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Canada-U.S. refugee pact changes expected to ‘exacerbate existing threats’: memo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

OTTAWA — A newly released memo shows federal officials warned last spring that expanding a bilateral refugee pact to the entire Canada-U.S. border would likely fuel smuggling networks and encourage people to seek more dangerous, remote crossing routes.Officials feared the development would also strain RCMP resources as irregular migrants dispersed more widely across the vast border.The April memo, made public by Public Safety Canada through the Access to Information Act, was prepared in advance of a Cross-Border Crime Forum meeting with American representatives.Under the Safe Third Country Agreement, implemented in 2004, Canada and the United States recognize each other as havens to seek protection.The pact has long allowed either country to turn back a prospective refugee who showed up at a land port of entry along the Canada-U.S. border — unless eligible for an exemption — on the basis they must pursue their claim in the country where they first arrived.However, until this year it...

Joly and Hussen take part in Cairo Peace Summit, discussing Israel, Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s minister of foreign affairs and the minister of international development will be in Cairo, Egypt, today and tomorrow, to take part in what is being dubbed the “Cairo Peace Summit.”  In an early morning statement, Mélanie Joly and Ahmed Hussen say they will meet with their counterparts and foreign officials. It adds that they will also reiterate Canada’s unequivocal condemnation of the terror attack by Hamas two weeks ago, while also highlighting Canada’s concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.Joly will also meet with staff at the Canadian embassy in Cairo to discuss their efforts to support Canadians in the region, including their work to help Canadians leave the Gaza Strip.The summit includes dozens of regional leaders and other senior western officials, with a focus on deescalating the fighting and seeking a ceasefire. Tensions have been rising as the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah has been trading fire w...

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators march in London as Israel-Hamas war roils the world

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in London and other cities on Saturday to demand Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza, as the Israel-Hamas war entered its third week and its ripples spread around the globe.On the day a trickle of aid entered Gaza, where more than 1 million people have had to leave their homes because of the conflict, protesters gathered in the rain at Marble Arch near London’s Hyde Park before marching to the government district, Whitehall. Waving Palestinian flags, participants called for an end to Israel’s blockade and airstrikes launched in the wake of a brutal incursion into southern Israel by the Hamas militant group that controls Gaza.British authorities have urged demonstrators to be mindful of the pain and anxiety felt by the Jewish community. London’s Metropolitan Police force says it has seen a 13-fold upsurge in reports of antisemitic offenses in October compared to last year. Reports of anti-Muslim crimes have more t...

EU and US envoys urge Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue to ease soaring tension

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The envoys of the European Union and the United States urged on Saturday Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue as the only way to de-escalate the soaring tension between the two nations. This is the first such visit since Sept. 24 when around 30 Serb gunmen crossed into northern Kosovo, killing a police officer and setting up barricades, before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police. Three gunmen were killed. EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak and his U.S. counterpart Gabriel Escobar, accompanied by top diplomats from Germany, France and Italy, met with Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti in the capital, Pristina, after which they will head to Belgrade.“If there is no dialog, there might be a repetition of escalation,” said Lajcak after meeting with Kurti.Lajcak said they strongly denounced “the terrorist attack against Kosovo police by armed individuals (that) constitutes a clear and unprecedented escalation.” He added that the attack also “very cle...

Violence forced them to flee. Now faith sustains these migrants on their journey to the US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Night after night for six weeks, Erika Hernández knelt outside her home in central Mexico and prayed: “Please, God, don’t let my son turn into a criminal.”“I prayed a lot. I fasted. My faith was huge,” said the 46-year-old woman, fearing her son would be forcibly recruited by a criminal organization.It didn’t take long for God to listen, Hernández said. By early June, after being kidnapped by members of the Familia Michoacana drug cartel near Mexico City, her son escaped and the family fled north hoping to cross in the United States. For many migrants like Hernández, their faith has been essential for coping with their challenging circumstances.Hernández and 10 of her relatives spent three months hopping on buses, taxis and walking until they reached the Movimiento Juventud shelter in Tijuana, in northern Mexico, where they are awaiting an opportunity to find a safer home in America.Before her son’s kidnapping, the idea of migrating to the United States ...

Biden is dangling border security money to try to get billions more for Israel and Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border in the hope that it will bring more Republicans on board.The idea came up late last month, after Ukraine assistance was stripped out of a stopgap measure to keep the government running due to growing Republican resistance to financing the war effort. A lot has changed since Sept. 30: The House has lost its speaker and Republicans are in disarray over selecting a new one, and the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel has prompted a much bigger funding request by the White House.It’s not at all clear that including roughly $14 billion in border money included as part of the the $106 billion spending package the White House sent to Congress on Friday will placate those who are resisting.“The border has never been a money issue,” said Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. “It has always been a policy issue. So we need to get in a room, ...

Americans’ faith in institutions has been sliding for years. The chaos in Congress isn’t helping

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — For many Americans, the Republican dysfunction that has ground business in the U.S. House to a halt as two wars rage abroad and a budget crisis looms at home is feeding into a longer-term pessimism about the country’s core institutions.The lack of faith extends beyond Congress, with recent polling conducted both before and after the leadership meltdown finding a mistrust in everything from the courts to organized religion. The GOP internal bickering that for nearly three weeks has left open the speaker’s position — second in line to the presidency — is widely seen as the latest indication of deep problems with the nation’s bedrock institutions.“They’re holding up the people’s business because they’re so dysfunctional,” said Christopher Lauff, 57, of Fargo, North Dakota.Part of that business, he said, is approving money for Ukraine to continue its fight against Russia’s invasion, something he says ultimately helps the U.S. — a point President...

Montreal-born singer Rêve on astrological signs and the elements of pop success

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

TORONTO — Early in a conversation around her new album “Saturn Return,” Rêve tips to being fascinated by the intangible. She’s a Pisces – a water sign known for its romance, mysticism and love of dancing and writing, all traits that indisputably fit her character. And she takes astrological signs quite seriously.“I get that from my mom,” the 27-year-old pop singer-songwriter attests while lounging at her record label’s Toronto office wearing a Def Leppard shirt and a leather jacket.“She called my lawyer last year and was like, ‘You can’t let (my daughter) sign a contract during this retrograde. I will show up at your door and be very angry.’”The Montreal-born performer, whose stage name is French for “dream,” isn’t quite so rigid on the rules of celestial magic. But she believes in it enough to name her album for the spiritual energies.In some ways, the stars have aligned to bring her to this point. Her debut full-length album, released on Friday, comes nearly a de...

Ukrainian officials say civilians were killed, wounded in Russian overnight attacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

At least two civilians were killed and others wounded across Ukraine as Russian forces continued to shell frontline areas and other parts of the country, local Ukrainian officials reported Saturday.In Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine, a 60-year-old man died on Friday evening when a Russian missile slammed into an industrial facility, according to Telegram posts by Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul. Vilkul added that the man’s wife was hospitalized with serious shrapnel wounds.Early on Saturday, Vilkul reported that Russian missiles and drones overnight hit the same site again, causing unspecified damage and sparking a fire that was put out by morning. Vilkul did not elaborate on the site’s nature or whether it was linked to Ukraine’s war effort. He said nobody was hurt in the second strike.Hours later, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters that Russian forces destroyed the Ukrainian military’s fue...

Saturday Forecast: Mostly cloudy, breezy, few showers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:10:51 GMT

Saturday: Mostly cloudy & breezy with a few showers. NW 10-20, G30 mph. Air quality is in the Good to Moderate range. High 62Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy & a chance of showers. WNW 5-10 mph. Low in the lower 40s.Sunday: Mostly sunny, breezy & seasonal temps. W 10-15, G25-30 mph. High: 58Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)Extended outlook calls for a few scattered showers on Monday with a high of 63. Warmer for Tuesday with highs in the mid to low 70s with mostly cloudy skies and a chance of showers/thunderstorms. Near 70 on Wednesday with clouds and a chance of showers along with falling afternoon temps. Temps finish out the week in the mid to low 60s with lots of clouds and a few showers.