Ukrainians celebrate midsummer traditions with song, dance and fire
Rooted in Ukraine's ancient past of Slavic paganism the event, Ivana Kupala, features rituals and symbolism to honor the summer solstice, related to fertility, nature, purity and renewal — values that predate the region's Christianization at the end of the first millennium.
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fuel to Air India plane was cut off moments before crash, investigation report says
NEW DELHI (AP) — Fuel control switches for the engines of an Air India flight that crashed last month were moved from the 'run' to the 'cutoff' position moments before impact, starving both engines of fuel, a preliminary investigation report said early Saturday. The report, issued by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, also indicated that both pilots were confused over the change to the switch setting, which caused a loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff. The Air India flight — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — crashed on June 12 and killed at least 260 people, including 19 on the ground, in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. Only one passenger survived the crash, which is one of India's worst aviation disasters. The plane was carrying 230 passengers — 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian — along with 12 crew members. According to the report, the flight lasted around 30 seconds between takeoff and crash. It said that once the aircraft achieved its top recorded speed, 'the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another' within a second. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position during the flight. The movement of the fuel control switches allow and cut fuel flow to the plane's engines. The switches were flipped back into the run position, the report said, but the plane could not gain power quickly enough to stop its descent after the aircraft had begun to lose altitude. 'One of the pilots transmitted ''MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY',' the report said. It also indicated confusion in the cockpit moments before the crash. In the flight's final moment, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. 'The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report said. The plane's black boxes — combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders — were recovered in the days following the crash and later downloaded in India. Indian authorities had also ordered deeper checks of Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner to prevent future incidents. Air India has 33 Dreamliners in its fleet.
Toronto Sun
10 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Detainees describe worms in food, sewage near beds inside 'Alligator Alcatraz'
Published Jul 11, 2025 • 4 minute read Work progresses on a new migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. Photo by Rebecca Blackwell / AP MIAMI (AP) — Worms in the food. Toilets that don't flush, flooding floors with fecal waste. Days without a shower or prescription medicine. Mosquitoes and insects everywhere. Lights on all night. Air conditioners that suddenly shut off in the tropical heat. Detainees forced to use recorded phone lines to speak with their lawyers and loved ones. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Only days after President Donald Trump toured a new immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' these are some of the conditions described by people held inside. Attorneys, advocates, detainees and families are speaking out about the makeshift migrant detention center Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration raced to build on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. The center began accepting detainees on July 2. 'These are human beings who have inherent rights, and they have a right to dignity,' said immigration attorney Josephine Arroyo. 'And they're violating a lot of their rights by putting them there.' Government officials have adamantly disputed the conditions described by detainees, their attorneys and family members, but have provided few details, and have denied access to the media. A televised tour for Trump and DeSantis showed rows of chain-link cages, each containing dozens of bunkbeds, under large white tents. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order,' said Stephanie Hartman, a spokesperson for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which built the center. A group of Democratic lawmakers sued the DeSantis administration for access. The administration is allowing a site visit by state legislators and members of Congress on Saturday, July 12. Descriptions of attorneys and families differ from the government's 'model' Families and attorneys who spoke with The Associated Press relayed detainees' accounts of a place they say is unsanitary and lacks adequate medical care, pushing some into a state of extreme distress. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Such conditions make other immigration detention centers where advocates and staff have warned of unsanitary confinements, medical neglect and a lack of food and water seem 'advanced,' said immigration attorney Atara Eig. Trump and his allies have praised this detention center's harshness and remoteness as befitting the 'worst of the worst' and as a national model for the deterrence needed to persuade immigrants to 'self-deport' from the United States. But among those locked inside the chain-link enclosures are people with no criminal records, and at least one teenage boy, attorneys told the AP. Concerns about medical care, lack of medicines Immigration attorney Katie Blankenship described a concerning lack of medical care at the facility, relaying an account from a 35-year-old Cuban client who told his wife that detainees go days without a shower. The toilets are in the same space as the bunkbeds and can't handle their needs, she said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The wife, a 28-year-old green card holder and the mother of the couple's 2-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, relayed his complaints to the AP. Fearing government retaliation against her and her detained husband, she asked not to be identified. 'They have no way to bathe, no way to wash their mouths, the toilet overflows and the floor is flooded with pee and poop,' the woman told the AP. 'They eat once a day and have two minutes to eat. The meals have worms,' she added. The woman said the detainees 'all went on a hunger strike' on Thursday night to protest the conditions. 'There are days when I don't know anything about him until the evening,' she said, describing waiting for his calls, interrupted every three minutes by an announcement that the conversation is being recorded. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The detainees' attorneys say their due process rights are among numerous constitutional protections being denied. Blankenship is among the lawyers who have been refused access. After travelling to the remote facility and waiting for hours to speak with her clients, including a 15-year-old Mexican boy with no criminal charges, she was turned away by a security guard who told her to wait for a phone call in 48 hours that would notify her when she could return. 'I said, well, what's the phone number that I can follow up with that? There is none,' Blankenship recalled. 'You have due process obligations, and this is a violation of it.' Arroyo's client, a 36-year-old Mexican man who came to the U.S. as a child, has been detained at the center since July 5 after being picked up for driving with a suspended license in Florida's Orange County. He's a beneficiary of the DACA program, created to protect young adults who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and to provide them with work authorization. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Blankenship's Cuban client paid a bond and was told he'd be freed on a criminal charge in Miami, only to be detained and transferred to the Everglades. Eig has been seeking the release of a client in his 50s with no criminal record and a stay of removal, meaning the government can't legally deport him while he appeals. But she hasn't been able to get a bond hearing. She's heard that an immigration court inside the Krome Detention Center in Miami 'may be hearing cases' from the Everglades facility, but as of Friday, they were still waiting. 'Jurisdiction remains an issue,' Eig said, adding 'the issue of who's in charge over there is very concerning.' Read More Editorial Cartoons World Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Sun
11 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Walmart recalls 850,000 water bottles after ejecting caps led to vision loss
Published Jul 11, 2025 • 1 minute read This image provided by U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows Walmart's "Ozark Trail 64 oz Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles," which Walmart is recalling on Friday, July 11, 2025, because the lid can "forcefully eject" and unexpectedly strike consumers. (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission via AP) AP NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is recalling about 850,000 stainless steel water bottles because the lid can 'forcefully eject' and unexpectedly strike consumers — resulting in permanent vision loss for two people to date. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The recall covers Walmart's 'Ozark Trail 64 oz Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles,' which have been sold at the chain's stores across the country since 2017. According to a notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, these products pose 'serious impact and laceration hazards.' That's because when a consumer attempts to open the bottles 'after food, carbonated beverages or perishable beverages, such as juice or milk, are stored inside over time,' the lid can eject forcefully, the CPSC notes. As of Thursday's announcement, Walmart had received three reports of consumers who were injured after being struck in the face by these lids when opening their bottles. And two of those people 'suffered permanent vision loss after being struck in the eye,' the CPSC added. Consumers are urged to stop using the now-recalled Ozark Trail bottles — and contact Walmart for a full refund. Shoppers can also bring the products to their local Walmart store for that compensation. The bottles being recalled can also be identified by their model number, 83-662 — which doesn't appear on the product itself, but would show on packaging. The stainless-steel base is silver and the lid is a black, one-piece screw cap. There is also an Ozark Trail logo embedded on the side of the 64-ounce bottle. The Associated Press reached out to Walmart for further comments on Friday. Editorial Cartoons World Toronto & GTA Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto & GTA
