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Myanmar raises death toll from Cyclone Mocha to 54, but full extent of damage still unknown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — At least 54 people were killed and more than 185,000 buildings damaged in Myanmar by a powerful cyclone last weekend, state television MRTV reported Thursday.Communication difficulties in the affected areas, where infrastructure was already poor, and the military government’s tight control over information leave the actual extent of casualties and destruction unclear.Cyclone Mocha roared in from the Bay of Bengal on Sunday with high winds and rain slamming a corner of neighboring Bangladesh and a wider swath of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state. It made landfall near Rakhine’s Sittwe township with winds of up to 209 kilometers (130 miles) per hour before weakening to a tropical depression Monday as it moved inland.The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said widescale destruction of homes and infrastructure was seen throughout Rakhine state.“Urgent needs include shelter, clean water, food assistance and healthcare services,” it said. “There ar...

World leaders at G7 meetings ready to pile fresh sanctions on Russia over Ukraine war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Leaders of the world’s most powerful democracies planned to devote much of the first full day of the Group of Seven summit to finding new ways to punish Russia for its 15-month invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats against Ukraine, along with North Korea’s months-long barrage of missile tests and China’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal, have resonated with Japan’s push to make nuclear disarmament a major part of the summit. World leaders Friday visited a peace park dedicated to the tens of thousands who died in the world’s first wartime atomic bomb detonation. After group photos and a symbolic tree planting, a new round of sanctions were to be unveiled against Moscow, with a focus on redoubling efforts to enforce existing sanctions meant to stifle Russia’s war effort and hold accountable those behind it, a U.S. official said. Russia is now the most-sanctioned country in the world, but the...

Ecuador court rejects lawmakers’ challenges to president’s disbanding of National Assembly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s Constitutional Court voted unanimously Thursday to reject multiple challenges that sought to invalidate President Guillermo Lasso’s decree dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly as it tried to oust him in an impeachment trial.With the ruling, there are no impediments for the country’s electoral body to call elections for president and the legislature, which are tentatively set for August.In challenging Lasso’s dissolution of the legislature Wednesday, his adversaries tried to persuade the Constitutional Court to rule that the move was illegal on the grounds Ecuador is not facing any urgent crisis. But the court said it does not have jurisdiction to “rule on the verification and motivation of the cause of serious political crisis and internal upheaval invoked” by Lasso to dissolve the assembly.The conservative president, who sparred with the left-leaning assembly over his pro-business agenda since taking office in...

Trudeau calls out Italy on LGBTQ rights during meeting with Meloni at G7 summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

HIROSHIMA, Japan — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out the Italian government’s stance on LGBTQ rights during a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.“Obviously, Canada is concerned about some of the (positions) that Italy is taking in terms of LGBT rights,” Trudeau told Meloni at the start of the meeting. “But I look forward to talking with you about that.”In March, gay rights activists denounced as homophobic moves by Meloni’s far-right-led government to limit recognition of parental rights to the biological parent only in families with same-sex parents.Trudeau met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier in the morning, where both leaders discussed increasing co-operation between G7 countries to further peace and economic prosperity. The G7 Leaders’ Summit is taking place between Friday and Sunday.The summit is expected to focus on geopolitical and economi...

Utah kids’ book author accused in husband’s killing changed life insurance policies, prosecutors say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah woman who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death and was later arrested on accusations of killing him made changes to her husband’s life insurance years before he was fatally poisoned, according to charging documents updated Thursday.The additional allegations, which were previously mentioned in search warrants but not the charging documents, led to the postponement of a detention hearing scheduled for Friday that would have been the first time Kouri Richins was in court since her case became the latest true crime sensation earlier this month. The hearing has been rescheduled for June 12. Prosecutors say Kouri Richins, 33, poisoned her husband, Eric Richins, 39, by slipping five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a cocktail she made for him in March 2022. The mother of three later self-published a children’s book titled “Are You with Me?” about an angel wing-clad deceased father watching over his sons. She promoted it on televi...

88-year-old Australian doctor freed 7 years after kidnapping by Islamic extremists in West Africa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An 88-year-old Australian doctor held captive by Islamic extremists in West Africa for more than seven years has been freed and has returned to Australia.Kenneth Elliott was safe and well and was reunited with his wife and their children on Thursday night, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. “I’m very pleased to advise that Dr. Ken Elliott, who’s been held hostage in Western Africa for some seven years, has been reunited in Australia with his family,” Wong told reporters in Sydney.Elliott and his wife were kidnapped in Burkina Faso, where they had run a medical clinic for four decades. Jocelyn Elliott was released three weeks later.“We wish to express our thanks to God and all who have continued to pray for us,” Elliott’s family said in a statement released by Wong’s department.“We express our relief that Dr. Elliott is free and thank the Australian government and all who have been involved over time to secure his release,” the family statement said.Ne...

Book on interprovincial trade takes home $60,000 Donner Prize

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

Lawyer Ryan Manucha has won this year’s Donner Prize for his book on interprovincial trade.“Booze, Cigarettes and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada’s Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade” was named Canada’s best public policy book.The award, typically worth $30,000, was doubled to $60,000 this year for the prize’s 25th anniversary.Jurors praised Manucha’s book for “making internal free trade lively.” The shortlisted authors, who each receive $7,500, include Joseph Heath for “Cooperation and Social Justice” and John Lorinc for “Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias.”Also on the short list were “The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future” by Stephen Poloz and “Canadian Policing: Why and How It Must Change” by Kent Roach.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2023.The Canadian Press

Black bear sighted in Georgetown safely tranquillized

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

Halton police say a black bear seen wandering around Georgetown has been safely tranquillized. Just before 7 p.m., police said they had received calls about the bear in the area of McKinnon Avenue and Barber Drive.Pedestrians and bystanders were asked to avoid the area as they worked to remove the bear which had climbed up into a tree. Didn't think I'd end up seeing a black bear near my house in Georgetown, but here we are. After a few hours up in the tree, they tranquilized it and got it down to relocate it. Poor thing. pic.twitter.com/ds7IRORhwN— Rian (@RianWilliams85) May 19, 2023The Ministry of Natural Resources was called in to assist and just after 9:30 p.m. police said the bear had ben safely tranquillized and removed from the tree to be relocated.

New College of Florida students attend ‘alternative commencement’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Hundreds of New College of Florida students, family members and friends gathered at an off-campus art gallery Thursday evening for an “alternative commencement” in defiance of state officials working to change the character of the traditionally progressive school.The ceremony preceded Friday’s official graduation on the tiny public liberal arts college’s Sarasota campus, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The college, which had less than 700 students enrolled this year, has become the focal point of Gov. Ron DeSantis to rid higher education in the state of what the Republican governor calls left-leaning “woke” indoctrination on campuses ahead of his expected presidential candidacy. Sarasota is located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Tampa.The governor and his allies say New College, a progressive school with a prominent LGBTQ+ community, is indoctrinating students with leftist ideology and should be revamped into a more conservative institution.N...

24-year-old man found dead in Des Plaines River in Joliet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:24:12 GMT

JOLIET, Ill. — A man was found dead Thursday in the Des Plaines River in Joliet, according to the Will County Coroner's Office.Jason Bingham, 24, of Joliet, died around 4:15 p.m. after he was pulled to the shore by the Joliet Fire Department. Joliet man found guilty of 2019 Harrah’s Casino stabbing death The coroner's office said an autopsy is scheduled for Friday and a final cause and manner of death will be determined at a later date.The incident is under investigation by the Joliet Police Department.WGN-TV News reached out to police for additional information on Thursday night and is awaiting a response.