SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A group of Caribbean leaders met with senior clergy from the Church of England on Tuesday as the push for slavery reparations intensifies, with activists also calling for the independence of British, French, Dutch and U.S. territories in the region.

The reparations commission from Caricom, a Caribbean trade bloc, was scheduled to also meet with British parliamentarians as part of a four-day official trip to the United Kingdom to seek reparations, the second such trip since November.

The group said the commission is creating a framework to launch negotiations because the time for making the case for reparatory justice is overdue.

“We in the Caribbean remain the most colonized part of the world, and this has to stop,” said Hilary Beckles, chairman of Caricom’s reparations commission and vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies.

The meetings in London come after Caribbean leaders bristled at the recent suggestion by a U.K. lawmaker that Britain’s former colonies should repay it for its historic investment in them.

The commission noted that the Caribbean has at least 20 territories with ties to Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States.

“I am quite sure the people of the Caribbean… will be looking to see whether their king … is going to advance this conversation about sovereignty, decolonization and reparatory justice for these crimes that have been committed,” Beckles said.

David Comissiong, Barbados’ ambassador to Caricom, echoed those comments, stressing that the first step of reparations must be the recovery of national sovereignty and self-determination.

He said the commission had a “productive meeting” with three senior clerics from the Church of England, calling it a “possible ally.”

He also praised King Charles III for expressing in recent years “personal sorrow at the suffering of so many” as he noted “slavery’s enduring impact.”

However, Comissiong and others criticized the United Kingdom for abstaining from a U.N. resolution passed in March that called for reparations and declared the trafficking of enslaved Africans “the gravest crime against humanity.” All 27 members of the European Union also abstained, while Argentina, Israel and the United States voted against the resolution.

Comissiong noted that some European governments have offered apologies, memorials, museums and the preservation of slavery infrastructure on Africa’s west coast.

“These are some preliminary gestures that we appreciate,” he said. “But those gestures are not negotiations. … The damage that was done and that still exists today was so consequential, so deeply rooted, that it goes way beyond, way beyond gestures of memorialization.”

An estimated 12 million Africans were forcefully taken by European nations from the 16th to the 19th century, and those who survived the trip across the Atlantic Ocean were enslaved on plantations in the Caribbean and elsewhere under brutal conditions.

Commission members spoke during a press conference in London, ahead of the meeting with parliamentarians.

Among the questions was whether the commission would publish rules as to who should receive reparations.

The answer for the Caribbean remains unclear, although Ron Daniels, head of the National African-American Reparations Commission, said talks in the United States have centered on land, economic development and the restoration or building of communications and healthcare infrastructure.

“Reparations is proceeding quite effectively in the United States as a blueprint,” Daniels said.

Caricom leaders are seeking a formal apology; education and public health improvements; development programs for Indigenous people; repatriation and resettlement for those seeking to live in their homeland; debt cancellations; and monetary compensations, among other things.

In early September, Jamaica’s government is expected to file a formal petition asking King Charles III to refer legal questions on slavery reparations to the Privy Council, the island’s final court of appeal.

Dánica Coto, The Associated Press

#Israel elections to be held on October 27: parliament. Israel will hold national elections on October 27, the last date allowed by law, its parliament said on Sunday, with the vote widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership since the Gaza war erupted.

The Knesset, as parliament is known, is set to end its current term on July 17, allowing the ruling coalition to complete a full four-year term for the first time in decades.

“Since the current Knesset is expected to serve its full term and the next general election is already set by law for October 27, with no intention of shortening the legislature’s tenure, there is no need to enact a Knesset Dissolution Law in the usual sense,” parliament said in a statement.

Netanyahu, 76, is already the country’s longest-serving prime minister across multiple terms, and has declared his intention to run again.

In recent days, his government -- one of the most right-wing coalitions in Israel’s history -- has been racing to pass a series of bills in a bid to shore up his alliance and enter the election from a position of strength.

Last month, Netanyahu even said that he intended to “establish a broad national government, not a right-wing, not a left-wing government that depends on Arab parties, but a broad national government”.

By reaching across the aisle, Netanyahu appears to be trying to reframe his electoral pitch around national unity rather than ideological alignment.

But recent polls show that a majority of Israelis want him out of office, with former military chief Gadi Eisenkot emerging as his main rival.

Public opinion turned critical of the ceasefire that halted the war Israel and the U.S. launched against Iran in late February, which led to a deal between Tehran and Washington that many view as unfavorable to Israel.

Anger also lingers over the security failures surrounding the October 7 attacks, which continues to weigh on Netanyahu’s standing.

No evidence of political motive in former U.K. minister’s murder: #Police.

HAYTOR, England, July 12 - There is no evidence that the suspected murder of former British government minister Ann Widdecombe was politically motivated, police said on Sunday, adding that they were not seeking anyone else after arresting a 28-year-old man.

Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home in rural southwest England on Thursday with what police described as “serious injuries.” Officers arrested a white British man in Rotherham, northern England, late on Saturday.

Police urged the public not to speculate about possible motives while the investigation remains ongoing.

“At this point, there is still no information to suggest that this is a terrorism-related incident, and at this point, we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this murder,” Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman told reporters.

“Detectives remain open-minded about the potential motive. At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that it was politically motivated.”

A second suspect arrested on Saturday was later released without charge.

A social conservative, Widdecombe served as a junior minister in John Major’s Conservative government in the 1990s. She stepped down as a lawmaker in 2010 but later joined Nigel

Farage’s Reform UK as its immigration and justice spokesperson. Two serving British members of parliament have been murdered in the last decade.

Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed by a Nazi-obsessed attacker during the Brexit campaign in 2016.

Conservative lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death in 2021 by a man inspired by the militant group Islamic State.

(Reporting by Jack Taylor in Haytor, southern England and Alistair Smout in London. Editing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)

Climate change is costing Canadian cities billions. Experts say there’s a better solution. An Ontario highway, Highway 402, east of Windsor, had to be shut down last week because extreme heat caused it to buckle and expand for the second straight year in a row -- while one of Ontario’s key transit services, GO Transit, said it will have to slow down its trains in extreme heat because of the risk of tracks buckling.

These are just a couple of examples of cities having to react to mitigate or repair damage caused by climate change, unless they begin investing into climate-proofing their infrastructure, say climate experts.

“The level of heat that we’re now seeing and the frequency at which we see temperatures ... are beyond what infrastructure was designed for,” said Ryan Ness, director of adaptation at the Canadian Climate Institute, in an interview with CTV News Saturday.

“Steel, concrete, asphalt are expanding and contracting more often than they used to. They’re reaching temperatures they’re not designed for, which leads to either catastrophic damage like the heaving we’ve seen on Highway 402 or longer-term chronic damage: rotting potholes, degrading bridges that need maintenance more often.”

A report released earlier this year by the Canadian Climate Institute titled “Prepare or Repair: How Climate-Proofing Public Infrastructure Pays Off” found that investing in climate-proofing infrastructure could save Canadian cities billions of dollars each year.

The report estimates that over the next 75 years, Canada will have to pay roughly $15.1 billion per year on average to maintain, renew and reactively repair infrastructure but if Canada spends roughly $4.1 billion, proactively adapting infrastructure to make it climate-resilient, costs from climate change damage could be reduced to $2.5 billion per year.

The total cost of the $4.1 billion investment plus $2.5 billion in repairs means Canada could save $8.6 billion annually, according to the report.

Ness says roads are the first things governments should start tackling, taking advantage of doing maintenance work to repair the pavement with heat-resistant asphalt.

“Roads are by far Canada’s most expensive and valuable form of infrastructure just because there’s so much of it -- and it’s so important to how, not only people get around, but goods get around -- and how the economy functions in this country,” said Ness.

The New York City Health Department said it tested the cooling towers of 183 buildings in neighborhoods encompassed by three zip codes that are among its wealthiest and most densely populated

Death toll from Venezuela’s twin quakes rises to 3,889. The death toll from the powerful twin tremors that struck Venezuela two weeks ago has risen to at least 3,889, a government report published Thursday stated.

Nearly 17,000 people were injured in the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes on June 24, while almost 18,000 more lost their homes.

The death toll rose from 3,811 to 3,889 on Thursday, according to a report from National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez posted on Telegram.

Interim leader Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday called for the release of Venezuelan funds frozen abroad to help the country cope with the disaster.

The United Nations is meanwhile trying to raise some US$300 million in recovery funds for Venezuela.

The South American country is also negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unblock its financial assets, according to IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack.

In the hardest-hit coastal area of La Guaira, over 800 buildings sustained damage while 190 collapsed entirely.

While rescue teams were abandoning the search for survivors a fortnight after the disaster struck, some families had not given up hope of finding their loved ones.

Ciro Ocando believes he has located the spot where his teenage sons are buried under mountains of rubble in Playa Grande in the city of La Guaira.

He, like many others, just wants to find the bodies of his boys aged 13 and 18, having accepted that their chances of survival are non-existent at this stage.

“I’m in the right place, but there are a lot of obstacles,” he told AFP, using his own tools to dig through the debris.

#China’s consumer inflation slowed more than expected after a pullback in commodity costs with an easing of tensions over Iran last month

Carney’s NATO gun gift turned over to RCMP

U.S. begins removal of #Syria designation as state sponsor of terrorism.

#WASHINGTON - The United States on Wednesday began the removal of Syria’s decades-old designation as a state sponsor of terrorism that has severely impeded investment.

“Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

This is a developing story. More details to come...

The #US Justice Department settled a second lawsuit against the government brought by Michael Flynn