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Myanmar violence, sea feud are tough challenges for ASEAN

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia (AP) — Alarm over Myanmar’s still-unfolding deadly civil strife, including an armed attack on an aid convoy, and China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea are expected to challenge Southeast Asian leaders’ commitments to non-interference and consensus decision-making as they meet in Indonesia this week.Top diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations convened Tuesday in the resort town of Labuan Bajo to finalize the agenda ahead of the two-day summit of the 10-nation bloc’s heads of state.The United States and China are not part of the twice-yearly summit, but their escalating rivalry looms large over the high-profile Asian gathering. Beijing has warned that U.S. efforts to strengthen security alliances and intensify combat-readiness drills with Asian allies would endanger regional stability.Founded during the Cold War in 1967, ASEAN has avoided getting entangled in major-power competition as a bloc. But its diverse members ar...

Rights group accuses Myanmar of using fuel-air explosive

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military used an “enhanced-blast” munition known as a fuel-air explosive in an airstrike that killed more than 160 people, including many children, at a ceremony held last month by opponents of army rule, a major human rights monitoring group charged in a report Tuesday.Human Rights Watch accused the military of dropping the weapon, also known as a thermobaric or vacuum bomb, on a crowd that had gathered for the opening of a local office of the country’s resistance movement outside Pazigyi village in Myanmar’s central Sagaing Region on the morning of April 11. The area is about 110 kilometers (70 miles) north of Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.The attack caused “indiscriminate and disproportionate civilian casualties in violation of international humanitarian law, and was an apparent war crime,” said the New York-based group.Thermobaric weapons consist of a fuel container and two separate explosive charges, with the first detonating t...

Sudan’s death toll rises as warring sides continue talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The death toll from the ongoing clashes in Sudan has risen to 604 people, including civilians, the U.N. health agency said on Tuesday. The new figures come as representatives of the warring parties are holding talks in Saudi Arabia.More than 5,100 people were also wounded in connection with the fighting, World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told reporters. On Monday, the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate, which tracks only civilian casualties, said that the fatalities had reached 487.The conflict started on April 15, after months of escalating tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The fighting has turned urban areas into battlefields and displaced nearly 700,000 people on top of the 3.7 million who had already been internally displaced within the country before the conflict began, according to the U.N. migration agency.On...

In The News for May 9: China expels Canadian diplomat in tit-for-tat retaliation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 9 …What we are watching in Canada …China has declared a Canadian diplomat as “persona non grata” in retaliation for Ottawa’s expulsion of a Chinese consular official who Canada’s spy agency alleged was involved in a plot to intimidate Conservative MP Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong.On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry posted a statement on its English website saying China was deploying a “reciprocal countermeasure to Canada’s unscrupulous move,” which it said it “strongly condemns and firmly opposes.”The statement said Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai, has been asked to leave before May 13, and that China reserves the right to further react.On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly issued...

George Weston reports Q1 profit up from year ago, raises quarterly dividend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

TORONTO — George Weston Ltd. raised its dividend as it reported its first-quarter profit and revenue rose compared with a year ago.The company, which holds large stakes in Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, says it will increase its quarterly dividend to 71.3 cents per share from 66 cents per share.The increased payment came as George Weston says it earned a profit attributable to common shareholders of $426 million or $3.01 per diluted share for the 12-week period ended March 25.The result was up from a profit of $363 million or $2.45 per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.Revenue for the quarter totalled $13.13 billion, up from $12.41 billion in the same quarter last year.On an adjusted basis, George Weston says it earned $1.99 per diluted share, up from an adjusted profit of $1.90 per diluted share a year earlier.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:WN, TSX:L, TSX:CHP.U...

The Covid ’emergency’ is over, but long covid isn’t going anywhere

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

In today’s The Big Story podcast, last week, the World Health Organization announced that COVID-19 was no longer a “global health emergency” – a declaration that has brought mixed emotions. But while many people have gone “back to normal” or “learned to live” with the virus, enhancing our understanding of ‘long Covid’ remains crucial.Dr. Kieran Quinn, a long Covid researcher at Sinai Health System and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, says unlocking the secrets of long covid could be vital in terms of providing adequate care and support to those suffering with the disease. “It’s really important to get some consensus and establish a definition, as best as we can, to help acknowledge and move things forward for people who are living with this condition,” he says.So, how is long covid diagnosed? Who is most at risk? What are the available treatment options?  And what questions still remain?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podc...

New Kristin Hannah novel, ‘The Women,’ coming in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The next novel from million-selling author Kristin Hannah is a war story set in the 1960s.St. Martin’s Press announced Tuesday that Hannah’s “The Women” will be published next winter, Feb. 6. The novel follows the life of young nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath, whose traditional upbringing is upended by the Vietnam War, her decision to volunteer and the bitter divisions it creates in the U.S.“’The Women’ is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others,” according to the publisher. “Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten.”Hannah’s previous works include such best-sellers as “The Nightingale,” “The Great Alone” and “The Four Winds,” one of the most popular releases in 2021.The Associated Press

2 men found dead on West Side

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

CHICAGO — A death investigation is underway after two men were found dead on the city's West Side.Police said two men, between the ages of 40-50, were found unresponsive in the 900 block of North Pulaski around 12:23 a.m. Monday. Both were pronounced dead on the scene. 16-year-old boy fatally shot in Glenwood According to police, there was no signs of injury of trauma to either of the men's bodies.Detectives are conducting a death investigation.

17-year-old boy critical after South Side shooting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

CHICAGO — A 17-year-old boy is in critical condition after being shot while inside a vehicle on the city's South Side.The shooting happened around 5:37 a.m. Tuesday in the 0-100 block of East 59th Street. Police said the 17-year-old was inside a car when a red SUV approached, a male offender exited the vehicle and opened fire.The offender then fled down an alley with the SUV following. 16-year-old boy fatally shot in Glenwood The teen was shot on the left side of the head. He was dropped off at St. Bernard Hospital and was then transferred to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, according to police.No one is in custody. Area One detectives are investigating.

'Misty of Chincoteague' home saved by fans from around the country

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:54:37 GMT

CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. (WAVY) - The home of the most famous of Chincoteague Island's beloved ponies, Misty, will live on as a museum thanks to donations "from every corner of the country" and beyond.As of Monday, more than $450,000 had been raised to save the Beebe Ranch, which still includes the original home where Misty and her foal Stormy rode out the Ash Wednesday storm of 1962 -- in the kitchen, that is.A statue dedicated to Misty from Brian Maughan in downtown Chincoteague (WAVY/Brian Reese)Aside from just saving the physical history, it's also become a refreshing reminder in the pony-centric Virginia town of just how important the 1947 book "Misty of Chincoteague" and subsequent series from author Marguerite Henry means to people of all ages. The book "...is still one of the most sought-after books for kids about horses..." said Cindy Faith, whose Museum of Chincoteague Island will buy the ranch through the fundraiser. The Beebe Ranch, including the original Beebe home (WAVY/Brian...