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☆ Raging wildfire empties homes in eastern Canada, pollutes air in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Eric Martyn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The fire, which is about 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of downtown Halifax, has already forced 18,000 people to evacuate their homes. No fatalities have been reported but about 200 homes, structures have been damaged, the CBC reported, citing the Halifax Regional Municipality. Forest fires also led to evacuations of about 400 homes in the province of New Brunswick over the weekend, officials said. "The stories and the images we're seeing coming out of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are heartbreaking," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa, pledging federal support for the Atlantic provinces. The Halifax wildfire was expected to cause poor air quality hundreds of miles to the south in parts of the U.S. East Coast and Midwest as smoke drifts across the regions.

Persons: David Steeves, Justin Trudeau, what's, Brendan O'Brien, Ismail Shakil, Sriraj Kalluvila, Marguerita Choy, Deepa Babington Organizations: HALIFAX, U.S, Nova, Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, CBC, CBC News, U.S ., National Weather Service, Thomson Locations: Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canadian, Halifax Regional Municipality, New Brunswick, Ottawa, Atlantic, Bedford , Nova Scotia, West Bedford, Alberta, U.S . East Coast, Midwest, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania , New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago

☆ 4 great white sharks showed up in New York and New Jersey waters early, having migrated thousands of miles for food
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Mark Reeth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Every year great white sharks head for feeding grounds in waters near the northern US and Canada. One of them is an 8 foot 8 inch male juvenile named Jekyll who weighs just shy of 400 pounds. OCEARCH has been capturing, tagging, and tracking great white sharks since 2007 in order to study their migratory patterns. These great white sharks have traveled thousands of milesAccording to the OCEARCH tracker, a male juvenile great white nicknamed Jekyll has traveled 1,595 miles in 103 days from Georgia to the waters of Atlantic City, where his tracker pinged his location on May 15th. Simon, another male juvenile, traveled 1,520 miles in the last 106 days from Florida to join revelers in the waters of Fire Island on May 2nd.

[1/3] Smoke from the Tantallon wildfire rises over houses in nearby Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023. REUTERS/Eric MartynHALIFAX, May 29 (Reuters) - A wildfire in the eastern Canadian city of Halifax led to mandatory evacuation orders for thousands of homes, with officials saying residents are not allowed to return until advised by municipal authorities. These suburban communities are home to many of the city's workers and are situated about 15 miles from Halifax. The wildfire, aided by strong winds and tinder-dry woods, damaged dozens of homes and also hampered rescue services. But most of those fires have since been brought under control, helping oil and gas production to resume.

☆ Eastern Canada's Halifax declares emergency over wildfire
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Large plumes of smoke rise from a wildfire raging in the Upper Tantallon area, as seen from Hubley, Nova Scotia, Canada May 28, 2023 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Ben Britton/via REUTERSMay 28 (Reuters) - The eastern Canadian city of Halifax declared a state of local emergency late on Sunday after a wildfire caused evacuations and power outages. "Emergency responders are working around the clock to keep people safe and reduce the threats posed by the fires," the municipal authority in the capital of Nova Scotia province said in a press release. The state of emergency would be in effect for seven days, unless lifted or extended, the municipality said. Nova Scotia Power had temporarily disconnected power in the affected area, it said on Twitter.

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed long-running litigation by investors who accused HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) of conspiring to fix silver prices. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said the investors lacked legal standing to pursue federal antitrust claims under the Sherman Act, or claims under the federal Commodity Exchange Act. Investors had accused HSBC, Scotiabank and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) of manipulating silver prices from 2007 to 2013, saying they had "smoking gun" evidence of a price-fixing conspiracy among those banks and several other silver market makers. The judge also said the investors were not "efficient enforcers" of their private antitrust claims, unlike people who might have sold silver at the Fix price. The cases is In re London Silver Fixing Ltd Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Canadian banks see earnings risk from commercial property loans, TD in focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Nivedita Balu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

TORONTO, May 22 (Reuters) - Canadian banks are expected to report a rise in bad debt provisions and highlight risks from commercial property loans when they report earnings this week, with the country's No.2 bank TD (TD.TO) in focus after its acquisition of First Horizon (FHN.N) failed. Bay Street analysts have lowered their second quarter earnings expectations for Canadian banks, anticipating higher expenses and slowing loan growth as turmoil south of the border weighs on the broader banking sector. Still, investors view Canadian banks as safer bets than their U.S. counterparts due to their strong capital levels. BMO and Scotia Bank (BNS.TO) are due to report earnings on Wednesday, while TD, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) report on Thursday. Canadian bank stocks have largely underperformed TSX Canadian bank stocks have largely underperformed TSXEmpty offices in big cities have raised concerns among investors about banks' commercial property loan exposure, since about 10% of the lending portfolio of the Big-6 banks is tied to commercial real estate.

☆ I'm a volunteer firefighter — not a fireman. Here's what my job is like and why gender doesn't matter when saving lives.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Melissa Petro | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Thompson hates when people call her a fireman, because "gender doesn't matter" when saving lives. I got to visit her fire department, as well as the fire school, and this experience sparked an interest in volunteer firefighting. When I first joined the fire service, an acquaintance joked: "I'm surprised they let women join the fire service. People will sometimes refer to me as a 'fireman,' which I absolutely hate"I'm not a fireman," I say in response. I've done a lot of training, and I've had to work extremely hard to get where I am today.

☆ ‘Queens of the Qing Dynasty’ Review: Secret Soul Mates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Beatrice Loayza | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The pair make an odd couple, and yet their bond is intuitive, electric. The story kicks off in the aftermath of Star’s suicide attempt, the film’s tone at once bleakly clinical and deadpan absurd. Star, a neurodivergent foster kid with a sardonic sense of humor, clearly doesn’t register the gravity of her actions. Eyes glazed, she seems out of touch with her own body, and she’s not one for rules, like when she’s kicked out of an apartment for opening it to partiers. Walker, captivatingly raw, makes Star both charming and frustrating in her aloofness.

☆ Canada airlifts over 100 people from Sudan in first evacuation operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OTTAWA, April 27 (Reuters) - Canada conducted its first evacuation operation in Sudan on Thursday, airlifting over 100 hundred people, including Canadians and other nationals, on two flights from the war-torn North African country, senior government officials said. "I can confirm that a first Canadian evacuation flight from Sudan has taken place using an RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) CC-130 Hercules aircraft," Defence Minister Anita Anand said at a news conference in Enfield, Nova Scotia. There are about 1,800 Canadians in Sudan, out of which at least 700 have requested assistance from the Canadian government. The Canadian defense ministry said on Wednesday it was deploying about 200 troops and positioning two C-130 Hercules aircraft to coordinate evacuations from Sudan. Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Inquiry into Canada's worst mass shooting calls for police reforms, gun regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OTTAWA, March 30 (Reuters) - Officials reviewing Canada's worst mass shooting called for police reforms, stricter gun safety regulations and better public communication on Thursday after an investigation found many shortcomings in authorities' response to the incident in 2020. The commission recommended increasing transparency and accountability for RCMP oversight, improving critical incident response capabilities, and focusing more on everyday policing practices. It is influenced by the United States discourse centred on a right to bear arms which does not exist in our constitutional and legal structure," the commission said. Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a license. The commission recommended that federal and regional governments should adopt "legislation affirming that gun ownership is a conditional privilege."

After almost 40,000 asylum seekers entered Canada from the U.S. through irregular border crossings last year, the two countries revised their two-decade-old asylum pact last week to stem the flow of asylum seekers. After moving thousands of asylum seekers from Quebec to Ontario, the federal government relocated some 393 asylum seekers to the Atlantic provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as of March 19, according to official data. These transfers over the past several months have been Canada's first relocations of asylum seekers, the government said. Some of the asylum seekers and advocates told Reuters there is inadequate access to legal counsel, potentially jeopardizing refugee claims. Chamagne said her three staff lawyers are trying to help 164 asylum seekers transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

☆ Canada's Scotiabank profit falls on capital market slump, provisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) (BNS.TO) reported a lower first-quarter profit on Tuesday, as a lull in its investment banking division dented income from its capital markets unit and compelled the Canadian lender to set aside higher provisions. Canada's central bank over the past 11 months has lifted interest rates at a record pace to 4.5% to tame inflation, which was 6.3% in December, still well above the bank's 2% target. Scotiabank booked provisions of C$638 million, up from C$222 million a year ago, as it braces for increased odds of more loan defaults in a rising interest rate environment. Canada's third-largest lender reported overall net profit of C$1.77 billion, or C$1.36 a share, compared with C$2.74 billion, or C$2.14 a share, last year. read more($1 = 1.3566 Canadian dollars)Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] A sign for the Bank of Montreal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada December 13, 2021. Banks typically benefit from higher interest rates but could feel the pressure if they affect loan demand and economic growth. Provision for credit losses (PCL) at BMO came in at C$217 million ($158 million) for the quarter, compared with a recovery of C$99 million a year earlier. Reuters GraphicsProfits at BMO and Scotiabank were also weighed down by the Canadian government's 'Canada Recovery Dividend (CRD)'. BMO recorded C$371 million related to the CRD and Scotiabank C$579 million.

☆ Higher provisions, legal charges dampen CIBC's quarterly profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) (CM.TO) reported a fall in its first-quarter profit on Friday, weighed down by higher provisions and legal charges to settle a lawsuit tied to the 2008 global financial crisis. CIBC set aside C$295 million ($217.17 million) in provisions for credit losses in the reported quarter, up C$220 million from a year-ago period. Last month, Bank of Canada said it would hold off on further moves to let the effects of past rate hikes sink in. CIBC kicked off the first-quarter earnings season for major Canadian banks on Friday. Rivals Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) will report on Tuesday while Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) will post their earnings on Wednesday.

☆ A travel insider explains how people who hate cruising — can learn to enjoy it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Travel professional Tammy Cecco named the Celebrity Edge cruise ship, shown here, as one that has spacious suites and great window views. Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesOnce she "relaxed into it," Cecco said, she started to enjoy cruise ship travel. Courtesy of Tammy CeccoCecco, who often travels with her family of five and her mother-in-law, said private tours suit everyone's needs — and interests. Luciano Bullorsky ToursByLocals' President and Co-ownerCecco said she booked a private tour at "pretty much every stop" on their last cruise, plus Rome. The company said private shore tours account for nearly a third of all tours booked in 2023 — up from 12% in 2022 bookings.

☆ Canadian groundhog Fred la marmotte found dead before Groundhog Day
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OTTAWA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A beloved Canadian groundhog, Fred la marmotte, was found dead before he could complete a North American tradition of predicting the onset of spring on Groundhog Day on Thursday. "In life, the only thing that's certain is that nothing is certain," Blondin said at la Jour de Fred, or Fred's day, event. In North American folklore, if the solitary rodent sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, then frigid, winter weather will persist for six weeks. Groundhog Day, which falls on Feb. 2, evolved from an ancient ritual brought to the United States by German immigrants who settled in what is now the state of Pennsylvania. The first official celebration of Groundhog Day was in 1886, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

☆ Airbnb's 13 most wish-listed properties in the world for 2023—including an $18 million home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Celia Fernandez | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Airbnb's most wish-listed new global listings for 2023Modern Smoky Mts Getaway Cabin - Gatlinburg, TennesseeThis cabin is nestled in the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, United States. Luxury Glass Tiny House - Warren, VermontLocated in the heart of the Green Mountains in Vermont, this tiny home is just 200 square feet. AirbnbThis tiny home, with a jaw-dropping view, sits in the heart of the Green Mountains in Vermont. AirbnbThis cabin at Highlands Hideaway in Blue Ridge, Georgia, has three bedrooms, a bunk room, and three full bathrooms. AirbnbThis tiny home in Hawson, South Australia, Australia, was built between 2018 and 2019.

One company is injecting liquid clay into California desert to trap moisture and help fruit to grow, while another in Malaysia boosts soil with droppings from fly larvae. Biochar, liquid clay and fly larvae droppings are all in limited commercial production. Some, like liquid clay and biochar add nutrients while also improving the ground's ability to retain water, and require fewer applications than fertilizer. Norway-based Desert Control has spent 18 years and $25 million developing liquid clay to boost soil. In Malaysia, Nutrition Technologies produces "soil conditioner" from frass - the waste and skin of Black Soldier Fly larvae.

☆ Rogers-Shaw on cusp of final nod for protracted C$20 bln deal, shares rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Maiya Keidan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Its decision is widely seen as paving the way for the C$20 billion ($14.98 billion) transaction to clear ahead of its Jan. 31 deadline. It now awaits final clearance from Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who will be considering the transfer of Freedom Mobile Inc's spectrum license to Quebecor Inc's Videotron unit. "This is essentially a done deal, barring any surprises from Minister Champagne," Aaron Glick, analyst with New York-based investment firm Cowen, told Reuters. The House of Commons industry committee in March said the deal should not proceed, although its recommendations are non-binding. Rogers-Shaw have agreed to sell Freedom Mobile, a wireless business owned by Shaw, to Quebecor Inc (QBRb.TO) in order to alleviate competition concern.

TORONTO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Canada's most populous province, Ontario, plans to significantly expand its use of private providers to perform public health services, the premier said on Monday, in a bid to deal with backlogs and delays in a healthcare system strained by the coronavirus pandemic. Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told Global News on Sunday that Canada’s healthcare system is "on the ropes." Canada's publicly-funded healthcare system has in the past been seen by some as a model system. But critics and public health advocates have argued expanding the use of private providers is a step towards privatizing the public health system and risks cannibalizing a healthcare workforce already facing a shortage. The Ford government has said it has no plans to privatize the healthcare system.

REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File PhotoWINNIPEG, Manitoba, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Netherlands-based Rabobank NA (RABOVR.UL) is aiming to grab 10-15% of the Canadian farm lending market within 15 years, as it aims to shake up a sector dominated by government and domestic banks, its new Canadian agricultural head told Reuters on Wednesday. It took Rabobank a decade before deciding to expand into Canadian farm lending, taking a methodical approach, Lieverse said. Rabobank expects Canadian farm lending to be profitable from the start and plans to announce hiring plans shortly, she said. Rabobank did not release its estimate of the value of the Canadian farm lending market, but government agency Statistics Canada pegged 2021 farm debt at a record-high C$129 billion ($96.1 billion), with chartered banks accounting for 37%. Farm Credit Canada, owned by the Canadian government, is the biggest agricultural lender, controlling a market share of about one-third, Lieverse said.

☆ Canada’s Ruling Party Faces Pushback on Gun-Control Legislation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Paul Vieira | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said hunters would be exempt from the proposed gun-control legislation. OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ’s push to further tighten the country’s gun-control rules has stalled over a last-minute attempt to prohibit rifles and shotguns widely used by hunters. The legislation, rolled out following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in May that killed 19 children and two teachers, would formally prohibit the purchase, sale or transfer of handguns, and introduce a mandatory buyback program for roughly 1,500 firearms banned in 2020 after the deadliest massacre in the country’s history, in the East Coast province of Nova Scotia.

A study published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry found that abortion restrictions may have played a role in some suicide deaths among younger women from 1974 to 2016. The study is the first of its kind to show an association between abortion restrictions and suicide rates among younger women, said Dr. The researchers did not find the same association for older women, he said, suggesting that the increased suicide risk was specific to women directly affected by TRAP laws. Elevated suicide rates in states with more restrictive abortion laws "is cause for clinical concern," he wrote. That research ended in 2016, though, so it's unclear how newer abortion restrictions — such as the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — have affected suicide rates among younger women.

☆ The year of the restaurant robot: Why chains are investing in automation and what it means for workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

This year brought a flurry of automation announcements in the restaurant industry as operators scrambled to find solutions to a shrinking workforce and climbing wages. Three-quarters of restaurant operators are facing staffing shortages that keep them from operating at full capacity, according to the National Restaurant Association. Many restaurant operators hiked wages to attract workers, but that pressured profits at a time when food costs were also climbing. "Automation is one word, and a lot of people go right to robotics and a robot flipping burgers or making fries. The labor questionAutomation often faces pushback from workers and labor advocates, who see it as a way for employers to eliminate jobs.

☆ The US Navy backed the hunt for Titanic in part because the explorer who found it argued it would 'drive the Soviets crazy,' book reveals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The hunt for the Titanic was cover for a secret Navy mission to investigate two submarine wrecks. It was also part of a psychological warfare game the US was playing with the Soviets, Ballard revealed in a 2021 book. But his most recognizable discovery was the British passenger ship Titanic that sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, ending more than 1,500 lives. "I wanted to do a bang-up job for the Navy, but I was also constantly thinking about how to find Titanic," Ballard wrote. "There it was, one of 29 boilers that had created steam for Titanic's engines," Ballard wrote in his book.

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