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☆ Wildfire Roars Through a Canadian Town Popular with Tourists
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Ian Austen | Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As much as half of a town at the heart of a jewel of Canada’s national park system has been destroyed by a pair of wildfires that roared in from two sides, an official said on Thursday. “We don’t know particularly which structures have been damaged and which ones have been destroyed, but that is going to be a significant rebuild,” Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta, told a news conference. She struggled to avoid tears describing the beauty of Jasper National Park and the damage to the community that shares its name. Pierre Martel, the director of fire management for Parks Canada, the national parks agency, told a briefing on Thursday afternoon that the “aggressive and fast-moving fire” was still burning in the park. As the fires expanded on Monday evening, about 20,000 tourists and the 5,000 residents of Jasper were evacuated, mostly west to British Columbia.

Persons: “, ” Danielle Smith, Pierre Martel, ” Organizations: Jasper National, Parks Canada Locations: Alberta, Jasper, British Columbia

☆ Bold Experiment or Safety Risk? Canada Is Divided on How to Stop Drug Deaths.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Vjosa Isai | Alana Paterson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The mood was cautiously optimistic and the message was simple: Drug decriminalization saves lives. People who used or carried small quantities of illegal drugs in plain sight would no longer face arrest in British Columbia, the nexus of Canada’s opioid crisis, officials announced two years ago. So bold was the experiment, even in a province known for pioneering addiction policies, that its public health officer said she was in disbelief the day had actually come. But decriminalization, a policy introduced as a way of alleviating the opioid crisis, has instead been blamed for deepening it. “Our goal was to save lives,” British Columbia’s premier, David Eby, said at a recent news conference.

Persons: “, David Eby, ” Locations: British Columbia, British

☆ A Serial Killer from the U.S. Preyed on Young Women in Canada
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Vjosa Isai | Jeremy Appel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The serial killer made little effort to hide his tracks. Over the course of a year in the 1970s, he dumped the remains of four young women in different spots — along a road, in a gravel ditch, beneath an underpass — just outside Calgary, in Western Canada. They were fully clothed, all had been strangled and DNA evidence revealed that they had been sexually assaulted. Still, it took nearly 50 years and filtering through 853 possible suspects for Canadian police on Friday to finally reveal that the women had been the victims of a serial killer. The police identified their killer as Gary Allen Srery, who had fled to Canada while out on bail in 1974 after being charged with rape by the police in Los Angeles.

Persons: Gary Allen Srery Locations: Calgary, Western Canada, Canada, Los Angeles

☆ Canadian Police Arrest 3 in Slaying of Sikh Leader
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Three men were arrested Friday and charged in the killing of a Sikh leader in British Columbia, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of orchestrating, fraying relations between the two countries. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh nationalist and Canadian citizen, was gunned down last June by two masked assailants in the parking lot of the temple in Surrey, British Columbia, where he was president, according to the police. Three men, all Indian nationals in their 20s, were all arrested in Edmonton, Alberta and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Police identified the men as Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreeet Singh. The police said the men had been living in Canada three to five years and were not permanent residents of Canada, but would not comment on their immigration status.

Persons: Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh, Karanpreeet Singh Organizations: Police Locations: British Columbia, Surrey, Edmonton , Alberta, Canada

☆ U.S. Warns Spring Breakers Headed to Mexico, Jamaica or the Bahamas
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ms. Moore, 75, has always felt safe during her stays in Jamaica, where she’s returning for the fourth time on Wednesday. But this year, while she’s still happy to take a trip, a travel advisory for Jamaica, reissued in January by the U.S. State Department, has elevated her concerns. “I’m sure there are parts, just like the United States, that you can go into that are not recommended,” said Ms. Moore. In recent weeks, the State Department and U.S. Embassies have issued new and updated advisories urging travelers to Mexico, Jamaica and the Bahamas — some of the busiest international spring break destinations — to exercise extra caution after recent violent events, some in tourist areas. Security experts suggest that the advice is largely consistent with advisories of previous years.

Persons: Ginger Moore, Moore, she’s, “, ” Organizations: U.S . State Department, State Department, U.S, Embassies Locations: Panama City, Fla, Caribbean, Jamaica, United States, Mexico, Bahamas

☆ Canada Restores Visa Requirement for Mexican Visitors
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Canada announced on Thursday that it would require visas for Mexican nationals to enter the country, a move that comes amid a surge in asylum requests from Mexicans arriving in Canada. The rule follows months of discussions between the two countries over the rise in the number of Mexicans entering Canada, including repeated attempts by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to address the issue with Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Some provincial officials say a surge of asylum seekers has strained their resources and their ability to provide social services. “We needed to give Mexico, because of our friendship, the chance to rectify things,” Marc Miller, Canada’s immigration minister, said at a news conference.

Persons: Justin Trudeau, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, ” Marc Miller Locations: Canada, Mexico

☆ For Car Thieves, Toronto Is a ‘Candy Store,’ and Drivers Are Fed Up
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Whenever Dennis Wilson wants to take a drive in his new SUV, he has to set aside an extra 15 minutes. That’s about how long it takes to remove the car’s steering wheel club, undo four tire locks and lower a yellow bollard before backing out of his driveway. His Honda CR-V is also fitted with two alarm systems, a vehicle tracking device and, for good measure, four Apple AirTags. Its remote-access key fob rests in a Faraday bag, to jam illicit unlocking signals. As a final touch, he mounted two motion-sensitive floodlights on his house and aimed them at the driveway in his modest neighborhood in Toronto.

Persons: Dennis Wilson, Wilson Organizations: Honda, Apple Locations: Toronto

☆ As Canadian Hockey Players Face Assault Charges, Officials Are on Defensive
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Ian Austen | Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the Leon’s Centre arena, home to the junior hockey team in Kingston, Ontario, a sense of outrage mixed with anticipation as fans who had gathered for a game grappled with the news that five former Canadian junior hockey players — four of whom played in the National Hockey League — had been charged last week with sexual assault. There the police, who first investigated but didn’t bring charges in 2018, plan to hold their first news conference about the case on Monday afternoon. The allegations have touched a nerve with fans, leading many to question how Hockey Canada, the nation’s governing body for the sport, has responded. The case came to light in May 2022 after TSN, a sports channel that broadcasts the world junior championship, reported that Hockey Canada had paid 3.5 million Canadian dollars, or $2.6 million, to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who said she had been sexually assaulted by eight junior league players. At the time of the assault is said to have occurred, all of the players were members of Canada’s national junior team.

Persons: National Hockey League — Organizations: Canadian, —, National Hockey League, Ontario, Justice, Hockey Canada, TSN Locations: Kingston , Ontario, London , Ontario

☆ Court Finds Trudeau Overreached by Using Emergency Law to End Blockade
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Ian Austen | Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Canadian court found that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of the country’s Emergencies Act to end a truck convoy protest that had paralyzed the capital, Ottawa, two years ago was an unjustified infringement of civil rights, including the protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and, in some instances, the freedom of expression as well. The Federal Court of Canada decision also found that the freezing of bank accounts of people linked to the protest was similarly unjustified, but it dismissed arguments that the government had violated a variety of other rights, including those linked to peaceful assembly. The protests in Ottawa, which were initially incited by a Covid vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, rendered most of the city’s downtown streets impassable, clogging them with parked trucks. Six days after Mr. Trudeau’s government introduced the emergency powers, an enormous force of police officers from across the country finished clearing the streets. About 230 people were arrested during the protest.

Persons: Justin Trudeau’s, Mr, Trudeau Organizations: Federal Locations: Ottawa, Alberta, British Columbia, France

☆ Best travel destinations to visit in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-01 | by ( Cnn Travel Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +32 min

cdwheatley/iStockphoto/Getty Images Angola: Beyond the capital city of Luanda, pictured, Angola has some jaw-droppingly spectacular scenery and cultural treats. David ChiaFF/Alamy Stock Photo Mérida, Mexico: Yucatán state's capital city showcases a blend of Mayan and colonial heritage. Pavel Tochinsky/The Image Bank RF/Getty Images Morocco: This North African country is home to nine UNESCO sites, including the historic city of Meknes, pictured. Panama City is also the only world capital with a tropical rainforest within its city limits. And a historic city forever entwined with the famed Camino de Santiago.

Persons: you’d, Tengguo Wu, Gabriele Thielmann, Turkey's, Gary Ennis, Matevz, Bill Bachman, Christian Kober, Gonzalo Azumendi, David ChiaFF, Pavel Tochinsky, Terry Kelly, Raul Rodriguez, iStock, Anton Petrus, –, — Karla Cripps Turkey’s, — Barry Neild, Mana Kaasik, — Maureen O’Hare, — Maggie Hiufu Wong, Deb Snelson, Glen Arbor, Marnie Hunter, — Forrest Brown, — Forrest Brown Angola Cristo, Eric Lafforgue, it’s, King, Eric Carr, John’s, Saint John, New Brunswick —, —, Tuul, Bruno Morandi, — Julia Buckley, Groenewald, Alamy, — Lilit Marcus, Alexander the Great, Philip II of Macedon, — JB, Bogdan Lazar, — Tamara Hardingham, Gill, Hercules, Francesca, Lazarus, ”, David Casanova, Megan Sequeira Casanova, “, Kuka y Naranjo, medina, Gordon Sinclair, Yvette Cardozo, — FB, Pierce Ingram, Stefan Tomic, Fujairah, who’ve, Samarkand —, It’s Organizations: CNN, United, CNN Travel, Getty Images, Town, Getty, Northwest, Saint, New Brunswick Tourism, UNESCO, Heritage, Alamy, Parque Nacional Volcán Barú, Galicia, Tercera Orden, Parque, Bank, Wakulla Springs, Texas, United Arab Emirates, AP, Rock, of Culture, Estonian National Museum, — Maggie Hiufu Wong Northwest Michigan, Bear, Farm, Riders, Lubango, — BN Saint John, Canada Tourists, St, Saint John City Market, Historic, Saint John Arts Centre, Carnegie, Carnegie Library, — KC, Korea, Folk, Netflix, South Korea, Adriatic, Nacional Glaciares, Australian Sea Lions, Panama, Spain Santiago de, Spain Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, Islas, Camino, Mexico People, YouTube, US State Department, Morocco, Regis Hotels, Resorts, — FB Texas, Travel Texas, Krause, Gruene, Fujairah, Icefjord, FS, Tuul, ” Locations: United States, Sumba, Indonesia Sumba, Indonesia, Bali, Getty Images Tartu, Estonia, Tartu —, European, Tainan, Taiwan, Northwest Michigan, Traverse City, Lake Michigan, iStockphoto, Western Balkans, Culebra , Puerto Rico, Flamenco, Culebra, cdwheatley, Angola, Luanda, , New Brunswick, Fundy, New Brunswick, New Brunswick Tourism South Korea, Korea Albania, Albania, Chile, mauritius, Western Australia, Greece, Macedonia, American, Panama, Spain, Camino, Santiago, St, John's, Mexico, Parque Hidalgo, Morocco, Meknes, Florida, Spicewood, Anton, Greenland, Denmark, AP Uzbekistan, Bukhara, Indonesian, Sumela, Turkey's, — Barry Neild Tartu, Estonia Tartu, of Culture Tartu, Tartu, “, Baltics, — Maureen O’Hare Tainan, Taiwan Tainan, Taipei, — Maggie Hiufu Wong Northwest, Lake, Traverse, Leland, Glen, perusing, Balkans, Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, transdinarica.com, —, Puerto Rico, It’s, — Forrest Brown Angola, Lubango, Barra, Cabo Ledo, — BN Saint John , New Brunswick, Canada, Hopewell, Newfoundland, Saint, Canada’s, Korea Andong, South Korea, Sanga, Korea, Seoul, Busan, Andong, Albania Albania, Berat, Montenegro, Vlorë, Gjirokastër, — Julia Buckley Chile, Atacama, Patagonia, Coral Coast, Geraldton, — Lilit Marcus Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece's, Hemis, Athens, Vergina, Veria, Naousa, Greece’s, Thrace, Philippi, Kavala, Panama . Panama City, Gill Galicia, Spain Santiago, Spain Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Galicia’s, Santiago de Compostela, Cabo, Fisterra, Galicia —, Singapore, John’s, Paseo, Montejo, Mérida, Yucatán, getaways, there’s, Marrakech, Rabat, Fes, Resorts Morocco, Wakulla, Ginnie, Fredericksburg, Texas, Marble Falls, Meanderers, New Braunfels, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Wadi, Nuuk, Ilulissat, West, FS Uzbekistan, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, China, India, Khiva, Uzbek, Sentob, Tashkent

☆ In Canada, a Judge Sentences an Incel Killer as a Terrorist
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Vjosa Isai | More About Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The sword was inscribed with a sexist epithet and a note promoting an ideology of violence against women was found in the teenager’s pocket. With the evidence stacked against him, he pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder. But a Canadian judge ruled that the attacks were acts of terrorism, in part because the teenager wanted to send a message that he hated women. On Tuesday, the judge, Justice Suhail Akhtar, sentenced the teenager — who was 17 at the time of the attack — to life in prison though he would be eligible for parole after 10 years. Under Canadian juvenile justice law, his name cannot be published.

Persons: Justice Suhail Akhtar, — Locations: Toronto

☆ Canada Convicts White Supremacist in Killing of Four Muslims
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Vjosa Isai | More About Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For four seconds, Nathaniel Veltman floored the gas pedal, hurtling his pickup truck toward a Muslim family of five out for an evening walk in London, Ontario, killing four of them. The jury, after less than a day of deliberating, found Mr. Veltman, 22, guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder involving the young boy in the June 2021 attack. Mr. Veltman was also charged with terrorism and jurors heard extensive evidence about his fixation with white supremacist ideologies. But under Canadian law, jurors were not expected to deliver a verdict on that charge, which will be decided later by a judge. The case represents the first time in Canada that terrorism charges have been applied to a far-right extremism case, according to the government agency that prosecutes federal crimes.

Persons: Nathaniel Veltman, Veltman Locations: London , Ontario, Canada

☆ Peter Nygard, Former Fashion Mogul, Convicted of Sexual Assault
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Vjosa Isai | More About Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Toronto jury on Sunday found Peter Nygard, the high-profile executive behind a fallen fashion empire, guilty of four counts of sexual assault after just over three days of deliberation at the end of a six-week trial. He was found not guilty of one count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. The maximum prison sentence for sexual assault in Canada is 10 years. The verdict represents the first criminal conviction against Mr. Nygard, 82, who has been in jail for the last two years. Mr. Nygard appealed the New York extradition ruling in Winnipeg — his hometown and the former base of Nygard International, his clothing company — citing poor health, but the court has not yet issued its decision.

Persons: Peter Nygard, Nygard Organizations: Nygard International Locations: Toronto, Canada, Montreal, Winnipeg, New York, York

☆ A Once Powerful Fashion Executive Testifies in His Sexual Assault Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Vjosa Isai | More About Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But Mr. Greenspan said that the defense’s evidence would “render the revisionist history which the complainants have provided inaccurate, unreliable and untrustworthy.”He told jurors that Mr. Nygard had waived his right to remain silent to testify in his own defense. At 82, his distinctive flowing hair was white and was pulled back into a large low bun, with a pair of orange tinted glasses sitting on his nose. “By necessity, we had to work to survive,” Mr. Nygard said, recalling his job at a textile factory under difficult conditions where his mother worked as a sewing machine operator. “The only way that you could have this type of success is that you would just outwork the next guy,” he later added. His company, which he founded in 1967, grew to 2,000 employees, competing with the likes of Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, he said, popularizing a type of polyester that made him known as the “polyester king” and turned him into a celebrity in the fashion world.

Persons: Greenspan, ”, Nygard, Nygard’s, Mr, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren Locations: Finland, Winnipeg , Manitoba

GRANADA, Spain (AP) — Almost 50 European leaders used a summit in the southern Spanish city of Granada on Thursday to stress that they stand by Ukraine at a time when Western resolve appears somewhat weakened. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that beside maintaining such unity, more military aid to get through the winter was essential. And especially now that questions about continued support are growing in the United States too. “I am very confident of support for Ukraine from the United States. What the United States is working on is the timing," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Biden, ” Zelenskyy, Robert Fico, Hungary’s, Pedro Sánchez, “, Ursula von der Leyen, Josep Borrell, doesn’t, Putin, Borrell, Putin's, ”, Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan, Vjosa Osmani, Aleksandar Vucic, Osmani, wantssanctions, Raf Casert, Aritz Parra, Ciarán Giles, Joseph Wilson, Semini Organizations: Political, U.S, Congress, White, Republicans, European Union, Kyiv, Armenian, Yerevan, Kosovo, Serbian, Belgrade, Serbia Locations: GRANADA, Spain, Spanish, Granada, Ukraine, United States, Europe, Kyiv, Slovakia, Russia, U.S, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Serbia, “, Kosovo, Brussels, Madrid, Barcelona, Tirana, Albania

☆ Serbian president says reports about troop build up on the Kosovo border ‘not fully accurate’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Sugam Pokharel Claire Calzonetti Duarte Mendonca Sana Noor Haq | Sugam Pokharel | Claire Calzonetti | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Soldiers with the NATO-led international peacekeeping force, the Kosovo Force, in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, on September 28. A top Kosovo Serb politician, Milan Radoicic said this weekend that he took part in the gun battle, Reuters reported. The confrontation comes months after ethnic Serbs attacked dozens of NATO peacekeepers in the town of Zvecan, in northern Kosovo, in May. The violence has ratcheted tensions in the Balkan region as the EU and US mediators attempt to finalize yearslong talks to normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo. Following his first-round victory against American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Djokovic wrote “Kosovo is the [heart] of Serbia.

Persons: Aleksandar Vučić, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Vučić, “, ” Vučić, Stringer, Vjosa Osmani, Milan Radoicic, Radoicic, “ I’m, yearslong, Novak Djokovic, Djokovic, American Aleksandar Kovacevic Organizations: CNN, Serbian, NSC, National Security Council, NATO, ”, Kosovo Force, Getty, Kosovar, Kosovo Serb, Reuters, European, EU, American, “ Locations: Serbian, Kosovo, United States, Mitrovica, AFP, Serbia, Banjska, Belgrade, European Union, Brussels, Pristina, Zvecan, “ Kosovo

☆ The US is warning of a big build-up of Serbian troops on the Kosovo border. Here’s why tensions are high
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Sophie Tanno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The long fractious ties between Kosovo and Serbia are once again on edge after one of the worst outbreaks of violence in years. Ognen Teofilovski/ReutersMore than 20 years on, fragile peace has been preserved in Kosovo, while Serbia continues not to recognize Kosovo’s independence. During the subsequent shootout in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo, police said they killed three armed attackers and arrested another. Visar Kryeziu/APIn another development, a top Kosovo Serb politician, Milan Radoicic said he took part in the gun battle, Reuters reported. The White House has warned that the incident represents a threat to the safety of not only Kosovo personnel, but international personnel including NATO troops.

Persons: Ognen Teofilovski, What’s, Albin Kurti, ”, Vjosa Osmani, Aleksandar Vucic, Vucic, “, Visar, Milan Radoicic, Radoicic, John Kirby, Jens Stoltenberg Organizations: CNN, Kosovar, Federal, NATO, Sunday, Facebook, Kosovo, Reuters, Kosovo police, AP, Kosovo Serb, Kosovo Police, National Security Locations: Kosovo, Serbia, Yugoslavia, Serbian, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Montenegro, Banjska, Belgrade, Pristina, Serbs, Zvecan

Some 50,000 Serbs who live in north Kosovo, do not recognise Pristina institutions and see Belgrade as their capital. Vucic told Reuters that Belgrade condemned the killing of the policeman, adding Serbia "will launch proceedings before appropriate judicial bodies" and investigate suspects. Belgrade finances schools, public health system, and most of other institutions in parts of Kosovo where Serbs constitute a majority. Vucic accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of wanting to expel Serbs from Kosovo and of stalling a compromise solution needed for mending the ties between Belgrade and Pristina. "For us the position (in Kosovo) is clearly dreadful, but ... we have to be with our people, ... (and) try to preserve peace," Vucic said.

Persons: Aleksandar Vucic, Vucic, Veton Elshani, ”, Vjosa Osmani, Milan Radoicic, Albin Kurti, Kurti, Ivana Sekularac, Aleksandar Vasovic, Fatos Bytyci, Alison Williams Organizations: Reuters, BELGRADE, Kosovo police, Kosovo Albanian, Kosovo, Pristina, EU, NATO, Serbian, United Nations Security, of, Serbia, Thomson Locations: Reuters Belgrade, Serb, Serbia, Kosovo, Pristina, Belgrade, Serbian, Banjska, Albanian, Vucic, Russia, China, of Serb Municipalities

☆ Exclusive: Kosovo's president blames Serbia for shootout, says Kosovo 'under attack'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"The (armed) group simply exercised the intentions and the motives of Serbia as a country and Vucic as the leader." Serbia, which has not recognized its former province's independence, blames Kosovo for precipitating violence by mistreating ethnic Serb residents, a charge Kosovo denies. "What I would say to President Vucic is stop messing with Kosovo. [1/4]Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani talks to Reuters after a deadly shootout in the northern part of the country, in Pristina, Kosovo September 28, 2023. REUTERS/Laura Hasani Acquire Licensing RightsRussia seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014, and Kosovo authorities fear Serbia could carve away the northern part of Kosovo.

Persons: Vjosa Osmani, Aleksandar Vucic, Osmani, Vucic, Laura Hasani, We've, Albin Kurti, Fatos, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Kosovar, Reuters, Kosovo, REUTERS, Rights, European Union, EU, Sunday, Yugoslav, Kosovo's, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: PRISTINA, Serbia, Kosovo, Banjska, Serbian, NATO, Crimea, Kosovo's, Belgrade, Pristina, Republic of Kosovo, Rights Russia, Ukraine's Crimea

☆ Peter Nygard, Disgraced Fashion Designer, Faces Trial in Toronto
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Vjosa Isai | More About Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The NewsProsecutors in Canada will begin laying out their case on Tuesday in a Toronto courtroom against Peter Nygard, the founder of a fashion empire, two years after he was charged with sex crimes by Canadian police. Mr. Nygard, 82, has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement involving five women. A jury at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in downtown Toronto will hear how the prosecutors believe that Mr. Nygard abused the women, whose identities are hidden by court-imposed publication bans to protect victims of sexual assault. Mr. Nygard was charged in Oct. 2021. Mr. Nygard has denied the allegations through his lawyers’ statements to the media.

Persons: Peter Nygard, Nygard Organizations: Prosecutors, Canadian, Ontario Superior Court of Justice Locations: Canada, Toronto

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Tuesday firmly rejected the Indian government’s denial of any involvement in the assassination of a Sikh dissident in Canada, calling on India to take his country’s allegations seriously. “We are not looking to provoke or escalate,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. “We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them and we want to work with the government of India.”On Monday, the prime minister stunned Canadians when he told the House of Commons that “agents of the Indian government” had been behind the shooting in June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader and a Canadian citizen, near a Sikh temple in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia.

Persons: Justin Trudeau of, Mr, Trudeau, ”, Hardeep Singh Nijjar Organizations: Justin Trudeau of Canada, of Locations: Canada, India, Ottawa, Canadian, Vancouver, British Columbia

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that “agents of the Indian government” carried out the killing of a Sikh community leader in British Columbia last June. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Trudeau said that he raised India’s involvement in the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Group of 20 summit meeting earlier this month “in no uncertain terms.” He said the allegation was based on intelligence gathered by the Canadian government. “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Mr. Trudeau told lawmakers. He said Canada would pressure India to cooperate with the investigation into the killing. Mélanie Joly, the foreign minister, later announced that Canada had expelled an Indian diplomat whom she described as “the head” of Indian intelligence in Canada.

Persons: Justin Trudeau, ”, Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Narendra Modi, ” Mr, Mélanie Joly Organizations: British Columbia, Group, Canadian Locations: British, Canada, India, Indian

Canada’s wildfire plague widened on Friday, with Yellowknife’s 20,000 residents rushing to meet a deadline to evacuate, while blazes hundreds of miles away threatened Kelowna, a much larger city in British Columbia. The mass migration from Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, was the biggest mandatory evacuation so far in Canada’s summer of wildfire disasters. By midday, it remained unclear how many of Yellowknife’s residents had heeded the order as an encroaching fire loomed, but parts of the city appeared empty and most stores appeared closed. In Kelowna, a major resort area, homes on its suburban fringes were on fire and orders to evacuate were decreed in a community where several homes were destroyed on Thursday night and others were burning on Friday.

Locations: Kelowna, British Columbia, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

☆ Neretva River: Scientists are fighting to save the ‘blue heart’ of Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Bosnia and Herzegovina CNN —The Neretva River carves its way through Bosnia and Herzegovina’s impenetrable forest. The Neretva River flows 140 miles (225 kilometers) from its source in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. Nell Lewis/CNN Scientists warn that hydropower plants could have a detrimental effect on the region's biodiversity. Nell Lewis/CNN Scientists, concerned about the effects of the proposed hydropower plants, gathered on the banks of the Neretva in June as part of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign. This has taken its toll on wildlife, with one in three freshwater fish species threatened with extinction.

Persons: Joshua D, Lim, Marco Secchi, Ursi Seibert, Nell Lewis, Vladimir Tadic, Linda Majdanová, ”, Ulrich Eichelmann, “ It’s, ” Ulrich Eichelmann, Kurt Pinter, Pinter, it’s, ” Radomir Sladoje, “, GENT SHKULLAKU Organizations: CNN, Herzegovina CNN, Center for Environment, Center of Environment, “ Neretva Science, Science, EU, Developers, EFT Group, Neretva Science, Getty, Bern Convention Locations: Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bosnian, Balkans, Adriatic, Croatia, Mostar, Herzegovina's, Kalinovik, Neretva, Linda, “ Neretva, “, Balkan, Europe, EU, Ulog, Vienna, Austria, Albania, GENT, AFP, Bern

☆ Missing From Your Facebook News Feed: Canadian News
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Vjosa Isai | More About Vjosa Isai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It could be months before an escalating fight between Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, and the Canadian government gets resolved, but Matthew DiMera, publisher of a Canadian news organization, is already feeling the pain. Mr. DiMera tried to create an Instagram post featuring a news article by his outlet, The Resolve — something news organizations do routinely to promote their work. Instead, he said, he was greeted by the message: “People in Canada can’t see your content,”Meta this week began blocking news from appearing on its platforms in Canada, the latest twist in its standoff with the government over a new law that will require technology companies to compensate domestic publishers for using their content. The law comes at a time when the news industry in Canada, as in much of the world, is shrinking under the pressure of lower advertising revenues, and depends on social networks for much of its readership. “Instagram has been a really great platform for us to connect with people, so losing that is really a huge concern for us,” said Mr. DiMera, who started The Resolve in 2021 to report stories on Black, Indigenous and racially diverse communities.

Persons: Matthew DiMera, DiMera, “ Instagram, ” Organizations: Meta, Facebook, Canadian Locations: Canada

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