Latest news with #Alliance
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Teenager arrested after slurry spread on Ballymena streets hours before town's first Pride parade
Police are treating the incident, which happened overnight, as a hate crime. The 19-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and possession of a bladed or pointed item. He remains in custody. The Pride parade is scheduled to take place this afternoon. Organisers have said the event is an effort to celebrate "diversity, inclusion and cross-community unity.' The slurry incident has been widely condemned today. Tánaiste Simon Harris condemned it as a 'vile act', saying: 'Love is love'. Alliance MLA Sian Mulholland said 'There is no place for this kind of disgusting and deliberate attempt to intimidate, disrupt or shame those taking part in a peaceful and joyful celebration of love, identity and community. 'I have spoken directly with the parade organisers and the PSNI, and our team has engaged with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to ensure cleansing takes place urgently and the route is made safe and welcoming for all. 'Ballymena Pride is a historic and hopeful moment for our town. No amount of hate will drown out the message of inclusion, solidarity, and pride that today represents.' NI Minister Naomi Long said on X: 'I despair the mentality of those who spread slurry on the streets of their town motivated by hate and bigotry. Disgusting in every sense of the word. 'Solidarity to all at Ballymena Pride. It's a frightening time but love will always triumph over hate.' The PSNI said: 'Police in Ballymena have arrested a man after officers on patrol in the Granville Drive area observed slurry on the road at around 2.55am this morning. 'A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and possession of a blade/point. He remains in police custody at this time. 'The matter is being treated as a hate crime and enquiries are ongoing.'
Belfast Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Teenager arrested after slurry spread in Ballymena hours before town's first Pride parade
Police are treating the incident, which happened overnight, as a hate crime. The 19-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and possession of a bladed or pointed item. He remains in custody. The Pride parade is scheduled to take place this afternoon. Organisers have said the event is an effort to celebrate "diversity, inclusion and cross-community unity.' The slurry incident has been widely condemned today. Alliance MLA Sian Mulholland said 'There is no place for this kind of disgusting and deliberate attempt to intimidate, disrupt or shame those taking part in a peaceful and joyful celebration of love, identity and community. 'I have spoken directly with the parade organisers and the PSNI, and our team has engaged with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to ensure cleansing takes place urgently and the route is made safe and welcoming for all. News Catch Up - Friday 27th June 'Ballymena Pride is a historic and hopeful moment for our town. No amount of hate will drown out the message of inclusion, solidarity, and pride that today represents.' Justice Minister Naomi Long said on X: 'I despair the mentality of those who spread slurry on the streets of their town motivated by hate and bigotry. Disgusting in every sense of the word. 'Solidarity to all at Ballymena Pride. It's a frightening time but love will always triumph over hate.' The PSNI said: 'Police in Ballymena have arrested a man after officers on patrol in the Granville Drive area observed slurry on the road at around 2.55am this morning. 'A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and possession of a blade/point. He remains in police custody at this time. 'The matter is being treated as a hate crime and enquiries are ongoing.'
Global News
15 hours ago
- Business
- Global News
Victoria's Alliance to End Homelessness shutting down after 17 years
An organization that helps the unhoused on the streets of Victoria will be shutting down after 17 years. Sylvia Ceacero, CEO of the Alliance to End Homelessness Victoria, confirmed to Global News that the funding for the organization has been removed or restructured and due to insufficient funding, they will not be able to operate in the future. 'So the board decided to recommend to the membership that we dissolve the alliance in the coming months,' she said. Ceacero said they presented several scenarios to the board of what funding would be required to build the capacity for the organization but the board approved a budget that is currently $233,000 in deficit. 'So we would have to make that up, plus, of course, have at least a half a million dollars or more to build capacity for the organization,' she added. Story continues below advertisement The Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region (AEHCR) started in 2008 as the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) with a mission to end homelessness in the Capital Region, according to its website. It consists of local housing, health & social service providers, non-profit organizations, all levels of government, businesses, post-secondary institutions, the faith community, people with lived & living experiences of homelessness, and members of the general public. 1:16 City of Victoria rejects parking lot sheltering motion Ceacero said the City of Victoria has traditionally given the Alliance $100,000 a year but did not increase that amount for 2026. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy She said the impact on the community will be great. 'Backbone organizations such as the Alliance are the glue that has the ability to convene, promote collaboration, have the entire homeless and serving sector working together towards, you know, advocating, influencing policy, moving the needle at the systemic level,' she said. Story continues below advertisement 'And with the Alliance dissolving, that glue will eventually disappear. And you can imagine what that might do to the sector. People will return to working in silos. People will turn to doing the best that they can while they're also attending to the infinite and myriad emergencies and emergencies in their own organization and dealing with the critical issue right now.' Ceacero added that there will be less time for collaborating on a bigger plan for the unhoused community in Victoria as a whole. At this time, it appears the Alliance will wind down by December. Alan Lowe was the mayor of Victoria when the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness was created. 'The Coalition came out of the Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness, Mental Illness and Drug Addictions as we were seeing greater signs of street issues in our city,' Lowe said in a statement to Global News. 'It is a sad day to see the demise of this Coalition.' 1:49 Victoria homeless population left out in the cold Ceacero said that at the end of the day, it is the city's most vulnerable population that suffers. Story continues below advertisement 'It is very disappointing and heartbreaking because… it also means that all of those great pieces of work that were about to be implemented, that we were very hopeful we're going to have a different kind of impact, that were going to move the needle are now going to be in abeyance for who knows how long,' she said.
Canada News.Net
a day ago
- Business
- Canada News.Net
NATO members pledge 5 pc GDP on defence spending by 2035
The Hague [Netherlands], June 26 (ANI): The member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) have committed to ramping up their defence spending, affirming an 'ironclad commitment' for their collective defence by investing 5 per cent of their country's GDP annually on 'core defence requirements' as well as defence- and security-related sectors by 2035 as outlined in The Hague Summit Declaration. As per the declaration, released on Wednesday following the summit, the 32 Heads of State and Government of the military alliance resolved to bolster its military capabilities, particularly the long-term threat posed by Russia and the persistent challenge of terrorism, while reaffirming the transatlantic bond and collective defence principles. 'We the Heads of State and Government of the North Atlantic Alliance, have gathered in The Hague to reaffirm our commitment to NATO, the strongest Alliance in history, and to the transatlantic bond. We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty - that an attack on one is an attack on all. We remain united and steadfast in our resolve to protect our one billion citizens, defend the Alliance, and safeguard our freedom and democracy,' the declaration stated. 'United in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism, Allies commit to invest 5 per cent of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations, in accordance with Article 3 of the Washington Treaty,' it added. The declaration further breaks down the 5 per cent commitment into two essential categories, with at least 3.5 per cent of GDP allocated to core defence requirements and meeting NATO Capability Targets, with annual plans submitted to show a credible, incremental path to this goal. The remaining up to 1.5 per cent will be directed towards protecting critical infrastructure, defending networks, ensuring civil preparedness and resilience, unleashing innovation, and strengthening the defence industrial base, with a review of the trajectory and balance of this spending scheduled for 2029. 'Allies agree that this 5% commitment will comprise two essential categories of defence investment. Allies will allocate at least 3.5% of GDP annually based on the agreed definition of NATO defence expenditure by 2035 to resource core defence requirements and to meet the NATO Capability Targets. Allies agree to submit annual plans showing a credible, incremental path to reach this goal. And Allies will account for up to 1.5% of GDP annually to inter alia protect our critical infrastructure, defend our networks, ensure our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen our defence industrial base. The trajectory and balance of spending under this plan will be reviewed in 2029, in light of the strategic environment and updated Capability Targets,' the declaration specified. However, the 5 per cent GDP commitment, a significant increase from the previous 2 per cent target, hasn't aligned with all the members of the organisation. Spain has openly stated it won't be able to meet the proposed 5 per cent defence spending target, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez affirming that his government will adhere to the existing 2 per cent benchmark, which was originally established after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as reported by Al Jazeera. Spain currently ranks as the NATO member with the lowest defence spending, with just 1.24 per cent of its GDP allocated to defence in 2024, placing it among the nine countries that failed to reach the 2 per cent target, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
'Hey Daddy.' White House seizes on Mark Rutte's NATO comment with Trump, posts Usher song on social
At NATO Summit, Mark Rutte said with Trump, 'Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.' White House then posted a 'Daddy's Home' video with a song by Usher. The White House has jumped on comments from a NATO leader that appeared to call President Donald Trump "daddy." NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte later said he wasn't talking about Trump specifically when he said "daddy has to sometimes use strong language." But that didn't stop the White House from making a sizzle reel of Trump's visit to The Hague for the NATO Summit set to the song "Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)" by Usher. The song is frequently used in TikTok videos, often as the background of flirtatious or sexualized videos of men. Trump was in the Netherlands for the Summit on June 24 and 25. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles also traveled with Trump. The alliance of 32 countries agreed to increase their defense spending, which Trump has called a win. More: Trump meeting with Netherlands king at NATO Summit sparks interest ... about his height 🎶 Daddy's home… Hey, hey, hey, Donald J. Trump attended the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands. Who called Trump 'daddy?' NATO Secretary Mark Rutte used the word "daddy," but he denied that he used it to describe Trump. "Daddy has to sometimes use strong language," Rutte said. On his way to the summit, Trump cursed when talking about the Iran-Israel ceasefire, which appeared to be on shaky ground at the time. Rutte said at a later press conference he was using "daddy" to refer to U.S. leadership in general, explaining that he views how some European countries talk about the U.S as a child-parent relationship. Mark Rutte's message to Trump: 'It will be your win' NATO leaders were generally complimentary of Trump in hopes that Trump would agree to their mutual defense principle. The praise started before the summit, with a text from Rutte to Trump that the president later posted on social media. "Donald, you have driven us to a really, really, important moment for America and Europe, and the world," Rutte's message read. "Safe travels and see you at His Majesty's dinner!" NATO Summit recap: Alliance gives Trump higher spending NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a security alliance of 32 countries from North America and Europe. The NATO Summit happens at key moments for the alliance rather than on regular periods. The last summit was held in Washington, D.C., in July 2024. NATO leaders on June 25 endorsed higher defense spending that Trump has demanded. "We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defense as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – that an attack on one is an attack on all," the brief communique stated, according to Reuters. Contributing: John Bacon, Francesca Chambers, Jorge L. Ortiz, Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@ Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @
