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NextGenerationEU: Positive preliminary assessment of Estonia's request for a €286 million disbursement under the Recovery and Resilience Facility

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

This is Estonia's first payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The request combines two instalments of €143 million each. With their request, the Estonian authorities provided detailed and comprehensive evidence demonstrating the fulfilment of the 28 milestones and one target. The Commission has thoroughly assessed this information before presenting its positive preliminary assessment.On 30 June 2023, Estonia submitted to the Commission a request based on the achievement of the 28 milestones and one target selected in the  Council Implementing Decision for the first payment request, which included both the first and second instalment. These instalments cover reforms and investments related to energy, green and digital transition, labour market, health and long-term care, green skills, innovation and transport, as well as Estonia's audit and control system for the implementation of the RRF.The Commission has now sent its positive preliminary assessment to t...

A statue of a late cardinal accused of sexual abuse has been removed from outside a German cathedral

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A statue of a deceased German cardinal was removed from its perch outside Essen Cathedral in western Germany on Monday, days after allegations of sexual abuse decades ago became public.The accusations against Cardinal Franz Hengsbach, who died in 1991, added to a long-running scandal over abuse by clergy that has shaken the German church. Last week, the Essen diocese said there were suspicions that Hengsbach may have abused a 16-year-old girl in the 1950s when he was an auxiliary bishop in nearby Paderborn, and that a woman had also accused him of abusing her in 1967 when he was bishop of Essen — a job that he held for 33 years.In a letter to parishes released on Friday, current Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck apologized for his mistakes in handling the allegations. He said he had heard of one accusation in 2011 and did nothing after the Vatican determined that it was not plausible. “I must now admit that the accusations were misjudged in 2011 and that those affected were ...

In the news today: Ontario legislature resumes, Jewish groups demand apology

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Ontario legislature resumes with new cabinet facesOntario provincial politicians are heading back to the legislature today after its summer break that saw a whirlwind few weeks of developments in the Greenbelt controversy.Premier Doug Ford announced last week that he would reverse his decision to open the Greenbelt for housing development, after enduring nearly a year of public outcry over his plan.He will have to start the process of returning those lands to protected status, while still forging ahead with his target of building 1.5 million homes by 2031, and with several cabinet ministers brand new to their portfolios.Jewish group demands apology after MPs honoured man who fought for NazisJewish advocacy organizations are condemning members of Parliament for giving a standing ovation to a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.MPs honoured...

EU commissioner calls for more balanced trade with China and warns that Ukraine could divide them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — The European Union’s trade commissioner called for a more balanced economic relationship with China on Monday, noting a trade imbalance of nearly 400 billion euros ($425 billion), while also warning that China’s position on the war in Ukraine could endanger its relationship with Europe.Valdis Dombrovskis, in a speech at China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, said that the EU and China face significant political and economic headwinds that could cause them to drift apart.“The strongest, yet not the only, headwind is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and how China positions itself on this issue,” he said, according to a prepared text of his remarks.Dombrovskis is in China to co-chair high-level economic and trade talks on Monday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. EU leaders have expressed concern about the bloc’s growing trade deficit with China, which reached 396 billion euros last year. European Commission President Ursula von der...

Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin prepared Bradley Cooper for ‘Maestro’ role

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

TORONTO — Montreal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin says he employed a secret weapon in teaching Bradley Cooper how to conduct like Leonard Bernstein in the upcoming biopic “Maestro” – an earpiece.The star baton wielder says he occasionally had the A-lister don the device so he could guide Cooper through arm and hand movements that would be believable for music-savvy viewers as well as those familiar with Bernstein’s distinctive physical style.Nézet-Séguin served as “conductor consultant” on the upcoming Netflix film, which Cooper co-wrote, directed and stars in, and says there’s far more to conducting than just waving a stick around.The Grammy winner says he’s seen plenty of movies portray conductors badly and he wanted to ensure “Maestro” was an accurate depiction of the craft.Nézet-Séguin says the hardest part for most actors is to keep accurate tempo with the baton, especially while the other hand moves fluidly to convey expression.“Maestro” opens in select theatres No...

Quebec author at heart of controversy in France over ‘sensitivity reading’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec author Kevin Lambert wanted to avoid stereotypes and not write anything “stupid” when he enlisted what is known as a sensitivity reader to review the manuscript of his latest novel.But since his “Que notre joie demeure” was nominated this month for a prestigious French literary prize, Lambert has found himself at the centre of a debate in France, where the practice of hiring someone to screen for offensive content is unfamiliar.Toronto-based editor Ronan Sadler said sensitivity reading is a process in which a consultant examines a book’s representations of characters with marginalized identities, such as visible minorities, before publication. Sensitivity readers, Sadler explained in an interview, try to identify shortfalls of characterization that may not have been apparent to an author who does not share those identities.Lambert, who consulted a sensitivity reader to scrutinize his depiction of a character of Haitian descent, was ope...

Parole board warned employees about threats following Saskatchewan stabbings: emails

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

Parole Board of Canada employees were fearful of threats after it was revealed a mass killer in Saskatchewan was on statutory release at the time of last year’s rampage, emails show. The emails in partially redacted documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, show staff at the Parole Board of Canada were cautioned about their safety and told to remain vigilant following threats made to a Saskatchewan office after the stabbings.Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured in the attacks on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon on Sept. 4, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, was arrested four days later and died in police custody.It was widely reported during the manhunt that Sanderson, who had a record of violent assaults, had received statutory release, which kicks in when an offender has served two-thirds of a prison sentence. The killings raised questions over why Sanderson was released and how he managed to remain free in...

RCMP to demolish last structure at Quebec’s Roxham Road crossing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

LACOLLE, Que. — The RCMP says it will demolish the last of its structures at Roxham Road, an outpost built to deal with the influx of migrants that used to cross into Canada on foot from Upstate New York to apply for asylum.The federal police force will hold a news conference this morning near the facility before demolition work begins on the structure, located about 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal at the end of a rural road in southern Quebec.Tens of thousands of asylum seekers crossed into Canada using that clandestine route before it was shutdown in late March after the U.S. and Canada reached a deal to close a long-standing loophole in the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement and have it apply to the 8,900 kilometres of shared border.Asylum seekers have to apply for refugee status in the first of the two countries they enter rather than just at official ports of entry, a situation that led to thousands moving through irregular crossings like the one at Roxham Road to ensure the...

Coroner’s inquest opens into killings of three Quebec men chosen at random

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

MONTREAL — A coroner’s inquest opening in Montreal today will look into the deaths of three men seemingly killed at random over a 24-hour span last August.Coroner Géhane Kamel will oversee the inquiry into the killings of André Lemieux, Mohamed Belhaj, Alex Levis-Crevier and the police-killing of the 26-year-old suspect, Abdulla Shaikh.At the time of the slayings, provincial police said it appeared the suspect, who had a history of mental health problems, had chosen his victims at random and had acquired a firearm illegally.Police allege Shaikh shot Lemieux, 64, and Belhaj, 48, one night in Montreal in August 2022 and killed 22-year-old Levis-Crevier in Laval, Que., about 24 hours later.Quebec’s mental health review board ruled in March 2022 that Shaikh, who was under the supervision of a mental health hospital, posed a “significant risk” to public safety but could continue living in the community. It also said that while he suffered from denial and trivializ...

Court martial begins for former head of military HR accused of sexual misconduct

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:35:51 GMT

GATINEAU, Que. — A court martial begins today for Lt.-Gen. Steve Whelan, who was removed from his job as head of military personnel after being accused of sexual misconduct. The allegations came to light in 2021, only months after Whelan took over the job from Vice-Adm. Haydn Edmundson, who was also accused of sexual misconduct.They were among several high-profile cases that led to an external investigation of the Armed Forces, resulting in a damning report from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour.Military police charged Whelan in July 2022 with two counts of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline, related to what they called an “inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.” In a press release at the time, the Defence Department said the investigation did not find evidence to support Criminal Code charges in the case, so it was not passed along to civilian police. The court martial is scheduled to take place over two weeks.This report by The Canad...