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National employment numbers for April from Statistics Canada, at a glance

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

OTTAWA — A quick look at Canada’s April employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):Unemployment rate: 5.0 per cent (5.0)Employment rate: 62.4 per cent (62.4)Participation rate: 65.6 per cent (65.6)Number unemployed: 1,058,200 (1,053,000)Number working: 20,130,200 (20,088,800)Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 9.6 per cent (9.2)Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.4 per cent (4.4)Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.0 per cent (4.1)This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2023.The Canadian Press

Egypt presidential hopeful says supporters, uncles detained

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — An Egyptian politician residing abroad and planning to run in the country’s presidential elections next year said on Friday that two of his uncles and a group of friends and supporters have been detained in recent days.Ahmed Altantawy, a former member of parliament, did not say how many of his supporters were detained, when it happened and whether they were released or were still being held. He said he was worried for the health of his uncles, suggesting they may still be held. Officials in Cairo did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the claims. Altantawy declared his intention to run for Egypt’s highest office in a Facebook post in March. In a video released Friday, he said the arrests come ahead of his announced return to the country on Saturday from Lebanon, where he has said he was studying for a doctorate degree. The vote has widely been expected be an uncontested race for the incumbent, President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi, whose government has c...

Spain’s April heat nearly impossible without climate change

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Record-breaking April temperatures in Spain, Portugal and northern Africa were made 100 times more likely by human-caused climate change, a new flash study found, and would have been almost impossible in the past.A group of international scientists did a rapid computer and statistical analysis of a late-April heat wave that stretched across the Iberian peninsula into Algeria and Morocco. The four countries experienced temperatures as high as 36.9 degrees Celsius (98.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit) degrees.Study lead author Sjoukje Philip of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute said in a briefing that a weather event this extreme “would have been almost impossible in the past, colder climate,” adding: “We will see more intense and more frequent heat waves in the future as global warming continues.”Because the analysis released Friday was one of the quickest ever — the heat still hasn’t subsided much — the study by World W...

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it's no longer emergency

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide. WHO said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn't come to an end, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The U.N. health agency says that thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week.“It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat,” he said, adding he wouldn't hesitate to reconvene experts to reassess the situation should COVID-19 “put our world in peril.”Tedros said the pandemic had been on a downward trend for more than a year, acknowledging that most countries have alrea...

CPD to launch safety plan ahead of Cinco de Mayo weekend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

CHICAGO — While many are looking forward to more spring-like weather and celebrating Cinco de Mayo, Chicago police and other emergency officials are working on a plan to keep people safe.City leaders are trying to avoid a repeat of what happened the last time Chicago saw a weekend of warm temperatures.On April 15, three teenagers were shot and more than a dozen people were arrested when a group of teens and young adults took over parts of downtown. Video showed young people jumping on cars and busses. A number of fights also broke out.Several aldermen said police were outnumbered and there was not sufficient leadership downtown to tell officers what to do. Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexican culture, not independence Days after the incident, the Chicago Police Department told city council members it would staff captains and lieutenants downtown and stage prisoner transport vans to act as a deterrent at different locations.Several pastors and others marched through downtown the weeken...

City meeting over housing migrants turns heated

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

CHICAGO — Chicago's shelter system is bursting at the seams and now the mayor wants to open the old South Shore High School to newly arriving migrants.Hundreds of residents gathered at a meeting Thursday evening to hear from city leaders on a plan to move the migrants. Chicago Park District after-school program relocated to accommodate migrants "I think that's what's important is that we establish this is a humanitarian crisis," Nubia Willman, the chief engagement officer for the mayor's office said.Members of Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration were supposed to give a presentation but were interrupted by angry outbursts.One question from residents was how many asylum seekers would be housed at the old high school. "We are looking at a phased approach using first floor only, you can fit up to 250 to 500," Brandie Knazze, with the Department of Family and Support Services, said. Police said officers would be at the location 24/7.The city said it must identify respite sites to rel...

Bill banning gender-affirming care for youth to be heard on Texas House floor again after protest, delay

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Texas House lawmakers are expected on Friday to again take up Senate Bill 14, which would ban gender-affirming care for minors, after a vote was delayed earlier in the week when opponents filled the chamber's gallery to protest it. The bill was set for a vote Monday but the protests and a parliamentary move changed the plan. LGBTQ advocates booted from Texas Capitol; vote delayed for bill banning gender care for kids As the debate started on Senate Bill 14, Rep. Mary González (D-El Paso) raised a point of order as a procedural move in an attempt to block the bill.While lawmakers were sorting through the move, protesters in the gallery started chanting in opposition to the legislation. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan asked the Sergeant at Arms to clear the House gallery.The issue of transgender rights brings new conflict at the Texas Capitol. A protester against Senate Bill 14 was apprehended by Texas Department of Public Safety officers May 2, 2023. (Nexstar phot...

TxDOT launches motorcycle safety campaign before ROT Rally

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally started Friday at the Austin Speed Shop.Event organizers say they’re hosting a more intimate ROT Rally after experiencing some challenges in recent years.Prior to 2020, the ROT Rally was at the Travis County Expo Center before it was moved due to negotiation troubles.In 2020, the event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, it returned to Circuit of the Americas, drawing thousands of motorcyclists from all over the country.In 2022, the event took place in Bastrop with a 2,500-person capacity limit. This year, ROT Rally is back in Austin.This comes at the same time the Texas Department of Transportation has launched a campaign for Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in May.With this in mind, TxDOT is urging drivers to look twice and be considerate on the road around motorcycle riders.In 2022, 562 motorcycle riders were killed in crashes in the Lone Star State, an 8% increase over the previous year.Amy Jo...

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it’s no longer emergency

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

By MARIA CHENG and JAMEY KEATEN (Associated Press)GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide.WHO said that even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hasn’t come to an end, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The U.N. health agency says that thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week.“It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.“That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat,” he said, adding he wouldn’t hesitate to reconvene experts to reassess the situation should COVID-19 “put our world in peril.”Tedros said the pandemic had been on a downward trend for more than a ye...

Coronation watch party starts at 4:30 a.m. at Brit’s Pub on Saturday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:37:37 GMT

King Charles III’s coronation Saturday will mix of a thousand-year tradition with the streaming age.The pomp and ceremony will be unmissable for U.K. residents, but what about royal watchers across the Atlantic?In Minnesota, Anglophiles can join in on the fun by attending a watch party at Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis. Tickets — which are limited — cost $5 and doors open at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday,“Ticket will include a N/A (non-alcoholic) Bucks Fizz – that’s a UK mimosa,” the pub explains on its website at britspub.com. “There will be a special breakfast menu as well as tea, coffee and non-alcoholic drinks available for purchase.”(In Minneapolis, alcohol can’t be served until 8 a.m.)The coronation watch party at the pub, located at 1110 Nicollet Mall, wraps up at 9 a.m.Will Americans tune in?Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, carrying the orb and the scepter, enters Buckingham Palace after her Coronation ceremony in London̵...