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Canada to pilot options for national emergency response agency in 2024: Sajjan

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

OTTAWA — A new national emergency response agency may consist of regional response teams that Ottawa can call into action when disaster strikes, Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a recent interview. It is clear some kind of federal co-ordination agency is required, Sajjan said, speaking to The Canadian Press about the lessons learned after last summer’s record-breaking wildfire season. But it’s not yet clear exactly what that will look like, he said. “Yes, I believe that we will have something that’s going to be at the federal level of a response force,” Sajjan said.“I can’t give you the answer just yet because it’s important for us to really work at the ground level to get a better understanding what those needs are. Because ultimately whatever we have, at the provincial or federal level, has to respond to the emergency. We need to get that right.”Multiple reports have shown that climate change is leading to ...

‘Weighing our options’: Ottawa open to further pause to expand assisted dying rules

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is considering whether to pause its original plan tobroaden the rules that govern medically assisted dying so they include patients whose only underlying condition is a mental disorder.“We’re weighing our options,” Justice Minister Arif Virani said Thursday. It would be the second time the federal Liberals have hit pause on the plan. The first came in February, when the government decided to impose a one-year delay amid widespread public and political concern.That decision established a new deadline of March 2024 — one that now appears in jeopardy. Cabinet will consider the input of a joint parliamentary committee, as well as medical experts and other stakeholders, Virani said. “We’ll evaluate all of that comprehensively to make a decision whether we move ahead on March 17, or whether we pause,” he told The Canadian Press in a wide-ranging interview. Both options are “on the table,” he added.Back in Febr...

Freeland hosts annual meeting with provincial, territorial counterparts today

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

TORONTO — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is hosting her annual meeting of federal, provincial and territorial finance ministers in Toronto today.The meeting will focus on economic growth, housing and affordability, according to a news release. But the ministers are also expected to talk pensions after holding a special meeting last month to discuss Alberta’s intentions to create its own pension plan.Alberta has since paused its public consultations on a pension plan, however, a senior federal source says there will be discussion of pensions in today’s meeting. The meeting comes as Canada continues to struggle with high inflation and high interest rates weigh on the economy. At the same time, all levels of government are facing mounting pressure to address the housing crisis by finding ways to get more homes built, faster.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2023.The Canadian Press

Glen Assoun’s daughter says probe of his wrongful conviction must become a priority

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

HALIFAX — The daughter of a wrongfully convicted Nova Scotia man says that even in death her father is being denied justice — and she is demanding a stalled criminal investigation of his case become “a priority.”Amanda Huckle says that she and her family were deeply frustrated when they learned last month that a police oversight body had stopped its three-year probe to determine whether RCMP officers broke the law when they destroyed evidence in the case that led to the conviction of her father, Glen Assoun, for murder.Assoun died in June at the age of 67.“I feel that Dad has once again been railroaded, like he has every step of the way,” Huckle said in a recent interview. “He deserves justice, and he never was able to truly experience that before he left this world …. It (the criminal investigation) needs to be a priority, instead of sidelined all the time.”In March 2019, a Nova Scotia court acquitted Assoun in the 1995 killing of his ex-gi...

Gay Ugandan in Edmonton faces deportation, fears jail or death over anti-LGBTQ law

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

EDMONTON — A man in Edmonton is making a last-ditch legal bid to avoid a Monday deportation flight back to Uganda, where he fears he may be imprisoned, harmed or even killed for being gay. The man, who asked not to be identified for his safety but sometimes goes by the name Sue, said his lawyer has asked the Federal Court for one more review of his case.But he says if it doesn’t succeed, he will reluctantly get on the flight to the east African country.“No one’s expecting me, and I don’t know where I will go,” the 25-year-old told The Canadian Press in an interview. “It doesn’t matter where you go. Everywhere, people think a man like me who is gay, that it’s a curse.” Sue said he has been packing up his apartment and trying to sell belongings on Facebook since the Canada Border Services Agency ordered him to report Monday for a flight to his home country.Homosexuality has long been illegal in Uganda. Earlier this year, the country passed one...

Where is Kremlin foe Navalny? His allies say he has been moved but they still don’t know where

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The whereabouts of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny remained unknown on Friday, with penitentiary officials reporting that earlier this month he was moved from the region where he was serving time, but still not disclosing where he is, the politician’s allies said. Navalny’s lawyers haven’t seen him since Dec. 6, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Navalny has been serving a 19-year term on charges of extremism in a maximum-security prison, Penal Colony No. 6, in the town of Melekhovo in the Vladimir region, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow. He was due to be transferred to a “special security” penal colony, a facility with the highest security level in the Russian penitentiary system.Russian prison transfers are notorious for taking a long time, sometimes weeks, during which there’s no access to prisoners and information about their whereabouts is limited or unavailable. Naval...

Stock market today: World markets churn higher after the Dow logs another close

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — World markets powered higher on Friday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to another record close on excitement that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates several times next year. Germany’s DAX advanced 0.6% to 16,849.10 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4% at 7,604.01. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged less than 0.1% higher, to 7,650.99. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow were up 0.2%. Oil prices also gained. Hong Kong led Asia’s gains with property developers jumping after some Chinese cities eased buying restrictions.The Hang Seng surged 2.4% to 16,792.19, but the Shanghai Composite index fell back, losing 0.6% to 2,942.56. Troubled developer Country Garden’s shares jumped 5.1%, while China Evergrande gained 3.5% and Sino Ocean Holding surged 5.7%. China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that factory output rose 6.6% in November and retail sales were up more than 10%, glimmers of improvement for the economy after the...

Gunmen kill 11 people, wound 8 others in an attack on a police station in Iran, state TV says

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Suspected members of a separatist group killed 11 people and wounded eight others in a nighttime attack on a police station in southeastern Iran, state TV said Friday.The deputy governor of Sistan and Baluchestan province, Ali Reza Marhemati, said senior police officers and soldiers were killed and wounded in the 2 a.m. attack in Rask town, about 1,400 kilometers (875 miles) southwest of Tehran.He said police killed several of the attackers in a shootout.The advocacy group HalVash, which reports on issues affecting the Baluch people, shared video online that purported to include the heavy gunfire that accompanied the predawn attack. It also showed helicopters later flying over the area in daylight. State TV blamed the attack on Jaish al-Adl, a separatist group. In 2019, Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a bus that killed 27 members of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. However, the militants did not immediatel...

Daily horoscope for December 15, 2023

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important decisions from 10:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. EST today (7:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. PST). After that, the Moon moves from Capricorn into Aquarius.Happy Birthday for Friday, Dec. 15, 2023:You are upbeat, optimistic and forever curious. You believe in yourself and your abilities. This has been a year of learning and exploration for you — some deeper thinking. Your payoff comes in 2024, when you can expect kudos, awards, adulation, promotion and acknowledgement. Bravo!ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★Avoid power struggles with parents and bosses this morning, because after the Moon changes signs today, you enter a lovely, popular window of time where you will enjoy the company of friends as well as groups and organizations. Therefore, tiptoe this morning. Tonight: Be friendly.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★In the early hours, steer clear of ego battles about politics and beliefs. Very soon, this day changes its tone, and you’re suddenly high-viz. People...

Commission adopts new general rules for small amounts of state aid and for services of general economic interest

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:49:14 GMT

The European Commission has adopted two regulations amending the general rules for small amounts of aid (de minimis Regulation) and for small amounts of aid for Services of General Economic interest, such as public transport and healthcare (SGEI de minimis Regulation). The revised regulations, which exempt small aid amounts from EU State aid control since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market, will enter into force on 1 January 2024 and will apply until 31 December 2030.Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager (pictured), in charge of competition policy, said: “The revised de minimis regulations raise the exemption ceilings to cater for inflation, making it easier and faster to provide small amounts of aid. The revised rules will also introduce a central register to facilitate the control of the de minimis ceilings. This will reduce the burden for undertakings, in particular SMEs, as they will no longer need to self-monitor compliance. At...