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Five dead in Philadelphia-area shooting that’s nation’s worst violence yet around July 4

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA (Associated Press)PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 40-year-old man with a rifle, a pistol, extra magazines, a police scanner and a bulletproof vest fatally shot four men in a Philadelphia neighborhood and chased and killed a fifth man inside a house, police said. A 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old were also wounded in the Monday night violence that made the working-class area of Kingsessing the site of the nation’s worst violence around the July 4 holiday. The gunman fired at police as they chased him for blocks, police said. When they caught up, he surrendered in an alley, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference. The shooter had no connection to the victims before the shooting, she said. “Thank God our officers were on the scene and responded as quickly as they did. I can’t even describe the level of bravery and courage that was shown, in addition to the restraint that was shown here,” Outlaw said.About four hours after...

Giant Dipper rollercoaster at Belmont Park turns 98

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- While Fourth of July symbolizes the nation's birthday, it also marks a local anniversary: the opening of Belmont Park's iconic wooden coaster, the Giant Dipper.The Giant Dipper, which first opened with the park in 1925, turns 98 today. The Mission Beach wooden coaster is the 10th oldest rollercoaster in the world.The wooden coaster was built by the Prior and Church Company, during what Belmont Park calls "the Golden Age of wooden roller coasters." Big Bay Boom: Watch fireworks over San Diego Bay John D. Spreckels, a wealthy sugar magnate, commissioned the coaster in the early 1900's as part of his plan to erect an amusement park in the up-and-coming Mission Beach neighborhood with the goal of driving real estate sales and promoting an electric railway.The Mission Beach Entertainment Center -- later renamed Belmont Park by the City of San Diego -- opened to the public in 1925, with the Giant Dipper serving as one of the park's star attraction.The 2,600 foot-long rolle...

External report on ousted AFN chief RoseAnne Archibald found harassment, wrongdoing

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

OTTAWA — An investigation into allegations against former Assembly of First Nations national chief RoseAnne Archibald found the ousted leader was guilty of workplace harassment and created a toxic work environment. The report by Emond Harnden LLP reviewed five complaints against Archibald and found her behaviour amounted to harassment in more than one instance.A summary of the findings obtained by The Canadian Press says Archibald failed to maintain confidentiality and breached AFN policy, including by retaliating against a complainant.The report was delivered in April to the assembly’s legal counsel prompting the special assembly last week where chiefs voted to remove Archibald as the head of the AFN.The resolution passed with support from about 70 per cent of those who took part in the virtual meeting.Archibald said in a video posted online Monday that she wants to be reinstated, calling her ouster a “violent” attack on “an Indigenous, First Nation woman le...

UN urges Security Council to extend Turkey border crossing into northwest Syria for 1 year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — The U.N. secretary general is hoping that the Security Council will vote later this month to keep a key border crossing from Turkey to Syria’s rebel-held northwest open for critical aid deliveries for a period of one year instead of six months, a U.N. official said Tuesday.Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom were earlier displaced during the 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people. Hundreds of thousands live in tent settlements and rely on aid that comes through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. The Security Council is expected to vote in the coming days, as the current six-month opening period expires on July 10. The situation got worse after the Feb. 6 earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving many more homeless and in need of aid.In the past, Russia, the main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, abstained on or vetoed reso...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelling to Latvia and NATO summit in Lithuania

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to Europe next week for the annual NATO leaders’ summit.The two-day summit in Lithuania starts July 11 and comes as the alliance has agreed to extend the term of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg by another year.NATO also recently expanded its membership to include Finland and Canada and other nations are pushing to allow Sweden to join as well.Before the summit Trudeau will stop in Latvia where he will meet with the Latvian president and prime minister in Riga on July 10.Canada’s largest overseas mission is as the leader of an 11-nation NATO battle group in Latvia.Defence Minister Anita Anand recently committed to adding a tank squadron and around 130 troops as part of an effort to expand that battle group into a combat-ready brigade. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2023.The Canadian Press

Defined benefit pension plans improve in second quarter: Mercer

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

TORONTO — The health of Canadian defined benefit pension plans continued to improve in the second quarter of 2023, according to consulting firm Mercer. The company said that the median solvency ratio of defined benefit plans in its database ticked upward to 119 per cent at the end of June, meaning more than half had a surplus of funds. That’s despite the U.S. debt ceiling scare and the lingering effects of the banking crises south of the border, Mercer said. Pension funds’ investment returns were mostly positive in the second quarter, it said, and increases in bond yields helped reduce plan liabilities. The company estimated that 85 per cent of the plans in its database were in a surplus position at the end of the second quarter, up from 83 per cent in the previous quarter. “The question that should now be on plan sponsors’ minds is how best to manage this surplus, and potentially locking it in, in order not to re-experience the dark days of significant pension def...

Hockey Canada names former Curling Canada exec Katherine Henderson as president, CEO

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

Hockey Canada is appointing Katherine Henderson as its next president and chief executive officer.She spent the last seven years as Curling Canada’s CEO.Hockey Canada is coming off a scandal-filled year related to the national sport organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations and settlement payouts.WATCH: Where does Hockey Canada go from here?  Federal and corporate funding was slashed as scandals mounted. Public faith in the organization took a significant hit.The board of directors resigned last October along with interim board chair Andrea Skinner. President and CEO Scott Smith also left the organization.Related stories: Nicholson tells parliament he should’ve done more as Hockey Canada CEOHockey Alberta may withhold fees if Hockey Canada doesn’t take actionTim Hortons removes Hockey Canada sponsorship for men’s 2022-23 seasonRetired judge Hugh L. Fraser was later named Hockey Canada’s new chair and a new board of director...

Canada urged to look into best-before date system in bid to reduce grocery waste

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

There are calls for Canada to look into best-before dates and whether they worsen food waste and food insecurity.A report on grocery affordability from a House of Commons committee on agriculture and agri-food quotes the CEO of Second Harvest Canada as saying Canadians’ misconceptions about best-before dates lead to an excess of food waste.Lori Nikkel says people treat the dates like expiry dates when in fact, they are just what they state: the date before which food is at its freshest.The committee suggests the government investigate “how the elimination of ‘best–before‘ dates on foods would impact Canadians.”Kate Parizeau, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies food waste, said Tuesday she supports the call, particularly when it comes to foods that don’t go bad quickly.RELATED: Canadians to receive one-time grocery rebate this week. How much and when?Foods expected to go bad within 90 days, such as eggs and milk, are legally r...

Georgia condemns Ukraine for its protests over health of former president Saakashvili

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s Foreign Ministry criticized Ukraine on Tuesday for urging the Georgian ambassador to return to Tbilisi for consultations over the poor health of imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili, who is also a Ukrainian citizen.The Foreign Ministry called Ukraine’s action “an extreme form of escalation.”Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry had summoned Georgian Ambassador George Zakarashvili to express its protest over the apparent significant deterioration in the health of Saakashvili, who was convicted of abuse of power while he was president in 2004-2013.“The decision of the Ukrainian authorities causes serious damage to the strategic relations between the two countries and represents a direct interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,” Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said in its statement.Saakashvili appeared severely emaciated Monday during a videolink testimony to a court considering a new abuse-of-power case against him.Saakashvili...

Joly concerned for safety of India’s diplomats, calls protest poster ‘unacceptable’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:55 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Tuesday she is concerned about the safety of India’s diplomats following what she called an “unacceptable” poster for an upcoming protest in Toronto.The poster is the latest in a string of problems in recent weeks that have increased tension between Ottawa and New Delhi over Sikh separatists in Canada.The upcoming protest is planned in memory of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed last month in a shooting in Surrey, B.C. Niijar was a vocal opponent of India and supporter of an independent Sikh state, but police say they have found no link to India in their investigation.The protest is to begin Saturday at the Great Punjab Business Centre in Mississauga, Ont. and end at the Indian consulate near downtown Toronto.A poster for the event circulating on social media includes photos of India’s top two diplomats in Canada — High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and Toronto Consul General Apoorva Srivasta...