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Charles Michel: Get ready by 2030 to enlarge EU

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

European Council President Charles Michel said Monday that he wants Europe to be ready for enlargement by 2030, as the European Union gears up for a renewed debate about its future size. “Enlargement is no longer a dream,” the Council chief said at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia, where leaders from the Western Balkans have gathered. “It is time to move forward,” he added.  While eight countries formally hold candidate status, for many in the Western Balkans the accession process has stalled. And for some countries like Turkey, the process has been officially put on hold, although dynamics linked to the war in Ukraine have reenergized the debate. In June last year, EU leaders granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and pressure is building to open accession talks with these countries by the end of the year. “There is still a lot of work to do. It will be difficult,” Michel said at the forum, adding: “I believe we must be ready — on both sides — ...

Polish train chaos blamed on radio hackers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

WARSAW — Polish police have arrested two suspects on charges of disrupting railway traffic by transmitting a radio signal that tricks trains into emergency stops.The men, ages 24 and 29, are from Białystok, a city of 300,000 in northeastern Poland close to the Belarusian border. Polish media reported that they had long been interested in amateur radio.The authorities confirmed Sunday that the suspects had broadcast an emergency signal — known as a “radio stop” — on frequencies used by train operators in three Polish regions.The most serious disruption was the first attack around midnight on Friday, which halted about 20 trains in northwestern Poland. Following the stop signal, the perpetrators aired Russia’s national anthem and an excerpt from a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Polish media reported.Regional cargo traffic was suspended until 2 a.m., Polish railway infrastructure operator PKP PLK said.Poland’s ABW counterintelligence agency launched an investigat...

5 teens arrested in Downtown Boston after police say multiple fights broke out, officers assaulted

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

Five teenagers were arrested after officers responded to Downtown Boston late Sunday night, where authorities say multiple fights broke out and at least two officers were assaulted.The Boston Police Department said the arrests came after officers were called to Washington and Avery streets around 11 p.m., where there were reports of “juveniles actively fighting” and “causing disturbances in the area.”In a news release, the department said responding officers attempted to disperse a large group of juveniles that was blocking traffic near the Boston Common, and observed at least one individual jumping on top of a car and stomping on its roof.Meanwhile, Boston PD said multiple fights had also broken out in the area and that officers attempting to break them up were later assaulted themselves.“Officers attempted to break up multiple fights, and other juveniles began to assault officers,” the department said on its website. “Officers began to be ...

Shooting erupts at Worcester’s Caribbean Festival, two injured

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

Worcester police responded to a chaotic scene Sunday as gunfire rang out during the city’s Caribbean Festival, sending two victims, 15 and 23, to the hospital.Police said the gunfire erupted at about 6 p.m.  Officers assigned to the festival at Institute Park responded to the shooting at the area of Salisbury and Boynton Streets.“This caused a chaotic scene in which the large crowd was attempting to run to safety,” Worcester police said.Responding officers were able to identify the victims and provide first aid until they were transported to the hospital. Police said the injuries appear to be non-life threatening.According to the initial investigation, police said the victims appear to be innocent bystanders otherwise unrelated to the shooting.Police described the shooting as an “exchange” of gunfire that arose from a  dispute on Boynton Street near the intersection with Salisbury Street, according to investigators. The shooting remains under investigation.The shooting at Worcester’...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens higher after a rare winning week

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as markets shift their attention from the Federal Reserve to more corporate earnings and economic reports. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% in early trading Monday. The Dow rose 274 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.8%. U.S. stocks broke a three-week losing streak last week as investors appeared relieved that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would “proceed carefully” on interest rates. 3M jumped following reports that the company had agreed to a $5.5 billion settlement over faulty earplugs, a lower figure than expected.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.Wall Street is poised for a modestly higher open Monday as attention shifts from the Federal Reserve to more corporate earnings and new economic data that could provide clues about the health of the U.S. economy.Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.3% and the S&P 500 inched up 0.2% before the opening ...

Ceremony marks start of journey home for Indigenous totem pole taken to Scotland a century ago

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Members of a Canadian First Nation held a spiritual ceremony on Monday at a Scottish museum to begin the homeward journey of a totem pole stolen almost a century ago.The 11-meter (36-foot) pole is being restored by the National Museum of Scotland to the Nisga’a Nation in northern British Columbia — one of the first times a British museum has returned artifacts to any of North America’s Indigenous peoples.The museum agreed last year to return the pole, which has been on display in the Edinburgh building since 1930. Nisga’a researchers say it was taken without consent in 1929 by an anthropologist who sold it to the museum.Chief Earl Stephens, who has the Nisga’a cultural name Sim’oogit Ni’isjoohl, said that “in Nisga’a culture, we believe that this pole is alive with the spirit of our ancestors.”“After nearly 100 years, we are finally able to bring our dear relative home to rest on Nisga’a lands,” he said.Carved from red cedar in the 1860s, the pole includes family crest...

Cannabis company Atlantic Cultivation acquires insolvent Tantalus Labs brand

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Cannabis company Atlantic Cultivation has acquired the insolvent Tantalus Labs brand. Financial terms of the agreement were not immediately available.The deal includes Tantalus Labs’ brands and remaining inventory.Founded in 2012 by Dan Sutton, Tantalus entered bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings in late June.The company had to lay off more than 50 workers at its facility in Maple Ridge, B.C., owing millions to its main lender and millions more for unpaid excise taxes. Atlantic Cultivation is a vertically integrated cannabis company based in St. John’s, N.L.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2023.The Canadian Press

Danforth and Broadview construction enters new phase of traffic restrictions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

New traffic restrictions are taking effect at the intersection of Broadview and Danforth as the work to replace ageing streetcar tracks enters its next phase.Construction at the busy east end intersection started in early July when the City of Toronto began replacing the tracks. The new phase of restrictions went into effect at 6 a.m. Monday and will last until September 4.The city says only one lane will be open in each direction on Danforth due to the work beginning on the south side of the intersection.Southbound traffic on Broadview will only be able to turn right onto Danforth to travel westbound and northbound traffic will only be able to turn right to travel eastbound. Large vehicles will not be able to make turns at the intersection due to limited space.Related:Business owners, commuters worry about traffic disruptions at Broadview and DanforthOne northbound lane will remain open on Broadview between Gerrard Street and Danforth. The city said drivers would be able to continu...

Spain urges Mauritania to allow 168 migrants rescued at sea to disembark

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

MADRID (AP) — About 170 migrants who were rescued in the Atlantic Ocean have been stuck aboard a Spanish Civil Guard boat for days near the northwest African nation of Mauritania after authorities there refused to let them disembark, according to Spanish media reports.Spain’s Interior Ministry on Monday declined to provide details of the incident but said in an email that it was “confident that the situation would be resolved in the following hours.” It said 168 people were rescued. A spokesperson for Mauritania’s interior ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. Leading Spanish newspaper El País said the Civil Guard rescued the migrants Thursday about 80 nautical miles (150 kilometers) off the coast of Mauritania. It said the migrants are believed to be Senegalese.The Civil Guard is one of two national police forces in Spain. For years, it has worked with local authorities in Mauritania and Senegal to try to prevent migrants from attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Isl...

Poland, Baltic states warn they could seal border with Belarus if military, migrant tensions grow

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:34:24 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO members Poland and the Baltic states will seal off their borders with Russia’s ally Belarus in the event of any military incidents or a massive migrant push by Minsk, the interior ministers warned Monday.The ministers said they were seeing growing tensions on NATO’s and the European Union’s borders with Belarus, which has taken in thousands of Russia’s military mercenaries and is pushing Middle East and African migrants into Europe, despite barriers having been put up.They warned of swift and concerted reaction in the case of a military incident or large migrant push.The ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia addressed the media following their talks. In a joint statement they demanded that the government of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko immediately remove from its territory the Wagner Group mercenaries. They also demanded the removal of migrants from border areas and their return to their home countries. The four cou...