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Healey Gets, Signs Overdue $3.1 Billion Closeout Budget

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

After weeks of legislative procrastination, parliamentary delays and finger-pointing, a $3.1 billion spending bill packed with money for the stretched-thin emergency shelter system and public worker raises landed on Gov. Maura Healey’s desk Monday and she immediately signed it.House Democrats were able to get a quorum of members together to push through a compromise on a long-overdue package they failed to wrap up before the Legislature shifted into a seven-week holiday stretch of informal sessions.Republicans in the House successfully stalled the bill on Thursday, Friday and Saturday by pointing out that not enough lawmakers were present to constitute a quorum, but enough Democrats ventured to the State House on Monday to get the bill through that branch.The House adopted the compromise bill on a hand-counted 105-14 vote, and the Senate followed through several hours later with a 20-3 vote. Both branches then gave the measure final approval on unrecorded voice votes, sending ...

Virginia authorities investigating explosion of Arlington home as police were executing a warrant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

(CNN) — A home exploded in Arlington, Virginia, Monday night as police were trying to execute a search warrant, sending the building up in flames with a suspect still inside and prompting the evacuation of several nearby houses, officials said.Police are investigating the circumstances of the explosion, which tore through the home as law enforcement were trying to make contact with the man inside, who they suspect had been firing a flare gun from his home earlier in day, according to Arlington County Police Department spokesperson Ashley Savage.Officers had responded to reports of shots fired near the home shortly before 5 p.m. and obtained a search warrant for the residence after determining the suspect had discharged the flare gun about 30 to 40 times from his home into the surrounding neighborhood, according to a police statement released early Tuesday.“During the course of the investigation, officers obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s residence and attemp...

Putin to discuss Israel-Hamas war during a 1-day trip to Saudi Arabia and UAE

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a one-day trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia focused on the Israeli-Hamas war and host the Iranian president in Moscow this week, the Kremlin said Tuesday.Putin will make working visits to both countries on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.The talks will focus on bilateral relations, the war between Israel and Hamas and other international issues, Peskov said. Issues related to oil price caps under OPEC+ will also be on the agenda, he added.Putin’s trip was first announced on Monday by his foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who didn’t give a date for the visits when he spoke to the Russian news outlet Life.“I hope that these will be very useful negotiations, which we consider extremely important,” Ushakov was quoted as saying by Life. Putin will make the visit at a time when Russia wants to advance its role as a power broker in the conflict in the Middle East. Putin will host Irania...

In the news today: Quebec Laurentians residents await answers after dike evacuation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Quebec residents waiting for answers after evacuationHundreds of residents of two municipalities in Quebec’s Laurentians region are awaiting further news after being ordered to leave their homes due to structural problems in a nearby dike.Government inspectors found structural weaknesses in the Morier dike during a recent visit that could lead it to burst.The evacuation order was issued Sunday night for about 1,000 properties near the Kiamika River in the municipalities of Chute-St-Philippe and Lac-des-Ecorces.The inspectors suspect internal erosion to be the cause of the structural damage.CBC cuts could change TV programming: TaitThe CBC’s president says a round of layoffs and programming cuts the broadcaster announced this week could mean changes in what viewers see on television.Catherine Tait says slashing millions from the Crown corporationR...

UK Home Secretary James Cleverly visits Rwanda to try to unblock controversial asylum plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — British Home Secretary James Cleverly flew to Rwanda on Tuesday in a bid to revive a plan to send asylum-seekers to the East African country that has been blocked by U.K. courts.The U.K. government said Cleverly will meet his Rwandan counterpart, Vincent Biruta, to sign a new treaty and discuss next steps for the troubled “migration and economic development partnership.”“Rwanda cares deeply about the rights of refugees, and I look forward to meeting with counterparts to sign this agreement and further discuss how we work together to tackle the global challenge of illegal migration,” Cleverly said.The Rwanda plan is central to the Conservative government’s self-imposed goal of stopping unauthorized asylum-seekers arriving on small boats across the English Channel.Britain and Rwanda struck a deal in April 2022 for some migrants who cross the Channel to be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed and, if successful, they would stay. The U.K. go...

French lawmakers approve bill to ban disposable e-cigarettes to protect youth drawn to their flavors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s National Assembly unanimously approved a bill to ban single-use, disposable electronic cigarettes, in an attempt to protect young people drawn to their flavors and mitigate the environmental impacts of the disposable products known as “puffs.”Lawmakers adopted the bill in a late-night vote on Monday by 104 in favor, zero against. The bill, supported by the government, will then move to the Senate where it is expected to be adopted as well. It could go into effect by September 2024.Disposable e-cigarettes — which cost about 10 euros (nearly $11) each — are small, battery-powered devices that are especially popular among teenagers for their sweet flavors. While they do not contain tobacco, many include nicotine, a dangerous chemical known for its addictive properties.They differ from reusable vaping devices in that they are not designed to be refilled or recharged. Their small, non-rechargeable lithium batteries often end up in landfills.This bill is part o...

‘That mountain is shaking’: First-of-its-kind assessment considers Indigenous stories

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

BANFF, Alta. — An Indigenous elder sits at a table telling a Blackfoot story about the Frank Slide in southern Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass.“The Piikani people, they had been in that area for thousands of years,” Hayden Melting Tallow of Siksika Nation, part of the Blackfoot Confederacy, says in a video during a learning circle.“The Europeans came and found some coal in that area and the Piikani people had been warning the people there, ‘Don’t build your house there, build it farther. That mountain is shaking.’ “They didn’t listen.”In April 1903, a rock slide from Turtle Mountain buried the coal mining town of Frank, Alta., and left at least 90 dead.Melting Tallow, who says the story is one example of why people should listen to Indigenous elders, was one of many contributors to the Canadian Mountain Assessment: Walking Together to Enhance Understanding of Mountains in Canada.The first-of-its-kind report considers both Indigeno...

First-degree murder trial of Saskatchewan Mountie enters second day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Crown prosecutors say they expect to call five witnesses today during the first-degree murder trial of a former Saskatchewan Mountie.Bernie Herman is on trial for the 2021 death of 26-year-old Braden Herman. The two are not related. Braden Herman’s body was found in an isolated area of Little Red River Park, on the outskirts of Prince Albert, Sask., that May. Bernie Herman, a 32-year member of the RCMP, has pleaded not guilty. Court heard Monday that the Mountie sent a text to his wife saying he shot someone. Const. Richard Wittal told the Prince Albert Court of King’s Bench that Bernie Herman’s wife and daughter went to his house the night of the killing. They showed Wittal a text message allegedly from Bernie Herman that read: “I shot Braden. It’s over and done with.”Court heard that Bernie Herman ended up driving to his staff sergeant’s home, where he was ultimately arrested. Wittal testified that Bernie Herman usually left his uniform and pistol at t...

CBC cuts could change what programming you see on TV: Tait

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

TORONTO — The CBC’s president says a round of layoffs and programming cuts the broadcaster announced this week could mean changes in what viewers see on television.Catherine Tait says slashing millions from the Crown corporation’s overall budget may mean fewer unscripted, factual or game shows.She says those kinds of content don’t fall under the broadcast regulator’s programs of national interest policy that CBC has to remain committed to.Tait’s comment came as the CBC and Radio-Canada revealed they will cut 600 jobs and not fill 200 vacancies over the next year as they reduce their English and French programming budgets.The broadcaster says the move would result in fewer renewals and acquisitions, new television series, episodes of existing shows and digital original series.But Tait says some jobs and programming could be saved from the chopping block should the broadcaster’s revenues or funding improve.“We play an outsized role as a vehicl...

Quebec pork farmers reeling as a ‘perfect storm’ creates economic crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:19:32 GMT

ST-SEBASTIEN, QUE. — Over the last two years, François Nadeau has chosen to do something rare among his fellow Quebec pork farmers: invest in the future.Despite economic conditions that industry leaders have called a crisis, Nadeau and his wife and co-owner of their business, Julie Bogemans, went ahead with a new building to house some of their 1,200 sows. It features high-tech feeding and cooling systems and bigger, open pens to replace many of the crates and cages that used to keep the animals confined. In an interview at his farm in St-Sebastien, a rural community about 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal, Nadeau explained that the changes were made in part to ensure the farm complies with new federal animal welfare rules that come into force in 2029.“Despite everything that’s happening, we’re among those who still believe in (pig farming), despite the difficulties,” he said.In the current economic climate, leaving pork production altogether seems to be th...