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‘It’s really sad’: Neighbour describes chaotic scene after Calgary house explosion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

CALGARY — Rima Rifai thought her furnace had exploded Monday when the house across the street burst into a ball of fire, sending 10 people to hospital with serious injuries.When she opened the front door to the street, Rifai saw the home her neighbour has lived in for 20 years was destroyed.“The whole top of the house was completely blown off and there were all of these people coming out of the house,” Rifai said in an interview Tuesday outside her home in the neighbourhood east of downtown.“There was a gentleman actually right between these two vehicles here. You could tell after the explosion he had made it out first and he was just wandering the streets in absolute shock.”The explosion also damaged several other homes and sent part of the roof of the house that blew up into a yard across the street.Calgary Emergency Medical Services has said all the victims were adults. Six had life-threatening injuries and four were seriously hurt. Rifai and her neighbour...

$491B federal budget invests heavily in green economic transformation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s 2023 federal budget promises “transformative investments” in Canada’s green economy as the country tries to maintain its place in the global clean tech revolution and realign its supply chains toward allies who won’t use energy as a political weapon.“Together these two great shifts represent the most significant opportunity for Canadian workers in the lifetime of anyone here today,” Freeland said Tuesday in the House of Commons, according to her prepared remarks.She is also using the budget to provide another top-up of the GST rebate to low-income Canadians feeling the pinch of inflation, continue to fulfil parts of the Liberal supply-and-confidence deal with the NDP and react to some of the political fires burning around the Liberals in recent weeks and months, including adding some money to combat foreign interference.The 2023-24 spending plan will cost $491 billion, with $8 billion in new prog...

Biden: GOP policies would surrender tech economy to China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

DURHAM, North Carolina (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Republicans’ ideas for cutting the budget could undermine U.S. manufacturing and help China dominate the world economy.Speaking at a semiconductor maker in North Carolina to highlight his own policies, Biden is trying to shape public sentiment as he faces off with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., about whether the federal government should raise its legal borrowing capacity. McCarthy sent a letter Tuesday saying that talks should start about possible spending cuts in return for the debt limit increase. Biden has said Republicans need to put forth their own budget plan before negotiations start. Without an agreement, the federal government could default on its financial obligations. The president tried to ratchet up pressure on Tuesday by saying that the GOP demands on the budget would only empower China, the country’s key geopolitical rival. Being tough on China has been a core part of the identit...

Quick quotes from the release of Canada’s 2023 federal budget

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals released their 2023-24 budget on Tuesday.Here are some quotes about the spending plan from the finance minister, opposition leaders and the head of the Assembly of First Nations. ———Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland:“We are reducing government spending while taking great care not to reduce the services and direct support that Canadians rely on.”—“By exercising fiscal restraint, we’re ensuring that we can continue to invest in Canadians and in the Canadian economy for years to come, just as we have done since 2015.”—“I am ready to take on anyone in this room or outside this room who wants to challenge the idea that we needed to make a targeted and temporary investment in affordability for Canadians. It’s something we needed to do; there are vulnerable people in Canada who need that support.”—“I am so proud to announce the creation of a new Canadian Dental Care Plan. By the end of this year, by the en...

Construction company fined $20K after worker injured in N.W.T.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — A construction company has been fined $20,000 almost two years after a worker was injured in the Northwest Territories. Arctic Canada Construction Ltd. pleaded guilty Friday to a single count under the territory’s Safety Act. The fine is to be paid to the worker’s protection fund, as well as a $3,000 surcharge. In April 2021, a worker in Fort Simpson was thrown from the basket of a telehandler to the ground after outriggers meant to stabilize the machine were not used. A year later, the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut laid seven charges against the company. Six of those charges were withdrawn through the plea agreement. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2023.The Canadian Press

After school shooting, Tenn. gun laws likely to remain lax

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As Nashville residents reeled from a fatal grade school shooting that left six dead, a federal judge quietly cleared the way to drop the minimum age for Tennesseans to carry handguns publicly without a permit to 18 — just two years after a new law set the age at 21.The move marked yet another relaxation of gun laws in ruby red Tennessee, where GOP leaders have steadily chipped away at firearms regulations and lambasted those who have warned that doing so comes at a cost. It’s a familiar scene playing out across the United States, with Republican-dominant states rebuffing calls to strengthen gun safety laws in the wake of violent tragedies and Democrats in blue states championing gun control proposals. “This isn’t freedom. Our families don’t deserve this. I am sick of living in fear that our loved ones won’t make it home because of gun violence,” said state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Democrat from Memphis, shortly after Monday’s shooting. “...

Final week as Vallas, Johnson close in on Election Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

CHICAGO -- Jammed packed schedules for the Chicago mayor candidates with one week to go.Tuesday morning, Paul Vallas secured the backing of a former Feb. 28 mayoral rival.Alderwoman Sophia King, chair of City Council’s Progressive Caucus, says Vallas won her support because of his proven leadership skills.  WGN Poll: Vallas leading Johnson in Chicago Mayoral runoff election "The city cannot take four more years of fighting while moving backwards, descension or someone learning the office while leading the office," Alderwoman Sophia King (4th Ward) said."I think that this is just further evidence of my ability to build a broad coalition," Paul Vallas said. "We don’t agree on everything, but I think we agree on most things."After the endorsement, nine members of City Council’s Progressive Caucus supporting Brandon Johnson released a statement saying King doesn’t speak for them.   Rewatch the entire WGN Chicago Mayoral Debate here By early afternoon, Vallas was playing defense...

Look up! 5-planet palooza could be visible in the night sky

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

(WJW) — Look out the window Tuesday night! Five planets could be visible March 28, including Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Uranus.Venus and Mars will be the easiest to identify. Venus will be the biggest and brightest and will be located west after sunset while Mars will appear bright red and high in the southwest sky. Jupiter, the second brightest planet, won't be as easy to spot. It was higher in the sky earlier this month but has been slowly descending. To view Jupiter, you'll need to have a clear and unobstructed view of the western horizon. Mercury will be close to Jupiter. An Ohio astronomer, Jay Reynolds, told Nexstar's WJW that March and April are the best times of year to easily see Mercury. Amazon delivery driver walks into North Carolina police standoff to drop off package Uranus might be the most difficult to identify without a telescope. It will appear faint, looking very similar to a star."(Uranus) is too dim and the Sun is too bright in the Western sky to easily...

Adnan Syed murder conviction reinstated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

(The Hill) – Maryland’s second-highest court reinstated the conviction and sentence of Adnan Syed, the man whose murder investigation and trial was the center of the hit podcast “Serial,” saying a lower court violated the rights of the victim’s family when it vacated his conviction last year.The Maryland appellate court ruled in a 2-1 decision that the circuit court that vacated Syed’s conviction did not give the family of Hae Min Lee, the teenage girl that Syed was previously convicted of killing, ample notice to appear at the hearing.It was unclear whether Syed would be ordered back to prison after the appellate court asked that a “new, legally compliant and transparent hearing” on the conviction take place. Charges dropped against Adnan Syed in ‘Serial’ podcast case: report Syed was 17 when he was arrested for the killing of Lee, his ex-girlfriend, in 1999. He was sentenced to life in prison after his 2000 conviction. But supporters of Syed maintained his innocence and campaign...

Republicans accuse Democrats of 'politics' amid gun reform calls

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – The shooting at an elementary school in Nashville has reignited the debate over gun laws in the U.S. Following yet another school shooting, the Senate Chaplain prayed for Congress to take action.“When babies die at a church school, it is time for us to move beyond thoughts and prayers,” said Senate Chaplain Barry Black.Democrats say that action should be renewing the federal ban on assault style weapons and high-capacity magazines, which they argue would save the lives of victims and law enforcement officers.“We're asking law enforcement to run towards AR-15 weapons. You cannot support weapons of war on our streets and support law enforcement at the same time,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said.Rep. Lieu bashed Republicans for blocking gun reform efforts and for postponing a hearing about gun regulations.“They're hiding because they know that the talking points they're spewing are simply not true,” Lieu said.But Republicans, like Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagarty, accuse De...