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Pakistan’s ex-leader Nawaz Sharif seeks protection from arrest ahead of return from voluntary exile

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday sought protection from arrest from a court in Islamabad ahead of his planned return to the country, his attorney and officials said.Sharif, who lived in voluntary exile in London until this month, is expected to return home on Saturday. He is currently a fugitive from justice, having failed to appear before a court in 2019. He stepped down in 2017 after a court convicted him of corruption. Two years later, facing further graft charges, he complained of chest pains and was granted permission by his successor, Imran Khan, to travel to London for medical treatment. Once in London in 2019, Sharif prolonged his stay, saying his doctors were not allowing him to travel.He has been wanted by the Pakistani authorities since 2020, when a court issued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to return home from London.A court in Islamabad briefly heard Sharif’s plea for bail and adjourned the hearing until Thursd...

Air Canada stock slides to one-year low despite frothy summer profits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

MONTREAL — Air Canada’s share price hit a one-year low on Wednesday as the airline navigates higher fuel costs, competition and interest rates.The company’s stock slipped nearly three percentage points to $17.29 by midday, marking its lowest price since mid-October last year and a one-third drop from its recent peak in July — part of a pattern seen across the North American airline sector.On Monday, Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth lowered her earnings forecast for the Montreal-based company due to the run-up in jet fuel prices over the past three months.She noted steeper competition with Porter Airlines, Flair Airlines and Lynx Air on domestic, cross-border and sun destination routes, but pointed to Air Canada’s loyalty program and fuel-efficient planes as an advantage.In an interview, ATB Capital Markets analyst Chris Murray said worries also persist over consumers’ willingness to keep spending on travel amid higher interest rates and inflation.Nonethele...

Assembly of First Nations climate strategy seeks collaboration between governments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

OTTAWA — The Assembly of First Nations launched its new national climate strategy in Ottawa today, calling on federal, provincial, and territorial governments to work with First Nations to implement their climate priorities. Interim National Chief Joanna Bernard said this year’s record-breaking wildfire season is a reason why all leaders should be taking climate change seriously, especially in First Nations communities.She says this is only the beginning of what it to come, and Indigenous Peoples have taken matters into their own hands to try to find solutions.The assembly’s member First Nations declared a climate emergency in July 2019, in recognition of how climate change was negatively affecting their lands, waters, animals and peoples. The declaration called for the development of a First Nations-led climate strategy, which the AFN unveiled on Parliament Hill today.The strategy aims to incorporate Indigenous knowledge systems, rights and self-determination in co-oper...

Another Republican enters North Carolina’s campaign for governor, preparing to spend millions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A veteran North Carolina trial lawyer has entered the Republican primary campaign for governor, pledging to spend millions in personal funds toward a race that’s already full of fellow Republicans who got in months ago.Bill Graham of Salisbury, who competed unsuccessfully for governor in 2008, said Wednesday he’s trying again because he considers himself the candidate best able to break a dominant stretch of Democrats in a state where Republicans often have an advantage in statewide races. Democrats have served in the Executive Mansion uninterrupted since 1993 save for a four-year stretch in the 2010s. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is term-limited and can’t run in 2024, has endorsed Attorney General Josh Stein, who entered the race in January and has been the race’s top fundraiser so far. “We need a nominee who will have the resources, discipline and character needed to defeat the far-left Josh Stein in November,” Graham said whil...

Activists turn backs on US officials as UN-backed human rights review of United States wraps up

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Dozens of U.S. activists who champion LGBTQ, indigenous and reproductive rights and who campaign against discrimination turned their backs Wednesday in a silent protest against what they called insufficient U.S. government responses to their human rights concerns.The protesters, who came from places as diverse as Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and beyond, led the demonstration before the independent Human Rights Committee as U.S. Ambassador Michele Taylor wrapped up a two-day hearing on the United States. It was part of a regular human rights review for all U.N. member countries by the committee.Six other countries including Haiti, Iran and Venezuela also were undergoing public sessions this autumn in Geneva to see how well countries are adhering to their commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — one of only a handful of international human rights treaties that the United States has ratified.The protest came as Taylor said the U.S. commitm...

Mexico says leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras to attend weekend migration summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president says the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Honduras will attend a summit on migration that Mexico will host Sunday. The four countries are among the biggest sources of migrants currently showing up at the U.S. border.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Cuba and Prime Minister Ariel Henry of Haiti will attend the meeting in the southern city of Palenque, along with Honduran President Xiomara Castro. López Obrador said the leaders of Ecuador and Guatemala also will attend, and that other countries are expected to send officials to the meeting. López Obrador said the meeting will address migration and the root causes that lead people to leave their home countries.López Obrador recently acknowledged that migration has spiked and that as many as 10,000 migrants are crossing Mexico daily to reach the U.S. border.Many are coming through the jungle-clad Darien Gap. Panama...

Suspect sought after student stabbed at Scarborough high school

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

Toronto police are searching for a suspect after a student was stabbed at a high school in Scarborough on Wednesday.Officers were called Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute near Markham Road and Lawrence Avenue East around 12 p.m. for reports of a stabbing.Police say a student was found at the scene with non-life-threatening injuries.Police are searching for a male suspect described as five feet four inches tall with blonde hair and a grey hoodie. It’s unclear if the suspect is also a student.This is a developing story. More to come.

Author Michael Connelly proud that ‘Bosch’ has become longest running streaming character

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Connelly has sold more than 85 million books under nearly 40 titles, but there’s another distinction that makes him equally proud: His most famous protagonist, LAPD Det. Harry Bosch, has become the longest running character on streaming television.“I know the history of streaming is very short, but it’s still something that we’re very, very proud of,” Connelly said.Based on his book series, “Bosch” ran seven seasons on Amazon, and then spun off as “Bosch: Legacy,” which premieres its second season Friday on Amazon Freevee.But that’s not the only streaming series based on his books — Netflix recently premiered the second season of “The Lincoln Lawyer,” whose protagonist, Mickey Haller, is the half-brother of Bosch. While the pair have appeared in books together, they’re unlikely to appear together on television because they’re on separate streaming networks.Recently, the best-selling author spoke with The Associated Press about the legacy of his detectiv...

Florida men plead guilty to charges related to a drive-by-shooting that left 11 wounded

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Two men have pleaded guilty to charges related to a drive-by-shooting in central Florida that left 11 people wounded earlier this year, federal authorities said Wednesday.Nicholas Hanson and Marcus Mobley have pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition and possessing a firearm and ammunition as convicted felons. They could be sentenced to 15 years in prison at a later sentencing hearing, federal prosecutors said in a news release.Eleven men were wounded in January when a four-door sedan pulled up near an intersection in Lakeland, Florida, where people were milling about. People from inside the vehicle started shooting in all directions. Only a minute earlier, a school bus had dropped off children in the Lakeland neighborhood, authorities said.According to prosecutors, Mobley owned the vehicle, and DNA samples from both men were recovered from spent shell casings found at the scene. Both men had prior felony convictions and were prohibited from possessing firearms ...

Accused in London, Ont., truck attack researched pedestrian fatality rates in crashes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:22 GMT

The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., in an alleged act of terrorism is telling a jury he researched fatality rates of pedestrians hit by vehicles a day before his attack.On the stand in the Windsor, Ont., courtroom where his trial is taking place, Nathaniel Veltman says he considered using his pickup truck to carry out an attack and looked up information online on what happens when pedestrians get struck by cars.Veltman says he wrote down data he found online that indicated the likelihood of pedestrian injury and death increased if the vehicle hitting them was travelling at higher speeds.The 22-year-old Veltman is accused of deliberately hitting the Afzaal family with his truck in June 2021 while they were out for a walk in London _ prosecutors have alleged his actions amount to an act of terrorism.He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.Veltman has been testifying in his own defence and...