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Why the federal worker strike will test Canada’s economy and labour market

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

For almost a week, Canada’s federal workers have been on strike. The action by the Public Service Alliance of Canada is the largest the country has seen in decades, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Meanwhile, services in many federal departments are reduced to emergency-only levels, as unions and employers across the country watch to see what comes next.Cormac Mac Sweeney is a Parliament Hill reporter for CityNews. He joins us to discuss why this strike comes at a critical time for both the economy and labour relations, and how inflation, pay scale, return-to-work policies could set a precedent for public and private workers throughout the country.“A lot of unions tend to try and time their job action to have maximum impact. I mean, that’s the point of a strike, it’s to try and put pressure on the other side,” he said. “The closer we get to busier travel seasons and the tax filing deadline, the more pressure it is going to put on the government and the union...

Lebanese, EU legal teams to cooperate in Central Bank probe

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities and a European judicial team on Tuesday agreed to exchange information about their separate corruption probes of Lebanon’s Central Bank governor, officials said.The announcement came during a visit by a European delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg — its third visit to Lebanon to interrogate suspects and witnesses in an ongoing investigation of Governor Riad Salameh and associates over several financial crimes.The officials met after Raja Salameh, the brother of the 72-year-old embattled governor, did not attend a scheduled hearing on Tuesday morning, citing an illness, Lebanese judicial officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case. The governor and his brother are accused of embezzlement, money laundering, and illicit enrichment.The European delegation first visited Lebanon in January to interrogate Riad Salameh and others from Lebanon’s financial and banking sector, including some of the governor’...

Melissa McCarthy fronts People magazine’s ‘Beautiful Issue’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Melissa McCarthy is out front on this year’s People magazine “Beautiful Issue.”The “Bridesmaids” star says being on the cover “felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self. Maybe to other people, too.”People on Tuesday revealed McCarthy’s selection and the cover for the issue that hits magazine racks on Friday.McCarthy, 52, recounted for the magazine her upbringing on a farm in rural Illinois and how she went through a punk phase, complete with a mohawk and blue hair, when she was in high school.“I was fascinated because when I walked down the street and I looked like that, it was the first time that I’d ever had people kind of make fun of me or say really mean things to me, even adults,” she told the magazine. “I just kept thinking, you don’t know me, I didn’t do anything to you. It was a real big eye-opener that people are just judging left and right.”McCarthy says it wasn’t until her 30...

Stock markets today: US futures fall ahead of tech earnings

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

BEIJING — Wall Street futures followed global markets lower Tuesday amid a bevy of U.S. earnings reports and an update on economic growth.Futures for the Dow slipped 0.2% and the S&P fell 0.4%.Dozens of the nation’s biggest companies, including Microsoft and Amazon, are due to report earnings this week. McDonald’s rose before the bel l after the fast food chain reported higher-than-expected sales and profit in the first quarter.General Motors jumped more than 3% after strong U.S. sales boosted profits and the company raised guidance based on expectations that demand will remain robust.Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to report their biggest drop in earnings since the spring of 2020, when the pandemic paralyzed the economy. But the majority of companies so far this earnings reporting season have been beating the projections of Wall Street analysts.On Thursday, the U.S. releases new data on economic growth during the first three months of the year. Economis...

UBS reaps $28B in new money amid Credit Suisse fallout

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss banking giant UBS said Tuesday that it took in $28 billion in new money from wealthy clients in the first three months of the year, with $7 billion of that coming in the 10 days after the announcement it was taking over ailing rival Credit Suisse.Zurich-based UBS, which is set to become Switzerland’s single banking titan after the merger closes in the coming months, said it also drew $14 billion in new money to its asset management business.“Our performance this quarter demonstrates that we continue to be a source of stability for our clients during periods of significant uncertainty,” said CEO Sergio Ermotti, who came back to UBS last month to shepherd the Credit Suisse takeover. “Our strong flows across global wealth management and asset management reflect our clients’ continued confidence and trust in us.”UBS posted net profit of nearly $1.04 billion in the first quarter, down 52% from the same period a year ago despite the new inflows. Profit was ...

Cesar Chavez’s legacy lives on in Biden’s new campaign chair

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Barack Obama flew to California to dedicate a national monument to Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez, a group of the activist’s relatives were invited to pose for photos with the president. Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Chavez’s granddaughter, hung back. As a member of Obama’s staff, she had traveled with the official party to the event, but she did not want to call attention to herself.Only when Obama’s senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, insisted did Rodriguez reluctantly step forward, barely making it into the frame. “I said, ‘Julie, you have to be up there with your family,’” said Jarrett, who was Rodriguez’s boss in the White House Office of Public Engagement. “And she said, ‘No, I’m staff today.’” White House staffers are often of a type, hard-charging strivers who crave their own sliver of the limelight or even trade on a famous name. Rodriguez has been a clear exception. In her second tour serving a Democratic president, sheR...

Hot-dog-eating legend Chestnut throwing 1st pitch for Blue Jays’ Loonie Dogs Night

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

How fitting.Joey Chestnut, the American competitive eater and hot-dog-eating legend, will be at the Rogers Centre to throw out the first pitch ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays game against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday to honour the first Loonie Dogs night.Chestnut is renowned for his world records in mass eating competitions as a 15-time champion at Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.The Hot Dog King himself!Joey Chestnut will be at our FIRST Loonie Dogs Night pres. by @Schneiders ????— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 20, 2023Loonie Dogs Night is presented by Schneiders and returns for every Tuesday home game during the 2023 season. Fans can purchase $1 hot dogs from various concession stands around Rogers Centre.Chestnut is the current defending champion after he ate 63 hot dogs in the 2022 contest. More recently, on April 6, Chestnut won the first-ever Qdoba World Burrito Eating Championship in Milwaukee after consuming 14.5 burritos in 10 minut...

East Palestine families living in limbo months after fire

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — Jeff Drummond spends days and nights alone in a tiny room with fake wood paneling, two small beds and a microwave atop a mini refrigerator that serves as a nightstand — his pickup truck parked just outside the door at the roadside motel where he’s taken refuge since early February.Shelby Walker bounces from hotel to hotel with her five children and four grandchildren while crews tear up railroad tracks and scoop out contaminated soil near their four-bedroom home.Almost 3 months after a fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment blackened the skies, sent residents fleeing and thrust East Palestine into a national debate over rail safety, residents say they are still living in limbo. They’re unsure how or whether to move on from the accident and worry what will happen to them and the village where they have deep family roots, friendships and affordable homes.“I have no idea how long we can continue to do this,” says Walker, while washing clothes at a lau...

Man, 21, dies after found shot in elevator on South Side

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

CHICAGO — A 21-year-old man has died after he was found shot in an elevator on the city's South Side.Police said officers responded to the 7500 block of South South Shore Drive around 9:15 p.m. Monday and discovered a man shot inside an elevator.According to police, the man told officers he was involved in a physical altercation and did not realize he had been shot in the abdomen.He was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, where he later died. The man has not yet been identified. Beth Murphy, owner of Murphy’s Bleachers, has died No one is in custody. Area Two detectives are investigating.

Tinley Park's music venue gets a new name

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:43:02 GMT

TINLEY PARK, Ill. — Once again, a popular outdoor music venue in the southwest suburbs of Chicago is getting a new name. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park will now be known as Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre as of Tuesday as the Rantoul-based company takes over the naming rights. This has been a common occurrence for the venue since its opening in 1990 as this will now be its sixth different name in 33 years. The amphitheatre, which has a capacity of 28,000, was previously known as the World Music Theatre (1990-1995), New World Music Theatre (1995-2001), Tweeter Center (2001-2006), and First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (2006-2015).Hollywood Casino had the naming rights for the venue, which is owned by Live Nation, since 2015."We are amidst a historic time in live music as fans everywhere continue prioritizing concerts to connect and make lasting memories," said Live Nation senior VP of venue sales Andy Peikon in a statement. "We're thrilled the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre will ...