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Germany to ease solar rules as new installations surge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s energy minister announced plans Friday to ease bureaucratic hurdles for solar power as the country set a new record for photovoltaic installations during the first quarter.Europe’s biggest economy added 2.7 gigawatts of solar power capacity during the first three months of 2023, putting it on course to beat the target of 9 GW this year, compared with 7 GW in 2022.Energy Minister Robert Habeck said that he hoped Germany would for the first time install new PV capacity in the double-digits this year, an important milestone in the country’s effort to become carbon neutral by 2045. The government wants to have 215 GW of solar installed in Germany by 2030, more than tripling existing capacity in seven years.To achieve that increase, Habeck announced a series of measures that would cut red tape, including accelerating the planning and approval process for PV on buildings and on unbuilt land.While many of the changes concern minor bureaucratic issu...

Ed Sheeran to perform ‘Subtract’ album on Apple Music Live

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ed Sheeran will put his new album on full display with the help of Apple Music.The music streaming service announced Friday that Sheeran will kick off the second season of Apple Music Live on May 10. The British pop star performed his fifth studio album “Subtract” for the first time at Eventim Apollo in London.Sheeran hit the stage in a pre-recorded show alongside a 12-piece band that includes The National’s Aaron Dessner, who produced “Subtract,” which releases Friday. The four-time Grammy winner’s performance of his 14-track album will also be streamed on Apple TV+.The announcement comes a day after a New York jury found that Sheeran didn’t copy Marvin Gaye’s classic 1970s tune “Let’s Get It On” to create his hit song “Thinking Out Loud.” After the verdict, he joked that he won’t have to follow through on his threat to quit music.“I’m delighted to share my ‘Subtract’ album show with you,” Sheeran said in a statement Friday. “I was really nervous on the day...

Shopify layoff comes as some say it’s taking longer for people to find jobs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

TORONTO — Shopify Inc.’s layoff this week will add a slew of new workers to the job-hunting pool at a time when experts say candidates are taking longer to find their next gig.April Hicke says she’s seeing tech workers in Toronto spend six months between jobs, while those in Calgary are waiting nine months.Whereas workers were jumping to roles that would pay them $60,000 to $100,000 more at the height of the pandemic, the co-founder of women’s tech and hiring collective Toast now sees some taking pay cuts of 10 to 20 per cent.However, Hicke and Future Skills Centre director of research Tricia Williams agree that tech workers are still in high demand in Canada.Williams believes the addition of newly-laid off Shopify employees won’t change the labour landscape that much, though she says many of these workers will find tech-related jobs at other industries.Shopify’s layoff announced Thursday ensnared 20 per cent of the e-commerce software company’s w...

‘It’s been tough’: Students frustrated by GO Transit bus route changes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

Abida Suboor’s commute to campus has been tougher in the last few weeks.The graduate student uses GO Transit to get from her home in Milton to the University of Guelph but changes to her typical bus route have meant she’s had to shift her routine or endure a journey that takes more than double the time.“It’s been tough, to say the least,” said the 24-year-old. “I share a vehicle with my family. That’s a reason why having …a route that I could really depend on mattered to me.”Suboor is among the students in the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding regions who’ve been affected by changes GO Transit operator Metrolinx made to some routes last month.Among the changes was the elimination of a direct bus route between Milton and Toronto’s Union Station, a key transit hub. Metrolinx also increased service on certain busy routes between Toronto and Kitchener but scrapped some train services and replaced them with buses.Suboor...

Warrants issued for parents after Northwest Indiana infant dies from 'massive' brain injury

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. — Warrants have been issued for a couple after authorities determined an infant died last summer due to a "massive" brain hemorrhage in Northwest Indiana.On July 7, 2022, Eric Rangel III, a 2-month-old, was pronounced dead at St. Catherine's Hospital in East Chicago. During the autopsy the following day, a doctor ruled his death a homicide with a cause of death determined to be a massive head injury.When officers arrived at the scene July 7 in the 3600 block of Parrish Avenue in East Chicago, father Eric Rangel Jr., told police shortly after feeding his son, the infant began to cough and had difficulty breathing, according to court documents.Documents state Rangel Jr. told police the baby then went limp as he walked his son to the front of the home. He woke up his partner and mother of the boy, Sandra Sosa, and 911 was called.Back at the hospital the following day — the doctor who performed the autopsy told authorities Rangel III that a "massive" subdural/subarach...

Suspect arrested in Serbia's second mass shooting in 2 days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A gunman apparently firing at random killed eight people and wounded 14 in two villages in Serbia, authorities said, shaking a nation still in the throes of grief over a mass shooting a day earlier. Police arrested a suspect Friday after an all-night manhunt.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic called the shootings late Thursday an attack on the whole nation — and said the person arrested wore a T-shirt with a pro-Nazi slogan on it but did not shed light on the motive.The slayings came a day after a 13-year-old boy used his father’s guns to kill eight fellow students and a guard at a school in Belgrade, the capital.The back-to-back bloodshed sent shockwaves through a Balkan nation scarred by wars, but unused to mass murders. Though Serbia is awash with weapons left over from the conflicts of the 1990s, the last mass shooting before this week was in 2013, when a war veteran killed 13 people in a central Serbian village.Public figures, politicians and experts app...

Young mother falls to her death from NYC hotel roof; boyfriend arrested

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

LONGMONT, Colo. (KDVR) — A young Colorado woman plunged to her death from a hotel roof in New York City moments after a violent and very public fight with her boyfriend, according to police and witnesses.Twenty-year-old Dezirae Andersen and her boyfriend, Tyler Griffin, were visiting the Big Apple to introduce his parents to their 8-month-old daughter. According to witnesses, the physical altercation was so disturbing and loud that night that several hotel guests called 911 in fear for Andersen's life. Colorado anti-domestic violence group urges victims to reach out for help KDVR spoke with Andersen's mother, Cheryl Young, who is reeling from the loss of her daughter and trying to bring her granddaughter back home to Colorado to be with family. The baby girl is currently in the custody of the Administration for Children's Services in New York City."I just keep thinking about how scared and confused she must be, given that she's only 8 months old," Young said. "I just want to get h...

Is it cheaper to be a renter or a homeowner near you?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

(NEXSTAR) -- Mortgage rates have more than doubled over the last year in the U.S., and following the latest interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, it doesn't appear as though buying a home will get any easier anytime soon. Despite the seemingly alarming costs of homebuying right now, in some cities, renting may not be much cheaper. After analyzing nearly 600 cities in the U.S. and reviewing the average mortgage and rent payments outlined in a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, SmartAsset found that in six cities -- all in Florida or Arizona -- buying a home may be cheaper than renting. Can I negotiate a rent increase with a landlord? The city with the largest difference between mortgage and rent payments was Surprise, Arizona. SmartAsset found the city, located northwest of Phoenix, had a surprising $192 difference between the average rent payment, $1,692, and the average mortgage, $1,500. In another Arizona city, Avondale, the average rent is $93 more expensive than the...

Skittles ditches rainbow packaging to highlight LGBTQ+ artists for Pride Month

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

(KTLA) – Skittles is celebrating Pride Month by dropping its signature rainbow design and using its packaging to celebrate the work of artists within the LGBTQ+ community.The candy's annual Pride packs will go on sale ahead of June, which is designated as Pride Month in the U.S. and other countries. For each package of the specially designed Skittles Pride Pack sold, Skittles' parent company Mars will donate $1 (up to $100,000 total) to GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.In honor of Pride month, Skittles is swapping out its traditional rainbow packaging for original designs crafted by five LGBTQ+ artists. (Mars)Skittles partnered with five prominent artists who designed the special packaging in honor of Pride Month. The company said each artist's package tells "a visual story of Pride."The chosen artists, as described by Skittles, are:Zipeng Zhu (he/him): A Chinese-born artist who "wants to make every day a razzle-dazzle musical"Symone Salib (she/her)...

Cedar Park Police: Suspect in custody after refusing to leave apartment for hours

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:34 GMT

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) – A person is in police custody after refusing to come out of an apartment in Cedar Park for hours. The Cedar Park Police Department alerted people on social media Friday morning to stay clear of the area near the 1400 block of Main Street due to police activity. That's close to Costco and just west of 183A and Whitestone Boulevard. Police posted at 5:51 a.m. that they were responding to a call about a "barricaded suspect." Police said in an update at 7:02 a.m. the suspect was in custody.In a press release, CPPD said the incident started around 12:25 a.m. at an apartment complex on Main Street when a call came in about domestic violence. Police said a woman called and said she had been physically assaulted and threatened with a firearm. According to CPPD, the suspect had left before officers arrived, then after police evacuated the victim to safety, the suspect returned and threatened officers, then shut himself in the apartment and kept making threats towar...