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What you need to know about the first-time homebuyers savings account

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

TORONTO — Jeremy Kinnear is 23 and already thinking about home ownership.Fresh out of university, the Edmontonian is in the midst of a four-year job program that will require him to move to Calgary halfway through. After that, he hopes to put down roots.So when Kinnear got a call from his broker earlier this year about the new Tax-Free First Home Savings Account (FHSA), he was excited about taking advantage of the program.“I’m pretty young, so I’ve been saving as much as I can right now. I need to invest young so that I can compound my money sooner,” he said.The rules governing the new program come into force April 1, allowing prospective homebuyers to start saving for up to 15 years once they open an account, with an annual $8,000 deposit cap and a lifetime contribution limit of $40,000.But prospective homebuyers excited to start saving might not be able to open a FHSA as soon as they’re hoping. Eight large Canadian financial institutions, including al...

Joint Base Andrews on lockdown after armed person reported

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A military base in Maryland has been locked down for reports of a man carrying an “assault-style” rifle on Thursday, authorities said.Joint Base Andrews was locked down after the person was reported seen near the base’s housing area, according to the base’s Facebook page. There was no immediate report of any injuries and additional details were not immediately available.Joint Base Andrews is home to the fleet of blue and white presidential aircraft, including Air Force One and the “doomsday” 747 aircraft that can serve as the nation’s airborne nuclear command and control centers if needed.“Security Forces foot and mobile patrols are out looking for the suspect,” the Facebook post read.The Associated Press

Transcript of AP interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

ON A TRAIN FROM SUMY TO KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — AP Executive Editor Julie Pace interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Zelenskyy visited the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, which still faces regular shelling from Russian forces, and northern towns in the Sumy region that were liberated shortly after the war began a year ago.Zelenskyy spoke to the AP aboard a train shuttling him across Ukraine to cities near some of the fiercest fighting and others where his country’s forces have successfully repelled Russia’s invasion. Zelenskyy rarely travels with journalists, and the president’s office said AP’s two-night train trip with him was the most extensive since the war began.Here is the transcript:___JULIE PACE: Well, let’s actually start where we just began. We very much appreciate you inviting us to spend two days here. And you did tell us that you thought it was important to see the war outside of the capital. Do you worry that people are forgetting — not just peop...

Canadian airport security measures in federal budget raise concerns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

You’ll have to pay up in order to improve security lines at Canadian airports.The federal budget lays out measures to make airport visits more efficient, but advocates for both airlines and passengers are disappointed with what’s being proposed.According to these advocates, there is good news and bad news with the federal approach in the fiscal plan.On the one hand, the federal government is pumping $1.8 billion into making airport security screening more efficient. However, on the other hand, security fees paid by travellers will be going up by as much as 33 per cent to help pay for that.Ian Jack, the vice president of public affairs at the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), tells CityNews this is a federal responsibility. He feels the government should shoulder the cost, not passengers.“We feel that’s a bit much at this point. The system is not working very well — we prefer the government actually get the system fixed before they start adding to t...

Indiana boy, 5, found handgun and fatally shot baby brother

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A 16-month-old boy was fatally shot by his 5-year-old sibling after the older child found a handgun in a northwestern Indiana apartment, police said.The circumstances of Tuesday’s fatal shooting of Isiah Johnson remained under investigation Thursday by the Lafayette Police Department, which does not plan to release additional information during the ongoing investigation, said Capt. Brian Phillips.Police said previously that the shooting occurred when one adult and two children were inside the apartment in Lafayette, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Indianapolis.Phillips said Thursday that the 5-year-old sibling who shot Isiah gained access to a handgun in the apartment. He declined to provide additional information about the sibling and said police were still investigating who owns that weapon.An autopsy performed Wednesday determined that Isiah died from a single gunshot wound, but his manner of death is pending completion of the police investigation a...

6 US troops have traumatic brain injury after Syria attacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Thursday that an additional six troops were injured in attacks last week in northeastern Syria that U.S. officials have blamed on Iranian-backed militants.Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said the six were in addition to the death of an American contractor and the wounding of six troops and another contractor in the two separate attacks.Ryder said four American service members at Hasakah and two at Green Village have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries and are being treated at their bases. Evaluations are continuing on personnel at the bases.He said at a news conference that the United States now assesses that eight militants, all associated with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, were killed in the American counterstrikes by fighter jets.The initial strike by militants on March 23 — by a small, suicide drone — set off a series of retaliatory bombings. The top U.S. commander for the Middle East, Gen. Erik Kuri...

Appropriate for Alberta premier to discuss COVID case with accused, deputy says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

EDMONTON — An Alberta deputy premier says it was appropriate for his boss to phone up a pastor and discuss his upcoming criminal trial on charges stemming from protests over pandemic restrictions. Kaycee Madu says Premier Danielle Smith has a broad mandate to reduce divisions over the COVID-19 pandemic while helping the province grow. Madu says in pursuing that mission, Smith is free to contact whomever she wants.Smith is coming under renewed criticism over a leaked phone conversation she had in January with protester and Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski about his approaching trial.During the call, Smith commiserates with Pawlowski over her government’s legal tactics and offers to make inquiries on his behalf while telling him the Crown’s charges are politically motivated.The phone call was leaked to the Opposition NDP and shared with reporters earlier this week.Madu is a former Alberta justice minister who was moved out of the portfolio under former premier Jason Kenne...

A look at how the largest US counties gained or lost people

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

Several large, urban counties across the United States gained residents or stemmed population declines in the year ending last July after losing residents in the previous 12-month period amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates released Thursday.Population change is driven by migration, both within the U.S. as people move around inside the country, and from international trends as people arrive from abroad. It also depends on whether births outpace deaths, or vice versa.Here’s a look at what drove population change in the 10 largest U.S. counties from July 1, 2021 to July 1, 2022.LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA — The most populous county in the nation lost more than 90,000 residents last year and now has a population of 9.7 million people. Los Angeles County gained almost 34,000 residents from abroad and another 18,000 people from births outpacing deaths. But it wasn’t enough to offset the almost 143,000 residents who le...

Gwyneth Paltrow's widely watched ski crash trial nears end

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Attorneys for Gwyneth Paltrow and the 76-year-old suing her over a 2016 ski collision used closing arguments to describe their clients as aggrieved victims participating in a yearslong legal battle to take a stand for truth, sending the case to the eight-member jury to make a decision.During closing arguments, Paltrow’s attorneys asked jurors to disregard the opposing side's emotional pleas for sympathy of Terry Sanderson over the state of his relationships. They said that for Paltrow, it would’ve been easier to simply write a check, settle the lawsuit and put the crash behind her.“But what would that teach her children?” attorney Steve Owens asked jurors Thursday.Accompanying his remarks were high-resolution animations depicting Paltrow's version of events, which have been shown throughout the trial in the Park City courtroom.“It’s not about the money. It’s about ruining a very delicate time in a relationship where they were trying to get their kids together,...

Carole Baskin plans to sell Big Cat Rescue, send animals to Arkansas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:51 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It's the end of an era on Easy Street in Tampa. Carole Baskin's Big Cat Rescue sanctuary has merged with a wildlife refuge based in Arkansas. The rescue is preparing to transport most of its cats to "The Natural State," and they will sell the property once there are no cats left, Baskin's husband, Howard, said in a press release Monday.Joining forces with Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge will allow the rescue to cut overhead costs and "devote the remaining resources of our sanctuary to the 'in situ' projects being conducted around the world to avoid [big cat] extinction," Howard Baskin explained.He noted that the cub petting industry has gradually declined over the past 11 years thanks in part to the rescue's efforts in lobbying for the federal Big Cat Public Safety Act (BCPSA), which prohibits the private possession of big cats and restricts direct contact between them and the public. ‘Tiger King’ announces 2024 presidential bid "In particular, some of the 's...