Tag: International News

Big tobacco companies reach tentative multibillion-dollar settlement with Canada

[ad_1]

TORONTO (AP) — Three large tobacco companies would pay nearly $24 billion to settle a long-running legal battle in Canada, according to a proposed deal.

Philip Morris International said Friday that a court-appointed mediator had filed the proposed settlement with its Canadian affiliate, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, over tobacco product-related claims and litigation in Canada. Similar deals were also filed covering JTI-Macdonald Corp. and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.

“After years of mediation, we welcome this important step towards the resolution of long-pending tobacco product-related litigation in Canada,” Philip Morris International’s CEO Jacek Olczak said in a statement.

The three tobacco companies had sought creditor protection in Ontario in early 2019 after they lost an appeal in a landmark court battle in Quebec.

The Canadian Press reported that under the $32.5 billion Canadian dollar ($23.53 billion) deal, Canadian provinces and territories would get a combined CN$24.8 billion; members of the class action would get CN$4.25 billion; Canadian victims from provinces outside Quebec would receive CN$2.5 billion; and the three tobacco companies would also pour more than CN$1 billion into a foundation to fight tobacco-related diseases — that amount includes CN$131 million taken from the money allocated to the Quebec plaintiffs.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 21, 2024
AP PHOTOS: How Churchill embraces its title as polar bear capital of the world

[ad_1]

CHURCHILL, Manitoba (AP) — When polar bears started coming to Churchill, tourists did too.

And then suddenly, polar bears began to appear everywhere — from artwork to cushion covers and even on beer cans — as residents of this remote Canadian town on Hudson Bay embraced their title as polar bear capital of the world.

Tourists are greeted with bear imagery wherever they go. At one hotel restaurant, a painting of three bears resting on the sea ice hangs high above dining tables. In a hotel room, a cushion features the animals spelling out “polar bear” as they strike various yoga-like poses. At a tour company gift shop, a giant blue sculpture of a bear welcomes customers outside the entrance.

Patrons eat lunch below a mural depicting polar bears and other wildlife, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, at the Seaport Hotel in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

But the bears are not just for tourists: one residential apartment building features a giant mural of a polar bear standing on its hind legs, peering into the town. Another mural, this one on the side of a business, features alternating images of polar bears painted in bright colors and beluga whales swimming in pairs. And readers at the town’s public library share their space with a giant sculpture of a grinning bear, displayed prominently between the shelves.

In the town’s grocery stores, too, shoppers can enjoy a “bluebeary” ale, with an illustration of a polar bear on the can.

A pillow sits on a bed, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, at the Polar Inn and Suites in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A can of beer with a polar bear on its label sits on a shelf, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, at a market in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Climate change, caused mostly by people burning coal, oil and gas, means that one day the local population of polar bears could almost disappear.

But as long as there are bears in Churchill, residents and tourists alike will continue to appreciate and memorialize them.

A toy polar bear sits on the dashboard of a truck near an abandoned radar station, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A polar bear sculpture greets patrons, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, at the Churchill Public Library in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Street signs featuring a polar bear and Indigenous tipis stand on a street corner, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Water reflects a mural featuring polar bears and beluga whales, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Tourists sit near a polar bear statue, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A sign alerts people to the potential presence of polar bears near a beach along the Hudson Bay, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A dumpster sits outside of the Tundra Pub, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

A garage displays a mural of a sleeping polar bear, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

People start a bonfire at sunset next to a sign warning them of polar bears, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

__

Follow Joshua A. Bickel on X and Instagram.

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

[ad_2]

Source link

October 16, 2024
Colombian electoral authorities open investigation against President Petro’s 2022 campaign

[ad_1]

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Electoral authorities in Colombia on Tuesday ruled in favor of investigating financial misconduct allegations against the 2022 campaign that got President Gustavo Petro elected.

The investigation to be carried out by the National Electoral Council will focus on whether the campaign exceeded financing limits and whether it accepted funds from prohibited sources. The electoral body previously delayed deciding on the inquiry, which some, including Petro, see as politically motivated and illegal.

The outcome of the investigation could result in fines against some campaign staffers, including its auditors, treasurer and manager. It can’t lead to an immediate impeachment of the president.

The council’s decision came after two of its 10 magistrates presented a report alleging that Petro’s presidential campaign exceeded financial limits by about $1.2 million. Petro has denied the accusations, which he has said are an initial effort by his adversaries to remove him from office.

Petro responded to the council’s decision with a brief message on X: “The coup d’état has begun,” he wrote. He had previously characterized the investigation as a “Colombian-style coup d’état” intended to be the first step to remove him from office.

The council’s 10 magistrates are elected by Congress and represent various political parties. At least two of them belong to Petro’s party.

A statement from the council announcing its decision Tuesday listed 12 financial transactions that authorities allege the campaign did not report. The statement also alleged that Petro’s campaign received funds from “prohibited sources of financing,” including labor organizations.

The possibility of an investigation against the president generated a political and legal debate about the council’s powers and presidential immunity.

In Colombia, only a commission of the House of Representatives can investigate the president. But the country’s Council of State last month ruled that the president’s immunity doesn’t prevent him from being investigated by another government body such as the National Electoral Council, which can only impose financial penalties. The Council of State maintained that only Congress can impeach the president.

No president in Colombia has been removed from office in a political trial in Congress in the last 30 years.

Petro’s attorney, Hector Carvajal, last month told a radio station that he had already filed an appeal with the Council of State to reconsider its decision and clarify that the president’s immunity is comprehensive, so he couldn’t be investigated by electoral authorities. Carvajal warned that should electoral authorities open the investigation, he would file an appeal with Colombia’s Constitutional Court and would also resort to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

____

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

[ad_2]

Source link

October 8, 2024
Indonesia deports an ex-Philippine town mayor accused in Manila of cybercrimes

[ad_1]

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia on Thursday deported a dismissed Philippine town mayor accused in Manila of helping establish an illegal online gaming and scam center and evading an investigation by the Philippine Senate.

Alice Guo, 34, will continue her legal process in Manila, according to a written statement from Indonesia’s Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Directorate General of Immigration.

Indonesian police arrested Guo Tuesday in the outskirts of Jakarta. In exchange, Indonesian authorities hope that the Philippines will repatriate Australian Gregor Johann Haas, one of Indonesia’s most-wanted drug suspects, who was arrested in central Philippines in May.

Guo was scheduled to undergo a medical checkup at the police headquarters before being handed to the Philippine Senate.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thanked Indonesia Wednesday for the arrest of Guo, who was accused in the Philippines of helping establish an illegal online gaming and scam center catering mostly to clients in China.

Guo was also accused of being a Chinese spy and of faking her Filipino citizenship, which allowed her to be elected in 2022 as mayor of the rural town of Bamban in Tarlac province north of Manila.

Guo, who denied wrongdoing, was dismissed from her post for grave misconduct by the Ombudsman, a Philippine agency that investigates and prosecutes government officials accused of crimes including graft and corruption.

After Guo fled the Philippines in July, she was tracked in Malaysia and Singapore before turning up in Indonesia. Two companions, who reportedly slipped out of the Philippines with her, were recently arrested in Indonesia and immediately deported to the Philippines.

In July, Marcos ordered a ban on widespread and mostly Chinese-run online gaming operations, accusing them of involvement in human trafficking, torture, kidnappings and murder.

Khrisna Murti, chief of the international division of the national police, said Wednesday in Jakarta that “exchange efforts are still being negotiated” over the return of Haas.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil flew to Jakarta Thursday to hold talks with their Indonesian counterparts.

Asked about the reported detainee swap, Indonesian Ambassador to Manila Agus Widjojo told the state-run People’s Television Network that “the talks have only just started” Thursday.

Haas, reportedly the father of a rugby star in Australia, has been described by the Bureau of Immigration in Manila as a “a high-profile fugitive for being an alleged member of the Sinaloa cartel, a large international organized crime syndicate based in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico that specializes in drug trafficking and money laundering activities.”

Indonesian authorities alleged that in December Haas tried to smuggle into Indonesia a shipment of floor ceramics filled with more than five kilograms (11 pounds) of methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant which is prohibited in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Australia, which had abolished the death penalty, is concerned that Haas may potentially face capital punishment if he’s repatriated to Indonesia, a Philippine official told the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.

Under Indonesia’s strict drug law, Haas could face the death penalty by firing squad.

Australia’s extradition law doesn’t allow anyone to be extradited to a country that would execute that person regardless of nationality.

__

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia are contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link

September 5, 2024
Australian state orders public servants to stop remote working after a newspaper campaign against it

[ad_1]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The government of Australia’s most populous state ordered all public employees to work from their offices by default beginning Tuesday and urged stricter limits on remote work, after news outlets provoked a fraught debate about work-from-home habits established during the pandemic.

Chris Minns, the New South Wales premier, said in a notice to agencies Monday that jobs could be made flexible by means other than remote working, such as part-time positions and role sharing, and that “building and replenishing public institutions” required “being physically present.” His remarks were welcomed by business and real estate groups in the state’s largest city, Sydney, who have decried falling office occupancy rates since 2020, but denounced by unions, who pledged to challenge the initiative if it was invoked unnecessarily.

The instruction made the state’s government, Australia’s largest employer with more than 400,000 staff, the latest among a growing number of firms and institutions worldwide to attempt a reversal of remote working arrangements introduced as the coronavirus spread. But it defied an embrace of remote work by the governments of some other Australian states, said some analysts, who suggested lobbying by a major newspaper prompted the change.

“It seems that the Rupert Murdoch-owned Daily Telegraph in Sydney has been trying to get the New South Wales government to mandate essentially that workers go back to the office,” said Chris F. Wright, an associate professor in the discipline of work at the University of Sydney. The newspaper cited prospective economic boons for struggling businesses.

The newspaper wrote Tuesday that the premier’s decision “ending the work from home era” followed its urging, although Minns did not name it as a factor.

But the union representing public servants said there was scant evidence for the change and warned the state government could struggle to fill positions.

“Throughout the New South Wales public sector, they’re trying to retain people,” said Stewart Little, the General Secretary of the Public Service Association. “In some critical agencies like child protection we’re looking at 20% vacancy rates, you’re talking about hundreds of jobs.”

Little added that government offices have shrunk since 2020 and agencies would be unable to physically accommodate every employee on site. Minns said the state would lease more space, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The change is a “game-changer” for languishing central city businesses, said Katie Stevenson, Executive Director of the Australian Property Council’s NSW branch. “More workers mean more life, more investment, and more business for our cities.”

Individual agencies could devise their own policies, the order added, but should ensure employees “spread attendance across all days of the working week.” Requests to work from home on some occasions should be formally approved for a limited period only and reasons for the request should be supplied, the directive said.

Minns said workplace culture and opportunities for mentorship would improve, in remarks echoing other business leaders worldwide who have questioned the productivity of remote workers. Most public workers, such as teachers and nurses, could not work from home anyway, he added.

The order set New South Wales apart from other Australian states, one of which sought to capitalize on the move Tuesday. A spokesperson for Jacinta Allan, the premier of neighboring Victoria, told reporters the state’s remote work allowances would remain undisturbed and disgruntled NSW public servants should consider moving there.

Wright said the change not only overturned increased flexibility during the pandemic but also erased a decade of moves by Australia’s federal government encouraging remote working to reduce barriers to workforce participation, lower carbon emissions and reduce traffic jams.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been broadly supportive of remote working. His government will enact a “right to disconnect” law later this month that will allow employees to refuse work communications outside their agreed hours.

[ad_2]

Source link

August 8, 2024
Washington legal marijuana farms get back to work after restrictions due to pesticides – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

[ad_1]

A big mound of fresh dirt sits at Terry Taylor’s marijuana farm in the high desert of north-central Washington state. Each hole for a new plant gets filled with the clean soil.

Large swaths of recently installed landscape fabric cover the ground, and soon the dirt roads on his property will be covered in crushed rock to keep contaminated dust from covering the crops.

Taylor’s pot farm is one of several getting back to business after state regulators halted their operations in April, citing product testing that turned up unacceptable levels of chemicals related to DDT, a synthetic pesticide banned half a century ago.

The affected growers haven’t used the pesticide themselves, but they are located on a 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch of former fruit orchards along the Okanogan River where it was applied heavily and remains in the soil.

The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced last week it had lifted the holds on the businesses, which are now taking steps with state financial support to keep the residual pesticide at bay and rebuild their brands. The board said it will increase pesticide testing for cannabis from the area.

“I haven’t sold any product since April,” said Taylor, who operates two licensed cannabis producer-processors, Okanogan Gold and Kibble Junction. “It’s just destroyed us. No one wants to buy it.”

Taylor, 58, said he’s been living off savings since April. His income has been about one-tenth of what it was previously. He normally has about six…

Original Author Link click here to read complete story..

[ad_2]

MMP News Author

Source link

July 15, 2023
Dead by Cop Crisis: NGO Issues Urgent Appeal to United Nations Human Rights Officials

[ad_1]

The United States Sustainable Development Corp has made an urgent appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the killings of unarmed men, women and children of color in the United States. “This request is to urge the Human Rights Council to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into law enforcement practices that may undermine the human rights of African and Indigenous descendants of colonialism and enslavement in the United States,” UN NGO President, Ava Gabrielle

Press Release
–

Sep 26, 2016

Geneva, Switzerland, September 26, 2016 (Newswire.com)
–
Following the recent deaths of Terence Crutcher of Tulsa, Oklahoma and Keith Scott of Charlotte, North Carolina, a US based NGO submitted an appeal as a matter of extreme urgency to five UN Human Rights Special Rapporteurs and the UN Working Group of Experts on people of African Descent, which conducted an official visit to the US in 2015. “In January 2016, the ‘Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent’ described the violence against African and Indigenous descendants of colonialism and enslavement in the United States as an ‘epidemic of racial violence by the police’”, the organization reiterated to officials.

In the letter addressed to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the United Nations at Geneva, which is currently in session with the 33rd Human Rights Council, the group also cited the Congressional Black Caucus’ recent symbolic march to the office of US Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s to deliver a similar appeal to the Department of Justice.

African and Indigenous descendants of colonialism and enslavement from all walks of life believe that they are under siege (in the United States).

Ava Gabrielle, President/CEO, USSDC

“In a September 2016 letter to the United States Attorney General, the United States Congressional Black Caucus formally requested that she ‘aggressively pursue investigations, indictments and prosecutions through the Office of Civil Rights against any and all law enforcement officers who harm or kill innocent, unarmed black men, women and children.’ The Human Rights Council can and should join in that request.”

Officer Betty Shelby who shot and killed unarmed citizen Terence Crutcher as he stood beside his disabled vehicle on the side of the road was charged with manslaughter and has been released on a $50,000 bond. No one has been charged in the death of Keith Scott and protesters who are now more peaceful on day six than they were on day one are calling for the resignation of the city’s mayor and police chief for botching the investigation which has been taken over by the state of North Carolina.

“African and Indigenous descendants of colonialism and enslavement from all walks of life believe that they are under siege (in the United States). Although law enforcement killed some 1200 people in 2015, only 7 resulted in a charge with a crime and none were convicted. Police charged in the deaths for Americans like Walter Scott, LaQuan McDonald and Akai Gurley are free on bond, awaiting trial. African and Indigenous descendants of colonialism and enslavement are left feeling disenfranchised and devalued in the United States,” the organization said.

Since 2014, several law enforcement related deaths have been caught on camera, more recently in real time and aired live via social media by family members and by-standers that have triggered massive waves of traumatic responses from the communities of African and Indigenous descendants of colonialism and enslavement in the United States.

The letter directly quoted the Human Rights Council’s resolution language that described the purpose of the urgent appeal to the United Nations. “This communication is an urgent appeal about the increasing potential in a contentious climate for “time-sensitive violations that involve loss of life, life-threatening situations or imminent or on-going damage of a grave nature that require urgent intervention to cease” such occurrences.”

The letter concluded with a three-point request:
– “Urge the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to pay close attention to the human rights situation in the United States; Report regularly and publicly on the human rights situation in the country;
– Establish a long term mechanism, such as a country specific special procedure mechanism to document the situation of human rights in the United States; assess priorities and report back periodically to the Human Rights Council;
– Demand that all actors in the situation, beginning with the United States Department of Justice, ensure the protection of civilians, oversee the immediate cessation of any violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and put in place measures to prevent further violations;”

The appeal was addressed directly to Victoria Lucia, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; Ms. Rita Izsak, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Mr. Mutuma Ruteere, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Juan Ernesto Mendez, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Pablo De Greiff, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation & guarantees of non-recurrence; and members of the Working Group of Experts on people of African Descent, Mireille Fanon-Mendez, Sabelo Gumedze, Michal Balcerzak, Ricardo III Sunga and Ahmed Reid.

Others alerted were the US Department of Justice, the White House, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the office of Multi-Lateral and Global Affairs/Democracy Human Rights and Labor.

Source: United States Sustainable Development Corp

[ad_2]

Source link

September 26, 2016