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New pilot program offers free menstrual products, education programs in Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

A new pilot program is aiming to make menstrual products more accessible in Boston by offering free menstrual products and education programs at some Boston Public Library branches. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement announced the program on friday of last week in partnership with the Boston Public Library and the nonprofit “Love Your Menses.” Separately speaking with 7NEWS, one of the program’s organizers said the effort is an important step to slash the stigma around menstruation. “It’s important to remove the stigma associated with menstruation,” said Love Your Menses Co-Founder and President Ebere Azumah. “It’s something, I think, that is simple, that we can correct and that can be corrected with education.”Through the program, free pads and tampons will be available in all female, male and gender neutral bathrooms at the Brighton, Codman Square, East Boston, North End, Mattapan and Roxbury branches of the Boston Pub...

Twila Kilgore tapped as interim coach for U.S. women’s national soccer team

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

Twila Kilgore will serve as interim coach of the U.S women’s national soccer team following the resignation of coach Vlatko Andonovski, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced on Thursday. Kilgore, the first American-born woman to earn U.S. Soccer’s top-level Pro License, was an assistant under Andonovski for 1 1/2 years and will lead the team while a search for a permanent coach is conducted. Andonovski’s resignation comes less than two weeks after the United States was knocked out of the Women’s World Cup earlier than ever before.“While we are all disappointed by the outcome at this year’s World Cup, I am immensely proud of the progress this team has made, the support they’ve shown for each other, and the inspiration they’ve provided for players around the world. I will be forever thankful to the U.S. Soccer Federation for giving me the chance to coach this remarkable team,” Andonovski said in a statement. Previously, Kilgore was an assistant coach with the Houston ...

Trudeau to convene urgent ministers’ meeting as fire forces Yellowknife evacuation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to convene an urgent meeting with ministers and senior officials today as residents of the capital of Northwest Territories are ordered to evacuate the area because of an encroaching wildfire.The evacuation order issued late Wednesday applies to Yellowknife, which has a population of about 20,000 people, as well as the nearby communities of Ndilo and Dettah.Trudeau, who is on vacation in Tofino, B.C., updated his itinerary Thursday to include an urgent meeting of the incident response group, a cabinet committee that typically consists of senior ministers and top officials.But it’s not yet clear who else is expected to be in attendance.An update on the discussions is expected this afternoon.Residents of Yellowknife and neighbouring communities have been ordered to leave by noon on Friday, and reception centres for Yellowknife evacuees are set to open at noon Thursday in three Alberta communities. This report by The Canadia...

At Camp David, Biden aims to nudge Japan and South Korea toward greater unity in complicated Pacific

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden aims to further tighten security and economic ties between Japan and South Korea, two nations that have struggled to stay on speaking terms, as he welcomes their leaders to the rustic Camp David presidential retreat Friday.Historically frosty relations between South Korea and Japan have rapidly thawed over the last year as they share concerns about China’s assertiveness in the Pacific and North Korea’s persistent nuclear threats. Biden is now looking to use the summit in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains to urge South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to turn the page on their countries’ difficult shared history.The Japan-South Korea relationship is a delicate one because of differing views of World War II history and Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. Past efforts to tighten security cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo have progressed with fits and starts. But the White House is hopin...

Ontario reviewing supervised consumption sites after fatal shooting near Leslieville site

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

Ontario says it has launched a “critical incident review” of the province’s supervised consumption sites after a woman was killed by a stray bullet near a site in Toronto’s east end in July.Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, says all sites are expected to comply with strict requirements and the review will start with the South Riverdale Community Health Centre near the scene of Karolina Huebner-Makurat’s death.RELATED: ‘Community worker among arrests in shooting that killed Toronto mother with stray bulletPolice have said the 44-year-old mother of two was walking in the Leslieville neighbourhood on July 7 when she was hit by a stray bullet after a physical altercation between three men resulted in shots being fired.Three people are facing charges in her death, including 23-year-old SRCHC community worker Khalila Zara Mohammed who is charged with being an accessory after the fact and obstructing justice.The South Riverdale Co...

Metro asks Labour Ministry for help reaching deal with striking GTA workers, Unifor

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

TORONTO — Metro Inc. says it’s asked a conciliation officer to step in and help it find a resolution to a strike by grocery store workers in Toronto.The move comes two and a half weeks in to the job action by Metro workers represented by Unifor at 27 stores across the Greater Toronto Area. Around 3,700 workers rejected a tentative agreement near the end of July and have been on strike ever since. On Tuesday, Metro said Unifor had refused a recent request for the bargaining committees to meet again.However, the union responded that it was waiting for an acceptable offer from the grocer. According to Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, either a union or an employer can apply to have a conciliation officer appointed to help them reach a collective agreement. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:MRU)The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan vice-chief David Pratt running for Assembly of First Nations leadership

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

OTTAWA — David Pratt is the first person to announce his intention to run to be the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.Pratt currently serves as a vice-chief with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, an organization representing 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan.His platform focuses on unity and inclusion, reconciliation and rights, economic empowerment and environmental stewardship. The upcoming election comes after the dramatic ouster of former national chief Roseanne Archibald, who was voted out after colleagues alleged she created a toxic work environment, and who has continued to deny the allegations. Pratt says the AFN is at a “critical juncture” and the election is about restoring and rebuilding the national organization.The election is set to take place during a special assembly in December.This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 17, 2023.The Canadian Press

Energy and base metal stocks help lift S&P/TSX composite, U.S. stock markets down

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in energy and base metal stocks helped lift Canada’s main stock index in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets edged lower.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 19.97 points at 19,919.04.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 3.85 points at 34,761.89. The S&P 500 index was down 2.69 points at 4,401.64, while the Nasdaq composite was down 58.45 points at 13,416.18.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.99 cents US compared with 73.98 cents US on Wednesday.The October crude contract was up US$1.44 at US$80.46 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up six cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was down US$3.30 at US$1,925.00 an ounce and the September copper contract was up four cents at US$3.70 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Quebec woman sentenced to 22 years for sending poisoned letter to Donald Trump

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

A Quebec woman has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison after sending a poison-laced letter to former president Donald Trump.Pascale Ferrier, 56, agreed to the sentence as part of a plea agreement back in January, but D.C. district court Judge Dabney Friedrich didn’t sign off until today.The French-born Ferrier pleaded guilty to a total of nine biological weapons charges, each of which carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.She was arrested at the Canada-U.S. border in September 2020 and charged with sending Trump a threatening letter laced with the homemade poison ricin.The letter, intercepted two months before the 2020 presidential election, described Trump as an “ugly tyrant clown” and urged him to give up the race.Eight of the nine charges are tied to an indictment in Texas, where Ferrier was accused of sending similar letters to police and prison officials.

Taliban official says women lose value if their faces are visible to men in public

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Women lose value if men can see their uncovered faces in public, a spokesman for a key ministry of Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Thursday, adding that religious scholars in the country agree that a woman must keep her face covered when outside the home.The Taliban, who took over the country in August of 2021, has cited the failure of women to observe the proper way to wear the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, as a reason for barring them from most public spaces, including parks, jobs and university.Molvi Mohammad Sadiq Akif, the spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue, said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that if women’s faces are visible in public there is a possibility of fitna, or falling into sin.“It is very bad to see women (without hijab) in some areas (big cities) and our scholars also agree that women’s faces should be hidden,” Akif said. “It’s not that her face will be harmed or damaged. A woman has her own va...