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US job openings fall to lowest level since March 2021 as labor market cools

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted 8.7 million job openings in October, the fewest since March 2021, in a sign that hiring is cooling in the face of higher interest rates yet remains at a still-healthy pace. The Labor Department’s report said Tuesday that openings were down significantly from 9.4 million in September.Layoffs were up modestly in October. And the number of Americans who quit their jobs – which generally reflects confidence in their ability to find better pay or working conditions elsewhere — was down slightly.Despite dropping in October, job openings remain at historically high levels. They have now exceeded 8 million for 32 straight months — a threshold they had never reached before 2021.U.S. hiring is slowing from the breakneck pace of the past two years. Still, employers have added a solid 239,000 jobs a month this year. And the unemployment rate has come in below 4% for 21 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.The job market has shown...

Rate of sexual assault in the Canadian Armed Forces rising, StatCan survey suggests

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

A new report from Statistics Canada suggests the problem of sexual misconduct in the military is getting worse.The survey suggests 3.5 per cent of Canadian Armed Forces personnel say they were sexually assaulted by another military member in 2022.That is a significant increase from the 1.6 per cent reported in the same survey in 2018, and 1.7 per cent in 2016.Statistics Canada defines sexual assault as sexual attacks, unwanted touching, and sexual activity when the victim was unable to consent.Victims of these assaults were more likely to be women, the survey found, and they were disproportionately younger, Indigenous, members of the LGBTQ+ community or people with disabilities.Most Armed Forces members who said they were victims of these assaults said they did not report them to authorities, in many cases because they did not think it would make a difference.However, more than half who say they witnessed inappropriate sexual behaviour said they did intervene.Statistics Canada says ...

Scrapyard that caught fire should not be located in centre of Saint John, says panel

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

FREDERICTON — A panel investigating a major scrapyard fire in Saint John, N.B., says the site is at significant risk of future, potentially catastrophic, explosions.The panel was established with representatives from Port Saint John and the provincial government to investigate the Sept. 14 fire at the American Iron & Metal plant, located by the city’s harbour.The massive fire took nearly three days to extinguish and prompted officials to warn residents to stay indoors and close their windows.In a report released today, the panel says the location of the plant, which is close to a residential neighbourhood, is entirely inappropriate.It says Saint John’s water resources were not to sufficient to deal with the Sept. 14 fire, and that the city is ill-equipped to manage potential future fires at the site.The panel says the negative socio-economic impacts of the plant are unacceptable to nearby residents and surrounding communities.This report by The Canadian Press was fir...

Assembly of First Nations meeting kicks off as election of new national chief looms

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

OTTAWA — A special meeting of the Assembly of First Nations is kicking off in Ottawa on Tuesday, as chiefs get ready to elect a new leader. The election of the organization’s next national chief comes as members look for a reset, following a turbulent period when their internal politics were as high-profile as their advocacy for some 600 First Nations. Former national chief RoseAnne Archibald was ousted in June at a special chiefs’ assembly held to address the findings of an investigation into complaints from five staff members about her conduct.The third-party independent review concluded some of Archibald’s behaviour amounted to harassment. It also found she breached internal policies by retaliating against complainants and failing to maintain confidentiality about the matter.Archibald denied those allegations, and her supporters maintain she was removed from the post for trying to change the organization’s status quo.Of the 231 chiefs who took part in the ...

PAWS Chicago rescues dogs and cats from 'horrific' conditions, meat trade in Dominica

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

CHICAGO — PAWS Chicago took part in a harrowing journey over the weekend to rescue around 75 dogs and cats subjected to "horrific" conditions and a cat meat trade in the Caribbean Island of Dominica.The only animal shelter on the small island, St. Nicholas Animal Rescue, was forced to close after losing their lease.PAWS Chicago joined a coalition put together by Wings of Rescue, a charity that provided the plane and has transported 70,000 pets out of harm's way since 2012.Wings of Rescue CEO Ric Browde told WGN News he's spent a lot of time in Dominica and that some of the cats and kittens were saved from the cat meat trade."There's an underground way of buying cats to eat them," Wings of Rescue CEO Ric Browde said. "It got to the point where the shelter would not adopt out adult cats."Without hesitation, PAWS Chicago arranged for a large in-take effort on Saturday night.Courtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy PAWS ChicagoCourtesy...

Classic holiday song tops Hot 100 for first time, dethroning Mariah Carey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

(WJW) — Brenda Lee's 65-year-old holiday classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.The 78-year-old singer breaks multiple records with the latest ranking, which, according to reports from Billboard, became the third holiday song to ever hold the top spot, following “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)” and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You."Brenda Lee arrives at the 57th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)As reported by People, Lee was only 13 years old when she recorded the 1958 classic. Now, she's the oldest artist to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It's also the longest a song has waited to top the charts in Billboard Hot 100 history since it was first released, according to reports. The grocery prices in ‘Home Alone’ are freaking people out on TikTok: ‘Insane’ It's Lee's third No. 1 song ...

6.9 million users of 23andMe had personal information stolen by hackers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

(The Hill) — An estimated 6.9 million users of the genetic testing company 23andMe had their personal information stolen by hackers in a recent data breach, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Monday. According to the spokesperson, an estimated 5.5 million users had their data accessed from the company's DNA Relatives feature, which helps users find and connect with family relatives who also have the feature enabled. Hackers also breached the data of an additional 1.4 million people's family tree profiles, which includes a variety of identifying information about the user, the spokesperson said. TechCrunch first reported the estimated 6.9 million users impacted by the breach. Why Apple is urging ‘all users’ to update their iOS 23andMe first announced the data breach in early October and said both third-party forensic experts and federal law enforcement officials were assisting in the investigation.Last Friday, the company said the investigation was complete, and filed...

Mass shootings in US with 4 or more deaths hit highest level since at least 2006

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

(The Hill) -- There have been more mass shootings with four or more deaths in 2023 than in any year since at least 2006, according to The Washington Post’s gun violence database.There have been 38 such mass shootings this year, up from last year’s high of 36. The record extends back to at least 2006, the oldest information in the Post’s database.A pair of shootings in Dallas and Vancouver, Washington, on Sunday broke the record and pushed the number of deaths in such shootings to 197 — excluding the gunmen.Mass shootings with at least four deaths have been on the rise in recent years, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 21 in 2020, 31 in 2021 and 36 in 2022.The country is on track to fall short of the record for the number of mass shootings, which are incidents that injure at least four people. There have been 630 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Last year’s total was 645, and 2021’s mark of 690 is the reco...

Dean’s A-List Interviews: Brie Larson on new series 'Lessons in Chemistry'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

WGN Entertainment Reporter Dean Richards talks to actress Brie Larson about her new series 'Lessons in Chemistry' and also about her love for cooking.Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

Falling crane crushes family's home in California

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:20:58 GMT

(KTLA) - A California woman narrowly escaped injury after a crane tipped over and fell onto her home last week, causing extensive damage.  Debra Harper, who has lived in her Loma Linda home for 37 years, said she was in the kitchen Friday, talking on the phone with her brother when the incident happened.  “We were talking, and all of a sudden, I heard a noise that was just indescribable,” Harper told Nexstar's KTLA. “So, I screamed. When I went to my front door, opened the door, a truck was just lying across my driveway.” Around 10 a.m., the crane fell on top of her garage and two bedrooms as a company contracted by the utility company Southern California Edison was trying to reach a transformer between her house and neighboring homes.  "One of the rooms that it hit is the room that my husband is normally in, watching TV, sitting on the couch," Harper said. "So I was just thankful he wasn't at home." This dying lake could be the site of California’s next ‘gold...