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Long weekend forecast: How the weather is shaping up for Victoria Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

For many Canadians, the Victoria Day long weekend is the unofficial kick-off for summer, and thankfully for southern Ontario residents, the forecast looks rather promising.The third week of May has been beautiful, particularly for those living in Toronto, with plenty of sunshine despite an unusually cold day on Wednesday. The rest of the week looks fantastic, with sunny skies forecasted on Thursday and Friday, with daytime highs of 16 C and 20 C.The one blip on the weather radar is on Saturday, as there is a high probability of showers in Toronto and across most of southern Ontario, which could make the start of the weekend a wash.Conditions will rapidly improve, though, as Sunday looks stunning with a daytime high of 22 C and mainly sunny skies across the city. Victoria Day Monday will be cooler (a daytime high of 15 C), but the sunshine will be present all day.Elsewhere in the GTA, Halton-Peel regions, including Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville and Burlington, should expect a simil...

Second escaped inmate captured after breaking out of Philadelphia prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An escaped inmate has been recaptured Wednesday morning in Pennsylvania after breaking out of a prison where he had been held on charges of killing four people. It was the second of two inmates apprehended after escaping from a Philadelphia prison earlier this month, authorities said.City police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said Ameen Hurst, 18, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in the city’s West Philadelphia section, but further details on the capture were not immediately disclosed.Hurst and Nasir Grant, 24, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center on May 7 by cutting a hole in a fence surrounding a recreation yard, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons has said. The two men were gone for nearly 19 hours before officials knew they were missing.While Hurst had been charged with four counts of murder, Grant was being held on conspiracy drug charges and conspiracy weapons charges. Officials have said the inmates were housed in the same unit, b...

Penguin Random House sues Florida school district over book bans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Publisher Penguin Random House and PEN America sued a Florida school district Wednesday over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities, the latest opposition to a policy central to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda as he prepares to run for president.The federal lawsuit alleges the Escambia County School District and its School Board are violating the First Amendment through the removal of 10 books from library shelves.The case does not name DeSantis as a defendant though the Republican governor has championed policies that allow the censorship and challenging of books based on whether they are appropriate for children in schools, causing national uproar.DeSantis, who is expected to announce his presidential candidacy in the coming days, has leaned heavily into cultural divides on race, sexual orientation and gender as he moves to win support from conservative voters who decide Republican primary elections.“Books have the capacity to change lives for the...

Arab foreign ministers welcome Syria’s return to the Arab League ahead of Jeddah summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Arab foreign ministers Wednesday in Saudi Arabia welcomed back Syria to the Arab League and called for a cease-fire in conflict-hit Sudan ahead of the organization’s annual summit taking place in the kingdom.This year’s summit, starting Friday in the city of Jeddah, will mark the readmittance of war-torn Syria into the 22-member league, after a 12-year suspension.Syria’s membership was frozen following Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on the 2011 mass protests against his rule. The country quickly descended into a civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Wednesday that the region is at a crossroads, facing a host of challenges. He called for cooperation between Arab countries to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.Bin Farhan also welcomed Syria’s return, as did the leagu...

Thailand’s Move Forward Party in talks with 5 other parties in attempt to form coalition government

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s progressive Move Forward Party on Wednesday held its first face-to-face discussions with five other parties in an attempt to form a coalition government, three days after scoring a stunning national election victory.A new government will be formed in July when the House of Representatives and the appointed Senate select a new prime minister. Because of the joint vote, Sunday’s election victor is not assured of taking power.Representatives of the five parties, mostly members of the opposition to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s conservative government, met for several hours Wednesday. Afterward they emerged smiling and posed for photos with hands linked in a sign of unity.Chief among the potential partners is the Pheu Thai party, currently the biggest opposition group in the House, which had been favored to top the polls but ended up running a close second.“It went quite smoothly,” said Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, a 42-year-old Harvard-edu...

Here are all of the abortion debates happening this week in US courts and statehouses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

Abortion opponents are trying again to implement restrictions in the latest round of court and legislative action on the divisive issue.This round of efforts centers on states that have considered bans before and a policy that’s been bouncing around federal courts.Here are key things to know about the latest developments in the saga of how abortion policy will settle after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion.PURPLE STATE POLICYSince the Dobbs ruling last year, tighter abortion restrictions have been enacted in most Republican-controlled states and protections of abortion access have gone into effect in most that are dominated by Democrats.But there hasn’t been such a uniform story in the 11 states with divided government control. Virginia has kept its status quo, for instance, while Vermont has adopted a constitutional amendment to preserve abortion access and Louisiana and Kentucky have bans in place.Change came q...

Movie Review: Smelling dirt with Joel Edgerton in Paul Schrader’s murky ‘Master Gardener’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

Paul Schrader plants the seeds of an intriguing melodrama in his latest creation “ Master Gardener.” Sigourney Weaver is a wealthy dowager with a stately name (Norma Haverhill), a large house and a dog she’s named porch dog. She also has a horticulturist (Joel Edgerton) in her employ who she occasionally calls on for extracurricular, indoor activities. There’s even a big charity auction coming up that she and the gardening staff are intensely focused on.But this being a Schrader film (he wrote and directed), it is mostly window dressing. There even is a palpable (and, I’d imagine, intentional) artificiality to the whole endeavor, creating an unease that looms over the most mundane and superficially pleasant interactions. The ceremony never feels quite right. The house, though grand, is also sparse in its décor. It feels like a set — not a place that a real human being lives. We don’t even get to see the charity auction in full swing, never fulfilling Edgerton’s Narvel Roth (ye...

Hamas calls on Palestinians to confront Israeli victory parade in Jerusalem

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday called on Palestinians to confront a flag-waving parade planned by Jewish nationalists through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City.The comments by Hamas added to the already heightened tensions ahead of Thursday’s march and threatened to reignite fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, just days after a cease-fire took hold. Two years ago, an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas erupted during the annual march.While Hamas stayed out of the latest round of fighting, officials with the ruling Islamic militant group urged Palestinians to oppose Thursday’s parade.“We ask the people of Jerusalem to mobilize the masses to confront the march of the flags in Jerusalem tomorrow,” said Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official in Gaza.Hamas also urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel to “clash with the occupation” and said it would hold a de...

Tiny Amerindian village in Guyana fights gold mine in key court battle over indigenous land rights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

CHINESE LANDING, Guyana (AP) — One of Guyana’s smallest Amerindian villages is waging a monumental battle that could decide the amount of control that thousands of indigenous people have over their land in remote parts of this South American country.The village of 225 residents is fighting in court to regain full control over ancestral land where gold miners once were invited in to boost community development but who now are considered unwelcome interlopers who carve up lands that provide food and medicine, and block access for the villagers’ own, smaller-scale mining.“It’s like a part of us has been taken away,” said Orin Fernandes, the village’s toshao, or indigenous leader.Called Chinese Landing for reasons residents no longer remember, the village is deep within lush forests of northern Guyana accessible primarily by riverboat.The villagers, descendants of Caribs, have seen their land shrink as miners scrape back layers of rock and red soil that could otherwise produce pumpkin, ...

See how you can play golf at Wrigley Field in July

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:04:24 GMT

CHICAGO — While baseball will take center stage for the summer at the Friendly Confines, another sport will have a few days in the spotlight.Upper Deck Golf is staging an event at Wrigley Field that will allow fans to play golf from July 6-9 at the iconic baseball park. Per the company's website, fans will have the opportunity to hit golf balls from the upper deck onto greens that are on the field, with rounds starting & ending at a clubhouse festival in the ballpark.Right now, Upper Deck Golf is having people sign up for either standard or VIP tee time waitlists to get the opportunity to play the sport at Wrigley Field. This is one of ten stadiums where an event like this is being staged, with fans being able to play golf at nine other venues in 2023.Levi's Stadium - Santa ClaraLumen Field - SeattleComerica Park - DetroitCitizen's Bank Park - PhiladelphiaCoors Field - DenverPNC Park - Pittsburgh Busch Stadium - St. LouisCleveland Browns Stadium - ClevelandTarget Field - Minneap...