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Saudi foreign minister to visit Syria as relations thaw

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat is expected to arrive in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, the first official visit by an official from the kingdom in more than a decade, the Syrian government said. The visit by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Damascus follows that of his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mikdad, to Riyadh last week. The kingdom cut off diplomatic relations with Damascus in 2012, after the outbreak of Syria’s civil war. Syria and Saudi Arabia said last week they were moving toward restoring consular services and resuming flights between the two countries.Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters in a 2011 uprising that descended into civil war. The breakdown in relations culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League.However, in recent years, as Assad consolidated control over most of the country, Syria’s neighbors have begun to take steps toward rapprochement. T...

Longtime Lennon-Ono insider Elliot Mintz writing memoir

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — //EMBARGOED FOR 4:30A EASTERN; edited by Anthony McCartney; photo linked will time release to be live on the wire when embargo lift.Elliot Mintz, a longtime insider with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, will release a memoir next year that will weave in behind-the-scenes moments with the famous couple.The U.S. publisher Dutton and British publisher Transworld announced the deal with Mintz, who first met Lennon and Ono in the early 1970s and remained close to Ono after Lennon’s murder in 1980. The book is currently untitled.“I have waited fifty years to share my experiences with Yoko and John,” Mintz, 78, said in a statement Tuesday. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. It is a privilege to share my odyssey and include the reader in intimate portrayal of my two dearest friends.”Mintz, a spokesperson and radio and television host, has worked on various Lennon-Ono projects over the years, including hosting the radio documentary series “The Lost Lennon Tapes,” whi...

Reclusive Taliban leader releases end-of-Ramadan message

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The reclusive top leader of the Taliban released a message Tuesday lauding the changes in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover and the measures they imposed after seizing the country following two decades of war.The statement from Hibatullah Akhundzada was made public ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday later this week that marks the end of the fasting Muslim month of Ramadan. Akhundzada, an Islamic scholar, rarely appears in public or leaves the Taliban heartland in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province. He surrounds himself with other religious scholars and allies who oppose education and work for women.In recent months, Akhundzada appears to have taken a stronger hand in directing domestic policy, banning girls’ education after the sixth grade and barring Afghan women from public life and work, especially for non-governmental organizations and the United Nations.The message was distributed in five languages: Arabic, Dari, English, Pashto and Urdu. T...

Italy captures brown bear that fatally mauled runner

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

ROME (AP) — Authorities in northern Italy have captured a bear that fatally mauled a runner and became the focus of a battle over what to do with Italy’s growing brown bear population.Officials in Trento announced Tuesday that the bear, identified as Jj4, had been captured overnight.Andrea Papi, 26, was killed while out on a mountain training run between April 5-6. The Trento provincial authorities ordered the bear killed, but an animal rights group appealed to an administrative court, which suspended the order on April 11.Jj4 is the same Alpine brown bear that injured a father and son out walking in the region in 2020. Then too, provincial authorities ordered her killed but a court blocked the move.She was born to two bears brought to Italy from Slovenia two decades ago as part of a European program to repopulate the brown bear population that had been dwindling but has now rebounded and is increasingly having encounters with the human population.Papi’s family had said they didn’t ...

Putin rallies his troops with 2nd Ukraine visit in 2 months

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday visited command posts of the Kremlin’s forces fighting in Ukraine in an apparent effort to rally his troops as the war approaches its 14th month and Kyiv readies a possible counteroffensive with Western-supplied weapons.A video released by the Kremlin and broadcast by Russian state television showed Putin arriving by helicopter at the command post for Russian forces in the southern Kherson region and afterward flying to the headquarters of the Russian National Guard of the eastern Luhansk region Dressed in a dark suit, and in an apparent demonstration of authority, Putin appeared to chair the meetings with his military top brass. It was his second trip in two months to the Russian-occupied territories in the neighboring country.The locations of the military headquarters in the Kherson and Luhansk regions weren’t disclosed, so it wasn’t possible to assess how close they are to the front line.Russia’s war in Ukraine has ...

In The News for April 18, 2023: Did you miss out on the new federal benefits?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Tuesday, April 18, 2023 …What we are watching in Canada …A new report finds that hundreds of thousands of Canadians may have missed out on the new federal dental and housing benefits created last year. The analysis by senior economist David Macdonald at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives assesses the take-up of both benefits, as well as how much the federal government has actually spent on the measures. Macdonald finds only 44 per cent of people who were likely eligible for the top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit actually received it, while just over half have received the Canada Dental Benefit. That means the federal government spent less than it previously allocated for the measures. Macdonald says the federal government could have eased the requirements for applying, or at the very least, better infor...

J-Hope becomes 2nd BTS member to join South Korean army

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — J-Hope, a member of K-pop sensation BTS, entered a South Korean boot camp Tuesday to start his 18-month compulsory military service, becoming the group’s second member to join the country’s army.There was heated public debate in 2022 over whether to offer special exemptions of mandatory military service for BTS members, until the group’s management agency announced in October that all seven members would fulfill their duties. In December, Jin, 30 and the oldest member of BTS, became the band’s first member to enter the army after revoking his request to delay his conscription.South Korean TV footage Tuesday afternoon showed what they called a black minivan likely carrying J-Hope moving into the boot camp in Wonju, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of Seoul. Hybe Corp., the parent company of BTS’ management agency Big Hit Music, later confirmed the 29-year-old singer entered the camp.Dozens of fans showed up near the base after arriving via ren...

Thousands of Canadians missed out on federal housing and dental benefits: report

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

OTTAWA — A new report says hundreds of thousands of Canadians may have missed out on government money intended to help with the rising cost of living because the housing and dental benefits rolled out last year have had “atrocious” take-up. The analysis by David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, assesses both benefits, as well as how much the federal government has actually spent on the measures. He compares the federal government’s estimates in the fall economic statement with updated figures provided on its website at the end of March. Macdonald finds only 44 per cent of those who would have likely been eligible for the one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit actually received it, while just over half have received the Canada Dental Benefit. “These are pretty atrociously low take-up rates. We should be learning lessons from this (so) the next time around we have much higher take-up rates,” Macdonald said...

Inquest to hear officers’ testimony in 2015 police-involved death of B.C. man

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

BURNABY, B.C. — Vancouver police officers involved in a fatal beating of a man almost eight years ago are expected to testify this week at a coroner’s inquest into the death.Myles Gray, who was 33, died in August 2015, shortly after a beating by seven officers, leaving him with a broken eye socket, a crushed voice box, a ruptured testicle and other injuries.The inquest began Monday in Burnaby, B.C., with testimony from six of the more than 40 witnesses expected to appear over 10 days. Officers from the Vancouver Police Department are expected to testify staring today and continuing into next week.   Melissa Gray, Myles Gray’s sister, told reporters at the start of the inquest that the officers stole her brother’s life and that they don’t deserve to continue their jobs in policing.A coroner’s jury can’t make findings of legal responsibility, but can make recommendations to prevent future deaths under similar circumstances.Gray’s mother, Margi...

Premier calls for silent reflection to mark anniversary of Nova Scotia mass shooting

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:00 GMT

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is asking people to pause for a moment of silence today at noon and again on Wednesday to remember the 22 people killed three years ago during the worst mass shooting in Canadian history.Houston issued a statement saying the impact of the tragedy in northern and central Nova Scotia on April 18-19, 2020, is still being felt.Flags at the provincial legislature and all provincial government buildings will fly at half-mast from today at sunrise until sunset on Wednesday.As well, the premier is encouraging all citizens, businesses and community organizations that fly flags to lower them to half-mast during that time.Last month, a public inquiry released a 3,000-page final report that highlighted a litany of mistakes made by the Mounties during their response to the shootings, and it called on Ottawa to rethink the RCMP’s central role in policing.The inquiry heard that the killer was disguised as a Mountie and driving a replica RCMP cruiser ...