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As India grieves train crash that killed 275 people, relatives still wait for bodies of loved ones

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

BHUBANESWAR, India (AP) — Families of the victims of India’s deadliest train crash in decades filled a hospital in Bhubaneswar city on Monday to identify and collect bodies of relatives, as railway officials recommended the country’s premier criminal investigating agency to probe the crash that killed 275 people.Distraught relatives of passengers killed in the crash Friday lined up outside the eastern city’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Meanwhile, survivors being treated inside the hospital said they were still trying to make sense of the horrific disaster.Outside the hospital, two large screens cycled through photos of the victims, their faces so bloodied and charred that they were hardly recognizable.Each body had a number assigned to it, and relatives stood near the screen and watched as the photos changed, looking out for details like clothing for clues.Many of them said they had spent days on desperate journeys from neighboring states, travelling in multiple trains,...

Russia claims it thwarted Ukrainian attacks in provinces annexed by Moscow

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian officials said their forces thwarted large Ukrainian attacks in two provinces of Ukraine illegally annexed by Moscow. The Ukrainian military suggested the Russian reports were part of a misinformation campaign as Kyiv prepares for an anticipated counteroffensive. Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a rare early morning video released Monday that its forces pushed back a “large scale” assault Sunday at five points in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province, one of four regions that President Vladimir Putin claimed as Russian territory last fall but is only partially controlled by Moscow.“The enemy’s goal was to break through our defenses in the most vulnerable, in its opinion, sector of the front,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. “The enemy did not achieve its tasks. It had no success.”Konashenkov said 250 Ukrainian personnel were killed, and 16 Ukrainian tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles and 21 armored combat vehicles were de...

In The News for June 5, 2023: What will the PM have to say to wildfire evacuees?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Monday, June 5, 2023 …What we are watching in Canada …Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to provide an update on the wildfires that have forced thousands of people from their homes and caused widespread property damage in several provinces.Trudeau will appear in Ottawa today alongside a number of ministers, including Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.His announcement comes as several provinces have been dealing with dangerous wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of square kilometres of land across Canada over the last two months.There were more than 150 fires burning in Quebec on Sunday, which forced thousands of people from their homes in the northwestern part of the province over the weekend.In Nova Scotia, the largest wildfire in the province&#...

What about Kristen, Leslie’s rights, asks lawyer for Bernardo victims after transfer

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

OTTAWA — Paul Bernardo should be returned to a maximum-security prison, the lawyer representing the families of his young murder victims said as he called on  the Correctional Service of Canada to be more transparent about what led to his transfer to a medium-security facility in the first place.Tim Danson represents the relatives of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, who Bernardo kidnapped, tortured and murdered in the early 1990s.Danson said he was informed by phone last week that Bernardo, who was serving a life sentence at the maximum-security Millhaven Institution near Kingston, Ont., had been transferred to a medium-security facility in Quebec. He said the Correctional Service of Canada, citing Bernardo’s privacy rights, refused to answer questions about the reason for the move. Danson said he was also unable to learn whether the serial murderer and sex offender was in protective custody or socializing with other inmates, which that security class...

Union gives failing grade to companies handling veterans rehabilitation contract

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

OTTAWA — A union representing workers at Veterans Affairs Canada says a deal to privatize rehabilitation services has been a failure. The $570-million contract with Lifemark Health Group and WCG International Consultants was supposed to take the strain off case managers and help veterans access services. But the Union of Veterans’ Affairs Employees has given the deal a failing grade in a new report card, issued six months after the contract kicked in. It says instead of streamlined services, case managers are dealing with more paperwork. The report card says only the least complex files have actually been transferred and delays in getting started have led to backlogs for veterans. The union is pointing the finger at a lack of training in Veterans Affairs Canada’s guidelines, as well as a lack of understanding of what the clients need. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2023.The Canadian Press

Watchdog’s relations with spy community ‘particularly strained’ over last year

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

OTTAWA — Newly released documents say the intelligence community’s relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a “level of resistance” to scrutiny.The assessment appears in briefing materials prepared for Canada’s top public servant in advance of a late January meeting with the chair of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency. The notes were disclosed to The Canadian Press in response to a request to the Privy Council Office under the Access to Information Act. This is just the latest indication of serious tensions between the spy watchdog and the federal intelligence agencies it monitors.It follows the recent release of intelligence review agency records that lamented a culture within the Communications Security Establishment of “resisting and impeding” independent review, frustrating efforts to ensure the cyberspy service is obeying the law.The latest notes surface amid an RCMP investi...

Fire burned through memories, pieces of history, says owner of Nova Scotia daycare

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

The owner of a Nova Scotia daycare destroyed as recent wildfires ripped through the province says the flames consumed both her livelihood and a physical piece of twentieth-century history.Among the many memories and treasured family heirlooms lost in the fire that raced through suburban Halifax was a piece of the Berlin Wall belonging to Terri and Lutz Kottwitz. Most of the couple’s belongings were destroyed when wildfires levelled their home in Hammonds Plains, as well as the neighbouring ForestKids Early Learning Centre daycare owned by Terri Kottwitz.“Someone said that it’s not going to look like the rest of the ashes so maybe we’ll still find it,” Terri Kottwitz said of the chunk of wall in a telephone interview. “But that’s an awful lot of looking through those ashes to find a little piece of the wall.”The blaze also consumed other, more personal mementoes of her husband’s homeland of Germany: crystal that belonged to his mo...

Trudeau and ministers to provide update as wildfires burn in multiple provinces

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to provide an update on the wildfires that have forced thousands of people from their homes and caused widespread property damage in several provinces. Trudeau will appear in Ottawa today alongside a number of ministers, including Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.His announcement comes as several provinces have been dealing  with dangerous wildfires that have burned tens of thousands of square kilometres of land across Canada over the last two months. There were more than 150 fires burning in Quebec on Sunday, which forced thousands of people from their homes in the northwestern part of the province over the weekend. In Nova Scotia, the largest wildfire in the province’s history continued to burn out of control in Shelburne County, while firefighters managed to contain a blaze near Halifax that damaged or destroyed over 150 suburban residences.Alberta recently ended a provi...

B.C.’s Eby says Asia trade mission aims to reduce risks amid international unease

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

British Columbia Premier David Eby says his trade mission to Asia is part of an effort to grow trade and reduce the risks that come with international uncertainties.The premier and his delegation have not visited China, B.C.’s second largest trade partner, during the two-week trip but instead focused on Japan, South Korea and Singapore and have met, so far, with a range of businesses including a large Japanese rental housing company looking to break into the Canadian market.“Right now we see the tensions caused by the war in Ukraine, and sanctions on Russia, the relationship between the US and China, Canada and China, and the volatility of international relationships,” Eby said on the phone from Singapore. “And it’s very obvious to me and to many British Columbians that being dependent on one or two major trading partners disproportionately is going to really affect us if the worst happens.”Tensions between China and Canada have been growing amid ...

Daily horoscope for June 5, 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:31:45 GMT

Moon Alert: After 4 a.m. EDT today (1 a.m. PDT), there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The Moon is in Capricorn.Happy Birthday for Monday, June 5, 2023:You are multitalented and try to do everything. Learn to pace yourself. Take time off. This is the perfect year to take inventory of your life. You might have to let go of people, places and things that have held you back. Do some internal and external housecleaning.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★★This is a productive day for you if you don’t get sidetracked with your kids, money issues (especially extravagance) or difficulties with romantic partners. These are touchy issues. Nevertheless, you’re actually focused and raring to go. Tonight: You’re high-viz.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★This week, you’re involved with financial deals and cash flow. (Something’s cooking on the back burner.) Possibly, this relates to redecorating or renovating projects. You have strong ideas now about what...