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Bomb targeting Pakistani police in SW kills 4, wounds 15

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A roadside bomb targeting a police vehicle in volatile southwestern Pakistan on Monday killed at least four people and wounded 15 others, mostly civilian pedestrians, a government spokesperson said.The attack happened in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, said Babar Yousafzai, a spokesman for the provincial government. He said the dead included two officers and two civilians.No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks across the country since November when they ended a monthslong cease-fire with the government.Pakistan has also been battling an insurgency in Baluchistan for more than a decade, with separatists in the province demanding complete autonomy or a larger share of the province’s gas and mineral resources.In a statement, provincial chief minister Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo condemned the attack and ordered authorities to provide the best possible medical care to...

Industrial accident in Etobicoke leaves worker critically injured

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

One person is in hospital with critical injuries after an industrial accident in Etobicoke.Police say the accident occurred at a metal fabrication business in the area of Highway 27 and Steeles Avenue around 8:30 a.m. Monday.The worker was located without vital signs. Emergency responders performed CPR before transporting the victim to hospital with critical injuries.There is no word on what caused the incident. The investigation is ongoing.

When exactly will India surpass China as most populous?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

India will surpass China’s population this month. Or maybe in July. Or, perhaps it’s happened already?Demographers are unsure exactly when India will take the title as the most populous nation in the world because they’re relying on estimates to make their best guess. But they know it’s going to happen soon, if it hasn’t occurred by now.China has had the most people in the world since at least 1950, the year United Nations population data began. Both China and India have more than 1.4 billion people, and combined they make up more than a third of the world’s 8 billion people.“Actually, there is no way we can know exactly when India will surpass China,” said Bruno Schoumaker, a demographer at Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium. “There is some uncertainty, not only about India’s population, but also China’s population.”STILL, WHEN IS IT HAPPENING?Mathematical calculations from a range of surveys, as well as birth and death recor...

Thousands of Rutgers faculty go on unprecedented strike

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Thousands of professors, part-time lecturers and graduate student workers at New Jersey’s flagship university went on strike Monday — the first such job action in the school’s 257-year history.Classes were still being held at Rutgers as picket lines were set up at the school’s campuses in New Brunswick/Piscataway, Newark and Camden. Union officials had decided Sunday night to go on strike, citing a stalemate in contract talks that have been ongoing since July. Faculty members had voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike last month.Three unions, which represent about 9,000 Rutgers staff members, were involved in the strike: The Rutgers AAUP-AFT, which represents full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and some counselors; the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, which represents part-time lecturers; and the AAUP-BHSNJ, which includes faculty in the biomedical and health sciences at Rutgers’ medical, dental, nurs...

UN food agency: $800m urgently needed for Afghanistan

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.N. food agency said Monday it urgently needs $800 million for the next six months to help Afghanistan, which is at the highest risk of famine in a quarter of a century.Aid agencies have been providing food, education and health care support to Afghans in the wake of the Taliban takeover of August 2021 and the economic collapse that followed it. But distribution has been severely impacted by a Taliban edict last December banning women from working at national and international nongovernmental groups. The U.N. was not part of this ban but last week it said the Taliban-led government has stopped Afghan women from working at its agencies in the country. Authorities have yet to comment on the restriction.The World Food Program said women aid workers play a vital role in delivering the agency’s food and nutrition assistance and that it it will make “every possible effort” to keep this going, while also trying to ensure the active involvement of female staff. “...

More than 40% of farm operators to retire by 2033: report

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

TORONTO — A new report says more than 40 per cent of farm operators will retire over the next decade, leaving Canada with a shortage.The report from the Royal Bank of Canada, Boston Consulting Group Centre for Canada’s Future and Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph says the country will be short 24,000 general farm, nursery and greenhouse operators.It also estimates that 66 per cent of producers do not have a succession plan in place.To address the shortage and lack of succession plans, the report says Canada will need to accept 30,000 permanent immigrants by 2033 to take over existing farms and greenhouses or establish their own.It also recommends the country build a new pipeline of domestic operators and workers by bolstering agriculture education and increasing spending on automation, which can make existing farms more efficient.The report says the shortage will come at critical moment because Canada’s agricultural sector will need to produce significantly mor...

Big changes, top projects, LaFlamme: What to look for at the Canadian Screen Awards

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

TORONTO — The Canadian Screen Awards have been positioned as the country’s most esteemed honour for homegrown film, television and digital media. But while in-person celebrations return this week for the first time in four years, the usual splashy televised marquee gala has been scrapped for a pre-recorded show Sunday on CBC and CBC Gem. Four days of events begin Tuesday in Toronto where awards will be handed out at seven genre-based bashes. That includes the best picture prize on Thursday and best TV drama and best TV comedy on Friday, which in previous years had been reserved for the Sunday telecast.Here’s a look at five things to watch for during Canadian Screen Week.  COMBINED ACTING CATEGORIESThe Screen Awards are going with gender-neutral acting categories this year, with organizers explaining it as a bid to better accommodate gender non-conforming performers, including those who may not identify as male or female. The move eliminates separate prizes for best actor...

Pope renews call to pray for peace celebrating Easter Monday

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis renewed his call to pray for peace on Easter Monday, celebrating the Regina Coeli (Queen of the Heavens) prayer in St. Peter’s Square. At the end of the prayer, the pontiff recalled the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to decades of violent conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. In a restatement of his Easter message, he invited people to continue to pray for peace in the world, especially in troubled Ukraine.Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people and praised nations which welcome refugees. The 86-year-old pontiff, who was hospitalized recently with bronchitis, skipped the traditional Good Friday nighttime procession at the Colosseum because of chilly weather in Rome. During the Regina Coeli, he recalled how the women in the Gospel hurry to share the news of the resurrection and teach the faithful that they encounter Jesus by bearing witness to...

7 electricity pylons collapse onto highway in South Africa

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — At least seven large electricity pylons collapsed onto a highway near the South African capital of Pretoria, causing a multiple-vehicle crash, city authorities and emergency services said Monday.Two people were “moderately” injured in the car crash, treated at the scene and taken to the hospital, the private Promed paramedic service said.The pylon collapses had caused high-voltage cables to “hang extremely low over the highway,” causing vehicles to swerve to avoid them and resulting in the crash, Promed said.The City of Tshwane, which oversees the Pretoria metropolitan area, said the pylons collapsed Sunday night. The reason for their collapse was unclear but Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said there is a “very strong possibility that this is because of criminal vandalism.”There had previously been attempts to steal sections of metal from the base of the pylons, Brink said, and the pylons had to be repaired.Many areas in north and east P...

Doctors express ‘cautious optimism’ on Berlusconi’s health

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:56:20 GMT

ROME (AP) — The condition of former Italian premier Silvio Berlucsconi, hospitalized in intensive care for a lung infection, is progressively improving, allowing for “cautious optimism,” his doctors said Monday.Berlusconi, 86, was taken Wednesday to the intensive care unit at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital. Doctors revealed that the media tycoon and three-time premier has had a chronic form of leukemia for some time.Monday’s new health bulletin, signed by Berlusconi’s doctors Alberto Zangrillo and Fabio Ciceri, said they observed a “progressive and constant improvement” in his condition.They added that antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory treatments are “producing the expected results, allowing us to express a cautious optimism.”Over the past few days, Berlusconi has been constantly visited by relatives and friends, who expressed optimism over his recovery.Berlusconi has a history of heart problems, and in 2020 he was hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia.The Associated Press