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German budget crisis strikes at heart of the Greens’ ambitions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

KARLSRUHE, Germany — Germany’s Greens thought their moment had finally come.After successive crises — the pandemic and the skyrocketing energy prices that followed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — it seemed time to double down on the party’s core mission: what party leaders call the “social-ecological” transformation of Germany’s market economy.For the Greens, who govern in the country’s tripartite ruling coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the fiscally conservative Free Democrats (FDP), the stakes of that transformation could hardly be greater.The green-energy transition would not only help Germany, the world’s 11th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2022, to meet the country’s ambitious goal of cutting emissions by at least 65 percent compared to 1990 levels by the end of the decade. It would make Germany an example to the rest of the world for how industry and consumers could prosper by embracing the vast societal changes needed...

WTF is the ‘Global Stocktake’? We explain the ‘heart’ of COP28

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Now the real work starts. The first few days of the COP28 climate conference featured so many lofty declarations and flashy promises that you’d be forgiven for asking what delegates are still doing here. But the main negotiations have only just gotten underway. At the core of this year’s summit sits something called the “Global Stocktake,” often abbreviated to GST — a nondescript name that conceals its vital role in international climate efforts. In short, it’s about drawing up a report card on where the world stands eight years after signing the Paris Agreement, and how countries plan to fix their inevitable shortcomings. That plan coming out of COP28 will help determine whether the world can stave off the worst impacts of climate change or careen toward unlivable temperatures. German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan called the stocktake the “heart” of the Paris climate accord; Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, chair of the Alliance...

Haliburton’s triple-double and late 4-point play help Pacers oust Celtics from NBA tourney

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton recorded the first triple-double of his career and completed a tiebreaking four-point play with 1:33 left as the surprising Indiana Pacers ousted the Boston Celtics from the NBA In-Season Tournament with a 122-112 quarterfinal victory Monday night.Haliburton finished with 26 points, 16 in the second half, to go with 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Myles Turner added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and seven Pacers finished in double figures as Indiana remained unbeaten in the tournament after finishing group play with a 4-0 mark.The Pacers will face Milwaukee or New York in Thursday’s semifinals at Las Vegas.The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum’s 32 points and 12 rebounds, while Jaylen Brown had 30 points and nine rebounds. All-Star Kristaps Porzingis missed his fourth straight game with a strained left calf as Boston’s three-game winning streak ended thanks to a late 9-0 run, which began with Haliburton’ basket.Ind...

Celtics eliminated from In-Season Tournament with loss to Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

Aaron Nesmith took a transition pass from Tyrese Haliburton and dunked it over Al Horford. The former Celtic galloped around the court and chest-pumped Myles Turner as the rest of his Pacers teammates flooded the court to celebrate an imminent victory.The Celtics proved they cared about the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament with how they handled their final group stage game last week. They showed that mentality during stretches of Monday’s first ever quarterfinal game of the tournament. But ultimately, the moment meant more for the upstart Pacers.In a playoff-like atmosphere, the C’s couldn’t get the job done on Monday night in Indiana. Jayson Tatum scored 32 points and Jaylen Brown added 30, but their worst habits haunted them again. They laid another dud in the third quarter. Too many turnovers piled up. And then the Pacers – led by Tyrese Haliburton – raised their game to another level in the second half, as they handed the Celtics a 122-112 loss and sending them home from the...

Thieves swarm, rob FedEx truck making deliveries in Chula Vista

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- Chula Vista police are looking for multiple suspects after a FedEx truck was robbed November 30 in the Eastlake area.“When I looked out and saw the blue car and saw what was happening, I was mad. It was like, 'really? No, that's my package,'" says a woman who watched the robbery in front of her house.The crime was caught on her home security camera.Video shows the blue car, possibly a BMW, pull up and then four to five young men, dressed in dark hoodies, masks and gloves, jumping out and swarming the truck.“They just had an assembly line as they were emptying the truck, yelling at each other to hurry up and then you could hear me," said the woman who wished to remain anonymous.The woman started shouting at the robbers, telling them they're on video. 14-year-old student stabbed near San Diego High School FOX 5 spoke with the FedEx driver who was not hurt.Off camera, he said he backed off when the thieves put a long, sharp metal object to his face.“He was very...

Man sentenced in 2019 killing of East Village homeless shelter security guard

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- One of the two men found guilty in a 2019 shooting that resulted in one East Village homeless shelter security guard dead and another injured was sentenced to prison, prosecutors said.Johnny Hill, a member of a criminal street gang, was sentenced to 55 years to life, plus an additional 26 years in prison, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a news release Friday. On Sept. 14, Hill and Floyd Garrett were found guilty of second-degree murder with a special allegation of personal gun use causing death, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.The shooting occurred in December 2019 at the Alpha Project homeless shelter at 1700 Imperial Ave, which the DA says "lies within territory claimed by ‘Crip’ criminal street gang sets and is an area primarily used for gang related drug sales and acts of violence." 14-year-old student stabbed near San Diego High School Two security guards from the homeless shelter, ...

Mexico halts deportations and migrant transfers citing lack of funds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The head of Mexico’s immigration agency has ordered the suspension of migrant deportations and transfers due to a lack of funds amid a record-setting year for migration through the country’s territory.The suspensions were outlined in an agency memo dated Dec. 1 from director Francisco Garduño, whose authenticity was confirmed to the Associated Press by an agency official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.Mexico’s finance ministry suspended payments to the National Immigration Institute in November due to end-of-year budget adjustments, according to the memo. Citing budget constraints “and the lack of liquidity to cover commitments,” Garduño ordered a halt to various agency activities, most notably the “assisted returns,” a government euphemism to describe deportations, and “ground transportation for transfer of irregular migrants.”Mexico’s government had been frequently moving migrants from points north near the U.S. bord...

Thousands protest Indigenous policies of New Zealand government as lawmakers are sworn in

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Thousands of protesters rallied against the New Zealand government’s Indigenous policies on Tuesday as the Parliament convened for the first time since October elections.Demonstrations in the capital, Wellington, and in about a dozen other New Zealand cities and towns were organized by the minor Maori Party, which advocates for the rights of Indigenous New Zealanders who are known as Maori.Protesters demonstrated peacefully outside Parliament against what they described as the “anti-Maori” policies of the newly elected conservative-led coalition government.Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the new policies of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s administration would take New Zealand “back to the 1800s.”“Our protest this morning was an activation of our people,” Waititi said.The National Party-led government promises to review the Treaty of Waitangi and implement potential changes to how that foundation document signed by British colonists and Mao...

YouTuber who staged California plane crash gets 6 months in prison for obstructing investigation

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An influencer who staged a California plane crash to make a YouTube video of himself parachuting to safety was sentenced Monday to six months in federal prison for obstructing the investigation by destroying the wreckage, the U.S. Justice Department.Trevor Daniel Jacob, 30, an experienced pilot and skydiver, pleaded guilty in June to one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation.The video titled “I Crashed My Airplane” appeared in December 2021 and purported to show Jacob’s small plane have engine failure over the mountainous Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County. Already wearing a parachute, he jumped out with a selfie stick camera in hand.His jump and the aircraft’s plunge were recorded by cameras mounted on the plane’s wing and tail and by the camera he carried. After landing, he hiked to the crash site and recovered video from the onboard cameras, the government said.According to the plea agreement, J...

Alicia Keys’ semi-autobiographical stage musical ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ moves to Broadway in spring

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:48:39 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway audiences will soon be hearing the hit songs of Alicia Keys — not far from where the multiple-Grammy-winner grew up.“Hell’s Kitchen,” the semi-autobiographical musical by the singer-songwriter, is making the move uptown from off-Broadway to the Shubert Theatre this spring.“I loved going to the theater and I was inspired by it and the songwriting and the expression and the beauty and the way you could be transported,” she tells The Associated Press. “But I never really put it together that maybe one day I would be able to have a debut on Broadway.” Performances begin March 28 with an opening set for April 20. Tickets are on sale Dec. 11. No casting news was revealed but Maleah Joi Moon was the lead off-Broadway.The musical features Keys’ best-known hits: “Fallin’,” “No One,” “Girl on Fire,” “If I Ain’t Got You,” and, of course, “Empire State of Mind,” as well as four new songs.The coming-of-age story about a gifted teenager is by playwright Kristoffer D...