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Parti Québécois refuses invite to Fête nationale concert to protest choice of host

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

QUEBEC — The Parti Québécois has turned down an invitation to address the crowd at a major concert marking the province’s national holiday in protest over the choice of host.In a letter published online Monday, party spokeswoman Méganne Perry Mélançon accused the organizers of lacking judgment when they named singer-songwriter Émile Bilodeau as host of the Quebec City concert on the Plains of Abraham the evening before the June 24 holiday.“When you want to bring people together, the first thing to do is to show respect for others,” she wrote. “In recent years and particularly in recent months, Émile Bilodeau has, on many occasions, showed disrespect toward the Parti Québécois, its staff, its leader, its members, its supporters. He has also shown very little respect for anyone who advocates for state secularism,” she wrote.The 26-year-old Bilodeau, an award-winning artist whose fifth album is due out in September, has been a vocal critic of the province’...

Temple leader who supported separate Sikh state is shot dead in Surrey, B.C.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

SURREY, B.C. — The president of a Sikh gurdwara who was accused of murder and terrorism in India has been shot dead outside his temple in Surrey, British Columbia. The general secretary of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Society said Hardeep Singh Nijjar was alone in his pickup truck when he was attacked Sunday night as he was leaving the gurdwara’s parking lot.Bhupinder Singh Hothi said Nijjar had received death threats because of his support for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan, in India, but the shooting will not deter those who share his beliefs.Surrey RCMP said in a news release that the shooting happened at about 8:30 p.m. and the victim died at the scene.They said they are searching for suspects and trying to confirm a motive for the homicide.The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team called a news conference for Monday afternoon in Surrey to provide further information about the case.A video posted on Twitter about 90 minutes after the shooting showed a large crowd gath...

Giorgio Armani, Zegna present fluid elegance for the next hot season as Milan Fashion Week wraps up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Milan Fashion Week opened and closed under a beating early summer sun.Zegna wrapped up four days of shows Monday with an outdoor event set among bales of raw linen behind Milan’s City Hall, allowing city workers a view out of their windows. For the sweltering fashion crowd, Zegna fashion offered iced coffee and linen baseball caps to keep things cool.With temperatures rising, Milan designers focused on fluidity in dressing, allowing the body to move without constrictions. With one notable dissenter, runways offered thigh-revealing Bermuda shorts as an alternative to trousers even for city dressing. Gone are the long shorts of streetwear brands.Some highlights from the final day of Milan Fashion Week of mostly menswear previews for next spring and summer:ARMANI PRESENTS SIGNATURE ELEGANCEGiorgio Armani’s signature collection was meant to show the fashion public how the urban man ought to dress, even in the heat of summer.“I didn’t do any Bermudas,’’ Armani noted after th...

Intel to build $33-billion chip plant in Germany after government pledges to cover 1/3rd of cost

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Intel and the German government signed a deal Monday that will see the U.S. company spend more than 30 billion euros ($32.8 billion) to build a chip manufacturing site in the eastern city of Magdeburg, after Germany pledged to cover a third of the investment required.Word of the agreement came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in Berlin. Intel acquired the land for two semiconductor facilities in Magdeburg in November. It says the first one is expected to start production in four or five years.“The investment in Germany means a significant expansion of Intel’s production capacity in Europe and is the biggest investment ever made by a foreign company in Germany,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is also the country’s vice chancellor, said in a statement. Before the revised letter of intent was signed Monday plans had foreseen a total investment of at least 17 billion euros. The German government confirmed that it will now ...

Most residents of northern Quebec town return after wildfire threat, but risks remain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

LEBEL-SUR-QUÉVILLON, Que. — The mayor of a northern Quebec town said Monday that firefighters were making progress combating a nearby forest fire, but he warned residents to be prepared should a new evacuation order be issued.About two-thirds of residents of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Que., began returning home over the weekend after officials lifted a 17-day evacuation order due to encroaching wildfires, Mayor Guy Lafrenière said. The return home, he added, had so far gone smoothly. Low winds have helped firefighters’ efforts, but the flammability index in the region remained high and could increase in the coming days, he said, adding that residents must respect bans on open-air fires and fireworks or risk a $1,000 fine.“We have to do everything we can to be very, very safe,” he said.Meanwhile, Quebec Premier François Legault on Monday told reporters in the municipality of Ste-Sophie, north of Montreal, that officials were still concerned about wildfires in the province...

UN members adopt first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas on Monday, with the U.N.’s chief hailing the historic agreement as giving the ocean “a fighting chance.”Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause and then stood up in a sustained standing ovation when Singapore’s ambassador on ocean issues, Rena Lee, who presided over the negotiations, banged her gavel after hearing no objections to the treaty’s approval.The treaty to protect biodiversity in waters outside national boundaries, known as the high seas, covering nearly half of earth’s surface, had been under discussion for more than 20 years as efforts to reach an agreement had repeatedly stalled. But in March delegates to an intergovernmental conference established by the U.N. General Assembly in December 2017 agreed on a treaty.The new treaty is under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which came into force in 1994, before marine biod...

Airbus wins record order for 500 jets from India’s IndiGo at Paris Air Show

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

PARIS (AP) — India’s IndiGo airline is buying 500 passenger jets from European planemaker Airbus, the two companies said Monday, in a record-setting order that underscores surging demand for air travel fueled by the country’s economic growth. IndiGo, India’s dominant carrier, is buying the narrow-body A320 aircraft in what the companies said was the single biggest purchase agreement in commercial aviation history. Executives from both companies announced the deal on the opening day of the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event focusing on aviation and space industry. They didn’t disclose how much the order was worth, but it would likely amount to tens of billions of dollars. The order is “an enormous milestone,” IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers said at a press conference. “No one has ever ordered an order of this magnitude. And it speaks to the potential of Indian aviation and the ambitions which IndiGo is having.”The purchase highlights how the two companies...

Canada Day events to feature citizenship ceremony in Ottawa, cross-country concert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada Day celebrations this year are set to feature a citizenship ceremony for 17 people in Ottawa, speeches from dignitaries and a cross-country concert with Canadian musicians.Ottawa’s LeBreton Flats Park will be open from 9 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. with a main stage and family-friendly activities including a teaching on connections to the land by elder Indigenous women. Newcomers from France, Cameroon and other countries are expected to take their oaths of citizenship, while Jann Arden and Tegan and Sara are on tap to play in a two-hour concert streamed from venues across the country.Ottawa police say they don’t expect any disruptions to scheduled events but will be monitoring throughout the day, and visitors to the park can expect security screening. Parking won’t be available at any of the Canada Day sites and several downtown roads will be closed, but public transit options and bicycle parking will be available at LeBreton Flats. Satellite events are a...

Large fire breaks out at Germany’s biggest theme park, police says blaze is “under control”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A large fire broke out at Germany’s biggest theme park Monday, sending a dense plume of black smoke billowing into the sky visible from miles around.Police said the firefighters were at the scene and that the blaze at the Europa-Park in the town of Rust, near the French border, was “under control.”“All visitors are currently in the process of leaving the park in an orderly manner,” police in the southwestern town of Offenburg said. “There is currently no information about injured persons.”Regional daily Badische Zeitung reported that the fire is centered around the Spanish-themed section of the park and an area known as the Magic World of Diamonds.Europa-Park is a popular tourist destination, that drew more than six million visitors last year, mostly from Germany, France and Switzerland.It has1 6 areas with themes based on different European countries, and three based on fantasy settings. The park also hosts conferences and is a popular venue for events and telev...

Indigenous artist’s design chosen for Afghan war monument

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:51:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Veterans of the war in Afghanistan were influential in choosing the final design for a monument that will memorialize Canada’s contributions in the conflict. Artist Adrian Stimson, a member of Siksika First Nation in Alberta, says the design unveiled today is inspired by the medicine wheel, an important symbol in many Indigenous cultures. The materials are reminiscent of the bases in Afghanistan that Stimson visited while taking part in the Canadian Forces Artists Program.The monument is set to be built in the Lebreton Flats area across the street from the Canadian War Museum. Officials say a jury selected a different design, but a survey that got more than 10,000 responses showed that veterans preferred Stimson’s creation. A total of 158 Canadian Armed Forces members were killed during the 13-year mission in Afghanistan.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2023.The Canadian Press