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For author Haruki Murakami, reading fiction helps us ‘see through lies’ in a world divided by walls

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

OVIEDO, Spain (AP) — For Japanese author Haruki Murakami, the bloody conflict in the Gaza Strip is a horrendous example of how our world is divided by walls, both physical and metaphorical.But while admitting he can only pray for peace now, he also feels confident that fiction, rather than offering an escape, can help us understand, and survive, increasingly perilous times.“I have Jewish friends in Israel. And I’m also aware that the Palestinian situation that I saw when I visited Israel is miserable,” Murakami told The Associated Press in an interview. “So all I can say is to pray so that peace will prevail as soon as possible. I cannot say which (side) is right or wrong.”The clash between Israel and the Hamas militant group has resonated with the title of Murakami’s newest novel “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” which was published in Japanese this year and has yet to be translated into English.“In my novels, walls are real walls. But of course they are also metaphoric wal...

In the news today: Canada removes 41 diplomats from India after immunity threats

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 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…Canada has pulled most envoys out of India due to diplomatic immunity threats: JolyCanada has removed most of its diplomatic presence from India after New Delhi threatened to strip diplomatic immunities from them and their families, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Thursday.Officials said the move would slow down the processing of immigration applications, and Canada has issued a travel advisory for regions of India where it says it’s been forced to reduce consular staffing.Relations with New Delhi have hit a deep freeze since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a month ago that Canadian intelligence services were investigating “a potential link” between India’s government and the killing of a Sikh leader in British Columbia.Police liaison testimony continues in convoy trialA police liaison officer who was in touch with org...

Northern Europe continues to brace for gale-force winds and floods

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Authorities across northern Europe urged vigilance Friday as the region braced for heavy rain and gale-force winds from the east as a severe storm continued to sweep through.The gale-force winds are expected to hit hardest in the eastern part of Denmark’s Jutland peninsula and the Danish islands in the Baltic Sea. But the British Isles, southern Sweden, northern Germany and parts of Norway are also on the path of the storm, named Babet by U.K.’s weather forecaster, the Met Office.“It will probably be some kind of historic event,” Hans Peter Wandler of the Danish Meteorological Institute told the Ekstra Bladet daily. “But we’ll have to wait until it’s over to see if it’s going to be a two-year event or a 100-year event.” On Thursday, U.K. officials issued a rare red alert — the highest level of weather warning — for parts of Scotland, predicting “exceptional rainfall” in the following two days that is expected to cause extensive flooding a...

Australia’s Lynas to upgrade Malaysian rare earth refinery amid dispute over operating license

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths said Friday that it will temporarily shut down most of its operations in Malaysia for upgrading as it deals with a legal battle with the Malaysian government over its operating license.Lynas said in a report to investors that a Malaysian court is set to hear in November its application for a stay to allow it keep operating while other administrative and legal appeals are being heard. It didn’t give an exact date.The Lynas refinery in Malaysia, its first outside China producing minerals that are crucial to high-tech manufacturing, has been operating in central Pahang state since 2012. But it has been locked in a battle over concerns about radiation from waste accumulating at its plant.Lynas’s operating license was extended by six months until Dec. 31. To again renew its license, Lynas must move its cracking and leaching processes — which produce the radioactive waste from Australian ore — out of Malaysia. It...

Quebec eyes construction industry shakeup to boost housing, infrastructure projects

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

MONTREAL — How many workers does it take to shift a wall in Quebec? Too many, says Isabelle Rinfret of construction and real estate management company Arvisais, based roughly 95 kilometres northeast of Montreal, in Louiseville, Que.During a recent project, her company had to move a wall one metre. But to comply with the rules, she had to hire an interior systems installer to move the partition, a plasterer to smooth out the surface, and a third person to paint the wall.All of the “minor” work, she said, “could have been done by a single experienced carpenter.”Provincial regulation certifies 25 construction trades in Quebec, and divisions between them are rigid — a tradesperson can’t do a stitch of work outside their distinct area of practice, leading to situations where several people may be required to complete seemingly simple work, like moving a wall, that involves multiple steps or skills.But the province is toying with the idea of relaxing some of ...

Banning plastic waste exports won’t solve the world’s plastic trash woes: Guilbeault

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

OTTAWA — The mountains of trash from foreign countries seen piling up around homes and temples in Myanmar are renewing calls for Canada and other wealthy countries to deal with their own plastic garbage at home, instead of exporting waste — and the problem — to the developing world.While there is some local trash in the heaps of plastic waste all over the township of Shwepyithar, in the north of Yangon, there is clear evidence of plastic packaging from foreign brands there too, including from Canada.Kathleen Ruff, a human rights advocate from British Columbia, said more than 100 countries have now agreed to ban the export of plastic waste entirely. Canada has not.“Why would Canada fight for the right to be able to export, (to) dump waste in developing countries?” asked Ruff. “It makes no sense.”Earlier this year, journalists from Frontier Myanmar, an English-language magazine published in Yangon, made several visits to Shwepyithar to document the trash proble...

Testimony from Ottawa police liaison set to continue in ‘Freedom Convoy’ trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

OTTAWA — A police liaison officer who was in touch with organizer Chris Barber during the “Freedom Convoy” protests last year is set to continue her testimony in his criminal trial today.Barber’s defence lawyer is expected to resume cross-examination of Const. Nicole Bach from the Ottawa Police Service this morning. Bach told a courtroom on Thursday that Barber conveyed in the early stages of the protest that the demonstration had gotten “out of control.” She also said that Barber later told her the convoy would only leave Ottawa if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were to recognize the group and lift public-health mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic.Barber and Tamara Lich are facing charges including mischief and counselling others to commit mischief for their role in bringing thousands of big-rig trucks to Ottawa. The Crown’s case depends on proving that Lich and Barber exerted influence over the crowds and truck drivers that blocked off majo...

Israel-Hamas war: How to avoid misinformation when sharing imagery on social media

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

As the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, fact-checkers have stressed the need to be careful when recirculating photos and videos seen on social media that purport to illustrate the violence on the ground.In many cases, users of online platforms have unknowingly shared images posted by others that later turned out to be faked or misidentified. Even when unintentional, experts say amplifying false information during a time of conflict can have dire consequences.Here is what you need to know before clicking the Repost button.How is misinformation playing a role in social media imagery shared during the war?Angie Holan, director of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies’ International Fact-Checking Network, said the Israel-Hamas war “has generated a significant amount of misinformation.”In one case, a viral post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, claimed an attached image depicting the bodies of at least eight children showed victims of a “child genoci...

Israel pounds Gaza and evacuates town near Lebanon ahead of expected ground offensive against Hamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel bombarded the Gaza Strip early Friday, hitting areas in the south where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable town near the country’s border with Lebanon in a sign that a potential ground invasion of Gaza could trigger regional turmoil.Palestinians reported heavy airstrikes in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, and ambulances carrying men, women and children streamed into the town’s Nasser Hospital, Gaza’s second largest, which is already overflowing with patients and people seeking shelter. The Israeli military said it had struck more than 100 targets across Gaza linked to the territory’s Hamas rulers, including a tunnel and arms depots.On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza “from the inside,” hinting at a ground offensive aimed at crushing Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers nearly two weeks after their bloody incursion in...

Commission sets out tools to manage demographic change in the EU

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:18 GMT

The Commission has adopted a Communication presenting a set of policy tools available to member states for managing demographic change and its impacts on the EU's society and economy, including its global competitiveness. The Communication outlines the wide range of tools (including regulatory instruments, policy frameworks and funding) available to member states to do so. These tools can be effectively combined with national and regional policies to empower and support everyone in reaping the benefits and smoothly face off the challenges of demographic change.Decisive and concerted EU action to manage demographic changeThe demography toolbox draws on experiences from across the EU and sets out a comprehensive approach to demographic change structured around four pillars:       1) support parents by better reconciling family aspirations and paid work, notably by ensuring access to quality childcare and good work-life balance;2) supporting and empowering...