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China defends bounties offered for Hong Kong dissidents abroad

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday defended controversial bounties offered for the capture of Hong Kong dissidents who have fled abroad that have been heavily criticized by foreign governments and human rights groups. Rewards of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($128,000) have been offered for information leading to the capture of 13 opposition figures accused of violating the semi-autonomous Chinese city’s sweeping National Security Law. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China rejected the outside criticism, saying the arrest orders were “necessary and justified and … in line with international law and practice.” Without directly mentioning the bounties, Mao said other countries also have extraterritorial aspects to their laws on national security, adding that foreign governments’ support for those on the list was merely cover for their aim of destabilizing Hong Kong, an Asian financial center that was roiled by 2019 anti-government protests.“We strongly oppose and dep...

In the news today: Canada to send helicopters to Latvia as part of NATO mission

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Canada sending helicopters to LatviaFour Canadian Griffon helicopters will be sent to Latvia next year as part of a NATO deterrence mission. Defence Minister Bill Blair made the announcement this morning with defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre. The pair are visiting Canadian troops at Camp Adazi, just outside Riga, where Canada leads a NATO battle group. The number of Canadian troops in the Baltic country is set to double to around 2,200 by 2026 as NATO scales up its battle groups in the region to brigades.Feds open to delay on expanding assisted dyingFederal Justice Minister Arif Virani says the Liberal government is weighing its options on what to do about an upcoming deadline to expand medical assistance in dying to those whose sole underlying condition is a mental disorder. He made the remarks in a wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press, where he says Ot...

1 dead, 1 hospitalized after migrant boat crossing Channel deflates trying to reach Britain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French maritime authorities say they rescued more than 60 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel overnight Friday but that one of them died.Another person was rescued in critical condition and flown by helicopter to a hospital in the French port of Calais, maritime authorities said in a statement.The person who died was unconscious when they were picked up and couldn’t be revived, the statement said.It said the boat carrying the migrants had partially deflated and that some of those aboard had fallen into the sea.Rescue vessels picked up 66 people in all, including the person who died.The French coast around Calais has long been a jumping-off point for people fleeing conflict and poverty around the world seeking to reach Britain, often via dangerous and sometimes deadly sea journeys across one of the world’s busiest shipping channels.___Follow AP coverage of migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migrationThe Associated Press

Canada to pilot options for national emergency response agency in 2024: Sajjan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

OTTAWA — A new national emergency response agency may consist of regional response teams that Ottawa can call into action when disaster strikes, Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a recent interview. It is clear some kind of federal co-ordination agency is required, Sajjan said, speaking to The Canadian Press about the lessons learned after last summer’s record-breaking wildfire season. But it’s not yet clear exactly what that will look like, he said. “Yes, I believe that we will have something that’s going to be at the federal level of a response force,” Sajjan said.“I can’t give you the answer just yet because it’s important for us to really work at the ground level to get a better understanding what those needs are. Because ultimately whatever we have, at the provincial or federal level, has to respond to the emergency. We need to get that right.”Multiple reports have shown that climate change is leading to ...

‘Weighing our options’: Ottawa open to further pause to expand assisted dying rules

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is considering whether to pause its original plan tobroaden the rules that govern medically assisted dying so they include patients whose only underlying condition is a mental disorder.“We’re weighing our options,” Justice Minister Arif Virani said Thursday. It would be the second time the federal Liberals have hit pause on the plan. The first came in February, when the government decided to impose a one-year delay amid widespread public and political concern.That decision established a new deadline of March 2024 — one that now appears in jeopardy. Cabinet will consider the input of a joint parliamentary committee, as well as medical experts and other stakeholders, Virani said. “We’ll evaluate all of that comprehensively to make a decision whether we move ahead on March 17, or whether we pause,” he told The Canadian Press in a wide-ranging interview. Both options are “on the table,” he added.Back in Febr...

Freeland hosts annual meeting with provincial, territorial counterparts today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

TORONTO — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is hosting her annual meeting of federal, provincial and territorial finance ministers in Toronto today.The meeting will focus on economic growth, housing and affordability, according to a news release. But the ministers are also expected to talk pensions after holding a special meeting last month to discuss Alberta’s intentions to create its own pension plan.Alberta has since paused its public consultations on a pension plan, however, a senior federal source says there will be discussion of pensions in today’s meeting. The meeting comes as Canada continues to struggle with high inflation and high interest rates weigh on the economy. At the same time, all levels of government are facing mounting pressure to address the housing crisis by finding ways to get more homes built, faster.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2023.The Canadian Press

Glen Assoun’s daughter says probe of his wrongful conviction must become a priority

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

HALIFAX — The daughter of a wrongfully convicted Nova Scotia man says that even in death her father is being denied justice — and she is demanding a stalled criminal investigation of his case become “a priority.”Amanda Huckle says that she and her family were deeply frustrated when they learned last month that a police oversight body had stopped its three-year probe to determine whether RCMP officers broke the law when they destroyed evidence in the case that led to the conviction of her father, Glen Assoun, for murder.Assoun died in June at the age of 67.“I feel that Dad has once again been railroaded, like he has every step of the way,” Huckle said in a recent interview. “He deserves justice, and he never was able to truly experience that before he left this world …. It (the criminal investigation) needs to be a priority, instead of sidelined all the time.”In March 2019, a Nova Scotia court acquitted Assoun in the 1995 killing of his ex-gi...

Gay Ugandan in Edmonton faces deportation, fears jail or death over anti-LGBTQ law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

EDMONTON — A man in Edmonton is making a last-ditch legal bid to avoid a Monday deportation flight back to Uganda, where he fears he may be imprisoned, harmed or even killed for being gay. The man, who asked not to be identified for his safety but sometimes goes by the name Sue, said his lawyer has asked the Federal Court for one more review of his case.But he says if it doesn’t succeed, he will reluctantly get on the flight to the east African country.“No one’s expecting me, and I don’t know where I will go,” the 25-year-old told The Canadian Press in an interview. “It doesn’t matter where you go. Everywhere, people think a man like me who is gay, that it’s a curse.” Sue said he has been packing up his apartment and trying to sell belongings on Facebook since the Canada Border Services Agency ordered him to report Monday for a flight to his home country.Homosexuality has long been illegal in Uganda. Earlier this year, the country passed one...

Where is Kremlin foe Navalny? His allies say he has been moved but they still don’t know where

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The whereabouts of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny remained unknown on Friday, with penitentiary officials reporting that earlier this month he was moved from the region where he was serving time, but still not disclosing where he is, the politician’s allies said. Navalny’s lawyers haven’t seen him since Dec. 6, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Navalny has been serving a 19-year term on charges of extremism in a maximum-security prison, Penal Colony No. 6, in the town of Melekhovo in the Vladimir region, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow. He was due to be transferred to a “special security” penal colony, a facility with the highest security level in the Russian penitentiary system.Russian prison transfers are notorious for taking a long time, sometimes weeks, during which there’s no access to prisoners and information about their whereabouts is limited or unavailable. Naval...

Stock market today: World markets churn higher after the Dow logs another close

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:53:38 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — World markets powered higher on Friday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to another record close on excitement that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates several times next year. Germany’s DAX advanced 0.6% to 16,849.10 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4% at 7,604.01. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged less than 0.1% higher, to 7,650.99. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow were up 0.2%. Oil prices also gained. Hong Kong led Asia’s gains with property developers jumping after some Chinese cities eased buying restrictions.The Hang Seng surged 2.4% to 16,792.19, but the Shanghai Composite index fell back, losing 0.6% to 2,942.56. Troubled developer Country Garden’s shares jumped 5.1%, while China Evergrande gained 3.5% and Sino Ocean Holding surged 5.7%. China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that factory output rose 6.6% in November and retail sales were up more than 10%, glimmers of improvement for the economy after the...