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Canadian PM & wife to seperate

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Canada’s PM Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie are separating after 18 years, following “meaningful and difficult conversations”.

The couple said they would remain “a close family with deep love and respect” in an Instagram post.

They were married in Montreal in 2005 and have three children together.

In a statement, Mr Trudeau’s office said that while the couple had signed separation agreement they will still make public appearances.

“They have worked to ensure that all legal and ethical steps with regards to their decision to separate have been taken, and will continue to do so moving forward,” the statement said, adding they would be on holiday as a family next week.

The couple have asked for privacy for the “well-being” of their children, Xavier, 15, Ella-Grace 14, and Hadrien, nine.

“We remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build,” Mr Trudeau, 51, and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, 48, said.

They have been seen together publicly less frequently in recent years, though they attended the coronation of King Charles III together in May and hosted US President Joe Biden in Canada in March.

When Mr Trudeau was first elected prime minister in 2015, the couple appeared in a high-profile Vogue spread where she told the magazine that at the end of dinner after their first date he said, “I’m 31 years old, and I’ve been waiting for you for 31 years”.

In a wedding anniversary post on Instagram in May 2022, Ms Grégoire Trudeau wrote about the challenges of long-term relationships, saying “we have navigated through sunny days, heavy storms, and everything in between”.

Mr Trudeau has also spoken about the challenges in their marriage, writing in his 2014 autobiography: “Our marriage isn’t perfect, and we have had difficult ups and downs, yet Sophie remains my best friend, my partner, my love. We are honest with each other, even when it hurts.”

The two began dating in 2003, when Ms Grégoire Trudeau was working as a TV personality. She is also known for her charity work around mental health and eating disorders.

Mr Trudeau is the second Canadian prime minister to announce separation while in office. The first was his father, the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and mother Margaret Trudeau, who announced their split in 1977 after six years together. They later divorced.

(BBC News)

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India suspends visas for Canadians

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India has suspended visa services for Canadian citizens amid an escalating row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

Visa service provider BLS posted a message from India’s mission blaming “operational reasons” for the decision.

Tensions flared this week after Canada said it was investigating “credible allegations” linking India with the murder of the separatist leader.

India angrily rejected the allegation calling it “absurd”.

Analysts say relations between the countries, which have been strained for months, are now at an all-time low.

The message about the suspension of visas was first posted on the BLS website on Thursday.

“Important notice from Indian Mission: Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 September 2023, Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice,” it read.

India’s foreign ministry refused to comment on the matter and asked the BBC to refer to the BLS website.

The move comes a day after India issued an advisory urging its citizens travelling to or living in Canada to “exercise utmost caution” in view of the “growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada”.

Canada has 1.4 million people of Indian origin, making up 3.7% of the country’s population, according to the 2021 census. India also sends the highest number of international students to Canada – in 2022, they made up 40% of total overseas students at 320,000.

(BBC News)

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One in 10 people now aged 80 or older

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For the first time ever, more than one in 10 people in Japan are now aged 80 or older.

National data also shows 29.1% of the 125 million population is aged 65 or older- a record.

Japan has one of the lowest birth-rates in the world and has long struggled with how to provide for its ageing population.

It has the world’s oldest population, measured by the proportion of people aged 65 or up, the United Nations says.

That proportion stands at 24.5% in Italy and 23.6% in Finland, which rank second and third respectively.

In Japan, those aged over 65 are expected to account for 34.8% of the population by 2040, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

The country’s elderly employment rate is among the highest across major economies – workers aged 65 or more make up more than 13% of the national workforce.

But this has done little to relieve the burden on the country’s social security spending.

Japan has approved a record budget for the next fiscal year, in part due to rising social security costs.

Efforts to boost its birth rates have also met with little success amid the growing cost of living, and notoriously long working hours.

Birth rates are slowing in many countries, including Japan’s neighbours, but the problem is particularly acute in Japan.

The country was estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 babies born last year – the lowest number since records began in the 19th century.

In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in January that his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its declining birth rate.

However authorities remain hesitant about accepting migrant workers as a solution to falling fertility.

Other countries in Asia are facing similar demographic challenges.

Last year, China’s population fell for the first time since 1961, while South Korea has reported the lowest fertility rate in the world.

(BBC News)

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UK to ban American bully XL dogs

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The British government has announced steps to outlaw the American bully XL by the end of the year.

The American bully XL  is a popular breed that likely descended from pit bulls.

The ban was announced after a string of dog attacks that caused outrage on social media last week.

PM Rishi Sunak said it was clear the American XL bullies were “a danger to communities” and a ban was needed.

He added that experts and police will work together to “accurately define the breed” and powers will be used in the Dangerous Dogs Act.

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