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In Zimbabwe, announcement of election date triggers both hope and despair

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Munyaradzi Mushawatu, an electrician in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, was both ecstatic and jittery after President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced recently that national elections would be held on Aug. 23.“I have voted in every election since 1990. I can’t wait to make my voice heard. I am ready,” said Mushawatu. But the bravado turned to chagrin as he recalled how the country’s “skewed” elections environment has remained intact for decades.“It’s only the election date that is new. The usual old obstacles remain,” said the 56–year-old father of three.Allegations of fraud, violence and harassment of opposition members have characterized elections held in Zimbabwe since independence from white minority rule in 1980.The 2018 elections were the first following a coup that replaced Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s longtime autocratic ruler, with Mnangagwa, amid promises of reform. But after a close-run contest, the Constitutional Court dismissed opposition leader Nelso...

In The News for June 9 : Wildfires still causing poor air quality across Canada

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 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 June 9…What we are watching in Canada …Smoke and flames continue to engulf much of Canada, with Alberta imposing new evacuation orders, Manitoba bracing for heavy, lightning-generating thunderstorms and high wildfire risks and poor air quality from coast to coast.Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta.Forecasters expect moderately bad air quality on Friday and Saturday throughout most of Ontario.Meanwhile, Alberta issued two evacuation orders for Yellowhead County in the province’s northwest and an evacuation alert for Grande Prairie County. The worst air in that province is near Fort Chipewyan, which remains on an evacuation order as a fire burns out of control. Wood Buffalo and Gran...

A tale of history and humanization unfold in colourful ‘Haida Manga’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

On a ship with torn sails, tossed by churning waters, the first of many Europeans needing rescue arrives along the coast of what is now British Columbia, before a Haida canoe brings an outstretched paddle and the warm light of salvation.So begins the latest book of “Haida Manga” by artist and author Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, as he reaches into the history of his own family and of colonization in a work that blends Indigenous artistic influences with Japanese manga comic-book story telling.The colourful watercolour panels of “JAJ: a Haida Manga” leap off the page as they draw the audience inside the world-spanning story.Released in May, the book traces the journeys of both Yahgulanaas’s ancestors and the eponymous Norwegian mariner Johan Adrian Jacobsen, who visited Haida Gwaii in 1882 in search of cultural items for a German museum during a time of escalating colonial violence against Indigenous Peoples.Yahgulanaas — whose works are in institutions in...

From hoses and shovels to water bombers: how wildfires are being fought across Canada

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

MONTREAL — The techniques used to put out the wildfires that are burning across Canada vary somewhat depending on geography, but ultimately they depend on people on the ground with hoses and shovels digging out hot spots one by one, experts say.As of midday Thursday, there were 430 fires burning across Canada, including 235 that were out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.Regardless of how many fires there are, the tactics to put them out remain largely the same, involving a combination of air attacks and firefighters working on the ground, said a longtime firefighter and former member of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources’ fire program.Dave Cowan, who now trains new recruits with the private company Fire 1, said that while aircraft can help stop a fire’s advance, the hard work of putting it out is always done at ground level.“The water bombers are a great support system, but they’re not going to put the fire out,” he ...

Canada sought use of European Union compound in Kabul for fingerprinting, reneged

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada requested use of the European Union’s compound in Kabul to help with tasks such as fingerprinting for those fleeing Afghanistan, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly made the request on Jan. 20, 2022, according to documents obtained through an access-to-information request.“Minister Joly asked EU High Representative (Josep) Borrell about the possibility for Canada to co-locate with the EU in Kabul, in order to conduct biometric screening from their premises,” reads a July 2022 briefing note.The document says the EU replied in early April 2022, offering space for two Canadian officials in the compound “on the condition that biometric screening be performed in a third location managed by the Government of Canada.”It notes that one month later, senior bureaucrats for Global Affairs Canada “determined that it would be very difficulty to proceed with the EU offer.”That may be ...

Poor air quality from fires expected to continue for at least a couple days

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

Smoke and flames continue to engulf much of Canada, with Alberta imposing new evacuation orders, Manitoba bracing for heavy, lightning-generating thunderstorms and high wildfire risks and poor air quality from coast to coast.Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta.Forecasters expect moderately bad air quality on Friday and Saturday throughout most of Ontario.Meanwhile, Alberta issued two evacuation orders for Yellowhead County in the province’s northwest and an evacuation alert for Grande Prairie County. The worst air in that province is near Fort Chipewyan, which remains on an evacuation order as a fire burns out of control. Wood Buffalo and Grande Prairie also have high risk air quality forecasts.Moderately bad air quality is forecast for Edmonton and Calgary on Friday.In British Columbia, air quality was expected to improve almost everywhere in the pr...

Ottawa girl set to become the youngest university graduate in Canadian history

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis is not your typical 12-year-old. She is a child prodigy who’s about to become the youngest Canadian to ever graduate from university. On Saturday, Patricia Dennis will walk across the University of Ottawa stage in her cap and gown and accept a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science.She started the program when she was nine, at a time when most of her peers were playing games at recess. So how is this wunderkind feeling about the big day?“I’m going to be proud. I’m going to hope I don’t fall off the stage,” Patricia Dennis said in an interview. “I’m going to be happy for myself too, not just for other people. I am proud of myself for getting to this point, despite all the hurdles and blocks that there have been for a person like me.” Perhaps no one will be more proud or excited than her biggest supporter, her mom Johanna Dennis. Dennis said she realized her daughter was special when she was around two-and-a-half ye...

Statistics Canada to release its latest labour force survey today

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada will release its latest snapshot of how the job market is doing in the country.The agency will release its labour force survey for May this morning.The labour market has remained resilient this year, despite higher interest rates.The unemployment rate held steady at 5.0 per cent in April when the economy surprised economists and added 41,000 jobs for the month.The job report this morning comes after the Bank of Canada’s decision this week to raise its key interest rate target by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75 per cent.In raising its key rate, the central bank said the labour market remains tight, reflecting continued strong demand for workers.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2023.The Canadian Press

Wildfires, smoke having ‘huge impact’ on some tourism operators across Canada

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

Raging wildfires and smoky skies across much of Canada have put a damper on travel this summer, resulting in cancelled plans and closed businesses. “We have had a few conversations with our members and we’re already seeing domestic and international visitors cancelling trips,” said Madison Simmons with the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario.Simmons pointed to a 2018 study by Visit California, which found that during the state’s most destructive wildfire season on record, 11 per cent of potential travellers cancelled their trips to the state, representing a loss of about $20 million that July.The Ontario tourism group released a study last month suggesting leisure travel in the province was set to grow after being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis.Simmons said businesses in the northern part of the province, particularly outfitters and outdoor tours, are most affected.The wildfires are adding to challenges posed by high gas prices and...

Vatican: Pope doing well after surgery, has another good night

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:24:35 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis had a second good night in the hospital recovering from surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, the Vatican said.The Holy See press office said early Friday that further medical updates were expected later in the day. The Vatican has said Francis’ condition is stable and his post-operative recovery deemed normal.The 86-year-old Francis was admitted to the Gemelli hospital on Wednesday for his second major abdominal operation in two years, following a 2021 procedure to remove part of his colon. During the procedure, doctors removed adhesions, or internal scarring, on the intestine that had caused a partial blockage. They also repaired a hernia that had formed over a previous scar, placing a prosthetic mesh in the abdominal wall. Francis is expected to remain at Gemelli for several days.The Associated Press