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Household debt-to-income ratio edges lower as interest payments expand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the ratio of household debt to disposable income improved in the fourth quarter as gains in disposable income offset an uptick in credit market debt.The federal agency says on a seasonally adjusted basis household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income edged down to 180.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, compared with 184.3 per cent in the third quarter.The reading means there was $1.81 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income. The improvement in the fourth quarter came as household disposable income increased three per cent while household credit market debt edged up 0.8 per cent. The household debt service ratio, measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, rose slightly to 14.33 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with 14.24 per cent in the third quarter.The latest national balance sheet figures ...

At least 44 dead as Cyclone Freddy pounds Malawi, Mozambique

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — An unrelenting Cyclone Freddy that is currently battering southern Africa has killed at least 44 people in Malawi and Mozambique since it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries have confirmed. At least 39 people in Malawi’s commercial hub of Blantyre have died with several others missing or injured, the city’s chief executive officer told The Associated Press on Monday. Authorities in Mozambique reported that five people were killed in the country since Saturday.The deaths in Malawi include five members of a single family who died in Blantyre’s Ndirande township after Freddy’s destructive winds and heavy rains demolished their house, according to a police report. A three-year-old child who was “trapped in the debris” is also among the victims, with her parents among those reported missing, authorities also said.“We suspect that this figure will rise as we are trying to compile one nation...

Report: Ukraine world’s 3rd biggest arms importer in 2022

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that has led to a substantial flow of military aid to Kyiv from the United States and Europe made Ukraine the world’s third largest importer of arms in 2022, a Swedish think tank said Monday.The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, reported that from 1991, when Ukraine became independent amid the fall of the Soviet Union, until the end of 2021, Ukraine imported few major arms. But Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24 last year markedly changed that. Only Qatar — which has dramatically ramped up its arms purchasing in the past decade — and India imported more arms in the year, SIPRI said in its report on global arms transfers.Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Program noted that even as arms transfers declined globally last year, “those to Europe have risen sharply due to the tensions between Russia and most other European states.” He said that following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, European sta...

Family holds out hope 40 years after murder of 25-year-old Oakville woman

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

This week on the Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files podcast, Fil Martino and Madison Fitzpatrick take a look at the unsolved murder of 25-year-old Delia Adriano.Adriano, a secretary from Oakville, Ont., attneded a barbecue with her fiance on September 26, 1982. He later dropped her off at home, but she never made it inside.That same night, a young woman fitting Delia’s description was spotted being forced into a dark sub-compact vehicle by a man.  Witnesses also reported that a struggle continued inside the vehicle before it drove away with the lights turned off.On November 6 of the same year, Delia’s body was located in a wooded area about 30 kilometres away in Milton. Her killer has never been found.Detective Constable Phil Campbell with Halton Regional Police said they are always hopeful they will get new evidence or new information.“We are still hopeful that maybe the person responsible will come forward, has had this on their conscience for 40 years or somebody ...

Is DeSantis darkening Florida’s sunny open-records laws?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

Florida has long been known for sunshine — not only the warm rays that brighten its beaches but also the light of public scrutiny afforded by some of the nation’s strongest meetings and records laws.Although years of rollbacks have gradually clouded the impact, advocates are ringing alarms that this year presents the greatest threat to transparency yet in the state that coined the name “Sunshine Law” for its open-government rules.Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, weighing a presidential bid, is pursuing a home-state agenda that could make it harder for people to learn what public officials are doing or to speak out against them. In an unprecedented move for the Sunshine State, DeSantis has claimed an executive right to keep key government records secret. He’s also seeking to weaken a nearly 60-year-old national legal precedent protecting journalists and others who publish critical comments about public figures.Florida’s Republican-led Legislature appears ...

Yeoh, Fraser feel the love at Vanity Fair post-Oscars party

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Michelle Yeoh and Angela Bassett locked in a long embrace, their bare, muscle-bound arms wrapped around each other. They whispered, laughed and squealed with glee as nearly every phone in the vicinity came out to take photos. Vanity Fair’s annual post- Oscars party was full of such moments of warmth and joy as Sunday night led into Monday morning after a drama-free Academy Awards, with none of the head-shaking heaviness that hung over last year’s post-slap edition. Yeoh, whose best actress Oscar was one of seven on a dominant night for “ Everything Everywhere All at Once,” had just walked into the party and was swarmed by well-wishers and selfie-seekers before seeing Bassett, who hadn’t looked happy when she lost best supporting actress to Yeoh’s castmate Jamie Lee Curtis but was all smiles here. Yeoh later grasped her Oscar as she rocked back and forth to the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” at the edge of the dance...

Missouri officer fatally shot, 2nd hospitalized amid manhunt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

HERMANN, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri police officer was fatally shot and a second officer was seriously wounded in an overnight shooting that was followed by an apparent police standoff with the suspect, police said.The Missouri Highway Patrol announced early Monday that Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith with the Hermann Police Department died of his injuries at a hospital after being shot at a convenience store in the small town about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. The highway patrol said a second Hermann officer who was shot remains hospitalized in serious condition. Highway patrol spokesman Corporal Kyle Green told KTVI-TV the wounded officer was brought to a St. Louis hospital for treatment.Authorities have not released details describing what led to the shooting or said whether officers returned fire.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the highway patrol identified the shooting suspect as Kenneth Lee Simpson, 35, of Eureka, Missouri, and that police were involved in an apparent manhunt near a house ...

2 vehicles wanted after man dies in suburban hit-and-run

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

BARTLETT, Ill. — Two vehicles are wanted by police after a man was killed in a suburban hit-and-run Saturday night.At around 7:10 p.m., police responded to the area Lake Street and Valley Lane on the report of a hit-and-run.Witnesses told police a 35-year-old man, later determined to be from Streamwood, was running across the street. At some point, he was struck by a vehicle and then a second vehicle. Both were traveling westbound on Lake Street.The man was transported to St. Alexius Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police: Rideshare passenger shot on South Side Investigators believe one of the vehicles is red and the other vehicle is possibly a dark-colored, four-door 2015-2022 Chevrolet Trax or a GMC Terrain. Investigators also recovered vehicle parts — including front tire wheel trim, broken headlamp pieces, and a rubber portion of a windshield wiper.Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bartlett Police Department at 630-837-0846.

'Gas station heroin' acts like an opioid on the body: expert

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

(NewsNation) — The rise in the use of "gas station heroin" and "tranq" speaks to a broader addiction crisis in the U.S., according to one expert.Dr. Patrick Marshalek, adjunct professor at West Virginia University's Department of Neuroscience, says the ingredient making gas station heroine so dangerous is tianeptine."Tianeptine, it's more like an antidepressant. But medications can have multiple effects on multiple receptor subtypes," Marshalek said on "NewsNation Prime." At the end of the day, it's being utilized primarily because of its impact, its opioid effects or impact upon the opioid system." ‘Gas station heroin’ is addictive and, in some cases, deadly "Gas station heroin" was given its street name because of how easy it is to find it. It can be purchased online, at convenience stores and in gas stations. While the drug is marketed as a dietary supplement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns it is harmful and addictive. NewsNation spoke to several users of tianepti...

Michelle Yeoh becomes first Asian Best Actress winner at Oscars: 'This is history in the making'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:11 GMT

(The Hill) -- Michelle Yeoh won the Best Actress award Sunday night at the Oscars, becoming the first Asian woman to receive the Academy Award in the category. "Thank you to the Academy — this is history in the making!" the Malaysian-born actor said in her acceptance speech. "To all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities," she said. "This is proof that dreaming big and dreams do come true." Yeoh won the award for her performance as Evelyn -- a laundromat owner who is being audited by federal authorities while she attempts to navigate the multiverse -- in "Everything Everywhere All at Once." The film won seven awards, including Best Picture. "And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime," Yeoh added in her remarks, an apparent jab at CNN host Don Lemon, who sparked criticism last month for saying that a woman is in her prime only up to "maybe her 40s." ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ wins...