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US lawmakers ask Biden administration to punish South Africa for alleged support for Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wants the Biden administration to punish South Africa for its alleged support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by relocating an important trade meeting to another country, according to a letter published Tuesday in The New York Times.The lawmakers said South Africa’s “aid” for Russia, including allegedly supplying Moscow with weapons, called into question its eligibility to receive trade benefits from the U.S. under a law that improved U.S. market access to qualifying sub-Saharan African countries.The letter, dated June 9, was sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.South African foreign ministry spokesperson Clayson Monyela said in a statement that the letter had been “noted” but South Africa still “enjoys the support of the U.S. government” for its hosting of the African Growth and Opportunity Act meeting.South...

Trump to appear in court in classified documents case | Live updates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Follow along for live updates on former President Donald Trump, who is set to make his first court appearance Tuesday after being indicted on 37 charges related to the mishandling classified documents. The indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president faces criminal charges by the federal government he once oversaw. ___What to know:— What to expect when Trump appears in federal court to face charges— A timeline of events leading to Trump’s indictment in the classified documents case— Trump’s GOP defenders in Congress leap into action after months of preparation— A look at the charges, the special counsel’s investigation and what’s next— Trump faces a string of inquiries in various states and venues as he campaigns for a return to the White House___MEDIA OUTNUMBERS TRUMP SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE COURTHOUSESecurity was tight outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson federal courthouse Tuesday ahead of the former president’s court appearance. But Trump supporters ...

British court orders company to compensate some Beirut port blast victims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A British court has ordered a London-based company that delivered the ammonium nitrate that exploded in 2020 at Beirut’s port to pay compensation to some families of the hundreds of victims, Beirut’s Bar Association said Tuesday.The verdict in the High Court of Justice on Monday came four months after the court ruled that London-registered chemical trading firm Savaro Ltd. is liable to the victims for the devastating blast.Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers that had been improperly stored in the port for years, exploded on Aug. 4, 2020 killing nearly 220 people, injuring over 6,000 others and causing damage in the city worth billions of dollars.Savaro Ltd. is suspected of having chartered the shipment of the ammonium nitrate in 2013 that ended up in Beirut. In Lebanon, documents show a handful of senior political, judicial and security officials were aware of the chemicals in the port for years, but did not take decisi...

Michael Andlauer reaches agreement to buy NHL’s Ottawa Senators

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A group led by Canadian businessman Michael Andlauer has reached an agreement to buy the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.The team announced Tuesday that Andlauer and his group will purchase 90% of the club from the Melnyk family. The deal is reportedly worth nearly $1 billion, which is “give or take” what Commissioner Gary Bettman expected the team in Canada’s capital to sell for.“Michael represents everything we could have hoped to find coming into this process — a passionate owner who is committed to Ottawa,” Senators chairman and governor Sheldon Plener said in a statement announcing the sale. “We believe it is a momentous day for the National Capital Region.”Anna and Olivia Melnyk, daughters of late former owner Eugene Melnyk, will retain 10% interest. Melnyk died of an undisclosed illness in March 2022 at age 62.Andlauer, 57, is the founder and CEO of a health care group with transportation options for that sector and started a private equity company ba...

CP NewsAlert: RCMP investigating foreign meddling attempts against three MPs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

OTTAWA — The RCMP says it is investigating allegations of foreign meddling against three parliamentarians, including Conservative MPs Michael Chong and Erin O’Toole and NDP MP Jenny Kwan.More coming.The Canadian Press

‘Obamacare’ will still cover prevention for HIV, other illnesses amid court battle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

The government can keep enforcing “Obamacare” requirements that health insurance plans cover preventative care — such as HIV prevention, some types of cancer screenings and other illnesses — while a legal battle over the mandates plays out, under a court agreement approved Tuesday.The pact approved by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals preserves — at least for now — cost-free preventive care coverage for millions of Americans under the Affordable Care Act. That coverage was thrown into question by a March ruling from a federal judge in Texas, who said some of the preventive care requirements under former President Barack Obama’s 13-year-old health care law are unconstitutional. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had nationwide effects. The Biden administration had argued last week at the appeals court that the ruling should be stayed while appeals are pursued. The agreement was filed with the court Monday. In it, the plaintiffs in the case, including a Christia...

Police investigating suspicious fires at Vaughan business after several trucks destroyed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

Police are searching for a suspect following two suspicious fires at a business in Vaughan.York Regional Police say a truck was lit on fire outside a business in the area of Highway 50 and Rutherford Road around 4:30 a.m. on Friday.Officers were called to the same location for another fire two days later. Investigators say multiple trucks with fixed trailers were allegedly set on fire around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday.Police say nine vehicles were damaged and seven were completely destroyed.Investigators have determined a male suspect deliberately set fire to one of the trucks. No suspect description has been released.No injuries were reported in either incident.The Ontario Fire Marshal is also investigating. Anyone with information is being asked to contact police.

The Beatles are releasing their ‘final’ record. AI helped make it possible

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Artificial intelligence has been used to extract John Lennon’s voice from an old demo to create “the last Beatles record,” decades after the band broke up, Paul McCartney said Tuesday.McCartney, 80, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate the Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.” The “new” song is set to be released later this year, he said.Jackson was “able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette and a piano,” McCartney told BBC radio. “He could separate them with AI, he’d tell the machine ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar’.”“So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had that we worked on,” he added. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI so then we could mix the record as you would do. It gives you some sort of leeway.”...

Creative ice cream flavors could make this a sweet, savory, scoop-worthy summer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

Travel anywhere on the planet and you’ll find some version of ice cream. Grab a lemon gelato in Italy; a stick of butterscotch kulfi in Nepal; a cinnamon paleta bar in Mexico. If you’re in Seoul, try a “J”-shaped puffed corn cone filled with soft ice cream.North Americans tend to be loyal to chocolate, vanilla and cookies ‘n’ cream, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. We like our half gallons or waffle cones stuffed with the fondly familiar.Still, the world of ice cream isn’t immune to change, and like any culinary domain, it’s evolving. Recent years have seen an explosion of novel flavor combos, unexpected ingredients and new presentations from ice cream makers large and small, food editors say.On the flavor front, there are floral ingredients like rose, orange blossom, lavender and jasmine, and herbal notes like saffron and tarragon. Unusual combos of savory and sweet are another trend.“ Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream has an ‘Everything Bagel’ flavor fea...

COVID-19 inquiry in UK asks whether ‘terrible consequences’ could have been avoided or reduced

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A mammoth three-year public inquiry into the U.K. government’s handling of the response to COVID-19 opened Tuesday by asking if some suffering and death could have been avoided with better planning — and whether Britain’s complex, protracted exit from the European Union distracted authorities from preparing for potential threats.Lawyer Hugo Keith, who is counsel to the inquiry, said the coronavirus pandemic had brought “death and illness on an unprecedented scale” in modern Britain. He said that COVID-19 had been recorded as a cause of death for 226,977 people in the U.K.“The key issue is whether that impact was inevitable,” Keith said. “Were those terrible consequences inexorable, or were they avoidable or capable of mitigation?”A group of people who lost relatives to COVID-19 held pictures of their loved one outside the inquiry venue, an anonymous London office building. The first day of public hearings began with a 17-minute video in which people describ...