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Israel’s top court to review challenges to law that weakens its power, escalating political crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s highest court said Wednesday it would review legal challenges to a divisive new law that weakens its power, putting the country’s top justices in the position of defending their own independence and escalating a political crisis that has unleashed the country’s biggest protests in history. Israeli civil society groups and others have filed petitions asking the Supreme Court to strike down the law enacted Monday — the first major piece of legislation in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broader program to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. The opposition’s legal challenges are pushing Israel toward a showdown over the foundations of its system of government. The court faces massive public pressure to strike down the law and has an inherent interest in preserving its powers and independence. But if it does so, Netanyahu’s government could ignore the ruling, setting the stage for a crisis over who has ultimate authority.“I...

Big global brands drove supplier prices higher in second quarter: Loblaw

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Large global suppliers are driving costs higher for Loblaw Companies Ltd., the firm said as it released earnings for the second quarter, reporting increased sales and lower gross margins.“We have received double-digit increases from the same suppliers who gave us double-digit increases last year. That’s why you see products that are noticeably more expensive than they were just a couple years ago,” said CFO Richard Dufresne on a conference call with analysts. “While cost increases are coming in from all tiers of our supplier base, the largest global brands stand out.”  One of the company’s largest vendors submitted price increases totalling 50 per cent, or a quarter-billion dollars, said Dufresne. He added that prices for meat, fruit and vegetables rose in the mid-single-digits while centre-of-store prices were up in the double-digits. “The math is very simple: Cost increases from big brands were well above Canada’s food inflation...

Deadly wildfires in Greece and other European countries destroy homes and threaten nature reserves

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

RHODES, Greece (AP) — Deadly fires raging in Greece and other European countries advanced on Wednesday, destroying homes and threatening nature reserves during a third successive wave of extreme temperatures.The summer wildfires have struck countries across the region, prompting the European Union to expand its support, sending two Spanish firefighting planes to Tunisia after wildfires in neighboring Algeria left at least 34 people dead in recent days.Here’s a look at some of the major wildfires across Europe.___GREECEMore wildfires broke out Wednesday in the central mainland, triggering a precautionary evacuation order for some outskirts of the town of Lamia.Further north, villages were evacuated as a precaution near the city of Volos, whose residents were warned to stay indoors because of the hazard of smoke inhalation. State television ERT reported that an older woman was found dead in a caravan after another fire in the area.New evacuations were ordered overnight on the islands ...

Slew of transport issues face new minister Pablo Rodriguez

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

Pablo Rodriguez has been sworn in as Canada’s new transport minister, taking the baton on a raft of turbulent issues as the aviation sector emerges from a period of crisis.Leaving his spot atop the Heritage Department, Rodriguez takes over from Omar Alghabra, who assumed the cabinet post in January 2021 while the pandemic pummelled the travel industry.Alghabra steered the government through negotiations with airlines on financial aid, COVID-19 testing at airports and a new passenger rights charter.But with the traveller complaint backlog at a record high topping 52,000, both advocates and airlines continue to find fault with parts of the overhauled regime, even as other issues demand attention.Rodriguez will take over on topline items including nascent plans for a high-frequency railway between Toronto and Quebec City, ongoing supply chain hitches and infrastructure vulnerable to natural disasters amid increasingly extreme weather.Alghabra announced his decision Tuesday not to...

6 days after fuel spill reported, most in Tennessee city still can’t drink the tap water

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — It’s been six days since residents of a Tennessee city were told that diesel fuel spilled into a local reservoir, and most of them still can’t drink their tap water.Many of the 40,000 people who live and work in the Memphis suburb of Germantown remained under an order Wednesday to avoid using water for everything except flushing toilets. They can’t drink or boil tap water, or use it for showering or bathing. Officials advised using bottled water for personal use and the city has been distributing bottled water since Friday. It was not immediately clear when tap water would be deemed safe for use. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation wants to see water samples come back clear of diesel before the advisory is lifted, spokesperson Eric Ward said in an email Wednesday. There have been no reports from officials about people getting sick. The city first told residents on July 20 that a diesel fuel spill at a treatment plant taint...

Whistleblower tells Congress the US is concealing ‘multi-decade’ program that captures UFOs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is concealing a longstanding program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects, a former Air Force intelligence officer testified Wednesday to Congress. The Pentagon has denied his claims.Retired Maj. David Grusch’s highly anticipated testimony before a House Oversight subcommittee was Congress’ latest foray into the world of UAPs — or “unidentified aerial phenomena,” which is the official term the U.S. government uses instead of UFOs. While the study of mysterious aircraft or objects often evokes talk of aliens and “little green men,” Democrats and Republicans in recent years have pushed for more research as a national security matter due to concerns that sightings observed by pilots may be tied to U.S. adversaries.Grusch said he was asked in 2019 by the head of a government task force on UAPs to identify all highly classified programs relating to the task force’s mission. At the time, Grusch was detailed to ...

African leaders condemn coup attempt against Niger’s president after his home is surrounded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Governing bodies in Africa condemned what they characterized as a coup attempt Wednesday against Niger’s president, whose official Twitter account reported that elements of the presidential guard engaged in an “anti-Republican demonstration” and tried to obtain the support of other security forces. The tweet from the administration of President Mohamed Bazoum did not refer to a coup, and the part of that referred to the demonstration later was deleted. But it said the president and his family were doing well, and Niger’s army and national guard “are ready to attack” if those involved in the protest did not back down. However, the commissions of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States called the actions of the presidential guardsman an effort to unseat Bazoum, who was elected president two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since its independence from France in 1960. The ECOWAS Commission, whi...

Store owner charged with murder in Black teen’s killing fights warrant over business records

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A lawyer for a store owner in South Carolina facing a murder charge after police said he chased and shot a Black 14-year-old who he had falsely accused of stealing water has asked a judge to stop a search warrant for his business records.Cyrus Carmack-Belton was fatally shot in the back on May 28, a killing that sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black. A gun was found near Carmack-Belton’s body, but investigators have said there is no evidence that the teen ever directed the firearm at Rick Chow or his son, who together had pursued Carmack-Belton on a chase that stretched more than 500 feet (152 meters) past their family’s Xpress Mart Shell station in Columbia.A prosecutor on Monday said investigators need to search computers and other electronics from Chow and his family to find the store’s employee manual and other documents that could potentially re...

Missouri school board that voted to drop anti-racism resolution might consider a revised version

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — The president of the Missouri school board that voted to revoke its anti-racism resolution now says the resolution could be kept, but revised.The Francis Howell School Board in 2020 adopted a resolution against racism at the height of the national reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Control of the board flipped over the past two years, with conservatives winning elections, and it voted 5-2 last week to let the resolution expire.But in a Facebook post Tuesday, board President Adam Bertrand said that although support for the 2020 resolution as written is unlikely, “there may be support of a rewrite or modification.” Bertrand said member Mark Ponder will seek input from other board members and the community, “to move towards a draft that he feels the majority of the current board feels the community could support.”Messages left Wednesday with Bertrand and Ponder were not immediately returned.Zebrina Looney, pres...

‘It’s a community service’: Home bike repair shop at risk of being shut down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:31:49 GMT

It’s another day at work for Ryan Richter, who repairs bicycles for people who live near the Scarborough Co-op housing complex he calls home. The shop is small, occupying a portion of his backyard patio. His customer base is made up of people who say they cannot afford repairs at more traditional brick-and-mortar shops. “The people I serve come from homeless shelters, group homes. Many are disabled and on fixed incomes,” Richter said. One of those customers is Jay Alexander, who has a disability but is still able to ride a bicycle, which he calls his lifeline. “This is the only way I can afford to get around,” he said. Until he met Richter, he struggled to pay for repairs and maintenance. “I go to another shop it costs me $150. I go to this guy it’s $10 to $25, which is a significant drop.” But that savings and convenience may not last long. Richter has been notified by his complex that his business is a violation of its rules. Not to mention, it also violates Toronto’s zoning byla...