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Associated Press correspondent Roland Prinz, who spent decades covering Europe, dies at age 85

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

VIENNA (AP) — Roland Prinz, who was born as armies began marching across central Europe then spent nearly four decades covering the Cold War and the fall of communism for The Associated Press, has died. He was 85.Prinz was a linchpin of the AP’s coverage of the turmoil that accompanied the end of the Cold War, starting with the rise of Solidarity in Poland, stretching through the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic, the fall of the Berlin Wall and finally the breakup of Yugoslavia.He on Nov. 20 in Vienna. Throughout his career, Prinz was a gentlemanly presence in the news service’s Vienna bureau, helping newcomers navigate life in the Austrian capital and guiding coverage with his broad knowledge of central Europe. A team player, he was always anxious to contribute to stories, regardless of whether he got the byline, said former Vienna bureau chief Robert Reid.“Roland was an old school Central European, a gentleman of courtly manners and deep personal warmth behind a dignified, ...

Authorities in Haiti question former rebel leader Guy Philippe after the US repatriated him

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Authorities in Haiti questioned former rebel leader Guy Philippe on Friday at a police station where he remained held a day after the the United States repatriated him to Haiti, his lawyer said. Philippe is a convicted drug trafficker who played a key role in the 2004 rebellion against former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and also was accused of masterminding attacks on police stations and other targets.Philippe has an outstanding warrant stemming from a 2016 fatal attack on a police station in the southern coastal city of Les Cayes, police officials told The Associated Press on Thursday, speaking on condition an anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.Philippe was being held for questioning Friday, but has not been charged and no hearing has been held, his attorney Emmanuel Jeanty told the AP. The attorney said he would be visiting Philippe again on Friday to try to secure his release.The former rebel leader once served as po...

Ukrainian spy agency stages train explosions on a Russian railroad in Siberia, Ukrainian media say

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s spy agency staged two successive explosions on a railroad line in Siberia that serves as a key conduit for trade between Russia and China, Ukrainian media reported Friday. The attacks underscored Moscow’s vulnerability amid the war in UkraineUkrainska Pravda and other news outlets claimed the Security Service of Ukraine conducted a special operation to blow up trains loaded with fuel on the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which runs from southeastern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean in the Russian Far East. The media cited unidentified sources in Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, a regular practice in claims of previous attacks in Russia. The security service, which is known in Ukrainian as SBU for short, has not confirmed the reports. The first explosion hit a tanker train in the Severonomuisky tunnel in Buryatia early Thursday, causing a fire that took hours to extinguish, Russian news outlets said. The 15.3-kilometer (9.5-mile) tunnel in southern Siberia ...

Here’s a quick glance at unemployment rates for November, by Canadian city

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

OTTAWA — The national unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent in November. Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):_ St. John’s, N.L. 6.7 per cent (6.6)_ Halifax 5.8 per cent (6.2)_ Moncton, N.B. 6.0 per cent (6.3)_ Saint John, N.B. 5.3 per cent (5.8)_ Saguenay, Que. 3.0 per cent (3.3)_ Quebec City 2.7 per cent (2.8)_ Sherbrooke, Que. 4.9 per cent (4.2)_ Trois-Rivières, Que. 4.4 per cent (4.4)_ Montreal 5.7 per cent (5.4)_ Gatineau, Que. 4.2 per cent (4.0)_ Ottawa 4.7 per cent (5.1)_ Kingston, Ont. 5.8 per cent (4.8)_ Belleville, Ont. 4.9 per cent (6.5)_ Peterborough, Ont. 2.3 per cent (1.9)_ Oshawa, Ont. 7.3 per cent (6.9)_ Toronto 6.6 per cent (6.7)_ Hamilton, Ont. 5.3 per cent (5.2)_ St. Catharines-Nia...

Here’s a quick glance at unemployment rates for November, by province

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s national unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent in November. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):_ Newfoundland and Labrador 10.0 per cent (10.0)_ Prince Edward Island 8.1 per cent (6.2)_ Nova Scotia 6.8 per cent (6.6)_ New Brunswick 6.4 per cent (6.6)_ Quebec 5.2 per cent (4.9)_ Ontario 6.1 per cent (6.2)_ Manitoba 4.9 per cent (5.2)_ Saskatchewan 5.1 per cent (4.4)_ Alberta 5.9 per cent (5.8)_ British Columbia 5.3 per cent (5.4)This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2023.The Canadian Press

National employment numbers for November from Statistics Canada, at a glance

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

OTTAWA — A quick look at Canada’s November employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):Unemployment rate: 5.8 per cent (5.7)Employment rate: 61.8 per cent (61.9)Participation rate: 65.6 per cent (65.6)Number unemployed: 1,240,400 (1,229,400)Number working: 20,312,500 (20,287,600)Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 11.6 per cent (11.4)Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 5.0 per cent (5.0)Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.6 per cent (4.5)This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2023.The Canadian Press

NATO chief tells Turkey’s Erdogan that ‘the time has come’ to let Sweden join the alliance

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he has told Turkey’s president that “the time has come” to let Sweden become a member of the military alliance.Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not yet formally approved Sweden’s accession bid.Stoltenberg told The Associated Press that he urged Turkey to finalize the process as he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.“I met with President Erdogan this morning and I reiterated my message that the time has come to finalize the accession process for Sweden,” he said.Turkey has delayed ratification for more than a year, accusing Sweden of not taking Turkey’s security concerns seriously enough, including its fight against Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers to be security threats.An apparent breakthrough happened at a NATO summit in July when Erdogan said he would submit accession documents to Parli...

Vacuum tycoon Dyson loses a libel case against a UK newspaper for a column on his support of Brexit

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Billionaire vacuum cleaner tycoon James Dyson lost a libel lawsuit Friday against the Daily Mirror for a column that suggested he was a hypocrite who “screwed” Britain by moving his company’s headquarters to Singapore after supporting the U.K.’s breakup with the European Union.A High Court judge in London said the article was opinion and rejected Dyson’s claims that it was a “vicious and vitriolic” personal attack that damaged his reputation and harmed his philanthropic work encouraging young people to become engineers.Mirror columnist Brian Reade wrote that Dyson had “championed Vote Leave due to the economic opportunities it would bring to British industry before moving his global head office to Singapore.”Dyson, 76, who is listed as the fifth-richest person in the U.K. by The Sunday Times, advocated in support of Brexit in 2016, arguing that it would create more wealth and jobs by being outside the EU.In the column, Reade pretended to address child...

New York Times report says Israel knew about Hamas attack over a year in advance

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military was aware of Hamas ‘ plan to launch an attack on Israeli soil over a year before the devastating Oct. 7 operation that killed hundreds of people, The New York Times reported Friday.It was the latest in a series of signs that top Israeli commanders either ignored or played down warnings that Hamas was plotting the attack, which triggered a war against the Islamic militant group that has devastated the Gaza Strip.The Times said Israeli officials were in possession of a 40-page battle plan, code-named “Jericho Wall,” that detailed a hypothetical Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities. It was unclear how the document was obtained by Israel, but the article said that it had been translated — indicating it may have been in Arabic and directly intercepted from Hamas. The Israeli military declined to comment on the report, saying it was “currently focused on eliminating the threat from the terrorist organization Hamas.”“Questions of this ...

In Romania, tens of thousands attend a military parade to mark Great Union Day

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 12:37:29 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Tens of thousands of people turned out in Romania’s capital on Friday to watch a military parade that included troops from NATO allies to mark the country’s national day.The annual parade at the Arc de Triomphe in Bucharest brought together thousands of marching soldiers as dozens of combat jets and helicopters flew overhead. Many spectators waved Romanian tricolor flags: red, yellow, and blue.Friday’s ceremony celebrated the 105th anniversary of Great Union Day of 1918 when modern-day Romania was formed after its unification with the neighboring regions of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina. After communism ended in 1989, Dec. 1 was declared a national holiday to commemorate the ethnic Romanians in Alba Iulia who declared a union of Transylvania with Romania.In a reception held at Cotroceni Palace after the parade, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis described the day as a holiday “that brings Romanians together, no matter where we are, reconnectin...