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EU, Ukraine together on Europe Day, but Kyiv remains outside

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — For the first time, Ukraine and the European Union are marking Europe Day, that celebration of “peace and unity,” together. Don’t let anyone be fooled too much, though.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive branch, made a special trip to Kyiv on Tuesday to deliver the warm words of common destiny after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his nation would from now on “celebrate Europe Day together with all of free Europe.”More than a year into the war with invading Russia, Ukraine wants to badly join the bloc as an essential part to anchor its future in the Western world. “Europe Day,” when the 27 current members celebrate their bond as one, also shows how far that moment is still off.Next month, it will be one year already since the EU nations granted Ukraine candidate status, lavished the nation with praise, boosted it with aid and military support and sanctioned Kyiv’s enemy Russia with ever more...

In global rush to regulate AI, Europe set to be trailblazer

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The breathtaking development of artificial intelligence has dazzled users by composing music, creating images and writing essays, while also raising fears about its implications. Even European Union officials working on groundbreaking rules to govern the emerging technology were caught off guard by AI’s rapid rise.The 27-nation bloc proposed the Western world’s first AI rules two years ago, focusing on reining in risky but narrowly focused applications. General purpose AI systems like chatbots were barely mentioned. Lawmakers working on the AI Act considered whether to include them but weren’t sure how, or even if it was necessary. “Then ChatGPT kind of boom, exploded,” said Dragos Tudorache, a Romanian member of the European Parliament co-leading the measure. “If there was still some that doubted as to whether we need something at all, I think the doubt was quickly vanished.” The release of ChatGPT last year captured the world’s attention because of its ab...

Oil giant Saudi Aramco reports $31.88B profit in 1st quarter

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco reported a first-quarter profit on Tuesday of $31.88 billion, down from $39.47 billion the same quarter last year.The firm known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. blamed the drop on lower global oil prices. Aramco made a $30.73 billion profit in the fourth quarter of last year.“The results reflect Aramco’s continued high reliability, focus on cost and our ability to react to market conditions as we generate strong cash flows and further strengthen the balance sheet,” Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser said in a statement. Aramco separately said that it “believes it is well positioned to withstand fluctuating commodity prices through its low-cost upstream production.” Saudi Arabia’s vast oil resources, located close to the surface of its desert expanse, make it one of the world’s least expensive places to produce crude. For every $10 rise in the price of a barrel of oil, Saudi Arabia stands to make an additional $40 b...

As key votes loom, Turkish parties vow to send migrants home

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — For Nidal Jumaa, a Syrian from Aleppo, life in Turkey is tough. He works part-time at a furniture workshop and collects plastics and cardboard from trash cans that he sells for recycling, but can hardly afford the rent for his run-down house in a low-income neighborhood of Ankara. Despite the hardship, the 31-year-old would prefer to remain in Turkey than return to Syria where he no longer has a house or a job. Most of all, he worries that his 2-year-old son, Hikmat, who requires regular medical supervision following two surgeries, wouldn’t be able to receive the treatment he needs back home.“Where would we go in Syria? Everywhere is destroyed because of the war,” Jumaa said. “We can’t go back. Hikmat is sick. He can’t even walk.”Syrians fleeing the civil war — now into its 12th year — were once welcomed in Turkey out of compassion, making the country home to the world’s largest refugee community. But as their numbers grew — and as the country began to gr...

Soldier to be sentenced for murder in Texas protest shooting

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting death of an armed protester in a Black Lives Matter march in Texas faces up to life in prison when his sentencing hearing begins Tuesday, even as Gov. Greg Abbott presses for the chance to pardon the soldier.Sentencing for Daniel Perry is scheduled to last up to two days. State District Judge Clifford Brown, who presided over Perry’s trial, last week denied his request for a new trial.Perry was convicted in April in the 2020 shooting of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle through downtown Austin during a summer of nationwide unrest over police killings and racial injustice. The verdict prompted outrage from prominent conservatives including former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who called the shooting an act of self-defense and criticized Abbott on the air after he didn’t come on his show.Abbott, a former judge who has not ruled out a 2024 presidential run, tweeted the ...

Alarm over Myanmar, sea feud under ASEAN summit spotlight

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia (AP) — Alarm over Myanmar’s still-unfolding deadly civil strife, including an armed attack on an aid convoy, and China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea are expected to be put under the spotlight this week when Southeast Asian leaders meet in Indonesia.Top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations convened Tuesday in the resort town of Labuan Bajo to finalize the agenda ahead of the two-day summit of the 10-nation bloc’s heads of state.The United States and China are not part of the twice-yearly summit, but their escalating rivalry looms large over the high-profile Asian gathering. Beijing has warned that U.S. efforts to strengthen security alliances and intensify combat-readiness drills with Asian allies would endanger regional stability.Founded in 1967 in the Cold-War era, ASEAN has struggled to avoid getting entangled in the major-power competition as a bloc. But that often seemed futile given the regional group’s diverse me...

Tiger Woods’ lawyers try to stop ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

Attorneys for golf superstar Tiger Woods are expected to argue Tuesday during a court hearing that his ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit against him should be halted because she signed a nondisclosure agreement requiring that any disagreements between them be settled in private by an arbitrator. Erica Herman, 39, is suing Woods to get out of the agreement, saying she was the victim of his sexual harassment. She has also filed a separate $30 million illegal eviction lawsuit against the trust that owns his $54 million Florida mansion. Herman, who managed Woods’ Palm Beach County restaurant before and during the first years of their romantic relationship, argues that the nondisclosure agreement is unenforceable under a new federal law that says such contracts can be voided when sexual abuse or sexual harassment occurred. Her attorney, Benjamin Hodas, contends that Woods’ alleged threat to fire her if she didn’t sign the contract was harassment.“A boss imposing different work conditions on ...

Ohio constitution overhaul faces deadline, backlash

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An effort by a Republican faction in Ohio to make it harder to change the state constitution faces a critical juncture this week, with action needed in the politically fractured Ohio House where the undertaking has so far stalled.Wednesday is the last day to get the job done if lawmakers mean to put a related ballot measure before voters on Aug. 8, according to the timeline determined by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s elections chief. However, scenarios could emerge among the plan’s anxious GOP backers to blow past the cutoff without the plan’s proponents relenting.The conflict comes amid similar Republican efforts to restrict direct democracy in Missouri, North Dakota and Mississippi, according to Fairness Project, a Washington-based group that pushes ballot measures across the U.S.In Ohio, a pressure campaign of intense lobbying and attack ads is being led by the anti-abortion Ohio Right to Life, while opposition from high...

UBS to take in Credit Suisse CEO as merger closes in 2 weeks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — UBS said Tuesday it’s bringing the CEO of Credit Suisse on to its executive board and will keep the two banks operating separately “for the foreseeable future” as it moves forward with a high-profile merger expected to close within two weeks.The two Zurich-based banks, longtime rivals, are uniting in a $3.25 billion deal hastily arranged in March by Swiss government officials and regulators after Credit Suisse’s stock plunged and jittery depositors quickly pulled out their money. The merger aimed to stem upheaval in the global financial system after the collapse of two U.S. banks that has shaken confidence in the sector.“This is a pivotal moment for UBS, Credit Suisse and the entire banking industry,” said UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti, who was brought back to the bank to help see the deal through. “Together we will solidify and represent the Swiss model for finance around the world, one that is capital-light, less reliant on taking risk and anchored by stability ...

EIT Climate-KIC moves Ireland towards climate neutrality

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 20:16:57 GMT

How do we decarbonize agri-food systems, while ensuring farmer communities are thriving? EIT Climate-KIC is supporting Ireland, a global agricultural heavyweight, to radically transform its food system towards climate neutrality with an innovative approach.Find our press kit here.Decarbonizing agriculture and food production is one of the biggest challenges of this decade. Ireland’s agri-food sector contributes 37% of the country’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the country has committed to cut 25% emissions in the agri-food sector by 2030, and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, in line with the EU bloc.Climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation play a key role, but they cannot work as single-point technologies: what we need is large-scale transformation. As EIT Climate-KIC experts join world agri-climate leaders at the Aim4Climate summit in Washington, DC this week, their discussions are going to test and shape the global approach at COP28.About EIT Climate-KI...