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Feds warn 2023 on track to be the worst fire season ever seen in Canada

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

Canada’s emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.Bill Blair and six other federal cabinet ministers provided an update Monday on Canada’s wildfire situation, even as smoke from fires north and west of the city covered Parliament Hill’s Peace Tower in a grey haze.The BC Wildfire Service says the Donnie Creek wildfire, which has grown to more than 2,400 square kilometres in size, is now considered the second largest in provincial history, while Nova Scotia’s largest ever wildfire continues to burn out of control.Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for a large section of southern Ontario, with the agency warning of high levels of air pollution as a result of smoke plumes from local forest fires as well as forest fires in Qu...

Credit card balances increase in first quarter as mortgage market slows: Equifax

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

TORONTO — Equifax Canada says credit demand was high in the first quarter of the year while the mortgage market saw a significant slowdown.The agency says in its latest consumer credit report that on average, consumers are spending 21.5 per cent more each month on their credit cards compared with pre-pandemic levels. Equifax Canada’s vice-president of advanced analytics Rebecca Oakes says in a statement that the first quarter normally brings a drop in non-mortgage debt as consumer spending slows after the holidays.But this year, Oakes says credit card balances continued to increase for the first quarter. Missed payments on non-mortgage debts also rose, with 175,000 more consumers missing payments on at least one product, up 18.8 per cent from a year earlier. Oakes says the higher cost of living and the influx of new credit customers have driven credit card balances to rise by 14.5 per cent year-over-year. Equifax says non-mortgage delinquency rates rose by the most in British ...

Daily horoscope for June 6, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

Moon Alert: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today until 9:15 p.m. PDT. The Moon is in Capricorn.Happy Birthday for Tuesday, June 6, 2023:You know how to make things happen, because you like excitement and adventure. You enjoy pleasure and have a love of beauty. This is the first year of a new nine-year cycle for you, which means it’s a time of new beginnings, adventures and major changes. Prepare for leadership.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★★Whatever you do today will be noticed by others. In fact, for some reason, people seem to know personal details about your private life as well. This will surprise you. (Fortunately, you have the gift of gab, and you’ll dazzle others with your words.) Tonight: Dreamy aspirations.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★Today you have innovative ideas about publishing, the media or something related to the law or medicine. You also might travel unexpectedly. (Travel plans might change or be delayed.) Be prepared for chan...

Kremlin: Western long-range missiles to Ukraine will fuel 'spiralling tension'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

The Kremlin said on Sunday (4 June) that any supply of long-range missiles to Kyiv by France and Germany would lead to a further round of "spiralling tension" in the Ukraine conflict.Britain last month became the first country to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles.Ukraine has asked Germany for Taurus cruise missiles, which have a range of 500 km (311 miles), while President Emmanuel Macron has said France will give Ukraine missiles with a range allowing it to carry out its long-anticipated counteroffensive."We are already starting to see discussions about deliveries from France and Germany of missiles with a range of 500 km or more," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a reporter from the Rossiya-1 TV channel."This is a completely different weapon which will lead to, let's say, another round of spiralling tension," he said.Russia has repeatedly criticized Western countries for supplying Ukraine with weapons and has warned that NATO members have effectively become direct...

Miss Manners: He’s my husband, not my brother, and why are you even asking?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband (I am male) and I have been a couple for 38 years.When we’re out in public (shopping, etc.), we don’t engage in even mild displays of affection (something we dislike seeing others engage in publicly, no matter the genders involved).Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: Am I really being perverse not to have my DNA tested? Advice | Miss Manners: I made the mistake of sharing my manuscript with this colleague Advice | Miss Manners: How can I make a guest commit to her RSVP? Advice | Miss Manners: How am I supposed to plan a shower with all these gay friends? Advice | Miss Manners: We are stung that the ‘cool’ neighbors didn’t clue us in Still, after this long together, I’m sure we have an evident rapport and way of interacting that may seem familial to others.On a regular basis (a couple of times per month), we’re asked by clerks, ran...

Dear Abby: Am I being childish about this workplace snub?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

DEAR ABBY: Throughout the year, the department in which I work recognizes each employee’s birthday with a cake — except me.I have worked here for two years, and while my supervisor writes my birthday on a calendar that hangs in the front office, each year my birthday has come and gone without even a verbal acknowledgement. I watch as all the other employees in my department have their special day recognized with a cake brought in by the department supervisor.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: Nobody else sees how scary my sister is, and I want to cry Advice | Dear Abby: They seem to be hinting my illness is imaginary Advice | Dear Abby: I was shocked to see this behavior at a funeral Advice | Dear Abby: He learned things in kindergarten that made him cry Advice | Dear Abby: My husband is upset that I find his new look mortifying I’m wondering why I was even asked when my birthday is an...

Prince Harry arrives at High Court in London to testify against tabloid publisher he accuses of phone hacking, intrusion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry arrives at High Court in London to testify against tabloid publisher he accuses of phone hacking, intrusion.Source

Who are the Rumpels? Couple says their family was on private plane that crashed.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

Watch Video: Sonic boom shakes D.C. after fighter jets scramble to intercept unresponsive small planeA private jet crashed in Virginia on Sunday after flying over restricted airspace in Washington, D.C. and prompting a response from the U.S. military. All three passengers and the pilot died. The plane was registered to a company owned by John and Barbara Rumpel, who were not on board.Here’s what we know about the family.In a statement to The New York Times, John Rumpel said his daughter, 2-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were on the flight. In a since-deleted Facebook page that appeared to belong to his wife, she wrote: “My family is gone, my daughter and granddaughter.”The plane was registered to Encore Motors, according to Flight Aware. John Rumpel owns Encore Motors, which bought the plane in April 2023, and Barbara is president. John is also a pilot, according to the New York Times.The Rumpels also own an apartment building for senior living, w...

These chefs and restaurants are the 2023 James Beard Award winners

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

A Philadelphia restaurant with an eight-course tasting menu, a Haitian restaurant in the Pacific Northwest and a chef who focuses on a sustainable menu of oysters and wild vegetables in Washington, D.C., were three of the big winners at the 2023 James Beard Awards, widely considered the Oscars of the food world.The awards were broadcast Monday night from the Lyric Opera of Chicago on livestream via the website Eater. The awards have been presented in the Windy City since 2015 and are set to remain there through 2027.Co-hosts of the show were Eric Adjepong, Esther Choi, Andrew Zimmern and Gail Simmons, who apologized at the top of the show for being part of a combative and off-putting tone set by reality TV cooking shows that created “a generation of total monsters” who then went to restaurants with proclamations such as “that ramp butter needs more acid” and used the term “flavor profile.”But “tonight is not about the negative. It’s about celebrating chefs and the industry we love s...

Ucrania acusa a Rusia de “ecocidio” por la destrucción de una presa crítica cerca de Jersón que provocó evacuaciones

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:15 GMT

(CNN) — Una importante represa y planta de energía hidroeléctrica en el sur de Ucrania ocupada por Rusia fue destruida la madrugada de este martes, lo que provocó evacuaciones masivas y temores de devastación a gran escala cuando Ucrania acusó a las fuerzas de Moscú de cometer un acto de “ecocidio”.A los residentes río abajo de la represa de Nova Kakhova en el río Dnipro en Jersón se les dijo que “hagan todo lo posible para salvar su vida”, según el jefe de la administración militar de la región de Jersón de Ucrania, mientras un video mostraba un diluvio de agua brotando de un gran brecha en la presa.Dos videos publicados en las redes sociales y geolocalizados por CNN mostraban el muro de la represa destruido y torrentes de agua que fluían rápidamente hacia el río. Múltiples edificios en la entrada de la presa también sufrieron graves daños.La represa crítica de Nova Kakhova atraviesa el río Dnipro, una importante vía fluvial que atraviesa el sureste de...