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Austria sticking to veto on Schengen expansion, foreign minister says  

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

Austria will maintain its veto on the extension of the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone to Bulgaria and Romania until Vienna sees a “sustained decline” in asylum seekers, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said in an interview.Asylum applications in Austria (not including Ukrainians) nearly tripled last year to about 110,000 — the highest per-capita rate in the EU — prompting the government to block the Schengen area’s expansion in December.“What’s important to us, to be perfectly frank, is that the numbers go down and there has to be a sustained decline,” Schallenberg said, calling the veto a “warning signal“ to Brussels. “One must understand that when we’re seeing over 100,000 asylum applications every 12 months, it is difficult for us as Austria to just let this dysfunctional system roll along.”Schallenberg declined to define a timeframe for when Vienna might lift its veto on Schengen’s expansion, but with refugee arrivals continuing to rise — the EU’s asylum agency recorded...

Guardsman in leak case wanted to kill a ‘ton of people’: US

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts Air National guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents kept an arsenal of guns and said on social media that he would like to kill a “ton of people,” prosecutors said in arguing Thursday that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should remain in jail for his trial.But the judge at Teixeira’s detention hearing put off an immediate decision whether he should be kept in custody until his trial or released to home confinement or under other conditions. Teixeira was led away from the court in handcuffs, black rosary beads around his neck, pending that ruling.The court filings raise new questions about why Teixeira had such a high security clearance and access to some of the nation’s most classified secrets. They said he may still have material that hasn’t been released, which could be of “tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his esca...

EPA: Machine gun range could harm Cape Cod drinking water

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft determination Thursday that a proposed machine gun training range at a National Guard base could pose a threat to Cape Cod’s drinking water, potentially creating a public health hazard for more than 220,000 year-round residents.There are no reasonably available alternative drinking water sources for residents should the Cape Cod aquifer become contaminated, the agency said.“We have studied the proposed machine gun range very carefully because EPA recognizes the need for our armed forces to maintain readiness and provide training to service members,” EPA Regional Administrator David Cash said in a written statement.“However, the risk of irreparable damage to the only drinking water source on Cape Cod is too significant,” he added.The agency said it will accept public comment on the proposed machine gun range through June 26, and will hold a public hearing on May 24.The Massachusetts Army Natio...

Aaron Rodgers hits the practice field with Jets for first time; details emerge on ‘23 salary and cap hit

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

Remember how excited your first day of school was when you were a kid?Aaron Rodgers had a similar feeling during his introductory press conference Wednesday after the trade to the Jets was made official.Rodgers was smiling from ear to ear as he left behind 18 years with the Packers. Now he hopes to bring some of that similar success to a Jets franchise that’s been starving for just a trip to the playoffs.Rodgers, who has a Super Bowl MVP on his resume, made the playoffs three out of the last four seasons in Green Bay and 11 times overall. Meanwhile, the Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010“This feeling of this new chapter, a new adventure,” Rodgers said. “There was this deep sigh that you take when all is right in the world and it is exciting, the adventure and the journey is unknown.“The mysteriousness. That’s the beauty of life is that you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. One of my favorite quotes from one ...

Judge takes Teixeira release request under advisement

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

A federal judge is taking some time to decide whether Massachusetts Air National guardsman Jack Teixeira should be released before his trial after hearing arguments  from federal prosecutors that he should remain locked up.Lawyers for Teixeira said he should be free before trial and offered that he could remain under home confinement at his father’s home in North Dighton.Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy took the arguments under advisement.Prosecutors argued that Teixeira should remain locked up, citing their concerns with his access to firearms and the potential that he is still in possession of classified information.Teixeira, an E-3/Airman First Class stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod, is accused of leaking classified documents on the war in Ukraine. He was arrested at his family home in North Dighton on April 13, the day the allegations came to light.Related Articles ‘Hostile nation’ could help accused leaker Jack Teixeira run if heR...

White woman whose claim led to Emmett Till killing has died

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The white woman who accused Black teenager Emmett Till of whistling at her — causing his 1955 lynching in Mississippi, which galvanized a generation of activists to rise up in the Civil Rights Movement — has died at 88.Carolyn Bryant Donham died in hospice care Tuesday night in Louisiana, a coroner’s report shows. The kidnapping and brutal murder of the 14-year-old captured international attention when his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in their hometown of Chicago so the world could see his brutalized body, which was pulled from a river in Mississippi. Jet magazine published photos.In August 1955, Till had traveled from Chicago to visit relatives in Mississippi. Donham — then 21 and named Carolyn Bryant — accused him of making improper advances on her at a grocery store where she was working in the small community of Money. The Rev. Wheeler Parker, a cousin of Till who was there, has said 14-year-old Till whistled at the woman, a...

Canada planning more evacuation flights from Sudan but situation remains volatile

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

OTTAWA — Military and foreign affairs officials said Thursday Canada expects to send additional planes to help evacuate people from Sudan in the coming days but the volatile situation on the ground is making planning difficult.The first two Canadian-operated evacuation planes left Khartoum Thursday carrying 118 people, including both Canadians and citizens of allied nations. Two hundred Canadians had previously escaped with the help of allies including Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.Global Affairs Canada says about 1,800 Canadians registered their presence in Sudan and just over 100 Canadians still there have asked for help to flee. Several hundred others have asked for assistance on the ground but currently want to stay.Most of them in the capital of Khartoum.Defence Minister Anita Anand was pleased with the news some flights had succeeded but called the whole situation “volatile” with intermittent power and communications systems.“The situation...

Lawyer says Prince Harry’s words undermine phone hack case

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

LONDON (AP) — An attorney for the publisher of The Sun tabloid used Prince Harry’s own words Thursday to argue that his phone hacking lawsuit should be thrown out.Attorney Anthony Hudson said emails from the Duke of Sussex to the royal family’s chief spokesperson indicated he was aware enough of allegations against the publisher that he could have brought a lawsuit in a timely manner.Harry first learned that one of his voicemails had been intercepted in 2006 and knew he had a claim to bring in 2012, Hudson said.But the prince only began pushing Buckingham Palace in late 2017 and early 2018 to pressure the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire to apologize for hacking his phone.“There needs to be an ultimatum otherwise this institution and everything it stands for becomes a laughingstock,” the Duke of Sussex emailed the chief spokesperson for the royal family in February 2018, according to court records.After a three day hearing in the High Court, Hudson ...

California passes 1st-in-nation emission rules for trains

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Air Resources Board approved Thursday a first-in-the-nation, ambitious rule limiting rail pollution. The goal is to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions from locomotives. The standards would also reduce a group of chemicals that contribute to the formation of smog. They could improve air quality for people living near railyards and ports. The standards would need approval from the Biden administration to move forward. They follow rules approved by the Environmental Protection Agency to cut emissions from heavy trucks. The locomotive rule is part of the state’s plan to establish itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change.“It is time to kickstart the next step of transformation with trains in this regulation,” said Davina Hurt, a board member.Locomotives pull rail cars filled with food, lumber, oil and other products through railyards near neighborhoods in Oakland, Commerce, San Bernardino and other California cities.They...

Forcible restraint by police among factors in Myles Gray death, pathologist says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:48:34 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — A forensic pathologist says a “perfect storm” of factors led to Myles Gray’s death, including his extreme exertion and the Vancouver police actions to restrain him.Dr. Matthew Orde told the coroner’s inquest into Gray’s death that descriptions of the 33-year-old suggest he’d been experiencing an acute behavioural disturbance, and his body would have been working in overdrive as he struggled with police. Orde testified that Gray’s heart would have been pumping rapidly and he would have been breathing heavily as several police officers forced him into a prone position, lying on his stomach, with his arms handcuffed behind his back.He said people who are forcibly restrained in that position are at greater risk of death, especially when someone’s body has increased demands.Orde, who performed an autopsy in the days after Gray died in August 2015, said the man also sustained multiple blunt force injuries to his face and body...