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UK’s botched Rwanda deportation plan comes with £290M price tag

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

LONDON — How much does it cost Britain’s feuding Conservatives to talk about deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda? £290 million.The governing party has spent the week fighting over its flagship asylum policy, aimed at sending people seeking refuge in the U.K. to the east African nation for processing and possible resettlement there. But the policy, mired in legal challenge, has still not seen a single flight leave the ground.A new law unveiled by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week was meant to overcome a host of legal objections to the policy. But ministers were again forced onto the defensive Friday morning after an updated cost estimate showed just how much Britain is spending on the grounded plan.In a letter to two parliamentary committees, the top civil servant at the Home Office outlined an extra £100 million cost this year of the “Migration and Economic Development Partnership” signed with Rwanda to make the deal happen. That comes on top of the £140 million ...

Jailed Russian nationalist Igor Girkin fears being eliminated like Wagner’s Prigozhin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

The MH17 killer is now afraid of being killed himself. Igor Girkin, a pro-war Russian nationalist jailed for challenging President Vladimir Putin, is worried he will meet the same fate as Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash earlier this year after rebelling against the Russian leader.“My arrest happened a month after Prigozhin’s rebellion,” Girkin told Russian media Baza in an interview released Thursday. “My greatest fear is that instead of the usual criminal punishment, I will be ‘amnestied’ in the same way as the Cook,” Girkin added, in a reference to Prigozhin, who was nicknamed “Putin’s chef” after his proximity to the Russian leader allowed him to secure lucrative government catering contracts.Girkin, a 52-year-old former colonel from the Russian spy service who goes by the nom de guerre Strelkov (“Shooter”), is notorious for leading Russian paramilitary troops into Ukraine̵...

Metrolinx to provide update on Eglinton Crosstown work at most delayed station

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

Metrolinx officials are set to provide a long-awaited tour of the most problematic part of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT construction project during an update Friday morning.Work on the 19-kilometre, 25-station light rail transit line between Weston and Kennedy roads began in 2011 and while construction across the Eglinton Crosstown is more than 97 per cent done, crews have been struggling to finish at and near the intersection of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue.During a late November Metrolinx board meeting, the provincial transportation agency’s chief capital officer confirmed that’s where Crosslinx Transit Solutions – the private-sector consortium responsible for building the LRT line – were concentrating their efforts.Andrew Hope said Eglinton Crosstown-related road restrictions along the route have been largely removed, but there are still around 400 metres affected above and near the Eglinton station. He said road decking needs to be removed on Eglinton A...

Dutch police arrest a Syrian accused of sexual violence and other crimes in Syria’s civil war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Syrian refugee was arrested Friday in the Netherlands on suspicion of crimes against humanity including sexual violence while he was allegedly head of an interrogation team in a militia aligned to the government of President Bashar Assad.The arrest of the 55-year-old man marks the first time Dutch authorities have charged a suspect with sexual violence as a crime against humanity, the National Public Prosecution Service said in a statement.He is the latest suspect charged in the Netherlands with crimes committed during Syria’s grinding civil war. Under universal jurisdiction, the Netherlands can prosecute certain crimes even if they were committed abroad. The Netherlands and Canada have also taken Syria to the United Nations’ top court, accusing Assad’s administration of a years-long campaign of “institutionalized” torture against its own people.Following an investigation by the Dutch National Police’s International Crimes Team...

Judge rules against Prince Harry in early stage of libel case against Daily Mail publisher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry lost a preliminary round Friday in his libel case against against the publisher of the Daily Mail tabloid over an article that said he tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the U.K. after giving up his status as a working member of the royal family. A London judge said the Duke of Sussex failed to knock out Associated Newspaper Ltd.’s defense that its article reflected an honest opinion. A hearing is scheduled Tuesday to discuss the consequences of the ruling. Justice Matthew Nicklin said in that ruling that “it is not fanciful that the Defendant will be successful, at trial.” He scheduled a hearing Tuesday in the High Court to discuss the consequences of the ruling. The ruling comes just a day after another judge concluded three days of arguments — mostly behind closed doors — over whether the government unfairly stripped Harry of his security detail after he and his family moved to the U.S. in 2020. Harry, 39, the younger son ...

Nvidia CEO suggests Malaysia could be AI ‘manufacturing’ hub as Southeast Asia expands data centers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The CEO of technology giant Nvidia said Friday that he views Malaysia as a potential hub for artificial intelligence “manufacturing,” though he did not confirm the chipmaker is in talks with a local conglomerate to set up AI data centers in the Southeast Asian country. Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s founder and CEO, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corp. could play an important role in setting up AI data centers. Speaking at a media roundtable, Huang did not confirm reports that Nvidia is in talks with YTL, whose interests span utilities and telecommunications, cement, construction and property development. But he said that “YTL is an extraordinary company and has an incredible leadership and legacy.” Malaysia “is a very important hub for SEA’s computing infrastructure. It requires access to land, facilities, power, which is extraordinarily important,” he said. “I think YTL could play a great role in that.”Malaysia’s expertise ...

South Korea’s defense chief vows retaliatory strikes on ‘heart and head’ of North Korea if provoked

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s defense minister on Friday vowed massive retaliatory missile strikes on “the heart and head” of North Korea in the event of provocation, as the rivals escalate their rhetoric over their respective spy satellite launches in recent days.The South Korean warning — unusually fiery rhetoric by Seoul directed at Pyongyang — came as the top security advisers from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan gathered in Seoul for talks to discuss North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats and other issues.During a visit to the army’s missile strategic command, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik ordered command officers to maintain a readiness to fire precision-guided and powerful missiles at any time, according to his ministry.Shin said the main role of the command is “lethally striking the heart and head of the enemy, though the types of its provocations can vary,” a ministry statement said.Animosities between the two Koreas deepened after North Korea la...

German rail workers begin 24-hour strike as pay talks stall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — A union representing Germany’s train drivers began a 24-hour strike Thursday night, causing widespread rail cancellations and travel disruptions across the country.The strike by the GDL union began on Thursday at 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) for passenger services and will continue until 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Friday. For freight trains, the strike began at 6 p.m. Thursday.Deutsche Bahn, the German railway, said approximately 20% of its long-distance trains would still run on Friday but urged customers to delay unnecessary travel where possible. The disruptions follow a major snowstorm snarled transit in Munich and parts of southern Germany earlier in the week. This week’s strike came after negotiations between GDL and Deutsche Bahn broke down after only two rounds of talks. GDL is seeking a pay increase, a one-time payment to help counter inflation, and the reduction of weekly working hours from 38 to 35. Deutsche Bahn has said it made an offer that amounts to an 11% raise.Limit...

Six Palestinians are killed in the Israeli military’s latest West Bank raid, health officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces stormed into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Friday to arrest suspected Palestinian militants, unleashing fighting with local gunmen in which six Palestinians were killed, health officials said.Among the dead were a 14-year-old boy and the founder of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, an armed offshoot of the secular nationalist Fatah party, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Thousands of men poured into the streets for their funeral, chanting with the bodies held aloft while masked militants opened fire into the air. Israeli undercover forces sneaked into the Faraa camp near the northern town of Tubas on Friday morning and set up sniper positions on top of buildings, residents said. They described Israeli soldiers trading staccato gunfire with Palestinian militants and young boys throwing stones at armored vehicles and setting tires on fire in the streets. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the operation,...

Six French teens await a verdict over their alleged roles in Islamic extremist killing of a teacher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:57:06 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A French juvenile court is handing down a verdict Friday for six teenagers accused of involvement in the killing of teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an Islamic extremist after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class for a debate on freedom of expression.Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on Oct. 16, 2020, near his school in a Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized. The attacker, Abdoullakh Anzorov, was then shot dead by police.Paty’s name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed prophet caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The publication had triggered a deadly extremist massacre in the Charlie Hebdo newsroom in 2015. All those on trial were students at Paty’s school. If convicted, they face up to two-and-a-half years in prison.Five of the defendants, who were 14 or 15 at the time of the attack, are accused of stak...