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Harry Belafonte, groundbreaking entertainer and activist, dies at 96

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has died. He was 96.Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife, Pamela, by his side, said Ken Sunshine, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit “Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” and its call of “Day-O! Daaaaay-O.” But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson’s decree that artists are “gatekeepers of truth.”File photo of American singer Harry Belafonte taken in November 1969 in Paris during the preparation of a TV show with French Nana Mouskouri. ...

18-year-old man found dead in GTA identified, being investigated as homicide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

York Regional Police is investigating a homicide after an 18-year-old man was found dead by a dog walker in King Township.A citizen notified police of a dead body just before 8 a.m. on Sunday along a trail northwest of Seneca Polytechnic College King Campus in the Dufferin Street and 15th Sideroad area.Officers arrived at the scene and deemed the man’s death to be suspicious. Following a post-mortem on Monday, police say a homicide investigation has commenced.The victim has been identified as 18-year-old Zackhry Ramnath of Montreal. Investigators believe this was a targeted incident.No suspect information has been provided.

Original architect of the Ontario Greenbelt shares the impact of development

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

Allegations over Doug Ford’s ties to Greenbelt developers have dominated much of last year at Queens Park, but what is often forgotten in the conversation is the actual Greenbelt land that will be lost.About 5,000 acres of land in Pickering that is part of the Greenbelt is expected to be paved over for housing. The planner who designed the original Greenbelt map tells CityNews that the area is prime farmland.Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve area that will be removed from the Greenbelt for development. CITYNEWS“I’ve been out here my whole life; I know the land like the back of my hand,” says Victor Doyle, a former Ontario planner. Under former Premier Dalton McGuinty, he was chosen to decide what land should be set aside to protect the environment from urban sprawl.He said the removal of this land is “death by a thousand cuts.”“This is some of the best farmland in all of Canada in terms of soil and climactic conditions for growing,” Doyle ...

S&P/TSX composite down more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets also tumble lower

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down more than 100 points in late-morning trading, as losses in the base metal, energy and industrial sectors helped lead the way lower, while U.S. stock markets also dropped.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 135.64 points at 20,541.10.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 68.45 points at 33,806.95. The S&P 500 index was down 28.47 points at 4,108.57, while the Nasdaq composite was down 103.77 points at 11,933.43.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.47 cents US compared with 73.84 cents US on Monday.The June crude contract was down US$1.94 at US$76.82 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.The June gold contract was down US$3.20 at US$1,996.60 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 10 cents at US$3.87 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Clarification: Abortion-North Dakota story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

In a story published April 24, 2023, The Associated Press reported that abortion in North Dakota is allowed in cases of medical emergencies, such as an ectopic pregnancy, up to six weeks’ gestation under the state’s new law. The story should have made clear that abortion to treat some medical emergencies, including an ectopic pregnancy, is allowed at any stage of pregnancy.Trisha Ahmed, The Associated Press

Fighter or optimist? Iowa Republicans eye Trump alternatives

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Many loyal Republicans in the state that kicks off the presidential nominating season are searching for a White House hopeful other than Donald Trump. There’s less consensus on what that alternative should look like. Should a potential successor to Trump be just as pugnacious as the former president, but without the constant turmoil? Should that candidate be a next-generation inspiration with an upbeat message aimed at uniting a deeply divided country? These questions hung over the first marquee event of the 2024 Iowa caucus campaign this past weekend, as nearly 1,000 GOP activists, party officials, volunteers and Christian conservatives crowded the floor of a suburban Des Moines event center for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual spring fundraiser. Trump remained a hero to many in the crowd though interviews with nearly two dozen attendees demonstrated the opportunity — and obstacles — for those seeking to challenge him. “There’s got to be ...

Mass killing of civilians by security forces in Burkina Faso

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The accounts are horrific. Women killed while carrying babies on their backs, the wounded hunted down and villagers watching the execution of their neighbors, fearing they’d be next. These are some of the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Burkina Faso’s security forces in the north of the country, according to a statement Tuesday by locals from the town of Karma where the violence took place.It was early morning last Thursday, when people in the small town in Yatenga province, awoke to a large group of armed men in military fatigues, driving motorcycles and armored pickup trucks. “Some villagers, happy to see ‘our soldiers’, came out of their houses to welcome them. Unfortunately, this joy was cut short when the first shots rang out, also causing the first casualties,” said the statement from the villagers.At least 150 civilians may have been killed and many others injured in the violence, said the United Nations High Commissioner for ...

Syria condemns EU sanctions over amphetamine business

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria on Tuesday condemned the European Union’s new sanctions on Damascus over making and trafficking an amphetamine saying the move was based on lies.The Syrian Foreign Ministry statement came a day after the EU imposed sanctions on several Syrians, including members of President Bashar Assad’s family, blaming them for the production and trafficking of narcotics, notably the amphetamine Captagon.“The European Union is repeating its lies,” the foreign ministry said, adding that such sanctions help block the flow of aid, medical equipment and food products into Syria. It called the sanctions “unilateral and illegitimate.” The EU asset freezes and travel bans were imposed on 25 people and eight “entities” — most of them companies — at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.Syria has denied accusations that it produces and markets Captagon, but the ministry did not provide evidence refuting the EU’s allegations.Experts say Captagon is primarily...

Chita Rivera introduces us to her alter ego in new memoir

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

It’s hard to imagine Anita, Rose Alvarez and Velma Kelly without Chita Rivera, who first breathed life into these beloved Broadway characters.At a time when there was limited Latino representation on stage, this young woman of Puerto Rican, Scottish and Irish descent was taking Broadway by storm and ensuring everyone knew her name.The dancer-turned-Broadway legend reminisces in her new book, “Chita: A Memoir.” Written with arts journalist Patrick Pacheco, it’s an inside look at Rivera’s journey from a spunky girl jumping on furniture in her family’s Washington, D.C., home to a professional dancer and then a three-time Tony Award-winning performer.Each chapter feels like a personal diary entry as Rivera, now 90, also talks about motherhood, and loves lost and found.“It was the next stage for me to write it down. And it was God’s way of reminding me this is the life I had or have. I got so busy that I didn’t remember that I had a wonderful, wonderful life,” she told the Associat...

UN warns of lab risk, more displacement amid Sudan conflict

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:56:40 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — U.N. officials said Tuesday that one side in the Sudan conflict has seized control of a national health lab in the capital of Khartoum that holds biological material, calling it an “extremely dangerous” development.The announcement came as officials warned that more refugees could flee Sudan despite a cease-fire between rival forces.The fighting has plunged Sudan into chaos, pushing the already heavily aid-dependent African nation to the brink of collapse. Before the clashes, the U.N. estimated that a third of Sudan’s population — or about 16 million people — needed assistance, a figure that is likely to increase.Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the World Health Organization’s representative in Sudan, expressed concerns that “one of the fighting parties” — he did not identify which one — had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum and “kicked out all of the technicians.”“That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isola...