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Jury to deliver verdict over Brussels extremist attacks that killed 32

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — A jury is expected to render its verdict Tuesday over Belgium’s deadliest peacetime attack, suicide bombings at the Brussels airport and a busy subway station in 2016 that killed 32 people in a wave of violence in Europe claimed by the Islamic State group.Among the 10 defendants is Salah Abdeslam, who already is serving a life sentence without parole in France over his role in attacks that hit Paris cafes, the Bataclan theater and France’s national stadium in 2015. The suspects in Brussels were tried on charges including murder, attempted murder and participation in the acts of a terrorist group.The biggest trial in Belgium’s judicial history unfolded over more than half a year in a special court to address the exceptional case. Survivors and families of victims hoped the trial and verdict would help them work through the trauma and find closure.The morning rush hour attacks on March 22, 2016 at Zavantem Airport and on the Brussels subway’s central commut...

EU agriculture ministers meet to discuss vital Ukraine grain exports after Russia nixed deal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union agriculture ministers met Tuesday to discuss ways of moving grain vital to global food security out of Ukraine after Russia halted a deal that allowed the exports. At the same time, they want to protect prices for farmers in countries bordering the war-ravaged nation.Germany’s agriculture minister, Cem Ozdemir, warned that the ministers must seek to balance those two issues without eroding the EU’s support for Ukraine in the war sparked by last year’s invasion. If cracks open up in EU unity, “the only one who is happy is Vladimir Putin,” he said.The ministers met in Brussels for the first time since Russia pulled the plug last week on the wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.The deal provided guarantees that ships would not be attacked when entering and leaving Ukrainian ports, wh...

First Lady Jill Biden to mark US reentry into UNESCO with flag-raising ceremony in Paris

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

PARIS (AP) — United States First Lady Jill Biden is in Paris on Tuesday to attend a flag-raising ceremony at UNESCO, marking the United States’ official reentry into the United Nations’ educational, scientific and cultural organization after a five-year hiatus.Biden will also make remarks about the importance of American leadership in preserving cultural heritage and empowering education and science across the globe.The U.S. had announced its intention to rejoin UNESCO in June, and the organization’s 193 member states earlier this month voted to approve the U.S. reentry. Tuesday’s ceremony, which will also feature a speech by UNESCO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay, will formally signify the U.S. becoming the 194th member of the body.The U.S. decision to return to the Paris-based UNESCO was based mainly on concerns that China has filled a leadership gap since the U.S. withdrew during the Trump administration.The U.S. exit from UNESCO in 2017 cited an alleged anti-Israel bias within...

UN watchdog says landmines are placed around Ukrainian nuke plant occupied by Russia

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.N. atomic watchdog says its staff at Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant report seeing anti-personnel mines around the site as Kyiv pursues a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s entrenched forces after 17 months of war.“Having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance and creates additional psychological pressure on plant staff,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement late Monday.However, any detonation of the mines, located between the site’s internal and external perimeter barriers, “should not affect the site’s nuclear safety and security systems,” the statement said.The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concern about the facility, which is one of the 10 biggest in the world, amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe. The U.N. agency has officials stationed at the plant, which is still run by its Ukrainian staf...

In The News for today: Floods, fires and food Insecurities concerning Canadians

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…—Correlation between flooding, wildfires in Nova ScotiaThe fingerprints of climate change are all over the supercharged weather witnessed this year in Nova Scotia — and the rest of the country — from raging wildfires to devastating flooding.A series of punishing thunderstorms dumped up to 250 millimetres of rain on Nova Scotia this weekend, killing at least two people and damaging infrastructure across the province. About two months ago, nearly 250 square kilometres of land was scorched by record wildfires. The province is also experiencing summer temperatures that are warmer than usual.There is a correlation between rising temperatures, wildfires and heavier rainfall, said Kent Moore, an atmospheric physics professor at the University of Toronto.Nova Scotia is about two degrees warmer than usual for this time of the year, Moore said.And as No...

B.C. crews hopeful of forecasted heavy rain dampening massive Donnie Creek wildfire

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Crews fighting British Columbia’s largest ever wildfire are hoping a “heavy, prolonged rain” in the forecast can help them turn the corner on the massive blaze.Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the northeastern corner of the province where the Donnie Creek fire has burned close to 6,000 square kilometres of forest land.The weather statement says a low-pressure system over Alberta will interact with the east Rockies, leading to heavy rain in northeastern B.C., creating accumulation of up to 70 millimetres until Thursday morning.Prince George Fire Centre Information Officer Julia Caranci says the rain in the forecast is “very good news,” but they remain cautious because it may not fall evenly across the large area of the fire.The Donnie Creek fire is the largest blaze on record in the 102-year history of the provincial firefighting effort, and its massive size helped to lift B.C. to a record wildfire seaso...

Blazes burn near Kamloops, Cranbrook, B.C., amid record wildfire season

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

VANCOUVER — Recent heavy rain in parts of British Columbia has done little to quench major wildfires burning near the cities of Kamloops and Cranbrook. The St. Mary’s River fire north of Cranbrook has burned close to 41 square kilometres and forced residents in 51 homes to evacuate, although an evacuation order of 16 homes in the Aq’am First Nation community has been rescinded.The nearby Canadian Rockies International Airport says it’s “business as usual” with flights on time after the same fire threatened the site last week, forcing crews to conduct controlled burns around the airport. Near Kamloops, crews continue to battle the 26-square-kilometre Ross Moore Lake wildfire, which triggered the evacuation of almost 350 properties as strong winds fed its rapid growth over the weekend. Both blazes are among the more than 270 fires in B.C. classified as out of control. There are about 480 active fires across British Columbia and almost 15,000 square kilome...

Climate change: Correlation between wildfires, flooding in Nova Scotia

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

FREDERICTON — The fingerprints of climate change are all over the supercharged weather witnessed this year in Nova Scotia — and the rest of the country — from raging wildfires to devastating flooding.A series of punishing thunderstorms dumped up to 250 millimetres of rain on Nova Scotia this weekend, killing at least two people and damaging infrastructure across the province. About two months ago, nearly 250 square kilometres of land was scorched by record wildfires. The province is also experiencing summer temperatures that are warmer than usual.There is a correlation between rising temperatures, wildfires and heavier rainfall, said Kent Moore, an atmospheric physics professor at the University of Toronto.Rising temperatures lead to drier conditions, increasing the risk of wildfires, he said, but the warmer weather also augments the atmosphere’s ability to hold moisture, leading to heavier downpours that can cause flooding.Four people, including two children, were...

Flight delays at Canadian airlines far outstrip peers in U.S., despite improvements

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

MONTREAL — Figures from an aviation data firm show Canada’s two biggest airlines see a far higher proportion of their flights delayed compared with many of their peers abroad.Statistics from Cirium reveal that about 50 per cent Air Canada’s flights were on time in the final two weeks of June and the first two weeks of July overall.Meanwhile about 36 per cent of WestJet’s flights touched down within the 15 minute window of their scheduled arrival that is considered on time. The numbers compare with on-time percentages ranging between the high 60s and low 80s for the five biggest airlines in the United States.The figures also show that between 93 per cent and 98 per cent of the two Canadian carriers’ planes hit the gate less than two hours late, indicating that Air Canada and WestJet have a better record than in the travel chaos of last summer.John Gradek, a lecturer at McGill University’s aviation management program, says airlines are running their planes too ...

B.C. port workers will get eyes on contract offer from maritime employers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 19:40:35 GMT

VANCOUVER — Thousands of workers at British Columbia’s ports will take off the day shift today to learn the details of an agreement struck between their union and employers. The BC Maritime Employers Association says the offer being presented is the same one leaders of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union had previously rejected, which briefly sent workers back to the picket line last week. A 13-day strike that started on Canada Day stopped billions of dollars’ worth of goods from moving in and out of some of the country’s busiest ports. Strike action was suspended when the contract was reached with the help of a mediator, but was then reinstated when the union leadership turned down the plan. A labour board ruled the second strike action by the port workers was illegal, prompting the union to issue 72-hour strike notice, which it then reversed hours later. Union members are now expected to vote on the offer later this week, but there’s no word yet...