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German lawmakers fail to agree on new rules regulating assisted suicide

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Lawmakers in Germany failed to agree Thursday on new rules regulating assisted suicide, rejecting two cross-party proposals drawn up after the country’s highest court ruled that legislation banning the practice when conducted on a “business” basis was unconstitutional.The Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 2020 that the ban, which was introduced five years earlier, violated the rights of citizens to determine the circumstances of their own deaths by restricting their ability to seek assistance from a third party.Active assistance — physically taking a patient’s life for them — is banned in Germany, but passive help, such as providing deadly medication for them to take themselves, has been a legal gray area.Cross-party groups of lawmakers put forward two competing proposals for new rules. One option would have allowed for doctors to prescribe lethal medication between three and 12 weeks after an adult underwent obligatory counseling. The other option took...

Austria approves law allowing authorities to confiscate extreme speeders’ cars

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Austria’s parliament has approved legislation that would allow authorities to confiscate the cars of people who are caught driving far above the speed limit.Lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that calls for the cars of people who exceed the speed limit by more than 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph) in developed areas or 70 kph (43 mph) outside town limits temporarily confiscated. Repeat offenders could have their vehicles permanently confiscated and auctioned off.Drivers who exceed the speed limit by more than 80 kph (50 mph) in built-up areas or 90 kph (56 mph) in unincorporated areas could have their cars permanently confiscated after a first offense. The measure is expected to take effect in March 2024.Leonore Gewessler, the Austrian minister for climate and transport, said last month that “there is a speed above which the car becomes a weapon.”“We are now putting an end to this and ensuring that perpetrators have the weapon taken out of their hands im...

UK Conservative lawmaker faces ejection from Parliament for groping strangers at a London club

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A British lawmaker accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club should be suspended from Parliament for eight weeks for “completely unacceptable” conduct, a standards watchdog said Thursday.The ruling will likely result in Chris Pincher being ejected from the House of Commons by his constituents, triggering a special election for his seat. It’s one of a handful of unwelcome byelections that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government faces as it grapples with a stuttering economy and sinking popularity.Pincher resigned as Conservative Party deputy chief whip almost a year ago over allegations he had assaulted two strangers at a London club. The allegations helped topple then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who faced questions about whether he knew about misconduct claims when he gave Pincher a job as a whip responsible for enforcing party discipline.The scandal was a final straw that prompted a string of ministers to resign from Johnson’...

Russian cruise missile attack on Ukraine city of Lviv kills 4 people and injures dozens

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired cruise missiles Thursday at a western Ukraine city far from the front line of the war, killing at least four people in an apartment building in what officials said was the heaviest attack on civilian areas of Lviv since the Kremlin’s forces invaded Ukraine last year.The nighttime attack destroyed the roof and the top two floors of a residential building, injuring 34 people. Emergency crews with search dogs went through the rubble.The youngest victim was 21 years old and the oldest was 95, according to Maksym Kozytskyi, head of Regional Military Administration.“This woman survived the Second World War but, unfortunately, she didn’t survive” Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kozytskyi said.Debris and wrecked parked cars lined the street outside the building, which overlooks a small neighborhood park with swings and climbing frames amid trees.Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said around 60 apartments and 50 cars in the area of strike were damaged.U.S. ...

Sweden convicts a Kurdish man with attempting to extort money for a group that’s outlawed in Turkey

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Turkish man was found guilty Thursday of attempted aggravated extortion, weapons possession and attempted terrorist financing, saying he was acting on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party.The Stockholm District Court sentenced Yahya Güngör to a total of 4.5 years in prison for the crimes, after which he would be expelled from Sweden and banned from returning to the Scandinavian country.It was the first time that a Swedish court sentenced someone for terrorist financing of the party, Judge Mans Wigen said. Also known as PKK, it has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.In May, Sweden tightened its anti-terrorism laws — a move expected to help gain approval for the Nordic nation’s request to join NATO. Swedish lawmakers included a prison term of up to four years for individuals convicted of participating in an extremist organization in a way that is...

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits China as part of efforts to soothe strained relations

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing on Thursday for meetings with Chinese leaders as part of efforts to revive relations that are strained by disputes about security, technology and other irritants.Yellen planned to focus on stabilizing the global economy and challenging Chinese support of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, Treasury officials in Washington told reporters ahead of the trip.The secretary was due to meet with Chinese officials, American businesspeople and members of the public, according to Treasury officials. They gave no details, but said Yellen wouldn’t meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.Yellen follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Xi last month in the highest-level U.S. visit to Beijing in five years. The two agreed to stabilize relations but failed to agree on improving communications between their militaries.Yellen earlier warned against economic decoupling, or disconnecting U.S. and Chinese industry and markets. Busines...

UAE pledges $15 million to help rebuild occupied West Bank camp hard hit by Israeli offensive

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The United Arab Emirates pledged Thursday to give $15 million to help rebuild the Jenin refugee camp after the most intense Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades.The funding promise comes after the two-day offensive destroyed the camp’s narrow roads and alleyways. The operation, meant to crack down on Palestinian militants after a series of recent attacks on Israelis, sent thousands of people fleeing their homes. Twelve Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in the fighting. The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported that the money would be granted to UNRWA, the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees, to rebuild damaged homes and businesses and for the agency’s services. UNRWA has struggled recently to raise the funding it needs to keep its day-to-day operations helping millions of people across the Middle East.Israel’s fierce incursion this week saw bulldozers tearing through streets t...

Glitches in Japan’s unpopular MyNumber digital ID cards draw a flood of complaints

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The minister charged with an overhaul of Japan’s digitized system to assign a number to everyone living in the country has apologized, as doctors protested glitches with health insurance and local governments begged Thursday for clarity on how to handle the problems. The MyNumber, or “MaiNa” for short, system has clearly gone afoul.The government has ordered a total rechecking of MyNumber data, one by one, “mechanically,” as the digital agency put it. The goal is to complete it by the fall, which could be anytime from September to November.Local governments have to deal with much of the checking work. Officials have met with Digital Minister Taro Kono demanding help. Costs for the review have not been announced, but are expected to total trillions of yen (tens of billions of dollars). Under MyNumber, launched in 2016, people get a card with a photo and embedded IC chip. Officials already are talking about issuing totally new cards in 2026, apparently to start afre...

Toronto man arrested after striking police cruiser, 2nd vehicle while fleeing officers

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

A man is in custody after allegedly crashing into two vehicles, including a police cruiser, while trying to flee from police.York Regional Police say the incident began when officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle around 10:20 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Jane Street and Hullmar Drive, south of Steeles Avenue.Police say the driver took off and struck a York police cruiser before driving southbound on Jane. The driver struck a second vehicle a short time later and then took off on foot.He was located and arrested a short distance away.No officers were injured but an occupant of the second vehicle that was struck sustained minor injuries. The suspect was also taken to hospital with minor injuries.A 24-year-old man from Toronto is now in custody and police say officers recovered a firearm at the scene.Roads were closed in the area for several hours but they have since reopened.

More than 950 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea in first 6 months of 2023, group says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:49:02 GMT

MADRID (AP) — At least 951 migrants have died while trying to reach Spain by sea in the first six months of 2023, a Spanish migrant rights group said Thursday.Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said the total includes 112 women and 49 children. The organization compiles its figures from families of migrants and rescue statistics. It said in a report issued Thursday that official Spanish figures show fewer boats arrived in the first six months, but that 13 more people died than in the first six months of last year.Spain’s Interior Ministry says 12,192 people arrived by boat in the first six months, 4% fewer than in the same period last year.Caminando Fronteras blamed countries such as Spain and Morocco for a lack of coordination and failing to conduct rescue operations in time.It gave the example of a June 21 incident in which 24 people were rescued and two bodies were retrieved after a boat sank in waters off Morocco’s coast, but 36 migrants disappeared. It said a Moroccan ...