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EU commissioner calls for more balanced trade with China and warns that Ukraine could divide them

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — The European Union’s trade commissioner called for a more balanced economic relationship with China on Monday, noting a trade imbalance of nearly 400 billion euros ($425 billion), while also warning that China’s position on the war in Ukraine could endanger its relationship with Europe.Valdis Dombrovskis, in a speech at China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, said that the EU and China face significant political and economic headwinds that could cause them to drift apart.“The strongest, yet not the only, headwind is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and how China positions itself on this issue,” he said, according to a prepared text of his remarks.Dombrovskis is in China to co-chair high-level economic and trade talks on Monday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. EU leaders have expressed concern about the bloc’s growing trade deficit with China, which reached 396 billion euros last year. European Commission President Ursula von der...

Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin prepared Bradley Cooper for ‘Maestro’ role

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

TORONTO — Montreal conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin says he employed a secret weapon in teaching Bradley Cooper how to conduct like Leonard Bernstein in the upcoming biopic “Maestro” – an earpiece.The star baton wielder says he occasionally had the A-lister don the device so he could guide Cooper through arm and hand movements that would be believable for music-savvy viewers as well as those familiar with Bernstein’s distinctive physical style.Nézet-Séguin served as “conductor consultant” on the upcoming Netflix film, which Cooper co-wrote, directed and stars in, and says there’s far more to conducting than just waving a stick around.The Grammy winner says he’s seen plenty of movies portray conductors badly and he wanted to ensure “Maestro” was an accurate depiction of the craft.Nézet-Séguin says the hardest part for most actors is to keep accurate tempo with the baton, especially while the other hand moves fluidly to convey expression.“Maestro” opens in select theatres No...

Quebec author at heart of controversy in France over ‘sensitivity reading’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec author Kevin Lambert wanted to avoid stereotypes and not write anything “stupid” when he enlisted what is known as a sensitivity reader to review the manuscript of his latest novel.But since his “Que notre joie demeure” was nominated this month for a prestigious French literary prize, Lambert has found himself at the centre of a debate in France, where the practice of hiring someone to screen for offensive content is unfamiliar.Toronto-based editor Ronan Sadler said sensitivity reading is a process in which a consultant examines a book’s representations of characters with marginalized identities, such as visible minorities, before publication. Sensitivity readers, Sadler explained in an interview, try to identify shortfalls of characterization that may not have been apparent to an author who does not share those identities.Lambert, who consulted a sensitivity reader to scrutinize his depiction of a character of Haitian descent, was ope...

Parole board warned employees about threats following Saskatchewan stabbings: emails

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

Parole Board of Canada employees were fearful of threats after it was revealed a mass killer in Saskatchewan was on statutory release at the time of last year’s rampage, emails show. The emails in partially redacted documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, show staff at the Parole Board of Canada were cautioned about their safety and told to remain vigilant following threats made to a Saskatchewan office after the stabbings.Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured in the attacks on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon on Sept. 4, 2022. Myles Sanderson, 32, was arrested four days later and died in police custody.It was widely reported during the manhunt that Sanderson, who had a record of violent assaults, had received statutory release, which kicks in when an offender has served two-thirds of a prison sentence. The killings raised questions over why Sanderson was released and how he managed to remain free in...

RCMP to demolish last structure at Quebec’s Roxham Road crossing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

LACOLLE, Que. — The RCMP says it will demolish the last of its structures at Roxham Road, an outpost built to deal with the influx of migrants that used to cross into Canada on foot from Upstate New York to apply for asylum.The federal police force will hold a news conference this morning near the facility before demolition work begins on the structure, located about 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal at the end of a rural road in southern Quebec.Tens of thousands of asylum seekers crossed into Canada using that clandestine route before it was shutdown in late March after the U.S. and Canada reached a deal to close a long-standing loophole in the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement and have it apply to the 8,900 kilometres of shared border.Asylum seekers have to apply for refugee status in the first of the two countries they enter rather than just at official ports of entry, a situation that led to thousands moving through irregular crossings like the one at Roxham Road to ensure the...

Coroner’s inquest opens into killings of three Quebec men chosen at random

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

MONTREAL — A coroner’s inquest opening in Montreal today will look into the deaths of three men seemingly killed at random over a 24-hour span last August.Coroner Géhane Kamel will oversee the inquiry into the killings of André Lemieux, Mohamed Belhaj, Alex Levis-Crevier and the police-killing of the 26-year-old suspect, Abdulla Shaikh.At the time of the slayings, provincial police said it appeared the suspect, who had a history of mental health problems, had chosen his victims at random and had acquired a firearm illegally.Police allege Shaikh shot Lemieux, 64, and Belhaj, 48, one night in Montreal in August 2022 and killed 22-year-old Levis-Crevier in Laval, Que., about 24 hours later.Quebec’s mental health review board ruled in March 2022 that Shaikh, who was under the supervision of a mental health hospital, posed a “significant risk” to public safety but could continue living in the community. It also said that while he suffered from denial and trivializ...

Court martial begins for former head of military HR accused of sexual misconduct

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

GATINEAU, Que. — A court martial begins today for Lt.-Gen. Steve Whelan, who was removed from his job as head of military personnel after being accused of sexual misconduct. The allegations came to light in 2021, only months after Whelan took over the job from Vice-Adm. Haydn Edmundson, who was also accused of sexual misconduct.They were among several high-profile cases that led to an external investigation of the Armed Forces, resulting in a damning report from former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour.Military police charged Whelan in July 2022 with two counts of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline, related to what they called an “inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.” In a press release at the time, the Defence Department said the investigation did not find evidence to support Criminal Code charges in the case, so it was not passed along to civilian police. The court martial is scheduled to take place over two weeks.This report by The Canad...

Prioritize disadvantaged people for primary care and screening access, report says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

TORONTO — A group of Canadian doctors, nurses and other health-care providers has issued recommendations on how to make health care more equitable for disadvantaged people. In a report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal today, the group says people who are marginalized should be prioritized for access to a primary care provider.Lead author and St. Michael’s Hospital physician Dr. Nav Persaud says getting a family doctor or nurse practitioner should be automatic.He compares the right to have a primary care provider to a child’s right to go to school. Persaud says many people who are racialized, identify as LGBTQ or have low incomes face barriers to important screenings that can save lives and reduce illness.The report recommends proactive prevention and screening measures for certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2023.Canadian Press healt...

Kosovo mourns a slain police officer, some Serb gunmen remain at large after a siege at a monastery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo on Monday was observing a day of mourning for the Kosovar Albanian police officer killed by Serb gunmen who then barricaded themselves in an Orthodox monastery in an attack that left three assailants dead and further raised tensions between the two former wartime foes as they seek to normalize ties. Flags were at half mast on all public buildings in the capital Pristina to mourn Afrim Bunjaku. In the north, where most of Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority lives in four municipalities around Mitrovica, police were patrolling in search of the armed assailants after they left the monastery.About 30 gunmen dressed in combat uniforms were involved in the attack, but it is not clear who they are or who is supporting them. Pristina accuses Belgrade of backing the “terrorists,” an accusation Serbia denies, saying they are Serbs from Kosovo protesting the government there.On Sunday the masked gunmen opened fire on a police patrol at about 3 a.m. (01:00 GMT) in Banjs...

Widely scattered showers Monday; showers likely Tuesday/Wednesday with possible thunderstorms. October looks to open warmer than normal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:52 GMT

WGN weekly climate report: On Saturday we managed 81 degrees at O'Hare. It was second stretch of above normal weather this month. The first peaked on the 3rd, 4th and 5th with temps in the mid 90s.  This particular streak had four days of 80 degrees or warmer. Normal high temp is in the low 80s for the last half of September. As of Friday we've only seen about 53% of possible September sunshine. Normal for the entire month is 65% of possible sunshine-- so we've been cloudier than normal this month. And we've also been a little bit soggier than normal. As of Sunday morning, we've seen 2.86" of rainfall at O'Hare—and had 12 days with measurable precipitation. The rainfall has done some good things when for our drought conditions across Chicagoland. Though some areas near the Wisconsin state line is dealing with some areas of severe to extreme drought conditions. Drought conditions are much worse though out on the Great Plains. Our chilliest afternoon so far this month was the 64 ...