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Putin says Russia is ‘united as never before’ during Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the Russian people were “united as never before,” as he sought to project confidence in the wake of a short-lived revolt, at a meeting of a rare international organization where he can find a sympathetic audience.The Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, hosted via videoconference by India, was Putin’s first multilateral summit since an armed rebellion rattled Russia and comes as he is eager to show that the West has failed to isolate Moscow over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.The Asian security grouping, founded by Russia and China to counter Western alliances, also welcomed Iran as a new member, bringing its membership to nine nations. Speaking by video link from the Kremlin, Putin praised the organization for “playing an increasingly significant role in international affairs, making a real contribution to maintaining peace and stability, ensuring sustainable economic growth of the participating states, and strengtheni...

Spain calls an end to COVID-19 health crisis and obligatory use of masks in hospitals, pharmacies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government on Tuesday declared an end to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and says people no longer have to wear masks in health and care centers as well as pharmacies. Over the past two years, Spain has gradually ended the mandatory mask wearing, first in public and then on public transport. The country has registered 14 million cases and 122,000 deaths from the coronavirus since 2020. The government approved the measure at a weekly Cabinet meeting. It takes effect once it’s published in the State Gazette in the coming days.The Associated Press

British Columbia port strike enters day four as talks stall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

VANCOUVER — The strike at British Columbia ports enters its fourth day after talks between the two sides stalled on Monday.More than 7,000 workers who load and unload cargo at more than 30 B.C. ports have been on strike since Saturday morning.Representatives for the BC Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada negotiated over the long weekend before the association issued a statement Monday saying it didn’t think more bargaining is going to produce a deal.It said the union’s demands were “outside any reasonable framework for settlement.”The union, meanwhile, has accused the association of changing its position on a key issue at the last minute to “muddy the waters.”News of a strike at the ports, including Canada’s largest, the Port of Vancouver, led many business groups to raise red flags, suggesting it would have far-reaching implications for Canada’s economy.This report by The Canadian ...

Kremlin open to talks over potential prisoner swap involving detained US reporter Evan Gershkovich

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin on Tuesday held the door open for contacts with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner exchange that could potentially involve jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but reaffirmed that such talks must be held out of the public eye.Asked whether Monday’s consular visits to Gershkovich, who has been held behind bars in Moscow since March on charges of espionage, and Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian citizen in U.S. custody on cybercrime charges, could potentially herald a prisoner swap, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow and Washington have touched on the issue.“We have said that there have been certain contacts on the subject, but we don’t want them to be discussed in public,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “They must be carried out and continue in complete silence.”He didn’t offer any further details, but added that “the lawful right to consular contacts must be ensured on both sides.”The U.S....

Paramount lowers first half 2023 average sales volumes guidance due to wildfires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

CALGARY — Paramount Resources Ltd. says it expects its average sales volumes for the first half of 2023 will come in below its earlier guidance as it works to restore the last of the production that was put on hold due to the Alberta wildfires.The company says average sales volumes for the first half 2023 are expected to be about 92,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).The figure is down from its previous guidance of between 96,000 to 101,000 boepd for the first half of this year.Paramount says it is working to restore the last of the curtailed production and continues to assess the impact of the fires due to interruptions to maintenance and development work.It says it has successfully restored all but about 2,500 boepd of the production that had been curtailed as a result of the wildfires. Paramount was one of several energy companies that were forced to stop production temporarily in Alberta earlier this year due to wildfires.This report by The Canadian Press was first pu...

How to counter residential school denialism

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

In today’s Big Story podcast, as awful as the legacy of Canada’s residential schools is, there are some in this country who don’t want to believe it. In recent months, this has led to a rise in attempts to use linguistic missteps on the part of journalists or Indigenous leaders to ‘expose’ what minimizers claim is a lack of proof that thousands of children died at these schools.Niigaan Sinclair is a professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba, he wrote about residential school denialism for The Tyee.“If you had a crime that was perpetrated, you would want to hear from the victims of that crime … But in the case of denialists they’re saying we know better than those who have firsthand experience,” says Sinclair.So how do the searches at the school sites work? What, precisely, has been found there? And if we know there are remains in the ground, why haven’t more of them been exhumed?You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast ...

Spanish authorities seek damages from a Swedish mining company over a major toxic spill 25 years ago

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spanish authorities are seeking 90 million euros ($98 million) in damages from a Swedish mining company for a major toxic spill near the famed Doñana National Park in 1998.The civil trial that opened Tuesday is hearing the case against the Boliden company that ran the Los Frailes Aznalcóllar mine where the walls of a wastewater reservoir burst, pouring an estimated 1.3 billion gallons of acidic liquid into the Guadiamar River in southern Seville province in what was one of Spain’s worst environmental disasters.Makeshift dikes kept the liquid and mud from flowing into the nearby Doñana National Park, but a vast area near the mine was inundated with toxic sludge containing traces of zinc, iron and other heavy metals. Thousands of fish and birds were killed.The southern regional government of Andalusia is taking the case against Boliden.The trial will hear testimony from 12 witnesses and three experts and is expected to conclude July 13, court officials said.A criminal tr...

Tijuana, reliant on the Colorado River, faces a water crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Luis Ramirez leapt onto the roof of his bright blue water truck to fill the plastic tank that by day’s end would empty into an assortment of buckets, barrels and cisterns in 100 homes.It was barely 11 a.m. and Ramirez had many more stops to make on the hilly, grey fringes of Tijuana, a sprawling, industrial border city in northwestern Mexico where trucks or “pipas” like Ramirez’s provide the only drinking water for many people. “Each time, it gets farther and farther where we have to go,” he said, blaming the city’s water problems on drought and population growth, before jumping into the driver’s seat next to 16-year-old assistant Daniel Alvarez.Among the last cities downstream to receive water from the shrinking Colorado River, Tijuana is staring down a water crisis driven also by aging, inefficient infrastructure and successive governments that have done little to prepare the city for diminishing water in the region.Entire neighborhoo...

Law change allows someone to give up baby anonymously at safe site in Texas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — There's a new change to a longtime law in Texas that allows someone to give up a baby, leaving them at a safe place like a fire, EMS or police station. In the past, a person was required to physically leave an infant with an employee on site. Now, "baby boxes" could now be installed throughout Texas, allowing a person to surrender a child anonymously. However, there are a number of logistics to figure out before this happens. Nonetheless, there has been a longtime push from advocates, like Pamela Allen, to help get this legislation passed. Allen is the CEO of the nonprofit Eagle's Flight Advocacy and Outreach. Through her organization, she has organized funerals for abandoned and abused infants. "We did a double burial [one time], Allen said. "Our sheriff was doing a drug raid and found a baby's mummified body in a suitcase…when we were getting ready to organize that burial, we get a phone call that a woman who had lived on the streets. She brought a b...

From Red Raiders to red wine, why Lubbock is the Texas sweet spot for grapes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:31:26 GMT

LUBBOCK, Texas – Over the last decade, many believe that “Red Raiderland” has gradually become “Red Wine Country.”Wine experts call Lubbock and its surrounding area the new “Wine Capital of Texas,” mostly because 80% of wine grapes grown in Texas come from the South Plains.“The reason is because of our climate, our elevation, and the amount of wind blowing. That really helps out,” said Jason Centanni, winemaker at Lubbock’s Llano Estacado Winery. Shaquille O’Neal opening a restaurant in Lubbock Llano Estacado is one of Lubbock’s oldest and most popular wineries, along with English-Newsome and McPherson Cellars. All three offer wine tastings, wine club memberships and wine tours. Visitors can see the bottling process from start to finish.Near Lubbock (Nexstar/Staff) Llano Estacado Winery (Nexstar/Staff) Llano Estacado Winery (Nexstar/Staff) Llano Estacado Winery (Nexstar/Staff) Llano Estacado Winery (Nexstar/Staff) Jason Centanni (Nexstar/Staff) “A lot of the times, our visitors ar...