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Taylor Swift is named Time Magazine’s person of the year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Is the year of Taylor Swift over now? Not yet.Time Magazine named Swift its person of the year on Wednesday, a week after Spotify announced she was the most-played artist on the streaming platform. Swift was picked from a group of nine finalists that included Barbie, King Charles III, and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, among others. “While her popularity has grown across the decades, this is the year that Swift, 33, achieved a kind of nuclear fusion: shooting art and commerce together to release an energy of historic force,” Time said about her selection.Her year included the wildly popular Eras Tour and concert movie, the release of her reimagined ‘1989’ album, and her closely watched relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. She’s even the subject of college courses. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was Time’s 2022 person of the year.The Associated Press

A group of Norwegian unions says it will act against Tesla in solidarity with its Swedish colleagues

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A conglomerate of unions in Norway said Wednesday it will take action against Tesla in solidarity with its Swedish colleagues, who are demanding that the Texas-based automaker sign a collective bargaining agreement. Jørn Eggum, the head of Fellesforbundet, or the United Federation of Trade Unions, said if Tesla doesn’t accept the demand from Sweden’s powerful metalworkers’ union IF Metall by Dec. 20, “we will proceed with the implementation of boycott actions.” Fellesforbundet is organizing, among others, employees in car repair workshops.“This is a clear signal to Tesla that they cannot transport Swedish Teslas through Norway,” Eggum said, adding it was too early to say exactly which measures will be implemented. If they attempt it anyway, “it will be met with actions, and we will take the measures necessary to make this work.”Dock workers at Sweden’s four largest ports already have stopped the delivery of Tesla vehicles in solidarity with the 130 m...

Why is Alberta using the sovereignty act? And what happens now?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith doesn’t think the federal government’s proposed clean energy regulations are fair, and last year she gave herself the tool she needs to fight them. The Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act is designed to allow the province to refuse to enforce specific federal laws or policies “that violate the jurisdictional rights of Alberta.”Of course, the act hasn’t been tested in court, and it’s difficult to know if Smith is doing this because she intends to fight these regulations all the way, or as a bargaining chip, since Ottawa has not officially confirmed the specifics of the regulations. Rod Nickel is a reporter for Reuters. He covers energy, agriculture and politics in Western Canada, focusing on energy transition. “It is the first flexing … of the Sovereignty Act, but it’s still really unclear what this will actually result in real terms.”Either way, the use of the act s...

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to receive Serbian passport, president says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak will be getting a Serbian passport, Serbia’s president announced Wednesday.The convivial Wozniak, who teamed up with the late Steve Jobs to found Apple in 1976, arrived in Serbia ahead of Dec. 17 parliamentary and local elections, in an apparent boost for President Aleksandar Vučić and his populist right-wing governing party.Wozniak said he feels “so lucky” to be in Serbia and that he and his wife Janet, who is also getting a passport, will from now on “promote” Serbia. He said he will become a Serb living in the U.S.Vučić said at a joint news conference in Belgrade that “it is an honor” for Serbia to deliver the passports to Wozniak and his wife.“Now we can proudly say that a computer genius is a Serb,” Vučić said.Wozniak’s visit, which was announced on Tuesday, was met with disapproval from opposition parties, which accused the government or ruling party of paying Wozniak to make PR appearances.“No one paid hi...

President Joe Biden and the White House support Indigenous lacrosse team for the 2028 Olympics

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

President Joe Biden is pushing to allow the Indigenous nation that invented lacrosse to play under its own flag when the sport returns to the Olympics in 2028.Biden’s position, being announced Wednesday at the White House Tribal Nations Summit, is a request for the International Olympic Committee to allow the Haudenosaunee Nationals to compete as its own team at the Los Angeles Games.That would require the IOC to make an exception to a rule that permits teams playing only as part of an official national Olympic committee to compete in the Olympics. The Haudenosaunee have competed as their own team at a number of international events since 1990.“We’re hopeful the IOC will see it our way, as well,” Tom Perez, the White House senior adviser and director of intergovernmental affairs, told The Associated Press. “If we’re successful, it won’t simply be the flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy that marches in the Olympics, it will be the flag of Indigenous pe...

A new Dutch parliament has been sworn in after Wilders’ victory in the national election 2 weeks ago

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A new lower house of the Dutch parliament was sworn in Wednesday, two weeks after the far-right party of lawmaker Geert Wilders won a general election in a seismic shift that reverberated through Europe.While the newly configured Second Chamber is now installed, talks to form a new ruling coalition remain at an early stage, with a “scout” still talking to leaders about possible combinations to succeed the last four-party administration led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte.The scout is expected to send a report to parliament before a debate, likely next week, on the next step in the coalition formation process.Rutte, the Netherlands’ longest serving premier, will remain in office until a new coalition is formed and sworn in. Talks to form Rutte’s final coalition took some nine months, a record.Wilders’ anti-Islam, anti-immigration Party for Freedom won 37 seats in the 150-seat Second Chamber of Parliament in the Nov. 22 election, putting hi...

US experts are in Cyprus to assist police investigating alleged sanctions evasion by Russians

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A group of experts from the United States is in Cyprus to assist law enforcement authorities with investigations into alleged sanctions evasion by Russian oligarchs, Cyprus’ government said Wednesday.Spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis told reporters that President Nikos Christodoulides has met the experts who will advise police on how best to conduct probes into cases involving financial crimes. They will stay for a few days in the east Mediterranean island nation and return later to continue providing assistance.Cypriot officials said the six-member team includes experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the matter publicly.Christodoulides told The Associated Press in an interview last month that he personally reached out to a “third country” he didn’t name for help with new and old allegations that Cypriot financial service providers h...

Hanukkah message of light in darkness feels uniquely relevant to US Jews amid war, antisemitism

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Preparing for Hanukkah — Judaism’s celebration of finding light in the darkness — feels uniquely somber yet defiant this year for the diverse Jewish community in Miami-area towns that many consider a welcoming home for their faith.Even here, daily life for many Jews has been upended by the surprise attack on Oct. 7 in Israel, when Hamas militants killed about 1,200, mostly civilians, and by the rise in antisemitism worldwide during the ensuing war, in which more than 15,000 Palestinians have died.As a result, there’s a sense of dread in South Florida, but also a new sense of purpose for Holocaust survivors and new moms alike, regardless of their politics or religious observance, as they prepare for the holiday.“I feel like we’re at war,” said Rabbi Sholom Lipskar, who started the Shul of Bal Harbour more than 40 years ago near the beach in Surfside. But he’s planning a bigger-than-usual menorah lighting for Hanukkah’s start this week. “God didn’t put u...

At least 21 deaths and 600 cases of dengue fever in Mali

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Dengue fever is on the rise in Mali, where officials are reporting new infections and deaths from the virus this week.Mali’s director general of health and public hygiene, Dr. Cheick Amadou Tidiane Traore, told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that his department had counted 21 deaths and 600 cases of the virus as of Monday.Dengue is a viral infection spread by mosquitoes that mostly causes flu-like illness. In severe cases, the disease can cause joint pain, swollen glands, severe bleeding and death. There is no specific treatment protocol, but two vaccines have been recommended by the World Health Organization for countries that suffer regular outbreaks.The Malian government has not yet officially released any figures on the disease to the general public, nor has it announced whether or not it has requested aid from the World Health Organization. With the country in political transition already facing the threat of armed groups linked to al-Qaeda a...

Roots reports Q3 sales and profit down from year ago as it faces economic headwinds

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:51:22 GMT

TORONTO — Roots Corp. is reporting its third-quarter profit and revenue fell compared with a year ago as it says it faced economic headwinds.The clothing retailer says it earned $519,000 or a penny per share for the quarter ended Oct. 28, down from a profit of $2.2 million or five cents per share in the same quarter last year.Sales totalled $63.5 million for the quarter, down from $69.8 million a year earlier.The company says the drop came as direct-to-consumer sales, which includes its corporate retail stores and e-commerce sales, totalled $52.2 million, down from $56.9 million a year ago.Roots says the drop was driven by lower discounted sales and the tightening of consumer discretionary spending, while full-price sales rose three per cent compared with a year ago.Partner and other sales, which includes wholesale branded products, licensing to manufacturing partners and certain custom products, totalled $11.3 million, down from $12.9 million in the same quarter last year.This repo...