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Bill Belichick dodges on Patriots’ inactivity at NFL trade deadline

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

FOXBORO — The Patriots stood pat at the NFL’s trade deadline Tuesday.On Wednesday, Bill Belichick took his first questions about the team’s inactivity at the deadline. Belichick deflected the first two questions, saying his focus was on preparing for Sunday’s game against Washington. On Tuesday, the Commanders (3-4) were among the most active teams at the deadline, trading defensive ends Chase Young and Montez Sweat for picks in the second and third round of next year’s draft.Pressed about any trade talks the Patriots (2-6) might have had Tuesday, Belichick repeatedly declined to offer specifics and called it “just another day.”Below is a complete transcript of Belichick’s comments Wednesday related to the trade deadline:Q: The trade deadline was yesterday. Was it a busy day for you guys?Belichick: “Yeah, we’re getting ready for Washington.”Q: Were you close on anything?Belichick: “Spent time getting ready for W...

Kids in San Diego County can trade in their Halloween candy for cash

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Now that Halloween has come and gone, trick-or-treaters throughout San Diego County may have more than enough candy to go around. Instead of indulging in all that sugar, The Super Dentists are encouraging kids to participate in their buy-back program instead. Volunteers to man Día de los Muertos altar in Hillcrest after vandalism incident How does it work? It's as easy as bringing in bags of Halloween candy to one of six of their offices throughout the region. Drop-off locations can be found here:Carmel Valley (11943 El Camino Real #200) Chula Vista (345 F Street, Suite 260) Eastlake (2226 Otay Lakes Road, Suites A & B) Kearny Mesa (9737 Aero Drive #210) Oceanside (3625 Vista Way) Escondido (390 West Valley Parkway)  Between Nov. 1-6, kids can receive $1 for each pound of candy they bring in to one of these offices. Pedestrians injured after being struck by vehicles on Halloween Several local schools are also participating in the ...

Make the next federal vote a ‘carbon tax election,’ Poilievre challenges Trudeau

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is challenging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to a “carbon tax election,” and is calling on the Liberals to exempt all home heating from carbon pricing until the next federal vote.Poilievre threw down the challenge in an address to his caucus this morning, where he chided the Liberals’ decision to pause the levy only for home heating oil over the next three years.That decision, along with a pledge to increase the top-up to carbon rebates for rural Canadians, came amid weak polling for the Liberals in Atlantic Canada, where the federal carbon price came into effect in July, and where about one-third of homes use heating oil. The prime minister seems eager to go to battle with Poilievre over climate action, saying this morning that the Tories have no plan for climate change — which Trudeau says means they also have no plan on the economy.He has ruled out any further “carve-outs” to the carbon pricing system ami...

African countries to seek extension of duty-free access to US markets

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The extension of the U.S. program allowing sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets is expected to be high on the agenda of the U.S. Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade forum that will begin in South Africa on Thursday.Officials including U.S. trade representative Ambassador Katherine Tai and deputy assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Joy Basu will meet African leaders and officials in Johannesburg over the next three days to discuss, among other issues, the possible extension of AGOA and ways to improve its benefits for African nations.The forum kicks off days after U.S. President Joe Biden announced his intention to boot Niger, Uganda, Central African Republic and Gabon off the list of beneficiaries as they have failed to comply with the eligibility criteria.AGOA is U.S. legislation that allows sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the U.S. market provided they meet certain conditions, including adherenc...

Uganda’s military says it has captured a commander of an extremist group accused in tourist attack

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Ugandan military spokesperson says troops have captured a commander of an extremist group whose fighters are accused of killing two tourists last month.Col. Deo Akiiki said Wednesday that a senior commander with the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel whose nom de guerre is Njovu, was in military custody.Njovu was captured during an exchange of fire on Lake Edward on Uganda’s border with Congo. An unknown number of rebels drowned or were shot in the fighting Tuesday night, according to Akiiki.Njovu has been in charge of operations such as the murder in October of a South African tourist and her British husband while they were honeymooning in remote Queen Elizabeth National Park. Their Ugandan guide also was killed and their vehicle set on fire.The ADF has ties to the Islamic State group. Following the attack on the tourists, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni urged security agencies to ensure the group “is wiped out.”Ugandan troops are hunting down ...

Ontario scraps its portion of HST on purpose-built rentals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

Ontario is scrapping its portion of the harmonized sales tax on eligible purpose-built rental housing in an effort to spur construction.The province has been saying it would remove its eight per cent portion of the tax if the federal government dropped the five per cent goods and services tax on rental housing builds.The federal government did that last month.Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy says the changes will apply to new rental housing units such as apartment buildings, student housing and senior residences built for long-term care rental accommodation.The rebates apply to projects that began construction this past September until Dec. 31, 2030.To qualify, new residential units must be in buildings with a minimum of four private apartment units or 10 private rooms, and be in a building where 90 per cent of units are long-term rentals.

Quebec tuition hike: Concordia says could lose up to 90% of out-of-province students

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

Montreal’s Concordia University is warning of “devastating financial implications” if Quebec moves forward with a plan to double tuition for out-of-province students next fall.University president Graham Carr said in a message to the Concordia community that the new $17,000 tuition for out-of-province Canadian students will price the school out of the domestic market. He says the university expects out-of-province undergraduate registration will decline by between 65 and 90 per cent as a result, leading to an annual revenue decline of up to $32 million in four years.The school’s total annual revenue loss could reach $62 million in four years with the addition of a new government-imposed charge for every international student it recruits.Carr says a program-by-program analysis is ongoing to measure the full financial impact of the tuition increase.He adds that the school is making overtures to the provincial government, but says the province has shown no indic...

German government plans to allow asylum-seekers to work sooner and punish smugglers harder

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has approved legislation that would allow asylum-seekers to start working sooner and a plan to stiffen punishment for people who smuggle migrants.The package backed by the Cabinet on Wednesday, which still requires parliamentary approval, is the latest in a series of steps taken recently by the government as it tries to defuse migration as a major political problem. The issue was one of several that led to a poor showing in state elections last month for Chancellor OIaf Scholz’s quarrelsome three-party coalition and gains for a far-right party.Last week, ministers approved legislation intended to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers. On Monday, Scholz will hold a meeting with Germany’s 16 state governors expected to center on responses to migration.Shelters for migrants and refugees have been filling up across Germany in recent months and Scholz, who faces enormous pressure on migration from the opposition and elsewhere, ha...

With flowers, altars and candles, Mexicans are honoring deceased relatives on the Day of the Dead

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

SANTA MARÍA ATZOMPA, México (AP) — Ana Martínez is eager to welcome her deceased loved ones back home.Martínez and others in southern Mexico’s Oaxaca state wait with anticipation for Day of the Dead celebrations every Nov. 1, when families place homemade altars to honor their dearly departed and spend the night at the cemetery, lighting candles in the hope of illuminating their paths.“We preserve the culture of our ancestors, and that is why we make our altars,” said Martínez, 41, who lives in the town of Santa María Atzompa.Each Oct. 31, Martínez builds a three-level altar on her terrace. First come the flowers, a type of marigold known as cempasúchil. Martínez ties them in an arch over the altar.“For us, that arch is a portal so that they (the deceased) can reach our house,” she said. “We also create a path of flowers to the door as a welcoming sign.”Next, she lights copal, an incense which is believed to guide the souls, and places foods such as apples, peanuts and bread. C...

U.S. job openings rise slightly to 9.6 million, sign of continued strength in the job market

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:00:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers posted 9.6 million job openings in September, up from 9.5 million in August and a sign that the U.S. job market remains strong even as the U.S. Federal Reserve attempts to cool the economy. Layoffs fell to 1.5 million from 1.7 million in August, more evidence that workers enjoy an unusual degree of job security. The number of Americans quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence they can find better pay elsewhere — was virtually unchanged.The September openings are down from a record 12 million in March 2022 but remain high by historical standards. Before 2021 — when the American economy began to surge from the COVID-19 pandemic — monthly job openings had never topped 8 million. Unemployment was 3.8% in September, just a couple of ticks above a half century low. Openings were up by 141,000 at hotels and restaurants, which have struggled to attract and keep workers since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020.The Federal Reserve’s inflation fighte...