CityNews Halifax
Federal government invests $2.3M to upgrade Banook Canoe Club
The federal government is providing more than 2 million dollars to help “green” a popular local canoe club. Veteran’s Affairs Minister and Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP Darren Fisher ...More ...
The federal government is providing more than 2 million dollars to help “green” a popular local canoe club.
Veteran’s Affairs Minister and Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP Darren Fisher has announced that the Banook Canoe Club will receive 2.3 million dollars in federal funding.
This investment will be used to upgrade the club to make it more accessible and energy-efficient.
The club has been undergoing renovations to repair its aging building since 2022, and the federal government says this new funding will support the next phase of those renovations.
These upgrades will include the installation of an accessible lift, ramps, and washrooms. Solar panels will be installed, along with other energy-efficient improvements.
The government states that these enhancements are expected to reduce the Banook Canoe Club’s energy consumption by as much as 80 percent.
The president of the club’s board of directors, Deborah Windsor, says the funding will help the club reach the finish line with its project.
3 Mar 2025 09:33:16
CityNews Halifax
MacPass Plus no longer accepted for parking at Halifax Airport
If you use a MacPass Plus to park at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, you will need to find another way to pay for parking going forward. Starting today, people will no longer be able to ac ...More ...
If you use a MacPass Plus to park at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, you will need to find another way to pay for parking going forward.
Starting today, people will no longer be able to access parking facilities at the Halifax Airport using MacPass Plus. This change is part of the preparation for the removal of tolls from the Halifax Harbour Bridges, which will take effect in April.
The Halifax Airport Authority states that anyone who had a MacPass Plus and used it for airport parking will now need to take a ticket upon entering the parking facilities and use other payment options.
Customers who used MacPass Plus to park in these facilities before March 3 will still be able to exit using MacPass Plus and will be charged for parking as usual.
Halifax Harbour Bridges also mentioned that people with a balance on their MacPass will receive a refund.
Tolls on the MacKay and MacDonald Bridges will be removed on April 1, and work is currently underway to remove the toll booths.
3 Mar 2025 09:23:14
CityNews Halifax
A West African mission sent to Guinea-Bissau to resolve dispute leaves following president’s threats
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A mission by a West African regional bloc sent to Guinea-Bissau to resolve a dispute over elections there has left the country, following threats by President Umaro Sissoco Emb ...More ...
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A mission by a West African regional bloc sent to Guinea-Bissau to resolve a dispute over elections there has left the country, following threats by President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, according to a statement.
The dispute over the end date of Embalo’s term has escalated tensions and raised fears of unrest in the small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau, which has endured multiple coups since gaining independence from Portugal over 50 years ago.
The opposition argues that Embalo’s term, which began in 2020, should have ended last week while the country’s supreme court ruled that it ends on Sept. 4. Last month, Embalo announced that the next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on Nov. 30.
The bloc, known as ECOWAS, said its mission left early on Saturday. It was deployed from Feb. 21 to Feb. 28 together with the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel to help broker a consensus on when to hold the presidential election.
ECOWAS is West Africa’s top political and economic authority, often collaborating with states to solve various domestic challenges. In recent years, however, it has struggled to reverse coups in the region and disputes with citizens complaining of not benefitting from their country’s natural resources.
Embalo says he has survived two attempts to overthrow him. After the most recent one in Dec. 2023, which involved a shootout between the national and presidential guard, he dissolved the opposition-controlled parliament, accusing it of passivity.
Last week, Embalo met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss potential economic and security ties as Russia has emerged as the security partner of choice for a growing number of African governments, displacing traditional allies such as France and the United States.
Mark Banchereau, The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 09:13:37
CityNews Halifax
Israel is criticized after it bars Gaza aid to pressure Hamas to accept a new ceasefire proposal
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel faced sharp criticism as it stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if a fragile cea ...More ...
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel faced sharp criticism as it stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if a fragile ceasefire isn’t extended.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of violating humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon.
The ceasefire’s first phase saw a surge in humanitarian aid after months of growing hunger. Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the next phase Sunday hours after its first phase had ended and called Israel’s decision to cut off aid “a war crime and a blatant attack” on a truce that took a year of negotiations before taking hold in January.
In the second phase, Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an Israeli pullout from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire. Negotiations on the second phase were meant to start a month ago but haven’t begun.
Israel backs a new proposal to speed up the release of hostages
Israel said Sunday that a new U.S. proposal calls for extending the ceasefire through Ramadan — the Muslim holy month that began over the weekend — and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends April 20.
Under that proposal, Hamas would release half the hostages on the first day and the rest when an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The militants currently hold 59 hostages, 35 of them believed to be dead.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the United States would support whatever decision Israel makes, without commenting on the new proposal. Netanyahu said Israel is fully coordinated with the Trump administration and the ceasefire will only continue as long as Hamas keeps releasing hostages.
The UN and others warn against aid cutoff
Saying the ceasefire has saved countless lives, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that “any unraveling of the forward momentum created over the last six weeks risks plunging people back into despair.”
U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called Israel’s decision “alarming,” noting that international humanitarian law makes clear that aid access must be allowed.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged all parties to make every effort to prevent a return to hostilities in Gaza, and called for humanitarian aid to flow back into Gaza immediately and for the release of all hostages, said spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
Five non-governmental groups asked Israel’s Supreme Court for an interim order barring the state from preventing aid from entering Gaza, claiming the move violates Israel’s obligations under international law: “These obligations cannot be condition on political considerations.”
The war has left most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million dependent on international aid. About 600 aid trucks had entered daily since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, easing fears of famine raised by international experts.
But residents said prices shot up as word of the closure spread.
From the heavily destroyed Jabaliya urban refugee camp, Fayza Nassar said the closure would worsen dire conditions.
“There will be famine and chaos,” she said.
Hamas warned that any attempt to delay or cancel the ceasefire agreement would have “humanitarian consequences” for the hostages. The only way to free them is through the existing deal, the group said.
Families of hostages again pressed Israel’s government.
“Postponing the negotiation on the deal for everyone’s (release) can’t happen,” Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran, said in Tel Aviv. “Hostages don’t have time to wait for an ideal deal.”
Israel was accused of blocking aid throughout the war
Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in the war’s opening days and only eased it under U.S. pressure. U.N. agencies and aid groups accused Israel of not facilitating enough aid during 15 months of war.
The International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used “starvation as a method of warfare” when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last year. The allegation is also central to South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel has denied the accusations. It says it has allowed in enough aid and blamed shortages on what it called the U.N.’s inability to distribute it. It also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid — an allegation that Netanyahu repeated Sunday.
Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, said Israel as an occupying power has an “absolute duty” to facilitate humanitarian aid under the Geneva Conventions, and called Israel’s decision “a resumption of the war-crime starvation strategy” that led to the ICC warrant.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children. It does not specify how many of the dead were combatants.
Israeli bombardment pounded large areas of Gaza to rubble and displaced some 90% of the population.
___
This story has been corrected to show that 35 of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead, not 32.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Tia Goldenberg And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 07:54:34
CityNews Halifax
Myanmar’s head of military government travels to ally Russia for talks with Putin
BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military government traveled to Russia on Monday on an official visit to a major ally of the Southeast Asian nation that has been shunned by much of the West f ...More ...
BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military government traveled to Russia on Monday on an official visit to a major ally of the Southeast Asian nation that has been shunned by much of the West for overthrowing a democratically elected government and subsequent brutal repression.
Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who departed from the military airport in the capital, Naypyitaw, will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The general is accompanied by fellow members of the ruling military council and Cabinet, as well as military officials, state television MRTV reported.
The report said Min Aung Hlaing will also meet with other top Russian officials and discuss bilateral ties, economic affairs and security with the aim to strengthen strategic cooperation.
Russia, along with China, is a major supporter and arms supplier of Myanmar’s military government. Russian-made fighter jets are used in attacks on territory under the control of ethnic minority groups, many of which are allies with pro-democracy resistance forces.
Russia defends Myanmar’s military government in international forums, and the ruling generals generally support Moscow’s foreign policy agenda.
Western nations have ostracized Myanmar’s ruling generals and maintain economic and political sanctions against them because of their takeover and violent repression of opposition, which has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and given rise to an armed conflict widely seen as a civil war.
The trip is Min Aung Hlaing’s fourth to Russia since his army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. His one known previous meeting with Putin was on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum held in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok in September 2022.
Russia and Myanmar have also held joint military drills and signed a pact on developing nuclear power. Myanmar’s military government is planning to allow general laborers to go to Russia for work.
The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 06:55:53
CityNews Halifax
PHOTO COLLECTION: AP Top Photos 97th Academy Awards
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors. The Associated Press ...More ...
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 06:54:55
CityNews Halifax
PHOTO COLLECTION: 97th Academy Awards Governors Ball
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors. The Associated Press ...More ...
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 05:39:06
CityNews Halifax
Freeman praises Gene Hackman, Goldberg and Winfrey give love to Quincy Jones in Oscars tributes
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Oscars brought a somber elegy for Gene Hackman and a joyful tribute to Quincy Jones on Sunday night. In a late addition to the ceremony, Morgan Freeman praised the two-time Os ...More ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Oscars brought a somber elegy for Gene Hackman and a joyful tribute to Quincy Jones on Sunday night.
In a late addition to the ceremony, Morgan Freeman praised the two-time Oscar winner and his two-time co-star Hackman, five days after the actor and his wife were found dead in their New Mexico.
“This week our community lost a giant, and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman,” a solemn Freeman said. “He received two Oscars and more importantly he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”
Freeman concluded, “Gene always said, ‘I don’t think about legacy. I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work.’ So I think I speak for us all when I say Gene, you will be remembered for that and for so much more. Rest in peace, my friend.”
Freeman and Hackman co-starred in 2000’s “Under Suspicion” and in the 1992 Clint Eastwood Western “Unforgiven” — the movie that earned Hackman his second Oscar. He won his first for 1971’s ”The French Connection.”
The 95-year-old Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were found dead at their home in Santa Fe on Wednesday. The cause remains under investigation.
The tone was very different as Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg introduced a musical tribute to Jones, who died Nov. 3 at age 91.
“When one hears the name Quincy Jones, one’s first thought is musical genius,” Winfrey said. “But the man, our beloved Q, had an equally profound impact on the world of film, as a composer and producer.”
Goldberg added, “When we talk about black excellence, we’re talking about Quincy.”
They then introduced Queen Latifah, who gave a spirited gospel-style rave-up of “Ease on Down the Road,” a song from “The Wiz,” whose soundtrack Jones, a seven-time Oscar nominee, produced. The performance included dozens of dancers and backing vocals from the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Jones got a de facto tribute at the beginning of the show when Cynthia Erivo belted out “Home” from “The Wiz” in her opening medley with “Wicked” castmate Ariana Grande.
Winfrey and Goldberg were castmates in 1985’s “The Color Purple.” Jones was a producer of the Steven Spielberg-directed film and co-wrote the score.
“He actually discovered me for ‘The Color Purple,’ which was my first film,” Winfrey said.
Two weeks after his death, Jones was bestowed his second honorary Oscar at November’s Governors Awards.
The Hackman segment was followed by the annual “in memoriam” montage of film figures who died since the last Academy Awards.
It included director David Lynch and actors Maggie Smith, Teri Garr, Joan Plowright, Donald Sutherland, Louis Gossett Jr., Shelley Duvall and James Earl Jones.
Most of them were highlighted with brief clips amid the musical montage.
“I am a professional actress!” Garr said in hers, a scene from “Tootsie.”
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For full coverage of this year’s Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 04:40:37
CityNews Halifax
Strip club Cinderella story ‘Anora’ wins best picture at 97th Academy Awards
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Anora,” a strip club Cinderella story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker’s gritty, Brookly ...More ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Anora,” a strip club Cinderella story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker’s gritty, Brooklyn-set screwball farce Hollywood’s top prize.
In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, “Anora,” the Palme d’Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker’s tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch – unusually explicit for a best-picture winner – was made for just $6 million.
But Oscar voters, eschewing blockbuster contenders like “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two,” instead on Sunday added “Anora” to a string of recent indie best picture winners, including “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “CODA” and “Nomadland.” “Anora” went home with five big awards, including four for its scrappy indie director. Baker won best director, best screenplay and best editing.
For a film industry that’s been transformed by streaming and humbled by economic turmoil, Baker and “Anora” epitomized a kind of cinematic purity. On the campaign trail, Baker called for the return to the 90-day exclusive theatrical release.
“Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater,” Baker said Sunday. “Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen.”
In personally winning four Oscars, Baker tied the mark held by Walt Disney, who won for four different films in 1954. That Baker and Disney share the record is ironic; his “The Florida Project” took place in a low-budget motel in the shadow of Disney World.
“Long live independent film!” shouted Baker from the Dolby Theatre stage.
Other awards spread around
Eight of the 10 movies nominated for best picture came away with at least one award at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, in a ceremony buoyantly hosted by Conan O’Brien that favored song and dance over strong political statements. Acting awards went to Madison,Adrien Brody,Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña.
Twenty-two years after winning best actor for “The Pianist,” Brody won the same Oscar again for his performance as another Holocaust survivor in Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist. His win came over Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), who had the chance of becoming the youngest best actor ever, a record owned by Brody.
“I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and othering,” said Brody. “I pray for a healthier and happier and more inclusive world. If the past can teach us anything it’s to not let hate go unchecked.”
Madison won best actress for her breakthrough performance in “Anora,” a victory that came over the category favorite, Demi Moore (“The Substance”). Both she and Baker spoke, as they did at the Cannes Film Festival where “Anora” won the Palme d’Or, about honoring the lives of sex workers.
Netflix’s beleaguered contender “Emilia Pérez,” the lead nominee going into the show, weathered the scandal caused by offensive tweets by star Karla Sofía Gascón, to pick up awards for best song and best supporting actress, for Saldaña.
“I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands,” said Saldaña. “I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last.”
An expected win and an upset
The night’s first award, presented by Robert Downey Jr., went to Kieran Culkin for best supporting actor. Culkin has cruised through the season, picking up award after award, for his performance alongside Jesse Eisenberg in “A Real Pain.”
“I have no idea how I got here,” said Culkin, “I’ve just been acting my whole life.”
The biggest upset early on came in the best animated feature category. “Flow,” the wordless Latvian film upset DreamWorks Animations’ “The Wild Robot.” The win for “Flow,” an ecological parable about a cat in a flooded world, was the first Oscar ever for a Latvian film.
“Thank you to my cats and dogs,” director Gints Zilbalodis accepting the award.
‘Wicked’ and ‘The Brutalist’ each wins two
“Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo kicked off the ceremony with a tribute to Los Angeles following the wildfires that devastated the Southern California metropolis earlier this year. Grande sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and Erivo performed Diana Ross’ “Home” before the “Wicked” stars joined together for “Defying Gravity” from their blockbuster big-screen musical.
Later, “Wicked,” the biggest box-office hit among the best-picture nominees, won awards for production design and costume design.
“I’m the first Black man to receive the costume design award,” said costume designer Paul Tazewell, who couldn’t finish that sentence before the crowd began to rise in a standing ovation. “I’m so proud of this.”
Best makeup and hairstyling went to “The Substance” for its gory creations of beauty and body horror. “Dune: Part Two” won for both visual effects and sound, and its sandworm — arguably the star of the night — figured into multiple gags throughout the evening.
Brady Corbet’s sprawling postwar epic “The Brutalist,” shot in VistaVision, won for its cinematography, by Lol Crawley, and its score, by Daniel Blumberg.
Politics go unmentioned, at first
Though the Oscars featured the first time an actor was nominated for portraying a sitting U.S. president (Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump in “The Apprentice”), politics went largely unmentioned in the first half of the ceremony.
The president’s name was never uttered during the nearly four-hour ceremony. While the show featured several striking political moments, much of this year’s Oscars was more dedicated to considering the fluctuating place of movies in today’s culture, and in Los Angeles’ resilience following the devastating wildfires of January.
O’Brien avoided politics completely in his opening monologue. The first exception was nearly two hours in, when presenter Daryl Hannah announced simply: “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine!”)
“No Other Land,” a documentary about Israeli occupation of the West Bank made by a collation of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers, won best documentary. After failing to find a U.S. distributor, the filmmakers opted to self-distribute “No Other Land.” It grossed more than any other documentary nominee.
“There is a different path, a political solution, without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both our people,” said Yuval Abraham, an Israeili, speaking beside co-director Basel Adra, a Palestinian. “And I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path. Why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined, that my people can’t be truly safe if Basel’s people aren’t truly free?
Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” a portrait of resistance under the Brazilian military dictatorship, won best international film. At one point, that award seemed a lock for “Emilia Pérez,” the lead nominee with 13 nods and backed by a robust campaign by Netflix.
But while “Emilia Pérez” collapsed, “I’m Still Here” rode a wave of passionate support in Brazil and political timeliness elsewhere.
O’Brien scores in opening
O’Brien, introduced as “four-time Oscar viewer,” opened the ceremony with genial ribbing of the nominees and the former talk-show host’s trademark self-deprecation.
“‘A Complete Unknown.’ ‘A Real Pain.’ ‘Nosferatu.’ These are just some of the names I was called on the red carpet,” said O’Brien.
O’Brien, hosting for the first time, avoided any political commentary in his opening remarks, but the monologue was a smash hit. O’Brien lent on the disappointed face of John Lithgow, a full-throated “Chalamet!” from Adam Sandler and a gag of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos being delivered to the red carpet in a cardboard box.
O’Brien’s most sincere comments were reserved for Los Angeles, itself, in speaking about the enduring “magic and grandeur” of film in wake of the wildfires. O’Brien, whose house in the Pacific Palisades was spared by the fires, then segued into a musical routine, singing: “I won’t waste time.”
An unpredictable Oscar year
This year’s Oscars, among the most unpredictable in years, unspooled after a turbulent year for the film industry. Ticket sales were down 3% from the previous year and more significantly from pre-pandemic times. The strikes of 2023 played havoc with release schedules in 2024. Many studios pulled back on production, leaving many out of work. The fires, in January, only added to the pain.
Last year’s telecast, propelled by the twin blockbusters of “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” led the Oscars to a four-year viewership high, with 19.5 million viewers. This year, with smaller independent films favored in the most prominent awards, the academy will be tested to draw as large of an audience.
The ceremony took place days following the death of Gene Hackman. The 95-year-old two-time Oscar winner and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday at their New Mexico home. Morgan Freeman, his co-star in “Unforgiven” and “Under Suspicion,” honored him.
“This week, our community lost a giant,” said Freeman, “and I lost a dear friend.”
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For full coverage of this year’s Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 04:30:03
CityNews Halifax
PHOTO COLLECTION: 97th Academy Awards Press Room
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors. The Associated Press ...More ...
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 01:10:07
CityNews Halifax
PHOTO COLLECTION: 97th Academy Awards – Vanity Fair Oscar Party
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors. The Associated Press ...More ...
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 00:51:03
CityNews Halifax
PHOTO COLLECTION: 97th Academy Awards Show
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors. The Associated Press ...More ...
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
The Associated Press
3 Mar 2025 00:29:18
CityNews Halifax
Oscars photos: See reunions, props and more candid moments from the red carpet
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stars are having fun on their way into the Oscars. Best supporting actress nominee Ariana Grande, dressed in a baby pink gown with a tulle skirt, and Elle Fanning, in lacy white, ...More ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stars are having fun on their way into the Oscars.
Best supporting actress nominee Ariana Grande, dressed in a baby pink gown with a tulle skirt, and Elle Fanning, in lacy white, held hands and laughed as they arrived.
Grande’s “Wicked” castmate Bowen Yang and his “Las Culturistas” podcast co-host Matt Rogers were all smiles, posing with lucky fans who secured seats in bleachers through lotteries. Dressed in florals, Jeff Goldblum — the Wizard of Oz himself — and his wife Emilie Livingston stopped to pose with U.S. Army members there to celebrate their 250th anniversary.
It wasn’t just human stars making their way through the sea of celebrities and photographers on the carpet: Filmmakers Nick Park, Richard Beek and Merlin Crossingham carried the Claymation stars of “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” nominated for best animated feature. Animation director Nicolas Keppens wore a figurine of the character Bart from his nominated short “Beautiful Men” in a pink baby carrier on his chest.
Diane Warren, nominated for her 16th Oscar for her song “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” wore a jacket adorned with glittery music notes. She lifted up her collar to reveal a phrase printed on the inside: “Make it (expletive) Happen.”
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AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report.
John Locher And Elise Ryan, The Associated Press
2 Mar 2025 23:28:20
CityNews Halifax
PHOTO COLLECTION: 97th Academy Awards Arrivals
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors. The Associated Press ...More ...
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
The Associated Press
2 Mar 2025 20:52:34
CityNews Halifax
Pitt freshman cornerback Mason Alexander dies in car crash in Indiana
Pittsburgh freshman cornerback Mason Alexander died Saturday in a car crash in Indiana, authorities said. Alexander, 18, was a passenger in a vehicle that swerved off the road and struck a tree in Fis ...More ...
Pittsburgh freshman cornerback Mason Alexander died Saturday in a car crash in Indiana, authorities said.
Alexander, 18, was a passenger in a vehicle that swerved off the road and struck a tree in Fishers, a northeastern suburb of Indianapolis, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. The car burst into flames upon impact. Alexander was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alexander was a star at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers. He signed with the Panthers in December and enrolled at Pitt in January.
Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi said in a statement that Alexander “made a great impression on all of us” during his short time with the program.
“Mason was proud and excited to be a Panther, and we felt the same way about having him in our Pitt family,” Narduzzi said. “He will always be a Panther to us.”
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
The Associated Press
2 Mar 2025 18:12:28
CityNews Halifax
After 5 years in jail, ex-gang member Peake wins New Zealand Open and qualifies for British Open
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand (AP) — Ryan Peake, an Australian former motorcycle gang member who turned his life around through golf, earned a place at the British Open on Sunday when he won the 104th New ...More ...
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand (AP) — Ryan Peake, an Australian former motorcycle gang member who turned his life around through golf, earned a place at the British Open on Sunday when he won the 104th New Zealand Open by one stroke.
The 31-year-old from Western Australia called the win “life-changing” after sinking an 8-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to avoid a four-way playoff with fellow Australian Jack Thompson, South African Ian Snyman and Japan’s Kazuki Higi.
His final-round 66 saw him finish at 23 under.
Peake had been a promising junior golfer and teammate of Cameron Smith before he was convicted of assault at age 21 and sentenced to five years in jail. He was a member of the outlawed Rebels gang in Australia.
His clearance to enter New Zealand was delayed by his criminal record.
After leaving jail he returned to golf and began to rebuild his career with the help of leading coach Richie Smith and with the support of his family.
He received his Australasian tour card this season and this was his first professional win.
“I always knew I could do it but it was just a matter of when I was going to do it,” Peake said. “Along with my family and my team everyone believed and most of all I believed as well.”
Peake trailed overnight leader Guntaek Koh of South Korea by four strokes heading into Sunday’s final round at Queenstown’s Milbrook Resort. He took the lead for the first time on the 67th hole and went 55 holes without a bogey.
“I’ve just changed my life,” Peake said. “This is what I do. I just want to be here and play golf.
“The story is what it is. But I’m just out here playing golf.”
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
The Associated Press
2 Mar 2025 16:39:25
CityNews Halifax
Homophobic chant at San Diego FC’s inaugural home match condemned by coach, sporting director
SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego FC coach Mikey Varas and sporting director Tyler Heaps expressed disappointment and anger after their club’s inaugural home match was marred in the second half by th ...More ...
SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego FC coach Mikey Varas and sporting director Tyler Heaps expressed disappointment and anger after their club’s inaugural home match was marred in the second half by three occurrences of the homophobic chant frequently heard at the Mexican national team’s soccer matches.
The club uniformly decried the notorious one-word Spanish chant both during and after San Diego finished a scoreless draw with St. Louis City on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium, which was packed with 34,506 fans celebrating the arrival of Major League Soccer’s 30th team.
Varas opened his postmatch news conference by condemning the fans who made the chant despite repeated warnings against it on the scoreboard and over the public address system. Varas delivered his statement in both Spanish and English.
“The chant that was heard tonight is unacceptable,” Varas said. “It’s outside of our value system. It doesn’t represent the players, myself or the club, and it certainly doesn’t represent San Diego or Baja California. It’s not a reflection of who we are. We’re a community full of love, of support, and we believe in the power of diversity.”
Varas emphasized that the chant wasn’t made by San Diego FC’s main supporter section, the group known as La Frontera.
“This came from more the general population in the seats, and it wasn’t everybody,” Varas said. “I understand that, but it was enough people, and I just want to make very clear that it has no place here. If they’re going to continue to come to the game and make that chant, it’s better that they don’t come here.”
The one-word slur is typically made by fans while an opposing goalkeeper takes a goal kick, and it regularly occurs in both club soccer and national team soccer in Mexico. It’s also become a regrettable staple in the Mexican national team’s matches in the U.S.
The Mexican national team has been fined repeatedly by FIFA for its fans’ behavior regarding the chant, which has forced both stoppages in play and the shortening of a match between El Tri and the U.S. national team in recent years. The chant nevertheless persists, and it seems likely to be an issue at North America’s 2026 World Cup, which will feature 13 matches in Mexico.
“It’s totally against our values as a club, but also who we are as people,” Heaps said. “One of our core values is to be a good person, and I think that’s what we’ll continue to stand behind. It’s totally unacceptable, and obviously us as a club, we’ll make sure it does not continue into the future.”
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
Greg Beacham, The Associated Press
2 Mar 2025 16:00:26
CityNews Halifax
Rocky the bear rescued from abuse in Pakistan’s east and relocated to capital for medical treatment
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A black bear called Rocky has been rescued from abuse in Pakistan’s east and relocated to the capital for medical treatment, a welfare organization said Sunday. The bear, who is 7 ...More ...
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A black bear called Rocky has been rescued from abuse in Pakistan’s east and relocated to the capital for medical treatment, a welfare organization said Sunday.
The bear, who is 7, had been kept illegally in Punjab province and abused in 35 fights. Local authorities intervened to move him to a safer facility.
But the facility could not give him the care he needed and officials relocated Rocky to Islamabad.
A team from Four Paws traveled to Pakistan to help Rocky. Veterinarians operated on him Sunday.
“We were able to release and cut the chain and nose ring,” said Dr Amir Khalil. “His condition is physically good, but he suffered. He has a fracture in the jaw and has no teeth. We have several wounds on the ear because of the fights and biting by dogs.”
Khalil said bear fighting was cruel and illegal in Pakistan but it was still practiced in some parts of the country.
Pakistan has a troubled history with animal welfare. Last December, an elephant died at a safari park less than two weeks after being reunited with her sister. It was the latest tragedy to affect elephants in captivity in Pakistan.
In 2020, a pair of sick and badly neglected dancing Himalayan brown bears left a notorious zoo in Islamabad for a sanctuary in Jordan.
The Associated Press
2 Mar 2025 13:29:57
CBC Nova Scotia
'A massive loss': Halifax justice community mourns death of young lawyer, activist
The sudden death of 32-year-old Harry Critchley, a lawyer and longtime advocate for prison justice, is being felt immensely by his colleagues, family, friends, and the people he fought for. ...More ...

The sudden death of 32-year-old Harry Critchley, a lawyer and longtime advocate for prison justice, is being felt immensely by his colleagues, family, friends, and the people he fought for.
2 Mar 2025 10:00:00
CBC Nova Scotia
Rockweed soup? How researchers are trying to boost use of native seaweeds
Researchers at Acadia University asked taste testers to try soup made with Irish moss and rockweed. The results? There's still more work to be done to minimize "off-flavours." ...More ...
Researchers at Acadia University asked taste testers to try soup made with Irish moss and rockweed. The results? There's still more work to be done to minimize "off-flavours."
2 Mar 2025 10:00:00
CityNews Halifax
Thousands report outage affecting Microsoft services like Outlook
Thousands of Microsoft 365 customers reported having issues with services like Outlook on Saturday. In a series of posts on the social platform X, the company said it was investigating the issue, whi ...More ...
Thousands of Microsoft 365 customers reported having issues with services like Outlook on Saturday.
In a series of posts on the social platform X, the company said it was investigating the issue, which affected various Microsoft 365 services.
“We’ve identified a potential cause of impact and have reverted the suspected code to alleviate impact,” Microsoft said in the posts, which were published by a company page dedicated to addressing incidents tied to its office software programs.
Earlier some users took to social media to say they were unable to access their Outlook email accounts.
Data from Downdetector, which tracks outages, showed thousands of reports from users.
Outage reports for Microsoft 365, and Outlook in particular, peaked around 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time before dropping off, and some users began saying their access was restored.
Earlier this week the communications platform Slack also experienced an outage that left thousands of users unable to use the service.
The Associated Press
1 Mar 2025 22:30:27
CBC Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia woman marks major milestone
Barbara Hardy was surrounded by family, friends and her favourite sport to celebrate turning 100. Giuliana Grillo has the story. ...More ...

Barbara Hardy was surrounded by family, friends and her favourite sport to celebrate turning 100. Giuliana Grillo has the story.
1 Mar 2025 22:30:00
CityNews Halifax
Canadian-made lunar dust repellent heading to the moon aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A Canadian-made lunar dust repellent is expected to land on the moon Sunday as part of a NASA-led study. Jacob Kleiman of Integrity Testing Laboratory Inc. says Firefly Aero ...More ...
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A Canadian-made lunar dust repellent is expected to land on the moon Sunday as part of a NASA-led study.
Jacob Kleiman of Integrity Testing Laboratory Inc. says Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is carrying two materials treated with his company’s dust-repelling technology, so it can be tested on the moon.
Kleiman says moon dust particles are extremely fine, abrasive and electromagnetically charged, and they cling to everything, including mechanical equipment and astronauts’ space suits.
He says scientists have long sought to find ways to keep it from building up, and his samples are on the Blue Ghost as part of an experiment testing materials for their dust-repellent properties.
Kleiman says his small, Ontario-based operation is the only Canadian company to be part of the study.
Firefly’s website says the Blue Ghost spacecraft launched on Jan. 15, and it is expected to land on the moon Sunday at 3:34 a.m. EST.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.
The Canadian Press
1 Mar 2025 20:21:11
CityNews Halifax
Zelenskyy embraced by British prime minister a day after White House blowout
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday and told him he had the nation’s unwavering support a day after the blowout at th ...More ...
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday and told him he had the nation’s unwavering support a day after the blowout at the White House with President Donald Trump.
Zelenskyy arrived to shouts of support from people who had gathered outside of 10 Downing St., where Starmer gave him a hug and ushered him inside.
“And as you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom,” Starmer told the leader of the war-torn country. “We stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take.”
Zelenskyy thanked him and the people of the U.K. for their support and friendship.
The meeting comes the day after an extraordinary diplomatic meltdown when Trump and Vice President JD Vance blasted Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on live television for not being grateful enough for U.S. support.
Zelenskyy had been poised to ink a deal to give the U.S. access to mineral riches as Trump pressures Ukraine to reach a deal to end the war with Russia. But he left town without signing anything.
Zelenskyy had been scheduled to meet with Starmer on Sunday before a summit with other European leaders to discuss Ukraine and shoring up defenses across the continent.
But the timetable for their bilateral meeting was apparently sped up in the aftermath of the Washington visit.
Zelenskyy will meet with King Charles III on Sunday before the summit that is being held at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace.
Brian Melley, The Associated Press
1 Mar 2025 18:40:42
CityNews Halifax
Police investigate suspicious death of Halifax woman
Halifax Regional Police are investigating what they are calling a suspicious death Friday night. Around 700 p.m. on Feb. 28, officers responded to an injured person found lying on the roadway near ...More ...
Halifax Regional Police are investigating what they are calling a suspicious death Friday night.
Around 700 p.m. on Feb. 28, officers responded to an injured person found lying on the roadway near Gottingen Street and Bloomfield Street.
Emergency Health Services rendered first aid to the 40-year-old woman and transported her to hospital where she later died of her injuries.
The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
The investigation is presently in the early stages and anyone with information or video from the area is asked to contact police. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers.
1 Mar 2025 18:36:03
CityNews Halifax
Police investigate stabbing in Dartmouth
Police are looking for witnesses or anyone with footage of a stabbing that occurred early Saturday morning in Dartmouth. At approximately 140 a.m., police were called to Ranya Lane where a man was ...More ...
Police are looking for witnesses or anyone with footage of a stabbing that occurred early Saturday morning in Dartmouth.
At approximately 140 a.m., police were called to Ranya Lane where a man was found laying on the ground suffering from stab wounds. The victim was transported to hospital where his injuries were determined non-life-threatening.
A statement from police says the 29-year-old man described the attack as unprovoked. He said he was walking along the sidewalk when he was stabbed from behind.
The victim told police he did not see who stabbed him but that after the attack he saw a man with a goatee and a black hoodie with a yellow stripe. Police are now looking to speak with the described man.
Anyone with information about the incident of footage from the Nantucket bus terminal from between 12:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. are asked to contact police. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers.
1 Mar 2025 18:19:43
CBC Nova Scotia
Police consider death of woman in downtown Halifax to be suspicious
Police are asking for the public's help after a 40-year-old woman found Friday evening in the roadway near Gottingen Street and Bloomfield Street later died in hospital from her injuries. ...More ...

Police are asking for the public's help after a 40-year-old woman found Friday evening in the roadway near Gottingen Street and Bloomfield Street later died in hospital from her injuries.
1 Mar 2025 17:57:38
CityNews Halifax
SiRT investigates after man dies in police custody in Bedford
A man has died in police custody following a call for service in Bedford Friday night. Police responded to the 70 block Farringdon Way around 10:20 p.m. Feb. 28 to find a 37-year-old man who they b ...More ...
A man has died in police custody following a call for service in Bedford Friday night.
Police responded to the 70 block Farringdon Way around 10:20 p.m. Feb. 28 to find a 37-year-old man who they believed to be having a mental health crisis.
A statement from police says the man became aggressive and a taser was deployed. Police were able to gain control of the man and handcuffed him while waiting for Emergency Health Services (EHS) to arrive.
While in custody, police say the man’s health began to show signs of deterioration. Officers began life-saving efforts including the administration of naloxone. EHS and Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency continued these efforts upon arrival.
The man was transported to hospital where police say he was pronounced dead. The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
This is the second instance in the span of a week where a man has died in custody. On Feb. 22, police responded to calls for a mental health crisis to find a 25-year-old man. Similar measures were taken to control the man whose health also began to deteriorate. He was pronounced dead on scene.
Both incidents have been referred to the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) for further investigation.
1 Mar 2025 16:11:17
CBC Nova Scotia
37-year-old man dies after being Tasered by Halifax police
Nova Scotia's police watchdog is investigating after the second death of a man who was Tasered by Halifax police in less than a week. ...More ...

Nova Scotia's police watchdog is investigating after the second death of a man who was Tasered by Halifax police in less than a week.
1 Mar 2025 15:29:51
CityNews Halifax
Trudeau off to security summit in London, as Trump’s Ukraine comments rile Europeans
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on his way to London this morning ahead of a European defence summit tomorrow seeking to set the conditions toward a lasting peace in Ukraine. The summit wa ...More ...
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on his way to London this morning ahead of a European defence summit tomorrow seeking to set the conditions toward a lasting peace in Ukraine.
The summit was announced earlier in the week to involve European leaders, but takes on a new focus with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attending, shortly after an explosive meeting Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
Kyiv and Washington were expected to sign a critical-minerals deal as part of efforts to end Ukraine’s war with Russia, but Trump showed open disdain for Zelenskyy after he insisted the deal include security guarantees from the U.S.
Europe was rattled earlier this month by Trump’s overtures toward Russia and began making their own plans to beef up defence of Ukraine, seeing it as part of Europe’s core security interests.
Canada was not mentioned as one of the countries invited to join the Sunday meeting when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the event during his trip to Washington to meet with Trump earlier this week.
Steve Hewitt, an intelligence researcher who teaches Canadian studies at the University of Birmingham in England, says the fact Trudeau is going to the summit sends a message on whom Ottawa sees as its partners.
“It’s a sort of political statement in many ways,” Hewitt said.
“There’s a huge amount of symbolism around this meeting.”
He said that symbolism can also be seen in Trudeau and various European leaders posting support for Zelenskyy on social media, calling it “a clear positioning” that is at odds with Trump, adding that it’s “remarkable” the U.S. is pushing back on Europe’s security concerns.
“I don’t think there is any parallel, certainly in the last 100 years, for what’s happening at the moment — certainly not since World War II with the Cold War,” said Hewitt, who is a historian.
He drew a parallel between Britain’s decision to exit the European Union and Canada no longer being able to rely on the U.S. for defence and economic security. “Both countries, in a sense, have been cut adrift, to a certain extent,” he said.
Starmer has said he is positioning the U.K. as a bridge between the U.S. and the European Union, and Hewitt said Starmer will “try to keep both sides happy, and it may well end up alienating both sides in the process.”
In that light, Canada is seeking stronger ties with partners other than the U.S.
Starmer is set to meet with Zelenskyy ahead of Sunday’s talks, and has also invited leaders from NATO, the European Commission, as well more than a dozen countries including France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands.
During his own visit to Washington, Starmer caused a stir among some Canadians by opting against pushing back on Trump’s talk of annexing Canada, when asked his thoughts on the idea.
Hewitt said the move was “very insulting” to many Canadians but has had little media coverage in Britain, despite Canadians seeking the U.K. as a close partner and some suggesting King Charles should weigh in on Trump’s threats.
“There is a bit of a nostalgia (in) this idea that the U.K. still actively cares about Canada or that King Charles might — independently of the British government — make some sort of political statement,” he said.
“Those things aren’t going to happen, and I think the Starmer government has calculated that they need to somehow stay on the side of the United States.”
Hewitt has lived in Britain for 23 years, and says he is frustrated by “obliviousness here to what is happening in Canada, and the whole focus is on the U.S. — despite the historic ties between Canada and the U.K.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
1 Mar 2025 14:57:57
CityNews Halifax
USAID cuts are already hitting countries around the world. Here are 20 projects that have closed
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Countries around the world already are feeling the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 bill ...More ...
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Countries around the world already are feeling the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 billion in funding. Hours after the announcement earlier this week, programs were shuttered, leaving millions of people without access to life-saving care.
Some 10,000 contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development were terminated on Wednesday, in letters sent to nongovernmental organizations across the globe.
The letters said that the programs were being defunded “for convenience and the interests of the U.S. government,” according to a person with knowledge of the content who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
Many of the programs are in fragile countries that are highly reliant on U.S. aid to support health systems, nutrition programs and stave off starvation.
Here some key projects around the world that AP has confirmed have closed:
1: In Congo, aid group Action Against Hunger will stop treating tens of thousands of malnourished children from May, which the charity said will put the children in “mortal danger.”
2: In Ethiopia, food assistance stopped for more than 1 million people, according to the Tigray Disaster Risk Management Commission. The Ministry of Health was also forced to terminate the contract of 5,000 workers across the country focused on HIV and malaria prevention, vaccinations and helping vulnerable women deal with the trauma of war.
3: In Senegal, the biggest malaria project closed. It distributed bed nets and medication to tens of thousands of people, according to a USAID worker who was not authorized to speak to the media. Maternal and child health and nutrition services also closed. They provided lifesaving care to tens of thousands of pregnant women and treatment that would have prevented and treated acute malnutrition.
4: In South Sudan, the International Rescue Committee closed a project providing access to quality health care and nutrition services to more than 115,000 people.
5: A program shuttered by the Norwegian Refugee Council in Colombia left 50,000 people without lifesaving support including in the northeast, where growing violence has precipitated a once-in-a-generation humanitarian crisis. It included food, shelter, clean water and other basic items for people displaced in the region.
6: In war-torn Sudan, 90 communal kitchens closed in the capital, Khartoum, leaving more than half a million people without consistent access to food, according to the International Rescue Committee.
7: In Bangladesh, 600,000 women and children will lose access to critical maternal health care, protection from violence, reproductive health services and other lifesaving care, according the United Nations Population Fund.
8. In Mali, critical aid, such as access to water, food and health services was cut for more than 270,000 people, according to an aid group that did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.
9. More than 400,000 people in northern Burkina Faso lost access to services such as water. Services for gender-based violence and child protection for thousands are also no longer available, according to an aid group that did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.
10. In Somalia, 50 health centers servicing more than 19,000 people a month closed because health workers are not being paid, according to Alright, a U.S aid group.
11. In Ukraine, cash-based humanitarian programs that reached 1 million people last year were suspended, according to the spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general.
12. In Afghanistan, hundreds of mobile health teams and other services were suspended, affecting 9 million people, according to the U.N. spokesperson.
13. In Syria, aid programs for some 2.5 million people in the country’s northeast stopped providing services, according to the U.N. secretary-general. Also in the north, a dozen health clinics, including the main referral hospital for the area, have shut down, said Doctors Without Borders.
14. In Kenya, more than 600,000 people living in areas plagued by drought and persistent acute malnutrition will lose access to lifesaving food and nutrition support, according to Mercy Corps.
15. In Haiti, 13,000 people have lost access to nutritional support, according to Action Against Hunger.
16. In Thailand, hospitals helping some 100,000 refugees from Myanmar have shuttered, according to aid group Border Consortium.
17. In Nigeria, 25,000 extremely malnourished children will stop receiving food assistance by April, according to the International Rescue Committee.
18. In the Philippines, a program to improve access to disaster warning systems for disabled people was stopped, according to Humanity & Inclusion.
19. In Vietnam, a program assisting disabled people through training caregivers and providing at home medical care stopped, according to Humanity & Inclusion.
20. In Yemen, 220,000 displaced people will lose access to critical maternal health care, protection from violence, rape treatment and other lifesaving care, according the United Nations Population Fund.
——————-
Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet reported in Paris, France, Robert Badendieck in Istanbul, Turkey, Evelyn Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, Thalia Beaty in New York and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Sam Mednick, Wilson Mcmakin And Monika Pronczuk, The Associated Press
1 Mar 2025 14:00:34
CityNews Halifax
B.C. Conservatives ‘accept differences’ among members as party meets in AGM: Rustad
NANAIMO, B.C. — The fledgling B.C. Conservative Party will hold its annual general meeting this weekend as members try to find their feet, one week into the provincial legislative session, a senior ...More ...
NANAIMO, B.C. — The fledgling B.C. Conservative Party will hold its annual general meeting this weekend as members try to find their feet, one week into the provincial legislative session, a senior politician and Conservative member said.
Peter Milobar, the Conservative MLA for Kamloops, said in an interview that the party and its diverse range of candidates came together “under very strange circumstances,” in the middle of the summer and just weeks before a general election was called.
“I see that we’re a very new party, really at its core,” he said. “And so, I think we’re still finding our feet.”
The party had existed on the fringes of B.C. politics for years, but it went from having no members elected in the previous provincial election to within a whisker of forming government in October, with its 44 members making up the official Opposition.
Its rise came after Kevin Falcon of the BC United Party suspended the party’s election campaign last August in order to not split the vote on the right, as support for the Conservatives surged.
Some BC United members of the legislature — including Milobar — jumped to the Conservatives. Others tried the Independent route and lost.
The result is a caucus with divergent views that have been on display during the legislative session. B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad described it as “family” issues.
When asked this week if there was a rift within the party, Rustad brushed it off.
“You know, I find it interesting because for the media, and I think for the public, they’ve never seen a political party that accepts differences.”
He said he expected the party’s AGM in Nanaimo, B.C., to be a “democratic process” where members make decisions on modernizing the party and making sure they are prepared to take on the NDP in the next election.
Cracks within the caucus became clear when Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie posted on social media on Feb. 22 that there were “zero” confirmed child burial sites at the former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
Rustad said he asked her to take it down, but the post remains up a week later.
Conservative house leader, A’aliya Warbus, who is Indigenous, said questioning the narratives of those who survived residential school atrocities is harmful, although she denied she was responding to Brodie’s post.
Milobar didn’t mention names either when he spoke about residential school “denialism” in the legislature this week.
But he said he he had vowed to those in the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation, where the former Kamloops Resident School sits, that he would always speak up against it.
“As you know, my wife, my kids, they’re all Indigenous. My grandchildren are Indigenous, my son-in-law is a Kamloops band member.
“These types of things are very personal, and so when denialism does from time to time raise up in the broader conversation, both in B.C. and across the country, it has a direct impact on Tk’emlups,” he said in an emotional speech.
Conservative members will elect a new board during the weekend convention, but Rustad told reporters this week that there “isn’t a mechanism” for a leadership review at this meeting.
However, he said members would be asked this year if they want a leadership review, in line with the party’s constitution.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.
Marcy Nicholson, The Canadian Press
<!– Photo: c44c866b992b83b201735fff543e52784c5170e84b203afa2a920b48f80cacb0.jpg, Caption:
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad speaks to reporters following the throne speech at the legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
–>
1 Mar 2025 14:00:08
CityNews Halifax
Pennsylvania Republicans who narrowly won their House seats feel the heat of early votes back home
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Newly minted U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan swore he wouldn’t support gutting government benefits such as Medicaid that residents of his northeastern Pennsylvania district rely ...More ...
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Newly minted U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan swore he wouldn’t support gutting government benefits such as Medicaid that residents of his northeastern Pennsylvania district rely on.
Then the first-term Republican voted for a bill that could do just that.
Bresnahan and two other Pennsylvania Republicans won in November by some of the smallest margins in all of Congress, prevailing in a critical battleground state that not only helped decide the presidency but also aided the GOP in taking control of the U.S. House.
Bresnahan, fellow newcomer Ryan Mackenzie and seven-term Rep. Scott Perry now find themselves navigating the delicate politics of a divided electorate once again, this time during the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term as he makes economy-altering decisions.
Those include imposing tariffs on raw materials such as steel and aluminum, firing federal workers, shedding federal office space and, most recently, pushing for votes on budget legislation that appear likely to require major cuts to Medicaid and other programs people in Pennsylvania might care about.
There is no time to hide: Mackenzie has already drawn a Democratic challenger in 2026, and rumors are circulating about challengers to Bresnahan, who is trying to find footing that balances loyalty to the Republican president with his constituents’ needs.
Before last Tuesday night’s budget vote, Bresnahan had said he would vote against any bill “that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on.”
“These benefits are promises that were made to the people of (northeastern Pennsylvania) and where I come from, people keep their word,” Bresnahan said in a statement.
Bresnahan then voted for a GOP blueprint that sets the stage for $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years and would, Democrats and many analysts say, inevitably require steep cuts to Medicaid, the federal-state partnership that covers medical care and long-term nursing care for some 72 million people nationwide.
He played down the vote, saying it was a “procedural” step to start budget negotiations and did not contradict his earlier position.
“I will fight to protect working-class families in Northeastern Pennsylvania and stand with President Trump in opposing gutting Medicaid,” Bresnahan said in a statement. “My position on this has not and will not change.”
Trump has insisted he will not touch the safety net programs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and will only cut what he calls waste and fraud. Republican lawmakers insist there will be no direct cuts to health care through Medicaid.
Nursing home operators are watching closely, including in the neighboring districts represented by Mackenzie and Bresnahan on Pennsylvania’s eastern border, where communities are still trying to recover from the disappearance of the coal and steel industries that built them.
There, and in Perry’s south-central Pennsylvania district, many fear a devastating funding cut after years of scraping by, and they doubt there is much undiscovered waste and fraud in the program still to be unearthed.
“It’s definitely a very hot topic for us right now, 100%,” said Mary Kay McMahon, president and CEO of the nonprofit Fellowship Community, which operates a nursing home outside Allentown in Mackenzie’s district.
McMahon estimated that Medicaid covers about 35% to 40% of the cost to care for a skilled nursing patient, and a Medicaid cut might force Fellowship Community to sell the service or eliminate beds.
“There’s very few options left, to be honest, and I don’t know where these people are going to go for that care,” McMahon said. “That’s what concerns me.”
Jim Brogna, a vice president for Allied Services Integrated Health Systems, a nonprofit that runs three nursing homes in Bresnahan’s district, said representatives met with Bresnahan’s staff to press him not to support Medicaid cuts.
Any reduction in the program would mean cuts to services, Brogna said.
Nursing home operators have pushed Pennsylvania for Medicaid rate increases to help manage their costs, and Brogna said the prospect of less federal funding is “heartbreaking” at a time when nursing homes there are closing their doors or eliminating beds.
Bresnahan did not respond to an interview request from The Associated Press. Nor did he answer a constituent email from Chris Chesek, who was motivated by the layoff of five employees at Steamtown National Historic Site to organize his first-ever rally.
Last Saturday’s “Save Steamtown” rally drew dozens to downtown Scranton and, for Chesek, it is personal: Steamtown, which memorializes Scranton’s rise as a railroad and coal powerhouse in the 1900s, is like a second home where the rangers have fed his 10-year-old son’s fascination with steam engines.
“Steamtown is a vital part of Scranton’s economy, it brings people from all over the country and world,” Chesek said.
The Times-Tribune of Scranton’s editorial page echoed that sentiment, decrying Trump’s “heavy-handed, indiscriminate slashing of federal spending.”
Bresnahan’s district is also home to a heavy concentration of federal employees, potentially a sensitive spot as Trump readies for large-scale layoffs of federal workers — 80% of whom live outside the Washington area.
Most federal employees in Bresnahan’s district work at military-related installations, including at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, where they forge 155 mm howitzer shells that help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion, and Tobyhanna Army Depot, one of the region’s largest employers.
“There’s a lot of people on pins and needles right now,” said Bill Cockerill, a labor liaison for Scranton’s local AFL-CIO council. “So far, nothing’s been hit, but you just don’t know when the shoe is going to drop.”
Rumors are circulating about who might challenge Bresnahan. The developer ran a family construction company before defeating six-term Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright, who said he is considering running again in 2026’s election.
Mackenzie, a former state lawmaker who beat three-term Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, drew an opponent barely 48 hours after voting for the House budget bill when the two-term Northampton County executive, Democrat Lamont McClure, announced his candidacy.
In a statement, Mackenzie called the budget vote a “starting point” that makes no specific reference to Medicaid and said that if the program emerges in negotiations, he would “fight to end the waste, fraud and abuse in the system, and protect benefits for those who need them.”
In his Thursday news conference at Northampton County’s courthouse, McClure didn’t hesitate to link that legislation to Mackenzie.
Mackenzie’s first instinct in going to Washington was to “gut” health care for thousands in the district, McClure said, “at a time when people are most concerned about the cost of health care and the access to health care.”
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Follow Marc Levy on X at: https://x.com/timelywriter.
Marc Levy, The Associated Press
1 Mar 2025 13:30:39
CityNews Halifax
The Latest: A day inside Brazil’s wild Carnival parties
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Carnival revelry is ramping up, from the raucous street parties to the glitzy parades. Carnival kicked off Friday afternoon, and today marks the first full day of th ...More ...
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Carnival revelry is ramping up, from the raucous street parties to the glitzy parades.
Carnival kicked off Friday afternoon, and today marks the first full day of the pre-Lenten festivities. Stay with The Associated Press throughout the day, as our photographers and reporters bring you into the merry madness.
Here’s the latest:
Friends of the Jaguar
One of Saturday’s popular early-morning street parties is Friends of the Jaguar, on a beach looking across the water at Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain. Thousands of revelers are here, all decked out in leopard- and jaguar-print clothing.
Marina Caetano, 39, has only missed Friends of the Jaguar once in the past 11 years, because she was hospitalized — and still she dreamed of checking herself out.
“It’s marvelous. The best street party. The energy, the people, the music,” Caetano said. “I have love for this party.”
The party features a band of saxophones, trombones and drums trailed by a truckload of speakers to spread their sound far and wide. And the choreographed dancers, “the jaguarettes,” crawl about and paw playfully like large felines, with elaborate make-up to match.
“It’s a space that allows us to express a lot of artistry,” said dancer Dandara Abreu, 36. “It allows our freedom of expression.”
Sao Paulo parades
Sao Paulo’s samba school parades started Friday evening, bringing thousands to the city’s Sambadrome.
The city’s top schools celebrated Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous traditions and honored some of the country’s most beloved musicians, including Cazuza, Toquinho and poet Vinícius de Moraes.
Samba school Academicos do Tatuape presented its parade about social injustice and the fight for equal rights, inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. The group’s theme for the year is a famous quote from the civil rights leader: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Parades of Sao Paulo’s premier parade league finish tonight, and Rio de Janeiro’s top samba schools will start Sunday evening.
— Gabriela Sá Pessoa
Partying nuns
Also on Friday afternoon, one of Rio’s most traditional street parties, Carmelitas, took hold on the bohemian hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa.
The area is home to the Carmelites Convent, which explains the party’s customary garb: Many of its revelers came dressed as nuns and priests.
Some in the party paid tribute to Pope Francis, who remains hospitalized in Rome with double pneumonia.
The Key to Carnival
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor handed over the key to the city to its Carnival monarch on Friday, opening King Momo’s symbolic five-day reign over the festivities.
“Don’t call me. Call King Momo until Ash Wednesday comes,” Mayor Eduardo Paes, wearing shorts and a Panama hat, told Carnival revelers as drummers and veteran members of local samba schools celebrated and sang traditional songs. “You should come for this guy. He’s going to be in charge of the whole thing.”
Momo’s tenure is symbolic of society being turned upside down during Carnival. His role is inspired by Greek mythology. Momus is the personification of satire, mockery and irreverence.
Mauricio Savarese, David Biller And Eléonore Hughes, The Associated Press
1 Mar 2025 12:04:56
CityNews Halifax
Karina Gould’s progressive approach sets her apart from the Liberal leadership pack
OTTAWA — In a leadership race dominated by high-profile insiders vying for outsider status, Karina Gould stands out. The plain-spoken suburban mom from Burlington, Ont. is facing opponents with high ...More ...
OTTAWA — In a leadership race dominated by high-profile insiders vying for outsider status, Karina Gould stands out.
The plain-spoken suburban mom from Burlington, Ont. is facing opponents with high levels of name recognition like Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney — people comfortable on the international stage who earn media coverage with ease.
While her opponents lean to the centre-right and distance themselves from a deeply unpopular Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Gould is doubling down on Trudeau-era values.
“I’m very proud to be on the progressive side of the party,” Gould said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
She has carved out a niche for herself as the only candidate running on the Liberals’ social policy legacy of the last ten years. She’s also the only leadership candidate suggesting that the party should salvage the divisive consumer carbon tax.
“I’m not going to abandon the fight on climate change. I got into politics because I care about the future of this planet,” she said.
“I’ve got little kids. I need to make sure that they have a planet where they can breathe clean air and drink clean water, where we’re not overrun by extreme weather events.”
Gould — who has been dubbed “carbon tax Karina” by the Opposition Conservatives — said she sees the hatred whipped up over the tax being driven by cost-of-living issues. She said that’s why she’s proposing affordability policies like a temporary full-point cut to the GST and moving toward a universal basic income.
A former chief of staff in the Trudeau government said Gould’s message of continuity will resonate with some Liberals.
“There are a lot of Liberals that are very proud of a lot of what was accomplished and don’t really want to see it all thrown out because the leader became very unpopular,” said Stevie O’Brien, now a senior adviser at McMillan Vantage.
“She’s sort of saying, ‘I still hear you. I’m not throwing everything out.’ And she’s the only one who’s saying that. That might have some weight. It may put her the second on a lot of votes, if not first.”
Even though she’s been in Trudeau’s cabinet for years, Gould is still not well known outside the Ottawa bubble.
A heckler shouting about the Liberal party confronted Gould on the street outside Parliament on Wednesday — but was nonplussed when he couldn’t identify her.
“Can I ask you who you are? Who is this person?” the man asked.
Gould’s profile is getting a major boost from the leadership race.
While she’s trailing far behind in the polls and has watched much of the media’s attention go to Carney, the perceived front-runner, Gould said she’s confident about her chances and believes her strong debate performance is giving her momentum.
“I’ve run enough election campaigns to know that things can change in a couple of days and in a couple of weeks,” she said. “Every day matters in a campaign and debates matter. We know that those are moments where people tune in and they make decisions.”
Gould is enough of a student of Canadian politics to recognize those moments when they happen. Walking out of the Ottawa offices of The Canadian Press after her interview, she paused before an iconic photo of the famous moment during the 1984 election debate when Brian Mulroney landed a verbal knockout blow on John Turner.
“Oh my gosh, is this, ‘You had an option, sir’?” she remarked.
There were no KOs in the two leadership debates this week — something that likely would have angered the party base so close to an election. Even Gould admitted afterward she was fighting with “kid gloves” during the placid exchanges.
Liberal strategists say the story emerging from her campaign is that she has beaten expectations by appearing competitive with Freeland.
“Right now, there’s probably ten Liberal cabinet ministers at least who are looking at this and saying, ‘No, no! I could have had the same push that Karina Gould has been getting in this race if I had only entered,'” said Alex Kohut, former research manager for the Prime Minister’s Office. He’s conducting polling on the Liberal leadership race.
Kohut said Gould didn’t seem like a breakout candidate at the start of the race. He said that if ten candidates had run, she probably would have started off in 8th or 9th place. Now she’s generating buzz in party circles.
“It seems everyone’s talking about it right now and that’s hugely important — even more so than what her vote share will be in the race,” Kohut said. “She is seen as a potential future leader of the party.
“It sets her up as a serious player if the Liberals form government again, if she wants to do anything else at any point, whether it is a dive into provincial politics in the future,” O’Brien said. “She’s gone from being just another cabinet minister … to being a potential leader-in-waiting and a voice of the next generation of Liberals.”
Gould has criticized her own party for not picking up quickly enough on the financial pain Canadians felt in the post-pandemic economy.
“Sometimes you’ve just gotta say the thing — you’ve just gotta say what people are feeling,” she said after Tuesday’s debate.
She has spent the race talking directly to the base. She was the only candidate to launch their bid by making it all about the party, talking about internal reforms and promising more policy conventions.
“It’s always been the membership that has put out-of-the-box thinking onto the table,” she said.
She would know. Before she was elected, she was one of many grassroots Liberals calling for a national child care program, something her local electoral district association put forward on the convention floor. She wound up being the minister who implemented it.
As she rose up through the ranks of government to become House leader, she also became the first federal cabinet minister to give birth while in office and take maternity leave.
Gould has two children at home with her husband Alberto Gerones, whom she met in Mexico when she was there volunteering at an orphanage. In line with her progressive suburban image, Gerones looks after the children at home while she’s busy in the capital.
Gould said that, growing up, she was a competitive dancer and a “terrible” hockey player for two years on her high school women’s team.
“The first game I ever played, I scored a goal. It’s my only goal. It ricocheted off of my stick into the net, and I never scored a goal again,” she said. “But I enjoyed playing.”
She laughs off the suggestion that she could score a goal against Carney, who has played up the fact that he used to be a goalie.
The two will face off in the final leadership vote on March 9, along with Freeland and Montreal businessman Frank Baylis. But Carney remains the favourite in that arena as well.
Gould won’t say who her second choice will be on her own ballot and notes that conventions aren’t delegated anymore — so she’s not going to throw her support behind anyone.
She also said she intends to win.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025
Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
1 Mar 2025 11:00:16
CityNews Halifax
Canada’s plans to fuel Ukraine’s war effort with Russian cash, explained
OTTAWA — Canada is set to take its first steps toward expropriating assets held by the Russian government and sanctioned Russian citizens to help fund Ukraine’s war effort — measures that co ...More ...
OTTAWA — Canada is set to take its first steps toward expropriating assets held by the Russian government and sanctioned Russian citizens to help fund Ukraine’s war effort — measures that could test the limits of international law.
Ottawa is promising action soon, after years of leading an international push to use Moscow’s own financial holdings to help Ukraine respond to the full-scale invasion Russia launched in February 2022.
“Canada is really at the forefront of this,” said William Pellerin, an Ottawa-based trade lawyer with the firm McMillan LLP who has advised clients on navigating Ottawa’s sanctions on Russia.
What’s the idea?
Western countries have moved to isolate Russia by, among other things, sanctioning those accused of helping the war continue or profiting from it.
States tend to sanction individuals and freeze their accounts in order to change their behaviour. But a new idea has emerged in G7 capitals in recent years — using the cash in frozen accounts, or interest earned on those accounts, to help fund Ukraine’s defence.
Proponents of the idea say it offers a cheaper way to help Ukraine push back the Russians and rebuild its damaged infrastructure.
They also hope inflicting financial pain on Russia can convince it to stop or slow its deadly airstrikes, and deter other countries from launching similar wars.
But critics warn such a move could violate international law and give adversaries an excuse to steal private property.
What’s Canada’s role?
Ottawa has been leading the push among allies to expropriate Russian cash for Ukraine, even though Russian holdings are rare in Canada.
The vast majority of the assets held by Russia’s sovereign fund and central bank are in European banks — the same likely holds for sanctioned Russian citizens. Tapping into these funds would require measures by both the European Union and individual countries and there’s no international consensus on how to proceed.
Pellerin said Ottawa wants to take funds from people who have been sanctioned but are not facing criminal charges.
“The EU has never been willing to go that far,” he said, adding that Canada’s allies are more inclined to redirect the interest earned by these accounts to Ukraine.
The World Refugee and Migration Council has called on countries to use expropriated Russian cash to fuel Ukraine’s war effort and has published analyses explaining how Ottawa could do it.
The group’s president, Carleton University professor Fen Osler Hampson, said former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland played a “critical role” in getting American and European officials to mobilize on the idea.
“She deserves a lot of credit for having worked hard on that file, and it was not easy,” he said.
What’s the process?
Canada would have to follow a three-step process to put Russian assets to work for Ukraine: freezing, seizing and forfeiting to the Crown.
Freezing assets is fairly straightforward. Ottawa simply orders banks to halt transactions involving accounts owned by people listed for sanctions — especially Russian oligarchs — under federal powers that have existed for decades.
The seizing and forfeiting powers are comparatively new — and untested.
“Canada has given itself a new tool where they can then seize, and then forfeit permanently to the Crown, assets of individuals simply because they were themselves sanctioned,” Pellerin said.
That process would see Ottawa issue a cabinet order to seize assets, then ask a provincial superior court to have the assets forfeited to the Crown. At that point, the federal government could send the funds to Ukraine.
Mark Kersten, an international law professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, said it’s “remarkable” that Canada still hasn’t initiated such court proceedings, and still hasn’t explained the delay.
“We have been … listening to the government say on a regular basis, including in Kyiv, that they’re going to do this, that they’re going to get these assets,” said Kersten, who has been researching the process for years.
“The government talks a big game and then apparently is moving at a glacial pace — and not being transparent with the public as to what it’s actually doing and where things stand. And I find that quite frustrating.”
How much money are we talking about?
In its latest update, the RCMP said it had frozen $140 million in assets under Canada’s Russia sanctions as of Jan. 15, and had blocked $317 million in transactions.
It’s not clear how much money Russia’s government and its sanctioned citizens hold in Canada.
Russia’s central bank holdings at the beginning of 2022 included roughly $24 billion denominated in Canadian dollars, including bonds, securities and bank deposits.
Pellerin said there’s a widespread belief that Russian officials anticipated sanctions — which would explain why the RCMP has seized such a modest amount.
“The conclusion that you can draw from this, and that I’ve had confirmed to me by different market participants, is that Russia was able to move its assets out of Canada before being sanctioned,” he said.
Most Russian holdings abroad sit in European banks. Canada helped to design a system, announced last summer, which allows Ottawa to use the revenues generated by these accounts in Europe to secure $5 billion in loans for Ukraine.
“That financing is effectively a loan, guaranteed by the interest that is accruing on all these frozen funds everywhere,” Pellerin said, adding that Ottawa could collect revenues from interest on these frozen accounts for years to come.
“If Ukraine cannot repay (the loan), we’re going to take that interest that those investments are earning to pay ourselves back,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week in Kyiv that Ottawa would disburse half of the $5 billion in loans “in the coming days,” with the rest to follow later.
Is this even legal?
Kersten said Ottawa’s whole plan tests the limits of the international legal doctrine of countermeasures — the idea that non-violent reprisals that are normally illegal can become legal when they’re used in response to a wrong perpetrated by another state.
He said allied governments are much more comfortable with the idea of taking accrued interest from frozen accounts than with emptying the accounts.
“States have been really, really hesitant to try to take state assets and turn them over to the Ukrainians,” he said.
Russian Ambassador Oleg Stepanov said Ottawa is violating international norms and noted there are few Russian holdings in Canada.
“Statements claiming that Ottawa might derive revenue from frozen Russian assets amount to sheer disinformation,” he wrote in a media statement. He claimed that any cash sent to Ukraine “will either be burned or stolen outright.”
Kersten said there are “very significant” legal sanctions against seizing private assets held by a person or a corporation that don’t apply to government-owned assets.
What about that plane in Toronto?
On the tarmac at Pearson Airport near Toronto sits a massive Russian cargo plane that has been parked there since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In June 2023, Ottawa officially seized the aircraft from the company Volga-Dnepr.
In mid-February, the government reissued cabinet orders to clarify the plane’s ownership, pointing to foreign subsidiaries and affiliates of the Russian corporation thought to own the plane.
Pellerin said these steps bring Canada closer to taking full possession the plane and he believes this will happen “imminently.” The company has launched a formal dispute under the bilateral investment agreement signed by Moscow and Canada.
Meanwhile, Ottawa pledged in late 2022 to try to seize roughly $36 million that it believes is held by oligarch Roman Abramovich, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Canada has never launched a court case to obtain those funds. Kersten noted media reports suggest the money actually belongs to an investment fund in the Cayman Islands.
What happens next?
The Liberals promised last spring to introduce legislation that would allow Ottawa to levy a charge against “windfall profits generated on frozen assets held in Canada,” similar to existing European laws.
But political gridlock and Parliament prorogation stalled those efforts and killed a Senate bill that sought to strengthen Ottawa’s powers to access cash held by sanctioned foreign states.
Meanwhile, reports — which The Canadian Press could not confirm — suggest that Moscow is open to using US$300 billion of its frozen assets in Europe to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction — if part of that money goes to Russian-occupied regions that Moscow wants to absorb.
Pellerin said that Canada’s restrictions on Russia writ large have implications for companies doing business around the world, given the intertwined nature of the global economy.
“It does have business effects and considerations for Canadian businesses,” he said. “That forces us to be particularly cautious, because at times, our sanctions regime is more aggressive than those of other jurisdictions.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
1 Mar 2025 11:00:07
CBC Nova Scotia
Halifax stabbing shows need for more mental health resources, says advocate for homeless people
An advocate for homeless people in downtown Halifax says a case in which a young homeless woman with a history of mental illness allegedly stabbed a six-year-old boy underscores the need for more robu ...More ...

An advocate for homeless people in downtown Halifax says a case in which a young homeless woman with a history of mental illness allegedly stabbed a six-year-old boy underscores the need for more robust mental health supports in Nova Scotia.
1 Mar 2025 10:00:00
CBC Nova Scotia
Pictou Landing First Nation seeks judicial review of Boat Harbour cleanup plan
Pictou Landing First Nation has asked the Federal Court to overturn Ottawa’s approval of a plan to store contaminated sludge from Boat Harbour in an enclosed structure on nearby land. ...More ...

Pictou Landing First Nation has asked the Federal Court to overturn Ottawa’s approval of a plan to store contaminated sludge from Boat Harbour in an enclosed structure on nearby land.
1 Mar 2025 10:00:00
CBC Nova Scotia
As Halifax prepares for April kickoff, city embracing 1st pro women's sports team
The Halifax Tides FC are one of six soccer teams built from scratch in the new Northern Super League (NSL). The team hasn't played a game yet but has already left an impression, from its player signin ...More ...

The Halifax Tides FC are one of six soccer teams built from scratch in the new Northern Super League (NSL). The team hasn't played a game yet but has already left an impression, from its player signings to a teal scarf-wearing mascot.
1 Mar 2025 09:00:00
CityNews Halifax
At least 4 construction workers are killed in an avalanche in northern India
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — At least four workers have died after an avalanche swept away a large construction crew working on a highway near India’s mountainous border with Tibet, Indian army said Satu ...More ...
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — At least four workers have died after an avalanche swept away a large construction crew working on a highway near India’s mountainous border with Tibet, Indian army said Saturday.
The incident took place near the Mana Pass in northern Uttarakhand state on Friday, and 55 construction workers were initially trapped under snow. Rescuers pulled out 50 workers, of whom four later died, the Indian army said in a statement.
It said the search for the five remaining missing workers was continuing, with multiple teams of rescuers and military helicopters scanning the incident site. The statement did not specify the number of injured but said they were “being prioritized for evacuation.”
Chandrashekhar Vashistha, a senior administrative official, said some of the workers had sustained serious injures and were hospitalized.
Many of the trapped workers were migrant laborers who were working on a highway widening and blacktopping project along a 50-kilometer (31-mile) stretch from Mana, the last village on Indian side, to the Mana Pass bordering Tibet.
“Rescue operations were slow due to heavy snowfall, and the area remained inaccessible,” said Kamlesh Kamal, a spokesperson for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. He said the rescuers had to work through several feet of snow, snowstorms and poor visibility.
The ecologically sensitive Himalayan region, which has been severely affected by global warming, is prone to avalanches and flash floods.
In 2022, 27 trainee mountaineers were killed in an avalanche in the northern Uttarakhand region. A year earlier, a glacier burst in the state resulted in a flash flood that left more than 200 people dead.
Biswajeet Banerjee, The Associated Press
1 Mar 2025 08:54:01
CityNews Halifax
Titan comeback to defeat Mooseheads
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan came back in the third period to force overtime and defeat the Halifax Mooseheads 4-3 in the Herds final regular season matchup against the Titan in franchise history, as the ...More ...
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan came back in the third period to force overtime and defeat the Halifax Mooseheads 4-3 in the Herds final regular season matchup against the Titan in franchise history, as the Acadie Bathurst Titan relocate to St. John’s, Newfoundland to become the Regiment at the end of this season.
The Mooseheads dominated the first period, scoring three within the first six minutes. Braeden MacPhee opened the scoring for the Herd with his 16th of the season, sniping a shot from the left faceoff circle. Callum Aucoin followed up scoring two more for Halifax, knocking his first over the pad of Joshua Fleming and sliding his second through Fleming’s pads just 20 seconds later.
In the Third period, Acadie-Bathurst came back to tie the contest and send it to overtime. Tyson Goguen scored the first two goals and with three seconds remaining in the game, Colby Huggan scored to send the game to extra time.
In extra time, Emile Perron scored the winner for the Titan as Acadie-Bathurst has now defeated two opponents in a row by scoring last minute in regulation then scoring in overtime.
With the loss the Herd fall to 17-32-8 while the Titan improve to 30-24-2.
Acadie-Bathurst claimed the first two stars of the game as Tyson Goguen earned first star while Colby Huggan was awarded second. Mooseheads winger Callum Aucoin earned third star with his first multi-goal game in the QMJHL.
The Herd will be back in action on Friday, Mar 7th, as they end their New Brunswick road trip in Saint John as the take on the Sea Dogs at TD Station. Puck drop is at 7 p.m., and you can catch all the action here on 95.7 NewsRadio.
1 Mar 2025 01:54:18
CityNews Halifax
After Oval Office blowout, Ukrainians rally around Zelenskyy as defender of Ukraine’s interests
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the White House on Friday after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump, Ukrainians rallied around ...More ...
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the White House on Friday after an astonishing Oval Office blowout with President Donald Trump, Ukrainians rallied around Zelenskyy as a defender of his country’s interests.
The shouting match that unfolded in the final minutes of the highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the United States could be locked in as a reliable partner in helping fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught.
The exchange, which saw a frustrated Zelenskyy lectured by Trump and Vice President JD Vance over what they saw as his lack of gratitude for previous U.S. support, delighted officials in Moscow, who saw it as a final breakdown in relations between Washington and the Ukrainian leader.
Many Ukrainians unfazed by the row
But many Ukrainians on Friday seemed unfazed by the blowout between Zelenskyy and Trump, expressing a sense that the Ukrainian leader had stood up for their country’s dignity and interests by firmly maintaining his stance in the face of chiding from some of the world’s most powerful men.
Nataliia Serhiienko, 67, a retiree in Kyiv, said she thinks Ukrainians approve of their president’s performance in Washington, “because Zelenskyy fought like a lion.”
“They had a heated meeting, a very heated conversation,” she said. But Zelenskyy “was defending Ukraine’s interests.”
The meeting at the White House was meant to produce a bilateral agreement that would establish a joint investment fund for reconstructing Ukraine, a deal that was seen as a potential step toward bringing an end to the war and tying the two countries’ economies together for years to come.
But as Zelenskyy and his team departed the White House at Trump’s request, the deal went unsigned, and Ukraine’s hopes for securing U.S. security backing seemed farther away than ever.
Yet as the Ukrainian leader was set to return to Kyiv empty handed, his support at home seemed undiminished.
Regional Ukrainian leader says president ‘held strong’
As two drones struck Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv on Friday night, the head of the region which sits on the border with Russia, Oleh Syniehubov, praised Zelenskyy. He said the president held strong to his insistence that no peace deal could be made without assurances for Ukraine’s security against future Russian aggression.
“Our leader, despite the pressure, stands firm in defending the interests of Ukraine and Ukrainians. … We need only a just peace with security guarantees,” Syniehubov said.
Kyiv resident Artem Vasyliev, 37, said he had seen “complete disrespect” from the United States in the Oval Office exchange, despite the fact that Ukraine “was the first country that stood up to Russia.”
“We are striving for democracy, and we are met with total disrespect, toward our warriors, our soldiers, and the people of our country,” said Vasyliev, a native of Russian-occupied Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
Vasyliev criticized the U.S. president for what he said was a failure to recognize the human cost of Russia’s invasion, saying Trump “doesn’t understand that people are dying, that cities are being destroyed, people are suffering, mothers, children, soldiers.”
“He cannot understand this, he is just a businessman. For him, money is sacred,” he said.
Broad praise for Zelenskyy on social media
Ukrainian social media was awash in praise for Zelenskyy late Friday, with officials on the national, regional and local level chiming in to voice their support for their leader.
The outpouring resembled a recent surge in Ukrainian unity after Trump denigrated Zelenskyy by making false claims that Ukraine was led by a “dictator” who started the war with Russia — comments that led some of the Ukrainian president’s harshest critics to rally around him.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, which was mostly occupied by Russia early in the war but later partially retaken by Ukrainian forces, said three years of war had hardened his countrymen to the ups and downs of the fight to survive.
“We know what pressure is, on the front lines, in politics, in daily struggle,” Prokudin said. “It has made us stronger. It has made the president stronger. Determination is the force that drives us forward. And I am confident that we will endure this time as well.”
Trump’s administration cast the heated exchange with Zelenskyy as part of its “America First” policy and slammed the Ukrainian leader for a perceived lack of gratitude for U.S. assistance.
But Zelenskyy’s backers in Ukraine praised his commitment to acting in Ukraine’s national interest — even if it meant coming into conflict with the president of the United States.
“Unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s interests and devotion to his country. This is what we saw today in the United States. Support for the President of Ukraine,” Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba wrote on Telegram Friday.
Not all of Ukraine’s political figures, however, were as full-throated in their praise for how the Oval Office meeting concluded. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that he hoped “that Ukraine does not lose the support of the United States, which is extremely important to us.”
“Today is not the time for emotions, from either side. We need to find common ground,” Klitschko wrote in a post on Telegram.
___
Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov contributed to this report.
Justin Spike, The Associated Press
1 Mar 2025 00:00:34
CityNews Halifax
JD Vance gets his long-awaited moment to admonish Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Vice President JD Vance was dismissing Ukraine long before he upended an Oval Office meeting Friday by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “disrespectful” and a ...More ...
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Vice President JD Vance was dismissing Ukraine long before he upended an Oval Office meeting Friday by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “disrespectful” and asking if he had ever thanked the U.S. for its support.
When Vance was a candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio in 2022, he said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast that he thought it was ridiculous that the U.S. was focused on the border between Ukraine and Russia. “I gotta be honest with you,” he told the host, a Trump ally. “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”
“I think that there are a lot of democracies in the world,” he told The Associated Press that March, shortly after Russia launched its invasion. “And every time that one of them gets into a conflict now, at the end, it can’t be our concern.”
Vance continued to voice similarly isolationist stances throughout the Senate race, which he won with Donald Trump’s help, and as he ran as Trump’s running mate in last year’s presidential election. Last May, Vance said that his two biggest objections to sending U.S. aid to Ukraine were that the war had “no strategic end in sight and it’s not leading anywhere that’s going to ultimately be good for our country” and that it amounts to “subsidizing the Europeans to do nothing.”
The vice president’s argument with Zelenskyy on Friday illustrated the sharp shift in mainstream GOP politics away from an expansive view of protecting democracies abroad. An Iraq War veteran who is widely expected to run for president in 2028, the 40-year-old Vance leads a younger generation of the party that is skeptical of foreign wars and scornful of neoconservatives, following Trump’s lead.
Vance has largely been overshadowed by Elon Musk and his government-cutting effort in the first six weeks of Trump’s presidency. Vance has several key roles, including serving as a liaison to Congress and overseeing the potential sale of TikTok, but had been more in the background.
That all changed in Friday’s meeting, which had been cordial until Vance spoke up to criticize former President Joe Biden and laud Trump for seeking a diplomatic solution to the war.
Zelenskyy — a critic of direct talks between Washington and Moscow — responded with his view that Russia was untrustworthy and then challenged Vance.
“What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?” he said. “What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country,” Vance responded before tearing into the Ukrainian leader. “Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.”
The meeting quickly turned into a shouting match. Trump accused Zelenskyy of deliberately not seeking peace in favor of another world war, while Zelenskyy suggested the U.S. would “feel it in the future.” Trump eventually ordered Zelenskyy out of the White House, canceling a lunch and a press conference.
Vance’s comments Friday highlighted the role he’s been given by Trump to amplify the president’s aggressive new approach to diplomacy, said Christopher McKnight Nichols, an Ohio State University professor of history specializing in isolationism.
“It’s an empowered vice presidency with Vance in this role,” Nichols said. He said Trump and Vance seemed to want Zelenskyy to come to Friday’s meeting “as a supplicant,” which has not traditionally been how the U.S. greets its allies.
Vance rebuked European leaders about the state of democracy and free speech across the continent at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month, then tangled with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a White House meeting alleging the same trend in the United Kingdom.
Even traditional Republican defenders of Ukraine got behind Trump and Vance on Friday.
“I have never been more proud of President @realDonaldTrump and Vice President @JDVance for standing up for America First,” wrote Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on X.
Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a longtime friend of Vance’s who was appointed to his former Senate seat in January, treaded a bit more carefully.
“Putin invaded Ukraine under President Barack Obama, and then again under President Joe Biden — neither of them had a strategy to win a war or bring peace to the region,” he said in a statement. “America under President Trump is working to bring peace. It is very easy to start a war but incredibly hard to end one. President Zelensky did not help himself with the comments he made in the Oval Office today.”
But U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, took umbrage with Vance on X, formerly Twitter.
“Answer to Vance: Zelenskyy has thanked our country over and over again both privately and publicly,” she tweeted. “And our country thanks HIM and the Ukrainian patriots who have stood up to a dictator, buried their own & stopped Putin from marching right into the rest of Europe. Shame on you.”
And former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican long associated with neoconservatism who campaigned against Trump last fall, went further, casting Trump’s and Vance’s pushback against Zelenskyy as being pro-Russian.
“Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend,” she posted. “But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine. History will remember this day — when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.”
___
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
Julie Carr Smyth, The Associated Press
28 Feb 2025 23:56:01
CityNews Halifax
North Carolina company owner pleads guilty over attempted technology sale to China
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The owner of a North Carolina company pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to trying to sell electronic devices that have military applications to China without having a re ...More ...
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The owner of a North Carolina company pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to trying to sell electronic devices that have military applications to China without having a required U.S. government license, authorities said.
David C. Bohmerwald, who was formally charged in October with violating the Export Control Reform Act and other portions of the federal code, entered the plea to a count before U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle in Raleigh. Bohmerwald, 63, has a tentative sentencing date for mid-May, court records show. He could face up to 20 years in prison, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release.
Bohmerwald, the owner of Raleigh-based Components Cooper Inc., purchased 100 accelerometers from a U.S.-based electronic company, and then attempted to export the devices to a company in China, the release said, citing court documents and information presented in court.
An accelerometer, which measures the vibration, tilt and acceleration of a structure, can be used in aerospace and military applications, such as helping missiles fly more accurately and measuring the precise effect of munitions.
The electronics company notified law enforcement about Bohmerwald’s purchase request. After receiving the accelerometers, Bohmerwald dropped off two parcels — one addressed to a business in China — at a shipping store, the release said. A federal agent held the package and found the 100 accelerometers inside.
Bohmerwald falsely listed the value of the package’s content at $100, when the true value was nearly $20,000, according to the government, and he admitted to agents that he acquired the technology on behalf of a Chinese-based company while knowing about the export restrictions.
“The disruption of this scheme to illegally export sensitive technology means that accelerometers and other items will not be used by unauthorized individuals or for adversarial purposes,” said Cardell Morant, a special agent in charge who supervises Homeland Security Investigations, within the Department of Homeland Security, in the Carolinas.
Lawyers identified in court records as representing Bohmerwald in the case didn’t respond Friday to an email seeking comment.
The Associated Press
28 Feb 2025 23:43:56
CityNews Halifax
Zelenskyy says Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive. Zelenskyy added Friday’s contenti ...More ...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine won’t enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees against another offensive.
Zelenskyy added Friday’s contentious spat with President Donald Trump was “not good for both sides.”
But Zelenskyy said that Trump — who insists Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end the three-year grinding war — needs to understand that Ukraine can’t change attitudes toward Russia on a dime.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful” Friday in an extraordinary Oval Office meeting, then abruptly called off the signing of a minerals deal with the U.S. that Trump said would have moved Ukraine closer to ending its war with Russia.
The astonishing turn of events could scramble affairs in Europe and around the globe. During his visit with Trump, Zelenskyy was expected to sign the deal allowing the U.S. greater access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and hold a joint news conference, but that plan was scrapped after the heated engagement between the leaders in front of the news media.
It’s unclear what the blowup could mean for the deal that Trump insisted was essential to repay the U.S. for the more than $180 billion in American aid sent to Kyiv since the start of the war. And it remains to be seen what, if anything, Trump wants Zelenskyy to do to get the deal back on track.
The Ukrainian leader left the White House shortly after Trump shouted at him, showing open disdain. Untouched salad plates and other lunch items were being packed up outside the Cabinet room, where the lunch between Trump and Zelenskyy and their delegations was supposed to have taken place.
The White House said the Ukrainian delegation was told to leave.
“You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have,” Trump told Zelenskyy.
The last 10 minutes of the nearly 45-minute meeting devolved into a tense back and forth between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy, who had urged skepticism about Russia’s commitment to diplomacy, citing Moscow’s years of broken commitments on the global stage.
Zelenskyy’s main objective going into the sit-down had been to press Trump not to abandon his country and to warn against moving too closely to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Instead he got shouted at while Trump appeared to play up the drama for the cameras.
At one point, Zelenskyy said Putin had broken “his own signature” 25 times on ceasefires and other agreements and could not be trusted. Trump responded that Putin had not broken agreements with him and mostly ducked questions about offering security guarantees to Ukraine, saying he thought the minerals deal — which is now on-hold — would effectively end the fighting.
Things first got testy after Vance challenged Zelenskyy, telling him, “Mr. President, with respect, I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.” Zelensky tried to object, prompting Trump to raise his voice and say, “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.”
At another point, Trump declared himself “in the middle” and not on the side of either Ukraine or Russia in the conflict. He went on to deride Zelenskyy’s “hatred” for Putin as a roadblock to peace.
“You see the hatred he’s got for Putin,” Trump said. “That’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”
Trump later told reporters, shortly before departing for his Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida for the weekend, that he wanted an “immediate ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine but expressed doubt that Zelenskyy was ready to make peace.
Following the meeting, Trump posted on his social media site that he had “determined” that Zelenskyy “is not ready for Peace.”
“He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace,” Trump wrote.
Democrats immediately criticized the administration for the breakdown. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said Trump and Vance “are doing Putin’s dirty work.”
The testy discussion was especially surprising since it came a day after Trump struck a more conciliatory tone toward Ukraine, calling America’s support for the country against Russia’s invasion “a very worthy thing to do” and disclaiming any memory that he had called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”
Trump and Zelenskyy spoke politely, even with admiration, of each another for the first half hour of the meeting. But, when the Ukrainian leader raised alarm about trusting any promises from Putin to end the fighting, Vance offered his strong rebuke for airing disagreements with Trump in public.
That instantly shifted the tenor of the conversation as Zelenskyy grew defensive and Trump and his vice president blasted him as ungrateful and issued stark warnings about future American support.
“It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this,” Trump said to Zelenskyy as the two leaders talked over each other about past international support for Ukraine.
Vance then interjected, “Again, just say thank you.”
Zelenskyy pushed back on Vance, telling him he’s offered his appreciation “a lot of times” to the American people and the president. The Ukrainian leader after leaving the White House expressed his gratitude on social media.
“Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
But administration officials were not satisfied with Zelenskyy and perceived a “hostility” with him and his body language in the Oval Office, according to a White House official. Trump also objected to the Ukrainian leader bringing up the issue of security guarantees when Trump made clear he wanted to focus on the minerals deal, said the official who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Former President Joe Biden had also grown frustrated at moments with Zelenskyy for being insufficiently grateful of American support, according to former administration officials. But unlike Trump, Biden expressed his displeasure with Zelenskyy privately.
Trump also suggested that Zelenskyy should not be demanding concessions.
“You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump said pointing his finger toward Zelenskyy.
Shortly before the meeting ended, Trump said, “This is going to be great television.”
As Ukrainian forces hold out against slow but steady advances by Russia’s larger and better-equipped army, leaders in Kyiv have sought to ensure any potential U.S.-brokered peace plan would include guarantees for the country’s future security.
Many Ukrainians fear that a hastily negotiated peace — especially one that makes too many concessions to Russian demands — would allow Moscow to rearm and consolidate its forces for a future invasion after current hostilities cease.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has advocated to keep up American support for Ukraine, told Fox News he wasn’t confident that the Trump-Zelenskyy relationship could be repaired.
“I don’t know if you can ever do a deal with Zelenskyy anymore,” the South Carolina Republican said.
Fears that Trump could broker a peace deal with Russia that is unfavorable to Ukraine have been amplified by recent precedent-busting actions by his administration.
Trump held a lengthy phone call with Putin, and U.S. officials met with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia without inviting European or Ukrainian leaders — both dramatic breaks with previous U.S. policy to isolate Putin over his invasion.
Trump later seemed to falsely blame Ukraine for starting the war and called Zelenskyy a “dictator” for not holding elections after the end of his regular term last year, though Ukrainian law prohibits elections while martial law is in place. European leaders were quick reinforce their support for Ukraine in the wake of the contentious Oval Office meeting.
European leaders were quick to reiterate their support for Zelenskyy and Ukraine.
In a post on X, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Zelenskyy’s “dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people.”
“Be strong, be brave, be fearless,” she added. “You are never alone, dear President.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed “an immediate summit” between the United States and European allies “to speak frankly about how we intend to face today’s great challenges, starting with Ukraine.”
“Every division of the West makes us all weaker and favors those who would like to see the decline of our civilization,” she said. “A division would not benefit anyone.”
___
Associated Press writers Justin Spike in Kyiv, Stephanie Dazio in Berlin, Giada Zampano in Rome, JJ Cooper in Phoenix, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.
Will Weissert, Zeke Miller And Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press
28 Feb 2025 23:33:35
CityNews Halifax
Tennessee gynecologist charged with performing unnecessary medical procedures
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee gynecologist was arrested Friday and accused of performing unnecessary procedures on patients with re-used medical devices held under unsanitary conditions. Dr. San ...More ...
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee gynecologist was arrested Friday and accused of performing unnecessary procedures on patients with re-used medical devices held under unsanitary conditions.
Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, 44, is charged with enticing four people to travel interstate to engage in illegal sexual activity, adulteration of medical devices, misbranding of medical devices and health care fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Memphis said.
Court records did not show if Kumar has a lawyer to represent him on the charges or speak on his behalf. There was no immediate response to a phone message left with his office.
Kumar’s medical practice is located in Memphis. From September 2019 to June 2024, Kumar is alleged to have sexually abused women by conducting unnecessary medical procedures with devices held under unsanitary conditions and re-used on patients when they were required to be thrown away or properly reprocessed.
Kumar did not tell patients that he was re-using the devices, prosecutors said, and also billed Medicare and Medicaid as if the procedures were necessary and as if he had used a new or properly reprocessed device each time.
Acting U.S. Attorney Fondren said Kumar was consistently the top-paid provider in Tennessee for Medicare and Medicaid for hysteroscopy biopsies, which allow doctors to look inside the uterus.
Federal authorities said there could be more patients affected by Kumar’s alleged acts.
“The allegations indicate that Kumar acted as a predator in a white coat and used the cover of conducting medical examinations to put his patients at risk and enrich himself,” Fondren said in a statement.
Adrian Sainz, The Associated Press
28 Feb 2025 23:27:30
CityNews Halifax
New York’s governor orders college to remove Palestinian studies job listing
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s governor ordered a state school to remove a job posting for a Palestinian studies teaching position this week, saying she wanted to ensure “antisemitic theories” ...More ...
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s governor ordered a state school to remove a job posting for a Palestinian studies teaching position this week, saying she wanted to ensure “antisemitic theories” would not be taught.
The job posting at Hunter College had called for a historian “who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to settler-colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender, and sexuality,” according to screenshots published by the New York Post, which first reported the job announcement.
Following the coverage, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, ordered the City University of New York school to remove the posting “and conduct a thorough review of the position to ensure that antisemitic theories are not promoted in the classroom,” her office said in a statement.
The CUNY Board of Trustees agreed, and university officials have since removed the posting for a “Palestinian Studies Cluster Hire,” which was marked as expired on Friday.
“We find this language divisive, polarizing and inappropriate and strongly agree with Governor Hochul’s direction to remove this posting,” Chairperson William C. Thompson Jr. and Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, adding they would work “to tackle antisemitism on our campuses and combat hate in all of its forms.”
The governor’s statement added that no class is being canceled.
The CUNY school said it will still hire a relevant expert.
“Hunter College took down the job listings following the concerns raised about the language used in the online posting. We will be reviewing the posting process and look forward to adding scholars with expertise in this subject matter to our distinguished faculty,” the college said in a statement, adding that expertise would include ”Palestinian history, culture, and society.”
The Israel-Hamas war that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, has tested free speech at U.S. colleges. Pro-Palestinian students and their allies launched protests at campuses across the country, demanding schools divest from Israel in demonstrations that resulted in thousands of arrests. Meanwhile, some Jewish students called on administrators to rein in the protests, saying they made them feel unsafe.
Campus free speech advocates criticized Hochul’s intervention, saying the move hurts academic freedom
“She’s setting a terrible precedent,” Robert Shibley, special counsel for campus advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said in an email. “Involving politicians directly in the process will only further politicize hiring decisions and will undermine academic freedom in public universities across the country.”
Another free speech group called on CUNY officials to reverse their decision.
“The posting may have been offensive to some, but it is the right and responsibility of the academic community to confront challenging areas of inquiry through independent research, teaching, and publishing,” said Kristen Shahverdian, Campus Free Speech program director at PEN America, in a statement Thursday.
PEN, a literary and free expression organization, faced its own protests last year, after a group of pro-Palestinian writers said it did little to “mobilize” members against the Gaza war, in contrast to forceful protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Last month, Israel and Hamas paused the conflict after 15 months of war, in the first phase of a ceasefire that has freed Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and increased humanitarian aid in Gaza. Officials were negotiating Friday on a second phase of the ceasefire.
Associated Press, The Associated Press
28 Feb 2025 23:09:31
CBC Nova Scotia
CBC Nova Scotia News - February 28, 2025
The only daily TV news package to focus on Nova Scotians and their stories ...More ...

The only daily TV news package to focus on Nova Scotians and their stories
28 Feb 2025 23:00:00
CBC Nova Scotia
Neptune Theatre's man-eating plant puppet ready for spotlight
Neptune Theatre is preparing for its production of Little Shop of Horrors. Watch Amy Smith's interview with set designer Rachel Forbes and puppet builder Cassie Seaboyer on how they brought Audrey II ...More ...

Neptune Theatre is preparing for its production of Little Shop of Horrors. Watch Amy Smith's interview with set designer Rachel Forbes and puppet builder Cassie Seaboyer on how they brought Audrey II to life.
28 Feb 2025 22:50:00
CityNews Halifax
Georgia committee that has pursued Fani Willis now wants to investigate Stacey Abrams
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia state Senate committee pursuing a thus-far fruitless investigation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants to add Stacey Abrams to its list of targets. Lt. Gov. ...More ...
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia state Senate committee pursuing a thus-far fruitless investigation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants to add Stacey Abrams to its list of targets.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and other Republicans say they want to further examine recent ethics findings that voter participation group New Georgia Project improperly coordinated with Abrams’ 2018 campaign for governor. They also want to probe claims by new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin that $2 billion was improperly given to a coalition of groups trying to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Abrams worked with one of the groups until the end of last year.
“Don’t you think that, that deserves looking into, because I do,” Jones told reporters Friday, after a resolution to allow the expansion was introduced in the Senate.
Abrams said in a statement that Republicans are targeting her because they don’t like her.
“Georgia Republicans are so terrified of the power of the people, they’re lashing out with unfounded attacks and baseless investigations that waste taxpayer dollars,” Abrams said. “Working across the state, I registered and turned out thousands of Georgians. I proudly led work to lower energy prices in the poorest region of the state.”
Abrams, the former state House minority leader, vaulted to national Democratic stardom when she came close to defeating Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018. She parlayed voting rights after that election into a national platform and even consideration as Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020, but lost a 2022 governor’s race rematch to Kemp by a broader margin. Her involvement with Rewiring America, a group promoting clean energy and electrification, is just one of Abrams’ roles, which include writing books and pursuing entrepreneurial ventures.
If the resolution is approved, it will allow the Republican-led Senate to conduct meetings scrutinizing a second high-profile Democrat as Jones and several members of the committee consider running for office in 2026.
The Senate Special Committee on Investigations, armed with subpoena power, has been moving toward dragging in Willis to force her to testify about whether she did anything wrong in her investigation and prosecution of President Donald Trump and others. However, its efforts thus far have disclosed little that wasn’t already known about Willis and her hiring of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she had a romantic relationship, to lead the prosecution against Trump and others.
Sen. Bill Cowsert, the Athens Republican who chairs the committee, said he anticipates also subpoenaing Abrams, with work beginning after the legislature adjourns on April 4.
“Once again, we’re going to be wasting time, wasting Georgia taxpayers’ money,” said Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harold Jones II of Augusta.
Abrams has not publicly ruled out a third bid for governor in 2026. However, her party may be moving on from her — other Democrats are already laying the groundwork to run next year.
Abrams founded the New Georgia Project in 2013 to register more nonwhite and young voters in Georgia and to urge them to turn out. She stepped down in 2017 and said she had no role with the group thereafter.
In January, the New Georgia Project and its affiliated New Georgia Project Action Fund admitted that they broke Georgia’s campaign finance law by failing to register as an independent campaign committee and failing to disclose contributions and spending. The Ethics Commission fined the groups $300,000, the largest ethics fine in state history, mostly for violations that supported Abrams’ 2018 run for governor.
The group has been in turmoil in recent weeks, laying off workers, some of whom said they were fired because they were trying to form a union. Francys Johnson, a lawyer and civil rights activist who chairs the group, says he intends to resign.
On Feb. 12, the Trump-appointed Zeldin called for the return of $2 billion granted to Power Forward Communities in April 2024, part of $20 billion that Zeldin claimed was improperly granted by former President Joe Biden’s administration. Power Forward Communities, which includes United Way Worldwide and Habitat for Humanity, says it plans to use the money to help fund energy efficiency upgrades in low-income households, trying to bring down costs by paying appliance makers and contractors many upgrades at once.
Abrams was senior counsel to Rewiring America until December, said her spokesperson, Joshua Karp. That’s one of the groups that make up the Power Forward Communities coalition.
Abrams was not paid by Power Forward Communities, Karp said.
Zeldin has posted on social media calling it “Stacey Abrams’ Power Forward Communities.” He has been trying to get Citibank to give back money in bank accounts associated with the grants.
Jeff Amy, The Associated Press
28 Feb 2025 22:27:54