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Canada’s speaker resigns after inviting man who fought in Nazi unit to Zelenskyy visit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

OTTAWA, Ont. — The Speaker of Canada’s House of Commons resigned on Tuesday after quick and fierce backlash for honoring a man who fought in a Nazi division during World War II.Anthony Rota made a sudden but not unexpected announcement to the House of Commons to express “profound regret” and said he would step down as speaker by end of day Wednesday.“That public recognition has caused pain to individuals and communities, including the Jewish community in Canada and around the world, in addition to survivors of Nazi atrocities in Poland, among other nations,” he said.Canadian lawmakers gave a standing ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, 98, after Rota recognized him as a “hero” following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s historic speech in Parliament on Friday — a moment that produced some of the best visuals from Zelenskyy’s visit.But the story took a twisted turn and burst into global headlines over the weekend when it came out that Hunka was part of the First Ukrainian Division, al...

Germany will impose checks on borders with Poland and Czech Republic, official says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

BERLIN — German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will on Wednesday announce temporary checks on Germany’s borders with Poland and the Czech Republic in an attempt to curb an influx of asylum seekers, a German official told POLITICO.These “temporary controls at selected border crossings” will begin “within the next days,” the official added. German leaders have come under increasing pressure to crack down on the growing numbers of asylum seekers, many of whom are now crossing the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic. Some 204,000 people requested asylum in Germany within the first eight months of 2023, 77 percent more than the same period last year.German politicians are making a particular effort to sound tougher on migration ahead of state elections in Bavaria and Hesse on October 8. At a political rally in Bavaria over the weekend, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz linked the border crisis with an alleged visas-for-bribes scandal that has rock...

Wu: Widett Circle Recovery Campus Idea Not “Feasible”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was cool Monday to the idea that Widett Circle could be used as a recovery campus to help address persistent drug use and homelessness at the nearby intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, and said she is not troubled by the amount of time the City Council is taking to consider her proposal for dealing with encampments at Mass. and Cass.The South End Forum of neighborhood associations and the Newmarket Business Improvement District unveiled a proposal last month that would involve temporary cabins being erected at Widett Circle with services to support individuals through various steps of recovery. The 24-acre property was previously home to the New Boston Food Mart Corporation, had been eyed as a potential Olympic stadium location and is now owned by the MBTA, whose leaders have described the site as critical to improving commuter rail operations.During an appearance Monday on WBUR’s “Radio Boston,R...

The 2nd GOP debate field will be a little bit smaller — and still missing Trump. Follow live updates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

By The Associated PressFollow along for live updates on the second 2024 Republican presidential debate, which begins at 9 p.m. Wednesday ET in California. The field’s early front-runner, Donald Trump, is skipping the event, just as he did the first. He’ll be 2,000 miles away meeting with union workers in Michigan amid a labor strike.The candidates on stage will be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.— Who’s running for president? See a rundown of the 2024 candidates — 7 candidates qualified for the second debate. Here’s who missed the cut — Biden will join the autoworkers’ picket line a day before Trump visits Michigan — Trump says he’s always had autoworkers’ backs. His record shows otherwiseFormer Arkansas Gov. A...

Student loans are back. Time to consolidate credit card debt?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

The federal student loan payment pause that began in March 2020 is ending. Loans began accruing interest on Sept. 1, and borrowers will start making payments in October.But the restart comes at a tricky time for Americans’ finances. Credit card debt is at a record high — $1 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — and student loan borrowers may struggle to prioritize different types of debt.Credit card debt is especially damaging to your finances because of its high, compounding interest. As money gets tighter, consolidating your credit card debt under a zero- or low-interest product may be a smart move.Increased debt for student loan borrowersWith no student loan bills for the past three-plus years, borrowers may have used the space in their budget to take on other types of debt.More than half of all federal student loan borrowers took out a new bank-issued credit card during the pandemic, while 36% got an auto loan and 31% signed up for a retail credit card, a...

Final rounds of pandemic food benefits headed to CA families. Are you eligible?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

(KSWB) -- The final round of pandemic-era food relief benefits is headed to help households across California get groceries.The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) program was a federal initiative to help low-income families set food on the table while schools and childcare facilities were closed through a stipend for groceries.Two rounds were issued during the pandemic, with the third being distributed before summer this year, according to the California Department of Education. Cards for a fourth and final round of P-EBT for the 2022-23 school year is currently being distributed to qualifying households. Tax deadline nearing for most Californians According to the California Department of Social Services, there will be two final issuances of the benefits, one in September and a second in October. Children will receive as much as $90 each month.All of the P-EBT 4.0 cards are expected to be delivered to participating families by Sept. 30, 2023. For those that believe they...

India and Canada steer clear, at UN, of their dispute over Sikh separatist leader’s killing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Indian and Canadian diplomats didn’t directly address their countries’ row over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader, but they obliquely underscored some key talking points as they addressed world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that the world must not “countenance that political convenience determines responses to terrorism, extremism and violence.” Canadian U.N. Ambassador Robert Rae, by turn, insisted that “we cannot bend the rules of state-to-state relations for political expediency.”Relations between the two countries frayed after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that India may have been involved in the June killing of a Canadian citizen in a Vancouver suburb.Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45. Killed by masked gunmen, Nijjar was a leader in what remains of a once-strong moveme...

Preliminary hearing in 2024 for Quebecer accused of killing two kids in daycare

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

LAVAL, Que. — A preliminary hearing for a Quebec man accused of killing two four-year-olds and injuring six other children after he allegedly drove a city bus into a Montreal-area daycare is expected to take place in the new year.After a brief court appearance in Laval, Que., north of Montreal, defence lawyer Julien Lespérance Hudon said the prosecution had finished disclosing evidence and a preliminary hearing – which would last one week – could be scheduled for March or April. His client, Pierre Ny St-Amand, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault. The 51-year-old bus driver was arrested after a city bus crashed into the front of a daycare in Laval on Feb. 8, killing two four-year-olds and injuring six other children.The case will return to court on Nov. 29 for a management hearing, during which the date and parameters of the preliminary hearing will be set.However, Lespérance Hudon s...

SIU investigating circumstances of 88-year-old man’s death in Mississauga

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

Ontario’s police watchdog has taken over an investigation after an 88-year-old man died following a wellness check in Mississauga.The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says Peel Regional Police officers, a crisis worker and a mental health nurse attended a home in the Silver Creek Boulevard area at around 1:30 p.m. on Monday.The SIU said a request was made to assess the man’s well-being and noted that it became necessary to apprehend him under the Mental Health Act.During the apprehension with responding personnel, the province’s police watchdog says the man suffered a critical injury. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Monday.The SIU said the post-mortem examination is scheduled for Wednesday.Two investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to the case.The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or th...

Capitol rioter who trained for a ‘firefight’ with paintball gets over four years in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:50 GMT

A California man whom prosecutors say was fixated on arresting Democratic leaders and training for combat with paintball fights after the 2020 presidential election was sentenced on Tuesday to more than four years in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot.Edward Badalian planned for weeks before he and a friend traveled from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., and joined a mob in storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to prosecutors. They said Badalian organized group paintball sessions to train for a “firefight” and fantasized about meting out “vigilante justice” against politicians he believed to be “traitors.”“He trained, collected weapons, and traveled across the country for the riot, with the goal of arresting and ‘violently removing’ politicians he disagreed with,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Badalian, 29, of Panorama City, California, to four years and three months of incarceration, accordi...