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Biden asks Congress for more than $13B to support Ukraine and $12B for disaster fund

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday asked Congress to provide more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid to Ukraine and an additional $8 billion for humanitarian support through the end of the year, another massive infusion of cash as the Russian invasion wears on and Ukraine pushes a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s deeply entrenched forces. The package includes $12 billion to replenish the U.S. federal disaster funds at home after a deadly climate season of heat and storms, and funds to bolster the enforcement at the Southern border with Mexico, including money to curb the flow of deadly fentanyl. All told, it’s a $40 billion package.While the last such request from the White House for Ukraine funding was easily approved in 2022, there’s a different dynamic this time. A political divide on the issue has grown, with the Republican-led House facing enormous pressure to demonstrate support for the party’s leader, Donald Trump, who has been ver...

Canadian Tire profits fall as consumer spending on discretionary products sags

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

TORONTO — Demand for non-essential items at Canadian Tire stores took a dive last quarter as the company said customers are increasingly feeling the pinch of higher inflation and interest rates.Those struggles prompted Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. to withdraw its sales growth target on Thursday amid a drop in earnings and revenue.The current economic environment and level of consumer demand “differ significantly from our expectations when we set out our strategy in early 2022,” said Canadian Tire president and CEO Greg Hicks.“Our second quarter results marked a turning point in the Canadian economy,” Hicks told analysts on a call.“With 10 interest rate hikes in less than 18 months and persistent inflation impacting the cost of living and leading to reduced savings cushions, Canadian consumers are experiencing increased financial strain and facing tougher spending decisions.”He noted a “performance bifurcation” between purchases of essentia...

A giant boomerang water slide is coming to Canada’s Wonderland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

Canada’s Wonderland announced on Thursday that a giant boomerang water slide with a zero-gravity wall summit is coming to the popular amusement park next year.The 20-acre water park is called Moosehorn Falls, part of the Splash Works expedition. A spokesperson said it would take up to six guests down a rushing river cascade of twists, turns and drops before being propelled to the summit of a zero-gravity, 13-metre wall (42 feet).As rafters crest the vertical apex in a moment of weightlessness at Canada’s Wonderland, the current will reverse and send them downstream to a crystal-clear pool.“We’re excited to provide attractions that our guests can enjoy together. Moosehorn Falls will be a perfect water park adventure for families and friends,” said Phil Liggett, general manager at Canada’s Wonderland.“The new water slide is the park’s latest addition of Canadian-themed attractions, venues and events. As Canada’s premier amusement p...

Biden praises political unity at anniversary of the PACT Act expanding veterans benefits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — President Joe Biden evoked the memory of his late son and praised leaders from both parties for unifying behind veterans Thursday as he and Utah’s Republican governor paid tribute to a year-old law that is delivering the largest expansion of veterans benefits in decades. The president and Gov. Spencer Cox visited the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center to promote the PACT Act, which is intended to improve health care and disability compensation for exposure to toxic substances, including burn pits that were used to dispose of trash on military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 348,000 veterans have had their claims approved in the last year, and about 111,000 who are believed to have toxic exposure have enrolled in health care.“Everything you can imagine is thrown in these pits and incinerated,” Biden said. “The waste of war, tires, poisonous chemicals, jet fuels and so much more. Toxic smoke, thick with poiso...

Mexico’s poverty rate declines from 50% to 43.5% in four years as remittances almost double

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The poverty rate in Mexico has declined from 49.9% of the population in 2018 to 43.5% in 2022, according to a study published Thursday by the country’s poverty analysis agency.The study by the agency, known as Coneval, showed a decline in a key measure of poverty over the four-year period. The reduction means there were 5.7 million fewer people who reported incomes below the market basket for basics like food and clothing.It was unclear what was behind the reduction in poverty. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office in December 2018, and since then has more than doubled the country’s minimum wage. The minimum wage was equivalent to about $4.50 per day in 2018, and now buys about $12, in part due to the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the dollar.But remittances — the money sent home by Mexicans working abroad — have also almost doubled in the same period, going from around $33.5 billion in 2018 to an annual rate of about $60 billion in 2023, bas...

Supreme Court blocks OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy deal that would shield Sackler family members

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids.The justices agreed to a request from the Biden administration to put the brakes on an agreement reached last year with state and local governments. In addition, the high court will hear arguments before the end of the year over whether the settlement can proceed.The deal would allow the company to emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used to fight the opioid epidemic. Members of the Sackler family would contribute up to $6 billion.But a key component of the agreement would shield family members, who are not seeking bankruptcy protection as individuals, from lawsuits.The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, represented by the Justice Department, opposes releasing the Sackler family from legal liability.The Associated Press

Virgin Galactic’s first space tourists finally soar, an Olympian and a mother-daughter duo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean.The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after a brief flight that gave passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. This first private customer flight had been delayed for years; its success means Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic can now start offering monthly rides, joining Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the space tourism business.“That was by far the most awesome thing I’ve ever done in my life,” said Jon Goodwin, who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics.Goodwin, 80, was among the first to buy a Virgin Galactic ticket in 2005 and feared, after later being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, that he’d be out of luck. Since then he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and cycled ...

Audit finds 800 items missing from Canadian history museum, no plan to deal with it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

OTTAWA — An investigation by Canada’s auditor general found the Canadian Museum of History’s conservation system is putting its collections at risk.The federal Crown corporation manages collections for the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum, and is charged with the care of more than four million objects and historical and cultural artifacts.The auditor’s team was particularly concerned that there was no robust way of managing the inventory.The audit found the corporation did such a poor job keeping tabs on those objects that more than 800 were declared missing during inventory inspections between 2012 and 2022.More than 300 items weren’t stored properly, and 15,000 lacked information about where the item came from. “There were no plans to resolve any problems uncovered in these verifications, including finding missing items,” the auditor’s report stated. One inventory inspection of several rooms at the Canadian Museum of ...

Civil suit can continue against corrupt former deputy linked to death of Mississippi man

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A civil suit can continue against a former Mississippi deputy who pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 to torturing two Black men and shooting one of them in the mouth, with the suit alleging the deputy is also responsible for the death of another Black man in 2021.In a Wednesday ruling, Rankin County Circuit Judge Brad Mills allowed claims of excessive force to move forward against Hunter Elward, a member of a group of corrupt law officers who called themselves the “Goon Squad,” a moniker they adopted because of their penchant for violent tactics. Monica Lee believes that Elward and a current deputy not linked to Elward’s crimes are responsible for the death of her son, Damien Cameron.“Every day is a hurtful day for me,” Lee said in an interview. “I lost Damien because of those officers.” Cameron, who had a history of mental illness, was accused of vandalizing a neighbor’s home in 2021 while living with his grandparents. Elward responded to the scene and chase...

Appeals court rules against longstanding drug user gun ban cited in Hunter Biden case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled against on longstanding ban on unlawful drug users possessing guns — the latest legal upheaval regarding the nation’s gun laws since a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year set new standards. The opinion overturns the conviction of a Mississippi man, Patrick Daniels of Gulfport, who had two guns found in his car during a traffic stop last year and acknowledged using marijuana regularly but wasn’t accused of driving under the influence. The appeals court cited the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which said U.S. gun laws must have strong historical roots — a finding that led to challenges of many of the nation’s gun laws.“Our history and tradition may support some limits on an intoxicated person’s right to carry a weapon, but it does not justify disarming a sober citizen based exclusively on his past drug usage,” the three-judge panel for the...