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India seeks a greater voice for the developing world at G20 but the Ukraine war may overshadow talks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — It’s never been easy for the leaders of the world’s largest economies to find common ground, but Russia’s war on Ukraine has made it even harder for the Group of 20 meeting to reach meaningful agreements this year.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this year’s host, has pledged Ukraine won’t overshadow his focus on the needs of developing nations in the so-called Global South, but the war has proved hard to ignore. As leaders began arriving Friday, Indian diplomats were still trying to find compromise language for a joint communique. Ending the summit without such a statement would underscore how strained relations are among the world’s major powers — and tarnish the image Modi has been trying to cultivate of India as a global problem solver.“New Delhi will not want to distract from the main agenda, which is to address issues of concern for the Global South,” said Nazia Hussain, an associate research fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of Intern...

Rescuers may soon try to remove a sick American researcher from 3,000 feet down in a Turkish cave

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

TASELI PLATEAU, Turkey (AP) — An American researcher who fell ill almost 1,000 meters (more than 3,000 feet) below the entrance of a cave in Turkey has recovered sufficiently for rescue teams to start the process of moving him out, an operation that could last three or four days, a Turkish official was quoted as saying on Friday.Mark Dickey, a 40-year-old experienced caver, suddenly became ill with stomach bleeding during an expedition with a handful of others in the Morca cave in southern Turkey’s Taurus Mountains. Rescuers from across Europe have rushed there to help treat Dickey and to extract him from the cave.“The doctors we sent down were very successful in treating him,” Cenk Yildiz, a regional official from Turkey’s disaster relief agency, AFAD, told the IHA news agency. “We are now in a position to evacuate him.”“This is a difficult operation. It would take a (healthy) person 16 hours to come out. This operation will last at least three or four days,” Yildiz said. “Our prio...

Weekend need to know: TIFF, Drive Fest, Yorkville Run; TTC/road closures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

The red carpet is rolled out once again for the Toronto International Film Festival while dual strikes by Hollywood writers and actors are ongoing.Other events are happening in and around the city such as the annual Constantine Yorkville Run, Taste of North York, Taste of The Kingsway, and Drive Fest in Bowmanville.There are no scheduled subway closures this weekend, but there is a late subway opening scheduled on part of Line 2. Road closures also continue around the city for events and construction.Here’s what to do this weekend:Top eventsToronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival kicked off on Thursday on King West and runs until September 17.The festival is happening while dual strikes by Hollywood writers and actors are ongoing.Star-filled premieres and parties remain low due to this work stoppage by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America.However, some celebrities are exp...

Spanish prosecutors accuse Rubiales of sexual assault and coercion for kissing a player at World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish state prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against Luis Rubiales for sexual assault and coercion for kissing a player on the lips without her consent after the Women’s World Cup final, the country’s prosecutors’ office said Friday.Rubiales, the now-suspended president of the Spanish soccer federation, kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerJoseph Wilson, The Associated Press

Evacuation orders for areas in central Greece as a river bursts its banks and floodwaters rise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Severe rainstorms eased but floodwaters were still rising in parts of central Greece Friday, while fire department and military helicopters were plucking people from villages inundated by tons of water and mud that have left at least six dead, six missing and many people clinging to the roofs of their homes.Flooding triggered by rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing a total of 18 people in all three countries since the rains began Tuesday.In Greece, severe rainstorms that lashed the country turned streams into raging torrents that burst dams, washed away roads and bridges and hurled cars into the sea. Authorities said some areas received twice the average annual rainfall for Athens in the space of just 12 hours.The coast guard said the body of a 69-year-old man was recovered from the sea in the coastal town of Volos Friday, but added that it was not clear whether the flooding was responsible for his death. Local media reported the man sli...

Rail infrastructure in Hamburg is damaged by fires. Police suspect a political motive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A series of fires hit railway infrastructure in the German city of Hamburg overnight, causing widespread disruption to trains between Hamburg and Berlin and between the port city and the Baltic Sea coast. Police said they suspect that the damage was politically motivated.Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said that trains on the main high-speed route between Hamburg and Berlin were canceled because of vandalism. It said it was running a few trains on an alternative route that takes up to an hour longer. Long-distance trains between Hamburg and Rostock also were canceled. Deutsche Bahn said it expected the damage to be repaired by Friday evening.Hamburg police said that cable ducts next to railway lines were set on fire at three locations in the city between 2:30 and 4 a.m. They said in a statement that they suspect “a political motive as the background” and are seeking witnesses, but gave no further details of the reasons for their suspicions. The fires were all extinguish...

Police search a huge London park for a terrorism suspect who escaped from prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British police scoured a huge London park on Friday for an ex-soldier who escaped from prison while awaiting trial on terrorism charges.The Metropolitan Police confirmed that the search of Richmond Park in the city’s southwest, which involved two helicopters and officers on the ground, was connected to the hunt for Daniel Abed Khalife. The 21-year-old slipped out of Wandsworth Prison on Wednesday morning while working in the kitchen, apparently by clinging to the underside of a food-delivery truck, police said.Khalife is accused of planting fake bombs at a military base and of violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act by gathering information “that could be useful to an enemy.”He was discharged from the British army after his arrest earlier this year and had denied the allegations. His trial is set for November.His escape has prompted extra security checks at airports and the Port of Dover, the main boat crossing from England to France. But activity focused on Richmond ...

Australia and the Philippines strengthen their ties as South China Sea disputes heat up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Australia and the Philippines elevated their seven-decade ties to a strategic level Friday to broaden an alliance underpinned by their rejection of China’s increasingly provocative actions in the disputed South China Sea.Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Philippine Ferdinand Marcos signed the pact upgrading their ties in Manila. They also agreed to hold an annual meeting of their defense chiefs.Aside from an aim to further boost trade and economic engagement, Albanese said their countries “have common views about the need to uphold international law, and Australia’s position on that will continue to be consistent, as we have always been, including recently over issues relating to the South China Sea.”China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, have been locked in a decadeslong territorial standoff in the disputed waterway. It’s a key passageway for global trade and is regarded as an Asian flashpoint.ItR...

Police takedown shuts down eastbound Hwy. 401 in Durham Region

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

A police operation has shut down a stretch of Highway 401 in Durham Region on Friday morning.The eastbound lanes of the highway are closed near the Whitby-Oshawa border with all traffic being forced off at Thickson Road. Eastbound traffic can get back onto the highway at the next on-ramp at Stevenson Road.The morning highway closure is resulting in a heavy backup of traffic heading eastbound through Whitby.#listen-box {box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);animation: pulse 2s infinite;margin:20px;padding:15px;}@keyframes pulse { 0% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 157, 79, 0.7); } 70% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 10px rgba(0, 157, 79, 0); } 100% { box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 157, 79, 0); }}Listen to CityNews 680 for traffic updates LIVE now!Police tell CityNews the lanes are blocked due to a Durham Regional Police operation and takedown. No other details have been made available.The investigation is ongoing.This is a developing story. More to come.

Finland’s center-right government survives no-confidence vote over 2 right-wing ministers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:08 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s center-right government that includes nationalist and anti-immigration lawmakers survived a no-confidence motion from three opposition parties on Friday over two ministers from the right-wing populist Finns Party at the center of a racism scandal that has rocked the Nordic country.Lawmakers voted 106-65 in favor of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.Debate ahead of the vote focused on writings from 2008 and 2016 by Finance Minister Riikka Purra, leader of the Finns Party, and Economic Affairs Minister Wille Rydman, a member of the same party, which were deemed racist. The opposition, particularly the Social Democratic Party, criticized Orpo’s government for not distancing itself enough from Purra’s and Rydman’s writings and not doing enough to tackle discrimination and racism in Finland, a country of 5.5 million that became NATO’s 31st member in April.The issue has crippled the government, which took office less than three months ago after Orp...