Atlantic Canada's insolvent SaltWire Network hoping to survive restructuring process

© Provided by The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia judge will be asked on Friday to approve a plan to restructure or seek bidders to buy or invest in SaltWire Network Inc., the insolvent Halifax-based media company recently granted protection from creditors.

SaltWire, the largest newspaper publisher in Atlantic Canada, is hoping to survive by restructuring its operations and finances under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), but it will need investors to accomplish that goal. In the meantime, the business will continue as usual.

The potential restructuring could include the reorganization of some or all of the companies that are part of the SaltWire group, including The Halifax Herald Ltd., Titan Security and Investigation Inc., Brace Capital Ltd., and Brace Holdings Ltd.

In a motion filed this week with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, lawyers representing SaltWire's principal lender, Fiera Private Debt, are also proposing a so-called sale and investment solicitation process (SISP), which they want overseen by FTI Capital Advisors Canada.

The SISP involves canvassing the market for investors willing to put money into the deeply indebted companies or purchase their assets. If the court agrees, the deadline for formal bids will be July 31.

"The principal purpose of the CCAA proceedings is to create a stabilized environment to enable the companies … to secure financing to continue to operate while the media companies pursue a restructuring or sale of their businesses and assets through a court-supervised SISP," court documents say.

Fiera, as senior secured creditor, is asking Justice John Keith to extend SaltWire's protection from its creditors until May 3, and increase the amount it can borrow from Fiera to $1.5 million, up from the $500,000 it borrowed last week.

Fiera's lawyers are also asking Keith to expand the powers of the court-appointed monitor overseeing the CCAA proceedings, which was supposed to be Toronto-based KSV Restructuring Inc. But an amended notice filed this week indicates the monitor, subject to court approval, could be Toronto-based law firm Chaitons LLP.

As well, Fiera wants increased powers for David Boyd of Resolve Advisory Services Ltd., whom the court appointed last week as chief restructuring officer.

Meanwhile, Fiera's director of special situations, Russell French, filed an affidavit saying these expanded powers are necessary because the lenders want to ensure the integrity of the sale/investment process. He indicated there is concern about SaltWire Network president and CEO Mark Lever, who has said he plans to resign and submit some sort of bid.

"Given the concerns expressed by the lenders in their faith in (SaltWire) management, such powers will provide the lenders with the confidence required to continue to fund these proceedings," French's affidavit says.

French confirmed that, as of last fall, the SaltWire companies, with the help of FTI Capital Advisors, had encouraged interested bidders to take part in a recapitalization process, but that led nowhere.

"The lenders remain hopeful that a third-party buyer for a going concern transaction can be found," French said in his affidavit.

In documents filed with the court March 11, Fiera Private Debt said SaltWire and The Halifax Herald Ltd. together owe it $32.7 million, plus almost $600,000 in accrued interest.

About three-quarters of that debt is owed by SaltWire, which owns daily newspapers in Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador, including Halifax's Chronicle Herald, the Cape Breton Post in Sydney, N.S., the Telegram in St. John's and the Guardian in Charlottetown. It also owns 14 weekly publications.

SaltWire and its affiliates employ about 390 people, including more than 100 unionized staff and 800 independent contractors.

Fiera alleges the companies were mismanaged over the years, and the lender has also accused senior managers of failing to make payments on employee pensions or remit HST payments to the federal government.

The documents note that The Herald was recently ordered to pay more than $2.6 million in outstanding pension liabilities. And as of Jan. 2, Fiera says SaltWire and The Herald owed the Canada Revenue Agency more than $7 million combined in collected and unremitted HST.

In its filings, Fiera has said it loaned money to SaltWire to help it pay for its 2017 acquisition of almost two dozen newspapers from Transcontinental Nova Scotia Media Group Inc. SaltWire was recently ordered to post $500,000 as security for costs in litigation over its Transcontinental acquisition.

SaltWire has said the companies have struggled to cope with "the pressures created by multinational social media networks."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2024.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

As India's election nears, some Bollywood films promote Modi politics by embracing Hindu nationalism

NEW DELHI (AP) — The movie trailer begins with an outline of the iconic glasses worn by Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped India win independence from the British colonialists in 1947. In the backdrop of a devotional song that Gandhi loved, the outline slowly morphs into what appears like his face.

Then, a raucous beat drops, followed by a rap song. A face is finally revealed: not Gandhi, but an actor who plays the independence leader’s ideological nemesis, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar — the man considered the fountainhead of Hindu nationalism in India.

It is the same ideology Prime Minister Narendra Modi has harnessed to cement his power as his ruling party makes strides in its quest to turn the secular country into a Hindu nation.

The glorified biopic on the early 20th-century Hindu nationalist ideologue — called “Swatantra Veer Savarkar,” or “Independent Warrior Savarkar” — hits Indian theatres Friday, just weeks ahead of a national vote that is set to determine the political direction of the country for the next five years. The movie coincides with a cluster of upcoming Bollywood releases based on polarizing issues, which either promote Modi and his government’s political agenda, or lambast his critics.

Related video: No democracy in India, it is a complete lie: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (India Today NE)   Duration 1:25  View on Watch

Analysts say the use of popular cinema as a campaign tool to promote Hindu nationalism feeds into a divisive narrative that risks exacerbating the already widespread political and religious rifts in the country.

Raja Sen, a film critic and Bollywood screenwriter, said movies used to represent a mix of nationalistic cinema and films promoting national integration.

"That appears to be fast changing,” Sen said. “The scary part is that these films are being accepted now. It is truly frightening.”

For more than a century, Bollywood has unified India, a country riven with religious, caste and political divide. It's been a rare industry where religion has been least influential in deciding the success of filmmakers and actors. Bollywood films have also championed political diversity and religious harmony.

That culture, however, appears to be under threat.

Under Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, many filmmakers have made movies on bygone Hindu kings extolling their bravery. Boisterous and action-packed movies valorizing the Indian Army have become box office successes. Political dramas and biopics that eulogize Hindu nationalists are the norm.

In most of these films, the stock villains are medieval Muslim rulers, leftist or opposition leaders, free thinkers or rights activists — and neighboring Pakistan, India’s arch rival.

The biopic on Sarvarkar, who advocated for India’s future as a Hindu nation, is emblematic of this broader trend.

Two more upcoming films claim to reveal a conspiracy about a 2002 train fire in western Gujarat state that ignited one of the worst anti-Muslim riots in India. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in riots. It was a hugely controversial episode in Modi’s political career, as he was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time.

Another film claims to expose the "anti-national agenda” of a university in the capital, New Delhi. The film is loosely based on Jawaharlal Nehru University, one of the country’s premier liberal institutions that has become a target of Hindu nationalists and leaders from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Many past films with similar themes became box office successes. Modi’s party often publicly endorsed them despite criticism of his government for stifling dissent.

In February, Modi himself praised “Article 370,” a film that celebrated his government’s controversial decision to strip Indian-controlled Kashmir of its special status and statehood in 2019. Some film reviewers called the movie “factually incorrect” and a “thinly veiled propaganda film” favoring the government.

“The Kerala Story," the ninth-highest grossing Hindi film of 2023, was widely panned for inaccuracies in depicting Christian and Hindu girls from India’s southern Kerala state who were lured to join the Islamic State. The film was banned in two states ruled by opposition parties, who said it was Islamophobic and would destroy religious harmony.

At the same time, at least three states ruled by Modi’s party made tickets to see the film tax-free and held mass screenings. Modi himself endorsed viewing the film during a state election rally.

Sudipto Sen, the film’s director, said the movie exposed the "nexus between religious fundamentalism and terrorism” through a human story, and did not vilify Muslims.

“You can’t ignore the emotional appeal of these films. In fact, every state government should endorse them,” Sen said.

Another of Sen’s films, based on Maoist insurgency in central Indian jungles, was released March 15. Its primary villains, apart from the insurgents, were rights activists and left-leaning intellectuals. One critic called it “two hours of diatribe against communism.”

While such films have been applauded by India's right, other Bollywood movies have fallen into the crosshairs of Hindu nationalists.

Right-wing groups have frequently threatened to block the release of films they deem offensive to Hinduism. Hindu activists often make calls on social media to boycott such films.

Some filmmakers caught up in India’s increasingly restrictive political environment say they're resorting to self-censorship.

“People like me feel disempowered,” said Onir, a National Award-winning filmmaker who goes by just one name.

Onir has made widely acclaimed films highlighting LGBTQ+ rights. In 2022, Onir wanted to make a movie inspired by a former Indian army major who falls in love with a local man in disputed Kashmir, where armed rebels seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan have fought Indian rule for decades. The film’s script was rejected by India’s defense ministry because it was “distorting the image of Indian army,” the filmmaker said.

“Look at the films that are getting released now. Any film that goes against the government’s narrative is called anti-national. There is no fair ground. In fact, there is an atmosphere of fear,” Onir said.

Polarizing films — which Onir noted constitute most of the recent releases, while movies focusing on discrimination against minorities face hurdles — tend to make big money, signaling the appetite for such content.

Some say the rise in divisive films reflects opportunism among filmmakers.

“The idea that this is the way to success has permeated into Bollywood,” said Raja Sen, the critic and screenwriter.

He said such films make good business sense because of the noise they generate, even though they serve as the cinematic equivalent of "WhatsApp forwards" — a reference to misinformation and propaganda spread on the social messaging platform.

“Indian films need an artistic rebellion. I hope we can start seeing that,” Sen said.

Sheikh Saaliq, The Associated Press

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HINDUISM IS FASCISM 

Why an Alabama bay has seen an increase in bull sharks in the last 2 decades

Not all animal species are experiencing a detrimental effect due to warming global temperatures.

The number of bull sharks -- one of the most aggressive species of shark in the world -- increased significantly in a 20-year period, and researchers say warmer seawater is to blame

Bull sharks are among the shark species most likely to have a negative interaction with humans, along with the great white shark and the tiger shark.


Sunset on Mobile Bay in Daphne, AL.© George Dodd/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Researchers measured changes in the distribution and abundance of bull sharks in Mobile Bay using data from 440 bull sharks captured and released during surveys conducted between 2003 and 2020 by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which has been conducting a gill net survey of the Alabama coastline, Lindsay Mullins, a Ph.D. student at Mississippi State University's wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture department and lead author of the study, told ABC News.

Environmental factors associated with these changes during the same period were collected using remote sensing data, according to the paper.MORE: 10 people killed in unprovoked shark attacks last year, report finds

The number of individual sharks captured per hour of surveying increased five-fold between 2003 and 2020, the data showed. In addition, all of the bull sharks surveyed during the study period were juveniles.

The uptick in population coincided with an increase in the mean sea surface temperature in Mobile Bay from 22.3 degrees Celsius -- 72.1 degrees Fahrenheit -- in 2001 to 23 degrees Celsius -- 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit -- in 2020, according to the paper.


A lone Bull Shark swims just below the ocean's surface, offshore West Palm Beach, FL.© Julian Gunther/Getty Images

Sea surface temperatures above 22.5 degrees Celsius were associated with an increased likelihood of bull shark presence, the researchers found in data produced by computer modeling.MORE: Bahamas shark experience temporarily closes after 10-year-old boy bitten by shark

The study also revealed that the average probability of capturing a bull shark during surveys increased throughout Mobile Bay between 2003 and 2020, despite increases in coastal urbanization since 2000. The likelihood of tagging a bull shark was highest near the city of Daphne and along the western shoreline of the bay, according to the researchers.

The species is typically found in warm, shallow coastal waters in both fresh and saltwater environments, which is why they are thriving in the warmer waters while other animal species are beginning to decline, Mullins said.


Group of Bull Sharks, underwater view, Playa del Carmen, Mexico© Ken Kiefer 2/Getty Images/Image Source

The findings highlight the resilience of the species in response to climate change and coastal urbanization, a "surprising" result, Mullins said.

"It is, sort of, contrary to that narrative that we normally think, which is that for many species, warming water is a detriment," she said.
MORE: Scientists have an explanation why there is an increase of shark attacks off East Coast

While sharks near U.S. waters have benefitted from aggressive coastal conservation efforts, overall, the global outlook for sharks is still relatively grim due to overfishing or being caught as bycatch, Mullins said.

However, it's unclear how the bull shark population could respond to even more increases in sea surface temperature. It is also unclear how a continued uptick in populations will affect the local ecosystem.


Side view of Bull shark in shallow water.© Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty

While bull sharks are known for their ability to help balance and maintain the health of coastal ecosystems by regulating prey populations, the scientists speculate that increased numbers could affect fishing opportunities in the region and could potentially lead to increases in interactions with humans, according to the paper.

People who recreate along the Mobile Bay Coast don't have much to worry about, Mullins said, adding she wouldn't hesitate to continue to take her family.

"This increase in abundance is not going to lead to an increase in shark bites," she said.

Italy sees tens of thousands take part in anti-Mafia demonstrations

Story by DPA International • 21h • 


People take part in a rally honouring the people killed in Italy by the Mafia. Valentina Stefanelli/Zuma Press/dpa© DPA International

Italy commemorated the victims of organized crime on Thursday with a series of anti-Mafia events being held in different cities across the country.

One of the largest demonstrations took place in the capital Rome, where people marched through the city centre with banners and placards and gathered in front of the Colosseum.

The protest was initiated by Luigi Ciotto - also known as Don Ciotto - a priest and well-known opponent of the Mafia in Italy.

The demonstration was attended by relatives of people killed by the Mafia as well as schoolchildren and students. The names of the 1,081 innocent victims were read out.

The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, was joined by the social democratic opposition leader Elly Schlein and former head of government Giuseppe Conte from the Five Star Movement. "We must remind everyone that the mafia exists and that we, the institutions and civil society, must be united," said Gualtieri.

Many people also took to the streets in other Italian cities to mark the day of remembrance, which takes place every year on March 21. Events were held in Palermo in Sicily, and Naples, where the notorious Mafia organizations Cosa Nostra and Camorra are active.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promised that the fight against the Mafia will continue and intensify. "The memory of those who have paid such a high price and the example of those who have sacrificed their lives in defence of the law must be the beacon that guides all our actions and deeds," she wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter.


People take part in a rally honouring the people killed in Italy by the Mafia. Valentina Stefanelli/Zuma Press/dpa© DPA International

Why we need to reuse waste energy to achieve net-zero heating systems

Story by James (Jim) S. Cotton, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University

THE CONVERSATION

Just generating heat is not enough. We must also capture, store, and utilize waste heat.

We’re already pushing the system on the hottest days of the year to keep our electric air conditioning running, mainly by supplementing with inefficient carbon-producing natural gas or coal power plants during peak demand periods.

If we were all relying on electrical forms of heating, electricity demand would be substantially higher on the coldest days of the year and overwhelm the grid. The solution to this problem, however, lies not in the heat we generate but the heat we reuse.
The importance of heating

Heating systems keep many of us alive.

In a cold-climate country such as Canada it takes far, far more energy to heat homes in winter than to cool them in summer. To compare the overall energy required for heating and cooling buildings we look at heating degree days (HDD) versus cooling degree days (CDD).

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In Toronto, for example, heating degree days outnumber cooling degree days about 7-1. Consumers may not be aware of this huge disparity, since most home heating comes from burning natural gas, while most cooling comes from electricity, but if we moved all that demand to the grid, it would become apparent all too quickly.

Chart representing heating degree days and cooling degree days by various key urban areas.© (James S. Cotton)

Air conditioning already pushes the electrical grid when cooling indoor spaces to 23 C when it is above 35 C outside, but warming our indoor spaces to 20 C when it is -40 C outside means covering a 60-degree gap.

If we were to move all our heating demands to the electrical grid, even with the most modern, efficient air-source heat pumps, peak demand would be about four to five times what it is today, and that’s not a problem anyone can solve quickly.

Utilize everything

Fortunately, there is another option that can keep us warm without burning additional fuel. By storing the heat generated from all sources, including waste heat, and drawing from it through the coldest months of the year, our research shows we can use discarded waste heat.

A huge amount of heat generated today is simply dissipated into our surroundings and wasted, and when it’s cold outside, we use new energy to make fresh heat. That doesn’t make sense.

A typical pizza restaurant produces enough leftover heat every year to heat seven family homes. A hockey arena creates huge amounts of heat in the process of making ice and keeping it frozen.


A chart showing the different demands of heating versus cooling systems at peak demand.© (James S. Cotton)

Same for a grocery store and its many freezers and refrigerators, a factory running industrial-scale production equipment, and any large building running commercial air-conditioners. Today we dump all that heat into the air instead of holding onto it for when we need it, leading to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions.


We need to start seeing the heat we make as a readily recoverable, carbon-free resource and do much more to harness it. There is already technology that can harvest and store such heat for months in underground thermal batteries until it is needed.
Integrated heat harvesting systems

We can recover the heat by piping water through hot underground batteries and running those pipes into nearby buildings, like a big boiler-and-radiator system, except the boiler is actually an underground battery charged not with electricity, but with heat.

Read more: A 21st-century reinvention of the electric grid is crucial for solving the climate change crisis

McMaster University is preparing to put replacement back-up generators into play through peak-shaving programs.

When demand is critical on the hottest days of the year, the gas-powered generators will create the extra electricity needed to operate the campus—including sensitive labs and research facilities. If we were to capture and store the waste heat produced and tie into it in the winter, we could halve their net carbon emissions into the atmosphere.



The Modular Integrated Community Energy and Harvesting System has the potential to provide winter-long heat at considerable carbon savings.© (James S.Cotton)

McMaster leads a wider research co-operative demonstration project called Integrated Community Energy and Harvesting, or ICE-Harvest, with 30 municipalities and 19 industrial partners taking part.

In a new paper in the journal Applied Energy, we show how such localized systems use the same energy twice.

Heat batteries already exist

Capturing, saving and using leftover heat is an efficient solution that can be managed by localized microthermal networks. Think of it this way: the Canadian chain Pizza Pizza is piloting a system that uses heat recovered from its ovens to heat its own hot water. The chain can then sell what is left over. In the same way an arena can sell its heat to a retirement home across the street; a grocery store to a neighbouring school, and so on.

Read more: A tenth of all electricity is lost in the grid. Superconducting cables can help

This solution would require new infrastructure, including buried pipes to circulate heat from source to storage and from storage to user. That would be expensive to set up, but such costs could readily be spread out over decades, as previous generations did to build highways, hydro lines and gas pipelines.

Existing and emerging technology can measure and regulate the gathering, sharing and distribution of heat in a system where the accounts of heat producers are credited as they add to the supply and end users are charged when they draw from the supply. It is just a matter of time before industrial, commercial and institutional players realize there is value in their cooling towers.

These are not far-fetched ideas. They are practical and available to be implemented now and are a realistic climate action strategy. Here in the northern hemisphere, heat is a valuable resource that’s already there waiting to be tapped, and we can no longer afford to waste it.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

Read more:
Extreme heat is particularly hard on older adults – an aging population and climate change put ever more people at risk
Keen to get off gas in your home, but struggling to make the switch? Research shows you’re not alone

James (Jim) S. Cotton works for and owns shares in Harvest Systems Inc. He receives funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (CRDPJ 401203143 - 2018) and the Ministry of Research and Innovation and Science administered by Ontario Centre of Innovation (27851-2018), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Ontario Research Fund - Research Infrastructure. The author would also like to acknowledge the McMaster Energy Research Cooperative partners for their contributions: HCE Energy Inc., GridSmartCity LDC Cooperative (Brantford Power, Burlington Hydro, Energy+, ENWIN, ERTH Power, Essex Power Lines, Halton Hills Hydro, Kingston Hydro, Kitchener Wilmot Hydro, Milton Hydro, Niagara Peninsula Energy, Oakville Enterprises Corp., Waterloo North Hydro, Welland Hydro Electric Systems Corp.), Alectra Utilities, Enbridge Gas, S2e Technologies, Geosource Energy and Siemens Canada Limited

CANADA

Federal minimum wage rising to $17.30 an hour on April 1

OTTAWA — The federal minimum wage is rising to $17.30 per hour on April 1.

The increase from $16.65 reflects the increase in the annual average consumer price index for 2023.

The government says about 30,000 employees in the federally regulated private sector will benefit from the increase.

Ottawa introduced the federal minimum wage in 2021.

It is adjusted annually based on Canada's annual average consumer price index from the previous calendar year.

If the provincial or territorial minimum wage rate exceeds the federal rate, employers must pay the higher of the two.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2024.

Women Finally Have a Pro Hockey League, but Pay Equity Is Still a Work in Progress

© Getty / Troy Parla Vaughn Ridley Icon Sportswire

On Jan. 1, 2024, hockey history was made. On that day, about halfway through the first period, forward Alex Carpenter, a two-time Olympic silver medalist for Team USA Hockey, slid the puck over to her Canadian-born teammate Ella Shelton, who promptly snuck it past the goalie and into the net, all in front of a sold-out crowd in Toronto's Mattamy Athletic Centre.

What's so history-making about a simple goal? This was the first goal scored during the first-ever game of the brand-new Professional Women's Hockey League, the first professional women's hockey league that gives women athletes a way to make a full-time living doing what they love and do best.

Comprised of six teams from the northeastern U.S. and Canada - New York, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto - the PWHL has been a long time coming. The first professional women's hockey league, called the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), was formed in Canada in 1999. Though the U.S. and Canada have a storied ice hockey rivalry, the NWHL eventually incorporated U.S. teams. But in 2021, the since-rebranded league (now called the Professional Hockey Federation, PHF) folded, leaving a gap in opportunities for women to play professional ice hockey

"When the league first folded, I was still in college, and some of those girls were only making $7,500 a year," Shelton tells PS. "A lot of them had side jobs or had a full-time job and the league paid just enough for them to play hockey after their day jobs." Shelton herself worked on her family's farm in Ingersoll, Ontario whenever she heads home from her team's home base in New York. Saroya Tinker, a retired player who now works as a women's hockey analyst and broadcaster, says that she only made $5,000 her first year in the NWHL in 2020 (before it became the PHF).

As is the case with many women's sports, players were advocating for fair pay. There were signs of progress, but it was incremental. Tinker made $15,000 her second season. "We were on the right track, but still not making a living wage," Tinker says.

One of the main goals of the PWHL was to change that. "We've been at this battle for a very long time. We play very heated matches, but we've banded together to create a professional environment that women's hockey has never seen, and that has created a mutual respect for each other," says PWHL Toronto's Canadian superstar center Sarah Nurse, who recently was named the PWHL's First Star of the Week after her game-winning overtime goal against Minnesota on Feb. 27.

The league is currently striving to pay its members a full-time salary, and some players can make up to $80,000 per season. That said, CBS reports that the average salary PWHL players make is just $55,000 and the league minimum is $35,000. And even the high earners are making nowhere near men's ice hockey salaries. The minimum wage for the NHL was $775,000 in 2023, according to The Athletic, and the cap for teams is $83.5 million.

When you consider that the six teams in the PWHL are made up of the best women's hockey players in the world, including Olympic gold and silver medalists, that huge wage gap is especially infuriating. But the word PWHL players use to describe the new league is "sustainable." They want to create a league that lasts, and to do that, they're starting conservatively.

Another step in the PWHL's plan is to increase players' exposure, says Nurse. Boston's Megan Keller - who, as a child, insisted on wearing full hockey gear to her first skating lessons - hosts a podcast, The Keller and Kess show, with her Team USA teammate Amanda Kessel. The show aims to get hockey personalities and other female athletes out in front of an audience and shares their untold narratives. "You don't normally get to hear these stories from players," Keller says. More exposure can help translate into higher viewership, which allows women's leagues to secure more funding - all essential as the PWHL strives to pay its members the full-time salaries they deserve.

Another goal of the PWHL is to make hockey more culturally and economically diverse, Nurse says. "Hockey culture as a whole needs to change in regard to how inclusive we are culture-wise, people being welcome in the arena, and the words that are being used in locker rooms," Tinker says.

In 2022, Tinker, who's also the PWHL's manager of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives and Community Engagement, co-founded Black Girl Hockey Club Canada. The non-profit outfits Black girls in full hockey gear, which can cost upwards of $3,000, and gives young Black hockey players a safe space to fully participate in the game. Tinker had formerly volunteered as a mentor with the U.S. arm of Black Girls Hockey Club, and used the platform she built after kneeling during the national anthem in protest of the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor during the 2020 season to raise money to allow her to open a Canadian arm.

Players hope that the PWHL's commitments to fair pay and a more inclusive hockey culture will contribute to the league's longevity.

For now, there are two months left of the league's 2024 regular season, during which the six teams will battle it out for a spot in the playoffs, and the players are enjoying the chance to whole-heartedly pursue their passion.

For Keller, that means playing for what she now considers her hometown team. "Boston has felt like home for a while. After I played at Boston College and graduated, I didn't want to leave the city - so I was lucky that I was drafted to the Boston PWHL team, which was my number one choice," Keller says. She shares her hopes to take PWHL Boston to the playoffs for the league's inaugural trophy. In the off season, she'll train for Team USA with the goal of making the roster for the 2026 Milan Olympics, where she'd face off against players like Nurse and Shelton on Team Canada.

While Keller is trying to focus on enjoying the present moment, she can't help but think about what lies ahead for PWHL and, by extension, for women hockey players who hope to go pro. Thanks to the level of talent and the degree of support within the league, she's optimistic. "I think a lot of us would say it just feels different," Keller says. "This feels like the one that's going to last."Mara Santilli is a POPSUGAR contributor, freelance writer and editor specializing in reproductive health, wellness, politics, and the intersection between them, whose print and digital work has appeared in Marie Claire, Glamour, Women's Health, SELF, Cosmopolitan, and more.

Germany's plan to liberalize cannabis rules clears its final parliamentary hurdle

BERLIN (AP) — The German government's plan to liberalize rules on cannabis cleared its final parliamentary hurdle Friday, paving the way for the possession of limited amounts of marijuana to be decriminalized on April 1.

In a second step, “cannabis clubs” that will be allowed to grow the substance for members' personal use will be permitted to start work on July 1.

The legislation, a prominent reform project of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, was approved by parliament's lower house last month. But its fate in the upper house, which represents Germany's 16 state governments and where Scholz's socially liberal coalition lacks a majority, was unclear.

The upper house could have delayed it by sending it to a committee that mediates disputes between the two houses, a move that backers feared would give the center-right opposition an opportunity to stop the project altogether. But opponents of the plan failed to muster a majority to call on the committee.

The bill foresees legalizing possession by adults of up to 25 grams (nearly 1 ounce) of marijuana for recreational purposes and allowing individuals to grow up to three plants on their own. That part of the legislation will take effect on April 1.

German residents age 18 and older will be allowed to join nonprofit “cannabis clubs” with a maximum 500 members each starting July 1.

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Individuals will be allowed to buy up to 25 grams per day, or a maximum 50 grams per month — a figure limited to 30 grams for under-21s. Membership in multiple clubs won't be allowed. The clubs’ costs will be covered by membership fees, which are to be staggered according to how much marijuana members use.

The legislation also calls for an amnesty under which sentences already imposed for cannabis-related offenses that will no longer be illegal are to be reviewed and in many cases reversed. Regional authorities worry that the judicial system will be overburdened by thousands of cases.

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz vowed in an interview with the Funke newspaper group ahead of Friday's vote that his party would reverse the legislation if it wins national elections expected in the fall of 2025.

The Associated Press

Nike celebrates shock deal with German FA but backlash continues

2024/03/22

The American athletic footwear Nike's logo seen above the entrance to the department store in downtown Hamburg. 

Axel Heimken/dpa

US sportswear giant Nike has celebrated its shock deal with the German Football Federation (DFB), but the backlash in Germany against the decision to ditch an over 70-year partnership with Adidas continued on Friday.

Thursday's announcement from the DFB about a change in Germany kit suppliers from 2027 caught the football world by surprise given the iconic status of Adidas in Germany.

"It was a remarkable team effort and a great proof that when Nike brings out our best, no one can beat us," Nike chief executive John Donahoe said in a conference call with analysts after the presentation of its latest quarterly figures.

"We feel honoured and privileged to partner with the German Football Federation, starting in 2027."

No financial details were given but German business newspaper Handelsblatt, citing industry sources, said Nike will pay the cash-strapped DFB more than €100 million ($108 million) per year between 2027 and 2034. Bild reported that the current Adidas deal is worth €50 million a year.

The Germany men's team have crashed out of the last two World Cups in the group stage and the women's side suffered the same fate last year, hitting DFB revenues.

The Nike head said the firm had demonstrated its ability to turn the German team back into a "global brand" and the footballers into "global heroes." Nike also took over the France and England contracts in 2012 and 2013.

But German politicians are not happy with the DFB's decision.

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck accused the governing body on Thursday of being unpatriotic while the Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder, whose local side Bayern Munich have a big deal with Bavarian-based Adidas, was aghast on Friday that a 70-year success story was ending.

"It is wrong, a shame and also incomprehensible that this piece of history should end now," the CSU politician wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"The national team plays in three stripes - that was as clear as the ball being round and a game lasting 90 minutes. German football...is not a pawn in international corporate battles. Commerce is not everything. Despite all the economic challenges, the DFB would have benefitted from more straightforwardness."

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz said: "This is a completely incomprehensible decision for me. And I have to be honest - it's also unpatriotic."

A spokesman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz meanwhile said the decision was the DFB's to make and would not comment further.

But Hesse premier Boris Rhein, whose state is the home of the DFB in Frankfurt, railed: "The three stripes go hand in hand with the four stars we wear on our chest. World champions wear Adidas, not some American fantasy brand.

"That's why I think what the DFB is doing is a huge change. I very much regret it and can't imagine that the DFB will be able to stick to the new deal."

The American athletic footwear Nike's logo seen on the shop 

on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. 

Michael Kappeler/dpa

Platform X unblocks account of far-right Identitarian Movement

Story by DPA International •

The official profile of Platform X on the screen of a smartphone shows the white letter X on a black background. Elon Musk''s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has reactivated the accounts of the far-right Identitarian Movement, which were blocked in July 2020 due to several violations of the platform's rules on terrorism and violent extremism. 

Monika Skolimowska/dpa© DPA International

San Francisco - Elon Musk''s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has reactivated the accounts of the far-right Identitarian Movement, which were blocked in July 2020 due to several violations of the platform's rules on terrorism and violent extremism.

It comes less than two weeks after X reactivated the account of Austrian white supremacist Martin Sellner, who had also been blocked in the summer of 2020. Sellner is considered the driving force behind the far-right Identitarian Movement.

Until it was blocked almost four years ago, the Identitarian Movement Germany was followed by around 30,000 Twitter users and Sellner by almost 40,000.

On Thursday, around 54,000 X users were following Sellner, who was banned from entering Germany on Tuesday. The Identitarian Movement, on the other hand, had lost around 5,000 followers on its comeback.

The group campaigns against multicultural societies and spreads far-right conspiracy myths. In Germany, it is monitored by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. Sellner was part of a meeting in November that included members of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Attendees discussed deporting immigrants from Germany - even those with a German passport.

The story, uncovered by the investigative journalism outlet Correctiv, has sparked protests against the AfD and right-wing intolerance throughout the country.

Musk had previously defended his company's decision not to delete several anti-Semitic and racist posts in an interview with former CNN presenter Don Lemon, saying they were not illegal. He rejected content moderation on X, calling that "a propaganda word censorship."

X's new moderation rules put in place by Musk could be in breach of the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA). Under the provisions of the DSA online companies such as X must offer users improved complaint mechanisms and account for the moderation of content. The EU wants to use the DSA to better combat misinformation and hate speech.