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Top Cambodian opposition party loses appeal over registration, barred from contesting July elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s top opposition party was barred Thursday from participating in elections set for July after the Constitutional Council refused to overturn a decision not to register the party over a paperwork issue.The Candlelight Party, the sole credible challenger to the governing Cambodian People’s Party in the upcoming polls, lost its appeal because its complaint was deemed unlawful, the council said in a brief statement.The decision is final and cannot be appealed.Cambodian courts are widely considered to be under the influence of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government and his Cambodian People’s Party.The National Election Committee on May 16 had refused to register the Candlelight Party, saying it failed to provide necessary documents. A few days later the party officially filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council asking it to overturn the election commission’s ruling.Kimsour Phirith, a spokesperson for the Candlelight Party, said he “regretted” Thurs...

In The News for May 25 : New rules for reporting reactions to natural health products

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 25 …What we are watching in Canada …A new plan to force hospitals to report adverse effects of “natural health products” such as herbal remedies and supplements has come as a surprise to manufacturers, who say they were blindsided by the proposed change.The federal government included the plan in the 2023 budget bill, which is still making its way through the House of Commons.It would see natural health products fall under the same category as pharmaceuticals when it comes to how they are monitored once they are on the market.They would be incorporated into Vanessa’s Law, which was passed in 2014 to improve the reporting of adverse health reactions. It was named after 15-year-old Vanessa Young, the daughter of a Conservative member of Parliament, who died in 2000 after her heart rate had been...

Volunteers step up to help lone caretaker of centuries-old New Brunswick cemetery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

FREDERICTON — After three decades of keeping watch over the dead at a New Brunswick cemetery, home to the final resting place for some of the province’s most notable names, Peter Spence now has help.Eight volunteers have stepped up to assist with the landscaping, cleaning and other maintenance tasks for the nearly 200-year-old Dorchester Rural Cemetery, in the province’s southeast corner.“I never mind doing what I was doing,” Spence, 75, said in an interview.“But it became a very lonely job. You never had anybody to get a second opinion no matter what you were doing.”The cemetery is the resting ground for Edward Barron Chandler, one of the Fathers of Confederation, and two premiers — Daniel Hannington and Sir Albert Smith, who was knighted by Queen Victoria. About 1,300 people are buried there.Spence became secretary-treasurer of the cemetery’s board in 1992. Over time, other members died, leaving him to become the “face of the cemeter...

Industry blindsided by Ottawa’s plan to track ill effects of natural health products

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

OTTAWA — A new plan to force hospitals to report adverse effects of “natural health products” such as herbal remedies and supplements has come as a surprise to manufacturers, who say they were blindsided by the proposed change.The federal government included the plan in the 2023 budget bill, which is still making its way through the House of Commons.It would see natural health products fall under the same category as pharmaceuticals when it comes to how they are monitored once they are on the market.They would be incorporated into Vanessa’s Law, which was passed in 2014 to improve the reporting of adverse health reactions. It was named after 15-year-old Vanessa Young, the daughter of a Conservative member of Parliament, who died in 2000 after her heart rate had been affected by medication that was prescribed by her doctor.Putting natural health products under that framework would require hospitals to report on any unintended consequences associated with them, so th...

IEA: Shift to clean energy accelerating, but coal investments too high to meet climate goals

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Energy security concerns — worsened by the war in Ukraine — and policy support from rich countries are likely to help investments in clean energy outpace spending on fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency said in a report issued Thursday. But investments in coal are on course to rise by about 10% in 2023, nearly six-times what the IEA has estimated they should be for the world to end its reliance on fossil fuels and achieve emissions cut goals for countering climate change, it said. Some $2.8 trillion is set to be invested in energy globally in 2023, of which more than $1.7 trillion is expected to go to clean technologies including modern electricity grids, energy storage, low-emissions fuels and electric vehicles, according to the organization’s latest World Energy Investment report. Slightly more than $1 trillion is going to coal, gas and oil — fossil fuels that are a major source of emissions that are contributing to global warming. Part of ...

21-year-old sentenced to 5 years for thwarted bomb plot that aimed to build Hong Kong resistance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong man was sentenced to more than five years in prison for participating in a thwarted bomb plot that aimed to build resistance forces, in a closely watched case involving high school students accused of serious crimes following the 2019 anti-government protests. Prosecutors said Alexander Au, 21, and the five others in court Thursday had planned to manufacture explosives and target court buildings. Their plot was foiled due to a police investigation, and no bombs were made and no casualties occurred. Though the six are not among the most prominent activists in Hong Kong’s suppressed democracy movement, their case has drawn attention because they were all students when the prosecution began in 2021 and they were charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist activities under the National Security Law.Earlier this month, Au and four defendants, aged between 17 and 20, pleaded guilty to conspiring to cause explosions that are likely to endanger life and...

But Cool Thursday. Meager Rain Prospects; Potential for Heat Next Week.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

The back-door COLD FRONT'S PASSED and now strong, post-frontal full fetch north/northeast winds have taken hold and are sweeping off Lake Michigan over Chicago's shoreline. Little wonder the winds are strong--with gusts from 30 to 40 mph being reported up and down the western Lake Michigan shoreline.Wednesday morning surface weather map showing a well developed 1037 mb (30.62") high pressure centered over Ontario province in southern Canada. The winds beneath its southern flank are strong.Here's a windy.com depiction of the "full fetch" NNE winds blowing down the length of Lake Michigan. The reference to "full fetch" winds means winds are blowing southward the length of Lake Michigan. That's important because this offers the wind time to transfer its kinetic energy to the lake surface building waves. It's no accident the highest waves to sweep onto Chicago beaches occur in "full fetch" wind set ups like Wednesday's.Here's a snapshot of wind and wind gust reports at 9am CDT Wednesday...

Italy approves $2.2 billion relief package for flood-hit areas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

Italy has approved an emergency aid package of more than €2 billion for flood-affected areas in Emilia-Romagna's northern region, the Prime Minister Giorgia Melons said on Tuesday (23 May).Nearly a week after the disaster, 23,000 people remain homeless, and many cities are still flooded. Thousands of acres of fertile farmland were also destroyed.Meloni convened on Tuesday a cabinet meeting to approve these measures. Meloni visited the region on Sunday (21 May), after returning early from the G7 summit held in Japan.Meloni, after the cabinet meeting, said that the package includes spending for emergency situations and moratoriums of tax and social contributions to affected households and companies.The government announced that it would increase the price of museum entrance tickets by €1 from 15 June to 15 September, and said the money raised would be used to protect cultural artifacts in flood zones.Stefano Bonaccini, the Emilia-Romagna governor, announced that Ursula von der Leyen, ...

The EU must settle its gas bills or face problems down the road

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

In 2017 Regulation EU 2017/1938 created obligations on member states to safeguard the security of natural gas supplies. The initiative was inspired by the 2009 gas crisis which arose when Russia and Ukraine failed to agree on gas prices and gas deliveries through Ukraine were cut, writes Dick Roche.Prompted by Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Regulation EU 2022/1032 was enacted updating the earlier legislation. The Regulation mandated that gas storage facilities should be fully employed to “ensure the security of (gas) supply,” that the facilities should not “remain unused” and that storage capacity be shared across the Union, “in a spirit of solidarity”.The 18 member states with underground gas storage facilities were required to fill the facilities to a minimum of 80% of their storage capacity by 1 November 2022. From 1 November 2023, the target would be set at 90%.The member states without established gas storage infrastructure were required to agree to ...

Religion and Children's Rights - Opinion from Brussels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

Sex abuse and misconducts by religious authorities are not a new phenomenon but a sad constant that our society still has trouble properly dealing with.From the casual touch to the plain and disgusting abuse our politicians sometimes seem rather lenient towards offenders who belong to the Faiths.