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Blinken meets Chinese President Xi in bid to ease soaring US-China tensions

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday as he wrapped up a two-day high-stakes visit to Beijing aimed at easing soaring tensions between the countries. The meeting at the Great Hall of the People had been expected and was seen as key to the success of the trip, but neither side confirmed it would happen until a State Department official announced it just an hour beforehand. A snub by the Chinese leader would have been a major setback to the effort to restore and maintain communications at senior levels. In earlier meetings between Blinken and senior Chinese officials, the two sides expressed willingness to talk but showed little inclination to bend on hardened positions.Blinken is the highest-level U.S. official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office, and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years. His visit is expected to usher in a new round of visits by senior U.S. and Chinese officials, ...

Death toll rises amid sweltering heat wave in 2 of India’s most populous states

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

BALLIA, India (AP) — Nearly 170 people have died in two of India’s most populous states in recent days amid a sweltering heat wave, officials said Monday, as hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and routine power outages add to the challenges.In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, 119 people have died from heat-related illnesses over the last several days while in neighboring Bihar state 47 people have died, according to local news reports and health officials.The largest hospital in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh is unable to accommodate more patients, officials said, and its morgue was overwhelmed after 54 people died due to the heat. Some families were asked to take the bodies of their relatives home.While northern regions of India are known for sweltering heat during the summer months, temperatures have been consistently above normal, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, with highs in recent days reaching 43.5 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit). A...

Japan’s emperor meets with Indonesian president on his first official foreign trip as monarch

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Japanese Emperor Naruhito met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday during his first official foreign trip since ascending the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019.Widodo and first lady Iriana welcomed Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Bogor presidential palace, along with greeters wearing Indonesian traditional clothes and a military band that played both national anthems.“I feel very honored because Indonesia is the first destination for the Japanese emperor’s bilateral state visit abroad,” Widodo said.Naruhito is seeking to underline the friendship between Japan and Indonesia during his weeklong visit, and officials said the two leaders would talk about cooperation between the countries.Naruhito said he and Masako have been able to deepen their understanding of Indonesia’s people and culture while also reflecting on its history.“I also sincerely hope that exchanges between young people from both countries will lead to further development of ...

New Chinese premier starts 1st trip abroad to Germany and France

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang has started a visit to Germany and France that comes as Europe seeks to balance concerns over economic dependence on China and about its stance toward Ukraine and Taiwan with a desire to engage Beijing on issues such as climate change.Li, on his first trip abroad since taking office, was received by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday. Li and a large delegation of Chinese ministers meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and their German counterparts on Tuesday, the seventh such gathering. Top officials from both sides also will meet business representatives.Li, a former Communist Party secretary for Shanghai, took office in March as China’s No. 2 official. It was part of a once-a-decade change of government that installed loyalists of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to enforce his vision of tighter political control over the economy and society.The visit comes as Europe and Germany consider how best to handle an increasingly assertive ...

Manitoba premier to speak about deadly bus crash : In The News for June 19

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 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 June 19 …What we are watching in Canada …Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson will speak with reporters today about last week’s bus crash that killed 15 people and left 10 others seriously injured.The news conference will take place at RCMP D Division headquarters in Winnipeg at noon local time, and Stefanson will be joined by Supt. Rob Lasson, officer in charge of major crime services with Manitoba RCMP.Lanette Siragusa, CEO of Shared Health, the co-ordinator of many of the province’s health services, will also be present.A minibus was carrying a group of seniors from Dauphin, Man., and surrounding area to a casino last Thursday when it went into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer truck near the town of Carberry, some 190 kilometres away.Shared Health said in a statement Sunday that six of the 10 inju...

The UAE and Qatar reopen embassies as Gulf Arab relations improve after a yearslong rift

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates and Qatar have announced the reopening of their embassies on Monday following a yearslong rift over Qatar’s support of Islamist groups.The two countries issued statements saying the Qatari Embassy in Abu Dhabi and a Qatari Consulate in Dubai, as well as an Emirati Embassy in Qatar’s capital, Doha, had resumed operations. The statements did not say if ambassadors were in place or if the missions were open to the public.The two countries’ foreign ministers spoke by phone to congratulate one another on the reopening of the diplomatic missions, Qatar said.The UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in imposing a boycott and blockade of Qatar in 2017 over its support for Islamist groups across the Middle East that gained power immediately after the Arab Spring protests. The other Arab countries in the Persian Gulf view such groups as terrorists — including Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which won free and fair ...

UN complains Russia won’t let aid workers into areas hit by dam collapse in southern Ukraine

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months.The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organization has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the “devastating destruction” caused by the breach.The Russian government “has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control,” Brown said.“We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” her statement added.Exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press indicate Russia had the means...

Elliot Page on balancing trans joy and harsh realities of anti-LGBTQ sentiment

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

TORONTO — Elliot Page is in a bit of an odd position, he says, being one of the most visible transgender men in the world. He’s in a better place than ever before. The Halifax-born actor is able to be his full self without reservation. But at the same time, he has publicly declared himself part of a group that is under attack. “The visibility is complicated,” he told The Canadian Press in a recent interview. “No doubt we need to see ourselves and our joy reflected, and I know how much that’s helped me on my journey. But of course, that can also lead to backlash, and does lead to the most vulnerable members of our community being affected the most in that way.” That dissonanceplays out in his memoir “Pageboy,” published by HarperCollins Canada earlier this month.“I’m just trying to achieve a balance in my own life.” The book gives readers a non-linear look at his life, exploring his childhood in Halifax and early entry...

Here’s what observers are watching for in Monday’s four federal byelections

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

OTTAWA — Four new MPs are set to be elected to the House of Commons Monday in a handful of byelections that political watchers say could expose rifts within the Conservative party and bring a new Liberal cabinet hopeful into the fold.The Liberals are expected to hold onto seats in Winnipeg and Montreal, said Philippe J. Fournier, the polling analyst behind the 338Canada polling aggregator website.The Tories, meanwhile, are poised to hang on in rural Ontario and Manitoba seats, he said — but their margins of victory in both ridings could be insightful for those looking to read the political tea leaves. The closest thing to a nail-biter will likely occur in Oxford, a mostly rural riding in southern Ontario that has been a Conservative stronghold for nearly 20 years.Party infighting has led to “the nastiest campaign that we’ve ever seen in our riding,” said Dave MacKenzie, who announced he was stepping down from the seat in December. “It’s divided our part...

‘A bit of help’: Canadian Red Cross funding medical clinics for displaced in Ukraine

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:53:53 GMT

KORSUN-SHEVCHENKIVSKYI — Medical intern Alina Manko sits at a desk and speaks with a woman as other patients wait for their turn.Wearing a red vest and cap, Manko is part of a group staffing mobile units funded by the Canadian Red Cross that provide health care in central Ukraine for thousands of citizens displaced by the war with Russia.“It is part of my job to help people if they are broken,” Manko says in halting English from the makeshift clinic inside a community centre in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, two hours south of Kyiv.The clinic moves every few days to another community and sets up in different buildings.It’s always busy, Manko adds. Most patients seeking help are elderly or young children.“It’s a very important job for us and our team help these old people every day. We are trying to help with their problems, to provide medicine.”Dozens of boxes of clothing and medical supplies are stacked in rows in the entrance to the clinic.Three retire...