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Toronto mother dealing with her son’s death one soap bar at a time

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

On any given day inside her North York Kitchen, you’ll find Cristina Lai, a school teacher, busy with her new found passion.“I’ve always loved soaps, the smells,” she said. “To me, each bar is like a little piece of luxury.”She’s been creating soaps of all different varieties for several weeks, but it’s not for extra income. Instead, these bars are made with love for a good cause.“I’m raising money in honour of my son, Oscar.”Oscar was her only son and a talented artist. “He was also so kind, loving and patient, a head full of hair and so gentle,” said Lai.Lai passionately supported his artwork, which were drawings often depicting humans combined with ancient symbols.“Very Geiger-esque. That organic linkage between one thing and another, so I just let him flow with that,” Lai explained.Along with Oscar’s talent, he was a typical teenager with friends and even a girlfriend. He ran into trouble, but for the most part, it was small stuff, Lai said, like one time, the passionate a...

Measures for Canadians with families trapped in Gaza expected to be announced today

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

OTTAWA — The National Council of Canadian Muslims says Immigration Minister Marc Miller is expected to make an announcement today about special measures for Canadians with family members trapped in the besieged Gaza Strip. The immigration minister has scheduled a press conference this afternoon, promising an update on help for those affected by the conflict in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.Gaza became a battlefield after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 17, killing 1,200 Israeli civilians and military members.The retaliatory siege, bombardments and ground attacks have left 19,600 civilians and combatants in Gaza dead.The Canadian government has worked to get 660 Canadian permanent residents, their spouses and children out of Gaza.But Canadians with extended family members in the war zone, including parents, grandchildren and siblings, have been pleading with the government to help their loved ones. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2...

Man with mental health history sentenced to more than 2 decades in wife’s slaying with meat cleaver

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man with a history of mental health issues who was convicted of killing his wife with a meat cleaver and injuring his mother-in-law will serve at least 27 years in prison. “It was an accident,” Aita Gurung said during his two-day sentencing hearing, which concluded Wednesday. “My mind was not working.” A jury convicted Gurung last year of killing his wife, Yogeswari Khadka, 32, in Burlington, and attempted second-degree murder in the attack on his mother-in-law, hours after he had sought mental health treatment at a local hospital. The attacks happened in 2017 and he was charged. But the charges were dropped in 2019 by the county prosecutor, who said evidence showed Gurung was legally insane at the time. Then-Attorney General T.J. Donovan refiled the charges months later after Republican Gov. Phil Scott asked him to review the case. Donovan said he wanted to restore public trust and that the issue of insanity should be decided by a jury.Gurung’...

Angola is leaving OPEC oil cartel after 16 years after dispute over production cuts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Angola announced Thursday that it’s leaving the OPEC oil producers cartel, coming after it battled with the group over lower production quotas this year.Diamantino de Azevedo, the African nation’s oil minister, said Angola “does not gain anything by remaining in the organization,” according to state news agency Angop. The country joined OPEC in 2007.Disagreements over lower oil quotas for some African countries, including Angola, led to an usual dayslong delay to OPEC’s November meeting, where the group, along with allied producers led by Russia, decide how much oil to send to the world.At the meeting, Angola’s production level was dropped to 1.11 million barrels per month after an assessment by the three independent sources, the organization said.OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, has been trying to bolster oil prices that have fallen in recent months over concerns about too much crude circulating in a weakening global economy, which could weigh on the...

Video shows stolen SUV smashing into unmarked police cars in Etobicoke

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

Toronto police have released video of the moment an alleged stolen SUV smashed into unmarked cruisers, leading to the arrests of two teens in Etobicoke with ties to multiple break-and-enters.Members of the Provincial Carjacking Task Force were assigned to investigate, and on Dec. 18, officers attempted to conduct a vehicle stop in the Eva Road and The West Mall area. Video shows the suspect vehicle fleeing and deliberately striking two unmarked police vehicles. The stolen SUV flipped on its side, leading to officers extracting two suspects from the vehicle. An officer suffered minor injuries, while both suspects were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.Two suspects linked to multiple break-and-entersOfficers launched an investigation on Dec. 3 when police responded to a call in the Thompson Avenue and Van Dusen Boulevard area just before 2:30 a.m.It’s alleged that suspects forced their way into the victim’s home while they were sleepin...

Grammy nominee Gracie Abrams makes music that unites strangers – and has Taylor Swift calling

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The year 2023 was good to Gracie Abrams. She released her debut album. She opened for Taylor Swift. She sold out a U.S. tour, and took that tour to Europe. She started writing new music. And to cap it all off, she got her first Grammy nomination: best new artist.When the nominations dropped in early November, Abrams, 24, was at home, alone. “I just couldn’t have anticipated it less, you know. And so it was kind of this really, extremely exciting honor and a really sweet cherry on top to a year of so many gifts.”Abrams immediately called her mom. But the first person to call her was fellow best new artist and first-time nominee, Noah Kahan. (They were “screaming on the phone,” she says.) The two are joined in the category by Ice Spice, Victoria Monét, Fred again.., Jelly Roll, Coco Jones and The War and Treaty.Looking ahead to the Feb. 4 Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles, Abrams said: “I’m really stoked to just cheer really loudly for everyone.”Her debut album, “ Good Ri...

Authorities return restored golden crosses to the domes of Kyiv’s St Sophia Cathedral

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Workers using cranes on Thursday installed two more restored crosses on top of the domes of Kyiv’s 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral as part of ongoing repair work at the landmark site.The seven golden crosses atop the iconic cathedral’s seven domes had become corroded. Officials said they required urgent attention.The final cross, on the cathedral’s main golden dome, is due to be removed next week. It is expected to be put back in May.The cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is in the heart of Kyiv. It has not sustained any major damage from the bombing of the Ukrainian capital by Russia since its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 2022, but it has occasionally been struck by debris from explosions.In September, the U.N.’s World Heritage Committee placed the cathedral on a list of sites it considers to be in danger.The cathedral was built to rival the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The monument to Byzantine art contains the biggest collection of mosaics and...

Pacific storm dumps heavy rains, unleashes flooding in 2 California coastal cities

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

PORT HUENEME, Calif. (AP) — A Pacific storm pounded parts of Southern California on Thursday with heavy rain and street flooding, adding to hassles as holiday travel got underway. The early morning downpours targeted coastal Ventura County, just to the northwest of Los Angeles County, swamping areas in the cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme.Rainfall rates exceeded 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) an hour as flash-flooding occurred, the National Weather Service said.The city of Port Hueneme issued evacuation orders for residences on four streets and warned of potential evacuations on four other streets. An evacuation center was set up at a college gymnasium. The city of Oxnard said in a social media post that many streets and intersections were heavily impacted. “Please stay off the city streets for the next several hours until the water recedes,” the post said.The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Oxnard and the city of Ventura at 1:28 a.m. due to a high-intensity thund...

Extreme heat represents a new threat to trees and plants in the Pacific Northwest

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — From June 25 to July 2, 2021, the Pacific Northwest experienced a record-breaking heat wave that sent the normally temperate region into Death Valley-like extremes that took a heavy toll on trees as well as people. Seattle and Portland, Ore., recorded their hottest-ever temperatures, reaching 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 Celsius) and 116 Fahrenheit (46.6 Celsius), respectively. In British Columbia, the small town of Lytton reached 121 degrees Fahrenheit (49.6 Celsius). What become known as the “heat dome” is estimated to have killed hundreds of people in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.As this human tragedy unfolded, a lesser-known ecological tragedy was happening, one that scientists warn has grim repercussions for the world’s plants and the many animal species that depend on them.In a matter of a few days, the 2021 heat dome turned many of the green leaves and needles on the region’s trees to orange, red and brown.But, as recent research suggests, tre...

NCAA President Charlie Baker drawing on lessons learned as GOP governor in Democratic Massachusetts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:22 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Growing up in a Boston suburb in the 1960s, Charlie Baker learned his first political lesson — the art of listening to competing viewpoints — around the dinner table as his Democratic mother and Republican father hashed out the topics of the day.There was a reason he was given two ears and one mouth, his mother would tell him.It’s a story Baker repeatedly told as Massachusetts governor, and one that offers lessons for his job as president of the NCAA — the country’s largest college sports governing body overseeing some 500,000 athletes at more than 1,100 schools.Earlier this month, the 6-foot-6 former Harvard basketball player outlined a vision for a new NCAA subdivision at the very top of college sports in a letter he sent to the more than 350 Division I schools. It was an attempt in part to grapple with one of the diciest issues facing the NCAA — how best to compensate college athletes.Baker said his proposal would require schools that want to be a part of the ...