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Russia targets key Ukraine Black Sea port of Odesa, a day after halting grain export deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces shot down scores of exploding drones and six cruise missiles from a pre-dawn Russian attack on the port of Odesa on Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities said, a day after Moscow broke off a deal that had allowed Kyiv to ship vital grain supplies from the Black Sea city during the war.The Russians first sought to wear down Ukraine’s air defenses with the drones and then targeted Odesa with six Kalibr cruise missiles, the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command said.All six missiles and 25 drones were shot down by air defenses in the Odesa region and other areas in the south but their debris and shock waves damaged some port facilities and a few residential buildings, injuring an elderly man at his home, officials said.Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the attack showed the Kremlin is ready to endanger the lives of millions of people around the world who need Ukrainian grain exports. Hunger is a growing threat in Africa, the M...

Scientists head to Nunavut island to help solve Mars methane mystery

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

AXEL HEIBERG ISLAND, NUNAVUT — A team of researchers has travelled to a remote Arctic island in the hopes of better understanding the possibility of life on Mars. Astrobiologist Haley Sapers, an adjunct professor at York University in the Lassonde School of Engineering, is leading the team at the McGill Arctic Research Station, or MARS, on Axel Heiberg Island. The uninhabited island is in Nunavut’s Qikiqtaaluk region and has conditions similar to the red planet. Under the 24-hour midnight sun, they plan to study super-salty cold springs that release methane on Gypsum Hill, about a 45-minute hike from the research station. They also plan to take methane readings from the atmosphere and carry out a simulated Mars Rover mission. “Methane is a really important atmospheric gas here on Earth because it contributes significantly to global warming,” said Sapers, a visiting scientist with the California Institute of Technology. “It’s also a really interesting ga...

B.C. expected to surpass record 2018 wildfire season for most area burned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

VANCOUVER — British Columbia is encroaching on its worst wildfire season on record as more than 370 fires burn in the province. BC Wildfire Service figures show wildfires have consumed more than 12,900 square kilometres of land so far this year, with many weeks left in the season, compared with 13,500 square kilometres burned in 2018. Sophie Wilkinson, an assistant professor in environmental management at Simon Fraser University, says the season is on track to be the worst on record, aggravated by the severe drought in many areas of the province. Her comments come after Canada’s Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair announced last week that federal assistance, including military resources, were being mobilized to help B.C. in its wildfire fight. As troops arrive in the province, a working group comprised of members of Public Safety Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces and B.C. emergency management and wildfire officials met to focus on deploying the federal resources.The ...

She planted more than 4,500 trees in a day and found an audience of millions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

To plant more than 4,500 trees in one day, you don’t move like a gardener, you move like a machine.In a video viewed millions of times on social media, Leslie Dart walks across a desolate and burnt landscape in Saskatchewan. She plunges a small spade into the ground, levers open a hole, drops in a seedling, then stomps the hole shut, barely breaking stride as she does it again, and again, and again.By the end of that summer day last year, Dart had planted 4,545 trees. In the past three summers, she has planted 372,290 trees across Canada.Dart, who now works in the aerospace manufacturing industry after graduating from Durham College in Ontario this spring, is among the thousands of tree planters, many of them college students, who work mostly for logging companies across Canada to plant trees each summer. Some of that work is mandated by law, but tree planting also takes place after forest fires.The British Columbia Ministry of Forests said in a statement that reforestation is...

Canadian cinemas brace for film release slowdown as Hollywood strikes continue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

Canadian movie theatre owners say they’re nervously watching for developments in dual Hollywood strikes and plan to show more classics, cult favourites and live events if the labour disruptions stretch on.The owners are expecting striking stars represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and talent backed by the Writers Guild of America, to be on the picket lines for months as they seekbetter wages and protections from artificial intelligence.The strikes, which immediately stopped the production and promotion of films and television shows, stand to slow down the flow of content as studios and distributors run out of movies completed before the strike to release.“I am absolutely petrified about it,” said Jeff Knoll, chief executive of Film.ca Cinemas, an Oakville, Ont. theatre.“We barely survived the pandemic…and we are quite nervous about what the future is going to hold with all that’s going on in H...

Statistics Canada to release June inflation numbers today

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada is set to release its June inflation reading this morning.The consumer price index report is expected to show inflation slowed again last month.Economists are forecasting inflation fell closer to three per cent, the top end of the Bank of Canada’s target range.Canada’s inflation rate was 3.4 per cent in May, down considerably from 8.1 per cent last summer.Much of the decline in inflation has been due to lower energy prices, while other prices have continued to rise rapidly. The central bank is expecting Canada’s inflation rate to hover around three per cent for the next year, before steadily declining to the two per cent target by mid-2025.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2023.The Canadian Press

Daily horoscope for July 18, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

Moon Alert: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The Moon is in Leo.Happy Birthday for Tuesday, July 18, 2023:You are expressive and emotive — qualities that draw people to you. You have amazing confidence and limitless energy. You think outside the box and choose your own path. Stay flexible, because change is on its way. Let go of what impedes your progress. Be able to act fast. Trust your intuition.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★★★This is a lovely, playful day for you! It’s an excellent day for dates, luncheons, meeting friends for coffee or the gang at happy hour. In particular, you will enjoy playful activities with kids and sports. Anything to do with the arts, musical performances, movies or the theater will delight you. Tonight: Entertain.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★This is an excellent day to entertain at home. In particular, any kind of group gathering will go well, because people are upbeat and in a friendly mood. Meetings for a spe...

Black Sea grain deal to expire Monday if Russia quits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

A pact that has allowed the safe Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine for the past year was due to expire at the end of Monday (17 July) if Russia does not agree to extend the agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to combat a global food crisis worsened by Russia's invasion of its neighbor.The last ship left Ukraine under the deal on Sunday (16 July). Russia's February 2022 invasion and blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports sent global grain prices soaring. Ukraine and Russia are among the world's top grain exporters.Nearly 33 million metric tons of corn, wheat and other grains have been exported by Ukraine under the arrangement.Russia has threatened to quit the pact because it has said its demands to improve its own grain and fertilizer exports have not been met. Russia also has complained that not enough grain has reached poor countries. The United Nations has argued that the arrangement has benefited those states by helping lower food prices more than 20% globally...

Miss Manners: My husband can pull off this excuse, but it sounds shady coming from me

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When someone invites us to something (informally, impromptu, as in, “Can you come over for dinner Saturday?”), it is my natural instinct to say yes if I can — and if I can’t, I say what I’m doing instead: “So sorry, but we have tickets to the ballet.”Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: I failed the bride by not ejecting this guest on sight Advice | Miss Manners: What can I do when other people’s stuff is where I want to sit? Advice | Miss Manners: Was I wrong not to let this man have the parking space? Advice | Miss Manners: Their insinuating comments are getting on my nerves Advice | Miss Manners: I’m fed up with being told I’m using offensive words This leaves a third category: when you have other plans, but for some reason don’t want to say what they are.For instance, you’re having your own dinner party, but ...

Dear Abby: What if I don’t want to say grace?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:43 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I have a question about saying grace.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: Even the dogs have more say over my own life than I do Advice | Dear Abby: I can’t see them the same way after how they treated my dad Advice | Dear Abby: The bride’s father is throwing a fit about the wedding Advice | Dear Abby: She makes Christmas a nightmare with her bizarre demands Advice | Dear Abby: If my wife calls me schlubby, can I point out she’s fat? I’m not religious, but I do consider myself respectful of others’ religious practices. There is one issue, however, that I’d like some guidance on. When visiting someone’s house and they ask me, the newcomer, to say grace, what do I do?I don’t mind partaking in the custom; I understand it and I am not offended. But saying grace is beyond what I’m comfortable with. What’s the way out of this situation witho...