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Constitutional referendum to remove presidential term limits divides Central African Republic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The Central African Republic went to the polls Sunday in a highly anticipated vote on a new constitution, which would remove presidential term limits. President Faustin Archange Touadera wants to extend presidential terms from five to seven years and remove the previous two-term limit, enabling him to run again in 2025. The new constitution would replace the one adopted at Touadera’s inauguration in 2016, when the country was in a civil war and 80% of it was not under state control. If the new constitution is passed, it could entrench the ruling party’s power indefinitely, analysts say. “This referendum basically confirms the fears of authoritarian drift (in CAR),” said Enrica Picco, Central Africa project director with the International Crisis Group. The new constitution would weaken checks on the executive by opposition parties, closing the space for Central Africans to participate in democratic decision-making, she said. The proposed change...

Supporters of Niger’s coup march through the capital waving Russian flags and denouncing France

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup earlier this week marched through the streets of the capital, Niamey, on Sunday waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France. Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country’s influence in the region, but it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders are going to move toward Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners. Days after after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger’s democratically elected president, uncertainty is mounting about the country’s future and some are calling out the junta’s reasons for seizing control.The mutineers said they overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France, becau...

1 killed, 6 wounded in overnight clashes in crowded Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Overnight clashes Sunday in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left 1 dead and 6 others wounded, Palestinian officials said.The clashes took place as Palestinian factions in Ein el-Hilweh cracked down on militant Islamist groups and fugitives seeking shelter in the camp’s overcrowded neighborhoods. In 2017, Palestinian factions engaged in almost a week of fierce clashes with a militant organization affiliated with the extremist Islamic State group. The Palestinian officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the clashes broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead. According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, six people were wounded in the clashes, including two children. Factions used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the overcrowded camp, a...

Other voices: Admitting foreign workers is good for America

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

The U.S. has a people problem. The birth rate has been sliding for years, and it’s about to translate into a shrinking labor force. By 2040, according to a study out last week, America could have more than 6 million fewer working-age people than in 2022. The only way to counter the domestic trend is by attracting workers from abroad.“The working-age U.S. population has peaked absent additional immigration,” writes Madeline Zavodny, in a forthcoming paper from the National Foundation for American Policy. “New international migrants are the only potential source of growth in the U.S. working-age population over the remainder of the next two decades.” Ms. Zavodny is an economics professor at the University of North Florida, and her analysis is based on data from the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.At a time when some Americans view foreign workers as cheap competition, she offers a prescription for growth and vigor. In particular she notes that, although foreign-born worke...

Frosh, Kopp: Bigfoot government orders investment managers to ignore risk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

In the face of fires, record heat, floods and other extreme weather events across the country, House Republicans are using much of July to oppose financial transparency related to climate risks and to attack investor freedoms. Their reckless course endangers not just the planet but also the financial stability of Americans’ retirement savings and pensions. One Republican went so far as to say consideration of climate risk by asset managers is “Satan’s plan.”On July 12, leaders of the House Financial Services Committee launched hearings to attack environmental, social and governmental (ESG) practices by financial firms. They are also crafting legislation that would outlaw long-standing risk assessment practices. Just as dangerously, House Republicans intend to restrict shareholders’ ability to hold corporate executives accountable by restricting rights to vote proxies and curbing shareholder resolutions related to corporate governance.It’s hardly s...

Sunday Bulletin Board: How much do they want for two little cups of water?!

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

The Permanent Family RecordWICKI-YAH (“in the land of the FIT — Farmers In Training”) writes: “Subject: No way! This ain’t L.A.!“Harley Man and I were hanging out with four of our grandkids (children of our daughter, the Pastor’s Wife, now the Pastor-Farmer’s Wife) while Mom and Dad took a much-deserved vacation on the North Shore during his work sabbatical.“The kids were really helpful during our 12-day stay, so we decided to drive from their little farm into Sioux Falls for lunch and ice cream on our last day. We spent just shy of $40 on seven small ice-cream treats. We could not help but comment that raising kids is expensive, but the kids were worth it.“When they finished their treats, two of the kids asked if I thought the ice-cream shop had water. I told them to go in and ask if they could have a small cup of water.“‘The teen in the service window handed them two kiddie-sized cups of water. The 11-year-old shrug...

How hemp-based drinks, edibles became big business before MN legalized marijuana

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

When the Legislature passed the adult-use cannabis bill this spring, it was made clear that even though marijuana is fully legal as of Tuesday, dispensaries won’t open until late next year, or even early 2025.So what’s the deal with the shelves of edibles and THC-infused beverages at local retailers?It turns out that lawmakers made an exception for hemp-derived THC products in a groundbreaking deal that will keep a unique beverage industry chugging along before and after full marijuana-based products are available. It also assures these products are and will be available outside of official dispensaries.That’s a win for the Twin Cities breweries that began making hemp-derived-THC-infused beverages shortly after lawmakers clarified the allowed dosages in 2022, opening the floodgates for new products, and with them, a new source of revenue. (The federal 2018 Farm Bill allowed for hemp-derived THC products nationally, but the language was squishy, so most local companies weren’t ...

Readers and writers: An array of protagonists power these crime novels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

We’ve got three crime/mystery novels today that show the wide range of this genre, with protagonists that include a television reporter, a psychic and a scientist, and a Fish & Wildlife agent. All recommended for good summer reading.(Hawk Hill Literary)“On Nowhere St”: by Ron Handberg (Hawk Hill Literary, $14.95)“No, you hold on! I may be a kid, but I’ve been on the street long enough to know about dudes like you. So leave me the hell alone, okay? Find some other little chick”. — from “On Nowhere St”Ron Handberg spent most of his career at WCCO radio and television, so it’s not surprising the protagonist of “On Nowhere St” is a TV reporter. Gabby Gooding is the station’s star reporter who’d come from California to Minnesota, and even those who don’t much like her have to admit she’s got what it takes to dig out news.One morning Gabby finds Jennie, a freezing street kid, in the station...

Trudy Rubin: As Russian missiles again rain down on Odesa, Putin sneers at the UN and NATO allies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

ODESA, Ukraine — In case anyone still has doubts that Vladimir Putin is a terrorist, consider what he did to this iconic port city over the past week.It was not enough that he pulled out of the U.N.-brokered deal by which Russia had partly lifted a blockade that stopped desperately needed Ukrainian grain from leaving Odesa’s port. The Kremlin is demanding a lifting of key banking sanctions as the price for renewing the deal.But to make sure Ukraine could not find a way to break the renewed Russian blockade, perhaps by having Turkey escort grain ships, Moscow has been firing missiles into Odesa’s port, its grain silos, and smaller Ukrainian grain ports on the Danube River — directly across the border from NATO member Romania.In a week, Putin’s military has destroyed tens of thousands of tons of grain that could have fed 270,000 people for a year, according to the World Food Program.That still wasn’t enough for Putin. So to slam home his message tha...

Skywatch: August features two supermoons, a great meteor shower, Saturn and more 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:24:43 GMT

We have a rare bird, or should I say birds, in the sky this month, two full moons, on Aug. 1 and Aug. 31, with the second full moon considered a Blue Moon by many folks.There is a little controversy about what a blue moon is and is not, but the modern definition is that it’s the second full moon in any given month. Since the period between two full moons is 29½ days, Blue Moons don’t happen that often, roughly every year and a half. What makes the two full moons special this month is that they’re both considered “supermoons” since they’re both physically closer to Earth than average. That makes them a little bigger and brighter in the heavens, although most experienced amateur astronomers are hesitant to describe them as truly “super” this month. If you want to call it a “supermoon,” though, that’s your business.(Mike Lynch)Another huge highlight for August stargazing is the annual Perseid meteor shower. It’s on...