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European Union heads to visit Canada amid talks for access to EU science grants

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

OTTAWA — The top heads of the European Union are expected to visit Canada this year, as officials discuss the possibility of Ottawa joining a major research-funding pact. Brussels and Ottawa hold leaders’ summits every two years as part of an agreement signed in 2017 alongside a major trade deal.The EU’s ambassador to Canada, Melita Gabric, says detailed planning for the visit has yet to start, but it is expected for sometime “this year.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed an agreement with Trudeau in March that calls for more collaboration on green vehicles and fighting disinformation — and Gabric says more details could be hammered out during a visit.The EU commissioner for budgets, Johannes Hahn, says the meeting will help both sides take stock of their support for Ukraine, as well as talks to have Canada possibly join a more than $100-billion scientific research program called Horizon Europe.Hahn is visiting Canada to drum up invest...

Sunwing Airlines to fold into WestJet within a year

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

CALGARY — WestJet says it aims to wind down Sunwing Airlines and integrate the low-cost carrier into its mainline business by October of next year.WestJet, which bought the Toronto-based company’s main airline and vacation divisions in May in a move representing a major consolidation of the aviation market, says Sunwing’s 18 Boeing 737s and 2,000 employees will be folded into the Calgary-based carrier in a seamless transition.WestJet and Sunwing together make up 37 per cent of seat capacity on direct flights to sun destinations, and 72 per cent from Western Canada, according to a report from the Competition Bureau last fall.Some experts have warned that the move could mean less service and higher fares — particularly in Western Canada and smaller cities across the country.As a condition of Ottawa’s sign-off on the Sunwing acquisition, both parties pledged to maintain capacity on the most affected routes and keep the Sunwing Vacations head office in Toronto and a regional...

Europe strikes back in Ryder Cup and ties record for largest lead

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Europe had the stars, all the pivotal shots and a delirious home crowd pushing them to a record-tying lead Friday in the Ryder Cup, an opening day performance so dominant the Americans never won a match.It was a rude welcome and a harsh reminder to the Americans why it has been 30 years since they last won the Ryder Cup away from home. And if Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland keep this up, that drought is sure to continue.Europe swept the opening session for the first time, winning all the foursomes matches before they even reached the 18th hole. Three of the fourballs matches in the afternoon that did reach the par-5 closing hole at Marco Simone all went in favor of European blue.Rahm chipped from deep rough across the green for eagle on the par-4 16th and then holed a 35-foot eagle putt on the 597-yard 18th hole as he and Ryder Cup rookie Nicolai Hojgaard earned a halve against Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.Justin Thomas and Jordan S...

Southern EU nations urge for a new migration and asylum deal and beefed-up surveillance

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — Leaders of nine southern European countries called Friday for the EU to finalize a new migration and asylum deal, and to beef up efforts to prevent departures from North Africa during a summit in Malta. The gathering came as another shipwreck drama unfolded off Libya’s coast. A joint statement issued at the end of the meeting said the needs of front-line countries — such as Italy — that receive the vast majority of migrants, must be “adequately met.” It said the European Union as a bloc must strengthen its response by beefing up surveillance operations of Europe’s external borders to prevent departures and break up human trafficking networks.The one-day huddle included host Malta, as well as Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Slovenia and Croatia, which have coastlines on the Adriatic Sea, were added to the so-called “Med Group” in 2021. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President C...

What Dianne Feinstein’s death means for control of the Senate and the looming government shutdown

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death creates a vacancy in the Senate at a time when her Democrats hold the slightest majority in the chamber.Feinstein, a centrist Democrat who had represented California since 1992, had medical struggles in recent months that already had prompted questions about whether she’d resign and who might replace her.California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to pick a replacement soon. An election to pick the state’s next senator serving a full six-year term is scheduled for next year.Here’s a look at what Feinstein’s death means for the Senate at a critical time on Capitol Hill:HOW DOES IT IMPACT CONTROL OF THE SENATE?Before Feinstein’s death, Democrats held a 51-49 majority. They had control of 48 seats, plus three independent members who generally vote with Democrats. Until her seat is filled, Democrats will be at least one vote short of a majority as they try to advance their priorities. There are no major votes looming in the Senate th...

Trump looks to set up a California primary victory with a personal pitch to Republican activists

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Donald Trump will make a personal pitch Friday to California Republicans in a bid to solidify his support in a GOP presidential contest he has dominated for months, while Ron DeSantis and other rivals get another chance to break the front-runner’s momentum with time fast vanishing to reorder the race.Trump’s afternoon speech at a state Republican Party convention in Anaheim comes two days after he bypassed the second GOP debate held at Ronald Reagan’s presidential library northwest of Los Angeles, signaling again that he sees no need to appear side-by-side with lesser-known contenders.At stake in the state’s March 5 primary will be 169 delegates, making it the biggest prize in the Republican contest. Any candidate who collects more than 50% of the votes in the primary would win all the delegates up for grabs.The kickoff Iowa caucuses that mark the start of the nominating season are less than four months away, and the trajectory of the race could sh...

Suspect in killing of Baltimore tech entrepreneur held without bail

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — The man accused of killing Baltimore tech entrepreneur Pava LaPere last week and committing a rape and arson days earlier will be held without bail pending trial in those cases, a judge ruled Friday.Jason Billingsley, who is charged with first-degree murder in LaPere’s death, was released from prison last October after serving a shortened sentence for a 2013 rape because he earned good behavior credits behind bars. He is also charged with two dozen counts in a Sept. 19 rape in which a woman and man were bound with duct tape before being set on fire, and police had been actively searching for him since then.Police believe LaPere was killed Friday night, although her body wasn’t discovered until after someone reported her missing Monday morning. LaPere, who founded the tech startup EcoMap Technologies from her dorm room at Johns Hopkins University, died from strangulation and blunt force trauma, court records show.During a bail review hearing Friday morning in Baltimo...

Chicago agency finds no wrongdoing in probe of officers’ alleged sex misconduct with migrants

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago’s police oversight agency said Friday it has closed an investigation after finding no wrongdoing by city officers followings allegations that they engaged in sexual misconduct with migrants housed at police stations.The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said its investigators had not “substantiated any claim of sexual misconduct between members of the Chicago Police Department and any new arrivals.” COPA added in a statement that “to date no victim or witness has come forward or been identified.The agency said the case “will be closed without allegations or findings of misconduct” but said it has the authority to reopen the investigation if it receives “new material evidence.”Chicago is among the U.S. cities struggling to provide shelter and other help to hundreds arriving from the southern border, with families sleeping in police station lobbies. Migrants, largely from Central American countries, have been bused to Chicago and other major U...

Proud Boy who disappeared ahead of his Jan. 6 sentencing was found unconscious by agents at his home

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

A member of the Proud Boys extremist group who disappeared days before he was supposed to be sentenced for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot was found unconscious by federal agents after he tried to “covertly return” to his home, the FBI said on Friday. Christopher Worrell, of Naples, Florida, was taken to a hospital where he remained on Friday, according to the FBI’s Tampa office. The FBI did not provide further details about his condition. Authorities had been searching for weeks for Worrell, who had been on house arrest when he went missing last month ahead of his sentencing in Washington. Prosecutors had been seeking 14 years in prison for Worrell on convictions for assault, obstruction of Congress and other offenses. The FBI said that agents quickly surrounded and entered Worrell’s home on Thursday after he returned, found the man unconscious and “immediately provided medical attention.” Authorities say agents found night-vision goggles, $4,000 in cash, and survival...

Committee of Immigrant and Refugee Rights address migrant crisis

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 12:41:58 GMT

CHICAGO -- The city council Committee of Immigrant and Refugee Rights held a meeting Friday to discuss the ongoing Migrant crisis. Emotions were running high with questions over how the city is balancing the urgent needs of newly arriving migrants and those of long-term residents. "We are being made to choose one set of people over the other and it's wrong," Ald. Jeanette Taylor said. City officials said 36 buses carrying migrants have arrived in the past week and the number one priority is getting people out of police stations. The committee also heard from mutual-aid groups, volunteers who are spending their own time and money to respond to the crisis at police stations. They said they need more support, and the city should be investing in community solutions instead.Sara Uzquierdo from the Mobile Migrant Health Team said they are seeing children who have been cut by barbed wire, poorly stitched up in Texas and shipped to Chicago police stations wit...