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UN: Year is off to a deadly start for migrants crossing Med

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

ROME (AP) — The first three months of 2023 were the deadliest first quarter in six years for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean Sea in smugglers’ boats, the U.N. migration agency reported Wednesday, citing nations’ delays in initiating rescues as a contributing factor.The International Organization for Migration documented 441 migrant deaths along the dangerous sea route between northern Africa and Europe’s southern shores during January, February and March. In 2017, 742 known deaths were documented in the same period, while 446 were recorded in the first three months of 2015. “The persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable,” IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino, commenting on the figures the agency released in a report.“With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized,” Vitorino said. ”States must respond. Delays and gaps in state-led SAR (search-and-rescue...

Palace: Prince Harry to attend his father’s May 6 coronation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey on May 6, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, ending months of speculation about his presence.Harry’s wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain in California with the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said. The coronation date coincides with their eldest son’s birthday.Harry’s attendance comes despite the rift within the House of Windsor prompted by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling book, “Spare.”The revelations included details of private conversations with his father — and his elder brother, Prince William. The disclosures fanned tensions between Harry and his family, which had become public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.Danica Kirka, The Associated Press

White House moves to protect some abortion patients’ records

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Wednesday proposed a new federal rule that aims to limit how law enforcement and state officials collect medical records from health providers and insurers if they pursue criminal or civil investigations into women who flee their home states to seek abortions elsewhere. The proposal, prompted by a string of blows to abortion access across the country, follows a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that threatens to pull the most commonly used abortion pill, mifepristone, off the market. The White House’s proposed rule would prohibit health care organizations from sharing personal medical records with authorities for investigations related to reproductive care in states where a woman legally obtained an abortion. While medical records are protected by federal privacy laws, health providers and insurers can be compelled to turn over medical records with a court order. Doctors around the country have voiced concerns about protecting that medical i...

Prince Harry to attend father’s May 6 coronation without Meghan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

Prince Harry will attend the Coronation service of his father, King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey on May 6, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, setting aside months of speculation about his presence.Harry’s wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain in California with the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said.The palace confirmation came after weeks of reports noting that Charles’ office has been in touch with Harry about the event. Harry’s attendance comes despite the rift within the House of Windsor prompted by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling book, “Spare.”The revelations, including details of private conversations with his father — and his brother, Prince William — fanned tensions between Harry and his family that became public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.The book also included allegations that members of the royal family regularly feed the press unflattering information about o...

NPR quits Elon Musk’s Twitter over ‘government-funded’ label

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — National Public Radio is quitting Twitter over the social media company’s recent actions under owner Elon Musk to stamp it with labels the news organization says are meant to undermine its credibility.“NPR’s organizational accounts will no longer be active on Twitter because the platform is taking actions that undermine our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent,” the news organization said in a statement Wednesday.Last week, Twitter labeled NPR’s main account as “state-affiliated media” on the social media site, a label also used to identify media outlets that are controlled or heavily influenced by authoritarian governments. Twitter later changed the label to “government-funded media” and gave it to at least one other public news organization, the BBC.“We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility and the public’s understanding of our editorial independence,”...

Bank of Canada holds key interest rate at 4.5%, bumps up growth forecast for 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada is once again holding its key interest rate steady at 4.5 per cent but isn’t ruling out the possibility of more rate hikes down the line.The central bank said Wednesday that recent economic data is reinforcing its confidence that inflation will continue to fall in the coming months.“However, getting inflation the rest of the way back down to two per cent could prove to be more difficult,” the Bank of Canada said in a news release.The central bank said its governing council will continue to assess whether interest rates are high enough to bring inflation back to target.Economists were widely anticipating the Bank of Canada to maintain its interest rate as inflation eases meaningfully.Canada’s annual inflation rate fell to 5.2 per cent in February, marking the second month in a row it came in lower than forecast.The Bank of Canada continues to expect the inflation rate to fall to three per cent by mid-year and back down to two per cent by the end of 2...

Text of Bank of Canada’s rate announcement statement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate target on hold at 4.5 per cent on Wednesday. Here is the text of the central bank’s rate announcement:The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 4.5 per cent, with the Bank Rate at 4.75 per cent and the deposit rate at 4.5 per cent. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.Inflation in many countries is easing in the face of lower energy prices, normalizing global supply chains, and tighter monetary policy. At the same time, labour markets remain tight and measures of core inflation in many advanced economies suggest persistent price pressures, especially for services.Global economic growth has been stronger than anticipated. Growth in the United States and Europe has surprised on the upside, but is expected to weaken as tighter monetary policy continues to feed through those economies. In the United States, recent stress in the banking sector has tightened credit conditions...

Aurora man ID'd following deadly shooting Sunday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

AURORA, Ill. — A man has been identified following a deadly shooting Sunday night in Aurora.At around 10 p.m., police responded to the 400 block of West New York Street on the report of a person shot.Officers at the scene located a 24-year-old man, later identified as Myles Buie, of Aurora, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds inside a parked vehicle.He was pronounced dead at a local hospital that night. Glenview smoothie café robbed at gunpoint Monday No suspects are in custody. Anyone with information can call police at 630-892-1000.

Palace: Prince Harry to attend his father's May 6 coronation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey on May 6, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday, ending months of speculation about his presence.Harry's wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will remain in California with the couple’s two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, the palace said. The coronation date coincides with their eldest son's birthday.Harry’s attendance comes despite the rift within the House of Windsor prompted by Harry’s decision to reveal family secrets in his bestselling book, “Spare.”The revelations included details of private conversations with his father — and his elder brother, Prince William. The disclosures fanned tensions between Harry and his family, which had become public when he and his wife moved to North America in 2020.

Alaska Airlines passenger charged after allegedly 'threatening to kill' flight attendant

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:52:47 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) – A passenger flying with Alaska Airlines faces federal charges after allegedly threatening to kill one of the flight attendants during an argument.Chloe M. Dasilva, has been charged with one count of interfering with the flight crew, according to a complaint detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Missouri.Dasilva was a passenger aboard an Alaska Airlines flight that had departed from San Francisco to Chicago on Friday, April 7, per a criminal complaint. At some point during the flight, she became disruptive and confronted one of the flight attendants, "cussing and yelling and threatening to kill him," the DA's office wrote in a news release. Flight attendants allegedly fight over passenger’s request, refuse to work with each other Flight attendants and two passengers stepped in and used zip ties to restrain Dasilva to a seat, the release said.The flight was then diverted to Kansas City out of an abundance of caution."After landin...