Star Metro - News from Calgary, Canada, USA and around the world

When an ancient bronze statue of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius landed back on Turkish soil after decades abroad, it was more than a symbolic homecoming.

"The Bachelorette," one of America's highest profile reality TV shows, was cancelled Thursday just days before the new season was due to air, after video emerged of the show's star hurling furniture at her ex-partner, in an incident that apparently injured her daughter.

An advisory commission hand-picked by President Donald Trump has approved the design of a commemorative gold coin featuring his image, officials said Thursday, in a move slammed by Democratic opponents.

K-pop oozes with talent, flair and hard work, but the spectacularly successful South Korean music industry also has a dark side -- sometimes with tragic results.

Crude prices fell more than two percent Friday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was being "decimated" and that the war would end earlier than many feared.

Employees of a US computer company raked in billions of dollars diverting Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to China in violation of export controls, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

Iga Swiatek crashed out of the Miami Open second round Thursday as 50th-ranked fellow Pole Magda Linette fought back for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over the six-time Grand Slam champion.

Six major international powers said Thursday they were ready "to contribute to" ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, though three stressed that any initiative would take place post-ceasefire.

A US-backed crackdown on drug cartels along the Ecuador-Colombia border has sparked accusations that security forces bombed farms, burned homes and detained and abused villagers.

Outraged EU leaders rounded on Viktor Orban after the Hungarian nationalist refused to lift his veto on funds for Ukraine's war effort at a Thursday summit, accusing him of a "gross act of disloyalty" tantamount to "blackmail."

Aziza Ahmad hasn't planned anything -- no family meal, no gifts for the children. In Lebanon, between the war and soaring prices, she said "there's nothing to celebrate" this Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan.

Basketball superstar LeBron James tied the NBA record for most regular-season games played as his Los Angeles Lakers took on the Miami Heat on Thursday.

K-pop megastars BTS release a new album Friday a day ahead of a huge comeback concert in Seoul, a record billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's "beginnings and identity".

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / March 20, 2026 / Cypher Metaverse Inc. (CSE:CODE) ("Cypher" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it is undertaking a non-brokered private placement of up to $500,000, by offering common share units at $0.33 per unit, each unit comprised of one common share and one common share warrant exercisable for 2 years at an exercise price of $0.45, subject to the Corporation's option to accelerate the expiry date if the stock trades at $0.65 for 10 trading days.

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / March 20, 2026 / SKY GOLD CORP. ("Sky" or the "Company") (TSXV:SKYG)(OTC PINK:SRKZF) announces it has set 2,000,000 options at an exercise price of $0.05 good for 2 years to directors, officers and consultants of the Company in accordance with the Company's stock option plan.

CHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESS Newswire / March 20, 2026 / A nationally leading precious metals dealer and depository has teamed up with the nation's preeminent sound money policy group to announce the next round of the Sound Money Fellowship - a unique opportunity designed to foster advanced research in the field of sound money.

ORLANDO, FL / ACCESS Newswire / March 20, 2026 / Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American:UMAC), (the "Company", or "Unusual Machines"), a United States-based manufacturer and distributor of drone parts, today announced it has priced a public offering for the sale of 8,823,529 shares of its common stock in a public offering (the "Offering") at a price of $17.00 per share. Participation in this offering includes a strategic investment from Ondas Inc. (Nasdaq:ONDS) along with fundamental institutional investors.

CALGARY, AB / ACCESS Newswire / March 20, 2026 / CANEX Metals Inc.("CANEX" or the "Company") (TSXV:CANX) is issuing this news release to correct its announcement dated February 10, 2026 (the "Original Release") regarding the number of common shares in the capital of Gold Basin Resources Corporation ("Gold Basin")("TSX.V:GXX) (the "Gold Basin Shares") validly deposited (and not withdrawn) under its offer to purchase all of the Gold Basin Shares (the "Offer").

VANCOUVER, BC AND BREDA, THE NETHERLANDS / ACCESS Newswire / March 20, 2026 / Organto Foods Incorporated (TSXV:OGO)(OTCQX:OGOFF)(FSE:OGF0) ("Organto" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has engaged both VSA Capital Limited ("VSA Capital"), a London, U.K.-based investment banking firm, to provide marketing and communications support services, and Venture Liquidity Providers Inc. ("VLP"), a Canadian-based market-making services firm for market-making purposes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran is being "decimated" and it is unclear who is in charge, even as the Islamic Republic kept up attacks on Gulf oil and gas targets that have jolted global markets.

Michael Carrick admits he doesn't know if Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt will play again this season as he struggles with a "difficult" back injury.

Nottingham Forest reached the Europa League quarter-finals after Midtjylland missed all three of their penalties in the last-16 second-leg shoot-out, while John McGinn inspired Aston Villa's 2-0 win against Lille on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both praise their relationship as excellent, but after three weeks of attacking Iran, their tactics are increasingly diverging -- the result, some experts say, of Trump's ill-defined goals.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sailed smoothly past a potential clash with Donald Trump over Iran on Thursday, though the US president whipped up a bit of a storm about Pearl Harbor.

Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro, who plans to run for president in October elections, on Thursday called for "many, many prisons" in a speech praising the controversial security policies of El Salvador's Nayib Bukele.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that it "takes money to kill bad guys" when asked if the Pentagon had requested $200 billion in funding for the Iran war.

Energy prices soared during a volatile session Thursday, while Wall Street stocks trimmed losses after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war with Iran could finish sooner than expected.

Nottingham Forest reached the Europa League quarter-finals after Midtjylland missed all three of their penalties in the last-16 second-leg shoot-out on Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel's military attacks had "decimated" Iran and that the Middle East war could finish sooner than expected, even as the Islamic republic kept up attacks on Gulf oil and gas targets that have jolted global markets.

Jailed Salvadoran lawyer Ruth Lopez symbolizes the "decency" and "credible voice" that President Nayib Bukele's government only managed to silence with imprisonment, her husband Louis Benavides told AFP in an interview.

Lawmakers in California said Thursday they will rename the Cesar Chavez Day state holiday in the wake of disturbing allegations of sexual abuse by the late labor rights icon.

A Yazidi woman who was held as a sex slave by the Islamic State group testified Thursday before a French court, describing in stark detail the horrors she endured under jihadist captivity.