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Putin orders Russian military to add 170,000 troops for a total of about 1.32 million

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered the country’s military to increase the number of troops by nearly 170,000 to a total of 1.32 million, as Moscow’s military action in Ukraine continues into its 22nd month.Putin’s decree was released by the Kremlin on Friday and took force immediately. It brings the overall number of Russian military personnel to about 2,200,000, including 1,320,000 troops. It is the second such expansion of the army since 2018. The previous boost by 137,000 troops, ordered by Putin in Aug. 2022, put the military’s numbers at about 2 million personnel and about 1,150,000 troops. The Defense Ministry said the order doesn’t imply any “significant expansion of conscription,” saying in a statement that the increase would happen gradually by recruiting more volunteers. The ministry cited what it called “the special military operation” in Ukraine and the expansion of NATO as the reasons for beefing up the army. NATO...

Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 18 months for film violations but still not charged over mass graves

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The leader of a doomsday cult in Kenya was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for the illegal distribution of films and operating a film studio without licenses.The senior magistrate in the city of Malindi, Olga Onalo, handed down the sentence for Paul Mackenzie. The controversial preacher can appeal within 14 days. Mackenzie was found guilty last month of exhibition of films through his Times Television network without approval of the Kenya Film Classification Board in charges dating back to 2019. He pleaded not guilty to the charges saying he didn’t know he required a license to distribute films.Mackenzie had been accused of using the TV channel and his sermons to radicalize children and parents against Western education and medicine. Prosecutors also alleged that some of his followers had refused to go to school or attend hospitals when sick. He was acquitted of those charges.The preacher has been in police custody since April, when he was arrested in c...

Minister tight-lipped on whether it’s looking at new regulator to fight online harms

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Arif Virani is keeping tight-lipped about whether the federal government is considering a new regulator that would hold online platforms accountable for protecting users from harmful content. Asked about the prospect of a new agency, Virani says the government is looking at the consultations that have been done to date and how other countries have confronted the issue. Virani’s response comes after a group of experts, assembled by the government last year to advise on a prospective new law, penned an open letter urging the government to hurry up with the bill. Those experts and others say the legislation must create a regulator that has the power to investigate and audit platforms, order corrective actions and impose fines.Virani says the government is working with online companies while also looking at best practices in other jurisdictions.The Canadian Heritage Department was originally responsible for drafting the legislation before J...

43 arrested in anti-child porn operation in Quebec, Ontario, N.B.

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

Police in three provinces arrested at least 43 men this week as part of an anti-child pornography operation.Quebec provincial police say 26 men, aged between 17 and 84, have been charged with a range of offences, including producing and distributing child pornography.Police say there’s no link between the men who were arrested between Monday and Thursday in 19 municipalities across the province. Lt. Marc-Antoine Vachon, who heads the Quebec unit that investigates online child exploitation, says two victims were identified in the province, aged 10 and 12.He says Quebec police asked colleagues in neighbouring provinces for assistance, and the Ontario Provincial Police arrested at least 15 men in connection with the operation.Cpl. Stephane Esculier of the New Brunswick RCMP says two search warrants were executed in that province in conjunction with the operation and two people were arrested, but no charges have yet been laid.

Calgary sees another home sales gain in November as prices jump nearly 11%

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

CALGARY — The Calgary Real Estate Board says the city saw 1,787 home sales in November, marking an 8.8 per cent increase compared with the same month last year as the ratio of sales to new listings remained high at 80 per cent.New listings rose nearly 40 per cent compared with last year, reaching 2,227 units, with the most significant gains coming from homes priced over $600,000 hitting the market.But CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says inventory declined four per cent from last year, as the uptick in new listings has “not been enough to change the low inventory situation thanks to strong demand.”The unadjusted home benchmark price rose to $572,700, marking a 10.7 per cent jump compared with November 2022.So far this year, the average benchmark price has risen more than five per cent.The board says it again saw record-high sales of apartment condominiums due to the relative affordability in that category, while a decline in detached home sales was driven by limited...

Michigan regulators approve $500M pipeline tunnel project under channel linking 2 Great Lakes

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

Michigan officials approved a $500 million plan Friday to encase in a protective tunnel a portion of an oil pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes, leaving just one more regulatory hurdle for the contentious project.The state’s three-person Public Service Commission approved the project in the Straits of Mackinac on a 2-0 vote. Commissioner Alessandra Carreon abstained, noting she just joined the commission four months ago.The commission’s chairperson, Dan Scripps, said that an oil spill in the straits, which link Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, would be catastrophic. The tunnel is the best way to mitigate the risk as the state transitions to renewable energy sources, he said.The plan still needs approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is still compiling an environmental impact statement. A final decision may not come until 2026.Enbridge Energy has been operating the Line 5 pipeline since 1953. The pipeline moves up to 23 million gallo...

Bombs are falling on Gaza again. Who are the hostages still remaining in the besieged strip?

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A weeklong cease-fire that brought the exchanges of dozens of hostages held by Hamas for scores of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel gave way Friday morning to resumed fighting between Israel and Hamas. As mediators scuttle between the warring sides in a last-ditch effort to broker another swap, questions emerge on who remains in captivity in the besieged enclave.Hamas and other militants seized around 247 hostages in their deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed. Israel has pummeled the Gaza Strip in return, killing at least 13,300 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to health authorities in the Hamas-ruled territory.Here’s a closer look at the fate of the hostages.HOSTAGES STILL IN CAPTIVITYIsrael said on Friday that 136 hostages remain in Gaza. They include 119 men and 17 women and children, according to military spokesperson Daniel Hagari. Roughly 10 of the hostages are 75 and older, the ...

Fines for illegally parking in Toronto jump 150% starting Friday

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

If you plan to illegally park on city and private property, be prepared to pay more should you get caught.Starting Friday, drivers caught illegally parking on municipal and private property will get a ticket for $75 – a 150 per cent increase from the previous fine of $30.The fine was approved by city council at its meeting back in October after a report showed most drivers preferred to take the chance of a $30 fine rather than pay the posted parking rate.“The reason why drivers risk being issued a parking violation notice is because most times the penalty amount is less than what they would be required to payfor parking,” read a report by city staff which recommended the increase in the fine.The report showed that the number of parking violation notices in city lots increased by more than 11,000 to over 106,000 in 2022 from the previous year, while violations in private lots jumped by more than 56,000 in 2022The new fine is in line with fines for parking violations...

South Korea launches its first spy satellite after rival North Korea does the same

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — South Korea on Friday launched its first military spy satellite, a little over a week after North Korea claimed to put its own spy satellite into orbit for the first time as tensions rise between the rivals.Launched from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, it was the first of five spy satellites South Korea plans to send into space by 2025 under a contract with SpaceX. The event had been scheduled for earlier this week but was pushed back because of weather conditions.South Korea has had no military reconnaissance satellites of its own in space and has partially resorted to U.S. spy satellites to monitor moves by North Korea. When operated together with South Korea’s so-called three-axis system — preemptive strike, missile defense and retaliatory assets — experts say spy satellites will significantly boost the country’s defense against North Korea. After two launch failures earlier this year, North...

Northern lights: Chance to see aurora returns Friday as solar storm continues

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:24:52 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Dazzling auroras may light up the skies of northern states again Friday night, and we've got ongoing geomagnetic storm activity to thank. The solar storm activity peaked Thursday night into early Friday morning, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center, a division of NOAA. "While it's correct that the really big increase in activity is now on the decline, it doesn't mean we are out of this yet," Lt. Bryan Brasher, a project manager with the Center, said on Friday. "We are still forecasting continued storming for this evening, with a possibility of aurora becoming visible over the far Northern Tier states this evening." We’re surrounded by space junk: What is it, and should you be worried? Even as things calm down, multiple coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, can still impact Earth as our magnetosphere "bounces back," Brasher said. CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the sun that can impact navigation, communication and radio signals&...