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Iran’s president holds rare meeting with Assad in Syria

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Wednesday met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus in a bid to boost cooperation between the two allies, state media reported.Tehran has been a main backer of Assad’s government since an uprising turned into a full-blown war in March 2011 and has played an instrumental role in turning the tide in his favor. Iran has sent scores of military advisers and thousands of Iran-backed fighters from around the Middle East to fight on Assad’s side. With the help of Russia and Iran, Syrian government forces have controlled large parts of the country in recent years. In an interview with pan-Arab television channel Al-Mayadeen, Raisi called for reconstruction efforts and for refugees who fled the country’s war to return to the country.Raisi, who is a leading a high-ranking political and economic delegation in a two-day visit to Syria, was received on arrival at Damascus International Airport Wednesday by Syrian Econom...

Palace weapons arrest comes amid coronations security push

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The coronation of King Charles III involves one of the most important security operations in U.K. history, Britain’s security minister said Wednesday, after police arrested a man and blew up a suspicious bag outside Buckingham Palace. The incident happened four days before scores of foreign royals, dignitaries and heads of state are expected to attend the coronation of King Charles III.Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said the coronation involves “one of the most important security operations that the country has put into plan.”“This is an enormously important moment for the country,” Tugendhat told Times Radio. “The police are, to put it mildly, all over it, and our intelligence and other security forces are extremely aware of the challenges that we face and ready to deal with them — as the police did quite brilliantly yesterday.”The Metropolitan Police said officers arrested a man on Tuesday evening after he approached the palace gates and threw items suspected to be ...

Teenage boy opens fire in school in Serbian capital

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A teenage boy opened fire early Wednesday in a school in central Belgrade, causing injuries, Serbian police said.Police received a call about the shooting in the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school around 8:40 a.m., they said in a statement.The suspect, a seventh grade student, was arrested, police said. The statement added that the boy apparently fired several shots from his father’s gun at other students and the school guard.Serbian media have reported that the guard was killed in the shooting. Police gave no other details. Reports said terrified parents have arrived to the school trying to find their children. Local media footage from the scene showed commotion outside the school as police removed the suspect, whose head was covered as officers led him to a car parked in the street.Mass shootings in Serbia are extremely rare. Experts, however, have repeatedly warned of the number of weapons left over in the country after the wars of the 1990s.Police se...

Priest, scientist on trial in Germany over climate protest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A Jesuit priest and a scientist are appearing before a German court Wednesday charged with coercion in connection with a climate protest last year.The Rev. Joerg Alt and Cornelia Huth, a biologist and member of the group Scientist Rebellion, blocked a road in Munich on Oct. 28.Numerous similar protests have taken place across Germany and other countries recently as climate activists try to draw attention to the urgency of tackling global warming.The public and political response to such road blockades has been mixed. While some German mayors have said they support the protesters’ cause, if not their means, activists have also faced violence from enraged motorists and calls for tough punishment from conservative politicians.So far most courts have acquitted the protesters or handed down fines, though in at least one recent case a judge sentenced three activists to prison terms ranging from three to five months.Also appearing before the Munich regional court is Luc...

In The News for May 3 : Families of Canada’s Afghan advisers are pleading for help

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 3 …What we are watching in Canada …Canadians who served as military advisers in Afghanistan say many of their Afghan family members don’t qualify to come to Canada, even though their lives are at risk.The Canadian government recruited some 45 Canadian citizens with Afghan heritage to serve as language and cultural advisers during the mission in Afghanistan. They were granted top-secret security clearance and risked their lives to serve alongside soldiers.One adviser, who was given the military code name “Sam,” says his sister’s family was threatened repeatedly by the Taliban over his involvement with the Canadian military and her husband was killed before she fled the country in 2018. The Canadian Press is not revealing his real name because his sister is now at risk of being deported f...

Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills 1 after prisoner’s death

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

At least one person was killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said Wednesday, after hours of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the coastal enclave following the death of a prominent hunger-striking prisoner.A tense cease-fire held hours after Palestinian militants launched around 100 rockets into southern Israel late on Tuesday. The Israeli military said it bombed tunnels, arms production sites and military installations belonging to the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said Hashil Mubarak, 58, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. His family said he was injured by falling debris and died at the hospital.The cross-border fighting was some of the most intense since an 11-day war in 2021 between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. It came hours after Khader Adnan, a leader in the Islamic Jihad militant group, died in Israeli cust...

UN: 258 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2022

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

ROME (AP) — More than a quarter-billion people in 58 countries faced acute food insecurity last year due to conflicts, climate change, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, according to a report published Wednesday.The Global Report on Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian organizations founded by the U.N. and European Union, said people faced starvation and death in seven of those countries: Somalia, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen.The report found that that the number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food aid — 258 million — had increased for the fourth consecutive year, a “stinging indictment of humanity’s failure” to implement U.N. goals to end world hunger, said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.While the increase last year was due in part to more populations being analyzed, the report also found that the severity of the problem increased as well, “highlighting a concerning trend of a de...

‘It’s a spiritual thing:’ Long history between Gordon Lightfoot and Massey Hall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

TORONTO — It was a relationship that lasted a lifetime: Gordon Lightfoot got his start at Massey Hall as a teenager, and never stopped returning to the Toronto venue, no matter how successful he became.  Hundreds of famous musicians have played the stage in its long history, but none so often as Lightfoot. The folk legend and the concert hall fed off each other’s fame, sharing a sort of symbiosis that spanned more than half a century. “It’s a spiritual thing,” Lightfoot told The Canadian Press in 2018. “I have an affinity for Massey Hall that’s very strong.” When the concert hall closed down for major renovations that same year, his was the last performance. And when it reopened three years later, he was the one to usher in its new era with three consecutive shows.They would be his last at the venue before his death on Monday at age 84. The first of Lightfoot’s 170-odd performances on the Massey stage happened when he was just 13 years old, ...

French constitutional body rules on pension referendum call

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s top constitutional body is to rule Wednesday on a last-ditch effort by opposition lawmakers to thwart President Emmanuel Macron’s move to raise the retirement age to 64, through a possible referendum or new bill restoring the age to 62. The move has been prompted by opposition legislators who are seeking to launch a complex, lengthy process in hopes of rejecting Macron’s unpopular pension law that was enacted last month. The Constitutional Council’s role is to assess whether the opposition’s request meets the legal conditions for a potential referendum. If so, supporters would have nine months to collect signatures from at least 4.8 million, or 10%, of French voters.Macron’s government would then be able to choose between sending the opposition’s text to parliament for debate and eventually a vote, or waiting for six months to put the measure before voters in a referendum. The proposal would only go to a national referendum if it were not debated by lawma...

Stock market today: World shares mixed before Fed decision

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:22:19 GMT

European shares opened higher Wednesday following losses in Asia ahead of a decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve. U.S. futures rose while oil prices were little changed. Markets in Japan and China were closed Wednesday for holidays. As worries over struggling banks and a slowing economy pile up, a political stalemate has left the U.S. edging ever closer to what would be a catastrophic default on government debt. President Joe Biden invited the top four congressional leaders to face-to-face talks at the White House next week to try to resolve the impasse over the debt. The Federal Reserve was expected to wrap up a two-day policy meeting later in the day by raising its key rate by a quarter percentage point to 5%-5.25% to try to finally tamp down inflation. In European trading, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.6% to 7,425.17 and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.5% to 7,425.17. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.5% to 7,813.37. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones I...