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EU nears endgame of trade talks with Australia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

Australian and European trade negotiators are meeting this week for what they hope will be the last formal negotiating round of the EU-Australia trade talks. But don’t hold your breath for a handshake between the two top politicians just yet.The endgame of the negotiations will be crucial for Brussels, as it set to have an impact on politically powerful groups like French farmers, German carmarkers and Italian parmesan-makers. Meanwhile, Canberra is positioning itself as more “hard to get” than its smaller neighbor New Zealand, which sealed its own trade deal with Brussels last year. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has made the deal a priority for the bloc in its quest to cut the EU’s trade dependency on countries like Russia and other more autocratic regimes, while improving Europe’s competitiveness. It would be a big geopolitical win to seal such a pact with a like-minded country, even though Australia is not one of the EU’s l...

Former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter released from prison after serving time for deadly shooting of Daunte Wright

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

(CNN) — Former Minnesota officer Kimberly Potter has been released from prison after serving 16 months of a two-year sentence in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, whom she shot after mistaking her gun for a Taser during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.Potter was released from the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee at 4 a.m. on Monday, the department said, noting the early hour was due to safety concerns and the potential for violent protests outside the facility.Potter was convicted of two counts of manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Wright, an unarmed Black man, during a 2021 traffic stop near Minneapolis. Wright was pulled over for having expired tags and for a hanging air freshener.Potter will be on supervised release for the remaining third of her sentence, in accordance with Minnesota law, which doesn’t provide time off for good behavior, the corrections department said. Potter’...

Gov. Healey appoints Patrick Lavin as MassDOT Chief Safety Officer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey has appointed Patrick Lavin to the position of MassDOT Chief Safety Officer, city officials said in an announcement Monday.Lavi, who begins his new role on May 8, has 40 years of experience in transportation safety and operations, including as a subject matter expert and technical writer to the MBTA Safety Review Panel in 2019. He was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Safety Officer for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and Senior Director for Operations in the Office of System Safety of New York City Transit.The MassDOT Chief Safety Officer is a new position created by Healey. In this role, Lavin will report directly to the secretary of transportation and MBTA general manager and serve as the primary representative for overall safety issues relating to transportation.“Pat Lavin is a dedicated public transportation expert who shares our administration’s commitment to improving safety and reliability across our transportation sys...

At least 9 teens injured after shots fired at Texas after-prom party

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

(CNN) — At least nine teenagers suffered non-life-threatening injuries after shots were fired at an after-prom party in Texas, according to local police.Deputies from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance at a home north of Jasper just after midnight, the agency said in a Facebook post on Sunday morning.Deputies found nine victims with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Facebook post.The victims range in age from 15 to 19 years old, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Karli Cherry told CNN in an email Sunday morning.The injured victims were sent to local hospitals for treatment, according to the sheriff’s office.“This investigation is ongoing and people of interest are being questioned,” the post added.Jasper is located in eastern Texas, around 40 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border.

Luis Severino guiding Jhony Brito through his early MLB arrival

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

Hours before Jhony Brito’s final start of spring training, Luis Severino checked in with the pitcher who ultimately replaced him in the Yankees’ rotation.News of Severino’s latest injury, a lat strain, broke the day before, and everyone around the Yankees knew Brito’s start doubled as an audition. Everyone, that is, except for Brito.The possibility of beginning the season in the majors “never crossed my mind,” Brito told the Daily News. “I didn’t think it was possible.”The 25-year-old had never pitched above Triple-A, and he ranked 27th on the organization’s list of prospects. Brito assumed that, after already losing Carlos Rodon and Frankie Montas, the Yankees would add an experienced starter as teams made cuts at the end of camp.Severino set the youngster straight and explained the opportunity.“I just told him, ‘This is it, bro. If you impress today, you’re gonna make the team,’” Severino tol...

Pat Leonard’s 2023 NFL Mock Draft: Projecting picks 1 through 31

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

The Daily News’ one and only 2023 mock draft has the Giants and Jets both going offense and five quarterbacks getting drafted in the first round.Here is how the News’ Pat Leonard believes the board could fall on Thursday night:1. Carolina Panthers (from Chicago): Bryce Young, QB, AlabamaAn expensive trade up from No. 9 overall lands owner David Tepper a new franchise QB.2. Houston Texans: C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio StateThe Texans have Davis Mills and Case Keenum at quarterback right now. We’ll believe Houston GM Nick Caserio is going to pass on a QB here when we see it.3. Arizona Cardinals: Devon Witherspoon, CB, IllinoisNew GM Monti Ossenfort would like to trade back with a QB needy team. But if he doesn’t, new coach Jonathan Gannon gets a tough, consensus All-American corner to build his secondary.4. Indianapolis Colts: Will Levis, QB, KentuckyGM Chris Ballard should be trading for Ravens former MVP Lamar Jackson. Instead, he selects the strong-armed Wildcats Q...

Mayor: Napoli title will set off ‘big earthquake of joy’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Before Gaetano Manfredi was elected mayor of Naples in 2021, he was a university professor specializing in seismic engineering — preparing and designing buildings to withstand earthquakes.As Manfredi rose up to become chancellor of the University of Naples Federico II, a study was commissioned to measure the impact of fans celebrating goals scored by the Napoli soccer club inside what is now known as the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.“The engineering department building is near the stadium and there’s a seismograph there that whenever Napoli scored would record enough shaking that it nearly registered as an earthquake,” Manfredi told The Associated Press in a recent interview.So what magnitude might the university seismograph record when Napoli wins its first Italian league title in more than three decades? With a 17-point lead and seven games remaining, the first chance to clinch comes this weekend — a long holiday weekend for May Day (Europe’s Labor Day)...

Syrian pro-government media say Israel shelled border town

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian pro-government media said Israel shelled targets in southern Syria early on Monday, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, causing unspecified material damage. There was no immediate comment from Israel or a statement from the Syrian government.The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper and Sham FM radio said Israeli forces targeted the town of Talat Qars al-Nafl in Quneitra province but did not mention any casualties. Al-Watan posted a video of the attack, showing an explosion from what it said was one of the targets being hit in the distance.A Britain-based war monitor, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the shelling targeted militias linked to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group in Quneitra. It said that Israel had struck targets in the same area last Tuesday. Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment next door, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of neighboring Syria in recent year...

Waste Connections founder and exec chairman Ronald Mittelstaedt returns to CEO role

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

TORONTO — Waste Connections Inc. says founder and executive chairman Ronald Mittelstaedt has returned to his role as chief executive officer after the departure of Worthing Jackman from the top job.The solid waste services company says Jackman has also stepped down from its board of directors and withdrawn his name as a nominee at the company’s 2023 annual meeting.Mittelstaedt served as chief executive from 1997 until July 2019, when ‎he moved into the role of executive chairman.In connection with his reappointment as chief executive, Mittelstaedt will remain on the board but give up his role as executive chairman.Michael Harlan, the company’s lead independent director, has been named chairman.The company also reaffirmed its financial outlook for 2023 that it provided in February. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:WCN)The Canadian Press

Minnesota officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright freed

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:16:02 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kim Potter, the Minnesota police officer who mistook her gun for a Taser and killed Daunte Wright in 2021, was released from prison early Monday.The Minnesota Department of Corrections said Potter was set free around 4 a.m. “out of an abundance of caution.” The department confirmed Friday she would be released Monday but declined to say what time out of security concerns.Potter, a white officer for a suburban Minneapolis department, fatally shot Wright, 20, who was Black, during a traffic stop in April 2021. The shooting happened during the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed George Floyd, and Wright’s death set off several days of protests.The Associated Press