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Azerbaijan to hold snap presidential election on February 7, shortly before Russia’s vote

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

President Ilham Aliyev has ordered Azerbaijan’s Central Election Commission to prepare for an early presidential election on Feb. 7, shortly ahead of Russia’s presidential election on March 17.The order was published on the presidential website but did not explain why Aliyev had called an early vote. The next presidential election had been scheduled to be held in 2025. Aliyev’s popularity in Azerbaijan has recently increased after the government took full control of the Karabakh region following a lightning rout of ethnic Armenian forces.In November, he presided over a military parade through Khankendi, the capital of the Karabakh region, telling spectators that “we showed the whole world the strength, determination and indomitable spirit of the Azerbaijani people.”Khankendi, which Armenians called Stepanakert, was the headquarters of the self-declared separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region and sizable surrounding territory came under control of ethnic Arm...

Strikes on Gaza’s southern edge sow fear in one of the last areas to which people can flee

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces struck the southern Gaza town of Rafah twice overnight, residents said Thursday, sowing fear in one of the last places where civilians could seek refuge after Israel widened its offensive against Hamas to areas already packed with displaced people. United Nations officials say there are no safe places in Gaza. Heavy fighting in and around the southern city of Khan Younis has displaced tens of thousands of people in a territory where over 80% of the population has already fled their homes, and cut most of Gaza off from deliveries of food, water and other vital aid.Two months into the war, the grinding offensive has set off renewed alarms internationally, with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres using a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” and urging members to demand a cease-fire.The United States has called on Israel to limit civilian deaths and displacement, saying too many Palesti...

UK leader Rishi Sunak faces a Conservative crisis over his blocked plan to send migrants to Rwanda

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was struggling to avert a leadership crisis on Thursday after his plan to revive a blocked asylum deal with Rwanda triggered turmoil in his party and the resignation of his immigration minister.Robert Jenrick quit the government late Wednesday, saying a bill designed to override a court block on the Rwanda plan “does not go far enough” and won’t work.He said the government had pledged to “stop the boats” bringing migrants to Britain across the English Channel and must do “whatever it takes to deliver this commitment.”The plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is central to the U.K. government’s self-imposed goal of stopping unauthorized asylum-seekers crossing the Channel from France.Britain and Rwanda agreed on a deal in April 2022 under which migrants who cross the Channel would be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed and, if successful, they would stay.Last month the U.K. Supreme Court ruled...

In the news for today: Ottawa oil and gas cap plans; AFN still looking for new Chief

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Feds to publish oil and gas cap plans todayThe federal Liberals will finally provide details on their long-promised oil and gas emissions cap today.The policy is a critical piece of Canada’s long-term emissions reduction plan but today’s framework will show the sector won’t be asked to cut emissions as deeply as previously thought.The 2022 emissions reduction plan anticipated regulating that emissions from oil and gas in 2030 fall more than 40 per cent from current levels.Industry balked at that demand, saying it could not cut that much in just seven years without also cutting production.The government compromised and lowered its expectations in a bid to make the cap feasible without affecting production.AFN assembly continues without new national chiefThe Assembly of First Nations’ special chiefs assembly continues in Ottawa Thursday wi...

Russian schoolgirl shoots several classmates, leaving 1 dead, before killing herself

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian schoolgirl shot several of her classmates with a gun on Thursday, killing one person and injuring five others, before killing herself, state news agencies and authorities said.The shooting happened at a school in Bryansk, in a region that borders Ukraine, Russia’s Investigative Committee said. Children were reportedly among the wounded.One of the people injured was in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said.Video shared by Ria Novosti showed children cowered in a classroom behind a door barricaded with upended desks and chairs during the attack.Preliminary investigations found that the 14-year-old girl had brought a pump-action shotgun to the school that she used to fire at her classmates, Russia’s Investigative Committee said. The girl’s father was taken for questioning as a witness, RIA Novosti said. Investigators also wanted to ask him how his daughter came into possession of the gun, the Telegram channel Shot reported.The presi...

Turkish President Erdogan visits Greece in an effort to mend strained relations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Greece on Thursday on a trip designed to mend strained relations between the two nations and with hopes of resetting ties with Western allies.Despite deep-rooted differences between the two neighboring NATO members, Erdogan promised to a “win-win” approach that could lay the foundation for broader cooperation.Security was tight in the Greek capital, with major roads shut to traffic in central Athens as the Turkish president headed to meetings with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Erdogan was accompanied on his trip by several ministers, with joint Cabinet talks with Greek ministers and the signing of several cooperation agreements on the agenda.The significance of improved relations extends beyond bilateral ties and could help Turkey mend rocky relationships with the European Union and other Western allies. One crucial agreement in Athens focuses on migration, esta...

N.W.T. legislature members meet to choose new premier, cabinet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Newly elected members of the Northwest Territories legislature are meeting today to choose their new premier and cabinet.The territory doesn’t have political parties.Under its consensus-style government, MLAs run as independents and meet to choose a premier and members of cabinet from among themselves.The premier then assigns the ministers their portfolios, and the remaining members function as the Opposition.The territory’s general election, originally set for October, was delayed to Nov. 14 because of wildfires.During the wildfire season, about 70 per cent of the territory’s population was under an evacuation order, including the 20,000 residents of the capital Yellowknife.Premier Caroline Cochrane announced in September that she wasn’t running for re-election.The four legislature members vying for the job of premier are R.J. Simpson, Caroline Wawzonek, Shane Thompson and Kieron Testart.All have been in government before and all except Testart...

Feds to publish plan for capping emissions from oil and gas sector today

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals will finally provide details on their long-promised oil and gas emissions cap today.The policy is a critical piece of Canada’s long-term emissions reduction plan but today’s framework will show the sector won’t be asked to cut emissions as deeply as previously thought.The 2022 emissions reduction plan anticipated regulating that emissions from oil and gas in 2030 fall more than 40 per cent from current levels.Industry balked at that demand, saying it could not cut that much in just seven years without also cutting production.The government compromised and lowered its expectations in a bid to make the cap feasible without affecting production.The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Ottawa can regulate greenhouse gas emissions but natural resources, and therefore oil and gas production, is solely provincial jurisdiction. That means any policy forcing production cuts opens Ottawa to another court challenge by the provinces.This report ...

Defence expected to present case in murder trial of Saskatchewan Mountie

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Defence lawyers are expected to present their case today in the murder trial of a former Saskatchewan Mountie. Bernie Herman, who is 55, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Braden Herman. The two men are not related. Braden Herman’s naked body was found in a park on the outskirts of Prince Albert, Sask., in 2021.Court has heard the two men met on Facebook and Braden Herman moved into the veteran officer’s family home in 2018.Messages and images from cellphones entered into the trial show the two men had a sexual relationship that put a strain on the officer’s marriage.Const. Riley Babott, a digital forensics examiner with Calgary police who analyzed the devices, read the messages in court. Photographs of Snapchat conversations between the two men show them sharing feelings of love. The messages also show frustrations with their relationship and issues with Bernie Herman’s wife.Janice Herman told court she kicked the younge...

Assembly of First Nations assembly continues without electing new national chief

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:24:54 GMT

OTTAWA — The Assembly of First Nations’ special chiefs assembly continues in Ottawa Thursday without a new national chief.First Nations leaders were growing impatient late Wednesday as voting for the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations went long into the night, with neither front-runner reaching the 60 per cent victory threshold.After six separate rounds of voting, AFN regional chief Cindy Woodhouse had collected 50.8 per cent of the registered vote, leading her closest challenger: David Pratt, vice-chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.Pratt did not concede as expected after the fourth ballot, leading to a tense conversation with Woodhouse on the floor of the convention centre in downtown Ottawa and another round of voting.He did not concede after the fifth or sixth, either, on the advice of his supporters who were holding out hope he could mount a comeback, and after another candidate threw her support behind him in her concession speech.Wor...