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Opposition leaders yet to meet about setting terms of possible public inquiry: Singh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says opposition leaders have yet to meet to discuss terms of reference for a possible public inquiry into foreign interference. The Liberal government punted the decision-making around a potential inquiry to opposition parties on Saturday.Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says getting their help is a way to avoid the partisan “buffoonery” that has taken over the topic following media reports about allegations that China meddled in the last two federal elections. Singh says he has yet to hear from the government or Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on the matter, despite both saying on the weekend that they would be reaching out. He says the government should call a public inquiry immediately and a House of Commons committee has already started the work around what it should look like. The New Democrats, Conservatives and Bloc Québécois have said they want to see a public inquiry called and concluded before the next fe...

Biden determined to say as little as possible about Trump’s indictment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s rare for the leader of the free world to be rendered silent, but President Joe Biden is clearly determined to say as little as possible about his predecessor Donald Trump’s federal indictment.His White House dodges questions about the matter. His campaign doesn’t respond to them. And Biden himself wants nothing to do with it. “I have no comment on what happened,” he told reporters Friday while in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.The reticence reflects the precarious and unprecedented situation in which Biden finds himself: Just as Trump is the first former president to be charged by the federal government, Biden is the first incumbent to have his chief political rival indicted by his own administration.While hardly unforeseen, Trump’s indictment brought a fresh round of reminders throughout Biden world that the president does not want to be drawn into the drama with commentary of any sort. He’s wary of providing fodder to Trump and his allies’ efforts to port...

CP NewsAlert: Russell Brown retires from Supreme Court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

Justice Russell Brown, who was facing a judicial conduct review, is retiring from the Supreme Court of Canada.More coming.The Canadian Press

One dead, one in hospital after shooting in Aurora

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

One person has died and another is in hospital after a shooting in Aurora on Monday afternoon.York police responded to a call at approximately 12:17 p.m. in the residential area of Stubbs Lane, near Leslie Street and Wellington Street East.A man was dead at the scene and a woman was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A male suspect fled the scene.Officers are on scene at a shooting on Stubbs Ln (Leslie St. & Wellington St E. Aurora). One victim is deceased at the scene, a second victim was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Expect a police presence in the area while this investigation is underway— York Regional Police (@YRP) June 12, 2023Police are asking residents in the area to check home surveillance and dashboard cameras for footage between 12:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and to flag any suspicious activity to police.

Silvio Berlusconi’s death draws tributes, even from critics, in Italy and beyond

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

ROME (AP) — Adored, scorned, impossible to ignore in life, former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in death drew tributes even from his critics, and ever more lavish praise from admirers, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as prayers from Pope Francis. Following word of Berlusconi’s death on Monday in a Milan hospital, where he was being treated for chronic leukemia, reaction poured in from around the world, from national leaders to announcers who burst into tears on one of his television networks, for the populist three-time premier and media mogul.Here are some of the reactions:— In a condolence telegram, Putin hailed Berlusconi as a “patriarch” of Italian politics and a true patriot who had improved Italy’s standing on the world stage. “I have always sincerely admired his wisdom, his ability to make balanced, far-sighted decisions even in the most difficult situations,” Putin said in the telegram released by the Kremlin. “During each of our meetings,...

Jury finds electric utility PacifiCorp liable in devastating Oregon wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A jury in Oregon has found electric utility PacifiCorp responsible for causing devastating fires during Labor Day 2020 in a civil lawsuit.The jury returned its decision Monday, saying the utility should be held financially liable for homes destroyed in the blaze. The jury awarded millions of dollars each to 17 homeowners who sued PacifiCorp a month after the fires, with most receiving $4.5 million and some $3 million for emotional distress.The jury also applied its liability finding to a larger class including the owners of nearly 2,500 properties damaged in the fires, which could push the price tag for damages to more than $1 billion. Those damages will be determined later.There has been no official cause determined for the 2020 Labor Day fires that killed nine people, burned more than 1,875 square miles (4,856 square kilometers) in Oregon and destroyed upward of 5,000 homes and structures. The blazes together were one of the worst natural disaster’s in Oregon...

Tom Holland describes ‘The Crowded Room’ as his ‘hardest’ and ‘most-rewarding’ job so far

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

The words “Tom Holland” and “spoilers” can immediately illicit snickering. There are compilation videos on YouTube of the “Spider-Man ” star accidentally revealing too much about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His slip-ups and near-giveaways have become a running joke among his co-stars and filmmakers. The actor found himself in familiar territory with his new twisty, surprise-laden series “The Crowded Room,” now streaming on Apple TV+ — and says by comparison, keeping quiet about Marvel is a piece of cake.“With Marvel… it’s all about the villain, the costume, the locations, the end result. They’re relatively easy to keep those things a secret,” said Holland in a recent interview. “I know that sounds stupid coming from me because I spoil everything, but with ‘The Crowded Room’ there are so many twists and turns in this show that people won’t be expecting. It really is a puzzle.”The limited-series takes place in 1970s New York with Holland as Danny, a young man arrested i...

$2M insurance policy in effect for Hawaii coral reefs in time for hurricane season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — An environmental group has a $2 million insurance policy on Hawaii’s coral reefs, which is in effect in time for a busier hurricane season that could damage the vital natural resources that are increasingly under threat from climate change. In announcing the policy purchase last year, The Nature Conservancy said it was the first-ever coral reef insurance policy in the United States. The policy, issued by insurance firm Munich Re, is triggered at windspeeds of 57 mph (92 kph) if sufficiently close to reefs and can provide payouts up to a maximum of $2 million to allow rapid reef repair and restoration after storm damage. The warmer Pacific has forecasters expecting a “near-to-above normal” hurricane season from June to November for waters around Hawaii, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. That amounts to four to seven tropical cyclones in the region, but fewer could actually come ashore in the islands.The cost of the insurance policy is roughly $1...

‘We lost too many children’: Ukrainian heart doctor says admission to NATO is urgent

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian doctor who was forced to treat open-heart surgery patients in a bomb shelter last year says he’s grateful for the assistance his country has received from Canada.But Dr. Igor Mokryk, the head of cardiac surgery at the Heart Institute of Kyiv, says the best medicine would be to have Canada’s backing on Ukraine joining NATO. In an interview with The Canadian Press at his office in Kyiv on Monday, he said he would have loved to have spoken with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he made a surprise visit to the city on the weekend.During his visit, Trudeau promised more weapons and fighter-pilot training but stopped short of fully supporting Ukraine becoming a NATO member.“In the conversations around NATO, we’ve always been very, very clear that we absolutely think Ukraine should join NATO when the conditions are right for it,” the prime minister said.But Mokryk, 49, said the conditions are already right and it should have happen...

Trump traveling to Florida as court appearance approaches in classified docs case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:52 GMT

 Donald Trump traveled to Florida on Monday ahead of a history-making federal court appearance this week on dozens of felony charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get them back.Trump’s Tuesday afternoon appearance in Miami will mark his second time since April facing a judge on criminal charges. But unlike a New York case some legal analysts derided as relatively trivial, the Justice Department’s first prosecution of a former president concerns conduct that prosecutors say jeopardized national security, with Espionage Act charges carrying the prospect of a significant prison sentence.Ahead of his court date, he and his allies have been escalating efforts to undermine the criminal case against him and drum up protests. He's ratcheted up the rhetoric against the Justice Department special counsel who filed the case, calling Jack Smith “deranged" as he repeated without an...