It's a bit harder to qualify for a home loan as of today as the government has raised the minimum financial bar that anyone applying for a mortgage must meet.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett opened his first Cabinet meeting on Sunday by slamming Iran's newly-elected president and calling on world powers to “wake up” to the perils of returning to a nuclear agreement with Tehran. Later in the day, Bennett warned Gaza's militant Hamas rulers that Israel would not tolerate even minor attacks from the territory in the wake of last month's 11-day war, saying “our patience is running out.” Iran’s hard-line judiciary chief, Ebrahi
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Anti-government protesters took to the streets in more than a score of cities across Brazil on Saturday as the nation's confirmed death toll from COVID-19 soared past half a million — a tragedy many critics blame on President Jair Bolsonaro's attempt to minimize the disease. Thousands gathered in downtown Rio de Janeiro waving flags with slogans such as “Get out Bolsonaro. Government of hunger and unemployment.” “Brazil is experiencing a great setback. The country was an ex
LYTTON, B.C. — British Columbia's Wildfire Service says a blaze in the Fraser Canyon has been renamed and is now classified as out-of-control after charring 2.5 square kilometres south of Lytton, B.C. The service says the George Road wildfire, which grew to more than twice its size since it began Wednesday is suspected to be human-caused but remains under investigation. It says helicopter crews are assisting firefighters in areas that are inaccessible because part of the blaze is on steep terrai
Yukon health officials reported 29 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number of active cases in the territory to 87. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brendan Hanley said 22 cases were in Whitehorse and seven were in rural communities. He said 31 of the cases are believed to be caused by the more contagious Gamma variant of the virus, which first emerged in Brazil. Yukon has seen a recent surge in infections, with nearly half of the 182 total cases since the pandemic's onset currently
Toronto is scaling up doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to compensate for a delay in shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech shots to Ontario. The city says the province's anticipated weekly Pfizer vaccine shipment of more than 162,000 doses destined for Toronto immunization clinics will be delayed. A representative for Health Minister Christine Elliott says Ontario's Pfizer delivery for this coming week is behind by two to three days. Toronto says to ensure every booked appointment is honoured at city-
Many Toronto residents were given a few more options to stay busy this weekend with the re-opening of the Toronto Zoo, Riverdale Farm and more than 40 public pools. And as the province moves closer to immunization targets, there are questions as to whether the roadmap to reopening could actually be accelerated. Morganne Campbell has more in this report.
TORONTO — Canada has hit two of the vaccination targets government officials have previously said were necessary for the easing of public health restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. An independent website founded by a University of Saskatchewan student and tracking federal and provincial vaccine data says just over 20 per cent of eligible Canadians — those 12 years old and above — are now fully vaccinated. And just over 75 per cent of eligible Canadians have received at least one dose of a COVI
Racial trauma in society has been challenging for all of us, especially children and teens. There are practical steps we can all take to help ourselves and our kids heal.
MONTREAL — The sun hadn't yet risen in Montreal on Friday morning when a contingent of Ontario hockey fans prepared to descend on the city ahead of what they saw as a monumental hockey game. The Montreal Canadiens were set to square off against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, marking the first time since 2014 that the team had made the National Hockey League's semi-finals, and Alexander Vizier and his friends had no intention of missing out. The group had driven 17 hours from the northern Ontario
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — An explosion rocked a munitions factory central Serbia on Saturday in the second such incident this month, injuring at least three workers, state-run Serbian television reported. A powerful explosion was heard just before 8 p.m. (1800GMT), followed by several smaller blasts, the TV report said. It added that the workers were slightly injured and treated at a local hospital. Authorities have ordered an evacuation from the area around the Sloboda factory in Cacak, which rem
MALJEVAC, Croatia (AP) — Dozens of human rights advocates briefly blocked Croatia’s border with Bosnia on Saturday to protest the European Union’s migration policies. The protesters demanded that EU’s border agency, Frontex, be dismantled and countries end their pushbacks of migrants trying to reach Western Europe. Waving banners reading “Stop deportation,” or “No human is illegal,” they parked cars at the border and shouted slogans against EU policies. No incidents were reported as Croatian pol
The latest numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada as of 4:00 a.m. ET on Sunday June 20, 2021. In Canada, the provinces are reporting 418,980 new vaccinations administered for a total of 31,818,682 doses given. Nationwide, 6,791,918 people or 18 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated. The provinces have administered doses at a rate of 83,955.908 per 100,000. There were 633,500 new vaccines delivered to the provinces and territories for a total of 34,674,914 doses delivered so fa
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. sent 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan on Sunday, tripling an earlier pledge in a donation with both public health and geopolitical meaning. The shipment arrived on a China Airlines cargo plane that had left Memphis the previous day. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung and Brent Christensen, the top U.S. official in Taiwan, were among those who welcomed the plane on the tarmac at the airport outside of the capital, Taipei. Chen said that Ameri
The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern): 7:30 p.m. Yukon health officials are reporting 29 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of active cases in the territory to 87. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brendan Hanley says 22 cases are in Whitehorse and seven are in rural communities. Hanley says 31 of the cases are believed to be caused by the Gamma variant of the virus, which was first identified in Brazil. The territory has seen 182 cases of COVID-19 since th
PARIS (AP) — Belgian police say the body of a fugitive far-right soldier who was the target of a huge manhunt appears to have been found Sunday. Hundreds of security forces scoured a swath of northeast Belgium after the May 17 disappearance of Jurgen Conings, who was on an anti-terrorism watch list, had threatened a top virologist involved in the country's COVID-19 program and had hoarded heavy weaponry. A body was found Sunday by people walking in the woods near the town of Dilsen-Stockem. Init
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s former president said Sunday the United States came to his country to fight extremism and bring stability to his war-tortured nation and is leaving nearly 20 years later having failed at both. In an interview with The Associated Press just weeks before the last U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan, ending their ‘forever war,’ Hamid Karzai said extremism is at its “highest point” and the departing troops are leaving behind a disaster. “The international c
ST. ALBERT, Alta. — A city northwest of Edmonton says it has cancelled its Canada Day fireworks display because it was to be held on the site of a former residential school. The City of St. Albert says in a news release that Mission Hill, where the July 1 display was planned, is the site of the former Youville Residential School and that it "likely" contains unmarked graves of former students. It says it made the decision to "demonstrate empathy and respect for members of the community who have
SEVILLE, Spain (AP) — Robert Lewandowski helped keep Poland alive at the European Championship by scoring a second-half equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Spain on Saturday. Álvaro Morata ended his scoring drought by putting Spain ahead in the 25th minute but Lewandowski evened things in the 54th with a header for only his third goal with the national team at a major tournament. Spain striker Gerard Moreno missed a penalty kick shortly after Lewandowski’s goal and Morata then missed an open net after
WILTON MANORS, Fla. (AP) — A driver slammed into spectators Saturday evening at the start of a Pride parade in South Florida, killing one person and seriously injuring another, authorities said The pickup truck driver acted like he was part of the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade but then suddenly accelerated when he was told he was next, crashing into the victims, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said, according to WSVN-TV. Wilton Manors is just north of Fort Lauderdale. Authorities sai
Anti-government activist Ammon Bundy on Saturday came out with his first videos announcing his campaign to become governor of Idaho. “I’m running for governor because I’m sick and tired of all of this political garbage just like you are,” Bundy said in a nearly three-minute video on his campaign website. “I’m tired of our freedoms being taken from us, and I’m tired of the corruption that is rampant in our state government.” Bundy said he wants to defend Idaho from President “Joe Biden and those
