Thousands of residents in Sydney suburbs were told to evacuate their homes on Sunday after heavy rains caused floodwaters to rise and rivers to overflow.
Berlin wants to reconfigure EU voting laws to strip Kiev of a potential leverage, a UK outlet is reporting
Germany fears that if Ukraine becomes a full-fledged EU member, Berlin will see its influence within the bloc erode, The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday, citing a senior diplomatic source.
Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, apparently discussed the matter with EU leaders in Brussels behind closed doors. According to the outlet’s source, he urged an overhaul of the EU treaty system before Ukraine’s membership bid is approved.
At the heart of the concern is the EU voting system that factors in the number of countries voting and their respective populations, a reality that would grant Ukraine a strong leverage within the bloc. Moreover, according to an analysis by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, if Kiev joins the EU, it would be its fifth-largest member, but also the poorest.
It is also possible that Kiev may join efforts with Poland or other Eastern and Central European nations to sideline such core EU states as Germany and France.
“This would shift the balance of power within the EU further away from Germany and France more towards Central and Eastern Europe, where the countries, together with the Nordics, for the first time would become a more sizeable bloc in terms of voting power,” Dr Nicolai von Ondarza, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told The Telegraph.
With that in mind, the German leader reportedly aims to update the EU voting system in such a way that would prohibit the emergence of various power factions within the bloc to get extra funds from their wealthy Western European neighbors. According to the outlet, Scholz also wants to ditch national vetoes.
In late June, the EU granted candidate status to Ukraine, a move that has been widely regarded as a “symbolic” gesture amid the nation’s ongoing conflict with Russia.
“This does not mean that Ukraine will soon be part of the European Union. It is a process of many years with a lot of reforms which will be very difficult and, for us, it is very important to give a strong symbolic signal,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at the time.
French President Emmanuel Macron also warned Kiev that EU membership could still be decades away. The timeline largely hinges on the condition that Ukraine has to enforce a slew of economic, democratic and anti-corruption reforms.
Rising gang crime in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince is limiting access to education and is preventing thousands of children from going to school. Since 2020, gang-related violence has led to school closures, and children have become easy prey for gang recruitment.
A new UN report has shed fresh light on the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed cascading risks, particularly on vulnerable people, worldwide.
Read the full story, “What COVID-19 taught us about risk in a complex, inter-connected worldâ€, on globalissues.org →find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
Police officers in the US city of Akron fired almost 100 rounds at a black man during a chase earlier this week
The American city of Akron, Ohio, has canceled its Independence Day celebrations following a high-profile police shooting earlier this week, which saw several officers firing almost a hundred of rounds at a young black man they were chasing. The man died after more than 60 rounds struck his body.
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, a Democrat, called the incident “a dark day for our city” on Friday as he announced that Akron authorities would not hold any of the planned Fourth of July festivities during the holiday weekend. The Rib, White, & Blue Festival was scheduled to begin Friday in downtown Akron and last until Monday.
“I feel strongly that this is not the time for a city-led celebration,” Horrigan explained. The decision was caused by a high-profile police shooting that occurred on Monday and has already led to some protests in the city.
At that time, a group of police officers sought to pull over Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old black man, who worked as a DoorDash food-delivery driver. Walker reportedly refused to obey the officers’ commands. According to the Akron Police Department, he also fired a gun from outside his vehicle during the pursuit, the Washington Post reports.
A weapon was also found in Walker’s car, according to the police. However, one of his family’s attorneys, Boddy DiCello, told WaPo that there was “no evidence” the gun was in the car during the pursuit or that it was discharged at a police officer. Walker’s family also denied that Jayland fired at the police.
At a certain point, the man jumped out of his moving vehicle and sought to flee on foot. “Actions by the suspect caused the officers to perceive he posed a deadly threat to them,” the police said in a statement published on Facebook. “In response to this threat, officers discharged their firearms, striking the suspect.” Walker was pronounced dead at that scene.
Eight officers fired a total of more than 90 rounds at Walker, hitting him more than 60 times, DiCello told WaPo, citing autopsy records. “There are wounds on all sides and parts of his body,” the attorney said.
The police did not comment on that information. Instead, the statement said that “officers immediately summoned for EMS as they began administering first aid until the arrival of paramedics.”
The force vowed to release body-camera footage of the incident on Sunday afternoon. The officers involved in the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave for the time of the investigation that’s been launched by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the police said, adding that a separate internal investigation would be conducted by its Office of Professional Standards and Accountability as well. None of the officers involved has been publicly identified so far.
On Thursday, protesters gathered outside of the Akron Police Department office and blocked local traffic to demand “Justice for Jayland.” According to DiCello, Walker had no prior criminal record. The man had worked for Amazon before moving to DoorDash, the attorney told journalists on Thursday.
Walker’s family said they were “angry” and “sick” over the incident but they also called on the protesters to remain peaceful, including on Sunday, when body-camera footage is released. “We are very concerned that this video is going to cause Akron to burn, and we don’t want that. Nobody wants that,” the attorney said.
This is the third fatal police shooting in Akron since late December, according to some US media. Over 1,040 people were shot and killed by police officers in the US in 2021, WaPo reported.
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