Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, heads to the polls on Sunday to elect a new government as it prepares to join NATO. On Thursday, Turkey ratified the Nordic nation’s membership – the last of the alliance’s 30 members to do so. Will Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democratic Party, which started the membership process last year, take the country of 5.5 million people into the world’s largest military alliance? And is Marin still as popular as she was in 2019 when she became the world’s youngest leader at 34? Here’s what you should know: How is the…
Author: National Tone
Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian women were moved to house arrest while under investigation for alleged human trafficking and rape.Divisive online influencer and self-described misogynist Andrew Tate and his brother have been moved to house arrest while they are investigated for alleged human trafficking and rape after a Romanian court overturned a prosecutors’ request to keep them in police custody until late April. Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects have been in police detention since December 29. Prosecutors are investigating them for suspected human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.…
As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 402nd day, we take a look at the main developments.Here is the situation as it stands on Saturday, April 1, 2023: Diplomacy/aid A new $2.6bn United States military aid package could be announced early next week, US officials said, and is expected to include air surveillance radars, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks for the Ukrainian army. US President Joe Biden called on Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as the paper’s editorial board said Washington should expel Russia’s ambassador to the US in retaliation. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in an hours-long contradictory…
If there were any questions if Connor Bedard would continue his sensational season junior season into the WHL playoffs, they were quickly answered on Friday night. In the Regina Pats’ first playoff game since 2018, and the first of Bedard’s career, the 17-year-old phenom had two goals and an assist to lead his sixth-seeded squad to a 6-1 Game 1 win over the No. 3 Saskatoon Blades. In front of 10,265 fans in Saskatoon, Bedard got his night started with a highlight-reel goal midway through the second period. On the break, Bedard split two Blades defenders and was able to…
More than 10,000 Chinese people were in Ukraine when Russia invaded on February 24, 2022. The “no-limits friendship” Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping announced between their countries three weeks before the invasion did not prevent Chinese people from suddenly finding themselves in a war zone. Though the Chinese leadership appeared to have been as surprised by Russia’s invasion as the rest of the world, that shock did not translate into a condemnation of Moscow’s actions, either then or now. Days into the invasion, China’s state newspaper, the People’s Daily, published a message on the Chinese…
The rare ruling is the latest twist in an ongoing legal battle between Afghan and US couples for three-year-old girl.In a highly unusual ruling, a state court judge in Virginia has voided a United States Marine’s adoption of an Afghan war orphan more than a year after he took the three-year-old girl away from the Afghan couple raising her. But the girl’s future remains uncertain. For now, she will stay with Marine Major Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie, under a temporary custody order they obtained before the adoption. The Masts will have to re-prove to the court that they…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $15.6bn support package for Ukraine to assist with the conflict-hit country’s economic recovery, the fund has said. The Russian invasion has devastated Ukraine’s economy, causing activity to contract by around 30 percent last year, destroying much of its capital stock and fuelling poverty, according to the IMF. The 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme approved by the fund’s board is worth roughly $15.6bn. It forms the IMF’s portion of a $115bn overall support package comprised of debt relief, grants and loans by multilateral and bilateral institutions, the organisation confirmed in a press…
Canadian Maude-Aimee Leblanc sits third after the morning wave of the second round of the LPGA Tour’s DIO Implant LA Open in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. Leblanc, from Sherbrooke, Que., shot her second successive round of 4-under 67 on Friday to put her at eight under for the tournament. The Canadian is two strokes back of leader Yin Ruoning of China and one behind defending champion Nasa Hataoka of Japan. Leblanc is playing well despite not feeling great about her swing. “It was an interesting round. I feel like it was either a really good shot or a really bad…
Italy is the first Western country to take such action against the popular artificial intelligence chatbot.The Italian government’s privacy watchdog has temporarily blocked the artificial intelligence (AI) software ChatGPT over data privacy concerns. The announcement on Friday made Italy the first Western country to take such action against the popular AI chatbot. The Italian Data Protection Authority described its action as provisional “until ChatGPT respects privacy”. Its measure involves temporarily limiting the company from holding Italian users’ data. The watchdog said ChatGPT developer OpenAI had no legal basis to justify “the mass collection and storage of personal data for the…
Massive takeover deal, first struck in 2021, faced challenges from Canada’s antitrust agency and consumer advocates.Canada has granted final approval for Rogers Communications Inc’s $15bn ($20bn Canadian) buyout of Shaw Communications Inc, clearing a deal that will create the country’s second largest telecommunications company. The green light for the deal came on Friday as Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne agreed to the transfer of wireless licences held by Shaw’s Freedom Mobile unit to Quebecor Inc under some conditions. Freedom Mobile’s proposed $2.1bn ($2.85bn Canadian) sale to Quebecor-owned Videotron has been crucial in addressing the antitrust concerns over…