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Russian parliament passes record budget, boosting defense spending and shoring up support for Putin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, on Friday approved its biggest-ever federal budget which will increase spending by around 25% in 2024, with record amounts going to defense.Defense spending is expected to overtake social spending next year for the first time in modern Russian history, at a time when the Kremlin is eager to shore up support for President Vladimir Putin as Russia prepares for a presidential election in March. Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy to a war footing, but could pose a problem in the long term, analysts say. Russian lawmakers said the budget for 2024-2026 was developed specifically to fund the military and mitigate the impact of “17,500 sanctions” on Russia, the chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said. “In these difficult conditions, we have managed to adopt a budget that will not only allocate the necessary funds fo...

The wait continues for Canadians wanting out of Gaza, approval list not yet updated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

Canadians in the Gaza Strip, eager to escape the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas, may have to wait a little longer to leave.As of 4 a.m. Eastern, the General Authority for Crossings and Borders had yet to update its daily list of approved foreign passport holders authorized to exit Gaza and enter Egypt.The Canadian government says that as of Wednesday afternoon, it was in touch with 386 people still in the besieged territory.Global Affairs Canada says, so far, 367 Canadians, permanent residents and their relatives have been able to escape via the Rafah border crossing, most recently including two people on Wednesday and 10 on Monday.The current conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants killed 1,200 Israelis in brutal surprise attacks, taking another 240 people hostage.Israel declared war on Hamas, began an airstrike campaign and cut off food, fuel, water and supplies to Gaza, which is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. The territory’s health officials say more than...

Greek authorities conduct search and rescue operation after dinghy carrying migrants capsizes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities conducted a search and rescue operation Friday off the coast of a small islet in the eastern Aegean Sea near the Turkish coast after a dinghy carrying migrants to Greece capsized, the coast guard said.A total of 18 people were rescued, while one more person, a woman, was pulled from the water unconscious, the coast guard said. The survivors were to be transported to the nearby island of Samos. The coast guard said no further people were reported as missing.Thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia attempt to make the short but dangerous sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands each year, in the hope of eventually making their way to more prosperous European Union countries.Some attempt to skirt around Greece and head directly to Italy instead, either from Turkey or from north Africa. The longer sea journey is considerably more perilous, and has claimed hundreds of lives.In June, an overloaded fishing ...

Explosion rocks university in Armenia’s capital, killing 1 person and injuring 3 others

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — An explosion rocked a university building in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, on Friday, killing one person and injuring three others, authorities said. The Interior Ministry said the blast occurred in the basement of the chemistry department building at Yerevan State University. One person died and three others were hospitalized with burns and other injuries, health officials said, adding that one was in grave condition. Authorities were investigating the cause of the blast.The Associated Press

In The News for today: Alberta pension plan a no-brainer and APEC summit continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 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…Alberta pension panel hears calls to exit CPPThe panel hearing feedback on whether Alberta should quit the Canada Pension Plan is hearing from multiple callers that it’s time to embrace a “no-brainer” provincial program.A number of callers to the panel’s latest telephone town hall say the province is contributing far more than it gets back in Confederation and that it’s time to look after Alberta first.One caller says if Albertans can get a better deal going it alone, then it’s a no-brainer.A number of other callers say they are against leaving, asking why Alberta wants to abandon a national plan that is working.Premier Danielle Smith’s government is gathering public opinion on whether there is an appetite to hold a referendum on leaving the C-P-P.China syndrome: Trudeau keeps Xi at a distanceBlame the alphabet for the fact Justin Trudeau and Xi Jinping had a c...

First person charged under Australia’s foreign interference laws denies working for China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Lawyers for the first person to be charged under Australia’s foreign interference laws insisted in court Friday that a donation to a hospital made via a federal government minister was not a covert attempt to curry favor on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.Melbourne businessman and local community leader Di Sanh Duong, 68, has pleaded not guilty in the Victoria state County Court to a charge of preparing for or planning an act of foreign interference. Vietnam-born Duong, who came to Australia in 1980 as a refugee, faces a potential 10-year prison sentence if convicted in the landmark case.He is the first person to be charged under federal laws created in 2018 that ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics and make industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime. The laws offended Australia’s most important trading partner, China, and accelerated a deterioration in bilateral relations.The allegation centers on a novelty check that Duong ha...

Rogers Sugar strike taking some of the sweetness out of holiday season for bakers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

A bitter strike at the Rogers Sugar refinery in Vancouver is taking some of the sweetness out of the holiday season for bakers and candy-makers.Across Western Canada, small businesses that depend on sugar are struggling with shortages and higher costs as labour action at one of the country’s few sugar processing facilities stretches into a seventh week.At Le Gateau Bakeshop in Vancouver, owner Tanya Muller is growing increasingly concerned. During the busy Christmas season, she typically goes through 150 to 200 kilograms of sugar per week making the 20 different varieties of holiday cookies her bakery specializes in.But right now, the maximum amount of the sweet stuff her wholesale supplier can give her is two bags, or 40 kilograms, per week. “We’ve been doing things like lining up early in the morning at Costco and trying to get in first thing to see what’s available there. And sometimes that works, and sometimes, you know, Costco doesn’t have anything...

Canada’s Haiti envoy: ‘Nothing is moving fast enough’ to end country’s gang crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s ambassador to Haiti says he hopes the world will move faster to help the country emerge from a prolonged period of lawlessness that has other Caribbean leaders on edge.“When it comes to Haiti, nothing is moving fast enough,” André François Giroux said in an interview this week.“The needs are critical. You’ve got three crises in parallel here: humanitarian, safety and political.”For more than three years, Haiti has faced violence, widespread sexual assaults and a hunger crisis. Violent gangs have filled a power vacuum, taking over the capital of Port-au-Prince in brazen gun battles before spreading to rural regions and occupying farms.Kidnappings are pervasive in Haiti. When asked how many Canadians have been taken in by gangs, Global Affairs Canada said the number of Canadian citizens requesting consular assistance in Haiti for any reason was 175 in 2022. The number stands at 134 so far this year.In October, the United Nations Se...

After close encounter at APEC summit, Trudeau appears to steer wide berth around Xi

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Blame the alphabet for the fact Justin Trudeau and Xi Jinping had a close encounter at this week’s APEC summit. China and Canada routinely rub elbows when leaders gather for photos at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering. But outside the family photo, officials took pains to point out that the two leaders shared little Thursday beyond a perfunctory hello. Look for the prime minister to be asked during today’s closing news conference whether he plans to change that anytime soon. U.S. President Joe Biden spent four hours with his Chinese counterpart Wednesday in an effort to ease lingering tensions. Whether Trudeau has any plans to follow Biden’s lead remains to be seen.“I think it’s good for the U.S. that the two presidents had their discussion. I think it’s good for the world,” said Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. The two leaders agreed to resume military communications and reached a p...

Spotlight on terror laws at trial of man found guilty in London attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:08 GMT

TORONTO — A landmark trial that put Canada’s terrorism laws in the spotlight has culminated in a guilty verdict, but what role terror allegations played in the jury’s decision to convict Nathaniel Veltman in a deadly attack on a Muslim family will remain a mystery.Jurors on Thursday found the 22-year-old Veltman guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for hitting the Afzaal family with his truck while they were out for a walk in London, Ont., on June 6, 2021.The judge overseeing the trial, Justice Renee Pomerance, had instructed the jury they could deliver a first-degree murder verdict if they unanimously agreed that the Crown established Veltman had intended to kill the victims, and planned and deliberated his attack.She also told the jurors they could reach a first-degree murder conviction if they found that the killings were terrorist activity.Juries do not provide details on how they reach their decisions, nor can they be questi...