Volunteering, ADVISORY

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Volunteering, ADVISORY EDITORS:April 16th is the start of National Volunteer Week in the U.S.The AP is planning a number of text, video and photo stories to mark the occasion.For more details, go to our Coverage Plan.Here’s a look at what’s coming up.LOCALIZE IT:PHILANTHROPY-VOLUNTEERISM-LOCALIZE IT — Though volunteerism in America has been declining for decades, the rapid fall is further straining the nation’s social safety net, especially with demand for nonprofits’ services increasing. The changes in volunteerism rates vary from community to community as shown in this data about volunteer participation by state and some major cities from the U.S. Census and AmeriCorps. The data sets up an important line of local reporting. How has the volunteerism rate in your state changed in recent years? How are your local nonprofits coping with those shifts? Can they still meet your community’s needs? Here are some ways to localize reporting on volunteerism. With an audio guide. Moved April 10.MOVED APRIL 10 FOR US...

Última hora y noticias en vivo de la guerra de Rusia en Ucrania: Polonia y Hungría prohíben los granos ucranianos

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Última hora y noticias en vivo de la guerra de Rusia en Ucrania: Polonia y Hungría prohíben los granos ucranianos Haz clic aquí para ver las entradas más recientesThe-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

Silvio Berlusconi out of intensive care

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Silvio Berlusconi out of intensive care Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is out of intensive care, where he was being treated for chronic leukemia since April 5.His health is “constantly improving,” his doctors Alberto Zangrillo and Fabio Ciceri said in a medical update Sunday evening, according to Italian newswire ANSA.Berlusconi, 86, will remain in the hospital.The former PM, who is currently a senator and leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party — a partner in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government — has been in and out of hospital in recent weeks.He was first admitted to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan on March 27 for routine medical checks and was discharged three days later.He was then taken into intensive care in the cardiac unit of the same hospital a few days later, on April 5, after suffering from “breathlessness.”

US tax breaks lure European clean tech companies as EU lags

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

US tax breaks lure European clean tech companies as EU lags LONDON (AP) — Norwegian startup Freyr will first build batteries to power electric vehicles and store clean energy in a remote town near the Arctic Circle. Up next? An Atlanta suburb.That’s because a new U.S. clean energy law offers generous tax credits — up to 40% of costs — in what is a “massive, massive incentive” for producing in America, CEO Tom Einar Jensen said.Across Europe, companies seeking to invest in the green energy boom — churning out everything from solar panels to windmills and EV batteries — are making similar calculations, weighing up the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act’s $375 billion in benefits for renewable industries against a fragmented response that European Union leaders have been scrambling to patch together for months. The law aims to kick-start the U.S. transition away from climate-changing fossil fuels with tax credits and rebates that favor clean technology made in North America. It blindsided the EU when it became law in August, putting the U...

Clinton, Blair to mark Northern Ireland peace milestone

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Clinton, Blair to mark Northern Ireland peace milestone BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and past leaders of the U.K. and Ireland are gathering in Belfast on Monday, 25 years after their charm, clout and determination helped Northern Ireland strike a historic peace accord.They are meeting for an anniversary conference in a Northern Ireland that has changed dramatically since 1998, and where some wonder if the accord that created peace is still capable of sustaining it.A young peacetime generation is increasingly shedding the rival identities — British unionist and Irish nationalist — that erupted into three decades of bloodshed that killed 3,600 people. But at the same time, Northern Ireland is locked in a political crisis that threatens to rattle the peace secured by the Good Friday Agreement.“You’ve got a transformed society in which (the labels) unionist, nationalist for many young people doesn’t mean anything,” said Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queen’s University Belfast.“But on...

Myanmar army rulers free 3,000 prisoners in holiday gesture

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Myanmar army rulers free 3,000 prisoners in holiday gesture BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government on Monday granted amnesty to more than 3,000 prisoners to mark the traditional lunar New Year holiday, but it wasn’t immediately clear if those released included the thousands of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule.State-run MRTV television reported that the State Administration Council, the ruling body created by the military after it seized power in 2021, had pardoned 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners who will be deported. Mass prisoner releases are common on major holidays.An official from Yangon’s Insein Prison, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information, said the number and names of people to be freed from the country’s largest penitentiary was not yet known. The releases were expected to begin Monday.Some 17,460 political detainees, including Myanmar’s former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were in detention as of last Wednesday, according to the Assistance...

Kyiv denies Wagner Bakhmut claim, Russia says forces advancing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Kyiv denies Wagner Bakhmut claim, Russia says forces advancing Ukraine vs Russia fought over the control of Bakhmut by the Kremlin, which has been the focus of Moscow's attempts to invade eastern Ukraine for months.The Ukrainian military claimed it had "considerably" over 20% of the city under its control. Yevgeny Privozhin's claim that his Wagner mercenary team had seized more Bakhmut than 80% was false, the military stated.Russia's Defence Ministry countered that Wagner forces had taken three blocks of the city. It claimed that Russian forces had attacked Ukrainian army reserves in an attempt to break through.Russia's military retreated from an attempt to advance on Kyiv last January in what Moscow calls "special military operations". It has now primarily focused on the capture of Bakhmut, a stepstone to further west in Donetsk.However, its gains were largely incremental and have been made over many months. Prigozhin made a few premature announcements regarding Wagner's position at Bakhmut.Serhiy Cherevatyi (spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern...

Kosovo police arrest three men for beating journalist

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Kosovo police arrest three men for beating journalist Three men were arrested by the Kosovo police for allegedly beating a journalist who had left the studio where he was a guest on a talk show.Valon Syla claimed he was attacked for making comments about a local Imam who received a Mercedes car to retire from his worshippers.Syla stated that the attack was likely related to his comments about the "Mercedes Imam"... which prompted this community Islamic militants to organize a premeditated atrocity. He also said that Syla had been following the attackers in their car until he was attacked at a cafe bar.Police stated that the case was being dealt with by the anti-terrorism unit. The men were identified only by their initials and are facing criminal charges of "inciting disorder and intolerance."Syla was seen bleeding from injuries to his head and left arm by local media. He was treated and released from hospital.Kosovo has a more than 90% Muslim majority, but it is also secular.Syla also manages Gazeta metro news portal. Syla is well-kno...

Palo Alto: Service resumes after person dies in Caltrain collision

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

Palo Alto: Service resumes after person dies in Caltrain collision PALO ALTO — A person died after being struck by a Caltrain Sunday night, authorities said.The collision happened at 8:43 p.m. on tracks at the Churchill Avenue grade crossing near Alma Street, about a half-mile south of the Stanford station and three-quarters of a mile north of the California Avenue station.None of the 46 passengers on southbound Train No. 678 were injured, Caltrain said.It was the railway’s second train fatality of the year, following a fatal strike in January in a San Francisco tunnel.According to a Caltrain spokesperson, staffers set up a SamTrans bus bridge to serve passengers between the San Antonio and Menlo Park stations shortly before 9:45 p.m., and opened the northbound track several minutes later with 20-mile-per-hour speed restrictions. Caltrain said the train was released to continue southbound at 10:22 p.m.Emergency personnel responded, but the person was pronounced dead at the scene. An identity was not available Sunday night, pending next-of-kin...

“No he cometido peculado y se lo tengo que decir a todos los asambleístas en la Asamblea”, dice Guillermo Lasso

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 20:33:20 GMT

“No he cometido peculado y se lo tengo que decir a todos los asambleístas en la Asamblea”, dice Guillermo Lasso (CNN Español) — Ecuador vive días convulsionados por el incremento de la tasa de homicidios del país, que según el centro de estudios Insight Crime de EE.UU. subió un 86% el año pasado. También sufre las consecuencias de una crisis carcelaria que continúa con una espiral de violencia, y una lucha contra el narcotráfico que cada vez más afecta la seguridad de la población civil.Y en medio de todo eso, está el torbellino político alrededor de la figura del presidente Guillermo Lasso: la Asamblea Nacional del país adelanta los trámites para hacerle un juicio político por el presunto delito de peculado. Así las cosas, con un Congreso ecuatoriano de mayoría opositora, el mandatario podría enfrentarse a una destitución en el futuro cercano.Guillermo Lasso habló con Andrés Oppenheimer sobre cómo afrontaría un juicio político, la lucha contra el narcotráfico y su visión de país. Estos son algunos apartes de la entrevista.Dos modelos de Gobierno“Lo que sucede en Ecuador es un debate en...