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Dozens of followers of Pakistan’s Imran Khan quit his party and launch their own ahead of elections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — In a major blow to Pakistan’s former prime minister and top opposition leader Imran Khan, dozens of his followers quit his party on Monday to launch their own ahead of parliamentary elections expected later this year.The dramatic development — described as a “political rebellion” within Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party — came two months after violent protests shook the country in early May. Khan’s followers, angered over his arrest in connection with a graft case, rioted for days, attacking public and military installations. The deadly violence subsided only after Khan was released on an order from Pakistan’s Supreme Court. In the weeks that followed, several top members of Khan’s circle abandoned him, disagreeing with his campaign against the administration of his successor, current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.But in an unprecedented move Monday, 57 of Khan’s party members — most of them former lawmakers and other well-known politicia...

Cardinal says the pope’s visit to Mongolia’s tiny Catholic community will show his dedication

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The young cardinal in charge of Mongolia’s tiny Catholic community said Monday that Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to a country with just 1,450 Catholics is evidence of his willingness to travel to the farthest corners of the globe to minister to even a handful of the faithful.Italian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, who has been a missionary in Mongolia for two decades, spoke to reporters after delivering a speech on how Catholic missionaries “whisper” the Gospel there in hopes of spreading the faith, simply and quietly and in one-on-one relationships.“When you whisper, you whisper to an individual or a few people, you cannot whisper to many people at the same time because they simply will not hear you,” he said. “And I think this visit will also somehow manifest the attention that the (pope) has for every individual, every person who embarks in this journey of faith.”Francis’ Aug. 31-Sept. 4 visit will take him to a country sandwiched between China and Russia at a...

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper tests positive for COVID-19 and will work remotely

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he’ll keep to a lower public profile this week after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday. In a tweet, the Democratic governor described the case as mild and that he was feeling fine. “I’m working remotely for the rest of the week and ready to be back out and about by the weekend,” Cooper said.Cooper, 66, attended the National Governors Association annual meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey, last week. The meeting ended Friday and he returned to Raleigh, Cooper spokesperson Jordan Monaghan said in a text. Cooper also tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2022. He also initially described that as a mild case. The Associated Press

Endangered North Atlantic right whale spotted entangled in Gulf of St. Lawrence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

FREDERICTON — Fisheries and Oceans Canada says a North Atlantic right whale entangled in fishing gear has been seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off New Brunswick.The department says the entangled animal, which is one of an estimated 340 remaining in the world, was spotted by a research vessel Saturday, east of Lamèque, N.B.It says the whale is a 13-year-old male known as EG 4042, and it appeared to be carrying a long trailing line with no visible buoys.The department says a marine mammal response team is standing by to help but was hampered by weather Sunday.The type of gear and its origin are not known, but those details could be established once it is removed from the animal and further investigation is conducted.Two right whale deaths have been reported in U.S. waters this year — a 20-year-old male that was hit by a ship and a calf that showed no signs of vessel collision or entanglement.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2023.The Canadian Press

Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemitic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A Democratic watchdog group has called for a U.S. House committee to rescind an invitation to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Democratic presidential candidate was filmed falsely suggesting COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.Kyle Herrig, executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project, sent a letter to Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, asking him to disinvite Kennedy from a hearing scheduled for Thursday after the candidate’s comments at a New York City dinner last week prompted widespread accusations of antisemitism and racism.In the filmed remarks first published by The New York Post, Kennedy said “there is an argument” that COVID-19 “is ethnically targeted” and that it “attacks certain races disproportionately.”“COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most ...

A heat wave in southern Europe generates health warnings for residents and tourists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian health officials intensified heat warnings Monday as southern Europe began a brutally hot week with temperatures expected to top 40 degrees Celsius — or 104 degrees Fahrenheit — on a continent already sizzling under the sun and overburdened by tourists.Countries with borders on the Mediterranean Sea weren’t alone in suffering. Authorities in North Macedonia extended a heat alert for the next 10 days with predicted temperatures topping 43 C (109 F), while Kosovo also issued heat warnings. “Never in my life have I experienced heat like this before in Pristina,” Artan Kelani, a 22-year-old student, said in Kosovo’s capital, where it reached 34.4 C (94 F) Monday and was expected to get hotter starting Wednesday.The Italian Ministry of Health urged regions to beef up house-call services so older people don’t have to go out if they need medical care and to set up dedicated heat stations at hospitals to treat emergency cases. Rome braced for temperatures as ...

Killing of opposition leader in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region is under investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldova’s national police force has opened a homicide investigation after an opposition leader in the Russia-backed breakaway region of Transnistria was found fatally shot at his home, authorities said Monday. The police force said it was taking “all appropriate investigative measures regarding the crime of murder” in the violent death of Oleg Khorzhan, 47, the leader of the Transnistrian Communist Party. Moldovan authorities did not say when he was slain or provide details about possible evidence recovered from Khorzhan’s home in a town near Transnistria’s de facto capital, Tiraspol.Moldova’s Reintegration Policies Bureau said in a separate statement Monday that it has proposed launching a separate independent investigation under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s mission to the country, which borders Ukraine and Romania. The bureau strongly condemned “criminal actions that threaten people’s lives” an...

Ontario officer not disciplined after police dog bit off man’s ear in 2022

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says a London, Ont., police officer won’t face discipline following an incident in 2022 when a man was seriously injured after a police dog bit off his ear.Ontario’s police watchdog said that just after 8 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2022, officers with the London Police Service were dispatched to the Wellington Street and Horton Street East area following reports that a man was attempting to break into a residence.Police said the man fled the scene in an SUV before responding officers arrived. Authorities located the suspect but aborted efforts to pursue him when he failed to stop for police.A short time later, the man fled on foot in a townhouse complex and a police dog was released. The dog bit the 28-year-old man several times, and his left ear was partly severed.“The dog took the Complainant to the ground and bit him several times, including in the buttocks, and left upper arm and wrist. The most serious injury was one to his left ear,...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs aspires to create new Black Wall Street through online marketplace Empower Global

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs wants to strengthen the Black dollar: The music mogul is spearheading a new online marketplace called Empower Global that will specifically feature Black-owned businesses.“I want to create our own Black Wall Street,” Combs told The Associated Press about his e-commerce platform, which launched last week. He feels passionate about building substantial wealth in his community similar to the Greenwood community, the thriving Black-owned business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was decimated in a two-day attack by a white mob in Oklahoma in 1921.Combs said he’s not looking for financial benefit after he invested $20 million into Empower Global, which allows consumers to purchase products exclusively created and sold by Black entrepreneurs. The curated marketplace featuring Black-owned brands will allow consumers to purchase clothing, shoes, beauty accessories including skin care and fragrances, and even wall art. The platform was designed and crea...

Nike permanently ends Hockey Canada sponsorship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:41 GMT

Nike has permanently ended its sponsorship of Hockey Canada in the wake of last year’s sexual assault allegations, Sportsnet confirmed Monday.The sponsorship termination was first reported by The Globe and Mail.“Nike is no longer a sponsor of Hockey Canada,” a company spokesperson said in an email to Sportsnet. “We will continue to provide on-ice product for Hockey Canada athletes as part of our partnership with the International Ice Hockey Federation, but our individual partnership with the federation has ended.”In a statement issued to Sportsnet Monday morning, Hockey Canada said it was “appreciative of the longstanding partnership it had with Nike for over two decades and respects their decision not to continue as a Hockey Canada partner.”Nike announced in October that it was pausing its relationship with the organization. Other top-tier sponsors including Esso, Telus and Tim Hortons had suspended sponsorship last summer.RELATED:Federal g...