KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump this week falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war that has cost tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives, causing outrage and alarm in a country that has spent nearly three years fighting back a much larger Russian military.

Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “ a dictator without elections” and claimed his support among voters was near rock-bottom.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the disinformation is coming from Russia, and some of what Trump has said does echo Russia’s own narrative of the conflict.

Here’s a look at some of Trump’s statements:

Ukraine ‘should have never started it’

What Trump said:

“You’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it … You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

The facts:

Russia’s army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.

But Russia’s aggression against Ukraine didn’t start then. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw signs that Ukraine was pulling away from Russia’s sphere of influence, seeking alliances with western European nations.

Putin illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula and started an armed aggression in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas that grew into a long-running conflict that left thousands dead.

That conflict simmered until 2022, when Putin ordered what he called military exercises along Ukraine’s borders. He told the world that the roughly 150,000 soldiers that he had amassed would not be used to invade Ukraine. But in the early hours of Feb. 24, Russia launched widespread airstrikes and soldiers began pouring over the border.

Ukraine should hold elections

What Trump said:

“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law,” Trump said in Mar-a-Lago, adding on Wednesday in a post on social media: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”

The facts:

Zelenskyy was elected to a five-year term in 2019, and the next presidential elections had been scheduled for spring 2024. But Ukrainian law prohibits parliamentary or presidential elections during a state of martial law, so Zelenskyy has remained in office. He has said he believes elections will be held in Ukraine after martial law is lifted. The country would need to amend the law if it decided to hold a vote.

There are numerous factors that, according to Ukraine’s government, “would render it literally impossible to ensure a fair electoral process in the circumstances of a total war.”

According to the United Nations’ refugee agency, some 6.9 million Ukrainian refugees have been registered worldwide since February 2022. Of those, millions remain outside the country due to the war. It would be nearly impossible for all of those who have been displaced to participate in an election, potentially robbing millions of their right to vote.

Furthermore, around 800,000 soldiers are currently serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they struggle to contain Russian advances. An election would necessitate pulling soldiers off the front lines to vote, weakening Ukraine’s military position. Additionally, those fighting would be unable to run for office, a right that is guaranteed to them by Ukrainian law.

Many Ukrainians are living in areas under Russian occupation, essentially precluding their participation in any electoral process. And since Russia continues to regularly strike both military and civilian targets across the country, packing millions of citizens into crowded polling places could create additional danger.

Zelenskyy’s support at rock bottom?

What Trump said:

“The leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4% approval rating.”

The facts:

In a report released Wednesday by the Kyiv International Institution of Sociology, executive director Anton Hrushetskyi said that Zelenskyy “retains a fairly high level of public trust,” which the report put at 57%.

Speaking in Kyiv on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the number given by Trump, for which the president cited no sources, was “disinformation” that originated in Russia, and that the president “unfortunately lives in this disinformation space.”

Zelenskyy said he will ask pollsters in the coming weeks to conduct surveys on the public’s trust in him and share the results with the Trump administration.

Millions of deaths

What Trump said:

“When you see what’s taken place in Ukraine with millions of people killed, including the soldiers, millions of people killed, a big percentage of their cities knocked down to the ground, I don’t know how anybody even lives there.”

The facts:

No estimates by any reputable analysis place deaths near the millions.

While exact figures of the number of deaths are unknown, Zelenskyy said earlier this month that over 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022. He has also said that “tens of thousands of civilians” had been killed in occupied areas of Ukraine, but that no exact figures would be available until the war was over. The most recent data from the Russian Defense Ministry, published in January 2023, pointed to just over 6,000 military deaths, although reports from U.S. and U.K. officials put that number significantly higher.

Justin Spike, The Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands agreed on Wednesday to return a collection of 119 artifacts to Nigeria, the latest objects to be sent back to their homelands as museums grapple with their colonial-era holdings.

The artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes and mostly housed in a museum in Leiden, were looted in the late 19th century by British soldiers from what is now Nigeria. They will be returned at the request of the Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

The artifacts include human and animal figures, plaques, royal regalia and a bell.

The development comes as governments and museums in Europe and North America have increasingly sought to resolve ownership disputes over objects looted during colonial times.

Olugible Holloway, the commission’s director, traveled to The Netherlands to sign the transfer agreement during a ceremony at the Museum Volkenkunde marking what he said was the largest single return of antiques looted from Benin.

“We thank the Netherlands for their cooperation and hope this will set a good example for other nations of the world in terms of repatriation of lost or looted antiquities,” Holloway said in a statement.

Nigeria formally requested the return of hundreds of objects from museums around the world in 2022. Some 72 objects were returned from a London museum that year while 31 were returned from a museum in Rhode Island.

The Benin Bronzes were stolen in 1897 when British forces sacked the Benin kingdom, which is now in modern-day Nigeria.

The decision to return the items in the Dutch collection followed an assessment of a committee tasked with looking into requests by countries for restitution of artifacts in state museums. It marked the fifth time Dutch cultural institutions have returned objects based on the committee’s recommendation.

“Cultural heritage is essential for telling and living the history of a country and a community,” Eppo Bruins, the Dutch culture and education minister, said in a statement. “The Benin Bronzes are indispensable to Nigeria. It is good that they are going back.”

The committee is currently considering requests from Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia for the return of objects. In 2023, two Dutch museums returned hundreds of cultural artifacts back to Indonesia and Sri Lanka taken, often by force, during the colonial era.

Molly Quell, The Associated Press

Nova Scotia's privacy commissioner has filed her report into the 2023 MOVEit file transfer service cybersecurity attack.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday ordered a halt to New York City’s congestion pricing system, which thins traffic and funds mass transit by imposing high tolls on drivers entering some parts of Manhattan.

Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press

OTTAWA — More Canadians have expressed an interest in joining the military since U.S. President Donald Trump took office — but the Canadian Armed Forces isn’t attributing that spike to Trump and his talk of annexing Canada.

The Canadian Armed Forces received roughly 1,000 more applications over the last month than it did in the same month in 2024.

Military officials say they won’t have data explaining why the numbers are up for some time.

The military has been working to change its recruitment practices and get applicants into uniform faster.

It’s been dealing with a severe personnel shortage for more than two years and is now short around 13,500 troops.

But Gen. Jennie Carignan, chief of the defence staff, says the numbers have stabilized and the military is on track to meet its recruitment goal for this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press

THUNDER BAY — Rachel Homan’s curling team secured a playoff spot at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a 7-5 win over B.C.’s Corryn Brown.

Homan improved to 6-0 at the Canadian women’s curling championships. The defending champions had two games remaining in Pool A’s preliminary round.

The top three teams in each pool of nine advance and Homan was chased by three teams at 4-2 — B.C.’s Brown and Alberta’s Kayla Skrlik and Selena Sturmay.

Sturmay was a 10-8 winner of New Brunswick’s Melissa Adams in Wednesday’s morning draw.

Saskatchewan’s Nancy Martin beat Nunavut’s Julia Weagle to get to 4-3. Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville thumped Prince Edward Island’s Jane DiCarlo 15-2 and was 3-4.

Nova Scotia’s Christina Black and Ontario’s Danielle Inglis at 4-1, and Quebec Laurie St-Georges at 4-2, were the frontrunners heading into the Pool B draw.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

The Canadian Press

<!– Photo: 9b504da1e66c6091813679eabf701e3514918316b8374f45d5732511baf8872a.jpg, Caption:

Team Canada skip Rachel Homan calls a sweep during Scotties Tournament of Hearts action against British Columbia in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

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The project is by far the most costly health care initiative in Nova Scotia history. The $7.4 billion price tag breaks down as $4.5 billion in construction costs and an estimated $2.9 billion in maintenance funding over 30 years.

The post $7.4 billion deal for new Halifax hospital signed appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

Provincial health minister says the project is the largest piece of health-care infrastructure ever undertaken in Atlantic Canada.

Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair told CBC News she 'would not be independent and objective' if the Houston government gives itself the ability to fire her.

Housing builds and sales in Halifax are set to increase, according to a new report from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The agency’s 2025 outlook is favourable for the city as interest rate relief from the Bank of Canada seems to be helping a rebound for some housing types in the area. Although there is a prediction that housing builds will increase, the rental market could face a pinch in the municipality.

Similar to other east coast markets, rental projects are growing and account for the majority of the construction seen. The outlook that this will continue is “positive” the report notes, even if it’s not as strong as the last two years.

Single, semi-detached and row houses have made a comeback in Halifax over the last few months. This comes after several quarters of “significant declines,” the report reads.

This is partially due to the declining mortgage rates and rising incomes in the city. Pay in all industries across the province has increased over the past two years, helping spur demand, CMHC said.

New units on the market are set to bring the vacancy rate up slightly. The main risk is that there could be delays in the construction of rental units because the industry is facing a shortage of workers. This could in turn limit the growth in supply.

Last year is forecasted to end off with an average resale price of a home in Halifax around $580,000, an increase from the $553,388 the year prior.

Homes are expected to increase in value to $605,000 this year.

The vacancy rate in 2024 ended at 2.1 per cent. This is expected to rise over the year and land closer to 2.5 per cent.

CMHC said average rental prices in the city are likely to be around $1,740 for two bedrooms, a small increase from the end of 2025.

A new report analyzing cellular connectivity experiences by customers of Canada’s Big 3 providers says Rogers remains the most reliable network while Telus has the top 5G availability and Bell provides the best 5G download speeds.

The study by Opensignal, which collected data from October to December of last year, scored the three companies on their performances across a variety of metrics.

Rogers Communications Inc. was the winner in the reliability and consistency categories, which measure users’ ability to connect to and successfully complete basic tasks on a network.

Rogers’ network also demonstrated the fastest average upload speeds, both overall and for 5G users.

The report says Telus Corp. leapfrogged Rogers on 5G availability, and tied with Bell when it comes to download speed experience.

However, Bell still outpaced its competitors on 5G download speeds, and performed best for mobile gaming experiences over 5G networks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B, TSX:BCE, TSX:T)

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

Some of the money collected through higher rates will cover the first instalment of paying down a $500-million federally backed loan.

We fall into the trap of thinking each change is no big deal — until it is.

The post The erosion of democratic norms appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants riding on a motorcycle shot and killed on Wednesday a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in a region in northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, the latest in a string of deadly attacks on polio workers.

The attack in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, came just days after authorities launched the vaccination drive. Police official Nasir Khan said an investigation was underway.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

More than 200 polio workers and police assigned for their protection have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to health officials and authorities.

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio has not been eradicated. Pakistan reported at least 74 cases in 2024 and two cases since January.

Pakistan regularly launches campaigns against polio despite attacks on the workers and police assigned to the inoculation drives. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

The Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The South African government’s annual presentation of its budget was abruptly canceled Wednesday and rescheduled for next month over a dispute among parties in the governing coalition.

The finance minister’s budget speech normally takes place in February. Parliament Speaker Thoko Didiza said it was the first time that the presentation had been canceled over such a disagreement in the 31 years of South Africa’s democracy after the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.

South Africa has a 10-party coalition in government after the long-ruling African National Congress, or ANC, lost its majority in an election last year for the first time since apartheid ended. That means it cannot pass the budget without support from other parties in Parliament.

The Democratic Alliance, the country’s second biggest party, said the budget postponement was over a 2% increase in value-added tax proposed by the ANC. The DA said in a statement that the tax increase “would have broken the back of our economy.”

The budget delay came just over a week after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa to be cut over a contentious land law. That move by Trump was expected to put pressure on South Africa’s government to find funds to plug gaps, especially in the public health service. South Africa was already impacted by Trump’s 90-day global freeze on U.S. aid.

Africa’s most advanced economy has hardly grown in recent years. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who was meant to present the budget to Parliament, told reporters that the South African government was facing fiscal challenges.

“Do we borrow more, and what are the implications of that?” Godongwana said. “Do we continue cutting expenditure? What are the implications of that? Do we raise tax and what are the implications of that?”

“There is general agreement that in the current environment, we need to find ways of funding our priorities.”

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

The Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian police said Wednesday they are investigating the disappearance of 32-year-old British freelance journalist Charlotte Alice Peet, who hasn’t made contact with friends or family for more than a week.

São Paulo police said in a statement its agents are “visiting locations to find the missing person and clarify what happened.”

An association of foreign correspondents in Brazil said in a statement that a friend of Peet’s reported she had asked about accommodation in Rio de Janeiro shortly before she went missing. The case was sent to São Paulo authorities because her last contact on Feb. 8 came from the city.

Peet had worked as a foreign correspondent in Rio for almost two years and returned to Brazil in November, the association said.

The British consulate in Rio did not comment on Peet’s disappearance.

The Associated Press

Tuesday night's town hall at the NSCC's IT campus was titled 'The Many Vs. the Money.'

The post More than 200 attend Halifax town hall to push back against ‘corporate agenda’ appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

More than 120 workers from The Bridge voted in June to unionize. The sealed box with their ballots has been at the Nova Scotia Labour Board since.

The post Halifax shelter workers organize rally to protest delays in union certification appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

But MLAs and the premier are getting a big raise.

The post Premier Tim Houston floods the zone with sweeping changes to government appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

TORONTO — Technology and mining companies topped this year’s TSX Venture 50 list amid the ongoing push for a piece of the energy transition, the latest edition of the ranking shows.

“The broader diversity of the venture market continues,” said Tim Babcock, president of the TSX Venture Exchange, in an interview.

“There are times where we are seeing innovation sectors be hotter in the market, be more interesting for investors,” he said. “Then, at times, mining is more interesting.”

The TSX Venture 50 list, released on Wednesday, showcases small-cap issuers across energy, mining, clean technology and life sciences, diversified industries, and technology.

The companies are ranked by their 2024 performance in three areas: market capitalization growth, share price appreciation and trading volume.

Collectively, the TSX Venture 50 companies had a combined market capitalization of $21.7 billion as of the end of last year, up 289 per cent year-over-year.

The companies also delivered an average share price appreciation of 207 per cent, far outpacing growth seen in 2023 and 2022.

The company that took the overall top spot was Newfoundland-based marine tech firm Kraken Robotics Inc. Its market cap soared 437 per cent in 2024, adding more than $587 million. The company made its fourth appearance on the TSX Venture 50 list since its debut on the Venture Exchange in 2015, with an initial valuation of $10.6 million.

Thirty-one of the top 50 spots on the list were dominated by mining companies, with many of them focused on critical minerals — nickel, copper and uranium — as well as precious metals.

“The mining sector generally plays a big part in the Canadian market and that is certainly the case for the venture exchange and has been for many, many years,” said Babcock.

He added that the push toward the green energy transition has benefited mining companies in particular as the race for critical minerals captures investor interest.

Artemis Gold Inc. emerged with the highest consolidated value traded of any TSX Venture 50 issuers last year, with $1.3 billion worth of shares traded, the report showed.

SPARQ Systems Inc., a Kingston, Ont.-based renewable energy company, was among the standouts on the list, Babcock said. The company posted the highest increase in its share price — a 944 per cent surge as well as market capitalization growth higher than any company on the list.

A range of innovation companies in clean tech, renewable energy and life science found spots on the Venture 50 list.

“When we think about what they have in common, I would say, that ingenuity, that entrepreneurship, ability to use the capital markets to raise capital and grow their businesses,” Babcock said.

However, Babcock said geopolitical and economic uncertainties have tempered the spirits among some Canadian ventures.

“We’re optimistic but definitely wary of the uncertainty whether it be in the geopolitical environment or in the broader macroeconomic environment around the globe,” he said.

Despite fears, Babcock said many Canadian companies are positioned for growth.

“When you look at the growth and success of these companies over the course of last year, there’s no question that Canada still has a lot to offer and that the venture market still has a lot of opportunities to offer to investors in this country,” he said.

Roughly half of the 50 companies on the Venture list are headquartered in B.C., the report said.

“It’s not a surprise that we have close to half of the companies on the TSX Venture 50 being domiciled in B.C.,” Babcock said. “That ties directly to the high number of mining companies on the list.”

At least 40 of those companies on the list also have a global footprint including in Europe, South America and Africa, the report said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press

Loblaw says it’s planning to open 80 new grocery and pharmacy stores this year, about 50 of which will be discount grocers.

The company says the new locations are part of an approximately $10 billion investment over the next five years, including $2.2 billion this year.

The plans for 2025 include renovating more than 300 grocery and pharmacy locations.

They also involve modernizing the company’s supply chain, including the initial opening of an East Gwillimbury, Ont. distribution centre that started construction in 2022.

“From opening one of the largest fully automated distribution centres in North America, to introducing dozens of small-format, hard discount stores to communities that need them most, this investment will have a positive impact across the country,” said chief executive Per Bank in a press release.

Loblaw has been at the forefront of the shift to discount shopping over the past few years as Canadians look for ways to mitigate inflation and higher interest rates.

It and the other major grocers have been putting money toward discount stores by opening new locations and converting some existing stores into lower-cost banners.

Inflation sent the price of groceries soaring after the COVID-19 pandemic, and shoppers have responded by seeking more sales and choosing discount banners like No Frills, FreshCo and Food Basics over the other stores owned by the major grocers.

The major grocers have also come under scrutiny in recent years from shoppers and politicians, and have denied accusations that they profited improperly from inflation.

In its 2023 financial year, Loblaw opened 31 new discount stores through conversions or brand-new locations, according to its annual report, divided between its No Frills and Quebec-based Maxi banners.

In 2024 it also started testing new store formats. It opened small No Frills stores and launched a pilot project involving a new banner based on its No Name store brand, promising even bigger savings than at No Frills.

Loblaw said in the press release that since 2020, it’s spent more than $8 billion on improving and expanding its store network as well as modernizing its supply chain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

Companies in this story: (TSX:L)

Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press

Those looking to take the Alderney Ferry on Wednesday morning were out of luck.

Halifax Transit announced a number of trip cancellations:

No reason was given for the cancellation, and no shuttles were to be provided.

RCMP in East Uniake are asking people to avoid Tanglewood Dr Wednesday morning.

Officers say they responded to a call of a barricaded person at a residence on that street.  Tanglewood Dr. is closed, and people are asked to stay away from the area.

Police have not released any more information other than to say that they do not believe there is any threat to anyone outside the home.

Passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from the U.S. that crashed and flipped over at Toronto Pearson Airport on Family Day are speaking out, sharing harrowing details of one of the most jarring incidents in recent aviation history.

“When we hit, it was just super hard. The plane went sideways,” John Nelson said in an interview with CityNews. “I believe we skidded on our side and flipped over on our back. Where we ended up, there was a big fireball.”

One video circulating online shows several seconds of the evacuation effort underway as upside-down passengers unbuckled their seatbelts and were hurried off the burning aircraft. Nelson was one of the 76 passengers aboard Delta Air Lines flight 4819 from Minnesota to Toronto when the plane crash-landed on the runway at Pearson Airport.

“It was mass chaos. I was upside down,” Nelson further explained. “The lady next to me was upside down. We let ourselves go, and I hit the ceiling, which is a surreal feeling. And then everybody was just like, get out, get out, get out.”

Nelson is among many passengers who recorded the aftermath of the crash after making it to safety. The jarring moment showing the plane crash on the tarmac hard before catching fire and flipping was also captured.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but Nelson recalls documenting the wintery weather upon approach.

“I did notice that the winds were super gusty. The snow had kind of blown over the runways,” he said.

Investigation into plane crash at Pearson airport continues as black box recovered

Delays at Toronto Pearson Airport may continue on Wednesday as investigators work to determine what caused Monday’s fiery crash landing.

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said they’ve recovered the plane’s black box and sent it off for analysis, but it’s too soon to say what led to the crash.

Airport authorities said the aircraft’s wreckage was expected to remain on the runway for about 48 hours until the investigators finish their work.

Delta Air Lines confirmed that 21 injured passengers were initially transported to local hospitals. As of Tuesday morning, 19 have been released. Some of the injuries included back sprains, head injuries, anxiety, headaches, nausea and vomiting due to fuel exposure, according to Peel Regional Paramedic Services.

Deborah Flint, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), called the emergency response “textbook,” saying the quick action by fire, police, paramedics and flight staff likely saved lives. 

At this point, airport officials will not comment on wind, weather or runway conditions, though it is the focus of the ongoing investigation.

“This could not be a time for us to have theories or to speculate on what caused the crash,” Flint said.

With files from The Canadian Press

At a celebration of life for Paiyton Pick, her family told CBC News they want her to be remembered as more than a victim, and as they grieve they want to push for change to prevent intimate partner violence in Nova Scotia.

The inside of a north-end Halifax building that caught fire early Sunday morning is essentially gone, and the exterior walls are now in danger of collapsing.

The Halifax bridge commission is preparing for tolls to come off in less than two months, after the provincial government solidified its election promise this week.

The Nova Scotia government has announced it will lift blanket bans for future natural resource development, including for uranium exploration and mining. The decision is a big change in course for a province that hotly debated developing a uranium industry 40 years ago and again in 2008.

Two of Ontario’s main political party leaders will be making campaign stops in Ottawa and Guelph regions today.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie is set to make a morning announcement in Clarence-Rockland, just east of Ottawa, before stopping in Kanata-Carleton and Nepean.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner is joining a local all-candidates debate in Guelph this morning and later making an announcement in Georgetown.

Ford’s campaign did not release a public schedule for today, after cancelling an event in Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday due to flight delays out of Toronto Pearson Airport.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles has several media interviews today but no public events scheduled.

The snap election will be held on Feb. 27.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Delays at Toronto’s Pearson airport may continue today as investigators work to determine what caused Monday’s fiery crash landing of a Delta Air Lines plane with 80 people on board.

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Tuesday they’ve recovered the plane’s black box and sent it off for analysis, but it’s too soon to say what led to the crash.

Airport authorities said the wreckage of the aircraft was expected to remain on the runway for about 48 hours until the investigators finish their work.

They said delays were expected over the coming days and advised travellers to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.

Delta Flight 4819 from Minneapolis to Toronto crashed on landing around 2:30 p.m. Monday, leaving passengers scrambling to flee the upside-down plane as firefighters doused the flames.

Delta said Tuesday that 19 out of 21 passengers initially taken to Toronto-area hospitals have been released.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — A former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who has been involved in a discrimination class action for eight years says the settlement isn’t enough to compensate for the trauma he and others experienced.

The class action was launched on behalf of current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who suffered racial discrimination or harassment in connection with their military service at any time since April 17, 1985.

The settlement is worth up to $150 million, and individual payments will range from a base of $5,000 up to $35,000 for class action members who provide a “narrative of their experience.”

Documents filed with the Federal Court in June 2024 suggest about 45,000 people could be eligible for the settlement. The claims period is expected to open after April 10, 2025.

Anyone eligible for the settlement has the option of getting a personalized apology letter from the chief of the defence staff. The settlement also includes a pledge to make systemic changes to the Canadian Armed Forces’ culture.

Rubin Coward, who joined the CAF in 1981 and spent the last eight years working on the class action, said the agreement is “unfair and inequitable.” He said he thinks members were “short changed” compared to those who received other types of settlements.

“I’m very disillusioned and I’m not at all happy with what has transpired,” he said. “I’m just totally disappointed in the entire system … That’s really a slap in the face.”

In 2019, the Canadian government settled a $900-million class-action lawsuit with veterans and military members who experienced sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces.

More than 23,000 people have received compensation through that claim, with most eligible to receive between $5,000 and $55,000 in compensation. Those who experienced exceptional harm, or have been previously denied benefits for exceptional harm, were eligible for up to $155,000.

Coward said he also has concerns about the agreement’s effectiveness, given that racism continues to exist within the CAF.

In a decision released last week, Judge Ann Marie McDonald said the settlement was “fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class as a whole.” She said the word compensation is not used in the agreement “in recognition that money cannot make someone whole again.”

McDonald said that while most of the feedback received from class members has been in support of the settlement, some have argued the payment amounts are too low, the CAF still needs structural changes and racists in the ranks are not being held to account.

“Overall, despite the objections raised, I am not satisfied that the objections take the proposed settlement outside the zone of reasonableness,” McDonald said.

She said those opposed to the settlement can opt out and bring forward claims at their own expense.

Wallace Fowler, one of the class action plaintiffs, has asked to be removed from the action to pursue his own claim. McDonald said Fowler objects to the payout amount and alleges “collusion between the lawyers and military officials.”

Kened Sadiku, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence, said racial discrimination and harassment have “no place” in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Sadiku said that while “no amount of money will ‘compensate’ class members for what they experienced,” both parties developed and agreed to a financial assessment scheme with input from external experts.

Sadiku said DND and the CAF acknowledge that “a history of systemic racism and discrimination within the organization has led to harmful impacts on military personnel, public service employees, and the trust in the organization held by Canadians.” He said that while there have been positive changes and several programs have been implemented, “there is much more work to do.”

Coward said he faced racism during his entire time in the military and was “targeted” almost daily. He said he has since been diagnosed with complex PTSD and was medically released from the military in 1995.

He said he spent years learning about human rights law and helped to launch the class action in 2016.

“None of us put a uniform on so that we’d be abused,” said Coward, who is entitled to a $30,000 honorarium for his involvement in settlement negotiations.

Coward said that while he can’t challenge the judge’s decision, he hopes the financial settlement can be reconsidered and increased.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — An advocacy group is calling on Canada’s public pension managers to use their financial heft to more publicly work to reduce climate change as political efforts become less reliable.

Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health says in a report that Canada’s big pensions need to recognize the power and influence they wield and to more actively use it as U.S. President Donald Trump unravels momentum on climate action and a Canadian carbon tax policy looks to be on the way out.

The group’s executive director Adam Scott says political backsliding only increases the urgent need for financial leadership to fill the void.

Shift’s report assesses the climate commitments of 11 of Canada’s largest pension managers and finds most are making some progress but it’s concerned about the pace as well as the backsliding by some.

It says Quebec’s CDPQ is still the leader of the pack, including through its full divestment of coal and oil assets, while the Alberta Investment Management Corp. received a failing grade for its apparent politicization and failure to set climate targets.

The group also calls out the CPPIB, Canada’s largest pension fund, for its lack of interim climate targets and its growing portfolio of oil and gas assets without showing how the holdings have a decarbonization pathway.

CPPIB has pushed back against divestment calls, saying it is working with oil and gas companies to reduce emissions while maintaining needed access to energy.

The report card, which gave CDPQ a B+, CPPIB a C- and AIMCo an F, also gave high marks to the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario and University Pension Plan, while the British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Public Sector Pension Investment Board came in on the low end.

The report says that while pension funds have tended to avoid controversy, it’s time to graduate from building capacity to leading the way.

Scott says pensions need to think long term as their funds require a stable climate to fulfil their mandates.

“The climate crisis is subject to the laws of physics and not to four-year election cycles.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — If you catch Sasha Ivanov at the supermarket these days, chances are he’ll be snapping a photo of something on the store’s shelves.

His new app, Maple Scan, helps shoppers identify Canadian products by analyzing photographs of products to provide details about where they were made and whether they meet the government criteria for being labelled “product of Canada” or “made in Canada.”

When the app detects a product from outside the country, it offers users a list of homegrown alternatives.

“Right now, when I go to the grocery store, ultimately, I don’t really know what is Canadian or not or even any information about the company and their backgrounds,” the Calgary-based computer science researcher said about the app’s inspiration.

“The question of what makes the product Canadian is actually kind of challenging and that’s what I was hoping to solve with this.”

The app he created joins a growing group of services that have cropped up in a matter of weeks with one goal: helping people support homegrown brands.

The impetus behind most of them was the souring relations between Canada and the U.S., which has been threatening to impose massive tariffs.

Under U.S. President Donald Trump’s current plans, all Canadian goods will face 25 per cent duties starting next month, while energy will also see a 10 per cent tariff. Around the same time, steel and aluminum originating from anywhere outside the U.S. will also rack up 25 per cent tariffs.

Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to retaliate, but many Canadians aren’t waiting for certainty before making changes. Instead, they’re eschewing American goods in favour of domestic alternatives starting now.

But figuring out what’s Canadian is both difficult and “nuanced,” said Christopher Dip, who co-founded the Montreal-based Buy Beaver app with Alexandre Hamila.

Some products, for example, are made in Canada but with ingredients from other countries. Other items were made by Canadian companies outside the country and many were produced by foreign-headquartered multinationals in Canada.

As Dip and Hamila have learned, where something is made isn’t always clear from the packaging and who owns the company can change without the average shopper really noticing.

One example they stumbled across is Kicking Horse Coffee. The brand got its start in Invermere, B.C., but in 2017, Italian coffee giant Lavazza took an 80 per cent stake in the brand.

The Buy Beaver app aims to help shoppers sort through such confusion by relying on crowdsourcing. Scanning an item’s barcode through their app produces three ratings — one each for the company’s manufacturing location, materials and ingredients, and brand ownership.

The higher each score is, the more users there are who voted on it being Canadian.

“We know there are some errors but most of the time, it’s going to be right,” Dip said.

Maple Scan, which leverages artificial intelligence to infer and synthesize information about products, is also imperfect.

While the app got the details of several products right, it told The Canadian Press last week that a bottle of French’s ketchup was prepared in Canada, which is true, but by Swiss Chalet- and Harvey’s-owner Recipe Unlimited, which is wrong. French’s is, in fact, made by U.S.-based McCormick & Company.

Ivanov has since begun working to fix these issues by programming its AI to cross-reference supplementary online sources. He’s also mused about boosting the precision again by eventually building a curated database of products and allowing users to vote on the accuracy of each entry.

Edmonton software developers William Boytinck and Matthew Suddaby are relying on crowdsourcing to power their Shop Canadian app.

Users judge how Canadian a product is by doling out up to five maple leaves. An item with five maple leaves must be produced in Canada with all its parts coming from within the country.

Boytinck admits the method has its errors, but said, “the more people use it, the more accurate it gets.”

And so far, a lot of people are using it. The app recently crossed the 100,000 downloads mark as of last week.

“Our original goal was just to help a few keep a couple hundred dollars in Canada,” he said. “It’s a simple idea and we’ve just exploded.”

Ivanov has had a similar experience. Maple Scan had 2,000 downloads last week and the userbase is growing.

Most who have adopted the app are opening it several times a day and scanning everything from grocery store staples to electronics, makeup and even store fronts, he said.

What they’re learning may already be shaping their purchasing decisions.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. CEO Per Bank said Friday that his grocery chains noticed a 7.5 per cent increase in sales of products prepared in Canada after the tariff spat intensified.

That increase reached double digits last week and is particularly pronounced in the dairy and frozen food categories, he wrote on LinkedIn.

While it’s unclear if the apps contributed to such sales, Ivanov is just pleased to see people’s interest in buying Canadian climbing.

“It’s been wonderful and I am just so excited that this is something that people are finding helpful,” he said.

— With files from Aaron Sousa in Edmonton.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — The next Ontario government should take the lead in encouraging urgent expansion of interprovincial electricity transmission while ensuring it advances a transition to a clean economy, a new report by the Pembina Institute said Wednesday.

Reducing interprovincial barriers could open up new markets for Ontario’s electricity that are insulated from ongoing trade uncertainty with the United States, the report said.

Ontario and the rest of Canada face a “new economic reality” highlighted by the threat of a prolonged trade dispute with the U.S., said the report published by the clean energy think tank. Yet, regardless of how those threats materialize, the report suggests a “major economic realignment” has started and Ontario must find a new path to ensure its economy is insulated against future shocks.

“The takeaway for Ontario is clear: developing a clean energy economy has the potential to make Ontarians’ lives more affordable and their homes and cities healthier and more comfortable, and to create new sectors and jobs,” the report said.

The report underlines some of the recent trends in Ontario’s electricity grid, electric vehicle manufacturing and purchasing, and building emissions before it offers a suite of recommendations on what reforms the next provincial government could pursue on a path to a lower-emissions economy.

There are some promising signs, the report said. Notably, the province initiated the largest ever battery storage procurement in Canada last year and recently approved a nearly $11 billion multi-year investment to help electricity consumers manage their use and costs.

But the report warned of possible pitfalls. While Ontario’s coal phaseout helped drop electricity emissions, the trajectory flipped in recent years.

The province’s grid went from 94 per cent emissions-free in 2020 to 87 per cent in 2024. That trend is set to continue due to forecasted growth in gas generation as the province refurbishes its nuclear generating stations, the report said.

“Not only does this risk undermining the province’s clean-grid progress, it exposes Ontarians to the price volatility and energy security threats from an overreliance on fossil fuel imports,” the report said.

It suggests the next government should open up more areas of the province for possible solar projects, including prime agricultural lands, and ensure the provincial regulator and energy operator both have clear mandates to support the “rapid and ambitious electrification” of the economy.

While Ontario has made several major investments to help attract new electric vehicle manufacturers, the report suggests its domestic EV market still lags behind other provinces in the absence of more consumer-side policies. It has fewer chargers per capita than Canada’s national average and does not offer EV purchase rebates, unlike some other provinces.

Meanwhile, as people expand their search for affordable homes, they are facing longer commuters and higher transportation costs, the report said. It suggests EVs can save a driver thousands of dollars compared to a gas-powered vehicle on the full cost of ownership over a decade, despite the higher upfront cost in some cases.

“Helping consumers overcome that upfront cost is a key policy. Reducing the barriers to actually owning and operating an electric vehicle is really important and there’s a lot the government can do to encourage more infrastructure,” said Chris Severson-Baker, Pembina Institute’s executive director.

The report suggests the province could bring in income-tested purchase incentives for some EVs and develop a plan for a provincewide charging network. It suggests Ontario could also kick-start manufacturing of electric school buses to replace roughly 20,000 diesel-powered vehicles and capitalize on what could be a growing North American market.

Meanwhile, a major driver of emissions in Ontario comes from heating and powering homes, offices and other buildings. Nearly a quarter of Ontario’s emissions comes from space and water heating provided by fossil fuels, the report noted.

In response, it suggests Ontario continue to invest in programs that help people afford energy efficient home retrofits. It also recommended revising the Ontario Building Code to require parking spaces in new residential buildings be EV-ready.

It also suggests Ontario incentivize and regulate disconnection of gas infrastructure from new builds.

Yet, the government recently stepped in to block a decision by the regulator on who should pay for new natural gas connections. The government last year overruled an Ontario Energy Board’s decision to put building developers, not ratepayers, on the hook for costs of new gas connections.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Pat King, one of the organizers of the 2022 convoy protest in Ottawa, is set to be sentenced in an Ottawa courtroom today.

Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland found King guilty on five counts in November, including mischief and disobeying a court order.

King was found not guilty on three counts of intimidation and one count of obstructing police.

The Crown is seeking a sentence of 10 years for King — the maximum penalty.

His defence is asking for time served and probation, since King spent about five months in jail after his initial arrest in February 2022 before being granted bail.

He spent another week behind bars last summer after the Crown alleged he breached his bail conditions.

The ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest saw hundreds of trucks and thousands of people gridlock downtown Ottawa for about three weeks in the winter of 2022 to protest public health mandates introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The protest spread to include blockades at Canada-U. S. border crossings at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., and in Coutts, Alta.

On Feb. 14, 2022, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time ever to end the protest. The act gave law enforcement extraordinary powers to remove and arrest protesters and gave the government the power to freeze the finances of those connected to the protests.

The temporary emergency powers also gave authorities the ability to commandeer tow trucks to remove vehicles belonging to protesters.

A four-day police operation began on Feb. 18, 2022 to end the protest that had taken over downtown Ottawa.

The emergency declaration was lifted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Feb. 23, 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press

An Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a close confidant to lead negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire with Hamas.

The U.S.-born Ron Dermer is a Cabinet minister who’s widely seen as Netanyahu’s closest adviser. He previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. and is a former Republican activist with strong ties to the Trump White House.

Israel and Hamas have yet to negotiate a second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire, and the first ends in early March. Palestinians and Arab countries have universally rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to remove the Palestinian population from Gaza and take over the territory.

Since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, more than 50,000 people have died in Gaza and Lebanon and nearly 70% of the buildings in Gaza have been devastated, according to health ministries in Gaza and Lebanon. Around 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the Oct. 7 attack.

Here’s the latest:

Netanyahu appoints close adviser with Trump ties to lead ceasefire negotiations

An Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a close confidant to lead negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire with Hamas.

The official says that Cabinet Minister Ron Dermer will head the Israeli team. Previous talks have been led by the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet security agencies.

Talks have not yet started on the second stage, which is meant to include an end to the war, return of all hostages and Israeli pullout from Gaza.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the appointment has not been officially announced.

The U.S.-born Dermer is widely seen as Netanyahu’s closest adviser. He previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. and is a former Republican activist with strong ties to the Trump White House.

Dermer currently serves as Israel’s strategic affairs minister, where he has been a key player in relations with the U.S. as well as Gulf Arab countries.

— Josef Federman, Jerusalem

Read more about the ceasefire in Gaza.

The Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan wants to remove all Afghan refugees from the country and their expulsion is imminent, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad warned Wednesday.

The embassy issued a strongly worded statement about Pakistan’s plans, saying Afghan nationals in the capital, Islamabad, and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi have been subjected to arrests, searches, and orders from the police to leave the twin cities and relocate to other parts of Pakistan.

“This process of detaining Afghans, which began without any formal announcement, has not been officially communicated to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad through any formal correspondence,” it added.

Besides hundreds of thousands of those living illegally in Pakistan, there are around 1.45 million Afghan nationals registered with UNHCR as refugees.

Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. rose to a 10-month high in January, official figures showed Wednesday, an increase that will likely diminish expectations of rapid interest rate reductions from the Bank of England.

The Office for National Statistics said inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, rose to 3% in the year to January, up from the equivalent 2.5% rate the month before.

The spike, which took inflation further above the bank’s target of 2%, was largely due to increases in airfares, food casts and private school fees in the wake of the new Labour government’s decision to impose a sales tax.

Economists had anticipated an increase to 2.8% but the scale of the spike has come as a big surprise and will likely cause concern among rate-setters at the central bank at a time when they are voicing worries about about the U.K.’s tepid economic growth.

Earlier this month, the bank cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.50%, its third reduction in six months, as it halved its 2025 growth forecast for the U.K. to 0.75%.

If growth remains that modest, it will be hugely disappointing news for the U.K.’s new Labour government, which has made growth its number one mission as it will boost living standards and generate funds for cash-starved public services. With growth proving elusive, the party’s popularity has fallen sharply since its election victory in July.

The government will no doubt be hoping that the central bank helps it out by cutting interest rates further as it will contribute to lower mortgage rates and cheaper loans, though reducing the returns offered to savers.

Most economists think that inflation will rise further in the coming months as a result of higher domestic energy bills but start to trend lower in the second half of the year, which will give -policymakers room to cut interest rates again — but maybe not as many times as previously thought.

“Another rate cut in March looks pretty unlikely, with the bank continuing with its gradual pace of easing for now,” said Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist at abrdn, formerly Aberdeen Asset Management. “But any speeding up of the pace of rate cuts in the second half of the year will depend on inflation pressures heading back towards 2%”

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A village in the densely populated Philippine capital region launched a battle against dengue Wednesday by offering a token bounty to residents for captured mosquitos — dead or alive.

The unusual strategy adopted by the Addition Hills village in Mandaluyong City reflects growing concern after the nearby city of Quezon declared an outbreak of the mosquito-borne illness over the weekend. Eight more areas reported an upsurge in cases of the potentially deadly viral infection.

At least 28,234 dengue cases have been recorded in the Philippines this year up to Feb. 1, a 40% increase compared to the same period last year, according to health department statistics. Quezon City declared a dengue outbreak Saturday after deaths this year reached 10 people, mostly children, out of 1,769 residents infected.

A urban village of more than 100,000 residents living in crowded neighborhoods and residential condominium towers, Addition Hills has done clean-ups, canal de-clogging and a hygiene campaign to combat dengue. But when cases spiked to 42 this year and two young students died, village leader Carlito Cernal decided to intensify the battle.

“There was an alarm,” Cernal told The Associated Press. “I found a way.”

Residents will get a reward of one Philippines peso (just over 1 cent) for every five mosquitos or mosquito larva they turn in, Cernal said.

Critics warned the strategy could backfire if desperate people start breeding mosquitoes for the reward. Cernal said that was unlikely because the campaign would be terminated as soon as the uptick in cases eases.

As the campaign began, about a dozen mosquito hunters showed up at the village office. Miguel Labag, a 64-year-old scavenger, handed a jug with 45 dark mosquito larvas squirming in some water and received a reward of nine pesos (15 cents).

“This is a big help,” Labag said, smiling. “I can buy coffee.”

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide. It can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting and rashes, and in severe cases can cause breathing problems, hemorrhaging and organ failure. While there is no specific treatment for the illness, medical care to maintain a person’s fluid levels is seen as critical.

Officials in another village in Quezon City were considering releasing swarms of frogs to eat mosquitoes.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said it’s crucial to clean up mosquito breeding sites, and for anyone who might be infected to seek immediate medical attention. Despite an increase in dengue infections, the Philippines has managed to maintain low mortality rates, he said.

Dengue cases surged unexpectedly ahead of the rainy season, which starts in June, likely because of intermittent downpours that have left stagnant pools of water where dengue-causing mosquitos can breed, Health Undersecretary Alberto Domingo said, adding that climate change was likely contributing to off-season downpours.

The Associated Press

FAR’A REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers’ sight lines, tens of thousands of Palestinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank — the largest displacement in the occupied territory since the 1967 Mideast war.

After announcing a widespread crackdown against West Bank militants on Jan. 21 — just two days after its ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza — Israeli forces descended on the restive city of Jenin, as they have dozens of times since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

But unlike past operations, Israeli forces then pushed deeper and more forcefully into several other nearby towns, including Tulkarem, Far’a and Nur Shams, scattering families and stirring bitter memories of the 1948 war over Israel’s creation.

During that war, 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in what is now Israel. That Nakba, or “catastrophe,” as Palestinians call it, gave rise to the crowded West Bank towns now under assault and still known as refugee camps.

“This is our nakba,” said Abed Sabagh, 53, who bundled his seven children into the car on Feb. 9 as sound bombs blared in Nur Shams camp, where he was born to parents who fled the 1948 war.

Tactics from Gaza

Humanitarian officials say they haven’t seen such displacement in the West Bank since the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel captured the territory west of the Jordan River, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, displacing another 300,000 Palestinians.

“This is unprecedented. When you add to this the destruction of infrastructure, we’re reaching a point where the camps are becoming uninhabitable,” said Roland Friedrich, director of West Bank affairs for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency. More than 40,100 Palestinians have fled their homes in the ongoing military operation, according to the agency.

Experts say that Israel’s tactics in the West Bank are becoming almost indistinguishable from those deployed in Gaza. Already, President Donald Trump’s plan for the mass transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza has emboldened Israel’s far-right to renew calls for annexation of the West Bank.

“The idea of ‘cleansing’ the land of Palestinians is more popular today than ever before,” said Yagil Levy, head of the Institute for the Study of Civil-Military Relations at Britain’s Open University.

The Israeli army denies issuing evacuation orders in the West Bank. It said troops secure passages for those wanting to leave on their own accord.

Seven minutes to leave home

Over a dozen displaced Palestinians interviewed in the last week said they did not flee their homes out of fear, but on the orders of Israeli security forces. Associated Press journalists in the Nur Shams camp also heard Israeli soldiers shouting through mosque megaphones, ordering people to leave.

Some displaced families said soldiers were polite, knocking on doors and assuring them they could return when the army left. Others said they were ruthless, ransacking rooms, waving rifles and hustling residents out of their homes despite pleas for more time.

“I was sobbing, asking them, ‘Why do you want me to leave my house?’ My baby is upstairs, just let me get my baby please,’” Ayat Abdullah, 30, recalled from a shelter for displaced people in the village of Kafr al-Labd. “They gave us seven minutes. I brought my children, thank God. Nothing else.”

Told to make their own way, Abdullah trudged 10 kilometers (six miles) on a path lighted only by the glow from her phone as rain turned the ground to mud. She said she clutched her children tight, braving possible snipers that had killed a 23-year-old pregnant woman just hours earlier on Feb. 9.

Her 5-year-old son, Nidal, interrupted her story, pursing his lips together to make a loud buzzing sound.

“You’re right, my love,” she replied. “That’s the sound the drones made when we left home.”

Hospitality, for now

In the nearby town of Anabta, volunteers moved in and out of mosques and government buildings that have become makeshift shelters — delivering donated blankets, serving bitter coffee, distributing boiled eggs for breakfast and whipping up vats of rice and chicken for dinner.

Residents have opened their homes to families fleeing Nur Shams and Tulkarem.

“This is our duty in the current security situation,” said Thabet A’mar, the mayor of Anabta.

But he stressed that the town’s welcoming hand should not be mistaken for anything more.

“We insist that their displacement is temporary,” he said.

Staying put

When the invasion started on Feb. 2, Israeli bulldozers ruptured underground pipes. Taps ran dry. Sewage gushed. Internet service was shut off. Schools closed. Food supplies dwindled. Explosions echoed.

Ahmad Sobuh could understand how his neighbors chose to flee the Far’a refugee camp during Israel’s 10-day incursion. But he scavenged rainwater to drink and hunkered down in his home, swearing to himself, his family and the Israeli soldiers knocking at his door that he would stay.

The soldiers advised against that, informing Sobuh’s family on Feb. 11 that, because a room had raised suspicion for containing security cameras and an object resembling a weapon, they would blow up the second floor.

The surveillance cameras, which Israeli soldiers argued could be exploited by Palestinian militants, were not unusual in the volatile neighborhood, Sobuh said, as families can observe street battles and Israeli army operations from inside.

But the second claim sent him clambering upstairs, where he found his nephew’s water pipe, shaped like a rifle.

Hours later, the explosion left his nephew’s room naked to the wind and shattered most others. It was too dangerous to stay.

“They are doing everything they can to push us out,” he said of Israel’s military, which, according to the U.N. agency for refugees, has demolished hundreds of homes across the four camps this year.

The Israeli army has described its ongoing campaign as a crucial counterterrorism effort to prevent attacks like Oct. 7, and said steps were taken to mitigate the impact on civilians.

A chilling return

The first thing Doha Abu Dgehish noticed about her family’s five-story home 10 days after Israeli troops forced them to leave, she said, was the smell.

Venturing inside as Israeli troops withdrew from Far’a camp, she found rotten food and toilets piled with excrement. Pet parakeets had vanished from their cages. Pages of the Quran had been defaced with graphic drawings. Israeli forces had apparently used explosives to blow every door off its hinges, even though none had been locked.

Rama, her 11-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, screamed upon finding her doll’s skirt torn and its face covered with more graphic drawings.

AP journalists visited the Abu Dgehish home on Feb. 12, hours after their return.

Nearly two dozen Palestinians interviewed across the four West Bank refugee camps this month described army units taking over civilian homes to use as a dormitories, storerooms or lookout points. The Abu Dgehish family accused Israeli soldiers of vandalizing their home, as did multiple families in Far’a.

The Israeli army blamed militants for embedding themselves in civilian infrastructure. Soldiers may be “required to operate from civilian homes for varying periods,” it said, adding that the destruction of civilian property was a violation of the military’s rules and does not conform to its values.

It said “any exceptional incidents that raise concerns regarding a deviation from these orders” are “thoroughly addressed,” without elaborating.

For Abu Dgehish, the mess was emblematic of the emotional whiplash of return. No one knows when they’ll have to flee again.

“It’s like they want us to feel that we’re never safe,” she said. ”That we have no control.”

Isabel Debre, The Associated Press

ZAANDIJK, Netherlands (AP) — A wintry gust of wind raises hopes that the giant sails of a centuries-old windmill near Amsterdam will start turning. On the mill’s cutting floor, six blades briefly rise and fall, sawing into a rough-hewn plank.

But the wind drops and the mill’s sails and saws grind to a halt.

“If the wind doesn’t blow, we’re unemployed,” said Erik d’Ailly, a 69-year-old volunteer miller.

Despite the stop-and-go nature of the work, the age-old craft of harnessing wind power to drain lowlands, saw lumber or grind grain is enjoying a renaissance in the Netherlands, a nation famous for the windmills dotting its landscape. Peter Booij and d’Ailly are part of a record crop of 110 newly qualified millers. The 68-year-old Booij proudly wears his miller’s pin on the green fleece sweater that keeps him warm on the mill’s cutting floor.

It takes two to three years to complete training to work in a windmill, most of it hands-on experience, followed by an exam. Most graduates become volunteers at windmills, which need to keep turning to prevent them falling into disrepair.

“It’s very important to keep the 1,200 mills we still have, and a mill is like a car; it needs to run, it needs to move,” said Nicole Bakker, director of De Hollandsche Molen, a group set up in 1923 to represent the interests of windmills and millers.

“The miller’s craft is on the list of UNESCO intangible heritage, ” she added. “So we want to preserve the craft of the miller, and to preserve the craft we need to preserve the mill.”

This low-lying nation relied for centuries on the power of windmills to drain water away from its swampy land and grind grain into flour. Windmills also sawed wood used in sail ships that plied the world’s oceans and ground spices they carried from Dutch colonies.

Despite more modern technology such as electric pumping stations, many of the windmills are still in use and lend a helping hand shifting water at times of extreme rainfall.

Others are major tourist draw cards. The windmill where Booij and d’Ailly work is on the Zaanse Schans, a heritage area close to Amsterdam where visitors flock to see mills, museums and restored historic houses.

Interest in learning the miller’s craft rose around the time the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdowns forced people to focus on things close to home, Bakker said.

“People saw the mill in their neighborhood and thought, well, okay, maybe it’s great to become a miller,” she said in an interview on the top floor of the windmill she calls home, where slabs of yellowing pig fat — used to grease the mill’s wooden components — hang from the rafters.

Booij’s fascination for windmills started small and grew. He began by working on a scale model of a mill built by his late father-in-law — also a miller — and then moved onto the real thing. He trained for two years before taking the exam last year.

“You have to know everything about the mill but also the weather is very important. You have to know what you can expect from certain kinds of weather and the wind of course,” he said. “Thunder is also a very dangerous thing for the millers because of the lightning.”

Working at a windmill is also a good conversation starter.

“Most people don’t know that this profession still exists and they are not aware that a mill has to be run by a miller and what the miller has to do and that it’s still possible to do work or spend time on a mill,” said d’Ailly.

“Every Dutch citizen sees mills everywhere … but they are not aware of what happens inside and they are intrigued.”

Mike Corder, The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Emma Raducanu lost to Karolina Muchova after an emotional first set in which a spectator was ejected at the Dubai Championships.

The 2021 U.S. Open champion appeared to be in tears as she went to the umpire’s chair after the second game Tuesday and her second-round match was briefly paused on Court 2.

After speaking to the umpire, who immediately called tournament organizers, Raducanu stood in a small space between the official’s chair and courtside screening before Muchova moved over to console her.

Raducanu then picked up a towel, wiped her face, nodded and continued the match.

The British player rallied from 4-0 down to force a tiebreaker but eventually lost 7-6 (6), 6-4 to Muchova.

Organizers of the women’s tour issued a statement later saying Raducanu was approached in a public space Monday “by a man who exhibited fixated behavior” and “this same individual was identified in the first few rows during Emma’s match on Tuesday … and subsequently ejected.”

“He will be banned from all WTA events pending a threat assessment.

The WTA said it was working with Raducanu and her team “to ensure her well-being and provide any necessary support.”

A man who stalked Raducanu while she was still a teenager was sentenced to an 18-month community service order and given a five-year restraining order after appearing in a British court in 2022.

Amrit Magar, a former delivery driver from London, went to Raducanu’s home on three separate dates, loitered outside, left unwanted gifts and cards, and stole property.

Raducanu rose to fame in 2021 by winning the U.S. Open as a qualifier, one of the the most unlikely achievements in tennis. She hasn’t been past the third round at a major since then and has spent long stints recovering from injuries.

The 14th-seeded Muchova advanced to a meeting against No. 53-ranked McCartney Kessler, who upset 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff 6-4, 7-5.

Third-ranked Gauff hadn’t fallen to an opponent ranked outside the top 50 since a loss to Sofia Kenin (128th) at Wimbledon in 2023.

Earlier, second-seeded Iga Swiatek beat Victoria Azarenka 6-0, 6-2 and will next face Dayana Yastremska for a spot int the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka eliminated Veronia Kudermetova 6-3, 6-4, and defending champion Jasmine Paolini defeated Eva Lys 6-2, 7-5.

Elena Rybakina , Jessica Pegula and Paula Badosa also advanced.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

The Associated Press

A backcountry skier in B.C. has been killed in an avalanche near the community of Golden.

The RCMP says two men were reported unaccounted for at 10 p.m. Monday night, and had not been heard from since 5:30 p.m.

They say one of the men eventually made it home, and despite hillside efforts to revive his friend, he succumbed to his injuries.

Mounties say search and rescue crews, including a helicopter, were able to recover the body of a 42-year-old man from Golden, B.C.

Avalanche Canada says the pair triggered a wind slab avalanche near the top of the slope, which crashed down a gully for almost a kilometre.

It adds the victim was found near the toe of the slide and more than a metre deep in the snow.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2025.

The Canadian Press

Rapper A$AP Rocky was found not guilty Tuesday of firing a handgun at a former friend on a Hollywood street in 2021.

“Thank y’all for saving my life,” he told jurors as they left the Los Angeles courtroom. They cleared him of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

The 36-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and burgeoning actor — whose legal name is Rakim Mayers — risked more than 24 years in prison if he had been convicted.

On the eve of trial, he turned down a prosecution offer of just six months in jail, along with probation and other conditions, if he would plead guilty to one count.

Insisting on his innocence, and with two young toddler sons at home along with his longtime partner Rihanna, the 36-year-old Rocky decided to gamble that a jury would feel the same. It paid off. The jurors felt at least that there was reasonable doubt of his guilt.

When the verdict was read, Rihanna cried and hugged the defense lawyers. She attended the trial sporadically and brought the couple’s two sons — 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers — for some of the closing arguments.

The verdict came at the height of Rocky’s fame, if not the pinnacle of his music career. The three-time Grammy nominee has a banner year in the works, and can now look to it without the threat of prison hanging over him.

He is scheduled to headline the Rolling Loud music festival in March; he is one of the celebrity co-chairs of fashion’s biggest night, the Met Gala, in May; and he stars with Denzel Washington in director Spike Lee’s film “Highest 2 Lowest,” set for release in early summer.

Prosecutors and their witnesses said that he was beefing with a former friend, A$AP Relli, with whom he had been in a crew who called themselves the A$AP Mob since high school. They said the two men met up in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021, and after a scuffle Rocky pulled the gun and fired twice at Relli, who said one of the shots grazed his knuckle but was not seriously hurt.

Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said in his closing argument that Relli is “an angry pathological liar” who “committed perjury again and again and again and again.”

Rocky’s lawyers and witnesses they called said Rocky had shot a prop gun that only fires blanks, which he had been carrying for security since taking it from a music video set months earlier. They said he fired it as a warning because Relli was attacking another member of their crew.

The jurors were told that despite three years passing since the incident, no one mentioned the phony gun to authorities until the day jury selection began at the trial.

They were also instructed that if they found that Rocky reasonably believed that he or one of the two friends with him that night were in imminent danger of injury, and that he used reasonable force, they could find the defendant not guilty.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether they reached the verdict because they believed he was in fact carrying a prop gun or that he acted in self-defense. They did not have to agree on their reasoning, or explain it outside of the jury room. They just had to reach the same conclusion.

BOSTON (AP) — The general manager of the United States team in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament said he would welcome a visit from President Donald Trump to the championship game between the U.S. and Canada on Thursday night.

Bill Guerin, who played 18 years in the NHL for eight teams, said on Fox News that Trump’s presence would give a boost to the rivalry between the North American hockey powers.

He credited Trump’s tariff threats and talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state for ratcheting up the intensity in their fight-filled matchup in the preliminary round.

“We would love it if President Trump was in attendance,” Guerin said in the interview broadcast Monday. “We have a room full of proud American players and coaches and staff. Listen, we’re just trying to represent our country the best way we can.”

The tournament marks the return of the top hockey stars to international play after sitting out the last two Olympics.

The United States beat Canada 3-1 on Saturday in a game that began with three fights in the first nine seconds. The quality of play, intensity of emotions and geopolitical backdrop have drawn comparisons to the Americans’ “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

“I think there was a little bit of a political flair to it. It’s just the time that we’re in,” Guerin said. “If you let it get the better of you, then you’re in trouble. But I do think the players used it as inspiration.”

Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has attended the Super Bowl and NASCAR’s Daytona 500.

Canada forward Brandon Hagel said Tuesday his team didn’t need any extra motivation, referencing American players having discussed over group chats their plan to start the previous game with fights.

“I think we’re out there playing for the flag, not the cameras. That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on,” Hagel said.

“We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

The Associated Press

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aiming to reduce the costs of in vitro fertilization, a medical procedure that helps people facing infertility build their families.

“Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options, as the cost per cycle can range from $12,000 to $25,000,” the order said. “Providing support, awareness, and access to affordable fertility treatments can help these families navigate their path to parenthood with hope and confidence.”

The order instructed the assistant to the president for domestic policy to give Trump a list of policy recommendations on protecting IVF access and “aggressively reducing out-of-pocket and health plan costs for IVF treatment” within 90 days.

IVF became a talking point during the 2024 presidential campaign when Alabama agreed to protect in vitro fertilization providers from legal liability a couple of weeks after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law.

Trump said at the time he strongly supported its availability. And a June poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults support protecting access to IVF, with 26% neutral and about 1 in 10 opposed.

In 2018, assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, contributed to 2% of all infants born in the United States, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s what to know about this increasingly common fertility treatment.

What is IVF?

The procedure offers a possible solution when a woman has trouble getting pregnant, and it’s normally tried after other, less expensive fertility treatments have failed.

It involves retrieving the woman’s eggs and combining them in a lab dish with a man’s sperm to create a fertilized embryo, which is then transferred into her uterus in an attempt to create a pregnancy.

IVF is done in cycles and may take more than one. The procedure can use a couple’s eggs and sperm or those from a donor.

Does insurance cover the procedure?

Insurance coverage of IVF and other fertility treatments can be patchy and depends on who provides insurance for the patient.

More large employers are offering the coverage to attract and keep workers. Many businesses also are extending coverage beyond those with an infertility diagnosis, making it accessible to LGBTQ+ couples and single women.

Government-funded programs such as Medicaid largely limit fertility treatment coverage. Coverage is less common among smaller employers.

Critics have said the lack of widespread coverage creates a divide, limiting treatments mainly to people who can pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.

What is the history of IVF?

The first baby conceived through IVF was born in 1978 in England. But the first in the U.S. was in 1981 in Norfolk, Virginia, with the birth of Elizabeth Carr.

Her mother, Judith Carr, had had three abnormal pregnancies, forcing the removal of her fallopian tubes. She and her husband sought treatment from Howard and Georgeanna Jones, doctors who opened a fertility clinic at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

The Norfolk clinic faced resistance before it even opened. When it sought a required state certificate in 1979, more than 600 people jammed into a public hearing. Several women voiced support for IVF and testified about wanting to start a family, while anti-abortion groups raised concerns about doctors interfering with human conception and embryos being discarded.

Despite proposed state legislation to stop the clinic, it opened in 1980, with others following soon afterward in California, Tennessee and Texas. By 1988, at least 169 in vitro centers were operating in 41 states.

The use of IVF continued to grow, but sentiments against it never really went away in the American anti-abortion movement, said Margaret Marsh, a history professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Many abortion opponents had made an uneasy peace with the technology as a treatment for infertility, Marsh said. But opposition to IVF has gained momentum since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

“Not everyone in the anti-abortion movement opposes these reproductive technologies, but many do,” she said.

How are embryos made?

The treatment often uses hormones to trigger ovulation so multiple eggs are produced and a needle is used to remove them from the ovaries.

Eggs can be fertilized by adding the sperm to the eggs in a lab, or a single sperm can be injected into each egg.

The fertilized egg is cultured over about five to six days to create the blastocyst — the early stage of an embryo — and is either transferred or stored for future use, said Dr. Jason Griffith, a reproductive endocrinologist in Houston.

Griffith said that on day three after fertilization, an embryo is anywhere from six to 10 cells. By day six, it’s between 100 and 300 cells. In comparison, he said, a person contains more than 1 trillion cells.

How are embryos frozen and stored?

Frozen embryos can be used for future pregnancies, and the vast majority survive the thawing process.

The freezing process involves replacing the water in embryo cells with a protectant fluid and flash-freezing with liquid nitrogen, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Frozen embryos are stored in tanks containing liquid nitrogen at hospital labs or reproductive medicine centers. Griffith said they can also be kept in storage facilities contracted by health care facilities, especially when they are stored for many years. Frozen embryos can be safely preserved for a decade or more.

Griffith said conditions are monitored in these facilities and there are physical security mechanisms to safeguard the tanks and backup generators in case of power outages.

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Ungar reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Associated Press writers Tom Murphy in Indianapolis and Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia contributed reporting.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Laura Ungar, The Associated Press

Premier Tim Houston’s government is using its supermajority in the legislature to give itself the power to fire the auditor general without cause and make reports from the office private.

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The 37-year-old Sidney Crosby isn't at 100 per cent at the tournament, but his unmatched effort remains intact. He fell on his sword for a costly turnover in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Americans in Montreal. He proceeded to calmly pick up the group and then sealed Monday's victory over Finland.