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56 gun control bills bring heated testimony to Beacon Hill

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Dozens of gun control measures under consideration by the state Legislature are plainly at odds with recent rulings by the Supreme Court and wouldn’t actually prevent gun violence or crime, firearms advocates told a legislative joint committee.However, some of the would-be gun laws might make Massachusetts safer and potentially save lives, if advanced to the full Legislature and given the governor’s signature, gun safety advocates told the same group of lawmakers.Through four hours of occasionally heated and emotional testimony during a hearing held Tuesday morning, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security heard from both gun owners and victims of gun violence over 56 firearms-related bills, consideration of which comes just weeks after the state House passed an omnibus gun policy proposal and while the Senate considers a similar measure.“A majority of the bills have already been incorporated, in one fashion or another, into the omnibus gun bill t...

GM says strike cost $1.1B, but it can absorb rising labor costs as it raises dividend

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says pretax earnings took a $1.1 billion hit this year from a six-week strike by autoworkers, but the company expects to absorb the costs of a new contract and is even raising its dividend. The Detroit automaker on Wednesday reinstated its full-year earnings forecast that was withdrawn after the United Auto Workers began targeting the factories of Detroit automakers with strikes on Sept. 15. Those strikes continued at GM until Oct. 30.The company now predicts full-year net income of $9.1 billion to $9.7 billion, down from its previous outlook of $9.3 billion to $10.7 billion. But GM expects to generate more cash for the full year. It expects free cash flow of $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion, an increase from a previous forecast of $7 billion to $9 billion.To get there, GM expects to cut capital spending, including a slowdown in spending on electric vehicles and at Cruise, its troubled autonomous vehicle unit. California regulators revoked the San Francis...

Enbridge raising quarterly dividend next year as it expects business to grow

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

CALGARY — Enbridge Inc. is raising its dividend as it expects its business to continue to grow next year.The company also reaffirmed its full year guidance for 2023 for earnings before interest, income taxes and depreciation and distributable cash flow.Enbridge says it will pay a quarterly dividend of 91.5 cents per share, effective with the dividend payable on March 1, 2024, up from 88.75 cents per share.The increased payment to shareholders will come as the company expects 2024 adjusted EBITDA on its base business to total $16.6 billion to $17.2 billion. Distributable cash flow per share is expected between $5.40 and $5.80.Enbridge says the ranges for 2024 represents growth of four per cent for its base business EBITDA and three per cent for its distributable cash flow compared with the midpoint of its 2023 guidance.The guidance does not include the impact of the U.S. gas utility acquisitions announced in September that are expected to close during 2024.This report by The Canadian...

Argentina’s president-elect announces his pick for economy minister

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s President-elect Javier Milei announced Wednesday he has chosen Luis Caputo, a former finance minister and Central Bank chief known as an expert in markets, to lead the Economy Ministry when the right-wing leader takes office on Dec. 10.The pick confirms that Milei, a libertarian outside r, is building a more orthodox team to manage Argentina’s economy, which is suffering from red-hot inflation running at an annual rate of 143%.“Yes, the economy minister is Luis Caputo,” Milei said in a radio interview shortly after landing from a two-day trip to the United States, where he met with officials from the Biden administration. As the first finance minister in former conservative President Mauricio Macri’s government, Caputo was in charge of a debt restructuring and later became Central Bank chief. Milei has said he wants to get rid of the Central Bank.Macri’s party backed Milei in the Nov. 19 presidential runoff and now his allies are jock...

Edmunds tests the best automotive hands-free driving systems

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

While fully automated vehicles are still a ways off, the stepping stone of hands-free driving technology has become prevalent in the past few years. These assist systems allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel in certain situations. Combined with automated braking and acceleration, the feature can help make driving long distances or in congested traffic easier and less fatiguing. To better explain what’s available, the automotive experts at Edmunds put four hands-free drive systems to the test: Ford’s BlueCruise, General Motors’ Super Cruise, Tesla’s AutoPilot with Full Self-Driving Beta and BMW’s Driving Assistant Plus. FORD BLUECRUISEFord calls its hands-free driving system BlueCruise and offers it on a handful of its vehicles. BlueCruise allows for hands-free driving on most U.S. highways that don’t have traffic signals or intersections. Edmunds tested it on the electric Mustang Mach-E fitted with the latest version called BlueCruise 1.3. BlueCruise is easy to tu...

Driver caught going nearly 100 km/h over limit in Brampton said ‘he needed to use bathroom’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

A driver from Caledon is facing stunt driving charges after he was caught going nearly 100 km/h over the speed limit.In a post on X, Peel Regional Police say officers stopped the driver near Queen Street East and Goreway Drive in Brampton on Monday night.Police say the 26-year-old driver was pulled over just after snow began to fall. His vehicle was clocked at 153 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.The driver’s excuse for speeding was that “he needed to use the bathroom,” according to police.The driver has had his license suspended for 30 days and his vehicle impounded for two weeks.After the snow began to fall last night, a vehicle was stopped for 153km/h in a 60km/h zone. Queen Street East/Goreway Drive #Brampton.Driver, a 26-year-old man from Caledon, said he needed to use the bathroom. Charge: Stunting 30-day License suspension, 14-day impoundment pic.twitter.com/FIVtlv0xqm— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPolice) November 28, 2023

As Airbnb falters, hostels seek to compete

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Once a niche market for frugal, globetrotting young people, hostels are becoming a popular form of alternative lodging. No longer just rows of bunk beds, some hostels now offer private rooms and amenities like rooftop pools and spas.Take the Selina Boquete hostel in Panama. Guests are served an evening welcome drink. While there’s a shared option called a community room, the hostel offers hotel-style private rooms and the unique option of a pod-style room made from an “upcycled” concrete cylinder. Some nights, guests are treated to live music.“It honestly felt like a resort and was a better experience than an Airbnb,” says Melissa Middlestadt, a Canadian travel blogger who runs the website My Beautiful Passport, about her stay at Selina Boquete. “It was quiet, which is what I look for in an Airbnb, but it had more amenities and was in a better location.”The private room she booked at the hostel was $50 to $100 cheaper per night than what she would have paid for an Airbnb nearby, she...

World economy will slow next year because of inflation, high rates and war: OECD

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

The global economy, which has proved surprisingly resilient this year, is expected to falter next year under the strain of wars, still-elevated inflation and continued high interest rates.The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated Wednesday that international growth would slow to 2.7 per cent in 2024 from an expected 2.9 per cent pace this year. That would amount to the slowest calendar-year growth since the pandemic year of 2020.Despite the gloomier outlook, the organization is “projecting that recessions will be avoided almost everywhere,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said at a news conference.However, he added, there are risks that inflation will stay persistently high and that the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia’s war in Ukraine could affect prices for commodities, such as oil or grain.A key factor in the slowdown is that the OECD expects the world’s two biggest economies, the United States and China, to decelerate next year....

Wednesday Forecast: Temps in low 40s with mainly sunny conditions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

CHICAGO — Warmer with mainly sunny conditions Wednesday. Winds: WSW 10-15. High: 40. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storms here Mostly cloudy tonight. Winds: SSW 5-10. Low: 29.Thursday Forecast: Mostly cloudy, night rain. Winds: W 10-15 G25. High: 44.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog

Beyoncé's mom slams 'stupid narrative' that singer lightened her skin: 'I'm sick of you losers'

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

(KTLA) - Beyoncé credits her fierceness as a trait she inherited from her mother, Tina Knowles.That was put on display when Tina Knowles did not hold back on slamming claims that her oldest daughter had lightened her skin for the Los Angeles premiere of her film "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé."On Saturday, the "Savage" singer, whose self-proclaimed alter ego is Sasha Fierce, debuted an icy silvery blonde hair color along with a long silver Versace gown. The combination went along with the silver and chrome theme of her Renaissance World Tour. While many praised the look, some claimed the singer's skin tone appeared lighter. Some even went as far as to accuse the 32-time Grammy award winner of lightening her skin. Video of Bruce Willis grasping daughter’s hand draws mixed reactions On Tuesday, Beyoncé's mom hit back full force in a lengthy post on Instagram, which was the caption to a video montage of her daughter over her famous song "Brown Skin Girl.""Came across this today a...