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Independent MP Han Dong says he’s still awaiting word if he can rejoin Liberal caucus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

OTTAWA — Independent MP Han Dong says he’s still waiting for word on whether or not he can return to the Liberal caucus, but he hopes it will happen as soon as possible. The Toronto-area MP resigned from the government caucus in March saying he wanted to clear his name following allegations published in media reports.Global News had reported, citing unnamed national security sources, that Dong told a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that releasing Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor from detention would benefit the Conservatives.David Johnston, the former special rapporteur on foreign interference, deemed the claim “false” in a May report, and the Liberals launched a process to determine whether Dong could return to caucus. Dong says he met with Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc about three weeks ago and they had a good and constructive conversation. A spokesperson for LeBlanc says the government will have more to say on the matter in due ...

Fatal shooting by police draws protests and raises questions in north Alabama

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — Family members of a Black man fatally shot outside his home by Alabama police are seeking more information about what happened and to see body camera footage of the shooting.Police shot and killed Stephen Perkins, 39, last week in Decatur, Alabama, in what began in a confrontation Friday morning with a tow truck driver trying to repossess a vehicle, police said. Perkins’ family said that he was not behind on payments and the vehicle should not have been repossessed. The Decatur Police Department said in an initial public statement that officers were called to the scene by the tow truck driver, who said the homeowner pulled a gun. Police said that the man, identified as Perkins, later threatened the driver and “turned the gun toward one of the officers.” The Perkins family issued a statement to news outlets requesting body camera footage and an investigation. They questioned what they called an “unjust excessive amount of force.” Perkins was sho...

A bus crash in a Venice suburb kills at least 21 people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

ROME (AP) — A bus crashed near the Italian city of Venice after falling from an elevated street, killing at least 21 people and injuring several others Tuesday, authorities said.Venice prefect Michele Di Bari said that 21 people were killed, including two children, and that there were 15 survivors from the crash in the Mestre suburb of Venice. He said it was a regular bus line, but that tourists were aboard, though there was no immediate word on the nationalities of the victims. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the scene of the crash was “apocalyptic” and that he had already declared the “city’s mourning” for the “numerous victims” who were on the bus. According to local media, the bus fell a few meters before crashing close to Mestre’s railway tracks, where it caught fire. Emergency crews were on the scene.Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed her “deepest sorrow” after the crash.The Associated Press

Azerbaijan arrests several former top separatist leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

Authorities in Azerbaijan arrested several former separatist leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday after reclaiming control of the Armenian-populated breakaway region in a lightning military operation last month, a top Azerbaijani news agency said.Arayik Harutyunyan, who led the region before stepping down at the beginning of September, was arrested and was being brought to the Azerbaijani capital, the APA news agency said.Arkadi Gukasian, who served as the separatist president from 1997 until 2007, and Bako Sahakyan, who held the job from 2007 until 2020, also were arrested Tuesday along with the speaker of the separatist legislature, Davit Ishkhanyan, APA said.The wave of arrests come as Azerbaijani authorities move swiftly to establish their control over the region after a blitz offensive that triggered an exodus of over 100,000 people — more than 80% of its ethnic Armenian residents.While Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians, most of them have rushed...

Former VP Pence talks national security and foreign policy at AP-Georgetown University forum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President and GOP candidate Mike Pence on Tuesday warned of the consequences of U.S. withdrawal from the world stage as he continued to criticize the growing tide of isolationism in his party.“America is the leader of the free world. If we’re not leading the free world, the free world is not being led,” Pence said at a national security and foreign policy forum at Washington’s Georgetown University. The appearance was the first in a series of conversations with 2024 Republican presidential candidates on the topic co-hosted by The Associated Press and Georgetown’s Institute of Politics and Public Service.Pence has positioned himself as a foreign policy hawk in his party’s crowded primary, advocating for “peace through American leadership” on the world stage. He has railed against the growing populist tide in the party, accusing rivals like former President Donald Trump and his followers of abandoning U.S. allies.The contrast has been pa...

Grizzly that killed two in Banff National Park was old, had bad teeth: Parks Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

BANFF, Alta. — Parks Canada says a grizzly bear that killed a couple and their dog in Banff National Park on the weekend was old, underweight and had bad teeth.Two people were attacked and killed by a bear in a remote wilderness area — the first recorded fatalities in Canada’s busiest national park in decades.The federal agency has not responded to interview requests since the attack, but it issued another statement Tuesday.It says a necropsy has been completed on the bear and it was determined to be a non-lactating female estimated to be more than 25 years old.Parks says the bear was in fair body condition, but that her teeth were in poor condition and she had less than normal body fat for this time of year.DNA samples from the bear confirm it was responsible for the attack.This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 3, 2023.The Canadian Press

S&P/TSX composite closes down along with U.S. stock markets

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index closed at its lowest point since October last year as part of a pullback that saw sharper drops in U.S. markets.The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 156.26 points at 19,020.92.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 430.97 points at 33,002.38. The S&P 500 index was down 58.94 points at 4,229.45, while the Nasdaq composite was down 248.31 points at 13,059.47.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.93 cents US compared with 73.96 cents US on Friday.The November crude contract was up 41 cents at US$89.23 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up 11 cents at US$2.95 per mmBTU.The December gold contract ended down US$5.70 at US$1,841.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down two cents at US$3.62 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press

North Dakota lawmakers offer tributes to colleague, family lost in Utah plane crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota lawmakers on Tuesday remembered a late Senate colleague, who died in a plane crash along with his wife and two children, for his service to others and love of hosting events.State Sen. Doug Larsen, his wife Amy and their two young children died Sunday in a plane crash near Moab, Utah. The plane crashed shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Airfield near the desert recreation town, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office. The senator was the pilot, according to the sheriff’s office.The National Transportation and Safety Board is investigating the crash of the single-engine Piper plane, with a preliminary report expected in two weeks.The weather at the time was mild, with scattered light showers, wide visibility and gentle winds in the area around the airport, according to the National Weather Service.State Rep. Paul Thomas and state Sen. Cole Conley offered tributes Tuesday to Larsen before a routine meeting of an interim stud...

New York judge issues limited gag order after Trump sends disparaging post about court clerk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge sternly imposed a limited gag order in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial Tuesday after the former president disparaged a key court staffer.Interrupting a long day of testimony, Judge Arthur Engoron issued the order, which applies to all parties in the case and pertains to verbal attacks on court staff. It came after Trump maligned Engoron’s principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, in a social media post.The post included a photo of Greenfield with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posing for a picture at a public event. Trump, the Republican front-runner for president in 2024, has repeatedly cast the lawsuit and trial as a political attack by New York’s Democratic attorney general, Letitia James. Trump wrote that it was “disgraceful” that Greenfield was working with the judge in the courtroom.Aside from that sideshow, with Trump voluntarily attending the trial for a second day, James’ attorney questioned an accountant in an ...

New rest rules don’t bother NBA players, who say they only want to sit out when they are hurt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:51 GMT

With new policies and penalties, the NBA has made it clear that healthy players should be on the court.No argument from the players, who insist they aren’t interested in sitting.Some don’t like load management any more than the fans who wonder why some of the best athletes in the world so often need a night off. But they also want the league to understand that there are times — quite a few of them during Kawhi Leonard’s lone season in Toronto — when they have to listen to their bodies or their doctors.“I was coming from an injury and you have to know the details of the doctor,” Leonard, now with the Los Angeles Clippers, said Monday. “But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors, they should stop because I was injured the whole year. But other than that, if I’m able to play, I’ll play basketball. I’ll work out every day in the summertime to play the game, not to sit and watch people play. No league policy is helping me to play more game...