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Witnesses say victims of a Hanoi high-rise fire jumped from upper stories to escape the blaze

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Ten children were among the 56 people killed in a blaze in a Hanoi high-rise, police said Thursday, which some residents desperately tried to escape by jumping out of upper stories, according to witnesses. Authorities have still not released the cause of the fire, which broke out just before midnight Tuesday and wasn’t extinguished until Wednesday morning in the nine-story apartment building in Vietnam’s capital.With the fire out, only incense burned Thursday morning outside the building at a makeshift shrine set up by friends and relatives to pay their respects to the dead. Witnesses told The Associated Press that it appeared that an electrical switchboard caught fire on the ground floor, which was also used for the parking of around 80 motorbikes and bicycles, sending thick smoke billowing through the building.Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen told the AP that all five members of her family were sleeping on the first floor when they heard someone call out “fir...

Former firearms executive Busse seeks Democratic nomination to challenge Montana Gov. Gianforte

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Former firearms executive turned gun industry critic Ryan Busse is seeking the 2024 Democratic nomination to challenge first-term Republican Governor Greg Gianforte in Montana.Busse told The Associated Press about his intentions in advance of a planned public announcement Thursday. It’s his first run for public office.If the 53-year-old from Kalispell makes it past next June’s primary, he faces an uphill battle in trying to unseat Gianforte, who is able to draw from immense personal wealth to bankroll his campaign and whose party has dominated Montana during recent election cycles. Former President Donald Trump won the state in 2020 with a 16-point advantage over Joe Biden.But Busse suggested that Republicans are vulnerable in the state after failing to keep housing prices affordable, not taking action to prevent potential property tax increases and threatening women’s health care by passing several abortion restrictions.“To me this is a narrative ab...

In the news today: Social media evidence focus as ‘Freedom Convoy’ trial continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…Defence to show different side of ‘Freedom Convoy’Defence lawyers for two “Freedom Convoy” organizers are expected to show the court a more peaceful view of the protest as they cross-examine the officer assigned to social media evidence in the case.Chris Barber and Tamara Lich are on trial for their role on the protest that gridlocked Ottawa for three weeks in 2022.The Crown has taken the court through several days of social media evidence from Barber’s TikTok account and the “Freedom Convoy 2022” Facebook page, though the defence plans to argue some of that is irrelevant.On Wednesday, Barber’s defence lawyer began showing videos that were not gathered by police, showing Barber calling for protesters to remain peaceful and to respect police and Ottawa residents.Earlier in the trial, Lich’s lawyer said if the...

Libya buries thousands after deadly floods that killed at least 5,100

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

DERNA, Libya (AP) — The Libyan city of Derna buried thousands of people in mass graves as search teams scoured the area after devastating floods that killed at least 5,100 people, a health official said Thursday.Mediterranean storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many eastern towns, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast Sunday night, Derna residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters washed down Wadi Derna, a valley that cuts through the city, crumbling buildings and washing people out to sea.Health authorities have put the death toll in Derna at 5,100 as of Wednesday. The number of deaths was likely to climb as there are least 9,000 people still missing, said Ossama Ali, a spokesman for an ambulance center in eastern Libya.The floods have displaced at least 30,000 people in Derna, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration, and several thousand others were forced to leave their homes in ...

Fake Drake won’t be eligible as Junos add AI guidelines to prevent robot takeover

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

TORONTO — The Juno Awards are laying out new submission rules to ensure that a fake Drake or other robot-led songs don’t land nominations in the future.Organizers at the Canadian music awards show introduced an “AI Eligibility” section of its submission guidelines which specify that while musicians in eligible recordings can use artificial intelligence, it can’t be the “sole or core component” of the project.The criteria come as the music industry grapples with a fast-evolving technology that’s flooded the internet with “deep fake” songs which use computer-generated voices that sound like famous musicians.One of the most popular examples is “Heart on My Sleeve,” a track created by a U.S. producer who calls himself Ghostwriter and uses vocals that sound like Canadians Drake and The Weeknd.Junos president Allan Reid says even without the new rules, “Heart on My Sleeve” would’ve not been eligible for the awards since its creator isn’t Canadian and neither vocalist was involved.More rec...

Defence to show different side of ‘Freedom Convoy’ social media content

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Defence lawyers for two “Freedom Convoy” organizers are expected to show the court a more peaceful view of the protest as they cross-examine the officer assigned to social media evidence in the case.Chris Barber and Tamara Lich are on trial for their role on the protest that gridlocked Ottawa for three weeks in 2022.The Crown has taken the court through several days of social media evidence from Barber’s TikTok account and the “Freedom Convoy 2022” Facebook page, though the defence plans to argue some of that is irrelevant. The videos were compiled by Sgt. Joanne Pilotte, who was directed to download certain videos by an Ottawa police detective as part of the investigation. On Wednesday, Barber’s defence lawyer began showing videos that were not gathered by police, showing Barber calling for protesters to remain peaceful and to respect police and Ottawa residents.Earlier in the trial, Lich’s lawyer said if the Crown shows evidence o...

Montreal dockworkers union says changes made to hiring list criticized as nepotistic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

MONTREAL — The union representing dockworkers at the Port of Montreal says it has ended a long-standing hiring practice that has been criticized for fostering nepotism — to the point where workers’ preschool offspring were placed on a list of potential employees.For decades, the association of shipping companies that use the port has hired longshore workers from a list supplied by the union — a list created by asking each union member to provide a single name.But the Maritime Employers Association has argued the list is a recipe for nepotism, resulting in few women candidates or members of ethnic minorities, but in some instances children who were barely out of diapers.In April, a labour arbitrator ordered a series of changes after finding it was impossible for people to get their names on the list unless they were related to current dockworkers.“It appeared that this list contained, almost exclusively, the names of family members of each of the longshore workers, withou...

Number of E. coli cases continues to rise, but fewer patients with serious illness

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

CALGARY — The number of E. coli cases linked to an outbreak at several Calgary daycares continues to rise, but doctors say there are fewer patients in hospital with serious complications.There were 310 lab-confirmed cases of the bacterial infection as of Wednesday, since the outbreak at 11 Calgary daycares was declared on Sept. 4.Dr. Tania Principi, section chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Alberta Children’s Hospital, says the increase in overall case numbers is mostly due to a delay in getting lab results. She says there has been a decrease in the number of children with serious illness showing up at the emergency departments and 14 patients have been discharged from hospitals since the beginning of the outbreak.Twenty-one children are still receiving care at Alberta Children’s Hospital, 20 of whom have hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication affecting the blood and kidneys. Seven patients are on peritoneal dialysis, which is a way to remove waste products fro...

Saskatchewan considers notwithstanding clause to keep school pronoun policy change

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is ready to use the notwithstanding clause to protect a new rule requiring parental permission for transgender and nonbinary students to use different names or pronouns at school.In the face of a court challenge brought against the new education policy, Moe announced late last week that his provincial government would seek to enshrine the changes in legislation to be introduced this fall.He recently told reporters that his Saskatchewan Party government was prepared to use different “tools” to ensure that the policy remains in place.“If necessary, that would be one of the tools that would be under consideration — yes,” Moe said in an interview Wednesday when asked whether the notwithstanding clause was an option on the table.“The notwithstanding clause is present for a reason — so that duly elected governments can represent their constituents when necessary.” The notwithstanding clause is a provision in the Charter...

Credit card debt hit all-time high in Q2 as financial pressure builds: Equifax

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:51:52 GMT

TORONTO — Equifax Canada says credit card balances hit an all-time high of $107.4 billion in the second quarter of 2023, in a sign financial stress continued to build in the face of inflation and rising interest rates.The agency says total Canadian consumer debt reached $2.4 trillion during the second quarter.Vice-president of advanced analytics Rebecca Oakes says non-mortgage debt growth was largely due to substantial growth in credit card balances and a notable increase in debt among subprime and deep subprime consumers. The report by Equifax Canada said average non-mortgage debt per credit-active consumer edged up to $21,131.Oakes says despite mounting credit card debt, credit card delinquencies aren’t rising as fast as expected, in part because of an influx of new credit card users which also contributed to the growth in overall non-mortgage debt. Equifax Canada says many Canadians are slowing down their credit card spending, but lower-income households are having a harder...