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Ottawa boosts Haiti sanctions, police funding during summit aimed at resolving crisis

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is announcing more support for Haiti, as neighbouring countries say they have hope the Caribbean nation can overcome a severe political and humanitarian crisis.Canada is adding two former senators to its list of sanctioned Haitian elites whom Ottawa accuses of supporting gangs, bringing the total to 21 people.Ottawa is also adding $40 million to its funding for law enforcement, as Canada and the U.S. focus on shoring up the work of the Haitian National Police as they try to stop gangs from committing brazen acts of violence and controlling critical infrastructure.Joly has convened a meeting of ministers from Haiti and countries concerned about the gangs that have filled a power vacuum after the assassination of president Jovenel Moïse two years ago.The United Nations’ representative in the country noted that recent earthquakes and floods have worsened instability, hunger and a cholera outbreak.The Jamaican government says efforts ...

CREA says home sales in May post first year-over-year increase since June 2021

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales in May rose compared with the same month last year to post the first year-over-year sales increase since June 2021 as prices also climbed higher.The association says the number of home sales In May gained 1.4 per cent compared with the same month last year.Seasonally-adjusted sales for May were up 5.1 per cent compared with April.The increase in sales came as the number of newly listed properties rose 6.8 per cent month-over-month.The actual national average home price was $729,000 in May, up 3.2 per cent from May 2022. CREA says it was the first year-over-year increase in the national average price in a year.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2023.The Canadian Press

5 key takeaways from ‘partygate’ report that found Boris Johnson deliberately misled UK Parliament

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A U.K. parliamentary committee on Thursday issued a damning report concluding that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled lawmakers over what he knew about multiple lockdown-flouting parties at his office and government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic.Lawmakers voted in April 2022 for the seven-member panel to investigate Johnson’s conduct over “partygate,” a series of boozy gatherings attended by Johnson and his staff that broke rules and eventually contributed to his downfall. Here are the key points of the report:WHAT WAS THE COMMITTEE TASKED TO DO?The seven lawmakers — including four from Johnson’s Conservatives and three from opposition parties — examined what Johnson told the House of Commons about gatherings in Downing Street in 2020 and 2021. If a statement was misleading, the committee said it considered whether it was a “genuine error or was intentional or reckless,” and whether the record was corrected in good ...

Delphi suspect Richard Allen arrives for hearing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

DELPHI, Ind. – Delphi murder suspect Richard Allen arrived in court Thursday morning for a hearing in Carroll County.Allen faces two counts of murder in the February 2017 deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German.Thursday’s hearing was slated to start at 10 a.m. at the Carroll County courthouse in Delphi. Judge Fran Gull from Allen County was assigned to the case after Benjamin Diener, a Carroll County judge, recused himself from the case last year. Attorneys challenge method linking Richard Allen to unspent round at crime scene Gull is expected to hear from defense attorneys and prosecutors regarding several motions.Allen’s defense team filed a motion to suppress certain evidence from the case. While the motion is under seal, the court revealed it involves ballistics.The probable cause affidavit unsealed in November 2022 indicated that investigators found an unspent round near the girls’ bodies. A forensic expert determined the bullet had been ejected from Allen’s Sig Sauer Model ...

Suicides and homicides among young Americans jumped early in the pandemic, study says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report examined the homicide and suicide rates among 10- to 24-year-olds from 2001 to 2021.The increase is alarming and “reflects a mental health crisis among young people and a need for a number of policy changes,” said Dr. Steven Woolf, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher who studies U.S. death trends and wasn’t involved in the CDC report.Experts cited several possible reasons for the increases, including higher rates of depression, limited availability of mental health services and the number of guns in U.S. homes.Guns were used in 54% of suicides and 93% of homicides among the age group in 2021, the most recent year for which statistics were available. “Picture a teena...

CDC: Pandemic brought highest rates of teen homicide, young adult suicide since 2001 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

(The Hill) -- The homicide rate for older teenagers in the United States and the suicide rate for those in their early 20s rose during the pandemic to the highest it has been in at least 20 years, according to new research.A new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed homicide and suicide rates among those ages 10-24 from 2001-21. The largest annual increase in homicide rates for those aged 15-19 was a 38 percent increase from 2019-20.In 2020, the rate of homicide deaths among older teenagers was 12.3 per 100,000, a significant jump from the 8.9 per 100,000 rate in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 — which is the most recent data available — the rate of homicide deaths was 12.8 per 100,000 in the age group. Cancer rates are climbing among young people. It’s not clear why A similar jump was seen when CDC researchers looked at suicide rates for people ages 20-24. The largest annual increase between 2001-21 was in 2021 whe...

Hot summer ahead: Weather predictions heat up in new NOAA forecast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – An already sweltering summer forecast just got even steamier. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a new long-range weather outlook Thursday that favors above-average temperatures for basically the entire United States. Between July and September, all but a few states have between a 33% and 70% chance of a hotter-than-normal summer. The highest chance for heat is in Arizona — which is already hot on even a normal summer day. The average high in Phoenix in July is 106 degrees. El Niño officially arrives early: What it means for 2023 weather The entire East Coast, from Maine down to Florida, the Gulf Coast, the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest is "likely" to see an above-normal summer, according to the forecast. NOAA gives about half of U.S. states a 50% to 60% chance of extra-hot weather over the next three months. Things are a bit better in California and the Midwest, but those regions are also still more likely to see a hot summer tha...

Cancer rates are climbing among young people. It’s not clear why

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

(The Hill) - Vanessa Chapoy had just turned 24 when she felt the lump in her breast. It was “huge,” she remembers, “like the size of a walnut, or a big marble.” She went to the first in a series of doctors that night to have it checked out. Two and a half weeks later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Stage two, she would learn.“And my whole world flipped upside down,” Chapoy says.She entered a gauntlet of treatments: a lumpectomy to cut out the tumor and a portion of surrounding breast tissue, fertility treatments so she could freeze her eggs, five months of chemotherapy and then a double mastectomy to remove both of her breasts. Three years on, she’s still undergoing hormone therapy — an experience she likens to “early menopause” — and occasionally suffering from “chemo brain,” a form of brain fog resulting from chemotherapy that she says makes it more difficult for her to complete tasks or remember certain things.“I don’t understand how this could happen,” she recalls te...

Dean's A-List Interviews: Chris Hemsworth in 'Extraction 2'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

Dean sat down with Chris Hemsworth to talk about his role in "Extraction 2."Get Dean's reviews and A-List interviews delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for Dean's Downloads weekly newsletter. You'll also get his Dean Cooks recipes too!

988 mental health hotline gets funding to expand, enhance services

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:14:25 GMT

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. Crisis counselors are available 24/7.AUSTIN (KXAN) — It's been nearly a year since the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline hotline launched. On Wednesday, experts from the federal, state and local levels met in Austin to talk about the milestones of the hotline's first year and the future of crisis care. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHS, recently announced awards that will expand and enhance mobile crisis response teams, including two in the state of Texas, and more than $200 million in new funding opportunities for the 988 Lifeline. Suicide lifeline sees increase in calls, messages after launch of new 988 number A crisis call center at Integral Care's Dove Springs Clinic in south Austin is one of the Texas centers getting some of that funding. Experts met at the clinic Wednesday to talk about the future of the clinic and the imp...