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What’s behind Syria’s return to the Arab League?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — The Arab League’s decision to re-admit Syria after 12 years of ostracization was a significant symbolic victory for Damascus, part of a larger regional realignment and an indication of the United States’ waning role, analysts say.But it may not immediately bring the reconstruction dollars that Syrian President Bashar Assad is hoping for, they say. Nor is it likely to bring the changes Syria’s neighbors want, such as an agreement on refugee returns and moves to reduce drug trafficking. Syria is returning to the Arab fold even though there is no sign on the horizon of a resolution to the country’s uprising-turned-civil war, now in its 13th year. The long-stalemated conflict has killed nearly a half million people since March 2011 and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. Multiple attempts to mediate a resolution have failed.The league approved Syria’s readmission at a closed-door meeting in Cairo on Sunday. It means Assad can attend the league...

Top challenger in Cambodian polls awaiting official approval

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s National Election Committee announced Monday that 20 political parties have registered for July’s general election but nine of them still have not been approved, including the Candlelight Party, the sole credible challenger to the governing Cambodian People’s Party.About 9.7 million Cambodians are registered to vote in the July 23 election to select the 123 members of the National Assembly.Prime Minister Hun Sen and his entrenched Cambodian People’s Party are certain to easily top the polls, holding all the advantages of incumbency. They dominate the field in terms of nationwide organizing, personnel, finances and influence with the mass media.The party has held an iron grip on power for decades and controls almost every level of government. Hun Sen, 71, an authoritarian ruler in a nominally democratic state, has held his position for 38 years. His eldest son, army chief Hun Manet, is widely expected to replace his father as prime minister afte...

Ottawa renews federal anti gang and gun violence program with $390M in funding

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

The federal Liberals are renewing their multimillion-dollar program to fight gang violence and gun crime.Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Monday the government is earmarking $390 million over the next five years for provinces and territories.Making the announcement in Mississauga, Ont., Mendicino said the money would go toward a variety of initiatives, including support for police and prevention programs.“These federal funds will be distributed to the provinces and territories for the purpose of giving law enforcement the additional people resources and supports that they need to get the job done, and to get the job done safely,” he said.The Liberals see the fund as a pillar of their efforts to reduce gun-related violence, which also includes stronger measures to address cross-border gun trafficking and legislation to place stricter controls on handguns and assault-style firearms.The House of Commons public safety committee, which is examining the gun-control ...

ASEAN relief convoy attacked in Myanmar; no casualties

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A convoy including diplomats representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a mission to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced people in strife-torn Myanmar has been ambushed, state media and a member of an ethnic minority militia said Monday.State-run television MRTV reported that the attack on the convoy with delegates from the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance and the Indonesian and Singaporean embassies occurred Sunday in eastern Shan state and was carried out by “terrorists.” The report did not say which organization the “terrorists” were from. The military government uses the term “terrorists” for a wide range of forces opposed to military rule.The report said the gunmen opened fire with small arms and the security team accompanying the convoy returned fire. A security vehicle was damaged, but no one in the convoy was injured, it said.The “heinous” attack made it more difficult for displaced people as the ...

Meta has team working to block news on Facebook, Instagram from Canadian users

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

OTTAWA — A representative for Meta says the tech giant has a team that is working toward blocking news for its Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram. Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta Canada, says the content-blocking team is preparing to end the availability of news on those social media platforms should the Liberal government’s online news bill pass.Appearing before the House of Commons heritage committee today, Curran says the company will remove news in a way that is careful, responsible and transparent.Curran says Meta will not remove other pages on Facebook unrelated to news, and that Canadian users will still be able to access pages for governments, politicians and emergency services.She says this is a business decision the company believes it is forced to make because it does not agree with the proposed online news legislation, which is currently at the committee stage in the Senate.If passed, Bill C-18 would require tech giants to pay Canadian media com...

Water levels peak, flood warning lifted for Grand Forks, B.C.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

GRAND FORKS, B.C. — The risk of flooding near the British Columbia community of Grand Forks has been downgraded from a warning to an advisory.After heavy rain and rapid snowmelt, the province’s river forecast centre says water levels in the Boundary Region have peaked, including on the Kettle and Granby rivers running through Grand Forks. The centre says rivers are expected to recede into the middle of the week but could rise again by next weekend due to more snowmelt at higher elevations.The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary became the most active flood zone in the province on Saturday, with officials ordering the evacuation of 40 properties in and around Grand Forks, not far from the Canada-U. S. border. On Sunday, the district rescinded the evacuation orders for 34 of those properties within the Grand Forks city limits, but also added one more rural property near the city to the evacuation orders list.A flood warning remains in place for the Lower Thompson Region inclu...

Ontario passes health reform bill that expands private delivery of care

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

Ontario has passed a health-reform bill that will allow more private clinics to offer certain publicly funded surgeries and procedures in an effort to cut long wait lists for care.Cataract surgeries and diagnostic imaging and testing will be expanded while the government will create an entirely new system to perform hip and knee replacement surgeries.There are about 900 private clinics currently operating across the province, the vast majority of them for diagnostic imaging and testing.The moves are part of the government’s plan to decrease wait times and reduce a massive backlog of surgeries, which stands at more than 200,000 procedures.Hospitals have said they are concerned about losing staff to private clinics.The new bill has drawn criticism from opposition parties and health-care workers.RELATED: New data shows for-profit clinics charging significantly more for surgeriesThe Ontario Nurses’ Association says the province should invest in hospitals to perform more surg...

Wildfires rage in Russia’s Ural mountains, Siberia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Wildfires have engulfed large areas in Russia’s Ural mountains and in Siberia this week, with authorities promising to swiftly contain them. A total of over 54,000 hectares of forests in the Sverdlovsk region in the Urals were on fire as of Monday morning, according to local authorities. More than 4,800 firefighters have been battling the blaze, with some 6,000 volunteers helping them. Head of Russia’s Federal Forestry Agency Ivan Sovetnikov said Monday he expected “most major fires in the region to be contained and put out” within two to three days. It wasn’t immediately clear if such a goal was too optimistic: on Sunday night, the area engulfed in flames stood at 33,000 hectares, but it grew significantly overnight. In the neighboring Kurgan region, the fires have already destroyed more than 300 residential houses and 3,900 other buildings, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing local emergency officials. Kurgan Governor Vadim Shumko...

Ex-Neo-Nazi guilty in 2017 slayings of Florida roommates

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

A former member of a neo-Nazi group pleaded guilty Monday to fatally shooting his two Florida roommates in 2017, abruptly avoiding the start of a murder trial in which he had planned to use the insanity defense, according to court records.Devon Arthurs, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and will serve a 45-year prison sentence. The plea deal with prosecutors means Arthur will not face a possible life sentence.“This defendant committed a cold and calculated crime and for that he will spend the majority of his life in prison,” said State Attorney Suzy Lopez in a statement. “The victims’ families are satisfied with this outcome which allows them to avoid a painful trial while knowing the defendant will have to dwell upon the pain he has caused for the next several decades behind bars.”Arthurs admitted killing the roommates, Andrew Oneschuk, 18, and 22-year-old Jeremy Himmelman, nearly 6 years ago at the Tampa apartment they shared. Arthurs told police after...

TTC union workers win back right to strike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:39 GMT

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled that provincial government legislation banning TTC workers from striking violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, giving them back the right to strike.Effective immediately, the legislation is declared unconstitutional. The province had called for the court to delay the implementation of the decision until March 31, 2024, but Justice Chalmers said the request was “unreasonable.”A spokesman for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 calls it an “historic and important decision.”In 2011, the then Liberal government under Premier Dalton McGuinty passed a law banning strikes and lockouts at the TTC. It stemmed from a request made by Toronto City Council to declare the transit system an essential service.At the time, the city estimated TTC work stoppages cost the economy $50 million per day.CityNews has reached out to the TTC and the City of Toronto for comment on the ruling.