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UK police say they received a sexual assault report after media aired claims against Russell Brand

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British police on Monday urged women who allege they were sexually assaulted by Russell Brand to talk to officers, as the U.K. entertainment industry faced questions about whether the comedian’s bad behavior went unchallenged because of his fame.Brand, 48, denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and The Times and Sunday Times newspapers. The accusers, who have not been named, include one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16. Another woman says Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.London’s Metropolitan Police force said that after the allegations were made public it had received “a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.” That is three years before the earliest of the alleged assaults reported by the media outlets.The police force said “officers are in contact with the woman and will be provid...

BMO to shutter indirect retail auto finance business as bad debt mounts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

MONTREAL — BMO Financial Group plans to close its indirect retail auto finance business in order to reroute resources, as borrowers dig deep to stay on top of recent interest rate hikes.The decision will also trigger an unspecified number of layoffs in Canada and the U.S., the Bank of Montreal said.It comes after the company’s bad debt provisions more than tripled to $492 million in the quarter ended July 31 compared to a year earlier. In its retail line, the bank’s provisions for credit losses rose 800 per cent to $81 million last quarter from $9 million the year before.Those dents on the income statement hint at the financial strain facing consumers, who have struggled to cope with a spike in interest rates over the past year and a half.The higher borrowing costs have begun to slow some lending demand and deal-making amid heavy competition among Canadian banks on mortgage rates and wider concerns about a general economic slowdown.The Bank of Montreal’s indirect r...

German ambassador’s attendance at Israeli court hearing ignites diplomatic spat

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government has complained to Germany after the German ambassador attended a high-profile Supreme Court hearing last week looking at the legality of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, an Israeli diplomatic official said Monday.The complaint, sent at the order of Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, sparked a rare diplomatic spat between the two allies, with German leaders defending their ambassador against the criticism.The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy, said that Israel had relayed its “dismay” through diplomatic channels, including the Israeli Embassy in Berlin.“This was a decision taken by the highest figure in the ministry,” he added. Cohen is a close ally of Netanyahu.Last Tuesday’s hearing was the first challenge to Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul, which has bitterly divided the Israeli public and put the country on the brink of a constitutional...

Two men and a woman arrested after human remains found in Quebec City area

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec provincial police say they’ve made three arrests after human remains were found in the Quebec City area on Sunday.Police say two men, aged 44 and 31, and a 31-year-old woman were arrested Sunday evening while the suspects were driving in the Montreal-area Mohawk territory of Kahnawake.They say that despite the remains being found in the Quebec City area, evidence suggests the alleged murder took place about 200 kilometres away in Contrecoeur, Que., northeast of Montreal. Police are investigating the suspected murder scene in Contrecoeur with the help of technicians from the provincial crime scene lab.They say an autopsy will be performed on the victim, who has not yet been identified.  Police spokesman Stéphane Tremblay says the suspects, who are from Montreal and Contrecoeur, will be interviewed today, and as of this morning there was no official word on when they might appear in court.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2023. The...

S&P/TSX composite down more than 150 points, U.S. stock markets higher

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

TORONTO — Losses in the technology and base metal stocks helped lead a broad-based decline as Canada’s main stock index fell more than 150 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets moved higher.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 160.52 points at 20,461.82.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 28.78 points at 34,647.02. The S&P 500 index was up 5.81 points at 4,456.13, while the Nasdaq composite was up 28.75 points at 13,737.09.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.09 cents US compared with 73.93 cents US on Friday.The November crude contract was up US$1.05 at US$91.07 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up seven cents at US$2.71 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was up US$2.40 at US$1,948.60 an ounce and the December copper contract was down three cents at US$3.77 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Federal Reserve is poised to leave rates unchanged as it tracks progress toward a ‘soft landing’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Since Federal Reserve officials last met in July, the economy has moved in the direction they hoped to see: Inflation continues to ease, if more slowly than most Americans would like, while growth remains solid and the job market cools.When they meet again this week, the policymakers are likely to decide they can afford to wait and see if the progress continues. As a result, they’re almost sure to leave their key interest rate unchanged when their meeting ends Wednesday. The cooling of inflation suggests that the Fed is edging toward a peak in the series of rate hikes it unleashed in March of last year — the fastest such pace in four decades, one that has made borrowing much costlier for consumers and businesses.The focus for Wall Street investors and analysts now is shifting toward what comes next. Some clues could come in the updated interest rate projections it releases each quarter and at a news conference with Chair Jerome Powell.Another rate hike this year wi...

Backlog of air passenger complaints tops 57,000, hitting new peak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

The backlog of air passenger complaints at Canada’s transport regulator has hit a new high of more than 57,000, as dissatisfaction over cancellation and compensation persist three and a half years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.The numbers reveal that an average of more than 3,000 complaints per month have piled up at the Canadian Transportation Agency over the past year, with the current tally well over three times the total from September 2022.Vancouver residents Chad Kerychuk and Melissa Oei say they are mulling a complaint after they arrived in Halifax six hours later than planned on a flight from Vancouver in August 2021 and found themselves separated despite paying for pricier tickets to select their spots in advance.The couple says WestJet has rejected their request for a partial refund, and the airline informed them the disruption was caused by unplanned maintenance — an exclusion from compensation rules that will soon be unavailable to carriers.In June, the gov...

Couple, 2 children, 3 dogs found dead inside Romeoville home: police

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — A homicide investigation is underway after a couple, their two children and three dogs were found dead inside a home in Romeoville.Police conducted a well-being check around 8:40 p.m. Sunday on the 500 block of Concord Avenue, after a member of the household did not show up to work and was not responding to phone calls. Upon arrival, officers discovered four deceased individuals, two adults and two children, with gunshot wounds inside of a residence.Police said three dogs were also found fatally shot.According to authorities, the adult victims have been identified as Roberto Rolon and Zoraida Bartolomei. Police said the deceased children belonged to both Rolon and Bartolomei. The childrens' identities have not yet been released.Investigators said the shooting happened sometime between 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday. Police do not believe the shooter is among the victims. 14-year-old boy fatally shot after Hillcrest HS football game ID’d: Police Anyone with in...

Indiana sues hospital system over support of doctor who provided abortion services to 10-year-old Ohio girl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

(The Hill) -- Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) has filed a lawsuit against the health system where a 10-year-old Ohio girl received abortion services last year after being denied in her home state, alleging the institution failed to enforce HIPAA.In July of last year, Indiana OB-GYN Caitlin Bernard, employed by IU Health, garnered national attention after sharing with the Indianapolis Star her account of providing abortion services to a 10-year-old girl from Ohio who had been raped. This story quickly drew the ire of conservatives including Rokita who accused Bernard of failing to abide by Indiana patient privacy and mandatory reporting laws.Rokita filed a complaint with the Indiana Medical Licensing Board against Bernard, alleging the physician had violated her patient's privacy. The board ultimately determined that Bernard had violated privacy laws and issued a reprimand and $3,000 fine against her.Throughout this conflict, IU Health maintained that Bernard had followed In...

China halted spy balloon program some time after US downed device: report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:32 GMT

(The Hill) - China has reportedly stopped its spy balloon operations seven months after one of its balloons was spotted in skies above the U.S.Sources familiar with China’s spy balloons told CNN that Chinese leaders have made the decision to not launch additional balloons after one was shot down by the U.S. in February. Since then, US officials have not seen any new launches, CNN reported. Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told CNN that the incident in February was “unexpected” and “isolated.”“Since the incident happened, China has stated repeatedly that the balloon is found to be an unmanned civilian airship used for meteorological and other research purposes, and that its accidental entry into US airspace is entirely an unexpected, isolated incident caused by force majeure,” Liu told CNN. US intelligence officials said they think the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) didn’t intend for the balloon to cross skies in the United States. The balloon took off from the small ...