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UK minister Mark Spencer criticized over handling of Islamopobia probe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

LONDON — A Conservative MP has been criticized over his response to a complaint by a fellow minister, in which she accused him of making “humiliating” comments about her Muslim faith.In a report released Thursday, the prime minister’s ethics adviser Laurie Magnus stopped short of saying former Chief Whip Mark Spencer had broken the ministerial code in his response to the allegations by Nus Ghani, whom he now serves alongside in government.But he said Spencer, who is currently the farming minister, had shown a “lack of care” over his response to Ghani’s claim that she had been told her “Muslimness” was the reason she was being fired from then PM-Boris Johnson’s government.Following the report’s publication, Ghani highlighted what she described as “the ‘omissions,’ ‘shortcomings,’ ‘incomplete information,’ ‘inaccurate briefings’ and claims ‘implied without evidence,’” which she said the ethics adviser identi...

Von der Leyen warns Xi not to arm Russia with Chinese weapons

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday she warned China’s leader Xi Jinping not to send weapons to Russia, or it would “significantly” affect his country’s ties with the EU.In a vague yet unprecedented stance, Xi said he would give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a call when the time was right, according to the European Commission president after a meeting in Beijing with her Chinese counterpart.“We … count on China not to provide any military equipment, directly or indirectly, to Russia, because we all know arming the aggressor would be against international law,” von der Leyen told the media after her meeting with Xi. “This would indeed significantly harm the relationship between the European Union and China.”“I did emphasize in our talks today that I stand firmly behind President Zelenskyy’s peace plan … It was interesting to hear that President Xi reiterated his willingness to speak when condi...

Ice climber in Utah dies after pushing another climber out of the way of falling ice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

(CNN) — Deputies in Utah are praising the “brave, courageous” actions of an ice climber they said died after pushing another climber out of the way of falling ice.The 41-year-old woman was climbing ice falls in Duchesne County near Indian Canyon with two others Sunday when an ice column suddenly broke away, the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office said, without naming the climbers.“One climber pushed their fellow female climber, age 21, out of the way, which probably saved her life,” the sheriff’s office said. “Unfortunately, the climber that pushed her fellow climber out of the way … was trapped underneath two huge blocks of ice and did not survive.”Flowers are seen in this photo posted to Facebook by the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office. Credit: Duchesne County Sheriff’s OfficeA 34-year-old man was injured after falling about 40 feet when the ice column broke, officials said.The 21-year-old woman climbed...

Hugh Jackman receives skin cancer all-clear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

(CNN) — Australian actor Hugh Jackman has received the all-clear for skin cancer after undergoing tests for the disease, he announced via Instagram.“My biopsies came back negative!!!” he said Wednesday. “Thank you for ALL the love. I feel it!”Jackman, who has starred as Wolverine in the “X-Men” franchise since 2000, revealed earlier this week that he was undergoing skin cancer tests following a medical check up and urged his fans to protect themselves in the sun.While announcing his negative biopsy results, he reiterated his plea for fans to stay safe in the sun.“Please remember to wear sunscreen with a high level of SPF (no matter the season),” the 54-year-old added.Jackman, also known for his starring roles in “Les Misérables” and “The Greatest Showman,” has received treatment for basal cell carcinoma several times, and in 2013, revealed he had a cancerous growth removed from his nose...

Canada says 4 women, 10 children on way home from Syrian prison camps

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

The federal government says it is bringing home four Canadian women and 10 children from prison camps in northeastern Syria.The Canadians are among the many foreign nationals in Syrian camps run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.The long-anticipated flight to Canada had been expected to bring more people home.Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon reached an agreement with the federal government in January to repatriate six Canadian women and 13 children who had been part of a court action.Greenspon says today that two mothers and three children were not at a designated meeting point and missed the flight.He says he expects Global Affairs Canada will try to locate the five individuals and return them to Canada as well. More to come

Ellie Goulding thinks we all need to be more selfish

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Throughout her career, Ellie Goulding has been candid about the drawbacks of fame. Although she remembers being a self-conscious teenager, Goulding said her struggles with panic attacks, anxiety and insecurity about how she looks were exacerbated in the early stages of her stardom.“I was kind of thrust into this world,” she recalled. “I didn’t really get a chance to sort of do that thing that everyone gets to do where they kind of come out of that teenage phase, like start to find yourself.”But as Goulding gears up to release her fifth studio album, “Higher Than Heaven,” on Friday, the British pop star declared she is done caring about what other people think.“I can’t allow those comments and those opinions to affect me. I can’t. Life is too short,” Goulding said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press. “I think we all need to be way more selfish and stop doing things for other people.”But even as she professes to put herself first more, Gouldi...

Italy’s Berlusconi has leukemia, lung infection, doctors say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

ROME (AP) — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi is being treated for a lung infection that is a result of chronic leukemia, his doctors said Thursday, revealing the latest of string of health setbacks for the 86-year-old media mogul. Berlusconi’s personal physician, Alberto Zangrillo, signed off on a medical bulletin that said Berlusconi has had leukemia “for some time” but that the cancer of the blood cells was in a “persistent chronic phase.” The statement was the first official word from doctors since Berlusconi was admitted to Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital on Wednesday. Dr. Fabio Ciceri, who is head of hematology, bone marrow transplation and blood cancer at the hospital, co-signed it. “The current treatment strategy envisions treatment of the pulmonary infection” as well as specialized treatment “aimed at limiting the negative effects” of the chronic leukemia, the bulletin stated.Berlusconi is a media mogul who served three terms as Italy’s premier ...

GOP lawmakers consider expelling Democrats over gun protest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s GOP-dominated House is preparing to vote Thursday on whether to expel three Democratic members for their demonstration calling for gun control following the Nashville school shooting, an extraordinary move that the chamber has used only a handful of times since the Civil War.Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are the subjects of the ouster vote. Last week, the trio approached the front of the chamber floor and chanted back and forth with gun control supporters who packed the gallery days after six people, including three children, were fatally shot at The Covenant School in Nashville.Their possible expulsion has once again thrust Tennessee into the national spotlight, underscoring not only the ability of the Republican supermajority to silence opponents, but also its increasing willingness to do so. The move sends a chilling message just as lawmakers grapple with how to respond to the devastating shooting.Even before the House p...

Applications for jobless aid rising but still at low levels

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid was higher over the past few months than the government had initially reported, reflecting a modest rise in layoffs as the economy has slowed in the face of higher interest rates.The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of applications has exceeded 200,000 since early February — above previous estimates, though still relatively low by historical standards. The department has revised its estimates of the number of weekly applications for jobless benefits under a new formula it is using to reflect seasonal adjustments. The new formula is intended to more accurately capture seasonal patterns in job losses.For the week that ended April 1, the number of Americans applying for jobless aid was 228,000, the government estimated. That was down from 246,000 in the previous week and 247,000 in the week before that. Using its new seasonal adjustment formula, the government revised up each of those figures by nearly 50,000.“The trend...

Montreal home sales hit new March low, dropping 28% from a year ago: Quebec board

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:31:52 GMT

MONTREAL — The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says March home sales hit a new low for the month, but it’s seeing signs that such declines are shrinking.The association says 3,947 homes changed hands last month, a 28 per cent drop from the March before.The association says the month marked the first time since September 2022 that sales fell by less than 30 per cent.As sales fell so did average prices, with single-family homes dropping five per cent to $535,000 and condos declining by the same amount to $381,5000. New listings for the month slid eight per cent to 6,487.The board’s market analysis director says the numbers indicate that Montreal is responding positively to the stabilization of interest rates after their rapid rise.“Although the economic uncertainties are far from over, households, like investors, are increasingly confident and inclined to carry out their intention to purchase a home in a context of stabilized financing conditio...