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British comedian and TV star Paul O’Grady dies at 67

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Entertainer Paul O’Grady, who achieved fame as drag queen Lily Savage before becoming a much-loved comedian and host on British television, has died. He was 67.O’Grady’s partner Andre Portasio said he died “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday evening.“He will be greatly missed by his loved ones, friends, family, animals and all those who enjoyed his humor, wit and compassion,” Portasio said in a statement.Born in Birkenhead, near Liverpool, in 1955, O’Grady was working as a local-authority care worker when he began performing as Savage, a tart-tongued Liverpudlian drag queen.Savage became a fixture as a standup and talent-show host at London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a landmark gay venue. O’Grady used his platform to speak out about LGBT rights at the height of the AIDS crisis, a time when the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was passing anti-gay laws.Lily Savage moved into television in the 1990s, including a stint hosting talk show “The ...

UBS brings back Ermotti as CEO with Credit Suisse deal ahead

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — UBS said Wednesday that it’s bringing back former CEO Sergio Ermotti to lead the Swiss bank as it moves forward with a government-orchestrated plan to take over struggling rival Credit Suisse.Ermotti, who was the bank’s top executive for nine years and led a turnaround following the 2008 global financial crisis, will take over next Wednesday from CEO Ralph Hamers. Hamers took up the job in November 2020 and will remain at UBS during a transition period “to ensure a successful closure of the transaction and a smooth handover,” the bank said in a statement.UBS credited Ermotti, who is now chairman of insurer Swiss Re, for having “cut its footprint” and changing the culture of the bank — and it pointed to his experience in bringing big financial institutions together. The hastily arranged, $3.25 billion deal for Credit Suisse aimed to stem the upheaval in the global financial system after the collapse of two U.S. banks and jitters about long-running troubles a...

Paris trash strike ends, smaller pension protest turnout

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Sanitation workers in Paris are set to return to work Wednesday amid heaps of trash that piled up over their weekslong strike as protests against French President Emmanuel Marcon’s controversial pension bill appeared to be winding down.Trash mounds of up to 10,000 tons along the French capital’s streets — reportedly equal to the weight of the Eiffel Tower — have become a striking visual symbol of opposition to Marcon’s bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. Clean-up crews were set Wednesday to start picking up debris from streets following fresh anti-pension reform protests a day earlier. CGT, the union representing sanitation workers, said it’s three-week-long strike was over Wednesday. They will join others who were legally requisitioned to earlier to help with the clean-up. “It’s good that the trash is collected. It’s very unsanitary, and some residents already have trouble with rats and mice. It can be dangerous if it’s left too long,” said...

Some in dry Somalia break Ramadan fast with little but water

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — This year’s holy month of Ramadan coincides with the longest drought on record in Somalia. As the sun sets and Muslims around the world gather to break their daily fasts with generous dinners, Hadiiq Abdulle Mohamed and her family have just water and whatever food might be at hand.Mohamed is among more than 1 million Somalis who have fled their homes in search of help while an estimated 43,000 people died last year alone. She and her husband and their six children now take refuge in one of the growing displacement camps around the capital, Mogadishu.Ramadan brought an increase in food prices for a country already struggling with inflation caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the withering of local crops by five consecutive failed rainy seasons. Millions of livestock that are central to people’s diets have died.Now food is even harder to come by for those displaced. For Ramadan, Mohamed and her family rely on well-wishers to provide their singl...

Assad reshuffles Syria’s Cabinet amid harsh economic crisis

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad replaced several Cabinet ministers Wednesday amid a sharp increase in prices and worsening economic conditions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, state media reported.SANA reported that Assad replaced the ministers of oil, internal trade, industry and social affairs and labor.The news agency did not give a reason for the government reshuffle, but it comes amid harsh public criticism over rising prices and food shortages during Ramadan, when observant Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk.Syria’s economy hit its lowest point this year since the start of the conflict in 2011, with spiraling inflation, a currency plunge and sharp increase in food prices.It’s the result of years of war, Western sanctions, widespread corruption and a three-year economic meltdown in neighboring Lebanon.After a Feb. 6, earthquake hit Turkey and Syria and killed more than 50,000 people, Damascus’ ties with some Arab ...

In The News for March 29: Will the Nova Scotia shooting inquiry find the answers?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 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 March 29 …What we are watching in Canada …On July 22, 2020, about three months after a gunman murdered 22 people in Nova Scotia, a procession of grieving relatives marched to the local RCMP detachment, demanding an independent and open inquiry into the rampage.On Thursday, Nick Beaton, who lost his pregnant wife in the April killings, and others, will see the result of their demands as a federal-provincial inquiry — which was announced a week after the 2020 demonstration in Bible Hill, N.S. — delivers its final report.The mass shooting began in the tranquil community of Portapique when a 51-year-old Halifax denturist assaulted his spouse, loaded his illegal firearms into in a replica RCMP vehicle and began shooting his neighbours. Thirteen people died that night, as houses set on fire by the killer created a night...

Calls mount for Taliban to free girls’ education activist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Calls mounted Wednesday for the Taliban to free a girls’ education activist arrested earlier this week in Kabul, as a government minister defended the detention.Matiullah Wesa, founder and president of Pen Path — a local nongovernmental group that travels across Afghanistan with a mobile school and library — was arrested in the Afghan capital on Monday.Since their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed restrictions on women’s and minority rights. Girls are barred from school beyond the sixth grade and last year, the Taliban banned women from going to universities.Wesa has been outspoken in his demands for girls to have the right to go to school and learn, and has repeatedly called on the Taliban-led government to reverse its bans. His most recent tweets coincided with the start of the new academic year in Afghanistan, with girls remaining shut out of classrooms and campuses.Late Tuesday, the US charge d’affaires for Afghanistan, Karen Decker, ...

N.S. mass shooting inquiry report must deliver ‘clear commentary’: family lawyer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

HALIFAX — On July 22, 2020, about three months after a gunman murdered 22 people in Nova Scotia, a procession of grieving relatives marched to the local RCMP detachment, demanding an independent and open inquiry into the rampage.Nick Beaton, who lost his pregnant wife Kristen Beaton in the April 18-19, 2020, killings, wore a sign with a photo of his young son kissing Kristen. “I miss my Mommy,” it read. “We deserve answers and the truth.”On Thursday, Beaton and others who pressed for answers will see the result of their demands as a federal-provincial inquiry — which was announced a week after the 2020 demonstration in Bible Hill, N.S. — delivers its final report.Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer who represents 14 of the victims’ families, said in an interview Tuesday they are hoping “for clear commentary on what things went wrong and what things ought to have been done better or differently.”The mass shooting began in the tranquil community of Por...

Ramadan highlights how workplaces can better support Muslim employees

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

TORONTO — Khadija Waseem loves tea and coffee, so when she told colleagues she was savouring her last cup ahead of the start of Ramadan’s fasting period last week, they were quick to tease her.“Everybody was joking, ‘Please, you’ve been drinking this in every meeting and we’ve had back-to-back meetings,'” said the Toronto-based strategy consultant at Monitor Deloitte. But the moment turned “very magical” when a colleague, who Waseem said “did not fit the identity of what we think Muslims look like,” excitedly shared that they were marking Ramadan too and had given up coffee more than a week ago.The encounter was a reminder of the camaraderie that can develop in an inclusive office, but Waseem and others know that feeling and the supportive atmosphere enabling such conversations is still lacking in many workplaces.Although Islam was Canada’s second most practised religion in 2021 with 1.8 million Muslims in the country...

Walmart and Costco in Canada not making food inflation worse: experts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:25:35 GMT

TORONTO — Experts say the Canadian presence of American retail giants such as Walmart and Costco isn’t likely to blame for rising grocery prices.That’s despite Canadian grocery chain executives having pushed for MPs to question those retailers as part of their study on food inflation.University of Toronto economist Ambarish Chandra called ongoing hearings before a parliamentary committee studying the issue, “performative,” saying all retailers seek to maximize profits despite their stated efforts to minimize price hikes.“It’s easy to call on the foreign companies and make them explain why they’re fleecing hardworking Canadians,” said Chandra.“It’s not as though American grocers are taking advantage of Canadians and Canadian grocers aren’t. The grocers are going to charge what they can get away with, what the market will bear.”His remarks come as Canadian grocers and consumersare under pressure as food prices con...