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Germany’s audit court slams Lindner’s ‘special funds’ — again

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

Germany’s Federal Court of Audit does not buy Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s back-of-the-envelope calculations for maintaining the so-called debt brake. In a report dated last Friday, but released this week, the court criticized the government’s use of “special funds,” which it said are now accumulating to a massive €869 billion. The auditors slammed this shadow budget as “hidden debt.”“By shifting revenues and expenditures to special funds on a financially significant scale, the federal budget has been gutted over the years,” the Court of Audit warned. Lindner has repeatedly committed to meeting the constitutionally enshrined Schuldenbremse, or debt brake, which allows Berlin to only make a very small amount of fresh debt every year. The fiscal rule aims to keep Germany’s debt-to-GDP ratio under 60 percent, in line with the EU’s debt rules. But the coalition government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has increa...

Von der Leyen proposes Dutch minister as climate commissioner

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

The European Commission wants to put Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra, a fiscal hardliner with little experience in green policymaking, in charge of EU climate action. The Dutch caretaker government last week named Hoekstra as its preferred replacement for Frans Timmermans, who resigned from the Commission to run in the country’s November election. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Tuesday that she decided to formally nominate Hoekstra as climate commissioner. “He will be in charge of climate action,” she said, “under the guidance” of Maroš Šefčovič, who was named executive vice president for the European Green Deal last week. Timmermans previously held both posts. Hoekstra now faces a tough hearing in the European Parliament, where left-leading MEPs have already raised doubts about whether he is suited for the role. Socialist lawmakers worry that the appointment of the center-right Hoekstra will tip the political balance in the C...

Wagner chief Prigozhin buried privately in St. Petersburg after jet crash death

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried during a low-key ceremony in his home city of St. Petersburg six days after he died in a plane crash, the dead warlord’s press service said Tuesday.The funeral was held “in a closed format,” according to a post on the Telegram channel of Prigozhin’s company Concord. The mercenary-turned-mutineer was buried in the Porokhovskoye cemetery, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russian President Vladimir Putin — who Prigozhin rose up against in June — would not attend the funeral.According to some Russian outlets, around 20 to 30 people attended the ceremony, which lasted about 40 minutes. Sources told Russian state-run news outlet TASS that holding a private ceremony with only friends and family was what Prigozhin’s relatives wanted.Pictures circulating on social media and taken by news agency Reuters show what is reportedly Prigozhin’s grave, next to...

Making the Grade: Packing a nutritious lunchbox on a budget

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

Kids are heading back to school and they need the right food to give them energy all day.But how can parents pack nutritious lunchboxes without breaking the bank?4-year-old Camille and 7-year-old John love snack time, but their mom, Heidi, says packing their lunch box with treats isn’t easy.“Everything is so expensive to buy,” Heidi Clement told 7NEWS. “It’s just finding things that the kids like and they’re excited about , but there’s also not a ton of sugar in them. My daughter Camille, she’s a little bit more picky, so she doesn’t like yogurt, but she does like avocado.”So, Heidi gets creative.“We do ants on a log with the peanut butter and the celery and the little raisins,” she said. “It’s crunchy, but then it’s sweet and salty.”Doctor Joan Salge Blake, a nutrition professor at Boston University, shows us how parents can pack a delicious school lunch using the ABC Strategy.“The ̵...

Do you need a prenup?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

By Dalia Ramirez | NerdWalletPrenuptial or premarital agreements, often called “prenups,” have a reputation for being a tool the ultra-wealthy use to protect their assets. But as marriages have evolved, so have prenups — and they might have more uses than you think.Prenups can give couples an opportunity to communicate about their finances and establish a clear framework for the division of property and responsibilities in case of separation, divorce or even the distribution of one partner’s estate.True, it’s not very romantic to prepare for the worst while you’re in a state of premarital bliss. However, marriage is one of the most significant contracts you can enter, and legal proceedings such as divorce and probate can be so costly and time-consuming that a prenup may be better to have and not need than to need and not have.Prenups can ensure that you, your partner and even your children are in the best possible financial position no matter what happens. Here’s how to know if you ...

After Supreme Court curtails federal power, Biden administration weakens water protections

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

By MICHAEL PHILLIS, MATTHEW DALY and JOHN FLESHER Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration weakened regulations protecting millions of acres of wetlands Tuesday, saying it had no choice after the Supreme Court sharply limited the federal government’s jurisdiction over them.The rule would require that wetlands be more clearly connected to other waters like oceans and rivers, a policy shift that departs from a half-century of federal rules governing the nation’s waterways.Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said the agency had no alternative after the Supreme Court sharply limited the federal government’s power to regulate wetlands that do not have a “continuous surface connection” to larger, regulated bodies of water.Justices boosted property rights over concerns about clean water in a May ruling in favor of an Idaho couple who sought to build a house near a lake. Chantell and Michael Sackett had objected when federal officials required them ...

BMO earnings hit by severance, legal costs as it focuses on containing expenses

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

TORONTO — BMO Financial Group’s third-quarter profit took a hit in part from severance costs and rising provisions for bad loans as the bank prepares for an extended stretch of economic strain.“As we look ahead, we’re all aware of the macro headwinds facing the industry,” said chief executive Darryl White on an analyst call Tuesday.“These external forces are influencing the environment we’re all operating in, and I believe they could persist for some time to come.”Those headwinds include high interest rates that are slowing some lending demand and deal-making, heavy competition among Canadian banks on mortgage rates, and wider concerns about a general economic slowdown.Given the challenges, White said the bank was accelerating its efficiency push and focused on disciplined expense and risk management.Costs related to layoffs totalled $223 million pre-tax in the quarter, though the bank did not disclose the number of employees let go. BMO isn...

Ottawa eyes relaxing rules for imported baby formula, as costs soar after shortage

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is looking for ways to bring more infant formula products to Canada while it overhauls regulations to prevent future shortages, an internal memo shows. Many parents still struggle to find the right formula for their babies at a reasonable price, after last year’s temporary shutdown of a U.S.-based manufacturing plant caused a major shortage of shipments to Canada.The bare shelves illustrated just how fragile Canada’s supply chain is when it comes to vital infant formula, which Canada does not produce domestically. The government is expected to reveal its long-term plans to deal with the problem this fall as part of an overhaul of outdated rules that govern how Canada approves infant formula products.Those changes could take years, though, so the government is considering a stopgap that would see the health minister exempt products from certain requirements.“This would allow harmonization with other jurisdictions before the comprehens...

Zimbabwe opposition party calls for fresh elections supervised by neighboring countries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s main opposition party on Tuesday demanded fresh elections supervised by neighboring countries, digging in on its rejection of last week’s polls that saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa win re-election and his long-ruling ZANU-PF party retain its majority in a vote criticized by international observers.Gift Siziba, the deputy spokesman for the Citizens Coalition for Change party, told reporters at a news conference in the capital, Harare, that the party will “not settle for less.”“There is no alternative to a fresh and proper election … as an exit out of the vicious cycle of disputed elections,” Siziba said. “We are calling upon our African brothers to help facilitate, mediate and guarantee a process that will lead to our return to legitimacy.”He said his party rejected the election “in its entirety.”Siziba declined to say whether the CCC has told the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union, the regional bodies which s...

Ontario elementary teachers reject government’s arbitration offer ahead of strike vote

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:49 GMT

The union representing thousands of Ontario elementary teachers says it is not interested in the same deal that its secondary school counterparts have agreed to.The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has rejected the Ford government’s arbitration offer, the union says it will instead apply for conciliation with the Minister of Labour.“Over the past year, ETFO’s central bargaining team has attempted to resolve key issues to secure a fair deal for its teacher, occasional teacher, and education worker members. But after a full year of bargaining without sufficient progress and negotiations at a standstill, the Federation is filing for conciliation,” says ETFO President Karen Brown.“Our members have been incredibly patient, but their patience has run out.”The possibility of work-to-rule or a strike remains in public elementary schools this fall. They reject an offer from the province that would include binding arbitration. For mor...