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NATO member Romania confirms third drone fragments findings near its border with Ukraine

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — NATO member Romania found new fragments of a drone deemed similar to those used by the Russian army near its border with war-torn Ukraine on Wednesday, in the third such finding in a week, defense officials said.Two helicopters from the Romanian Air Force were deployed with specialist teams to Nufaru and Victoria in the eastern county of Tulcea where the fragments were spread over an area of “several tens of meters,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.It said in a separate statement that it has notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations about areas near the border that could be at risk of incidents as Russian forces attack Ukraine’s Danube River ports across the river from Romania. Emergency authorities have received phone calls “about possible cases of drone impacts” between three localities, including Nufaru, the ministry said. It later confirmed that samples collected from the site are similar to those used b...

Ontario government set to begin discounted TTC, GO Transit co-fares in 2024

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

After years of discussions, there finally appears to be relief on the way for TTC passengers who connect with GO Transit trains and buses as the Ontario government is set to introduce discounted fares.Todd McCarthy, the MPP for Durham who was named Ontario’s associate transportation minister during a cabinet shuffle earlier in September, confirmed planning is underway to bring in a new TTC and GO Transit co-fare policy sometime in February.“This will save the average individual commuter about $1,500 per year. That’s a very, very important savings for our fellow citizens and this is true for Durham and of course across the GTA,” he told reporters during an unrelated announcement about the completion of construction at two Scarborough GO Transit stations.“That fare integration is part of our plan going forward in the very near future. We’re just on target, five months away, in February 2024.”RELATED: Ontario scrapping local transit fares for m...

Court watching ‘Freedom Convoy’ press conferences in criminal trial

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

OTTAWA — A courtroom scattered with “Freedom Convoy” supporters is taking in recordings of several lengthy press conferences hosted by spokespeople during the protest, as the criminal trial for two of its organizers enters its seventh day.Chris Barber and Tamara Lich were among those who organized a convoy of trucks to come to Ottawa in early 2022 to protest COVID-19 public health measures and call for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down. They both face mischief and several counselling charges, including mischief, intimidation and obstructing police, for their role in the demonstrations that blockaded city streets for three weeks.The press conferences from Feb. 6 and 9 were streamed live on Facebook, and feature Lich and other prominent spokespeople taking questions from independent media outlets.Lich speaks very little in the videos, which touch on how the protest was putting pressure on governments to change public health measures, how they expected police to re...

The iPhone 12 emits too much radiation and Apple must take it off the market, French agency says

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French regulators ordered Apple to stop selling the iPhone 12, saying it emits electromagnetic radiation levels that are above European Union standards for exposure. The company disputed the findings and said the device complies with regulations. The French government agency that manages wireless communications frequencies issued the order after the iPhone 12 recently failed one of two types of tests for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body. It’s unclear why the phone, which was released in late 2020, didn’t pass the agency’s latest round of tests and why it was only that particular model.France’s digital minister said the iPhone 12’s radiation levels are still much lower than levels that scientific studies consider could harm users, and the agency itself acknowledges that its tests don’t reflect typical phone use. The National Frequency Agency on Tuesday called on Apple to “implement all available means to rapi...

Union demands apology from WestJet after Poilievre speaks on flight’s PA system

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

OTTAWA — The union representing WestJet cabin crew is demanding an apology from the airline after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spoke on the public address system of a recent flight.A video circulating online shows Poilievre making short remarks on a Sunday night flight that was leaving Quebec City for Calgary after the Conservative Party of Canada’s convention. Poilievre’s campaign-style speech lasts for about 45 seconds and is met with laughter and cheers from passengers. CUPE Alberta’s local president Alia Hussain said it’s “very disappointing” that the airline allowed a politician to use the PA system. “It is doubly disappointing that WestJet is now trying to assign blame on the cabin crew for this event,” Hussein said in a statement Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter. Hussain said the cabin crew had no input in the decision to allow Poilievre to speak and that the airline’s rules say only crew members can use the...

Former NYC buildings commissioner surrenders in bribery investigation

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The former buildings commissioner under New York City Mayor Eric Adams surrendered to authorities on Wednesday to face undisclosed criminal charges related to a bribery investigation.Eric Ulrich, a longtime city official who also raised money for Adams, is expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom later in the afternoon alongside several other defendants.Ulrich resigned from his post as city buildings commissioner last November, six months after his appointment, amid reports that he was being questioned by prosecutors as part of an investigation into illegal gambling and organized crime.An attorney for Ulrich, Sam Braverman, said his client intended to plead not guilty.A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to discuss the charges. Bragg will appear at a press conference at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday alongside the commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation.The investigation appears to be focused in part on Ulrich’s relationshi...

UN envoy for Sudan resigns, warning that the conflict could be turning into ‘full-scale civil war’

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Sudan who was declared unwelcome by the country’s military rulers announced his resignation Wednesday in a final speech to the U.N. Security Council. He warned that the conflict between Sudan’s two military leaders “could be morphing into a full-scale civil war.”Volker Perthes, who had continued to work outside Sudan, said the fighting shows no sign of abating, with neither side appearing close to “a decisive military victory.”Sudan has been rocked by violence since mid-April, when tensions between the country’s military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, burst into open fighting.Perthes said at least 5,000 people have been killed since then and over 12,000 wounded, calling these conservative numbers. The United Nations says the country also faces a dire humanitarian emergency.Perthes was a key mediator after the conflict began, but the mili...

Palestinian man who fled Lebanon seeking safety in Libya was killed with his family by floods

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — A At the height of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war in the late 1980s, Saleh Ali Sariyeh decided to leave the Palestinian refugee camp where he had been living and move to Libya in search of safety and a better future.On Monday, the 62-year-old architect was killed along with his wife and two daughters in Libya’s coastal city of Derna, when their home was washed away by flooding that devastated the city. The floods killed more than 5,000 people and thousands remain missing days after the floods.Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many towns of eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coastal city of about 90,000 on Sunday, residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters washed down Wadi Derna, a river running from the mountains through the city and into the sea.“We lost contact with them after the storm,” said Sariyeh’s younger brother Mohammed, speaking by telephone from the southe...

‘Complete destruction’: Canadians mobilize to help Morocco after earthquake

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

MONTREAL — A Canadian aid worker in Morocco says he’s seen scenes of “complete destruction” in the wake of a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that has killed more than 2,900 people and left many more injured and homeless.Hassaan Sheikh of Islamic Relief Canada says his team is distributing blankets and mattresses in villages near the quake’s epicentre — about 70 kilometres south of the city of Marrakech — as bodies are being pulled from the rubble of flattened homes.Sheikh says that in the short term Moroccans need food, blankets and hygiene products, while in the longer term they will need their homes, roads and critical infrastructure rebuilt.Ottawa says it hasn’t received a request for assistance from Morocco, but many Canadians are launching efforts to help the North African country as it grapples with the devastating aftermath of Friday’s quake.In Montreal, home to a large Moroccan community, mosques and businesses have started fundraisers and collec...

New England getting more rain, watching Hurricane Lee’s path after flooding, sinkholes

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:42:16 GMT

LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) — More heavy rain began falling Wednesday in New England, where residents kept one eye on cleanup and another on the path of Hurricane Lee after downpours dropped nearly 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in six hours and flooded parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.The rainfall was a “200-year event,” said Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey issued a state of emergency Tuesday night following the “catastrophic flash flooding and property damage” in two counties and other communities.The rain created sinkholes in Leominster, Massachusetts. Cars sank into the ground at an auto dealership. The front yard collapsed at one house, resulting in a 15-foot (4.6-meter) hole that exposed the foundation.Andre Obin said his parents, who have lived in the home for many years, were able to pull out of their driveway shortly before the cave-in.“We’re just so lucky that the pavement didnR...