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Economy contracts in second quarter as higher interest rates take hold

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canadian economy appeared to stall in the second quarter as investment in housing continued to fall, led by drop in new construction.Statistics Canada said Friday the economy contracted at an annualized rate of 0.2 per cent in the second quarter.The agency also revised its reading for growth in the first quarter to an annual pace of 2.6 per cent, down from 3.1 per cent.The decline in the second quarter came as housing investment fell 2.1 per cent to post its fifth consecutive quarterly decrease.New construction dropped 8.2 per cent in the quarter, while renovation spending fell 4.3 per cent.The drop in spending came as Canadians face higher borrowing costs fuelled by interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada, which is trying to bring inflation back to its target of two per cent.The weakness in the second quarter was also attributed to lower inventory accumulations, as well as slower growth in exports and household spending.Exports of goods and services crept up 0.1 per ...

With some schools crumbling, UK government orders action on aging concrete risk

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The British government has ordered more than 100 schools to keep some or all of their buildings closed when the new academic year begins next week because of concern crumbling concrete threatens the safety of children and staff.The announcement, which came late on Thursday, sent school administrators scrambling to find ways to accommodate pupils, with some expected to return to the online instruction used during the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing of the decision, just days before the start of classes, raised questions from parents and school officials about why the government didn’t act sooner.Schools Minister Nick Gibb told the BBC that a beam collapse over the summer sparked an urgent reconsideration of whether buildings constructed with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete were safe for school children. The Department for Education ordered 104 schools to keep some or all of their buildings closed when the autumn term begins on Monday.“That’s a very cautious approac...

Driver dead in single-vehicle crash in Midtown Toronto

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

A driver is dead following a single-vehicle crash in Midtown Toronto.Toronto police said the crash occurred in the Rose Park Drive and Mount Pleasant Road area at around 7:15 a.m. on Friday.Authorities said a driver crashed into a pole, and one man was rushed to a trauma centre, where he died of his injuries.It’s unclear what led to the crash.Toronto police said road closures and delays are expected on Rose Park Drive.COLLISION:Rose Park Dr + Mt Pleasant Rd7:16 a.m.– Vehicle into a pole– The driver was taken to hospital by Medics and was pronounced deceased at the hospital– Any witnesses contact @TrafficServices 416-808-1900– Expect road closures on Rose Park Dr#GO2038762^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) September 1, 2023

Gabon’s opposition candidate alleges the ousted president’s family is behind a plot to retain power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gabon’s opposition leader accused the family of the recently ousted president of engineering his removal from power in order to retain their control in the oil-rich Central African nation.Speaking to French media outlet TV5 Monde Thursday, Albert Ondo Ossa said the junta who ousted Gabon’s president on Wednesday did not engage in a coup but rather a “palace revolution” in order to continue their family’s reign.Soldiers toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba and put him under house arrest, accusing him of irresponsible governance that risked leading the country into chaos. They then put Bongo’s cousin Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, head of the elite republican guard, in charge. He is expected to be sworn into office on Monday September 4 before the constitutional court. Ossa lost the presidential election in August to Bongo by more than 30 percentage points. The vote was widely criticized by locals and the international community for irregularities and a lack o...

Russia’s Putin and Turkey’s Erdogan set to meet amid efforts to repair Ukraine grain deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks next week, the Kremlin announced Friday, just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal brokered by Ankara and the U.N. that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets safely despite the 18-month war.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Erdogan would meet Monday in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.The announcement ended weeks of speculation about when and where the two leaders might meet next as international efforts continue to patch up the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which got agrain and other food to parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat.Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other commodities that developing nations rely on. Turkey, together with the United Nations, brokered the deal in July 2022 that allowed Ukraine to resume shipping foodstuffs from three Black Sea ports. Under the initi...

Rising tensions between employers and employees have put the labor back in this year’s Labor Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Labor Day is right around the corner, along with the big sales and barbecues that come with it. But the activist roots of the holiday are especially visible this year as unions challenge how workers are treated — from Hollywood to the auto production lines of Detroit.The early-September tribute to workers has been an official holiday for almost 130 years — but an emboldened labor movement has created an environment closer to the era from which Labor Day was born. Like the late 1800s, workers are facing rapid economic transformation — and a growing gap in pay between themselves and new billionaire leaders of industry, mirroring the stark inequalities seen more than a century ago. “There’s a lot of historical rhyming between the period of the origins of Labor Day and today,” Todd Vachon, an assistant professor in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, told The Associated Press. “Then, they had the Carnegies and the Rockefellers. Today, we have the Musks ...

Stock market today: Wall Street points to gains at open ahead of a key US jobs report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

TOKYO — Wall Street followed global markets higher Friday with strong U.S. jobs data boosting shares. Futures for the Dow and S&P 500 each rose about 0.4% before the bell.US employers added a solid 187,000 jobs in August, showing how resilient the U.S. labor market is despite an extended campaign by the U.S. Federal Reserve to cool hiring and inflation. The strong job market, along with consumer spending, has so far helped thwart a recession that analysts expected at some point in 2023. But they also made the Federal Reserve’s task of taming inflation more difficult by fueling wage and price increases.Market jitters over the possibility that the Federal Reserve might have to keep interest rates higher for longer — following reports showing the U.S. economy remains remarkably resilient — led to the market’s pullback in August after what had been a banner year. The central bank has raised its main interest rate aggressively since 2022 to the highest level since 2001. The goal has ...

Greece: Firefighters rescue 25 migrants trapped in forest as massive wildfire approached

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek firefighters rescued a group of 25 migrants trapped in a forest in northeastern Greece Friday as flames from a massive wildfire burning for two weeks approached, authorities said.The fire department said the group became trapped in the forest between two villages in the Evros region, near the border with Turkey. No injuries were reported. There was no immediate information on their nationalities.The blaze, burning for the 14th day Friday, has already been blamed for the deaths of 20 people whose bodies were found last week. All are believed to have been migrants who had recently crossed the border. Greece’s Disaster Victim Identification Team has been tasked with identifying the remains.A multinational force of more than 580 firefighters backed by six planes and two helicopters is battling the wildfire that began on Aug. 19 and within days had joined with other blazes to form the largest single wildfire in a European Union country since records began in 2...

Dean's Reviews: 'The Equalizer 3'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

Check out Dean's reviews for the new 'The Equalizer 3,' starring Denzel Washington.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!

Interest on student loans is back: Here's what to know

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:18:50 GMT

(The Hill) - After more than three years, interest on student loans is back on beginning Friday as part of the Biden administration’s "on-ramp" repayment plan.The start of September brings the return of interest on the loans, which unlike other types of debt accrues daily instead of monthly. Like payments on the loans, the interest had been on a pause that began at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and was renewed several times.While payments themselves don’t resume until October, here is what borrowers need to know as interest resumes:How student loan interest works“I think practically the most important thing about interest on a student loan is that because of how it accumulates it can cause the value of your loan, the overall amount that you have to pay back, to increase pretty significantly,” said Jacob Channel, senior economist and student loan repayment expert at Lending Tree. The interest rate of a student loan is set when a borrower takes the money out, so it w...