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Sunak plans to raise the legal smoking age in England each year until it applies to whole population

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday proposed raising the legal age that people in England can buy cigarettes by one year, every year until it applies to the whole population. The planned change will mean that “a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette,” Sunak said.The proposed law change will make it an offense for anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009 to be sold tobacco products. That could almost completely phase out smoking in young people as soon as 2040, the government said. If Parliament approves the proposal, the legal change would only apply in England — not in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.The current legal smoking age in England is from age 18.Setting out his plans at the annual Conservative Party conference, Sunak said he wanted to “stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place.”“People take up cigarettes when they’re young. Four in five smokers have started by the time they’re 20,” he said. “Later, the va...

Indian police arrest a news site’s editor and administrator after raiding homes of journalists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police in New Delhi have arrested the editor of a news website and one of its administrators after raiding the homes of journalists working for the site, which has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist-led government.NewsClick founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and human resources chief Amit Chakravarty were arrested late Tuesday. Earlier, some journalists associated with the site were detained and had their digital devices seized during extensive raids that were part of an investigation into whether the news outlet had received funds from China. NewsClick denied any financial misconduct.Suman Nalwa, a police spokesperson, said the arrests were made under an anti-terrorism law. The government has used the wide-ranging law to stifle dissent and to jail activists, journalists and Modi’s critics, some of whom have spent years in jail before going to trial. Nalwa said at least 46 people were questioned during the raids and thei...

Global Red Cross urges ouster of Belarus chapter chief who boasted of bringing in Ukrainian children

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The international Red Cross is calling for the ouster of the head of the Belarus Red Cross, who stirred international outrage for boasting that it was actively ferrying Ukrainian children from Russian-controlled areas to Belarus.The board of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Wednesday it has given the Belarus chapter until Nov. 30 to dismiss Dzmitry Shautsou, and if not, will recommend all affiliates to halt new partnerships and funding for the Belarus branch — which would be suspended from the global organization.Last year, the Belarus Red Cross received nearly 1.7 million Swiss francs ($1.9 million) from the Geneva-based international organization for services like HIV prevention, support for migrants near the border with Poland, “clown therapy” and help for people fleeing neighboring Ukraine. This year, the outlay has been more than 1 million francs.An internal IFRC probe found that the Belarus Red Cross said Shautsou was “fou...

Cannabis company Tilray Brands reports $55.9M Q1 loss, revenue up 15% from year ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

LEAMINGTON, Ont. — Tilray Brands Inc. reported a loss of US$55.9 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of US$65.8 million a year earlier as its net revenue rose 15 per cent.The cannabis company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the loss amounted to 10 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 31.The result compared with a loss of 13 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.Net revenue in what was Tilray’s first quarter totalled US$176.9 million, up from US$153.2 million a year earlier.Tilray recently closed its acquisition of eight beer and beverage brands from Anheuser-Busch.The company says the deal helps make it the fifth largest in the U.S. craft beer market.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:TLRY)The Canadian Press

EU countries overcome key obstacle in yearslong plan to overhaul the bloc’s asylum rules

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries on Wednesday overcame a major obstacle in their yearslong quest to overhaul the bloc’s asylum rules amid warnings that time is running out to clinch agreement on the entire scheme before next year’s EU elections.EU envoys clinched a deal on a “crisis regulation” of extraordinary measures that a country could take in the event of a massive, unforeseen movement of migrants toward its borders. It means that the 27 member countries now have a negotiating position to take into talks with the EU parliament.Wednesday’s deal would involve setting up processing centers on the EU’s outside borders where people would be screened when they arrive and includes the option to detain people until their asylum claims are assessed.“Today we have achieved a huge step forward on a critical issue for the future of the EU,” said Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, whose country currently holds the bloc’s rotating presidency.He said it could allow t...

Hungary’s foreign minister hints that Budapest will continue blocking EU military aid to Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s foreign minister on Wednesday said that his government wants guarantees from Kyiv that a Hungarian bank, recently removed from a Ukrainian list of sponsors of Russia’s war, will not be placed back on that list in the future — a sign that Budapest may not be ready to lift its veto of a major military aid package to Ukraine. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that a Monday decision by the Ukrainian National Agency of Corruption Prevention to remove OTP Bank from the list was a “step in the right direction,” but that Hungary required further assurances before it would change its approach to Ukraine in any international settings. Hungary’s Foreign Ministry has invited Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency to come to Budapest “as soon as possible” to discuss the listing of OTP, Szijjarto said, “so that we can negotiate an agreement that guarantees that no such decision will be taken (again) in the future.” “If a reassuring agreement is reached there, then...

Clearco CEO relishes chance to transform firm as it lands new funding during downturn

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

TORONTO — When Andrew Curtis took over Clearco, he had his work cut out for him.A downturn in the tech sector that hit companies big and small was well underway and financiers were so spooked they were tightening their purse strings and pausing the lofty deals they signed at a dizzying rate during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.With its mandate to lend cash to small businesses under terms more favourable than traditional lenders, Toronto-based fintech Clearco was not immune to the pressures.It said goodbye to 25 per cent of staff in its third round of layoffs in a year as Curtis took the helm. By then, it had already culled 125 employees from its 500-person workforce in July 2022 and let go of 60 that August, when it handed off its international business to U.K. and Australian e-commerce investor Outfund. A slew of senior leaders also departed.So when Clearco’s board approached Curtis in January with news that co-founder Michele Romanow was exiting the top job and joining...

Police: Person shot on Bishop Ford Tuesday night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

CHICAGO — A person was shot Tuesday night on the Bishop Ford.At around 10:05 p.m., Illinois State Police responded to southbound lanes of the Bishop Ford, near Beaubien Woods, on the report of a person shot.Troopers said there were five occupants in the vehicle at the time of the shooting and the front seat passenger sustained a gunshot wound.They were transported to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries.All lanes were shut down at 130th Street and reopened Wednesday at around 1:30 a.m.

Fire breaks out at Illinois' Memorial Stadium Tuesday night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A fire broke out at the University of Illinois' football stadium on Tuesday night just three days before the venue is scheduled to host a game. According to the Champaign Fire Department, the fire broke out at Memorial Stadium just before 8 p.m. in the southwest corner of the stadium underneath the "horseshoe" where groundskeeping equipment was stored. Heavy smoke was showing from that part of the stadium, and while the fire was upgraded to a second alarm, it was quickly put out. One firefighter was sent to an area hospital and treated for minor injuries.The cause of the fire is still not known. .@IlliniAthletics released this statement on the fire that happened at Memorial Stadium tonight underneath the horseshoe in the southwest corner..There were no injuries and it’s expected that the venue will still host the Illini-Nebraska game on Friday night..@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/CpWcDCXHXd— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) October 4, 2023This comes as Memorial Stadiu...

Kaiser workers begin strike, the largest healthcare walkout in US history

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:57:57 GMT

(KTLA) - More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers walked off the job Wednesday morning, setting what has been described as the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history into motion.Negotiators between the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions and the healthcare provider are ongoing and apparently making progress, but workers have started what is expected to be a three-day strike.The strike began on the East Coast at 3 a.m. and was scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. in Southern California.Nurses, technicians and support staff at hundreds of hospitals across multiple states are striking against what they call unfair labor practices and unfair working conditions that are affecting the quality of patient care.“We just can’t go on with this staffing crisis,” one worker preparing to picket outside the Kaiser hospital in North Hollywood said Wednesday morning.Kaiser Permanente workers across the nation are gearing up for a strike authorization vote, which is set to take place on Saturday, Aug....