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Canada has highest household debt level in G7: CMHC deputy chief economist

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada has the highest level of household debt in the G7, making its economy vulnerable to a global economic crisis, according to the country’s housing agency.In an analysis published Tuesday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. deputy chief economist Aled ab Iorwerth said that the country’s household debt has been rising “inexorably” due to rising home prices. Mortgages currently make up about three-quarters of household debt in Canada. While household debt made up 80 per cent of the size of the overall Canadian economy during the 2008 recession, it rose to 95 per cent in 2010 and exceeded its size in 2021, he noted.“By contrast, household debt in the U.S. fell from 100 per cent of GDP in 2008 to about 75 per cent in 2021,” wrote ab Iorwerth. “While U.S. households reduced debt, Canadians increased theirs and this will likely continue to increase unless we address affordability in the housing market.”Over the same period of tim...

Federal government pledges $5M to Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

VANCOUVER — The Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver has received about $5 million in new federal funding ahead of its opening on July 1.Federal International Trade and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng says the new funding will go toward renewal of the museum’s permanent space at the Wing Sang Building in Vancouver’s Chinatown, as well as supporting the facility’s first exhibit.Ng made the funding announcement on the sidelines of the U.S.-Canada Chinatown Cultural Preservation and Revitalization Conference, which is hosting representatives from 18 Chinatowns from across North America.Ng says efforts such as the museum and the conference are key to keeping a crucial part of North American history alive and to allow people to “appreciate the diversity of our society.”The museum will feature an exhibition titled “The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act,” with the July 1 opening date coinciding with the centennial of the passing o...

Pathologist in B.C. murder trial says he’s not certain where teenage girl was killed

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

VANCOUVER — The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on the body of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park says he can’t be certain she was killed there.Dr. Jason Morin told the British Columbia Supreme Court jury under cross-examination that the teen, who cannot be identified under the terms of a publication ban, had many relatively minor injuries on her head and knees.Ben Lynskey, Ibrahim Ali’s defence lawyer, questioned Morin about the nature of injuries found on places other than her genitals, including scrapes on her knees, as well as dirt found on her skin.Morin told the court he’s confident the teen died of strangulation after Lynskey questioned him about the “limitations” of his opinions given he did not examine the body at the scene she was found.Ali last month pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.Crown attorney Isobel Keeley said in an opening statement that the court would hear evidence showing the murder was ra...

El Salvador soccer club whose supporters set off deadly stampede will play without fans for a year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The El Salvador soccer club whose fans pushed down an entrance gate setting off a stampede that left 12 people dead last weekend will play without supporters in its stadium for a year, the country’s soccer federation said.Club Alianza also will have to pay a $30,000 fine, the Salvadoran Soccer Federation’s Disciplinary Committee decided late Monday night.Authorities said hundreds of fans were enraged when they weren’t allowed to enter the stadium despite having tickets. They pushed until they knocked down an entrance gate, and people were crushed and suffocated under the pressure.The game was still in the first period Saturday night when players on the field began looking toward the stands. Unconscious fans were being carried out of an entrance tunnel and onto the field where others tried frantically to revive them.Investigators are trying to determine why the gate was closed when hundreds of ticketholding fans remained outside. The section whe...

Toronto urges residents to push Ottawa to fill $235M city funding gap

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

The City of Toronto is urging residents to call on the federal government to provide $235 million to help cover a massive pandemic-related budget shortfall.In a written statement today, the city says the federal government had committed to match provincial funding to cover expenses largely related to reduced transit revenues and increased shelter costs during the pandemic.Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie says the city is now asking residents to contact their local MPs – by sending an email the city has provided a template for – to demand Ottawa support Toronto.The city email template that residents are being encouraged to use states that without the federal funding, “future frontline services will be affected.”“The City of Toronto does not have the resources or revenue tools to address the unprecedented financial pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said McKelvie. “Beyond the immediate support of $235 million required for the 2022 Budget short...

Des Plaines church fire believed to be arson; person detained

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

DES PLAINES, Ill. — Police in Des Plaines are investigating an early Tuesday morning church fire as arson.Just after 2:30 a.m., police responded to The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located in the 1100 block of North River Road, on the report of a fire.Officers attempted to extinguish the fire, but were unsuccessful. The fire department arrived to the scene and put out the fire.The church said the fire was set to the outdoor Chapel of the Resurrected Christ. Damage was also reported to the statuary, sacred art and plaza area.The incident is under investigation and police detained a person of interest. No charges have been filed yet. Woman charged with murder of 31-year-old man on Southwest Side The church said they are "very saddened" by the incident and thanked authorities.

Jimmy Carter, 3 months into hospice, is aware of tributes, enjoying ice cream

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) — Three months after entering end-of-life care at home, former President Jimmy Carter remains in good spirits as he visits with family, follows public discussion of his legacy and receives updates on The Carter Center's humanitarian work around the world, his grandson says. He's even enjoying regular servings of ice cream.“They’re just meeting with family right now, but they’re doing it in the best possible way: the two of them together at home,” Jason Carter said of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, now 98 and 95 years old.“They’ve been together 70-plus years. They also know that they’re not in charge,” the younger Carter said Tuesday in a brief interview. “Their faith is really grounding in this moment. In that way, it’s as good as it can be.”The longest-lived U.S. president, Jimmy Carter announced in February that after a series of brief hospital stays, he would forgo further medical intervention and spend the remainder of his life in the same modest, one-story house ...

Chicago restaurant cracks top-10 of Yelp's '100 best burger spots' in the U.S. list

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – In what’s sure to come as upsetting news for cows everywhere, Yelp is currently hyping up some of the best burger restaurants in the U.S.Ahead of National Hamburger Day on Sunday, the analysts at Yelp have — unfortunately for cows — decided to rank 100 of the top spots for beefy burgers, based largely on the ratings and reviews contributed by Yelp’s online community. These Illinois restaurants ranked among Yelp’s Top 100 of 2023 Coming in at No. 1 is the Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q in Atlanta, where their signature “burger” isn’t really a burger, but rather a chopped brisket sandwich with onion, tomato, bacon, pickles, melted pimento cheese and jalapeno mayo on a brioche bun.“It was heaven,” one Yelp user wrote in an online review that cows everywhere would likely hate, had they the ability to read.As Yelp itself notes on its blog, several of the other top-rated burger joints don’t serve traditional beef burgers at all. Atlanta’s Slutty Vegan (No. 3) stuffs their burgers with ve...

Ford keeping AM radios in vehicles amid lawmaker pressure

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

(The Hill) – Ford Motor Co. announced it is keeping AM radio available in their vehicles following pressure from lawmakers to keep it in their products. CEO Jim Farley said in a tweet on Tuesday that he spoke to policymakers about keeping AM radio available as part of the emergency alert system and decided that it will be included in all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles. He said Ford will also offer software updates to owners of its electric vehicles without AM broadcast capability. “Customers can currently listen to AM radio content in a variety of ways in our vehicles – including via streaming – and we will continue to innovate to deliver even better in-vehicle entertainment and emergency notification options in the future,” Farley said. His announcement comes after a bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), introduced legislation to require all new cars to include AM radio.  Say goodbye to AM radio: Why carma...

Netflix begins cracking down on password sharing in the U.S.: What to know

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:08:52 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – The day Netflix has been warning about has finally come to the U.S. – the streaming giant announced Tuesday that it has begun cracking down on password sharing.If you share a Netflix login with someone outside your home, you may have already received an email regarding "an update on sharing between households." The message reminds, "Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with - your household."Netflix considers a "household" as a "collection of devices connected to the internet at the main place you watch Netflix." NOAA releases summer weather predictions for all 50 states The email then encourages you to review devices that are logged into your Netflix account and sign out those that shouldn't have access. Then, Netflix offers two alternatives they already launched in multiple other countries: a user living outside your household can transfer their profile to a new membership they pay for, or the account holder can add an extra member for $7.99 a mont...