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The father of a dissident Belarusian novelist has been arrested in Minsk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A prominent Belarusian dissident author who lives abroad said Thursday that his father was arrested on unclear grounds after police broke into his parents’ apartment.The seven police officers, armed with automatic weapons, also took electronics and data files from the Minsk apartment, said Sasha Filipenko. His father was taken away for detention, but no charges were immediately stated. The arrest appeared to be connected with the relentless crackdown on opposition by the government of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko for the past three years.The crackdown started after a wave of protests that arose in August 2020 following a disputed presidential election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner, giving him a sixth term in office. The protests lasted for months, the largest and most prolonged show of dissent since Lukashenko came to power in 1994 and began repressing independent news media and opposition.Filipenko, a popular novelist, bec...

Authorities search for Jan. 6 attack suspect who fled as FBI approached

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

HELMETTA, N.J. (AP) — Authorities were searching a central New Jersey neighborhood Thursday for a suspect in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol who fled as FBI agents approached his home.The FBI said it and other law enforcement agencies are looking for Gregory Yetman, who it said is “wanted in connection with the January 6th attack on the US Capitol.” It was not immediately clear what charges he faces in connection with the attack.“We will be in the area staging until Yetman is arrested,” the FBI’s Newark office said in a statement Thursday morning. The FBI has set up a command center at the local community center.The FBI was being joined by law enforcement officers from state, county and local police.Helmetta’s mayor, Christopher Slavicek, told the New York Times the search began at 8 a.m. Wednesday when FBI agents came to arrest Yetman, and he “fled and went off into the woods.”The mayor said there was “certainly a sense of heightened anxiety” in and around Helmetta as t...

Israel-Hamas war: Concordia University in Montreal condemns on-campus violence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

MONTREAL — The president of Concordia University in Montreal is condemning the recent violence on campus linked to the Israel-Hamas war.Graham Carr says in a message to members of the university community that three separate acts of violence or intimidation occurred at the university Wednesday.Carr says two security guards and a student were injured in an altercation, swastikas were found on a university building, and a social media post from a student group could reasonably be interpreted as inciting violence. He says he is saddened and disgusted by these acts and that the university will work to identify those responsible. Montreal police say a 22-year-old woman was arrested at the university in connection with the altercation and released with a citation.Const. Jean-Pierre Brabant says the security guards and student were not seriously injured and that police are investigating. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2023.The Canadian Press

Parks, schools shut in California after asbestos found in burned World War II-era blimp hangar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

TUSTIN, Calif. (AP) — Parks and schools were closed Thursday in a Southern California city after officials found asbestos in the charred debris of an historic World War II-era blimp hangar.The city of Tustin closed at least nine parks and urged residents to limit outdoor activities to reduce their exposure to ash after asbestos was detected in preliminary samples of ash and debris. Schools were closed Thursday to ensure student safety in the Tustin Unified School District some 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles. A Veteran’s Day event planned for Saturday was canceled.The blaze broke out early Tuesday at the massive wooden hangar, which was one of two built in 1942 by the U.S. Navy to house military blimps. The cause of the fire was under investigation.Southern California air quality regulators will continue to analyze samples from areas around the hangar for toxic gases and metals, the city said in a statement. The Associated Press

Top US accident investigator says close calls between planes show that aviation is under stress

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

The nation’s top accident investigator said Thursday that a surge in close calls between planes at U.S. airports this year is a “clear warning sign” that the aviation system is under stress.“While these events are incredibly rare, our safety system is showing clear signs of strain that we cannot ignore,” Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told a Senate panel on Thursday.Homendy warned that air traffic and staffing shortages have surged since the pandemic. She said there has been a “lack of meaningful” training — and more reliance on computer-based instruction — by the Federal Aviation Administration and airlines. She said technology improvements could help avoid what aviation insiders call “runway incursions.”Representatives of unions for pilots and air traffic controllers and a former chief of the Federal Aviation Administration were scheduled to testify at the same hearing.The FAA said earlier this week that it will hold meetings at 16...

Artists’ posters of hostages held by Hamas, started as public reminder, become flashpoint themselves

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Making the posters, they said, came out of a desire to feel connected, to do something.Artists Nitzan Mintz and Dede Bandaid would normally have been at home in Tel Aviv with family and friends, but were instead in New York City to take part in an art program when Hamas fighters massacred more than 1,400 people in Israel on Oct 7.They channeled their anguish into creating posters bearing the names and faces of the more than 200 people taken hostage during the attack, each page blaring “KIDNAPPED” across the top. The goal was to invoke public pressure in hopes of bringing the abducted home. Fliers and posters based on their template have since appeared in cities around the world.While they were intended to inspire outrage at Hamas and sympathy for the abducted, the posters have also become a flashpoint, angering people critical of Israel’s actions in the conflict with Palestinians, who see the posters as propaganda.Pro-Palestinian activists in many cities have torn th...

Nation’s first openly gay governor looking to re-enter politics after nearly 20 years

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — The nation’s first openly gay governor is looking to re-enter politics nearly 20 years after he left.Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey announced Thursday that he will seek the mayor’s office in Jersey City in 2025. He made the announcement in a video posted online and planned to formally launch his campaign with a news conference later in the day.McGreevey, a Democrat, is a former Woodbridge Township mayor who was elected governor in 2002. He announced in August 2004 that he was “a gay American” and acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a male staffer. He resigned that year.“I was imperfect and I’ll always be imperfect,” McGreevey, 66, said at the start of the video, which shows him watching a portion of his resignation announcement. “It’s important to take responsibility and do the next right thing.”After leaving office, McGreevey founded the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, which provides job training, counseling and many other serv...

Air Canada CEO apologizes for accessibility barriers, rolls out new measures

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

MONTREAL — Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau is apologizing for the airline’s accessibility shortfalls and rolling out new measures to improve the travel experience for hundreds of thousands of passengers living with a disability.Rousseau says the carrier is speeding up a three-year accessibility plan after recent reports of passenger mistreatment, including an incident where a man with spastic cerebral palsy was forced to drag himself off of an airplane due to a lack of assistance.The measures range from establishing a customer accessibility director to consistently boarding passengers who request lift assistance first.Air Canada also aims to implement annual, recurrent training in accessibility — such as how to use a lift — for its 10,000-odd airport employees and include mobility aids in an app that can track baggage.David Lepofsky, visiting research professor of disability rights at Western University’s law faculty, says that as a blind person he dreads flying in Canad...

Labour minister tables replacement-worker legislation promised in Liberal-NDP deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

OTTAWA — Replacement workers would be banned during strikes and lockouts at federally regulated workplaces under new legislation introduced in the House of Commons today.Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan says the bill will bar employers from hiring someone to do the work of anyone who is on strike or lockout, and will apply to multiple work sites including federal Crown corporations, airports, ports and the federal public service.There are exceptions if not replacing workers would constitute a threat to health and safety, or could cause serious property or environmental damage.The bill fulfils a promise the Liberals made in the 2021 election to ban the use of replacement workers if an employer locks its employees out. But it goes a step further to extend the ban to strikes, too, a major component of the Liberals’ supply-and-confidence deal with the NDP. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says that without his party and decades of pressure from unions, this bill would not have happene...

Heather McDonald finds creative and financial freedom with popular ‘Juicy Scoop’ podcast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:57:20 GMT

When “Chelsea Lately” aired its final episode on E! in 2014, Heather McDonald, a staff writer and regular panelist on the show, needed a new gig. As a stand-up comedian, her performance schedule wasn’t as consistent as a full-time job — then she heard about a fellow comic who launched a podcast to get his name out there and sell more tickets.“I was like, ‘If a podcast can help do that, I’m going to do that,’” McDonald says. She launched “ Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald ” in 2015. Now, nearly 800 episodes later with more than 200 million downloads, it regularly ranks among the top comedy podcasts on Apple’s charts.Twice a week, McDonald releases a free episode sharing the latest celebrity gossip and pop culture headlines, TV recaps, and anecdotes. She bounces topics off guests and interviews people with juicy stories. McDonald strives to avoid anything truly divisive — like politics. But despite her best efforts, she found herself in the middle of a debate about the co...