma, donde el Centro de Predicción de Clima advierte que “la confianza está aumentando para potenciales tornados raros y peligrosos durante la noche así como vientos dañinos”.Las tormentas generadoras de tornados durante el fin de semana dejaron 32 muertos y decenas de heridos en el medio oeste y el sur cuando al menos 50 tornados confirmados tocaron tierra en varios estados, destrozando casas a medida que avanzaban.“Muchas de las áreas que se vieron afectadas por el último pronóstico de clima severo podrían estar en riesgo nuevamente, por lo que es imperativo que todos en esta región vigilen de cerca los últimos pronósticos locales y esté...

Retired boxer Amir Khan gets 2-year ban for doping

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Retired British boxer Amir Khan has been banned from all sports for two years after testing positive for a prohibited substance following what proved to be the last fight of his career.Khan, a former light-welterweight world champion and Olympic silver-medalist, returned a positive result for anabolic agent ostarine after his loss to Kell Brook in Manchester in February 2022, UK Anti-Doping said Tuesday.Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator that can help muscle growth and, according to UKAD, is designed to have similar effects to testosterone.Khan, who announced his retirement three months after the fight, accepted a violation of anti-doping rules but said he had not intentionally ingested the substance. That was accepted by an independent panel following a hearing in January.His ban will expire on April 5, 2024.One of the best British boxers of his era, Khan retired with a record of 34-6, though the independent panel has disqualified his result from the ...

GLG Life Tech: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

RICHMOND, British Columbia (AP) — RICHMOND, British Columbia (AP) — GLG Life Tech Corp. (GLGLF) on Monday reported a loss of $11.7 million in its fourth quarter.The Richmond, British Columbia-based company said it had a loss of 30 cents per share.The sweetener maker posted revenue of $2.2 million in the period.For the year, the company reported a loss of $25.4 million, or 66 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $8.4 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GLGLF at https://www.zacks.com/ap/GLGLFSource

Miami Police investigating Edgewater neighborhood following standoff

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

A standoff occurred in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood Monday night that shocked residents. Witnesses and social media users described the scene of commotion and disarray after a large police presence, including members of the SWAT team, surrounded the area.According to witnesses, the police pursued an individual who eventually made their way to the roof of a building off 30th Street. The reason for the pursuit is still unclear, but some speculate that it may have been a mental health episode, while others suggest that the person may have been involved in criminal activity.Despite the efforts of the police to bring the situation under control, witnesses reported hearing screams and seeing the person either fall or jump off the building. The person’s condition and whereabouts remain unknown, leaving many members of the community wondering what exactly happened.The Miami Police Department has been contacted for comment, but as of yet, no official statement has been made.Ple...

Von der Leyen’s Brazil trip postponed over scheduling clash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Brazil and other Latin American countries slated to start on April 11 is on hold due to a scheduling issue, according to two diplomats. New dates are being worked out, added the two diplomats, who asked to remain anonymous because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has just rescheduled a planned trip to China and will now visit from April 11 to 15, according to Brazilian news portal G1. Lula had planned to visit Beijing late last month but that trip was delayed by a bout of pneumonia. Brazil and China recently signed some 20 private sector deals, and China is Brazil’s largest trading partner, ahead of the EU.Von der Leyen was supposed to travel to Latin America as the EU and the Mercosur bloc enter the last stretch of talks to seal a trade deal that has been over two decades in the making.The agreement between Brussels and Brazil, A...

Former EU transport chief sees pay cut

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

The EU’s ex-transport chief Henrik Hololei will see a salary reduction in his new role as a top adviser at the department in charge of international partnerships.The Estonian civil servant was forced out as the EU’s top transport official following POLITICO’s revelations that he accepted free flights on Qatar Airways while his team negotiated a major aviation deal with the Gulf state.Hololei will keep the top Commission pay grade he earned at the EU transport department, known in the Brussels-speak as DG MOVE, but will have to give up the so-called management allowance. This extra only applies to EU jobs with management responsibility, a Commission spokesperson said.The spokesperson confirmed that management status does not apply to Hololei’s new position at DG INTPA, where he will carry out an advisory role.The gross monthly salary of the EU’s highest-ranking civil servants ranges from €19,958.49 to €21,671.09, according to the Commission’s pay scales. The addi...

UK data regulator fines TikTok £13M for letting children under 13 on platform

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:14:09 GMT

LONDON — The U.K.’s data regulator has fined TikTok £12.7m for several breaches, including misusing children’s data.TikTok users are meant to be over the age of 13, but the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) estimated that 1.4 million children in the U.K. were on TikTok in 2020, breaching its terms of service.That meant that the social network was using children’s personal data without parental consent and it “did not do enough” to check who was on the platform, the ICO said.Information Commissioner John Edwards said: “Their data may have been used to track them and profile them, potentially delivering harmful, inappropriate content at their very next scroll.”A TikTok spokesperson said the company is reviewing the decision and considering its next steps.Under data protection law, any organization must have parent or carer consent to use data of children under 13. “TikTok failed to do that, even though it ought to have been aware that under 13s were using its platform...