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Russia-backed officials say explosion damages bridge linking Ukraine’s mainland to Crimea

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An explosion damaged a bridge that is one of the few links between Crimea and Ukraine’s mainland, Russia-backed officials said Thursday, as the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive unfold.Russian forces in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, use the Chongar bridge to reach southern Ukraine’s Kherson province. Russia and Ukraine control different sides of the province, which is a focus of fighting and attacks as Ukrainian troops try to reclaim Russian-occupied territory.Ukrainian authorities have said that for the country’s nearly 16-month war to end, Moscow must withdraw its forces from Crimea as well as from areas they seized during last year’s full-scale invasion. The damage to the bridge was not severe and likely will be repaired within several days, Vladimir Konstantinov, chairman of the parliament of Crimea, said. Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-appointed head of the occupied parts of Kherson province, said the explosion appeared to h...

Climate activist Nakate urges rich countries to cancel debt, grant climate finance at Paris summit

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Facing an audience packed with world leaders and finance officials in suits, Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate silenced the room, then made everyone listen to some uncomfortable facts.Speaking at a two-day summit aimed at seeking better responses to tackle poverty and climate change issues by reshaping the global financial system, the UNICEF ambassador and campaigner was in a somber mood and asked for a moment of silence.Dressed in a black with the slogan “Divest Now” on her t-shirt, Nakate said the silence was for “people around the world who are already suffering, starving, being displaced, jumping out of school, being forced into child marriages, losing their cultures and history, those who are already helpless, hopeless and dying due to the devastating impact of the climate crisis.”Speaking right after French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the summit, Nakate then urged delegates to put people first instead of profits, to make polluters pay, to can...

Iconic Hong Kong dragon boat races are back in full force as thousands of spectators gather

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — Thousands gathered Thursday in southern Hong Kong to watch the iconic dragon boat races, a highlight of the annual Chinese Dragon Boat festival.The dragon boat races were back in full force after years of cancellations, postponements and social-distancing restrictions during the pandemic. Dragon boat teams in Hong Kong range from 8 to 50 people, depending on the size of the boat. A standard boat in Hong Kong typically has a crew of 20 people who race between about 250-500 meters (820-1640 feet).The Dragon Boat festival, also known as “Tuen Ng” in Cantonese, is associated with a story of a righteous official in ancient times who drowned himself after falling out of favor with his leader.According to the lore, villagers rushed out to the river with boats to try and save him, and threw rice dumplings into the water to prevent fish from eating his body and to ward away evil spirits. Thus the tradition of dragon boating and eating rice dumplings, which are called zongzi ...

UAE leader welcomes Iranian foreign minister in latest softening of Persian Gulf tensions

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The president of the United Arab Emirates met with Iran’s visiting foreign minister on Thursday in the latest sign of improving relations between Arab Gulf countries and the Islamic Republic.The UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have long harbored suspicions about Iran because of its nuclear program and support for militant groups across the region, and have cultivated close defense ties with the U.S. But in recent months they have charted a more independent path, reaching out to U.S. adversaries as Washington increasingly focuses on Russia and China.Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian “discussed the importance of building on positive developments to benefit the people of the region and enhance regional stability and prosperity,” the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported.Iranian state TV said the two met for 90 minutes and discussed further cooperation in different fields....

Yellen says it’s ‘critical’ to maintain U.S.-China ties after Biden’s ‘dictator’ remarks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

PARIS (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that it’s “critical” the U.S. and China maintain a relationship so they can “work together” on global challenges, coming just after President Joe Biden’s remarks calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “dictator” drew condemnation from Beijing.Speaking at a news conference in Paris, Yellen said that “with respect to the comments, I think President Biden and I both believe it’s critical to maintain communication … to clear up misperceptions, miscalculations. We need to work together where possible.”“But we have disagreements, and we are also forthright in recognizing we do have disagreements,” she added.Yellen has recently advocated for improving relations between the U.S. and China, arguing cooperation is needed for the sake of maintaining global stability.Biden’s remarks at a fundraiser Tuesday, when he also said China had “real economic difficulties,” opened a new rift just after U.S. Secretary of State Antony...

Germany warns China over Taiwan, voices human rights concerns days after talks with Chinese premier

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Beijing on Thursday against using force to change the status quo with Taiwan and expressed concern about the human rights situation in China, days after holding bilateral talks with the new Chinese premier.Scholz told German lawmakers that Berlin wants constructive relations with China because the country plays a key role in solving global problems such as food security, climate change and poverty.“At the same time we clearly urged China to stick to international rules,” he said of a recent declaration by the Group of Seven major economies. “No country is another’s backyard — that is true for Europe as much as anywhere else in the world.”“We strongly reject all attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Sea by force or coercion,” said Scholz. “That is especially true for Taiwan.”Beijing considers the self-governed island to be part of China and has been expanding its military presence in the region.“We also ...

Hwy. 401 partially reopens after deadly crash, explosion in Pickering

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

The westbound 401 has now fully reopened in Durham Region after a deadly fiery crash involving a fuel-tanker truck — a portion of the eastbound lanes remain shut down as of Thursday morning.The collision involving a fuel-tanker truck, a transport truck and another vehicle, happened around 11 p.m. Tuesday night near the Pickering-Ajax border.The eastbound 401 express lanes remain closed from Meadowvale to Brock Road and all traffic is still being forced off at Brock. There are also ramp closures in the area.The highway remained closed in both directions through the morning and afternoon rushes on Wednesday, leading to traffic headaches for GTA west-end commuters. The westbound lanes were closed between Westney and Liverpool before reopening around 6 a.m. Thursday.GO Transit says it will be adding extra train service both eastbound and westbound at Whitby on Thursday to help commuters looking to avoid the issues on the highway.There will be extra train service tomorrow due to th...

Exhibition shines light on Caribbean’s ‘barrel children’ left behind by Windrush migrants to UK

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

LONDON (AP) — As a small child in Jamaica, Evadney Campbell loved it when barrels of gifts arrived at Christmastime from her parents in England. She was thrilled to receive the dolls, the English crinoline dresses with ribbons, the pretty white socks and shiny patent shoes.It was only years later that Campbell realized the deliveries were bittersweet. For scores of children who grew up in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean in the 1950s and 60s, those barrels were the only connection they had with their parents, who had traveled thousands of miles away to Britain in search of better work opportunities.Campbell was not yet a year old when her parents left and she did not reunite with her parents in England until she was 11.“The idea of a mother and father, it was just an idea. I didn’t know who they were, didn’t know what they looked like,” said Campbell, now 63. “You just knew they were in England, and you were in Jamaica.”Campbell’s family story forms part of a new exhibition at...

Pakistan’s premier meets with the head of IMF in Paris, hoping to unlock $6B deal to avoid default

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s premier Shahbaz Sharif met Thursday with the head of the International Monetary Fund on the sidelines of a global financing meeting in Paris, hoping to unlock a $6 billion bailout and gain the release of a critical tranche of $1.1 billion in loans which has been on hold since November.The meeting between Sharif and IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact comes a week before the $6 billion bailout package originally signed between the IMF and the country’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2019 expires. Sharif replaced Khan in April 2022 after a no-confidence vote in parliament. Since then, Pakistan has been embroiled in an unprecedented economic crisis. Thursday’s meeting came a week after the IMF slammed a proposed annual budget presented to parliament by Pakistan’s government. Esther Perez Ruiz, IMF’s representative for Pakistan, said in a statement that the draft budget failed to implement a fa...

Moscow court rules US journalist Evan Gershkovich must stay in detention until late August

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:32 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Thursday rejected an appeal by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerhskovich and upheld an earlier ruling that he should remain in jail on espionage charges until late August.The 31-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested in late March while on a reporting trip. A Moscow court agreed last month to keep him in custody until Aug. 30. Defense lawyers had challenged the decision. Gershkovich, wearing a black T-shirt and light blue jeans, looked tense and paced around inside a glass defendant’s cage while waiting for the hearing to begin at the Moscow City Court. Before the hearing began, other journalists in the courtroom were asked to leave and the proceedings took place behind closed doors. Gershkovich’s parents and U.S. ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy attended the hearing. Speaking to reporters afterward, Tracy said that “Evan continues to show remarkable strength and resilience in these very difficult circumstances.”Gershkovich and his employer have...