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Top diplomats meet in North Macedonia for OSCE but some boycott Lavrov’s expected attendance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Top diplomats from more than 50 countries were arriving in North Macedonia on Wednesday while others boycotted the expected presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had said they would not attend the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe talks due to Lavrov’s participation during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a brief stop in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, for the meeting but was to leave for Israel hours later. He was not expected to encounter Lavrov, who was due in Skopje late Wednesday.Blinken accused Russia of “flagrant violations of every single core principle” of Cold War efforts to ease East-West tensions that led to the creation of the OSCE, and “relentless efforts to obstruct the OSCE’s work.”Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels earlier Wednesday, Blinken added that the other OSCE me...

Man wanted in hate-motivated assault after woman punched during demonstration last month

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

Police have released an images of a suspect wanted in a hate-motivated assault during a demonstration in downtown Toronto last month. Investigators say a suspect approached a woman on a sidewalk observing a demonstration in the area of University Avenue and College Street on Oct. 29. She was holding a Canadian flag and a poster of an Israeli hostage when a man, along with four or five other males, surrounded and began yelling at her. Police say the man punched the woman, then ripped her poster and stomped on her flag before fleeing the scene. The man is described as between 40 to 60 years old and five-foot-nine. He was last seen wearing a black coat, a blue baseball hat and a blue medical mask. Police say the investigation is being as a hate-motivated offence, meaning if the person is charged and convicted the judge will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence.

U.S. says alleged murder plotter was directed by India and mentioned B.C. killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

OTTAWA — American prosecutors say a man allegedly involved in a murder plot against a Sikh activist on U.S. soil also discussed the killing of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar, just hours after Nijjar was gunned down outside a British Columbia temple.The murder-for-hire indictment against Nikhil Gupta, 52, says he told an undercover officer who he thought was a hit man that Nijjar “was also the target,” and because he was dead, there was “no need to wait” on the next killing.The indictment says Gupta was recruited by an Indian government employee to orchestrate the killing of the activist, who isn’t named in the document, but has previously been identified by U.S. officials as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.The indictment unsealed in Manhattan Federal Court says Gupta told an undercover officer the day after Nijjar’s murder in Surrey, B.C., last June that “we have so many targets.”It says the plot was directed by an Indian government employee who has descri...

Video of rich kid beating parking guard outrages Mexico, already plagued by class divisions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An expensive private high school in Mexico said Wednesday it has suspended and may expel a student who was caught on video beating a parking lot attendant at his housing complex. It was the latest in a decade-long string of beatings of working-class Mexicans by wealthy people that have caused anger in a country riven by stark income disparities. The incident happened in the central state of Puebla, where income inequality is particularly sharp.The state governor said that racism and classism may have been behind the incident, which he said occurred Tuesday. Gov. Salomón Céspedes called on prosecutors to consider bringing criminal charges in the case.The high school student, whose name authorities have not yet confirmed, was seen on security camera footage that went viral this week. He is seen rushing into the guard shack and punching the smaller employee ruthlessly and repeatedly. The student was reportedly angry because his automatic parking pass wouldn’t work. “...

China presents UN with vague Mideast peace plan as US promotes its own role in easing the Gaza war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China on Wednesday presented the United Nations Security Council with a four-point plan for Middle East peace in a demonstration of its ambitions to be a global superpower. But the plan was short on details, and the United States quickly reminded the council of its attempts to ease the Gaza war. China has had little role in negotiations over the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which have been largely monopolized by the United States for decades. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the council that the war shows the urgent need for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.“We should revitalize the political prospects of the two-state solution with stronger determination,” he said. The lack of a Palestinian state is “the crux of the repeated turbulence in the Palestinian-Israeli situation,” he said.U.S. President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials also have spoken in favor of working toward a two-state solution for the conflict.China made its biggest foray into Middle...

Investigation opened after Saguenay, Que., police kill man allegedly armed with knife

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

SAGUENAY, Que. — Quebec’s police watchdog says it is investigating after police in Saguenay, Que., shot and killed a man who was allegedly armed with a knife.The agency, known as the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, says police in the city about 180 kilometres north of Quebec City received a 911 call reporting a stabbing shortly after 10 a.m. on Tuesday.The agency says in a news release that officers arrived a few minutes later and reported seeing an individual with a knife.It says the officers ordered the man to drop the weapon, and when he didn’t, they attempted to use a stun gun to stop him.However, it says, the individual continued to advance toward the officers with the knife in his hand.It says one of the police officers then shot the man, who was declared dead at the scene.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2023. The Canadian Press

Lawsuit seeks $5M for Black former delivery driver who says white men shot at him in Mississippi

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Black former delivery driver in Mississippi who says two white men shot into his work van and then pursued him in a high-speed chase last year has filed a new lawsuit against the men and his former employer, FedEx.This is the second civil suit on behalf of D’Monterrio Gibson, and it seeks at least $5 million. The two men were tried for attempted murder and other charges but a judge declared a mistrial this summer.Gibson was not wounded during the encounter on Jan. 24, 2022, in Brookhaven, about an hour’s drive south of Jackson. FedEx made him return to work on the same route, and that caused him to have “depression, stress, anxiety, loss of sleep, and emotional pain and suffering,” according to the lawsuit. It was filed by attorney Carlos Moore on Nov. 20 in state court.FedEx spokesperson Austin Kemker said in a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press: “Our top priority is always the safety and well-being of our employees. FedEx denies the allegatio...

Deutsche Bank was keen to land a ‘whale’ of a client in Trump, documents at his fraud trial show

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Deutsche Bank viewed Donald Trump as a “whale” of a client, was eager to land him and eagerly cultivated a relationship that grew from $13,000 worth of revenue to $6 million in two years, according to documents presented Wednesday at the former president’s civil fraud trial. The bank’s dealings with Trump are a key issue in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, which accuses Trump, his company and some executives of hoodwinking lenders and insurers by presenting them with grossly inflated statements of his asset values. The defendants deny any wrongdoing. They have sought to show that the bank felt delighted, not deceived, by Trump and courted his business.“We are whale hunting,” then-bank managing director Rosemary Vrablic wrote colleagues in November 2011, after she had been introduced to Trump’s son Donald Jr. but had yet to meet the elder Trump. The bankers used “whale” to refer to a very wealthy client, Vrablic testified Wedne...

Senators need to ‘get out of the way’ and pass carbon price bill: Tory MP

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

OTTAWA — Ontario Conservative MP Adam Chambers says senators should, in his words, “learn their place in a democracy” and go back to being what he calls “invisible” instead of holding up a carbon pricing farm bill.The Conservatives insist the “unelected” Senate is blocking a bill that would remove the carbon levy from natural gas and propane that’s used on farms. MPs will vote later today on a Conservative motion exhorting the Senate to stop stalling and pass the bill, which the House of Commons voted for last spring.The government exempted gasoline and diesel used on farms from carbon pricing because there are no alternatives, but say there are steps farmers can take to reduce their use of natural gas and propane.Farmers have complained that carbon pricing is costing them tens of thousands of dollars, and that alternatives and efficiencies that would lower their carbon price bills are too expensive.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Sen...

Jets begin Aaron Rodgers' 21-day practice window in next step in recovery from torn Achilles tendon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:43 GMT

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers' improbable comeback from a torn Achilles tendon has taken the next step.The New York Jets opened the 21-day practice window for the quarterback on Wednesday — exactly 11 weeks after he had surgery — with Rodgers cleared for some football activities.Coach Robert Saleh said the four-time NFL MVP, who turns 40 on Saturday, will be limited at practice and is not cleared for contact. Saleh said there's no added risk in taking this step, emphasizing it's not necessarily a signal that Rodgers will play again this season as much as it is the next part of the quarterback's rehabilitation process.“For Aaron, what he will be doing in practice is no different than what he'd be doing on the field, with regards to certain drills and individual (drills),” Saleh said. “Instead of throwing with staff members, he's throwing with teammates.”At the end of the 21-day period, the Jets will have to make a decision whether to activate him or he'll spend the rest of ...