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Texas AG Ken Paxton’s orders to help donor rattled office, former aides say at impeachment trial

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An extramarital affair Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had with a donor’s employee helped connect the dots about why the Republican was using his power in ways that are now at the center of his impeachment trial on accusations of corruption, a former top aide testified Wednesday. “It answered that ‘why’ question,” said Jeff Mateer, who was Paxton’s second-in-command at the Texas attorney general’s office.The account by Mateer, who went on to report Paxton to the FBI in 2020 over allegations of abuse of office, quickly injected an affair that Paxton has acknowledged to staff into the historic impeachment trial — the gravest threat to Paxton’s political career after years of criminal charges and alleged scandal.The trial, which could last weeks, was set to resume Thursday for a third day with the testimony of another former aide who has also accused Paxton of wrongdoing.At the center of the case are accusations that Texas’ top lawyer wron...

European Research Council awards over €628 million to 400 early-career researchers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced today the winners of the latest round of its Starting Grants. The funding – worth €628 million – will help researchers who stand at the beginning of their careers to launch their own projects, form their teams and pursue their best scientific ideas.   The funding will enable researchers to, for example, study Venus' atmosphere to better understand habitability beyond Earth, analyse parasites that cause malaria, or investigate how algorithms are used at work to supervise employees. The funded research covers all domains of research from physics and engineering to life sciences and social sciences and humanities.This new round of grants is estimated to create some 2,600 jobs for postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and other research staff.  The winners of this competition represent 44 nationalities and will carry out their projects at universities and research centres across 24 EU member states and countries associated to...

Redefining the future of European agriculture: Balancing progress and protection

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

Climate action, food security and biodiversity – these concepts are rightly at the heart of the EU’s agriculture policy, and they are the key to protecting and developing European farmlands for the benefit of future generations, writes Nicola Mitchell, CEO of Life Scientific.They are also the subject of enormous debate, as farmers, scientists and policymakers grapple with the right way to balance objectives that are sometimes seen to be in opposition.Just recently, France’s Senate adopted its ‘Farm France’ bill with the aim to uphold France’s ‘food sovereignty’ and ensure food supplies are not distorted by foreign competition. Meanwhile, Germany has committed to implementing integrated pest management as part of its toolbox to slash its use of synthetic pesticides. This comes as the EU is revising rules under the Farm to Fork Strategy designed to minimise the ecological impact of European agriculture and promote healthier food systems. Of all the initiatives under discussion, the Su...

‘Europe’s got a problem’ — Drug violence grips Belgium’s second-largest city

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

ANTWERP, Belgium — When Lucas first heard the deafening blast, it sounded like a car had just crashed into his house.It quickly became clear, as he and his neighbors gathered outside in the middle of the February night, that the pizza shop across the street had been bombed — another chapter in the drug war plaguing Belgium’s second-largest city.The police arrived on the scene with a rehearsed precision that was both reassuring and deeply unsettling. “Are we already at a point where responding to this has become a routine job for emergency services?” asked Lucas, who asked to be identified only by his first name.Home to Europe’s second-largest cargo port, Antwerp has become a major entry point for drugs, especially cocaine coming from Latin America, and the turf wars have spilled into its streets. In 2022, there were 81 drug-related shootings and explosions in Antwerp, according to numbers shared by the city with POLITICO, and another 25 in the first five months of ...

‘Nice try’: Ursula von der Leyen stays mute on second term as Commission president

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen refused to say if she will put herself forward for a second five-year term in the Berlaymont. “Nice try,” the German conservative told POLITICO with a large grin after being asked if she was running again, as she stepped out of a meeting with top MEPs in the European Parliament on Wednesday, surrounded by aides and bodyguards. Speculation is bubbling in Brussels about what von der Leyen will do after the European election next June, which will spark a reset of the bloc’s top jobs. Her name has also cropped up in discussions about who will succeed Jens Stoltenberg as secretary-general of NATO. Even if she does declare an intention to stay in the Commission post, there is a major question mark about whether she would embrace the informal lead candidate (or Spitzenkandidat) process, or expect to be simply appointed as happened in 2019.Von der Leyen spent over an hour with the heads of the Parliament...

A unified strategy and more funding are urgently needed to end the crisis in Myanmar, UN chief says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The United Nations chief renewed an urgent call to the international community Thursday to seek a unified strategy to end the worsening crisis in Myanmar.Secretary-General António Guterres said declining financial aid should be boosted to previous levels to enable the world body to respond to an “enormous tragedy.” He said the situation in Myanmar has further deteriorated since he met with ASEAN leaders in a 2022 summit, and again called on the crisis-wracked country’s military-installed government to immediately free all political prisoners and “open the door to a return to democratic rule.”Myanmar’s army seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, arresting her and top members of her governing National League for Democracy party, which had won a landslide victory for a new term in a November 2020 general election.Security forces suppressed widespread opposition to the military takeover with lethal force, killing thousand...

Tokyo’s threatened Jingu Gaien park placed on ‘Heritage Alert’ list by conservancy body

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien park area has been placed on a “Heritage Alert” list by a conservancy body that assesses international monuments and historic sites. The conservancy says the planned redevelopment will lead to “irreversible destruction of cultural heritage” with thousands of trees being felled.The plan approved earlier by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike would let developers, led by real estate company Mitsui Fudosan, build a pair of 200-meter (650-feet) skyscrapers in Jingu Gaien, add a smaller 80-meter (260-feet) tower, fell trees in one of Tokyo’s green areas, and raze and rebuild a historic rugby venue and an adjoining baseball stadium where Babe Ruth played.The park area is renown for more than 100 ginkgo trees that line a long promenade, and was established 100 years ago to honor the Meiji Emperor. Botanists says the ginkgo trees will be under threat from any new construction.The International Council on Monuments and Sites — known as ICOMOS, which works wit...

Australia and China open their first high-level dialogue in 3 years in a sign of a slight thaw

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Australia and China opened their first high-level dialogue in three years Thursday in a sign of a slight thaw to relations between countries that have clashed on everything from human rights to COVID-19 origins to trade. “I welcome the recent positive developments in the bilateral relationship, but we know that there is more work to do,” said Craig Emerson, the head of the Australian delegation and a former trade minister. The dialogue being held in Beijing will focus on trade, people-to-people links and security.China’s former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said the two countries should work together, but added that “We should adhere to the liberalization of trade and jointly oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and trade protectionism.”Beijing often uses those terms in opposing the actions of Western countries, particularly the U.S. During the freeze in relations with Beijing, Australia formed a nuclear partnership with the U.S. and the...

Rising rent and food costs driving significant increase in Nova Scotia’s living wage

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

HALIFAX — A report published Thursday says the rising costs of shelter and food in Nova Scotia have contributed to a large jump over the last year in what’s considered a living wage in the province.The annual report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia says the living wage rates for 2023 range from a low of $22.85 per hour for Cape Breton residents to a high of $26.50 in Halifax. Last year, the rates stood at $20 per hour in Cape Breton and $23.50 in Halifax.Report author Christine Saulnier said the year-over-year increases in five regions of the province averaged 14 per cent, which are the “most significant” increases since the centre began calculating the living wage in 2015.“The reason we’re seeing such significant increases is because those cost of living pressures are not being offset by increases in government transfers (tax credits) or changes on the cost side that would see some kind of decrease,” Saulnier said in an interview.Living wages that reflect ...

Daily horoscope for September 7, 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:19:51 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or making important decisions after 6 p.m. EDT today (3 p.m. to 10 p.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Gemini into Cancer.Happy Birthday for Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023:You are spontaneous, and you love knowledge. You set high standards for yourself and for others. You are not a quitter. This is a year of change. Expect increased personal freedom. Let go of whatever has been holding you back so you can seek out new opportunities.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★This is a poor day for important decisions or new ideas (especially by siblings, relatives or neighbors), because wishful thinking and, in some cases, fuzzy thinking is rampant. Keep this in mind. If possible, postpone important decisions for another day. Tonight: Cocoon.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★If shopping today, be careful about buying luxurious, elegant items — things you might not purchase at other times. Certainly, keep your receipts (and the box), because today is the classic day for wis...