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Ottawa follows peers, blasts Hong Kong bounties on activists with Canada ties

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

Ottawa is condemning Hong Kong officials for issuing bounties for the arrest of eight activists living abroad, days after Canada’s peers slammed the move.Hong Kong’s national-security law restricts civil liberties in the territory, which is a special administrative region within China but was guaranteed certain democratic freedoms when Britain handed over the former colony in 1997.Officials announced on Monday that eight pro-democracy activists who are charged under the law are the subject of bounties, with authorities offering the equivalent of roughly $170,000 for information leading to an arrest.The eight face charges such as “incitement to secession” and “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.”Edmonton-born Dennis Kwok, who renounced his Canadian citizenship when he became a Hong Kong legislator in 2012, is on that list. He left office as the national-security law came into force in 2020, and ...

After secret documents leak, Pentagon plans tighter controls to protect classified information

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to tighten protection for classified information following the explosive leaks of hundreds of intelligence documents that were accessed through security gaps at a Massachusetts Air National Guard base. Airman 1st Class Jack Texeira, 21, is accused of leaking the highly classified military documents in a chatroom on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a memo released Wednesday, ordered all of the department’s secured rooms where classified information is stored and accessed to be brought into compliance with intelligence community standards for oversight and tracking. The changes call for increased levels of physical security, additional controls to ensure documents aren’t improperly removed, and the assignment of top-secret control officers to monitor users. Austin also said the sensitive compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs, must be monito...

Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying law enforcement during climate protest in Sweden

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish prosecutors have charged climate activist Greta Thunberg with disobedience to law enforcement in connection with a protest in Malmö last month.Local newspaper Sydsvenskan reported Wednesday that Thunberg was detained with other activists after they stopped traffic in the oil terminal of the port in Malmö on June 19.A short statement by Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday said a “young woman” was charged with disobedience because she “refused to comply with police orders to leave the scene” during the protest. The statement didn’t identify the woman, but Swedish Prosecution Authority spokeswoman Annika Collin confirmed that it was Thunberg.Sydsvenskan said the 20-year-old Swedish activist will be called to trial at the end of July. Prosecutor Charlotte Ottosen told the paper that the crime of disobedience is typically punishable with fines.Thunberg’s media team didn’t immediately answer a request for comment.Thunberg inspired a global you...

Qatar Airways reports $1.2B in profits after ferrying passengers to last year’s soccer World Cup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar Airways on Wednesday reported $1.2 billion in profits over the past year, buoyed by its role in ferrying fans to the soccer World Cup.The long-haul airline increased its revenue to $21 billion, a 45% increase over the previous year, it said. Its yearly passenger load reached 31.7 million, a 71% increase.The airline said it transported 1.4 million passengers to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. It also expanded its network to more than 160 destinations.Qatar Airways operates out of a gleaming new airport in Qatar’s capital, Doha, and competes with long-haul carriers Emirates and Ettihad, which operate out of the nearby United Arab Emirates.Qatar Airways made it through the pandemic’s hardest months with a $3 billion lifeline from the Qatari government. Its main competitor, Dubai’s flagship Emirates Airline, also received a multibillion-dollar payment by the Dubai government during the pandemic. The two airlines serve as economic mainstays for...

Israel’s prime minister says missing citizen in Iraq is being held by Iran-backed militia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A dual Israeli-Russian citizen who has been missing in Iraq for months is being held by an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the office of Israel’s prime minister said Wednesday.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Elizabeth Tsurkov, who disappeared in late March, is still alive “and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.”Tsurkov, who is an academic whose work focuses on the Middle East and specifically war-torn Syria, is an expert on regional affairs and was widely quoted over the years by international media.Netanyahu said she is being held by the Shiite militia Kataeb Hezbollah that is one of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed groups. He added that Tsurkov is an academic who visited Iraq on her Russian passport, “at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University.”There has been no official comment from Iraq since she went missing but days after her disappearance, a local website re...

Mississippi high court will hear case about appointing judges in majority-Black capital city

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Supreme Court will hear an appeal Thursday as some Jackson residents try to revive one of the lawsuits challenging the appointment, rather than the election, of some judges in the capital city — and the top justice will not take part in the hearing.Chief Justice Mike Randolph has recused himself from considering the appeal because he said he does not want to prolong the case.The Jackson residents originally named Randolph as a defendant in the lawsuit because the chief justice is required to appoint five judges, under the law that the suit is trying to block. Randolph objected to being sued, and a chancery court judge removed him as a defendant. In Randolph’s recusal order on the appeal, he wrote Monday that he is neutral about the constitutionality of the law, which is the central issue in the lawsuit.“But absent recusal, the Chief Justice’s participation risks prolonging the ‘circus’ and allowing a sideshow to overshadow the center-ring ...

Quran burnings have Sweden torn between free speech and respecting minorities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Quran burning and a string of requests to approve the destruction of more holy books have left Sweden torn between its commitment to free speech and its respect for religious minorities.The clash of fundamental principles has complicated Sweden’s desire to join NATO, an expansion that gained urgency after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but needs the approval of all current members. Turkey has blocked Swedish accession since last year, citing reasons including anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic protests in Stockholm.Then, last week, an Iraqi Christian immigrant burned Islam’s holy book outside a Stockholm mosque during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, an act that the man said displayed his feelings about the Quran. The burning triggered widespread condemnation in the Islamic world. And along with similar recent protests by a far-right activist, it sparked a debate in Sweden about the limits of freedom of speech. Now, Swedish police say they have received new...

Updated legislation aims to tackle discrimination in public service: PSC

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Federal government departments and agencies will now have to evaluate whether their hiring practices are discriminatory as changes to the Public Service Employment Act take effect.Public Service Commission spokeswoman Élodie Roy says the changes will strengthen diversity and inclusion in the federal government workforce.The changes were among several amendments introduced to the act in budget implementation process in 2021 but these changes did not take effect until this week.They require the public service to evaluate how staffing methods, such as interviews and written exams, might discriminate against women, or Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ and disabled people.The Public Service Commission will also have more resources to investigate mistakes or misconduct that affect their hiring processes.Previously amendments took affect that revised the job qualifications for members of equity-seeking groups and ensured permanent residents were given the same hiring preferences as Canadia...

A fiery plane crash in a South Carolina resort town killed all 5 people on board

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Five people are dead after a single-engine plane crashed over the weekend in a South Carolina coastal resort town.Officials said Sunday’s fiery wreck near a golf course in North Myrtle Beach killed all four passengers and the pilot, The Myrtle Beach Sun News reported. The Monday update raised the death toll from initial reports that one person had passed.Tamara Williard, the chief deputy coroner for Horry County, told the newspaper that one person died shortly after being taken to a regional hospital while the others died at the crash. The office did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press.The identities of the victims and the cause of the plane’s downfall remain undisclosed. Willard told The Post and Courier that officials are contacting next of kin as “several of these individuals are related and families are from another country.”The Associated Press

3 protesters arrested at Wimbledon after interrupting matches by throwing confetti on court

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:24 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Grigor Dimitrov was about to serve at Wimbledon when two environmental activists jumped out of the stands at Court 18 and disrupted his match by scattering orange confetti and puzzle pieces on the grass. His initial instinct Wednesday? Get involved and try to stop them.“But then I also realized,” the three-time Grand Slam semifinalist said, “that’s not my place to do that.”Instead, security guards hauled away the woman and man wearing T-shirts from Just Stop Oil — an organization that wants the British government to stop new oil, gas and coal projects — and the two were arrested “on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage,” according to the All England Club.The next contest on that same court, best known as the site of John Isner’s 2010 victory over Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history, was also interrupted by another man from that same environmental group. He was corralled by two security guards and was arrested, too, the...