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Sweden still not ready for NATO, Erdoğan tells Biden

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

Ankara hasn’t seen sufficient progress from Sweden to support its application to join NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned U.S. President Joe Biden in a phone call Sunday ahead of a summit of NATO leaders this week. “Erdoğan stated that Sweden has taken some steps in the right direction by making changes in the anti-terrorism legislation,” Turkey’s communications directorate said in a statement following the bilateral call.But the supporters of “terrorist organizations” — pro-Kurdish groups including the PKK and YPG, which are banned in Turkey — continue to hold demonstrations in Sweden, the statement said. “This nullifies the steps taken,” it said.The call comes ahead of a two-day summit of NATO leaders in Lithuania that starts on Tuesday. Biden has thrown his support behind a push to get a deal done on Sweden at the meeting in Vilnius.Erdoğan’s administration has been blocking Sweden’s hopes of joining the ...

Obi Toppin eager for ‘fresh start’ with the Pacers after minutes issue with the Knicks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

LAS VEGAS — It was drawn up as the feel-good homecoming. A kid from Brooklyn. Grew up rooting for the Knicks. On the day Obi Toppin was drafted, he posted a picture of himself as a child wearing a Latrell Sprewell jersey.“Meant to be,” he captioned the photo.Except, it wasn’t. If anything, Toppin’s tenure in New York was doomed from the start. And on Sunday, the power forward reflected on the disappointing stint while fixed on the better fit in Indiana.“All I can do is just do whatever the coach is asking me to do,” Toppin said when asked if either side could’ve done anything differently to make it work. “Whether that’s being out on the floor, having great energy, doing whatever I need to do to help the team win. I didn’t get the minutes I wanted. But now it’s a fresh start. I’m here in Indy. I got to work for everything I want. And I’m super excited to start.”As he did during his three seasons...

No. 1 Iga Swiatek comes back to beat Belinda Bencic and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

By HOWARD FENDRICH (AP Tennis Writer)WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Top-seeded Iga Swiatek saved two match points Sunday and reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over Belinda Bencic at Centre Court.Swiatek extended her unbeaten run to 14 matches, which includes claiming her fourth Grand Slam title at the French Open last month.Swiatek has won three championships at Roland Garros, and one at the U.S. Open, but she never before had been past the fourth round at the All England Club. Last year, she had a 37-match winning streak snapped during a third-round Wimbledon loss.So comfortable on the red clay of Paris, so capable on the hard courts in New York — and at the Australian Open, where she has made it to the semifinals — Swiatek is just not quite the same player yet on the green grass used at the year’s third Grand Slam tournament.Against the big-hitting Bencic, the singles gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Swiatek certainl...

‘Radical Love:’ Toronto hospice takes new approach to help Toronto’s homeless

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

A last-minute assist has sent Kevin Ackroyd’s life into overtime.While sitting on a patio in downtown Toronto on a warm June day, he thinks back to his life four months earlier when he faced a return to the streets. His home at the time, a room at the Royal Oak Inn that was temporarily converted to a shelter, was set to close. Then came an even more crushing blow: doctors told him he had three months to live after they diagnosed him with stage-four liver cancer.Despondent, he splayed out like a starfish on his bed.“I was getting ready to off myself,” Ackroyd, 61, says. He was broke, addicted to drugs and did not know where he would live.But then came a knock at the door. Starr Dedam, a support worker with an organization that helps Toronto’s homeless population, had come to check on him. “She pulled me out of it,” Ackroyd says. That helping hand came from Kensington Health, a non-profit organization that provides long-term and hospice care among ...

Ex-priest sentenced to 25 years for drugging and molesting men he met in New Orleans tourist area

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — A former Catholic priest in Louisiana has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to drugging and molesting 17 men he met in a popular tourist area in New Orleans, a prosecutor said.WVUE-TV reported that Stephen Sauer, 61, targeted people in the city’s French Quarter who appeared drunk, lost or in need of help, according to Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul D. Connick Jr. The crimes occurred from 2019 to 2021, and many of the victims were visiting from out of state, Connick said.The investigation began in 2021 after Sauer sent a computer to an electronics repair company in New York. A technician found hundreds of images suggesting sexual assaults had occurred. New York law enforcement officials determined the images were taken in Metairie and notified the Jefferson Parish sheriff.The prosecutor said Sauer put narcotics in men’s drinks at bars or gave them sleep-inducing drugs after they passed out from drinking. He then dro...

Police release photos, descriptions of 3 men wanted in Leslieville shooting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

Toronto police have released descriptions of three men wanted in connection with a daytime shooting in Leslieville on Friday which claimed the life of an innocent bystander. Police say there was a physical altercation between three men in the area of Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue just before 12:30 p.m. when two of them pulled out handguns and began shooting at each other. Forty-four-year-old Karolina Huebner-Makurat was walking in the area at the time and was struck by a stray bullet. She was taken by ambulance to a nearby trauma centre where she was later pronounced dead.On Sunday, police released surveillance images and further descriptions of the suspects. The first man is a male, 25-30 years old, tall with a medium build and cornrows. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with a black stripe from sleeve to sleeve, blue jeans and white shoes. Police say he may have sustained injuries to his head. The second man is described as male, 18-25 years old, of average height wit...

No winner in Saturday Powerball drawing; jackpot reaches $650 million

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An estimated $650 million jackpot will be at stake for the next Powerball drawing after no winning ticket was sold for the Saturday drawing.The new jackpot for Monday’s drawing is the ninth-highest in the history of the game. The Powerball jackpot rolled over after no one matched all six numbers drawn — white balls 7, 23, 24, 32, 43 and red Powerball 18, Powerball officials said Sunday. The Power Play multiplier was 2X.No one has won Powerball since April 19, when a ticket in Ohio brought a prize of $252.6 million. There have been 34 straight drawings without a jackpot winner.The game’s abysmal odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to build big prizes that draw more players. The all-time largest Powerball jackpot was $2.04 billion Powerball last November.The $650 million jackpot is for winners who opt for an annuity, paid over 29 years. Most winners prefer cash, which for Monday night’s drawing would be $328.3 million.Powerball is played in 45 states,...

Grievers sneaking into cemetery as labour dispute drags on; 300 bodies still unburied

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

MONTREAL — Grievers issued pleas on Sunday for the Quebec government to take action as a months-long standoff between workers and management at Canada’s largest graveyard drags on.A strike by more than 100 maintenance and office workers has kept the Notre-Dames-des-Neiges Cemetery’s wrought-iron gates shut to the public since mid-January, with the exception of a few days in the spring.The labour dispute has left more than 300 bodies unburied, with the remains stored at freezing temperatures in an on-site repository, the cemetery said.Jimmy Koliakoudakis, whose mother died in February, said family members are “suffering.”“Families are only asking for some dignity and some humanity involved in this labour dispute,” he said, demonstrating alongside a handful of other protesters outside the graveyard Sunday afternoon. “We’re stuck in the middle.“I don’t understand why the government isn’t taking a harder stance or a more ...

Why are heat warning criteria different across Canada?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

A map of Environment Canada’s heat warning criteria for all provinces and territories is a cornucopia of colours and codes.Most of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan are teal; Manitoba is half beige, half pink; most of Ontario is navy blue, while southern Ontario is yellow and red.That’s because heat warning criteria – the weather parameters that must be met in order for a heat warning to be issued – vary from region to region. But why is that the case exactly?A meteorologist from Environment and Climate Change Canada says it all boils down to “regional climatology.”“Across Canada, it’s quite great, so Health Canada, in collaboration with Environment Canada, created various criteria that are regionally specific, and regionally appropriate for areas and provinces across the regions,” Heather Pimiskern told CityNews.In Quebec, for instance, a heat warning is issued when the humidex value is 40 degrees Celsius or higher and when the temperature is 30 C or warmer – with both persisting for ...

National Wrestling Alliance hosts fundraiser for Cooper Roberts

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:45:14 GMT

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) brought a free event to Highland Park Saturday, it's purpose to not only raise funds for Cooper Roberts — the youngest victim of last year's Highland Park shooting on the Fourth of July — but to also bring a sense of community through wrestling."This is amazing. If you have seen or see Cooper back there, He’s wearing the Championship belt and we’re all little concerned he might get in the ring and actually call a real heavy weight bought," said Keely Roberts, Cooper's mom. "But it’s amazing. The Highland Park community continues to just be incredible."The event, hosted by Billy Corgan — president of the NWA and frontman for the Smashing Pumpkins — said he looks forward to bringing other events just like this to the community he calls home."I talked with Keely Roberts, Cooper's mom, and she said ‘look, I’d like to tell you that we don’t need any help and everything is fine’ and she said It’s been a tough year and we need you...