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Berlin Zoo sends the first giant pandas born in Germany to China

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The Berlin Zoo has sent the first giant pandas born in Germany to China, dispatching the 4-year-olds on a journey that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.Pit and Paule, who also are known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang und Meng Yuan, departed from Berlin on Saturday aboard an Air China cargo jet and have now arrived at their new home, the Chengdu Panda Base, the zoo said Monday.“Pit and Paule coped well with the flight,” said Andreas Pauly, the zoo’s head of animal health, who accompanied the panda brothers to China. “When the bamboo is right, pandas are usually very relaxed. It was the same on the flight.” The pair will now spend 30 days in quarantine at the panda base.The young pandas were a star attraction in Berlin since their birth in 2019, but their return to China was contractually agreed from the start. While China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a policy of “panda diplomacy,″ the country now loans ...

36 jours en mer : récit des naufragés qui ont survécu aux hallucinations, à la soif et au désespoir

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

FASS BOYE, Senegal (AP) — Un mois s’est écoulé lorsque les quatre premiers hommes ont décidé de sauter.D’innombrables cargos sont passés à côté d’eux, pourtant personne n’est venu à leur secours. Ils n’avaient plus de carburant. La faim et la soif étaient insoutenables. Des dizaines de personnes sont déjà mortes, dont le capitaine.Le voyage de Fass Boye, petit village de pêche sénégalaise en difficulté économique, jusqu’aux îles Canaries en Espagne, porte d’entrée de l’Union européenne où ils espéraient trouver du travail, était censé durer une semaine. Mais plus d’un mois plus tard, le bateau en bois transportant 101 hommes et garçons s’éloignait de plus en plus de la destination prévue.Aucune terre n’est en vue. Pourtant, les quatre hommes croient, ou hallucinent, qu’ils peuvent nager jusqu’au rivage. Rester sur le bateau «maudit», pensaient-ils, était une condamnation à mort. Ils ont ramassé des récipients d’eau vides et des planches de bois, tout ce qui pouvait les aider à flott...

In the news today: RCMP issues warning about online extremism among young Canadians

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…RCMP warn about spike in online extremism among Canadian youthRCMP are warning about a rise in violent extremism among Canadian youth, while Jewish leaders urge community members to be diligent about security after two teenagers were arrested on terror-related charges in the last five days.The Mounties say five Canadian youth have been arrested in terror-related cases since June.Jewish and Muslim leaders across Canada have reported an increase in hate-motivated attacks since the terrorist attacks launched by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, and the massive military response by Israel in Gaza.Earthquakes Canada receives hundreds of reports in B.C. after 4.9 magnitude quakeEarthquakes Canada says a 4.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded Sunday afternoon and public reports poured in from hundreds of kilometres away from the event’s epicentre.John Cassidy, a seismol...

Hallucinations, thirst and desperation: How migrants endured 36 days at sea

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

FASS BOYE, Senegal (AP) — The voyage from the struggling Senegalese fishing town of Fass Boye to Spain’s Canary Islands, a gateway to the European Union where they hoped to find work, was supposed to take a week. But the wooden boat carrying 101 men and boys was getting blown further and further away from its destination.No land was in sight. Yet four men believed — or hallucinated — they could swim to shore. They picked up empty water containers and wooden planks — anything to help them float. And one by one, they leapt.Dozens more would do the same before disappearing into the ocean. The migrants still in the boat watched as their brothers faded. Those who died onboard were tossed into the ocean until the survivors had no energy left and bodies began accumulating.On day 36, a Spanish fishing vessel spotted them. It was Aug. 14 and they were 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of Cape Verde, the last cluster of islands in the eastern central Atlantic Ocean before the vast nothingn...

36 days at sea: How these castaways survived hallucinations, thirst and desperation

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

FASS BOYE, Senegal (AP) — A month had passed when the first four men decided to jump.Countless cargo ships had navigated past them, yet no one had come to their rescue. Their fuel was finished. The hunger and thirst were overwhelming. Dozens had already died, including the captain.The voyage from the struggling Senegalese fishing town of Fass Boye to Spain’s Canary Islands, a gateway to the European Union where they hoped to find work, was supposed to take a week. But more than a month later, the wooden boat carrying 101 men and boys was getting blown further and further away from its intended destination.No land was in sight. Yet the four men believed — or hallucinated — that they could swim to shore. To stay on the “cursed” boat, they thought, was a death sentence. They picked up empty water containers and wooden planks — anything to help them float.And then, one by one, they leapt.In the days that followed, dozens more would do the same before disappearing into the ocean. There w...

Tim Hortons celebrates its 60th birthday in 2024. Here’s a timeline of its history

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

TORONTO — Tim Hortons is considered part of the fabric of Canada, but long before the chain became synonymous with the country, it had humble beginnings as a coffee and doughnut shop.As the company turns 60 in 2024, this is a look back at its history.May 17, 1964: The first Tim Hortons location opens in Hamilton, Ont.Feb. 21, 1974: Founder and NHL defenceman Tim Horton dies in a car accident at 44, while travelling back to Buffalo from Toronto after a hockey game between the Sabres and Maple Leafs. Tims franchisee Ron Joyce later becomes sole owner of the chain, when he buys out the stake in the business held by Lori Horton, TimHorton’swife, for $1 million and a Cadillac Eldorado. Lori Horton later lost a court challenge disputing the sale.1976: Tims debuts bite-sized doughnuts it dubs Timbits.March 3, 1983: The first non-smoking Tim Hortons location opens in Hamilton, Ont.1984: Tims enters the U.S. with its first store in Tonawanda, N.Y.1986: The restaurant launches its first...

‘My way of giving back’: Officer on Alberta First Nation force proud of community

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

TSUUT’INA FIRST NATION — Const. Kenny Big Plume knows the snow-covered roads running through the Tsuut’ina reserve like the back of his hand. Big Plume, 33, was raised by his grandparents on the First Nation, which butts up against the southwest edge of Calgary. Six years ago, he became a member of the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service, one of three First Nation forces in Alberta. “I’m very proud of my culture, of my community,” says Big Plume, as he steers the police SUV along icy roads. After several years of living off-reserve, he moved back to Tsuut’ina and built a home for his wife and children.“This was my way of giving back. This is my way of making an impact, making a difference.”The calls come in slowly on his day shift. He stops to talk to the driver of a car that has slid into the ditch. She has already called for a tow truck.There are scheduled check-ins and some targeted patrols, including around a Costco and the casin...

Full disclosure: companies face emissions reporting mandates even as Canada lags

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

TORONTO — It’s getting harder for companies to hide their dirty secrets.Regulators around the world are increasingly forcing them to disclose their carbon emissions, along with other key climate change considerations such as how much financial risk they face.Momentum is building as the rising dangers from wildfires, droughts and floods become harder to ignore, and as the alphabet soup of disclosure regimes get boiled down to clear international standards on the key questions companies most need to answer. But while both the need and the path forward are getting increasingly clear, experts say Canada is falling behind.At this year’s UN climate conference in Dubai, Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor and a central player in global climate finance, was talking excitedly about the reporting framework established — in record time — by the International Sustainability Standards Board. “Now countries are starting to implement. It’s been endorsed by the securities re...

Tim Hortons to revive beloved dutchie, other favourites to mark 60th anniversary

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

TORONTO — For roughly two decades, Canadians have been telling Tim Hortons something’s missing from the company’s menu: The dutchie. The sweet, square-shaped treat speckled with raisins dates back to the brand’s 1964 inception but was taken off the menu in the early 2000s. It made a short-lived reappearance in 2017 for Canada’s 150th anniversary. Come Jan. 10 though, the dutchie will return — and Tims president Axel Schwan predicts customers will be thrilled the company heard their pleas.“It’s always about listening well,” he said this month, sitting before a plate piled high with dutchies in Tim Hortons’ Toronto test kitchen.“Having two big ears and one mouth is very helpful, I learned from my mom.”The dutchie’s return comes as Tims prepares to sprinkle its menu with a number of new products and old favourites to mark its 60th anniversary on May 17.The milestone year will pay homage to some of the original treats on ...

‘Pushed down our throats’: Letters detail school pronoun concerns in Saskatchewan

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 23:50:00 GMT

REGINA — The Saskatchewan government received 18 official complaints in the summer before it implemented a rule preventing most children from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent. The emails, recently obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request, were received in June and July and offer a first look into what may have influenced the government when it changed pronoun and sexual education rules in August. The rules require students under 16 who want to change their names or pronouns to have permission from their parents. Third-party organizations are also banned from presenting sexual education, and parents can pull their children from such courses.In the letters to the government, the complainants ask Saskatchewan to do something about pronouns, sexual education and Pride activities in schools.Most urge the province to follow the New Brunswick government, which required parental consent over pronoun or name changes before Sas...