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Sudanese army, rivals announce another cease-fire

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s military and its paramilitary rival each have announced that they will abide by a 24-hour cease-fire, starting Wednesday evening, after a previous attempt at a truce failed a day earlier.The military said in a statement that the truce had begun at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday, that it was “for humanitarian purposes” and would last until the next evening, “depending on whether the other side adheres to its provisions.” Earlier in the day, its opponent, the Rapid Support Forces, had said it would abide by a 24-hour truce starting in the evening. A similar pause Tuesday night fell apart almost immediately, and it was not clear if the new attempt would hold. Residents in Omdurman, the city adjacent to the capital Khartoum, said they still heard sporadic gunfire and explosions after the announced truce took effect.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Terrified Sudanese who have been trapped for days in th...

Quebec government moves to ban flavoured vape products, limit nicotine content

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

MONTREAL — The Quebec government is modifying the province’s anti-tobacco law to crack down on vaping, including by banning the sale of flavoured products.The new regulations tabled Wednesday would prevent the sale of vape products in flavours other than tobacco, cap the nicotine content to 20 milligrams per millilitre, and limit the size of capsules and refill containers.The new rules would also restrict the sale of vaping products in “the form of a toy, a jewel, a food, an animal or a real or fictional character or any other form, appearance or function which may be attractive to minors,” according to a draft in the official government journal, Gazette officielle du Québec.Health Minister Christian Dubé says the changes are designed to better protect Quebecers, especially young people.Banning flavoured vapes is “excessively important” to the government, and follows a similar move to ban flavoured cigarettes a few years ago, he told reporters in Quebec...

Anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. launches presidential campaign

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched his longshot bid to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination next year. Kennedy, a member of one of the country’s most famous political families who has in recent years been linked to some far-right figures, kicked off his campaign in Boston on Wednesday and likened his campaign to the American revolution.“My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country,” Kennedy said.Self-help author Marianne Williamson is also running for the Democratic nomination. Biden has said he’s planning on running again but has not formally announced a campaign. He’s expected to have a glide path to the nomination, with much of the Democratic establishment behind him.Kennedy, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of his sla...

Weston C.I. in hold and secure after kids threatened to shoot at school: Police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

A Toronto high school is in hold and secure after threats were made towards the school.Officers are on scene at Weston Collegiate Institute after getting reports that credible threats were made towards the school around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.Police say a group of kids threatened to shoot at the school. The school has been placed in a hold and secure as a precaution.No injuries have been reported.POLICE INVESTIGATION:Weston Collegiate Institute11:38am– reports of a threat made to the school– group of kids threaten to shoot at the school– school is in hold and secure – no injuries– police are o/s investigating#GO865713^se— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) April 19, 2023 

Board OKs Microsoft data center in southeastern Wisconsin

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

RACINE, Wis. (AP) — Local leaders have approved plans for a massive Microsoft data center in a southeast Wisconsin village where the world’s largest electronics manufacturer has a huge campus.The Racine County Board of Supervisors voted 18-1 on Tuesday to approve the software and internet services company’s $1 billion project on 315 acres of land in Mount Pleasant, WDJT-TV reported. Mount Pleasant is already home to a production site for Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group.Microsoft must begin the first phase of construction by July 2026 and begin the second phase by July 2033. Microsoft must purchase the land for $50 million by July 31, 2023, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported.The Associated Press

Alberta’s United Conservative government releases ‘aspirational’ plan on climate

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

EDMONTON — Alberta’s United Conservative Party government is releasing a plan that it hopes will take the province to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.The plan, which describes itself as “aspirational,” relies heavily on technologies such as carbon capture and storage.However, it contains few details on the pace of investment and construction required to achieve that goal.The plan also promises to consider a lower greenhouse gas cap from the oilsands and tougher fuel emissions standards. It says methane emissions standards will also be more stringent and the climate effects are also to be considered in provincial land-use decisions.Alberta Environment officials say it’s the first time the province has set a net-zero target. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023.The Canadian Press

Mexican president still vows to give National Guard to Army

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president vowed Wednesday to try again to give control of the National Guard to the Army, despite a Supreme Court ruling against such a move. The Supreme Court had ruled Tuesday that the Constitution mandates that the Guard, which is now Mexico’s main federal law enforcement agency, must be kept under civilian control within the Public Safety Department. But President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he hopes his party can win a two-thirds majority in Congress in the June 2024 elections, and change the Constitution. For now, López Obrador said he would instruct the Public Safety Department — a civilian agency — to appoint a retired general to lead the quasi-military guard.López Obrador says Army control of the National Guard is needed to prevent the force from becoming corrupt, as he claimed the now-dissolved Federal Police had become.About 80% of the National Guard’s 130,000 members are active-duty soldiers on loan from the Army and Navy, whe...

Allies must balance ‘friendshoring’ with opening trade: U.S. Chamber of Commerce head

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

OTTAWA — United States chambers of commerce are pushing Washington and Ottawa to strike the right balance between protecting supply chains and maintaining free trade across the continent.The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Suzanne Clark, said in a speech this morning in Ottawa that Washington will only make life more expensive and business more challenging if it doubles down on protectionist policies.Clark also argues that the American policy of “friendshoring,” which holds that allies should rely on each other to make supply chains more resilient, could have the opposite effect if it’s applied to more than just goods and services that pose considerations for national security. The chamber also wants Ottawa to open up Canada’s protected dairy sector, and to halt taxes and regulations on American digital companies such as Netflix and Google.Clark praised Canada for signing onto new trade deals with Europe and countries along the Pacific Rim, saying Washi...

Toronto warming centres would open at -5 C under proposed changes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

Warming centres for those who need shelter should open in Toronto when temperatures drop to -5 C, city staff recommend in a new report, a proposal that would lower a threshold advocates have long criticized as cruel and arbitrary.The city currently opens warming centres when temperatures dip to -15 C, or -20 C. The proposed policy update to be presented at a council committee next week could see that change this year and is supported by Toronto Public Health.Coun. Shelley Carroll called the proposed change “an important first step”.“Staff will continue to work to secure additional warming centre sites, expand access to our existing sites, and advance our housing goals so homelessness in our city becomes a rare and brief experience,” Carroll, who chairs the Economic and Community Development Committee, wrote in a statement.Warming centres are billed as a surge response for the city’s shelter system during periods of cold weather, offering at minimum a pl...

Texas cheerleaders shot after one says she got in wrong car

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:57:19 GMT

ELGIN, Texas (AP) — A man shot and wounded two cheerleaders in a Texas supermarket parking lot after one of them said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own — the latest in a string of recent U.S. shootings apparently sparked by someone showing up at the wrong place.The shooting in Elgin, east of Austin, happened early Tuesday in a parking lot that serves as a carpool pickup spot for members of the Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, team owner Lynne Shearer said.Heather Roth, one of four team members transferring rides in the lot after practice, said she got out of her friend’s car and into a car she thought was hers, but there was a stranger in the passenger seat, KTRK-TV reported. She said she panicked and got back into her friend’s car, but the man got out of his vehicle and approached. She said she tried to apologize through her friend's car window, but the man threw up his hands, pulled out a gun and opened fire.Roth was grazed by a bullet and was treated at t...