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At Camp David, Biden aims to nudge Japan and South Korea toward greater unity in complicated Pacific

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden aims to further tighten security and economic ties between Japan and South Korea, two nations that have struggled to stay on speaking terms, as he welcomes their leaders to the rustic Camp David presidential retreat Friday.Historically frosty relations between South Korea and Japan have rapidly thawed over the last year as they share concerns about China’s assertiveness in the Pacific and North Korea’s persistent nuclear threats. Biden is now looking to use the summit in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains to urge South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to turn the page on their countries’ difficult shared history.The Japan-South Korea relationship is a delicate one because of differing views of World War II history and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. Past efforts to tighten security cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo have progressed with fits and starts. But the White House is hopin...

Ontario reviewing supervised consumption sites after fatal shooting near Leslieville site

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

Ontario says it has launched a “critical incident review” of the province’s supervised consumption sites after a woman was killed by a stray bullet near a site in Toronto’s east end in July.Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, says all sites are expected to comply with strict requirements and the review will start with the South Riverdale Community Health Centre near the scene of Karolina Huebner-Makurat’s death.RELATED: ‘Community worker among arrests in shooting that killed Toronto mother with stray bulletPolice have said the 44-year-old mother of two was walking in the Leslieville neighbourhood on July 7 when she was hit by a stray bullet after a physical altercation between three men resulted in shots being fired.Three people are facing charges in her death, including 23-year-old SRCHC community worker Khalila Zara Mohammed who is charged with being an accessory after the fact and obstructing justice.The South Riverdale Co...

Metro asks Labour Ministry for help reaching deal with striking GTA workers, Unifor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

TORONTO — Metro Inc. says it’s asked a conciliation officer to step in and help it find a resolution to a strike by grocery store workers in Toronto.The move comes two and a half weeks in to the job action by Metro workers represented by Unifor at 27 stores across the Greater Toronto Area. Around 3,700 workers rejected a tentative agreement near the end of July and have been on strike ever since. On Tuesday, Metro said Unifor had refused a recent request for the bargaining committees to meet again.However, the union responded that it was waiting for an acceptable offer from the grocer. According to Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, either a union or an employer can apply to have a conciliation officer appointed to help them reach a collective agreement. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:MRU)The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan vice-chief David Pratt running for Assembly of First Nations leadership

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

OTTAWA — David Pratt is the first person to announce his intention to run to be the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.Pratt currently serves as a vice-chief with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, an organization representing 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan.His platform focuses on unity and inclusion, reconciliation and rights, economic empowerment and environmental stewardship. The upcoming election comes after the dramatic ouster of former national chief Roseanne Archibald, who was voted out after colleagues alleged she created a toxic work environment, and who has continued to deny the allegations. Pratt says the AFN is at a “critical juncture” and the election is about restoring and rebuilding the national organization.The election is set to take place during a special assembly in December.This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 17, 2023.The Canadian Press

Energy and base metal stocks help lift S&P/TSX composite, U.S. stock markets down

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in energy and base metal stocks helped lift Canada’s main stock index in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets edged lower.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 19.97 points at 19,919.04.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 3.85 points at 34,761.89. The S&P 500 index was down 2.69 points at 4,401.64, while the Nasdaq composite was down 58.45 points at 13,416.18.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.99 cents US compared with 73.98 cents US on Wednesday.The October crude contract was up US$1.44 at US$80.46 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up six cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$3.30 at US$1,925.00 an ounce and the September copper contract was up four cents at US$3.70 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Quebec woman sentenced to 22 years for sending poisoned letter to Donald Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

A Quebec woman has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison after sending a poison-laced letter to former president Donald Trump.Pascale Ferrier, 56, agreed to the sentence as part of a plea agreement back in January, but D.C. district court Judge Dabney Friedrich didn’t sign off until today.The French-born Ferrier pleaded guilty to a total of nine biological weapons charges, each of which carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.She was arrested at the Canada-U.S. border in September 2020 and charged with sending Trump a threatening letter laced with the homemade poison ricin.The letter, intercepted two months before the 2020 presidential election, described Trump as an “ugly tyrant clown” and urged him to give up the race.Eight of the nine charges are tied to an indictment in Texas, where Ferrier was accused of sending similar letters to police and prison officials.

Taliban official says women lose value if their faces are visible to men in public

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Women lose value if men can see their uncovered faces in public, a spokesman for a key ministry of Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Thursday, adding that religious scholars in the country agree that a woman must keep her face covered when outside the home.The Taliban, who took over the country in August of 2021, has cited the failure of women to observe the proper way to wear the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, as a reason for barring them from most public spaces, including parks, jobs and university.Molvi Mohammad Sadiq Akif, the spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue, said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that if women’s faces are visible in public there is a possibility of fitna, or falling into sin.“It is very bad to see women (without hijab) in some areas (big cities) and our scholars also agree that women’s faces should be hidden,” Akif said. “It’s not that her face will be harmed or damaged. A woman has her own va...

Progress toward parity for women on movie screens has stalled, report finds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study on inclusion in film shows just how much of a rarity “Barbie” is. For every woman as a speaking character in the most popular films of 2022, there were more than two men, according to report by University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.The USC report, published Thursday, found that 34.6% of speaking parts were female in the top 100 box-office hits of last year. The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative has been annually tracking that and many other metrics since 2007.And in its first such study in three years, USC researchers found that in many areas, progress toward parity on screen has stalled since the pandemic — and in some respects hasn’t changed all that much since 14 years ago. In 2019, 34% of speaking characters were female. In 2008, it was 32.8%.“It is clear that the entertainment industry has little desire or motivation to improve casting processes in a way that creates meaningful change for girls and women,” said S...

Teen, 15, critical after shooting in Palatine: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

PALATINE, Ill. -- A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after a shooting in Unincorporated Palatine early Thursday morning. Palatine police said officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 1700 block of East Clear Creek Bay around 5:19 a.m. and found several shell casings but no injured individuals. 87-year-old woman dies after striking 2 trees in suburbs A few minutes later officers responded to the 1200 block of Long Valley Drive and found a 15-year-old boy with gunshot wound to his upper body. He was transported to a hopsital in critical condition.There was no additional information provided and the incident is still under investigation.If any information is recovered on the incident, call Palatine police at 847-359-9000.

Over 1,000 former Northwestern athletes defend athletics culture at school in letter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:27:25 GMT

EVANSTON, Ill. — A collection of former Northwestern athletes are showing their support for the culture around the school's athletics program after a host of controversies this summer. In a letter signed by over 1,000 Wildcats alumni who played a variety of sports in their time in Evanston, the group "strongly affirms" the positive experience they had at the school and that they would "do it all over again." The letter does condemn hazing of all kinds but believes it doesn't "represent or define the overall athletics culture at Northwestern.""For those who contributed to Northwestern’s athletic history on the fields and courts of intercollegiate competition, the pain is acute — and we all share the anger, sadness, and frustration," said former women's tennis player Alexis Prousis in a news release that accompanied the letter. "We condemn hazing of any kind and support the victims during their time of healing and recovery. What we must remember throughout this difficult time is that ...