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So much for strategic autonomy: EU pays Elon Musk €180M to launch its rockets

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

SEVILLE, Spain — The European Commission keeps banging on about strategic autonomy, but it’s had to sign a €180 million deal with SpaceX to get its satellites into orbit because Europe’s own rocket program has stalled.Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told POLITICO he agreed to turn to Elon Musk’s space company — with whom he’s recently sparred on digital policy due to his ownership of X (formerly Twitter) — because Europe’s Ariane 6 launcher is very delayed.“We have four satellites to launch next year,” Breton said on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Seville on Tuesday. “And given that Ariane 6 is still not going to be available, I accepted a proposal from the European Space Agency to use SpaceX.”The launches are tentatively scheduled to take place in April and July, with each one carrying two Galileo geo-navigation satellites into orbit, he said.As POLITICO first reported in April, the Commission has been lookin...

House Poised To Tackle State Shelter Funding, Spending Bill

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

The House plans to steer more funds to the state’s strained emergency shelter system as part of a spending bill it plans to consider on Wednesday.Gov. Maura Healey requested $250 million from the Legislature in September to supplement $325 million in the fiscal 2024 state budget and continue running a shelter system that is serving twice as many families as this time last year.House Speaker Ron Mariano confirmed the House plans Wednesday but did not specify the amount that the House plans to allocate for the migrant crisis in its supplemental budget. The Healey administration supplied representatives with a “lot of information” that they’d been seeking about the governor’s request for expanded migrant funding, Mariano said. The state’s emergency assistance shelter system is slated to hit the administration’s imposed capacity of 7,500 families in “the next day or so,” Healey said Monday.There were 7,439 families housed i...

Patriots-Commanders film review: The Patriots are risking becoming the NFL’s worst team

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

Imagine Bill Belichick breaking down the Patriots as an opponent right now.How does that sound?Flowery, to be sure. Historically, there’s been a strong correlation between how long Belichick glowingly rambles about the Pats’ next opponent in his weekly press conferences and how crummy that opponent is. Before the Patriots’ rematch with Miami a couple weeks ago, he captured the Dolphins using just four words: “A pretty explosive team.”Last week, however, Washington received a minutes-long breakdown that touched on the coaching staff, their goal-line defense and even the returners.So what about the Patriots? They might earn a damn dissertation.As it stands, the Pats are trending toward becoming the worst team in the league. Offensively, only the Jets and Giants are worse by Expected Points Added (EPA). Defensively, the Pats rank 25th.The Patriots may never reach the league’s basement, thanks to the injury-plagued Giants and tanking Cardinals. But th...

Former Meta engineering leader to testify before Congress on Instagram’s harms to teens

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

On the same day whistleblower Frances Haugen was testifying before Congress about the harms of Facebook and Instagram to children in the fall of 2021, Arturo Bejar, then a contractor at the social media giant, sent an alarming email to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the same topic. In the note, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Bejar, who worked as an engineering director at Facebook from 2009 to 2015, outlined a “critical gap” between how the company approached harm and how the people who use its products — most notably young people — experience it. “Two weeks ago my daughter, 16, and an experimenting creator on Instagram, made a post about cars, and someone commented ‘Get back to the kitchen.’ It was deeply upsetting to her,” he wrote. “At the same time the comment is far from being policy violating, and our tools of blocking or deleting mean that this person will go to other profiles and continue to spread misogyny. I don’t think policy/reporting or having more conten...

US asks Congo and Rwanda to de-escalate tensions as fighting near their border displaces millions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Rwanda and Congo to de-escalate tensions and withdraw troops from their border following increased fighting that has displaced nearly 7 million people.Blinken spoke separately by phone with Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame about the “volatile situation and worsening humanitarian crisis along the border,” the State Department said.Its statement said Blinken advocated for a diplomatic solution to the tensions.Fighting between M23 rebels and militias loyal to the Congolese army has intensified in the eastern Congo provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu and Tanganyika. The Congolese government has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels who have taken control over swathes of territory in eastern Congo. U.N. experts have said they had strong evidence that Rwanda’s army was fighting alongside the rebel group. Rwanda has rejected the accusations and instead ac...

Ballard Power Systems reports Q3 loss, revenue up nearly 30% from year ago

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

VANCOUVER — Ballard Power Systems Inc. reported a larger loss in its latest quarter compared with a year ago despite a nearly 30 per cent rise in revenue.The fuel cell company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says it lost US$62.5 million or 21 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a loss of US$42.9 million or 14 cents per share a year earlier.Total fuel cell products and services revenue amounted to US$27.6 million, up from $21.3 million in the same quarter last year.Ballard says heavy duty mobility revenue was up 67 per cent at US$21.1 million, helped by higher rail and marine revenue, partially offset by lower bus and truck revenue.The company’s stationary segment fell five per cent to US$2.9 million as lower sales in North America were partially offset by higher revenue in Europe.Emerging and other markets revenue fell 37 per cent to US$3.6 million due to lower shipments to Europe.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 20...

Man in life-threatening condition after being struck by vehicle in Etobicoke

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

A man is fighting for his life in hospital after being struck by a vehicle in Etobicoke on Tuesday morning.Emergency crews were called to the area of Kipling Avenue and Ronson Drive, just north of Highway 401, around 6:20 a.m. after getting reports that a pedestrian was struck.Paramedics confirm a man in his 30s was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.Police say the driver involved in the crash initially left the scene but has since returned.The intersection of Kipling and Ronson is closed for the investigation.

Nelly Furtado announced as host of 2024 Juno Awards

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

Nelly Furtado’s pop music comeback continues with the singer stepping up to host the 2024 Juno Awards.Organizers have named the “I’m Like a Bird” hitmaker MC of next year’s celebration of Canadian music, set to take place in Halifax.It will be the second time Furtado oversees the televised bash, following her stint at the 2007 Junos in Saskatoon where she won five awards including album of the year and artist of the year.The Victoria native is in the midst of a return to the spotlight after several years of laying low. Recently, she appeared as a vocalist on “Eat Your Man,” a club track by Dom Dolla, and in the upbeat pop single “Keep Going Up,” with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland.The Junos also announced that hip-hop pioneer Maestro Fresh Wes is set to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, becoming the first rapper to receive the career achievement honour.Calgary sisters Tegan and Sara will receive the humanitarian award from actor Elliot Page for their work as advocat...

Will B.C.’s short-term rental crackdown really work?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, regulating short-term rentals like AirBnB as a way to ease the housing crisis isn’t a new idea — it’s been tried in plenty of cities in North America and beyond. But British Columbia’s new legislation goes much further than most, and though it was just announced two weeks ago, a glance at apartments on sale in Victoria and Vancouver show that it’s having an impact already.Ryan Hook is a journalist who reported on this for Ricochet. “What is the simplest way to put some houses on the market and hopefully get them to a cost where first-time home buyers can buy them? And in my opinion, this was just one way to do that.”So, what’s in the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act that makes it a step beyond other North American efforts. Has it gone too far, or not far enough? And if it works, could it become a model for other provinces to follow?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.Yo...

Super fog blankets New Orleans again, as damp fires and smoke close interstate after deadly crash

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:26:55 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Dense smoke reminiscent of last month’s “super fog” that rolled into Louisiana has led to a deadly accident that shut down Interstate 10 in the New Orleans area early Tuesday, police said.The thoroughfare was closed due to smoke, fog and accidents involving multiple vehicles, New Orleans police said in a statement Tuesday morning.“Multiple people were injured and transported to the hospital,” the agency said after the accident around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.Smoke from fires near New Orleans is getting trapped under a very shallow layer of the atmosphere along Interstate 10 in eastern Orleans Parish, the National Weather Service said in a memo early Tuesday. As a result, motorists could see a quarter-mile or less, the weather service said.The weather service issued a dense smoke advisory. The thick smoke also reduced visibility along Interstate 55 in Louisiana, the weather service said.Few details were available about the motorist who died Tuesday. Police said it w...