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Ex-PM Stephen Harper seeks closer ties with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

OTTAWA — Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he wants closer ties between the parties including the Conservative Party of Canada and the Hungarian government during a trip to Budapest today.Hungary has been accused of backsliding under the governance of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.Human Rights Watch says Orbán’s government has delivered sustained “attacks on rule of law and public institutions” and the European Court of Justice repeatedly ruled that Orbán is violating EU migration laws with policies hostile to asylum claimants.Harper met Orbán in Budapest in his role as the chair of the International Democrat Union, a global alliance of right-leaning political parties.Harper says they discussed “the importance of centre-right parties strengthening their collaboration” and the “IDU’s strong support for Ukraine.”Orbán has opposed multiple moves by the European Union to punish Russia for its invasion and has called on Ukraine to con...

A Palestinian militant kills an Israeli in the West Bank, a day after Israel’s military raid in area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Hamas militant on Thursday opened fire near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, killing one Israeli, a day after Israeli forces withdrew from the largest military operation in the West Bank in two decades. The Palestinian attacker was shot and killed by Israeli forces, the army said.The shooting came on the heels of the Israeli withdrawal from the nearby Jenin refugee camp after a two-day offensive meant to crack down on Palestinian militants. The operation destroyed the camp’s narrow roads and alleyways, sent thousands of people fleeing their homes and killed 12 Palestinians. One Israeli soldier also was killed.Thursday’s shooting near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim raised questions about the effectiveness of the Israeli raid, which came after nearly a year and a half of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed in the area. It also could prompt calls from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government for additional militar...

UK court rejects a government bid to withhold Boris Johnson’s messages from a COVID-19 inquiry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A U.K. court on Thursday rejected the British government’s request to keep former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries from being made public at an official COVID-19 inquiry. The Cabinet Office took the unusual step of bringing a legal challenge after the retired judge chairing the inquiry into Britain’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic ordered the Conservative government to release full copies of Johnson’s documents.Government officials argued that the inquiry did not have the legal power to force them to release documents and messages that they said were “unambiguously irrelevant” to how the government handled COVID-19.But lawyers for the inquiry said the idea that civil servants could decide what material was relevant would undermine public confidence in the process. The judges who ruled in the Cabinet Office’s case said the requested documents included WhatsApp messages exchanged between officials...

Stock market today: Wall Street stumbles after hot jobs data raises threat of high rates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling Thursday after reports suggested the U.S. job market remains much more resilient than expected.The S&P 500 was 1.1% lower in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 434 points, or 1.3%, at 33,854, as of 12:16 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.While a sturdy labor market keeps the economy out of a long-feared recession, it could also push the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer in its campaign to defeat high inflation. That in turn could mean more pressure down the line on the economy and financial markets.A report from ADP Research Institute suggested hiring by private employers was much stronger last month than economists expected, with nearly twice as many jobs created than forecast.The ADP report can be volatile and “isn’t necessarily a good predictor of the monthly jobs report” that is more comprehensive and due from the U.S. government on Friday, said Mike Loewengart, head ...

Ombudsman office condemns pace of investigation into assassination of Haiti’s President Moïse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — An ombudsman office in Haiti denounced Thursday what it called the “unacceptable slowness” of the investigation into the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse nearly two years after he was killed.The Office of Citizen Protection, an independent government agency that investigates complaints against public institutions, also demanded better protection for Walter Wesser Voltaire, the judge investigating the case. Voltaire is the fifth judge assigned to the case, with four previous ones being dismissed or resigning for personal reasons.Voltaire on Thursday declined to speak with The Associated Press, saying the investigation is confidential and that he would hold a press conference when ready.A previous judge assigned to the case told the AP that his family asked him not to investigate the case because they feared he would be killed, while another judge stepped down after his assistant died under murky circumstances. Judges in Haiti not only oversee lega...

22 Toronto parks approved in pilot program allowing alcohol consumption. Here’s the list

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

Toronto’s Economic and Community Development Committee has passed a time-limited pilot program to city council that will allow the public consumption of alcohol in 22 parks into the fall.The committee met to discuss the pilot program on Thursday. City council approved a plan last month that would see alcohol permitted in parks in designated wards across the city from August 2 to October 9.The pilot program will be considered by city council on July 19, 2023.Alcohol in Parks Pilot Program – parks included:Eglinton Park, Ward 8 – Eglinton-LawrenceEarlscourt, Ward 9 – DavenportDufferin Grove Park, Ward 9 – DavenportCampbell Avenue Playground and Park, Ward 9 – DavenportDovercourt Park, Ward 9 – DavenportRoundhouse Park, Ward 10 – Spadina-Fort YorkTrinity Bellwoods Park, Ward 10 – Spadina-Fort YorkChristie Pits Park, Ward 11 – University-RosedaleQueen’s Park (110 Wellesley St W), Ward 11 – University-RosedaleSir Win...

Subway sign in Georgia references Titan implosion, sparks controversy: 'Messed up'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

RINCON, Ga. (WSAV/NEXSTAR) – A sign that had been posted in front of a Subway restaurant in Georgia is leaving a bad taste in peoples' mouths."Our subs don't implode," read the sign, a reference to the Titan submersible implosion that claimed the lives of its five occupants on June 18.Local resident Timothy Mauck spotted the sign outside a Subway in Rincon last week, snapping a picture and posting the image on Facebook. He also encouraged his followers to share the post in the hopes Subway's corporate headquarters be made aware.The message has been removed from the sign outside the Rincon Subway location, the company confirmed. (Timothy Mauck)The image soon went viral, with some saying they found the sign to be "disrespectful" or "messed up." But others, according to Mauck, reached out to berate him for being too sensitive or not finding the sign at all amusing.Those people saw the sign "as a joke," said Mauck, who told Nexstar that he had been harassed online "because I have some r...

Former resident arrested after deadly 2018 apartment fire in San Marcos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — A 30-year-old former resident is now in custody facing an arson charge almost five years after a fire at a San Marcos apartment complex killed five people.Investigators said Jacobe Ferguson is currently in the Hays County Jail on a charge of arson causing serious injury, a first-degree felony. During a news conference Thursday morning, the San Marcos fire marshal said authorities served an arrest warrant to Ferguson early Wednesday morning in the 700 block of East Slaughter Lane in south Austin. No other arrests are expected in the case, investigators said Thursday. In November 2018, San Marcos firefighters and the ATF announced they would investigate the Iconic Village apartment fire as arson and ruled the deaths as homicides. The people who died are Dru Estes, 20, Belinda Moats, 21, Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, David Angel Ortiz, 21, and James Phillip Miranda, 23. At least seven others suffered injuries during the fire. The city put up an $110,000 reward ...

Scientists hope to use diaper technology for drinking water

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As the world's climate warms and droughts increase in frequency and intensity, science is searching for ways to cope. Why are droughts becoming more common and more severe? Researchers at MIT are looking at using technology already in existence in diapers to help extract water from the driest desert air in the hope of finding cost-effective solutions to bring liquid to parched parts of the world.KXAN Meteorologist Nick Bannin spoke with Carlos Diaz-Marin, a mechanical engineer at the Device Research Lab at MIT, about the possible applications.Meteorologist Nick Bannin: Carlos, explain the breakthrough that you and your team were able to do where you pulled water out of dry air using technology found in diapers?Carlos Diaz-Marin, Mechanical Engineer, MIT: As you mentioned, we're pretty excited about what we're able to find. We've been able to capture record amounts of water from dry air and, as you mentioned, using this technology using diapers. This is not somethi...

Scattered storms today ahead of triple digit heat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:11:47 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Relatively-speaking, today will the coolest and wettest day of the next 7... but given the time of year, we'll need to manage expectations.High temperatures will climb into the upper 80s and low 90s this afternoon, likely to shake out as our "coolest" day in a few weeks! Although we won't be reaching for jackets, today's highs are likely to fall short of average for this time of year.We'll have a mix of sun and clouds and occasional showers and storms today arriving from southeast and moving northwest. While some areas will miss out, a few spots may tally 0.5" to 1" of rain. Most areas, even those that get rain, will only end up with a quarter inch or less. Still, this will likely count as the wettest day of the month for many with not much additional rain coming after today for at least a week.Isolated to scattered storms Thursday afternoon & early eveningAfter today, our weather pattern returns to what it looked like most of last month (unfortunately) as a rid...