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Brussels wants to help Eastern countries shift Ukrainian grain

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

BRUSSELS — The European Commission looks set to give in to some demands from Eastern EU member countries and will offer to help them move surplus Ukrainian grain currently stuck on their territories, while keeping open the possibility of imposing tariffs on agricultural products at a later stage, it said Wednesday.The announcement comes as Brussels scrutinizes restrictions imposed by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia on Ukrainian produce in response to a supply glut resulting from Russia’s war of aggression and delays to exports through the Black Sea. Bulgaria also imposed restrictions Wednesday and Romania is considering following suit.Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the five countries saw a “thousand-fold” increase in Ukrainian agricultural products spilling over into their territories, a senior EU official said, with wheat imports to Poland increasing from 2,800 tons in 2021 to 500,000 tons in 2022. Other Eastern EU countries have seen similar trends, the official added....

Judge delays hearing for suspect in Pentagon leaks case

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

(CNN) — A detention hearing for the Air National Guardsman who is accused of posting a trove of classified documents to social media was postponed on Wednesday after a judge granted a request from lawyers involved in the case to have additional time.Prosecutors and defense lawyers jointly requested that the hearing be delayed for two weeks, saying Jack Teixeira’s attorneys need more time to prepare. A new date was not immediately announced.Teixeira remains scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge David Hennessy on Wednesday morning to confirm that he wants to waive his right to a preliminary hearing.Teixeira, 21, is accused of posting classified intelligence — including sensitive information on the war in Ukraine — on the social media site Discord in a series of leaks that revealed the scope of US intelligence gathering on both its allies and adversaries. He is facing charges under the Espionage Act and has not yet entered a formal plea.Prosecutors were ex...

Time to get creative! Popular 'Bring Your Own Cup Day' returns to 7-Eleven

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- 7-Eleven is encouraging its Slurpee-loving customers to tap into their creative sides, once again, during another 'Bring Your Own Cup Day.'On April 29, you can sip on your favorite flavor for just $1.99 when bringing in your own cup at participating 7-Eleven, Speedway and Stripes stores. This California beach is considered ‘the most beautiful’ in the US: study Whether it's a Mason jar, an entire pitcher, a tea kettle or a fish bowl -- anything goes as long as these rules are followed:-- The cup needs to be food-safe and clean. -- The cup needs to be able to fit upright within the 10-inch hole in the in-store display. 7-Eleven says this will ensure it can also fit under the Slurpee drink dispenser.-- The cup must watertight and leak proof."We love seeing customers enjoy our products in fun ways – especially when it comes to our beloved, iconic Slurpee drink," said 7-Eleven Director of Proprietary Beverages, Ben Boulden. "From cowboy boot to fishbowl…t...

DEA chief faces probe into ‘swampy’ hires, no-bid contracts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal watchdog is investigating whether the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration under chief Anne Milgram improperly awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to hire her past associates, people familiar with the probe told The Associated Press.Among the contract spending under scrutiny by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General is $4.7 million for “strategic planning and communication” to hire people Milgram knew from her days as New Jersey’s attorney general and as a New York University law professor – at costs far exceeding pay for government officials. At least a dozen people have been hired under such contracts, including some in Milgram’s inner circle handling intelligence, data analytics, community outreach and public relations — work often requiring security clearances and traditionally done by DEA’s own 9,000-person workforce.Also under scrutiny is $1.4 million to a Washington law firm for a recent review of the DEA’s scandal-plagued...

Germany tries to reassure homeowners on heating overhaul

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government sought Wednesday to reassure homeowners that plans to phase out gas or oil heating systems will provide generous transition periods and take into account hardship cases.Almost a third of the energy consumed in Germany goes toward heating and warm water, prompting the government to draft a bill that would require all new heating systems installed from next year to use at least 65% renewable energy. From 2045, all fossil fuel heatings would be banned as part of Germany’s target to become “climate neutral” by then.The proposal has drawn criticism from opposition parties who claim it will cost homeowners too much, but Housing Minister Klara Geywitz said the bill won’t force anyone to sell their home because they can’t afford the requirements.If approved by lawmakers, the bill would provide significant subsidies for those switching to greener heating systems — such as electric heat pumps — and the savings for homeowners who don’...

French publisher asks UK police to cease investigation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A French publisher called on British police Wednesday to cease their investigation of an employee who it said was arrested on his way to the London Book Fair and questioned for hours about French President Emmanuel Macron’s government and his pension reforms that sparked months of protests.Ernest Moret, foreign rights manager at Editions La Fabrique, was freed Tuesday but had his phone and work computer seized by police and was told to return to the U.K. in four weeks, the publisher said. Circumstances over his arrest remained unclear two days after Moret was detained and questioned after arriving at St. Pancras railway station on Monday night from Paris.London’s Metropolitan Police wouldn’t name Moret or provide information about why he was stopped. But a police spokesperson said a 28-year-old man stopped at the train station when Moret arrived was interviewed by port officers under a law that allows them to question someone who may be involved in terroris...

Long after heyday, soda fountain pharmacies still got fizz

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

KENOVA, W.Va. (AP) — The jukebox plays Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” as Malli Jarrett and Nathaniel Fornash take turns at the Griffith & Feil Drug food counter preparing old-fashioned, soda-fountain phosphate drinks.Soda fountains like this were hugely popular a century ago. Often located in pharmacies, they were a gathering spot during Prohibition when bars shut down. But over the past half century, their numbers fizzled, relegating soda fountains to the scrapbooks of U.S. history. In West Virginia, Ric Griffith is keeping the tradition going. His 131-year-old business is a Norman Rockwell scene and time-travel tourism all wrapped into one.“When you had a soda fountain, people would stay longer, they’d sit down and they’d share stories,” Griffith said. “It would not become the place where you grabbed lunch. It was a place where you had an experience.”Griffith and his daughter, Heidi, are pharmacists whose pharmacy staff works in the back. Up front, the restaurant off...

Maradona’s medical team on trial in former great’s death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Eight health care professionals will stand trial in the death of soccer great Diego Maradona in 2020, an Argentine court has ruled.The date of the proceedings has yet to be set, but they are unlikely to begin before next year, the court said Tuesday.A medical board’s report previously given to prosecutors concluded that Maradona was in agony for more than 12 hours, did not receive adequate treatment and could still be alive if he had been properly hospitalized.Three judges from an appeals court in San Isidro, outside Buenos Aires, confirmed the charges brought by prosecutors of homicide by negligence against the members of Maradona’s medical team.Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov are accused of failing in their care for Maradona. Maradona’s medical team also included psychologist Carlos Díaz, doctors Nancy Forlini and Pedro Di Spagna, nursing coordinator Mariano Perroni and nurses Ricardo Almirón and Dahiana Madrid.Maradona, who won t...

Northern Ireland’s DUP resists pressure to end govt boycott

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Northern Ireland’s politicians have got the message. Some of them don’t like it. Unionist lawmakers have bristled as, with a united voice, leaders of the U.K., the EU and two U.S. presidents urged them to restore the mothballed Belfast government and reap the reward of more economic investment in Northern Ireland.“There can be no prosperity without peace, and there can be no peace without prosperity,” U.S. trade envoy Joe Kennedy III told a conference in Belfast on Wednesday.It was the latest in a series of messages pressing the Democratic Unionist Party to end a political crisis that is clouding 25th anniversary commemorations for the 1998 Good Friday peace accord that ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed known as “The Troubles.”The semi-autonomous Belfast government has been suspended since the DUP — which wants to keep Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom — walked out more than a year ago to protest a post-Brexit customs border between Northern Ireland ...

Mississauga to vote today on whether to lift ban on legal cannabis stores

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:13 GMT

Mississauga city council will vote Wednesday on whether to end the city’s ban on legal cannabis stores.The city was one of dozens of municipalities to bar retail cannabis stores from their communities when legalization came into effect in 2018.There’s now growing concern over the increase in illegal pot shops. The city continues to be disproportionately served by the illegal market compared to communities that opted in, according to data from the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), the province’s wholesaler for legal retailers.A staff report recommends ending the ban, but at last weeks general committee meeting about half of councillors who spoke about the issue were not in support of the city lifting the ban. Those who voted against say they’re concerned about the placement of stores and claim residents have not been given enough time to offer input.Mayor Bonnie Crombie said she had originally been concerned that municipalities have no real control over where legal cann...