MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The city of Minneapolis has reached a $600,000 settlement with 12 protesters who were injured during demonstrations after the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, the American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday. The agreement, which also includes numerous reforms, was accepted the same day by a federal judge, making it official after the city approved it in October. The settlement includes an injunction that bars the city from arresting, threatening to arrest or using physical force — including chemical sprays, flash bang or concussion grenades and foam tipped bullets — against people who are engaging in lawful protests. It also limits officers’ use of chemical agents to disperse peaceful demonstrators.

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MONTREAL (Reuters) - Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said his government would introduce legislation next week to end elected officials’ required oath to Britain’s King Charles, as pressure mounted in the Canadian province to cut such ties with the monarchy. Fresh legislation from the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) would follow a separate bill introduced on Thursday by left-leaning Quebec solidaire that would allow elected officials to just take an oath to the Quebec people.

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PARIS (AFP) - Airbus and the French financial prosecution office have agreed to settle an investigation related to bribery in Libya and Kazakhstan more than a decade ago, with the planemaker paying a fine of about 16 million euros, the two parties said at a court hearing. The settlement, approved by the Paris judicial court, is likely to draw a line under the investigations, which began in 2016. The new settlement comes as an extension to a deal struck with prosecutors in 2020, which included record fines against the planemaker.

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MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali forces killed about 40 al Shabaab fighters in the Middle Shabelle region, the government said on Thursday, the latest clashes in a months-long offensive that aims to weaken the grip of the terrorist militant group. Al Shabaab, an al Qaeda franchise, frequently stages deadly attacks in the capital Mogadishu and elsewhere. On Sunday al Shabaab stormed a heavily guarded hotel near the president’s residence in Mogadishu, killing nine people.

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CARACAS (Xinhua) – Venezuela’s National Assembly, or Congress, has approved a second partial agreement for releasing blocked resources after a standoff that lasted over a year. “It has been unanimously approved,” said Jorge Rodriguez, president of the assembly, after lawmakers at a legislative session debated the draft of the agreement to protect Venezuelans from the impact of U.S.-led sanctions. The agreement was signed last week in Mexico between the Venezuelan government and a sector of the opposition, the Unitary Platform coalition.