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Liberals to go after predatory lending in today’s budget, invest in dental care plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is set to table a federal budget in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, which a federal source says will include plans to go after predatory lending and more details on dental care as part of a pitch to make life more affordable.The government official, who was granted anonymity to discuss matters that will not be public until the budget is released, said the federal Liberals intend to amend the Criminal Code to lower the amount of interest legally allowed to be charged.Predatory lending often involves short-term loans at sky-high high interest rates. Often marketed to people in financially precarious situations, they can create a cycle of debt tough to escape.The Criminal Code currently caps the legal interest rate at 60 per cent effective annual interest, which has been the case since it was set in 1980 — a time when the key overnight rate set by the Bank of Canada was 21 per cent, compared to the 4.5 per cent it is today.There is...

Senior Mounties involved in N.S. mass shooting response either retired or in new jobs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

HALIFAX — As a public inquiry prepares for the release of its final report into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting, its findings are sure to refocus the spotlight on the RCMP’s problem-plagued response to the 13-hour rampage that claimed 22 lives.Almost three years after a man disguised as a Mountie started murdering people in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, 2020, the senior RCMP officers and staff involved in the tragic case have all either retired or moved into new jobs.Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, says there’s no guarantee the inquiry’s findings will have much impact on the RCMP’s senior ranks.“Police accountability is not easily realized, even in the most grave of circumstances,” said Schneider, who has published extensively on policing issues.“Given how grave it was and how many people lost their lives … the RCMP could have, at the very least, demoted or meted out some sort of punishment to s...

LGBTQ+ advocates protest Texas bill affecting trans people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Advocates for trans rights gathered inside the Texas Capitol early Tuesday morning after the end of a hearing into a bill that would ban minors from receiving medical treatment to change their gender.HB 1686 by State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) would prohibit physicians from providing gender transition surgery or “puberty blockers” to Texans under 18. It would also exempt that care from coverage under state health insurance plans.“This whole cottage industry operates without self regulation to the detriment of vulnerable children,” Rep. Oliverson tweeted Monday.The House Committee on Public Health hearing ended just after 12 a.m. Tuesday. Some of the people signed up to testify tell us they didn't get to speak because the hearing wrapped. The House committee clerk on Monday told KXAN 372 people signed up to testify.After the hearing, protestors gathered for a brief rally and "die-in". They used their bodies to symbolize how many transgender lives c...

Daily horoscope for March 28, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

Moon Alert: After 6:30 a.m. EDT today (3:30 a.m. PDT), there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The Moon is in Cancer.Happy Birthday for Tuesday, March 28, 2023:Your work is important to you, as is the affection of others. You are a caring, independent person. This is a slower paced year that will allow you to rejuvenate yourself. Focus on your needs and what brings you happiness, especially in relationships.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★★This is a day for important family discussions. It’s also a great day to make domestic improvements and discuss long-range plans that affect family members, the home and possibly real estate. Listen to the advice of someone older. Their experience might be an important help right now. Tonight: Finish work.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★You have wonderful chances to learn and study today. Likewise, you can teach others or share your ideas. You will be persuasive and convincing. This is because your mind is open and clear. You c...

Ukraine's Avdiivka becoming 'post-apocalyptic', official says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

Russia is making Ukraine's Avdiivka "a place from post-apocalyptic movies", intensifying the shelling and forcing a near complete shutdown of the frontline, a top local official stated on Sunday (26 March).Officials estimate that there are approximately 2,000 civilians still in Avdiivka. It is a Donetsk city located 90 km (56 miles) south of the besieged Bakhmut. According to officials, the city was home to more than 33,000 people before the war.Vitaliy Barabash, the head of the military administration in the city, stated that Avdiivka was becoming "more and more like a movie set" via the Telegram messaging app.Barabash said that the evacuation of utility workers who were left in the city is underway and that mobile reception will soon be cut "because there are informers for the Russian occupiers" in the city.The Russian forces have made recent steady gains on the flanks Avdiivka's Avdiivka. Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that the city could become "second Bakhmut". This i...

Miss Manners: Best man is on the hook for 5-day bachelor party and two weddings

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My daughter’s husband, Liam, has been asked to be the best man at the fall wedding of his friend Cody. Cody and Liam have communicated, at most, three or four times via text in the last three years.Cody has asked Liam to throw a five-day destination bachelor party. Not only that, he and his fiancee are asking the members of the wedding party to fly to Austria for their “first” wedding, stay there for six days, then travel to Italy for their “second” wedding and stay there for another six days. (No one in the wedding party has any connection to these places.) And of course they are also expected to bestow a gift on the greedy couple.My daughter figures attending the wedding would cost them about $20,000, and that’s without the bachelor party. They would also have to take their young son with them.Liam is afraid that if he says no, he will lose Cody as a friend, while my daughter is telling him that Cody already isn’t his fr...

Dear Abby: I was at a dinner party and there was a big problem with my salad

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I was at a semiformal dinner party with my wife and five other couples. During the first course, I found a large green caterpillar (alive) in my salad.What’s the best way to handle this type of situation? YIKES! IN TEXASDEAR YIKES: It goes without question that the “uninvited visitor” be evicted. A way to do that without embarrassing your host would be to quietly pick the critter up, excuse yourself from the table and release it into the wild out a window or the back door.If you are a devout animal lover, take a bit of lettuce with you so it won’t go hungry.DEAR ABBY: I’ve been married for more than 30 years. My husband and I split all bills and everything else.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: I forgave my wife’s affair and started one of my own. What do I do now? Advice | Dear Abby: I worry that the TV weather report will harm emotionally vulnerable people Advice | Dear Abby: She torpedoed ...

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls May 21 election after a train crash last month stirred public anger

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis calls May 21 election after a train crash last month stirred public anger.Source

Rusia dispara misiles de crucero en aguas próximas a Japón durante un ejercicio de entrenamiento

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

(CNN) — La Flota rusa del Pacífico disparó este martes por la mañana un par de misiles supersónicos contra un objetivo simulado en aguas próximas a la costa de Japón, informó el Ministerio de Defensa ruso.“Un equipo de dos lanchas misileras llevó a cabo un ataque conjunto con misiles contra un escudo marino que simulaba un buque de guerra enemigo simulado”, dijo el ministerio en un post de Telegram. “El objetivo fue alcanzado con éxito a una distancia de 100 km (62 millas) por un impacto directo de dos misiles de crucero Moskit”.Los misiles son capaces de destruir un buque a una distancia de hasta 120 kilómetros (75 millas), según Reuters.Un buque de la Flota rusa del Pacífico dispara un misil de crucero Moskit contra un objetivo enemigo simulado en aguas de la costa japonesa el 28 de marzo. (Crédito: Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters)La maniobra de este martes se produce después de que Rusia realizara simulacros a principios de este mes en el Mar de Jap...

Police: 47-year-old Lexington man killed in pedestrian crash at Logan Airport terminal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

A 47-year-old man from Lexington was struck and killed by a Dartmouth Coach bus at a Logan Airport terminal, according to state police. Officials said the crash happened around 5 p.m. on the Terminal B lower roadway. A preliminary investigation shows the victim was at the airport to pick up a friend and was standing on the drivers side of his SUV when the bus hit him and dragged him along the side of his car. Police said the man was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering severe injuries. Terminal B passengers were redirected to other parts of the airport to get picked up or to catch a bus. The scene around the crash reopened around 9 p.m. Monday. Speaking with 7NEWS, passengers in the area said they were sad to hear news of a death. “I feel for their family, I mean, my heart goes out to them,” one person said. “I can’t imagine.”The 54-year-old bus driver was interviewed by state police. Officials have not said if he will face any charges. Dartmouth Coach issued a statemen...