Month: September 2024

COP29 leaders unveil climate funding and energy storage goals

LONDON — Less than two months ahead of the COP29 United Nations Climate Summit, the Azerbaijani leadership laid out its plans on Tuesday for what it hoped to achieve, as countries continue to wrestle with how to raise ambitions for a new financing target. The main task for the November summit is for countries to agree on a new annual target for funding that wealthy countries will pay to help poorer nations cope with climate change. Many developing countries say they cannot upgrade their targets to cut emissions faster without first receiving more financial support to invest in doing this. With …

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Зеленський: в Україні через агресію Росії загинули 97 працівників ДСНС

За словами голови держави, за час повномасштабного російського вторгнення українські рятувальники понад 170 тисяч разів виїжджали на місця обстрілів і ліквідували більше ніж 20 тисяч пожеж …

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Big Tech, calls for looser rules await new EU antitrust chief 

Brussels — Teresa Ribera will have to square up to Big Tech, banks and airlines if confirmed as Europe’s new antitrust chief, while juggling calls for looser rules to help create EU champions. Nominated Tuesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the high-profile antitrust post, Ribera has been Spain’s minister for ecological transition since 2018. The 55-year-old Spanish socialist, one of Europe’s most ambitious policymakers on climate change, will have to secure European Parliament approval before taking up her post. As competition commissioner, she will be able to approve or veto multi-billion euro mergers or slap hefty fines …

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Росія обстрілює Сумщину через успіхи ЗСУ в Курській області – речник ОТУВ «Сіверськ»

«Вбачаю собі, як військова людина, те, що вони бачать наші успіхи в Курській операції, і вже і поруч з ними, тож, напевно, є певний острах, що ми якось будемо діяти в інших містах прикордоння» …

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France uses tough, untested cybercrime law to target Telegram’s Durov

PARIS — When French prosecutors took aim at Telegram boss Pavel Durov, they had a trump card to wield – a tough new law with no international equivalent that criminalizes tech titans whose platforms allow illegal products or activities. The so-called LOPMI law, enacted in January 2023, has placed France at the forefront of a group of nations taking a sterner stance on crime-ridden websites. But the law is so recent that prosecutors have yet to secure a conviction. With the law still untested in court, France’s pioneering push to prosecute figures like Durov could backfire if its judges balk at …

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Global index for free and fair elections suffers biggest decline on record in 2023, democracy watchdog says

STOCKHOLM — Lower voter turnout and increasingly contested results globally are threatening the credibility of elections, an intergovernmental watchdog warned on Tuesday, as its sub-index for free and fair elections suffered its biggest decline on record in 2023. In its report, the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said 2023 was the eighth consecutive year with a net decline in overall democratic performance, the longest consecutive fall since records began in 1975. The watchdog bases its Global State of Democracy indexes on more than 100 variables and is using four main categories – representation, rights, rule of law …

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As election for IOC president looms, what is the job and who are the 7 candidates?

geneva — Seven candidates are competing for one of the biggest and best jobs in world sports that traditionally becomes available only every 12 years. The International Olympic Committee announced on Monday which of its members in a most exclusive and discreet club have entered the race to be its next president. The election by secret ballot is in March. The winner will replace Thomas Bach, a German lawyer who steps down in June upon reaching the maximum 12 years in office. The 10th IOC president could be its first female leader, or its first from Africa or Asia. Or even …

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Trial starts for Frenchman accused of unlawfully collecting military information in Russia

MOSCOW — The trial of a French citizen arrested in Russia on charges of unlawfully collecting information on military issues started Monday but was quickly adjourned for a month.  Laurent Vinatier, arrested in Moscow in June, had earlier admitted guilt, setting the stage for a fast-track trial without a detailed examination of evidence. But quickly after the trial opened on Monday, the judge adjourned the hearing until October 14 when prosecutors will declare the sentence they will seek.  Vinatier’s lawyer, Aleksey Sinitsyn, said the trial was adjourned because the prosecution needed more time to prepare for final arguments.  If convicted, Vinatier …

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Thousands protest in France as high-profile rape cases rock country

Paris — Thousands of people protested sexual violence across France this past weekend, as two high-profile cases rock the country: one involving a woman who was allegedly drugged and raped by dozens of men for years; the other targeting a once-beloved French clergyman, who fought for the rights of the homeless.   In French cities like Marseille and Nantes, both men and women took part in demonstrations calling for an end to sexual violence.   They carried signs with messages like “No, to the culture of rape,” and “Gisele, we believe you” — in support of 72-year-old Gisele Pelicot.   Pelicot’s former husband is …

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US imposes sanctions on 4 Georgians over protest crackdowns

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department imposed on Monday sanctions on two Georgian government officials and two members of the country’s pro-Russian far-right movement who it said were involved in violent crackdowns on protests.   Large street protests erupted in Georgia over a “foreign agent” law, which the South Caucasus country’s parliament passed in May despite criticism, including from U.S. officials, that it was Kremlin-inspired and authoritarian.  A Treasury statement said the financial sanctions on Monday targeted Georgia’s Chief of the Special Task Department Zviad Kharazishvili and his deputy, Mileri Lagazauri, who oversaw security forces who violently suppressed the spring protests.  “The …

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