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Canadians can apply to renew their passports online beginning this fall

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Canadians who need their travel documents renewed before visiting far-off shores will soon be able to skip the line at the passport office, the immigration minister announced Wednesday.Starting in the fall, Canadians with simple passport renewals will be able to apply online and upload the necessary documents and passport photo on a secure government website, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said.He made the announcement at an event to unveil a new design for Canada’s passport, which includes updated security features and colourful new pages — and removes some references to key moments in Canada’s history.“The federal government is going to continue to work to improve our services and security for Canadians. This passport update is one of the many efforts that is going to improve travel and security,” Fraser said at a press conference at the Ottawa International Airport. Those applying for new passports, including children, will still need to go thro...

Biden pressures House Republicans on debt limit in campaign-style speech

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

VALHALLA, New York (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday blasted Republican-demanded spending cuts as “devastating,” making his case in a campaign-style speech to voters as lawmakers met in Washington on raising the government’s borrowing limit to avoid a potentially catastrophic U.S. default.The president is showing an increased willingness to discuss possible budget restraints, yet he insisted anew that any talks on that should occur without the risk of the federal government being unable to pay its bills. “America is the strongest economy in the world, but we should be cutting spending and lowering the deficit without a needless crisis,” Biden said Wednesday.His words were a challenge to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who met Tuesday with Biden at the White House, declaring afterward that sharp spending cuts were required for House Republicans to increase the debt limit and stave off the risk of default.Biden laid into that GOP proposal on Wednesday in Valhalla, New ...

Viral video of hundreds in line at Fort York Food Bank not surprising to operators

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

Almost every day of the week, hundreds of people wait hours in lineups that span an entire city block to collect food at Toronto’s Fort York Food Bank.A recent video showing the daily lineups went viral online, but the food bank’s operator tells CityNews she is not surprised by it.“Unless you live in this neighbourhood and run by and see our lines like this, it is shocking to see what poverty looks like in our city,” said Executive Director Julie Lejeune.Lejeune has been with the Fort York Food Bank for nearly a decade and describes the situation as critical, saying the number of clients has tripled since 2019.“We are serving 3,200 people every week that just went up from last month,” said Lejeune. “It was 3,000. The month before, it was 2,500, so we are seeing a month-to-month increase in the people we serve.”She said up to 20 new people are walking through these doors daily, from students to families to seniors and newcomers.“P...

George Santos pleads not guilty to duping donors, stealing campaign cash to burnish wealthy image

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican infamous for fabricating his life story, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he duped donors, stole from his campaign and lied to Congress about being a millionaire, all while cheating to collect unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve. Afterward, he said wouldn’t drop his reelection bid, defying calls to resign.Santos’ 13-count federal indictment was a reckoning for a web of fraud and deceit that prosecutors say overlapped with his fantastical public image as a wealthy businessman — a fictional biography that began to unravel after he won election last fall.Santos, 34, was released on $500,000 bond following his arraignment, about five hours after turning himself in to authorities on Long Island to face charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.“This is the beginning of the...

Mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, known as Dooce to fans, dead at 47

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The pioneering mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, who laid bare her struggles as a mother and her battles with depression and alcoholism on her site Dooce.com and on social media, has died at 47.Armstrong died by suicide, her boyfriend Pete Ashdown told The Associated Press, saying he found her Tuesday night at their Salt Lake City home.Ashdown said Armstrong had been sober for over 18 months but had recently had a relapse. He did not provide further details.Armstrong, who had two children with her former husband and business partner, Jon Armstrong, began Dooce in 2001 and built it into a lucrative career. She was one of the first and most popular mommy bloggers, writing frankly about her children, relationships and other challenges. She parlayed her successes with the blog, on Instagram and elsewhere into book deals, putting out a memoir in 2009, “It Sucked and then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown and a Much Needed Margarita.”Armstrong appeared on Oprah and was...

‘Not on my watch’: Seamus O’Regan rejects Liberals’ disinformation resolution

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan says the Liberal government is keen to tackle the problem of disinformation, but that will not include regulating the use of sources.Members of the federal Liberal party approved a new resolution regarding disinformation that could venture into regulating journalistic practices, but O’Regan says the federal government would never implement it “on his watch.”It calls for fighting the rise of disinformation through efforts that include holding “online information services” accountable for what they publish and barring the use of sources that cannot be traced.O’Regan says the ramifications of such a policy, particularly on freedom of the press, would not be acceptable and as such the policy is never going to happen.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also dismissed the resolution, but there is some support within the caucus, with Toronto Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz saying it was one of the top three resolutions ...

Sports betting industry predicts ‘microbets’ next big thing, worrying safe-bet advocates

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Imagine being able to make a bet with this level of specificity: the Yankees’ Aaron Judge will hit a home run on the fourth pitch he sees in a given at bat, which will be a curveball spinning at a certain speed.That $5 bet could win you $5,000.Of course, it’s unbelievable unlikely to win. But it could be a part of sports betting in the very near future, panelists at a major sports betting conference said Wednesday.Speaking at the SBC Summit North America, officials with gambling companies and professional sports leagues agreed that more rapid-fire betting — lots more of it — is on the way as technology continues to evolve and legal sports betting expands to new markets.Andrew Bimson, president and chief operating officer in North America for the data company Sportradar, said microbetting is the fastest-growing segment of in-play betting.While comparatively small now, he estimated that microbetting could constitute $20 billion worth of bets by 2027.I...

Israeli-Palestinian fighting intensifies as Egyptian cease-fire efforts falter

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian militants fired hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Wednesday, while Israel pressed ahead with a series of airstrikes that have killed 21 Palestinians, including three senior militants and at least 10 civilians.A state-run Egyptian TV station announced that Egypt, a frequent mediator between the sides, had brokered a cease-fire. But the truce efforts appeared to falter as fighting intensified late Wednesday, with neither side showing any sign of backing down. In a prime-time TV address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel had dealt a harsh blow to the militants. But he cautioned: “This round is not over.”“We say to the terrorists and those who send them. We see you everywhere. You can’t hide, and we choose the place and time to strike you,” he said, adding that Israel would also decide when calm is restored.Throughout the day, rocket fire set off air-raid sirens throughout southern and ...

Lucas Giolito is an exception to the rule for the White Sox starting pitchers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

CHICAGO — It's been a rough start for the White Sox pitching staff, especially the starters, who've struggled to find former in the first month-and-a-half of the season.One of those hurlers who has been able to find it, however, is a player in the final year of his contract with the club. Starter Lucas Giolito has only allowed more than two earned runs in his last six starts, including another strong effort on Wednesday night in Kansas City. The pitcher allowed surrendered two earned runs over the course of six innings, striking out nine Royals compared to two walks in a 4-2 White Sox victory that gives Giolito his second win of the year. His efforts have been the exception for the team that is currently second-to-last in Major League Baseball in ERA, which sits at 5.60 through 37 games.After surrendering seven earned runs in a start against the Pirates on April 7, Giolito sported an earned run average of 2.33 over his last six outings with 41 strikeouts compared to ten walks. With ...

Former Gov. Quinn joins discussion over Illinois ethics laws

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:42:00 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Another federal conviction for political corruption in Illinois, another call for tougher ethics laws.A jury last week slapped convictions on four political insiders in a wide-ranging bribery case involving power giant ComEd's bribery of the once-powerful speaker of the Ilinois House.While a key House Democrat confirmed Tuesday that discussions about a package of ethical tune-ups were underway, former Gov. Pat Quinn, who has made a career of chasing government reform, delivered a letter to Democratic leaders seeking a special session to adopt more than a half-dozen reforms. ‘ComEd Four’ found guilty in bribery trial They include the long-sought but elusive proposals to allow taxpayers to put referendum questions on the ballot without legislative intervention — currently possible in 26 states — and to prohibit legislators from voting on issues in which they have a financial interest.“It’s pretty clear from the testimony in the trial that jobs were being giv...