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Former Toronto mayors urge city staff to reconsider renaming Dundas Street

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

Three former Toronto mayors are expressing their opposition to changing the name of one of the city’s most well-known streets.Former mayors David Crombie, John Sewell and Art Eggleton have issued a letter to current mayor Olivia Chow and city councillors, asking them to reconsider the decision to rename Dundas Street.“Henry Dundas, for whom the street is named, was a committed abolitionist who, when facing strong opposition and certain defeat, rather than give up his quest, advocated for interim measures that would ultimately lead to that result,” reads the letter.“It seems he was doing the best he could under challenging circumstances at that time in history.”Council voted in favour of changing the name of the 23-kilometre east-west thoroughfare in 2021 due to its namesakes alleged connection to the slave trade. Henry Dundas never set foot in Toronto and was an active British politician from the 1770s to the early 1800s when the parliament was debating...

Tenor Freddie de Tommaso, a young British sensation, makes US opera debut

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — “British Tenor Saves Night at Opera,” proclaimed the Daily Mail.The opera was Puccini’s “Tosca,” and the tenor was then-28-year-old Freddie de Tommaso, jumping in at London’s Royal Opera House when the scheduled singer withdrew after Act 1 because of illness.That was nearly two years ago. Now de Tommaso has just made his U.S. debut at the Santa Fe Opera in the same role, appearing to enthusiastic applause on Aug. 12, five days after a bout of laryngitis forced him to cancel his first performance. His final performance is Saturday.And he’ll return in the 2024-25 season for another debut, this time at the Metropolitan Opera, where he’ll again be Tosca’s lover, Mario Cavaradossi.In an interview at the opera house here, de Tommaso reflected on his career so far and the “star is born” moment in London that first brought him headlines.“So many people thought I was like an understudy or somebody they found walking down the street whistling ‘Tosca,’ and that wasn’t the...

TVO employees walk off the job Monday after negotiations stall

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

TORONTO — Dozens of workers at Ontario’s public broadcaster walked off the job Monday morning.The Canadian Media Guild, which represents the workers, says it wasn’t able to reach a fair agreement with the employer. The union represents around 70 journalists, producers and education workers at the Ontario organization.Earlier in August, almost 96 per cent of Canadian Media Guild members at TVO rejected an offer from the employer. The union has previously said that one of its main bargaining sticking points is the use of contracts to fill permanent positions.It has also said the wages on offer are well below what’s needed for workers to catch up to inflation. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2023.The Canadian Press

Premier Caroline Cochrane recounts search for homeless during Yellowknife evacuation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane was a social worker before entering politics, so when the territory ordered everyone in its capital to leave last week due to encroaching wildfires, she said she checked to make sure homeless people weren’t forgotten.“My heart’s with those people. I’ve worked in that field for over 20 years,” Cochrane told an online news conference about the firefighting efforts over the weekend, when she was asked about government plans to keep in touch with Yellowknife’s homeless.Cochrane, who is among the nearly 70 per cent of N.W.T. residents forced to flee the fire threat, responded that the government worked closely with shelters in the city of about 20,000 to make sure people were being brought to the evacuation centre.But she said she knew that many of the most vulnerable people — in fact, most of them — don’t use the shelter all of the time.“On Thursday morning, I drove to the shelt...

Nigerian leader swears in 45-member Cabinet with a promise to fast-track reforms

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Monday swore in 45 ministers nearly three months after his election, promising that his government will accelerate its development agenda.The Cabinet is intended to help improve Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, where millions are grappling with economic hardship worsened by the new government’s policies which have had an immediate impact of further squeezing millions of poor and hungry Nigerians.At an inauguration ceremony in the capital, Abuja, Tinubu acknowledged Nigeria’s “daunting” challenges and said the Cabinet brings an opportunity to implement “long overdue reforms.” “We must hold each other responsible; we have to do the job to meet the expectations of all Nigerians,” the president told the ministers. It is Nigeria’s largest Cabinet since the country’s return to democracy in 1999, triggering criticisms about high government expenditure despite Tinubu’s promises to cut costs. Fewer than 20...

10 damaged homes remain uninhabitable, a week after Pennsylvania explosion that killed 6

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

PLUM, Pa. (AP) — Three houses at the center of a recent explosion near Pittsburgh that killed six people will need to be torn down and 10 others are not currently inhabitable, county officials said over the weekend.The Aug. 12 blast in Plum leveled one home and engulfed two neighboring houses in flames. The 10 uninhabitable homes will need to be inspected by structural engineers for next steps, an Allegheny County spokesperson said.Investigators with the county fire marshal’s office are still trying to determine the origin and cause of the explosion in a development about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh. All of the victims were found on the property of the home that exploded, an Allegheny County spokesperson said. One victim was found outside of the garage area. Four others were located in the basement and the sixth was located and rescued from the rear yard. He was transported to a trauma center, where he died several days later.Natural gas from an abandoned under...

Manchester United let Mason Greenwood leave despite criminal case being closed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United said Monday that Mason Greenwood will leave the club despite a criminal investigation of possible attempted rape being closed by prosecutors six months ago. The 21-year-old England forward has not played for United since January 2022 and his future remained unclear during the club’s own investigation.“All those involved, including Mason, recognize the difficulties with him recommencing his career at Manchester United,” the club said in a statement. “It has therefore been mutually agreed that it would be most appropriate for him to do so away from Old Trafford, and we will now work with Mason to achieve that outcome.”Greenwood said it was “the best decision for us all … to continue my football career away from Old Trafford, where my presence will not be a distraction for the club.”Greenwood had been implicated in controlling and coercive behavior and assault relating to a young woman after images and videos were posted online. Prosec...

Montreal police investigating after overnight violence leaves one dead, two injured

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

Montreal police are investigating separate violent incidents last night that left one person dead and two people injured.Police say they responded to a call about gunshots a little after midnight in the St-Michel borough.They say officers and ambulance crews arrived to find an injured 25-year-old man, who was pronounced dead at the scene. About one hour later police responded to a 911 call in the nearby Montréal-Nord borough and found a 52-year-old man in an apartment who they say was injured by a sharp object.Police say a 34-year-old man with apparent stab wounds approached officers who were investigating the scene.Montreal police are not confirming whether the two injured men knew each other or were victims of the same violent incident.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2023.The Canadian Press

Man dies while trying to rescue mother and child from New Hampshire river

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

ALBANY, N.H. (AP) — A Massachusetts man died over the weekend while rescuing relatives from a New Hampshire river in the second such death in the state less than a week, officials said.A mother and a child became stuck around midday Sunday in a fast stretch of the Swift River in Albany, New Hampshire, the state Department of Public Safety said in a news release.The father, Vincent Parr, 37, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, went in to help and also got caught in the current, investigators said.The mother and child reached shore safely, but bystanders had to bring Parr to the riverbank. He was pronounced dead after lifesaving efforts at the scene.Parr’s effort to rescue someone in trouble was typical of him, his mother, Becca Parr, said Monday.“From the day he was born, he was so selfless,” she said. “I know he didn’t think for a moment, ‘I could die,’ he just did what he could. He was a loving soul, kind-hearted and never put himself first.”Parr’s death remains und...

Spain’s king begins talks with party leaders in hopes of choosing one to form a government

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:12 GMT

MADRID (AP) — King Felipe VI began consultations with leaders of Spain’s political parties Monday to see which one has the best chance to form a government following an inconclusive national election last month.The July 23 election left no obvious coalition with a clear path to power. Parties on the left and the right received almost an equal number of seats. The king started his talks with the representatives of several smaller parties. He is expected to wrap up the sessions Tuesday, when he plans to receive acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party finished second in the election, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whose right-of-center Popular Party won the most votes.Both Feijóo and Sánchez hope to receive the mandate to try to form a government, but it remains to be seen which of them can muster an absolute majority of 176 votes to support them in Spain’s 350-seat parliament.Sánchez’s Socialists, the center-left Sumar (Joining Forces) ...