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Internal docs suggest Trudeau wants China blocked from Pacific Rim trade deal

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

OTTAWA — An internal document suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants China kept out of a Pacific Rim trade bloc, despite the Liberals publicly insisting it would welcome anyone who meets the trade deal’s standards.China has been trying since 2019 to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade bloc that includes Canada and multiple countries in Asia and Latin America.Trade Minister Mary Ng reiterated Canada’s stance on China joining the group last week, saying Ottawa would be open to the idea if Beijing meets labour and environmental standards.But a document The Canadian Press obtained through an access-to-information request attributes Trudeau as saying that high standards are helpful as they make it make it too hard for China to join the group.His comments stem from an internal summary of a call Trudeau held last summer with former U.K. prime minister Liz Truss, shortly after she started her term.The Chinese embassy in O...

Conservative filibuster threatens potential citizenship for children born abroad

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

OTTAWA — Advocates for would-be Canadians born abroad say Conservative efforts to filibuster amendments to the Citizenship Act are threatening their hopes of passing their nationality on to their children and grandchildren.As it stands, Canadian parents who were born abroad cannot pass their citizenship down to their child unless the child was born in Canada.The NDP and Liberals proposed a change that would allow those parents to pass down Canadian citizenship if they can prove they’ve spent at least three years in the country.The new rule was tacked onto a private member’s bill at the House of Commons immigration committee. The committee has until June 14 to finish reviewing the amended bill, or else it will be sent back to the House of Commons without the new changes. Advocate Carol Sutherland-Brown says the amendments gave her hope that her grandchildren will one day qualify for Canadian citizenship, but the Conservatives’ filibuster at committee has dashed that...

David Johnston expected to begin public meetings on foreign interference next month

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

OTTAWA — Former governor general David Johnston says he will begin holding public meetings next month on foreign interference attempts in Canada’s elections.  Johnston, whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed to investigate the issue, is appearing before a parliamentary committee today for a marathon three hours of testimony.Johnston released a report last month that found significant shortcomings in the way the federal government handles intelligence about alleged foreign meddling. Opposition parties agree that the 2019 and 2021 federal election results were not compromised, but they still say a public inquiry is the only way for Canadians to feel confident in their electoral system.Johnston says a public inquiry is not the right path because making secret information public would run the risk of breaching the trust of Canada’s security allies and endangering intelligence sources. Johnston says that during his hearings, the public will be able to hear from governme...

New head of Austrian opposition party takes helm after leadership fiasco

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The new head of Austria’s Social Democrats vowed to move the party past “one of its bitterest moments” Tuesday after a bizarre mix-up that initially saw his rival declared the winner in a leadership contest.The center-left opposition party, the second-biggest in Austria’s parliament, announced on Monday that Andreas Babler — the mayor of the town of Traiskirchen, who was viewed as an outsider — had in fact won the leadership. At a party convention Saturday, Hans Peter Doskozil, a provincial governor and former defense minister, had been declared the winner.The party said the two candidates’ votes had been counted correctly but switched when the results were entered in an Excel spreadsheet. Before accepting the leadership, Babler called for a recount with a notary present, which took place Tuesday — confirming that he took 317 votes to Doskozil’s 280.The head of the Social Democrats’ electoral commission, Michaela Grubesa, resigned Tuesday. Her s...

Wheat prices rise following collapse of major dam in southern Ukraine

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The collapse of a major dam in southern Ukraine sent global prices of wheat and corn higher.Wheat prices gained 2.4% in early trading Tuesday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, to $6.39 a bushel. The cost of corn rose more than 1% (to $6.04 a bushel) and oats gained 0.73% ($3.46 per unit). Prices had jumped higher earlier in the day.The destruction of Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station, which sits on the Dnieper River in an area that Moscow controls, raised anxiety about a potential disruption to global supplies.There are massive agricultural fields in Southern Ukraine where the dam burst. Andrey Sizov, managing director of Black Sea agricultural markets research firm SovEcon, said the dam’s collapse “looks like a big escalation with dire consequences and huge headline risk.”“This could be just the start of the bull run,” Sizov wrote on Twitter.Wheat prices have been falling throughout the year. Citi commodities analysts said Tuesday’s incide...

PGA Tour to join forces with LIV Golf moving forward

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

NEW YORK — Two major competing tours in the sport of golf are going to be joining forces moving forward. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf, run by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, announced in a news release on Tuesday morning that they are merging together in a new partnership that unites those tours along with DP World Tour. All three will combine to create "a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity," that ends the competition between the PGA Tour and LIV that was the cause of much controversy.The name of this new golf company has yet to be announced, and as part of the deal, any pending litigation between the PGA and LIV Golf. There were also be criteria set for LIV players to re-apply for membership on the PGA Tour.“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan in a statement released Tuesday. “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA ...

'The Girl from Ipanema' singer Astrud Gilberto dead at 83

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian singer, songwriter and entertainer whose off-hand, English-language cameo on “The Girl from Ipanema” made her a worldwide voice of bossa nova, has died at age 83.Musician Paul Ricci, a family friend, confirmed that she died Monday. He did not provide additional details.Born in Salvador, Bahia and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Gilberto became an overnight, unexpected superstar in 1964, thanks to knowing just enough English to be recruited by the makers of “Getz/Gilberto,” the classic bossa nova album featuring saxophonist Stan Getz and her then-husband, singer-songwriter-guitarist Joao Gilberto.“The Girl from Ipanema,” the wistful ballad written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, was already a hit in South America. But “Getz/Gilberto” producer Creed Taylor and others thought they could expand the record’s appeal by including both Portuguese and English language vocals. In a 2002 interview with friends posted on her web site www....

Cheez-It-themed rest stop opens in California for limited time

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

(KTLA) – As summer vacation season nears and many Californians are planning to hit the road, Cheez-It is inviting travelers to visit its unique rest stop experience in Joshua Tree.Located at a famous gas station and souvenir shop along Twentynine Palms Highway, the company has transformed the location into "the biggest, cheesiest roadside attraction to ever grace America's beloved highways and byways," according to the Kellogg Company, the owner of the Cheez-It brand. The nation’s best doughnut shop is in California, according to Yelp For one week, from Monday, June 5, to Sunday, June 11, those who visit the location can fuel up with the "world’s first and only Cheez-It Pump” designed to pump Cheez-It bags into a vehicle.Guests can also buy Cheez-It-related memorabilia and hard-to-find Cheez-It flavors at the connected shop.The Cheez-It-inspired rest stop will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through June 11."We know many Cheez-It fans love to travel and they never hit the roa...

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. settles civil sex abuse case ahead of trial

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Just as a trial was to begin, it was revealed Tuesday that Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled accusations that he raped a woman in a New York City hotel a decade ago, according to court records. The actor had insisted through lawyers that his encounter with the woman was consensual after the two met at a nearby restaurant.The trial was to start with jury selection in New York federal court as the Oscar-winning “Jerry Maguire” star faced allegations that he met the woman in Manhattan, persuaded her to join him at a hotel, and convinced her to stop at his room so he could change clothing.The woman had proceeded anonymously until last week, when Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled that she would have to reveal her name at trial. She said in her lawsuit that Gooding raped her in his room. His lawyers, though, insisted that it was consensual sex and that she bragged afterward to others that she had sex with a celebrity.The lawsuit sought $6 million in damages. Attorney Gloria Allred, on...

Human Rights Campaign declares national state of emergency for LGBTQ people

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 12:28:21 GMT

(The Hill) - The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on Tuesday officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ people in the U.S., citing the passage of more than 75 laws in over a dozen states that explicitly target the community.At least 525 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced this year in 41 states, the group said in its warning, including more than 220 pieces of legislation that explicitly target transgender people. More than 76 anti-LGBTQ bills have become law this year by HRC’s count, more than doubling last year’s number, which was previously the worst year on record.“The multiplying threats facing millions in our community are not just perceived — they are real, tangible and dangerous,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “In many cases they are resulting in violence against LGBTQ+ people, forcing families to uproot their lives and flee their homes in search of safer states, and triggering a tidal wave of increased homophobia and transphobia that puts the safety of e...