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Erdoğan backs Ukraine’s NATO bid, says Putin will visit Turkey ‘next month’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said early on Saturday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would visit Turkey next month and stressed his enthusiasm for peace talks in which Ankara could play a decisive role. He made the remarks during a visit to Istanbul by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom he greeted as his “dear friend.” After more than two hours of talks at the Vahdettin mansion in Istanbul, Erdoğan also backed Kyiv’s membership of NATO and offered a robust defense of Ukraine’s independence, declaring Russia’s invasion to have contravened international law. Noting Turkey had made the “most effort” of any country in previous attempts at diplomacy and stressing Ankara’s role in a deal to allow Ukraine to export grain out of the Black Sea, Erdoğan insisted Turkey had the “most sincere desire” to see Kyiv and Moscow return to the negotiating table. Zelenskyy also observed that “Turkey is ready ...

Brockton family tearfully reunited with service dog

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

A local dog, snatched from a porch Thursday in Brockton, was reunited with his family Friday.Murphy the Shih Tzu is back with mom Anna Correia, a day before her birthday. Murphy is a service animal for Anna who is battling cancer. The Correias called 7NEWS as they desperately searched for Murphy.“He’s a part of our family,” owner George Correia said. “It’s tough when people do this, it’s crazy.”With help from neighbors, friends and family, the Correias were able to track down surveillance video and pictures of a teen who may have taken Murphy.  George hadn’t slept since Murphy disappeared. He drove everywhere hoping to catch a glimpse of the two-year-old dog.  “I’ve been beeping around with my truck because when I beep when I’m home when I hit the button you hear him barking he knows I’m home,” George said. With help from Brockton Police, a tip came in that Murphy was left at a local Walmart. George was reunited with Murphy at the police station.   ...

Police arrest Everett man after TD Bank robbery in downtown Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

An Everett man was quickly apprehended after a Friday morning bank robbery in downtown Boston.32-year-old Jonathan Pagan was arrested after allegedly robbing the TD Bank on Winter Street in Downtown Crossing around 8:30 a.m.Pagan told the teller he had a gun and took off with cash.He fled toward the Park Street MBTA station and boarded the Orange line to the Massachusetts Avenue stop, where officials observed cash “protruding” from his pocket.Pagan was arrested with resistance and is charged with armed robbery.

‘Clone’ or competitor? Users and lawyers compare Twitter and Threads

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

By MATT O’BRIEN and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (The Associated Press)Just how similar is Instagram’s chatty new app, Threads, to Twitter?In a cease-and-desist letter earlier this week, Twitter threatened legal action against Instagram parent company Meta over the new text-based app Threads, which it called a “copycat.” Threads has drawn tens of millions of users since launching as the latest rival to Elon Musk’s social media platform. Threads creators pushed back on the accusations, and legal experts note that much is still unknown. For now, “it’s sort of a big question mark,” Jacob Noti-Victor, an associate professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law School who specializes in intellectual property, told The Associated Press.The people starting to explore Threads, however, are already making their own observations.“People are calling it a Twitter clone but I think there are some key product differences,” said Alexandra...

The Real McCoy, popular Scarborough restaurant forced to close, set to reopen at new spot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

When George Mihail, the owner of The Real McCoy, announced he was being forced to shut his doors in late 2022 due to redevelopment, it sparked an outpouring of love and support at his 53-year-old Scarborough restaurant while also leaving a question about what the future would look like for the beloved business.More than six months after the doors were locked at the former Markham Road establishment for the last time, that lingering question has been answered in resounding form: The Real McCoy is back and seemingly stronger than ever.“It was a short six months and you know what, can’t wait for people to try and come back and support us. Love you Scarborough, love Toronto,” Mihail told CityNews during an interview on Friday inside the new location at Bellamy Road North and Lawrence Avenue East.“This is going to be like a flagship store for The Real McCoy and … we would like to open up more stores in the future.”It was in December when CityNews first...

Trudeau says pressure is on to end B.C. port strike, on day seven of stoppage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

VANCOUVER — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will continue putting pressure on both sides to end the British Columbia port strike, as the stoppage drags on for a seventh day.Trudeau, who’s in Calgary, said he’s aware of how “impactful” the strike has been on producers in the Prairies. About 7,400 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada walked off the job on Saturday at about 30 ports in B.C.There’s been no sign of a break in the deadlock that emerged when talks broke down on Monday. The BC Maritime Employers Association is urging the union to return to bargaining under “a voluntary mediation-arbitration process,” while the union accuses the employers of trying to get the government to do its “dirty work.” Trudeau said the best deals are made at the bargaining table, and he knows that “a solution is out there.”“But I also know that pressure is mounting day by day...

UN to keep pushing for extension of food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Top U.N. officials vowed Friday to keep working for an extension of the deal that allows food and fertilizer exports from Russia and Ukraine despite their war, pushing back at Moscow’s pessimism about a renewal before the July 17 expiration.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both countries to make global food security a priority and “help ensure that these products can reach global markets smoothly, efficiently and at scale,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. “Together, the agreements are contributing to sustained reductions in global food prices, which are now more than 23% below the record highs reached in March last year.”Turkey and the U.N. brokered a breakthrough accord with the warring sides last July, which has enabled Ukraine to ship over 32 million tons of grain from Black Sea ports to global markets. Moscow, however, complains that the separate U.N.-Russia memorandum on facilitating shipments of Russian food and fertilizer still ...

B.C. RCMP announce corruption, drug trafficking charges against former constable

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

SURREY, B.C. — The B.C. RCMP says a former probationary constable at the force’s Surrey detachment has been charged with multiple offences after a months-long corruption investigation. Mounties say the ex-constable faces 13 charges related to drug trafficking, breach of trust, theft, cannabis distribution and conspiracy to commit robbery.Police say the force started a covert investigation in the summer of 2020 after becoming aware that the former constable was allegedly associating with criminals. They say he was arrested after a six-month investigation in January 2021 for offences allegedly committed both on duty and off the job. The B.C. RCMP says in a release that the officer was suspended from duty after his release and had his security clearance revoked before he resigned in June 2021. Police say the investigation was handled by the B.C. RCMP’s anti-corruption unit, and the former officer is due in Surrey Provincial Court on Aug. 24. This report by The Canadian Pres...

New minimum pay rates for NYC app-based food delivery workers are delayed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge Friday ordered New York City to temporarily delay new minimum pay standards for app-based food delivery workers, a day after being sued by Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub.City officials recently announced plans to substantially increase earnings for those workers in the coming years to provide them with more financial stability. The law was set to take effect July 12 with an initial increased pay rate of $17.96 an hour.But food delivery services DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber, along with New York-based Relay Delivery, sued Thursday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The companies claimed the city’s rule-making process was flawed and that higher costs would be passed along to consumers. Judge Nicholas Moyne on Friday ordered a temporary delay on enacting the new standard pending a hearing on July 31.The food delivery giants praised the order.“We are pleased with the judge’s decision today to delay implementation of a rule that, if allowed to stand, will ha...

North Dakota election official challenges mail ballot counting law in Trump-aligned group’s lawsuit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:23:24 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota county election official is suing the state’s election director to block the counting of mail-in ballots received after Election Day in a lawsuit filed by a conservative group that also brought lawsuits amid former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud in 2020.An election law expert says the Public Interest Legal Foundation appeared to be “court-shopping” for a conservative circuit with its case, which seeks an injunction against the election director for enforcing the state’s laws.Burleigh County Auditor Mark Splonskowski, who was elected last fall, alleges he “is harmed by instructions to accept and cast ballots received after Election Day,” and that “because federal and state law conflict on the day the ballots must be turned in, he faces an impossibility in enforcing the law,” according to a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court.“Despite federal law assigning one day as Election Day, North Dakota...