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Indianapolis Star
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Indy shows how protests 'can (and should be) done' during NBA Finals, police union president says
An anti-ICE protest that drew hundreds merged with an NBA Finals game that pulled thousands to downtown Indianapolis, all while millions were watching a city pushed into the national spotlight as the Pacers took on the Oklahoma City Thunder. And the whole thing went off without serious issue. While basketball fans lined up to file into Gainbridge Fieldhouse about 7 p.m. June 11, people chanted outside the arena to protest federal deportations, first staging at the corner of East Georgia and South Pennsylvania streets before marching a few blocks, occasionally blocking traffic. "Last night showed (protests) can be done safely and without violence," cheered Indiana police union leader Rick Snyder in a statement to media. He vowed police "will always protect the Rights of Americans to peaceably assemble and petition their Government for redress of grievances." 🚨INDY FOP STATEMENT ON PROTESTS DOWNTOWN'As Constitutional Law Enforcement Officers we will always protect the Rights of Americans to peaceably assemble + petition their Government for redress of night showed it can be done safely and without violence.' #FOP The Indianapolis demonstration remained nonviolent, in contrast to anti-immigrant protests in Los Angeles, where a city-wide curfew was implemented after days of clashes between law enforcement and agitators. Just before 7 p.m. June 11, about a dozen protesters handed out flyers and signs to passersby. The crowd grew as the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's officer presence also increased. A speaker pointed toward basketball fans during anti-deportation speeches, prompting at least two people to yell "Go Pacers!" and a short chant of "USA." Indianapolis police were seen carrying pepper ball guns, less-than-lethal weapons that shoot balls designed to burst on impact and release pepper powder. None were fired. In a speech, one organizer told protesters not to antagonize law enforcement. An organizer said the crowd was a thousand people at its peak, while Indianapolis police put the count at about 500 based on drone footage and crowd density. Indianapolis police urged protesters toward the sidewalk as the group marched downtown. At one point, law enforcement moved crowds so an ambulance could pass. Marching ended on East Georgia Street around 8:30 p.m. "IMPD, KKK, IOF, it's all the same!' the crowd chanted, referring to the Ku Klux Klan and Israeli Occupation Forces. "I prefer crushed ICE," read one sign referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who facilitate deportations. Snyder said he applauded law enforcement agencies and Indianapolis residents for showing how peaceful assembly "can (and should) be done." Hours before the protest, images and rumors circulated online indicating ICE raids may have occurred near 42nd Street and Richelieu Road in Lawrence. On June 11, IndyStar reporters spoke with neighbors in the area who confirmed law enforcement activity. The owner of a self-serve laundry in the area also said they caught video of law enforcement in the area. A since-deleted social media post shared around 7:30 a.m. depicted several photos of men wearing vests that said "Police ICE."
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
COP30: ‘Focus on healing, building credibility of climate talks,' says Brazil
Brazil, the host of the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), has asked all countries who are party to the Paris Agreement to consider the future of climate negotiations when they assemble for the key event later this year. It has made it clear that there are three interconnected priorities during the June climate meetings in Bonn (SB62) and COP30 in November, which include reinforcing multilateralism, connecting the climate talks to people and focusing on implementation of the Paris Agreement. In a letter on Friday, Brazil urged the parties to reorient the climate talks ahead of the Bonn climate meetings, scheduled to take place from June 16-26. The Bonn talks are seen as a halfway point to the annual climate summit to be held in Brazil this year. 'Against a background in which climate urgency interacts with compounding geopolitical and socioeconomic challenges, the incoming COP30 Presidency hopes all delegations are guided by three interconnected priorities for SB62 and COP30: (1) to reinforce multilateralism and the climate change regime under the UNFCCC, (2) to connect the climate regime to people's real lives, and (3) to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement by stimulating action and structural adjustments across all institutions that can contribute to it,' the letter signed off by COP30 president designate André Aranha Correa do Lago said. 'This is the time we focus negotiations on healing and upgrading our process, rebuilding a global infrastructure of trust for accelerated and scaled outcomes. The credibility of our multilateral process is in the hands of negotiators in Bonn,' he wrote. The incoming COP30 Presidency is working to ensure that negotiations, the global mobilisation, the Action Agenda and the Leaders' Summit where world leaders announce their plans and views, each contribute to 'inaugurating a new era of putting into practice what we have agreed', Lago wrote in his third letter to parties. During a briefing on Thursday, HT asked COP30 President, ambassador Lago, asked what Brazil expected from COP30, especially against the backdrop of major geopolitical disruptions globally. 'Well, we don't have that answer yet, because we are listening to countries and this is the process in which we have to make sure that the international community is supportive of the results of COP30. And that is the success, the essential success of COP30, is the strengthening of multilateralism and everybody getting together convinced that it must be the solutions to fight climate change have to come from this dialogue and from this work together. So, we are still building that,' Lago told HT. He also said he doesn't want to create specific expectations immediately. 'We don't want to create, you know, like expectations and we want to do that and this. We really want to listen to the countries and understand their priorities. But I believe that we have received positive inputs regarding the priorities we have been showing in the letters and also in the effort of having a COP that convinces everybody that we have enough things negotiated for us to act more.' Erosion of trust among developed and developing nations has cast a shadow on the climate negotiations in recent years. Several developing countries are disappointed with the outcome of COP29, also because the agreement on New Collective Quantified Goal was seen to be in favour of developed countries. India led a fierce pushback at COP29 against what it called a 'stage-managed' climate finance deal, moments after the Azerbaijan presidency hastily gavelled through a contentious proposal. The hastily adopted text set a climate finance goal of 'at least $300 billion per year by 2035' and launched the 'Baku to Belém Roadmap to 1.3T'. However, India and other developing countries identified specific problems that could fundamentally alter climate finance obligations. These include the sum being too small and to be delivered only 11 years later. There was more uncertainty after US, the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, under President Donald Trump this January, announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. Developing countries saw this as the largest historical emitter evading its responsibility. 'Acknowledging ongoing calls for COPs' reform, the incoming Presidency invites all Parties to consider the future of the process itself. As we move from a negotiation-centred to an implementation-centred era, Parties can intensify at SB62 the consideration of approaches and initiatives to increase the efficiency of the process towards enhancing ambition and implementation,' Lago said in his letter. He further wrote that the Bonn climate meeting could address longstanding challenges, including the excessive number of provisional agenda items for COPs and SBs, overlapping themes, scheduling constraints, and barriers that prevent the effective participation of smaller delegations. 'While these issues remain under consideration, it is advisable to avoid introducing potentially contentious new agenda items that could further burden the process or detract from agreed priorities. Looking ahead, future COPs can represent a new generation of climate conferences: not as isolated diplomatic events, but as systemic platforms to accelerate delivery, measure progress, and engage a broader ecosystem of actors,' the Brazil Presidency has emphasised. The first Global Stocktake (GST) which took place in Dubai at COP28, stands as a guide to Mission 1.5 and to our collective project around the vision of the UN Climate Convention, Lago said. All public and private stakeholders should work together towards the full implementation of the Paris Agreement by considering the findings of the GST. This includes the global calls for efforts towards halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation by 2030, and for accelerating the global energy transition, Lago wrote, adding that parties should support one another to advance collectively on tripling renewable energy capacity globally, doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements, and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Haldimand-Norfolk MPP calls for ‘Foodbelt' to protect Ontario's farmland
Dave Kranenburg got up early Tuesday to plant trees on his 28-hectare farm in the Oak Ridges Moraine. Then the director with the National Farmers Union drove to Queen's Park in Toronto to show his support for a private member's bill designed to protect farmland like his. At a news conference, Kranenburg said the Protect Our Food Act is 'vitally needed' as Ontario's arable land falls victim to encroaching development. 'We're investing a lot of our time, our energy, our resources in protecting this soil, the water around us, and to grow food for our neighbours,' he said. 'And I want to know that it's going to be there in 20 years.' The bill, co-sponsored by Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, would see the province create a 'Foodbelt' — like the Greenbelt, but for farmland. The proposed legislation would assemble a task force of farmers, agricultural experts and land-use planners to craft a 'Foodbelt protection plan,' Schreiner explained. Farmland inside the Foodbelt would be permanently protected from development. The plan would include strategies to reduce land speculation, improve soil health, and 'enhance farmland,' all with an aim to 'grow more food right here in Ontario,' Schreiner said. 'Because food security is national security, and without farmland, there are no farms, no food, no future.' With the province losing nearly 130 hectares of farmland every day to urban sprawl, aggregate mining and highway construction, swift action is needed, Brady added. 'So that we can feed ourselves, we must cease the constant subtraction of arable land,' she told reporters. 'This legislation will help prevent further land degradation and protect farmland and arable land for future Ontarians and Canadians, all while respecting farmers who want to create succession plans and reinvest in their farms.' Brady said the farmland lost every day in Ontario could be used to grow 23.5 million apples, 37 million strawberries or enough grapes to fill 1.2 million bottles of wine. 'If we don't protect our food-producing land, we will send shock waves across our economy,' Brady said, noting the agriculture and food processing sector employs nearly one million Ontarians and adds $50 billion to the economy every year. Schreiner and Brady's bill is supported by Ontario Farmland Trust, the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. At Tuesday's news conference — held a few hours before the bill was tabled in the legislature — OFA director Mark Reusser called farmland 'a strategic resource that can't be made (after) you destroy it.' 'We need to save this precious resource,' Reusser said. Safeguarding Ontario's food sovereignty trumps partisan politics, Schreiner said, adding MPPs should 'put people before party (and) work together to tariff-proof our economy and protect the places we love in Ontario, especially the farmland that feeds us.' Brady said conserving farmland 'is a passion near and dear to my heart,' as she comes from one of Ontario's most productive agricultural regions. This is the independent MPP's second try at getting farmland protection into law. A similar private member's bill she tabled in 2023 was voted down by the government. This time, with formal support from the Greens and a proposed task force to be led by farmers themselves, Brady is more optimistic. She said she plans to consult with rural stakeholders to 'really drill down and get the best piece of legislation that this government can't say no to this time.'
Straits Times
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Donald staying out of Ryder Cup eligibility issue for LIV Golf players
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald would love for Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to be available later this year but is not getting involved in their appeal of sanctions to maintain eligibility for the team event. Spaniard Rahm and England's Hatton were part of the last three European Ryder Cup teams but their eventual move to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf circuit has complicated matters. Both players appealed sanctions imposed by the Europe-based DP World Tour for playing LIV Golf events, which allowed them to reach the minimum four starts on that circuit to be considered for the Ryder Cup. But if the case is heard before the September 26-28 at Bethpage Black in New York, Rahm's and Hatton's hopes of being on the 12-player European team could evaporate if the ruling does not go their way. Donald, speaking to reporters ahead of his start in this week's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club, said he has not talked to DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings about the eligibility issue surrounding LIV Golf players for the 2025 Ryder Cup. "I do not get involved with the politics of that," said Donald. "So my concentration is to get the best 12 players to New York, and hopefully everyone is eligible." When asked why he would not advocate for Rahm and Hatton if he considers his role as captain is to assemble the best possible team, Donald was blunt. "Well, I think Guy knows that I want my best 12; let's put it that way," said Donald. "But I haven't talked to him about that." Hatton is currently occupying one of the six automatic qualification places for the Ryder Cup while Rahm, who is known for his passion in the team event, is 29th on the European Ryder Cup standings. But Donald said he expects two-times major winner Rahm, who has a 6-3-3 record in Ryder Cup play, to be on his team at Bethpage Black so long as he is deemed eligible. "In terms of Jon, he's one of the best players in the world, and I would expect him to be on that team, but I certainly haven't given him those assurances," said Donald. "He still needs to keep going and playing just like everyone else." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB's Major Paul Skenes Announcement is Turning Heads
After falling to Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Team USA is aiming to assemble a roster that can avenge the loss when the 2026 tournament arrives. There is still some time before the roster needs to be finalized, as of Tuesday, only New York Yankees slugger and two-time MVP Aaron Judge had announced his participation. Advertisement However, the team already got a significant boost in talent on the bump, as it was revealed that 22-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates pitching phenom, Paul Skenes, would be joining the squad. Despite this being just his second MLB season, Skenes already has an All-Star selection, in addition to being the NL Rookie of the Year in 2024, on his resume. With pitchers being scarce for this tournament due to concerns about injury, fans on social media were thrilled by Skenes' decision. "team USA basically hittin the 'we're not losing' button already… skenes gonna throw 102 just to warm up and ask for the championship trophy in the 3rd inning," wrote one fan. Advertisement "LETS GOO TEAM USA NUMBER 1," exclaimed a second. "Let's gooooo," added another. "CAPTAIN AMERICA," coined another. "Oh we're winning this next WBC. The dream team is being built," predicted one user. "Team USA is getting the Avengers together," joked another. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul LeClaire As a rookie last season, Skenes accumulated an 11-3 record, and posted a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts. His success led to him starting the All-Star Game for the National League, and he also came in third in NL Cy Young Award voting. Although this will be his first WBC, it will not be Skenes' first time representing the stars and stripes. Prior to transferring to LSU in college, Skenes was a two-way star at the Air Force Academy. Advertisement For Skenes, the WBC gives him something to look for as he has posted a 3-4 record with a 2.63 ERA in 54 2/3 innings for a Pirates team that has the third-worst record (14-28) in baseball. His joining the team may also convince fellow star pitchers to follow, which could be huge for Team USA, who last won the tournament in 2017. Related: Rafael Devers Red Sox Drama Gets Interesting Mookie Betts Twist
