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Russia ends visa regime for Georgia, restores direct flights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed decrees abolishing visas for Georgian nationals and lifting a 2019 ban on direct flights to the South Caucasus nation. According to the documents, starting from May 15, Georgian nationals will be allowed to enter Russia without visas — unless they’re coming to Russia to work or to stay for longer than 90 days. The second decree lifts a ban on flights to Georgia that Russia unilaterally imposed in 2019. Following Putin’s decrees, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement lifting its 2019 recommendation for Russian citizens to avoid traveling to Georgia. Russia-Georgia relations have been rocky and complicated since the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s. The two countries fought a short war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two Russia-friendly separatist regions. Tbilisi had severed diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the issue of the regions’ status remains a key irritant, even as relati...

Imran Khan in court as more violence erupts in Pakistan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan appeared in court Wednesday, a day after he was dragged from another court and arrested in Islamabad, setting off clashes between his supporters and police. Angry protesters stormed and set fire to a building housing Radio Pakistan in the northwest as the death toll from the violence rose to four. In Islamabad, a judge was asked to approve keeping the 70-year-old opposition leader in custody for up to 14 days. Khan, who lost power last year but remains the country’s most popular opposition figure, is the seventh former prime minister to be arrested in Pakistan. His dramatic arrest on Tuesday deepened the political turmoil and sparked violent demonstrations. Two people were killed first, one Tuesday in the southwestern city of Quetta and another in the northwestern city of Peshawar overnight. Two more were in clashes with police Wednesday in Peshawar. In eastern Punjab province, where authorities said 157 police...

Motorcyclist killed in two-vehicle crash on Hwy. 88 in Simcoe County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

A 53-year-old man is dead after a crash involving a motorcycle and an SUV north of Toronto.Emergency crews were called to County Road 88 east of Highway 400, in the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday.Investigators with South Simcoe Police Service say the Bradford man who was riding the motorcycle was pronounced dead at the scene.The driver remained at the scene.

Maple Leafs fans set to gather as team fights to stave off elimination

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

Fans will once again gather in downtown Toronto Wednesday night as the Maple Leafs fight to stay alive in the NHL playoffs.The Leafs are playing in Florida, where the Panthers are hosting Game 4 with a 3-0 lead in the second-round playoff series.It’s the furthest the Leafs have gone in the playoffs in nearly 20 years after making it out of the opening round for the first time since 2004.Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) says it is set to welcome fans to an expanded area outside Toronto’s Scotiabank arena on Wednesday evening where they can watch the game on large screens.Spokesperson Victoria Malisani says MLSE’s two tailgate spaces can accommodate about 6,500 fans in total.Similar to other playoff games, Toronto police say there will be an increased police presence around Maple Leaf Square and the Scotiabank Arena to ensure public safety, minimize disruptions, and manage traffic.“The crowds so far have been relatively peaceful, and we hope it stays ...

Schoolboy in Tokyo stabbed in chest, suspect arrested

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese police said a schoolboy was stabbed in the chest as he stepped out of his house to go to school Wednesday in a residential area of downtown Tokyo. A suspect was arrested at the scene. The 13-year-old junior high school student was rushed to a hospital, but his injuries were not life-threatening, the Tokyo metropolitan police said.Police said they arrested a 61-year-old man for allegedly assaulting the student. Police refused to say if the suspect, who they said was unemployed, admitted to the attack or gave a motive. Police said the boy, whose name is withheld because he is a minor, was stabbed by a kitchen knife. The suspect had blood on his hands and clothes when he was arrested, media reports said.The attack occurred in a residential neighborhood, a few minutes’ walk away from a train station. Japan has strict gun controls and shootings are rare but there have been high-profile cases of random knife attacks on subways and arson in recent years.The Asso...

ASEAN leaders to agree to cooperate in fighting cyber scams

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia (AP) — Southeast Asian leaders have agreed to tighten border controls and law enforcement and improve public education to fight criminal syndicates that are trafficking workers to other nations, where they are forced to participate in online fraud, according to a draft statement to be issued Thursday at the end of a regional summit.The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, who are meeting in the Indonesian town of Labuan Bajo, will express concern “about the increasing abuse of technology in facilitating trafficking in persons in Southeast Asia and globally, proliferated through the use and abuse of social media and other online platforms,” according to a draft of their statement obtained by The Associated Press.The use of social media and other platforms by cybercrime syndicates has “complicated anti-trafficking in persons efforts, as well as multiplied the number and scale of the cases,” it says.Cybercrime scams have become a major issue in ...

Moscow hosts landmark Turkey-Syria rapprochement talks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister on Wednesday hosted his counterparts from Turkey, Syria and Iran for talks that marked the highest-level contact between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian civil war over a decade ago.In his opening speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that the meeting would pave the way to drafting a road map for normalizing Turkish-Syrian relations. Lavrov said he sees Moscow’s task as “not only in consolidating politically the progress that has been made, but also in determining general guidelines for further movement.”Russia has spent years trying to help Syrian President Bashar Assad rebuild ties with Turkey and other countries that were fractured in the war, which killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million.Russia intervened militarily in Syria starting in September 2015, teaming up with Iran to help Assad’s government to reclaim most of the country. Moscow has m...

Can you afford to age in place?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

Most older adults ages 50 to 80 say it’s important to stay in their homes for as long as they can, according to the 2022 National Poll on Healthy Aging from the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan. But only 1 in 3 said their home “definitely” has the features needed to allow them to age in place.Aging in place isn’t as simple as just staying home — you must consider the costs, including those for age-related home renovations, home maintenance and caregiving. Some costs may be covered by Medicare if you meet certain requirements, but most will be fully out of pocket.“We know that about 90% of aging individuals want to age in place, but there are a number of aspects they have to consider,” says Jill McNamara, senior director of enterprise operations at Care.com. From grab bars to yard upkeep, here’s what you must evaluate.CAN YOU RENOVATE?Staying in your home usually means making modifications so you can live in it safely. Many homes in the U.S...

Tim Hortons signs deal to start opening locations in South Korea later this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

TORONTO — Tim Hortons says the coffee and doughnut chain has signed a deal to open locations in South Korea starting later this year.The company says it has signed a master franchise agreement with BKR Co. Ltd. Financial terms of the agreement were not immediately available.BKR is the company that operates Burger King, which is also owned by Tim Hortons parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc., in South Korea.Tim Hortons has about 5,600 restaurants across 15 countries.In addition to Tim Hortons and Burger King, Restaurant Brands’ other banners include Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Firehouse Subs.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:QSR)The Canadian Press

Woman in custody in connection with 6 baseball bat attacks on Northwest Side: police

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:04:20 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago police have arrested a woman in connection with six baseball bat attacks since Saturday.In the latest incident, two women were attacked with a bat Tuesday morning in the city's Albany Park neighborhood in an assault captured on video.Police confirm a battery incident occurred in the 4500 block of N. Mozart St. in Chicago's Albany Park just before 11:30 a.m. Concerned citizen intervenes during attempted child luring in Rogers Park Video obtained by WGN News shows a woman swinging what appears to be a metal bat multiple times, striking another woman as she held onto a nearby stroller. When the woman lets go of the stroller, she is attacked again by the offender.According to police, the attacker was driving a white sedan on Mozart. She exited the vehicle, approached the two women and began striking them with the baseball bat. The woman then got into her car and fled the area, police added. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesPolice did not say what led to the a...