Mark Carney warns Canadians in Liberal Party victory speech: 'Trump is trying to break us'
TORONTO (AP) - Prime Minister Mark Carney´s Liberal Party won Canada´s federal election on Monday, capping a stunning turnaround in fortunes fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump´s annexation threats and trade war.
After polls closed, the Liberals were projected to win more of Parliament´s 343 seats than the Conservatives. It wasn´t immediately clear, though, if they would win an outright majority - at least 172 - or would need to rely on one of the smaller parties to pass legislation.
The Liberals looked headed for a crushing defeat until the American president started attacking Canada´s economy and threatening its sovereignty, suggesting it should become the 51st state. Trump´s actions infuriated Canadians and stoked a surge in nationalism that helped the Liberals flip the election narrative and win a fourth-straight term in power.
In a victory speech before supporters in Ottawa, Carney stressed the importance of Canadian unity in the face of Washington's threats. He also said the mutually beneficial system Canada and the U.S. had shared since World War II had ended.
"We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons," he said.
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Spain and Portugal's power is almost fully restored, but the huge blackout's cause remains a mystery
MADRID (AP) - Power was almost fully restored to Spain and Portugal on Tuesday although many questions remained about what caused one of Europe´s most severe blackouts that grounded flights, paralyzed metro systems, disrupted mobile communications and shut down ATMs across the Iberian Peninsula.
By 7 a.m., more than 99% of energy demand in Spain had been restored, the country's electricity operator Red Eléctrica said. Portuguese grid operator REN said Tuesday morning all of the 89 power substations were back online since late last night and power had been restored to all 6.4 million customers.
By Tuesday morning, life was returning to normal: schools and offices reopened in Spain, traffic eased along the capital's main arteries and public transport restarted after significant delays.
Spanish authorities did not provide new explanations for what caused the blackout, one of the most serious to ever take place in Europe.
In a televised address Monday night, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the power grid for the Southern European nation of 49 million people lost 15 gigawatts - equivalent to 60% of its national demand - in just five seconds.
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White House focuses on border crackdown as it marks 100 days for Trump's second term
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Monday opened a weeklong celebration of Donald Trump´s first 100 days in office by focusing on his border crackdown, an area of relative strength for the president at a time when there are red flags for him in the latest round of polling.
Yard signs with mugshots of immigrants who have been accused of crimes like rape and murder were posted across the White House lawn, positioned so they would be in the background of television broadcasts outside the West Wing. Tom Homan, Trump's top border adviser, told reporters there has been "unprecedented success" on the border effort and "we´re going to keep doing it, full speed ahead."
Immigration is Trump's leading issue in public opinion surveys, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a morning briefing the administration is in "the beginning stages of carrying out the largest deportation campaign in American history."
About 139,000 people have been removed so far, according to the White House. Deportations have occasionally lagged behind Democratic President Joe Biden´s numbers, but Trump officials reject the comparison as not "apples to apples" because so many fewer people are crossing the border now.
Later Monday, Leavitt held a second briefing exclusively for "new media," where Trump-aligned social media influencers asked friendly questions and applauded at the end.
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Liberals won the election in Canada. Here's what to know and what comes next
TORONTO (AP) - The Liberal Party has won the federal election in Canada, culminating a process marked by U.S. President Donald Trump threats on a trade war and of making the country the 51st American state.
With this result, the Liberal Party's leader and current prime minister, Mark Carney, will remain in the job, and will form a new government with a new cabinet.
It's still unclear if the liberals will have a majority in the Parliament or whether they will need to look for alliances with other parties.
Here's what to know and what comes next:
Canadians voted for all 343 member of the House of Commons, one for each constituency.
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Clashes between Druze gunmen and pro-government fighters in Syrian capital kill at least 4
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Clashes broke out in a suburb of the Syrian capital early Tuesday between local gunmen belonging to the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters, leaving at least four people dead, a war monitor and an activist group said.
The fighting in the southern Damascus suburb of Jaramana broke out after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man attacking Islam´s Prophet Muhammad. The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric, who later denied being involved.
Druze cleric Marwan Kiwan said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio, which angered many Sunni Muslims and led to the fighting in Druze neighborhoods in Jaramana.
"I categorically deny that the audio was made by me," Kiwan said in the video. "I did not say that and whoever made it is an evil man who wants to incite strife between components of the Syrian people."
The Interior Ministry said in a statement it was investigating the audio clip, adding that its initial probe showed the cleric was not responsible. The ministry urged people to abide by the law and not to act in a way that undermines security.
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Disgraced Cardinal Becciu formally withdraws from participation in conclave to elect pope
VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Italian cardinal at the heart of the Vatican´s "trial of the century" announced Tuesday he was withdrawing from participating in the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope for "the good of the church."
Cardinal Angelo Becciu´ s status has dominated discussions in the days after Pope Francis´ death amid questions about whether he would participate in the conclave to elect Francis' successor.
After his 2020 downfall, Becciu had said he would not participate in any future conclave. But in recent days he had asserted he had a right to enter the Sistine Chapel with other cardinals on May 7.
On Tuesday, the 76-year-old Italian issued a statement through his lawyers that said: "Having at heart the good of the church, which I have served and will continue to serve with fidelity and love, as well as to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave, I have decided to obey as I have always done the will of Pope Francis not to enter the conclave while remaining convinced of my innocence."
Becciu was once an influential Vatican chief of staff who was a leading papal contender himself. But he fell from grace in 2020 when Francis forced him to resign his job as head of the Vatican´s saint-making office and his rights as a cardinal because of allegations of financial misconduct.
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Vehicle smashes through Illinois building, killing 4 young people and injuring others
CHATHAM, Ill. (AP) - A car smashed through a building Monday afternoon, killing four young people and injuring several others during an after-school program in a small city outside of Springfield, Illinois, police said.
Officers responded at about 3:20 p.m. to calls about a vehicle ramming through the building, fatally hitting four people before exiting the other side, Chatham Police Department Deputy Chief Scott Tarter said.
Those killed were between the ages of 4 and 18, Illinois State Police said in an emailed statement. Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon identified the victims as "female students," saying their identities will be released after family members are notified. Several other people were hurt and taken to hospitals.
It wasn´t immediately known what led up to the crash or whether it was intentional.
Monday's crash is the latest instance of people driving vehicles into groups of people across the globe. Only two days earlier, a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing 11.
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Amazon launches its first internet satellites to compete against SpaceX's Starlinks
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Amazon´s first batch of internet satellites rocketed into orbit Monday, the latest entry in the mega constellation market currently dominated by SpaceX's thousands of Starlinks.
The United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket carried up 27 of Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites, named after the frigid fringes of our solar system beyond Neptune. Once released in orbit, the satellites will eventually reach an altitude of nearly 400 miles (630 kilometers).
Two test satellites were launched in 2023, also by an Atlas V. Project officials said major upgrades were made to the newest version. The latest satellites also are coated with a mirror film designed to scatter reflected sunlight in an attempt to accommodate astronomers.
Stargazers oppose the fast-growing constellations of low-orbiting satellites, arguing they spoil observations. Others fear more satellite collisions.
Founded by Jeff Bezos, who now runs his own rocket company, Blue Origin, Amazon aims to put more than 3,200 of these satellites into orbit to provide fast, affordable broadband service around the globe.
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Authorities shutter dozens of tourist resorts in Indian-controlled Kashmir following deadly attack
SRINAGAR, India (AP) - Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir have temporarily shuttered more than half of the tourist resorts in the scenic Himalayan region after last week´s deadly attack on tourists raised tensions between India and Pakistan and led to an intensifying security crackdown in Kashmir.
At least two police officers and three administrative officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with departmental policy, said Tuesday that the decision to shut 48 of the 87 government-authorized resorts was a precautionary safety measure. They did not specify for how long these places would be out of bounds for visitors.
The decision comes a week after gunmen killed 26 people, most of them Indian tourists, near the resort town of Pahalgam.
The massacre set off tit-for-tat diplomatic measures between India and Pakistan that included cancellation of visas and a recall of diplomats. New Delhi also suspended a crucial water sharing treaty with Islamabad and ordered its border shut with Pakistan. In response, Pakistan has closed its airspace to Indian airlines.
India has described the massacre as a "terror attack" and accused Pakistan of backing it. Pakistan has denied any connection to the attack, and it was claimed by a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Kashmir Resistance.
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As communist troops streamed into Saigon, a few remaining reporters kept photos and stories flowing
BANGKOK (AP) - They'd watched overnight as the bombardments grew closer, and observed through binoculars as the last U.S. Marines piled into a helicopter on the roof of the embassy to be whisked away from Saigon.
So when the reporters who had stayed behind heard the telltale squeak of the rubber sandals worn by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in the stairs outside The Associated Press office, they weren't surprised, and braced themselves for possible detention or arrest.
But when the two young soldiers who entered showed no signs of malice, the journalists just kept reporting.
Offering the men a Coke and day-old cake, Peter Arnett, George Esper and Matt Franjola started asking about their march into Saigon. As the men detailed their route on a bureau map, photographer Sarah Errington emerged from the darkroom and snapped what would become an iconic picture, published around the world.
Fifty years later, Arnett recalled the message he fed into the teletype transmitter to AP headquarters in New York after the improbable scene had played out.
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