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US rapper Kendrick Lamar dazzles as he shares South Africa stage with local artists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Grammy Award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar has drawn raves in South Africa as a headliner at a music festival there over the weekend.Lamar told the crowd at the Hey Neighbor festival that his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly was inspired by his first visit to South Africa.“It was 2014 when I first came to South Africa, right, and that inspired a particular album, one of my most favorite albums,” he said.Lamar also performed in the Rwandan capital of Kigali last week.“It is not just music, it is poetry,” festival attendee Tshepo Sedikwe said of the rapper.The festival also saw performances from Grammy-winning artists H.E.R. and Khalid.Organizers have said they hope to make the festival one of the biggest on the African continent and one where international acts perform alongside talented local musicians.The festival provided a platform for artists who have flourished with the popularity of amapiano and Afrobeats.South African amapiano artists Musa Keys and...

Report says United Arab Emirates is trying nearly 90 detainees on terror charges during COP28 summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates is conducting a mass trial of nearly 90 prisoners on terrorism charges as it hosts the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit, including one man whose case was highlighted by demonstrators at the negotiations, an activist organization reported Monday. Emirati authorities did not immediately respond to questions over the report by the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, a group run by Emirati Hamad al-Shamsi, who lives in exile in Istanbul after being named on a terrorism list by the UAE himself. The state-run WAM news agency also has not run a report on the trial. Al-Shamsi gathered the information from multiple individuals with direct knowledge of the trial. Those on trial face charges of “establishing a terrorist organization, supporting and financing it,” the center said in a statement. The center “is highly troubled by the UAE’s apparent fabrication of new charges to extend the sentences of those already released, r...

Forget the surprise if you’re thinking of giving a pet as a holiday present

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Adriene Mishler was still grieving the loss of her beloved blue heeler mix when her boyfriend at the time surprised her with a Christmas puppy that was nearly identical. “I wasn’t quite ready to fall in love with another animal,” she said. “At the same time, looking back, I was also really blessed with an opportunity to pour my love into some other thing when I was feeling down and sad and alone.”That was 2014. Today, her Benji is adored by more than 12 million people who see him regularly on camera cuddling close or sleeping nearby in videos on her YouTube channel, Yoga with Adriene.There was a happy ending for Mishler and Benji, but that’s not always the case when it comes to surprising someone with a new pet, especially amid the chaos of the holiday season.Giving a pet as a blind gift isn’t recommended, but offering one without the surprise element and with a little planning can enrich the lives of animals and humans alike. That’s especially impo...

Oshawa high school closed Monday after alleged bomb threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

Classes are cancelled have been cancelled at an Oshawa high school on Monday as police investigate an alleged bomb threat.Officials at Eastdale CVI, located near Harmony Road and Adelaide Avenue, say they decided to close the school for the day to allow for an investigation after receiving a threat early in the morning.“We are working collaboratively with Durham Regional Police Service in managing our response in the interest of student and staff safety,” reads a post on the school’s website.“Please do not send your children to school. We will provide a further update once we have more information.”Durham police say there is no credible evidence to suggest the threat was legitimate and confirm they are working with the school. Police say further information will be made available when investigators know more.This morning, @EastdaleCVI rec'd a threat toward the school. We are working to ensure the safety of all staff and students. The school is ask...

Turkey under pressure to seek return of Somalia president’s son involved in fatal traffic crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish government is facing mounting pressure to seek the return of the Somali president’s son, who allegedly fled Turkey after causing a fatal traffic crash in Istanbul.Yunus Emre Gocer, a 38-year-old motorcycle courier, died of injuries in a hospital on Dec. 6, six days after he was hit by a car driven by Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on a busy highway in Istanbul.Turkish authorities ordered Mohamud arrested and barred him from traveling abroad following the motorcyclist’s death, but reports said the Somali president’s son had already left Turkey by the time the warrant was issued.On Sunday, dozens of people, including motorcycle courier groups, staged a demonstration in Istanbul demanding that Mohamud face trial for Gocer’s death.Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and a prominent opposition politician, tweeted a security camera video of the crash, claiming that the “suspect left Turkey with his hands free,” and accusing the government of “bein...

Forced-labour watchdog opens probe against Guess over possible Uyghur slave labour

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s corporate watchdog is launching a probe against the company Guess over possible ties to Uyghur forced labour in China.The ombudsperson for responsible enterprise, Sheri Meyerhoffer, says the company has not done enough to prove that it has no supply relationships with Chinese companies that source materials from factories that employ people being forced to work.Guess disputes this claim, arguing Meyerhoffer lacks credible evidence and that the three Chinese companies she names are not part of its supplier list.Meyerhoffer says Guess has also argued she doesn’t have jurisdiction to look into the matter, as the Canadian subsidiary is not involved in the work that occurs abroad.The watchdog has launched similar probes this year into the Canadian branches of firms such as Levi Strauss, Walmart, Hugo Boss and Nike.China has strongly pushed back on claims that forced labour is taking place, saying they are not grounded in evidence and they are motivated to sm...

Gildan Activewear names Vince Tyra as next chief executive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

MONTREAL — Gildan Activewear Inc. says it has named Vince Tyra as its next chief executive, replacing Glenn Chamandy in the top job.In a separate statement, Chamandy, a co-founder of the company, says he was terminated without cause after four decades with Gildan including nearly 20 as president and chief executive.Tyra will start with Gildan effective Feb. 12.Craig Leavitt, a Gildan director since 2018, will serve as interim chief executive until Tyra is place.Tyra is a former chief executive of clothing company Alphabroder and was president of Fruit of the Loom before it was sold to Berkshire Hathaway.He was also director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Louisville.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GIL)The Canadian Press

Russia says it will hold presidential balloting in occupied regions of Ukraine next year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

Russian election authorities on Monday said balloting in next year’s presidential election will be conducted in four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed in 2022 following its invasion.The Central Election Commission adopted the decree to proceed with the vote in the Russian-controlled parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Balloting will also take place in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.Lawmakers in Russia on Thursday set the 2024 presidential election for March 17. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his candidacy and is all but certain to win another six-year term.Head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said last week that the commission would make a separate decision on whether to hold the vote in the four partially controlled Ukrainian regions because martial law is in place in those areas. Russian lawmakers earlier this year amended regul...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 17-23

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 17-23:Dec. 17: Actor Armin Mueller-Stahl (“Shine”) is 93. Singer-actor Tommy Steele is 87. Actor Bernard Hill is 79. Actor Ernie Hudson (“Ghostbusters”) is 78. Former “Hardball” host Chris Matthews is 78. Actor-comedian Eugene Levy is 77. Actor Marilyn Hassett (“The Other Side of the Mountain”) is 76. Actor Wes Studi (TV’s “Comanche Moon,” “Into the West”) is 76. Drummer Jim Bonfanti of The Raspberries is 75. Actor Joel Brooks (“Six Feet Under”) is 74. Singer Paul Rodgers is 74. Singer Wanda Hutchinson Vaughn of The Emotions is 72. Actor Barry Livingston (“My Three Sons”) is 70. Actor Bill Pullman is 70. Country singer Sharon White of The Whites is 70. Director-producer Peter Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary,” ″Dumb and Dumber”) is 67. Bassist Mike Mills of R.E.M. is 65. Singer Sara Dallin of Bananarama is 62. Country singer Tracy Byrd is 57. Bassist Duane Propes of Little Texas is 57. Actor Laurie Holden (“The Walking Dead”) is 54. DJ...

Celine Song’s ‘Past Lives’ nabs Golden Globe noms for best drama, direction, writing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:46 GMT

Celine Song’s debut feature “Past Lives” has snagged five Golden Globe nominations, including best direction and writing for the Korean-Canadian filmmaker.The relationship drama also earned nods for best drama and best non-English picture, as well as best female actor for U.S. star Greta Lee.Other Canadian nominees this year include Ryan Gosling, for his supporting acting role in blockbuster “Barbie,” and Martin Short, for best TV actor in a musical or comedy for his role in “Only Murders in the Building” on Disney Plus.Toronto-born musician Robbie Robertson, who died earlier this year, is nominated for best original score for his work on “Killers of the Flower Moon.”Meanwhile, “All the Light We Cannot See”, directed by Montreal’s Shawn Levy, is nominated in the best limited, anthology or motion picture for TV category.The awards bash is set to air on CBS and stream on Paramount Plus on Jan. 7, 2025.Song’s film,...