Canadian mystery author Louise Penny says she is boycotting the United States.

The bestselling writer from Quebec’s Eastern Townships says she won’t go to the U.S. until the end of the trade war, which she characterizes as an “economic sword” wielded by President Donald Trump.

She cancelled plans to launch her new novel “The Black Wolf” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and will instead hold the event at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Penny also says she won’t take the book on a U.S. tour, a first for the novelist who has won numerous awards on both sides of the border and in 2021 cowrote a book with former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Penny says she doesn’t mean to punish American readers, but rather wants to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with fellow Canadians, many of whom could be impoverished by Trump’s threatened tariffs.

She says she also has moral objections to Trump’s policies that make travelling stateside “unpalatable.”

“What is happening is not just a potential economic catastrophe for Canada and so many other nations, it is a moral wound,” Penny wrote Friday in a statement on her website.

She says she hopes American readers will attend her events in Canada, where she says they’ll be welcomed “with open arms.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press

Authorities revealed Friday that actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease and showed severe signs of Alzheimer’s disease a full week after his wife died of hantavirus in their home.

Authorities initially ruled out foul play after the bodies were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Arakawa, 65, was found with an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on the bathroom counter.

Authorities linked her death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hackman, 95, was found in the home’s entryway. His death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer’s disease contributing.

More to come

Five people have been charged in an assault that happened last summer in downtown Halifax.

Premier Tim Houston says the new funding is the direct result of a meeting he attended in January with a coalition of women's support groups.

Police in the Halifax Regional Municipality and Millbrook are seeking information from the public on the whereabouts of a man wanted on multiple province-wide arrests.

Tayshawn Maloney, 27, from Halifax, is wanted and facing charges of:

• Attempt to Commit Murder;
• Aggravated Assault;
• Robbery;
• Uttering Threats;
• Impaired Operation;
• Operation while Prohibited;
• Mischief;
• Failure to Comply with a Release Order; and
• Multiple firearms offences.

He is described as 5’7″ and 150 lbs. He has black hair, brown eyes and identifiable tattoos.

Police believe he may be driving a silver Toyota Yaris.

Police say Maloney is known to frequent Halifax, Dartmouth and Truro. He was last seen in the Cape Breton area in October 2024.

Police have made several attempts to locate Maloney, and are requesting assistance from the public.

Police are cautioning the public to refrain from approaching Maloney if he is located and instead call police. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers.

The Nova Scotia government wants $34,895 in cash discovered by police during a large seizure of cigarettes turned over to the province, but one of the men arrested in the contraband tobacco case is indicating he's willing to fight in court to get his money back.

Advocates have been lobbying for more funding to address the epidemic. On Thursday, the Elizabeth Fry Society held a vigil in honour of Nova Scotians who have been victims of intimate partner homicide. Celina Aalders has the story.

One of Nova Scotia’s top hockey players is on the move on NHL trade deadline day in a trade that marks the end of an era.

Sportsnet reports Boston Bruins captain and Hammonds Plains native Brad Marchand has been traded to the Florida Panthers.

Marchand spent 16 seasons with the Bruins after being drafted by Boston in the 2006 NHL entry draft. He’s put up 1113 points in 1090 games.

There was no word yet on what the Bruins received in return for Marchand, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

The new funding over the next four years will help survivors of intimate partner violence and assist groups offering programs or counselling to prevent it. 

The post N.S. adds $23.7 million in new funding to address intimate partner violence appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

Halifax Regional police have laid charges against two adults and three youth for an assault that occurred downtown last year.

Early in the morning on June 23, 2024, officers responded to a report of two women, age 21 and 23, who had been assaulted by a group of people unknown to them.

Police say the investigation was long and complex and involved a number of witnesses and evidence.

Hussein Mashhour, 19, has been charged with assault causing bodily harm and appeared in Halifax provincial court in January 2025.

A second man, 18, has been charged with assault causing bodily harm and will appear in Halifax provincial court at a later date. He cannot yet be named as his charge has yet to be sworn.

Two 18-year-olds who were youths at the time of the assault have been charged with assault causing bodily harm. They are scheduled to appear at Halifax provincial youth court at a later date to face charges.

A 17-year-old youth has been charged with two counts of assault and is scheduled to appear at Halifax provincial youth court at a later date to face charges.

The names of the three youth are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Nine MLAs from all three parties in the Nova Scotia legislature have been chosen to name members to, and set the terms of reference for, a new Electoral Boundaries Commission. The redrawn map will be used in the next time voters go to the polls in a provincial election.

This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.

The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The council tasked to prepare eventual presidential elections in Haiti swore in a new leader Friday, as the country keeps struggling with a persistent gang violence.

Fritz Alphonse Jean, an economist and former central bank governor, replaces Leslie Voltaire in the rotating presidency of the transitional presidential council, formed in 2024 after a violent gang siege of the capital that forced then Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign.

During a ceremony in Port-au-Prince, Jean described what Haiti is currently facing as a “war” and asked people to be united to address the security crisis.

“Our country is at war today,” he said. “We need to be united to win this battle.”

The transitional presidential council works with Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and, amid its tasks, is helping run the country and organizing general elections, aimed for February 2026.

The country, and in particular the capital, face constant gang violence. The U.N. estimates that gangs already control 85% of Port-au-Prince.

That is despite the presence of a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan forces, which suffered a loss a few days ago in a fight with gang members.

The new leader of the transitional council asked for a minute of silence for the Haitian officers and the Kenyan police who have died facing the gangs.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has proposed opening a U.N. office that would provide drones, fuel, ground and air transportation and other nonlethal support to the Kenyan-led mission.

More than 5,600 people were reported killed across Haiti in 2024, or 1,000 more deaths than reported the previous year, according to the U.N.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is ordering changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that would disqualify workers of nonprofit groups deemed to have engaged in “improper” activities.

An executive order being signed Friday directs the Education Department to modify the program to deny loan relief to some borrowers. It would exclude loan forgiveness to people whose work is tied to illegal immigration, foreign terrorist groups or other illegal activity, White House officials said.

Congress created the program in 2007 to encourage careers in the government or nonprofit groups. It offers to cancel any remaining student debt after borrowers make 10 years of payments while working in public service. It’s open to government workers, teachers, police, religious pastors and certain nonprofit employees, among others.

More than 2 million Americans have eligible employment and open student loans, according to December data from the Education Department.

At her Senate confirmation hearing, Education Secretary Linda McMahon pledged to continue Public Service Loan Forgiveness as ordered by Congress. “That’s the law,” she said in response to questions from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

Under current rules, nonprofits are eligible if they focus on certain areas including public interest law, public health or education. Trump’s order appears to target those who work in certain fields at odds with his political agenda, including immigration.

Advocates have gone to court to defend the program in the past, and Trump’s action is almost certain to face legal challenges. It drew quick backlash from advocates.

“Threatening to punish hardworking Americans for their employers’ perceived political views is about as flagrant a violation of the First Amendment as you can imagine,” said Aaron Ament, president of the National Student Legal Defense Network.

Updating eligibility rules typically requires the Education Department to go through a lengthy federal rulemaking process. Any new regulation that started this year would usually not take effect until 2027.

The forgiveness program has been the subject of a political tug of war since Trump’s first term, when borrowers first started hitting the 10-year finish line.

The vast majority who applied for relief in 2017 were rejected because they were found to have enrolled in ineligible payment plans or failed to meet other criteria. An investigation by a federal watchdog group concluded the Education Department had failed to make the program’s eligibility rules clear.

Under President Joe Biden, the Education Department loosened the program’s rules through a federal rulemaking process, expanding eligibility to people who would have been denied previously.

In its final weeks, the Biden administration announced it had granted relief to more than 1 million people through the program, up from 7,000 who were granted cancellation during Trump’s first term.

The Biden administration changes were assailed by Republican lawmakers who said only Congress had the authority to change the program’s rules.

Biden also pushed for broader student loan cancellation but was blocked by the Supreme Court and by repeated legal challenges from Republican-led states.

Republicans have been sharply opposed to student loan cancellation, saying it unfairly passes the cost to taxpayers who already repaid their loans or didn’t go to college.

___

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Collin Binkley, The Associated Press

Employment agency closed its doors Friday after filing for bankruptcy on March 6.

The post Closure of MetroWorks leaves 88 people out of work; province says funding wasn’t cut appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

A 58-year-old man died Thursday when he was struck by a car in Middle Sackville.

Nova Scotia is expected to receive $200 million in the first year and the remaining money over the next 15 to 20 years.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin election officials voted Friday to force Madison city workers to sit for depositions as they try to learn more about how nearly 200 absentee ballots in November’s election went uncounted.

The uncounted ballots in the state’s capital city didn’t affect any results, but the Wisconsin Elections Commission still launched an investigation in January to determine whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl violated state law or abused her discretion. She didn’t notify the elections commission of the uncounted ballots until December, almost a month and a half after the election and well after the results were certified on Nov. 29.

Commissioners astounded at failure to count ballots

The commission hasn’t made a decision yet on whether Witzel-Behl acted illegally or improperly, but commissioners appeared flabbergasted at the failure to count the ballots as they reviewed the investigation during a meeting Friday. Chair Ann Jacobs was particularly incensed with Witzel-Behl for not launching her own in-depth probe immediately.

“This feels like a complete lack of leadership and a refusal to be where the buck stops,” Jacobs said. “You don’t get to put your head in the sand for weeks. … I am genuinely shocked by this timeline.”

Don Millis said it was a “travesty” that the ballots were never counted. “You’re telling the world that these 193 people didn’t vote in what many thought was the most consequential election of our lifetime,” he said.

What did the commission decide to do?

The commission voted unanimously to authorize Jacobs and Millis to question Madison city employees in depositions — question-and-answer periods usually led by attorneys in which the subject gives sworn testimony. Jacobs said she would confer with Millis about who to question but Witzel-Behl will likely be one of the subjects.

Madison city attorney Mike Haas, who was in the audience, told The Associated Press outside the meeting that he would not fight the depositions. “The city wants to get to the bottom of this as much as anyone else,” he said.

The commission also voted unanimously to send a message to clerks around the state informing them of the problems in Madison and warning them to scour polling places for any uncounted ballots during the upcoming April 1 election. Jacobs said she plans to call for more substantial changes to state election policy going into the 2026 elections after commissioners learn more about what happened in Madison.

The investigation’s findings so far

The city clerk’s office discovered 67 unprocessed absentee ballots in a courier bag that had been placed in a security cart on Nov. 12, the day election results were canvassed.

Witzel-Behl said she told two employees to notify the elections commission, but neither did. A third employee visited the Dane County Clerk’s Office in person to inform officials there of the discovery. That employee said he didn’t remember what the Dane County clerk said, but he recalled a “general sense” that the county would not want the ballots for the canvass.

The Dane County clerk, Scott McDonell, told the commission that he knew nothing of the uncounted ballots until they were reported in the media.

The clerk’s office discovered another 125 uncounted absentee ballots in a sealed courier bag in a supply tote on Dec. 2. Witzel-Behl said she didn’t inform county canvassers because the canvass was finished and, based on the county’s response to Nov. 12 discovery, she didn’t think the county would be interested.

The elections commission wasn’t notified of either discovery until Dec. 18. Witzel-Behl said the employees she asked to notify the commission waited until reconciliation was completed. Reconciliation is a routine process in which poll workers and elections officials ensure an election’s accuracy, including checking the number of ballots issued at the polls to the number of voters.

Holes in protocols

The investigators noted that Madison polling places’ absentee ballot logs didn’t list the number of courier bags for each ward, which would have told election inspectors how many bags to account for while processing ballots.

City election officials also had no procedures for confirming the number of absentee ballots received with the number counted. Witzel-Behl said that information was emailed to election inspectors the weekend before the election, but no documents provided the total number of ballots received.

If Witzel-Behl had looked through everything to check for courier bags and absentee ballot envelopes before the election was certified the missing ballots could have been counted, investigators said.

Witzel-Behl also couldn’t explain why she didn’t contact the county or the state elections commission herself, investigators said.

Voters prep for lawsuit

Four Madison voters whose ballots weren’t counted filed claims Thursday for $175,000 each from the city and Dane County, the first step toward initiating a lawsuit.

Todd Richmond, The Associated Press

MetroWorks, a non-profit education and employment organization based in Halifax, had been in operation since 1977. It operated social enterprises the Stone Hearth Bakery, The Ampersand Café and Common Roots Urban Farm. It also ran the Cunard Learning Centre and employment skills programs for newcomers.

Across-the-board cuts at the Social Security Administration are prompting questions about how the benefits of millions of recipients may be affected.

Among the potential changes are layoffs for more than 10% of the agency’s workforce and the closure of dozens of offices throughout the U.S. It’s all part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency, inspired by President Donald Trump’s adviser Elon Musk.

Some of the public-facing locations listed for closure were already slated to be shuttered due to lack of use. The SSA says work in other non-public sites up for closure is being consolidated.

Here’s a look at cuts to the agency, which serves more than 70 million Americans, and potential effects for recipients:

Will the Social Security office near my home close?

On its website, DOGE lists 47 Social Security Administration field offices set for closure across the U.S., with many concentrated in the South and across the Southeast.

An agency spokesperson said last week that most of the leases not being renewed were for spaces used for in-person hearings, sites no longer necessary due to the majority of hearings now being held virtually. In the 2024 fiscal year, according to SSA, 20% of those offices held no in-person hearings.

Some of the other properties had already been set for closure, or were being consolidated anyway, the spokesperson noted, saying the agency was working with the General Services Administration “to review our leases and ensure they are used efficiently.”

According to the Social Security Administration, the agency has about 1,200 field offices across the U.S.

Will my Social Security benefits be cut?

Not necessarily, but advocates have claimed that agency reductions will result in diminished services.

The 72.5 million Social Security beneficiaries across the country include retirees and children who receive retirement and disability benefits.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has characterized Musk’s cuts to the agency as efforts to “attack the bedrock of America’s social safety net.”

Social Security is one of the nation’s largest and most popular social programs. A January poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that two-thirds of U.S. adults think the country is spending too little on Social Security.

The program faces a looming bankruptcy date if it is not addressed by Congress. The May 2024 Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report states that Social Security’s trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. Then, Social Security would be able to pay only 83% of benefits.

What about Social Security employee layoffs?

Earlier this week, a person familiar with the agency’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly said that the Social Security Administration was preparing to lay off at least 7,000 people from its workforce of 60,000.

According to the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities, administering the program amounts to less than 1% of the revenue that funds it.

Advocates and Democratic lawmakers have warned that layoffs and agency cuts will reduce the agency’s ability to serve recipients in a timely manner.

In a letter last month to acting Social Security Administrator Michelle King, Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York wrote that the White Plains hearing office in her state has 2,000 pending cases, saying “beneficiaries will be required to travel between 24 and 135 miles” to get to another office if it closes.

What has the Trump administration said about Social Security?

In an episode with podcaster Joe Rogan airing last month, Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

But Trump, who during the presidential campaign vowed to make no changes to the program, has consistently said there would be no changes to benefits. Since his election in November, the Republican has reiterated those comments, saying Social Security benefits “won’t be touched” and “will only be strengthened.”

___

Associated Press reporter Fatima Hussein contributed from Washington.

___

Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press

Police are investigating an incident where a man died after being struck by a vehicle in Middle Sackville on Thursday.

Mounties said at roughly 7:15 a.m., emergency crews responded to the 1600 block of Sackville Drive where investigators learned a Honda Civic struck a 58-year-old Middle Sackville man crossing the road.

He was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver, a 25-year-old Middle Sackville Man, did not suffer any physical injuries.

According to police, the incident happened when weather conditions in the area consisted of heavy rain and wind.

RCMP said currently, it’s not believed that alcohol or drugs were a factor.

The investigation is ongoing.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality is seeking funding from the Nova Scotia government and the provincial ambulance system for more buses to alleviate pressure on its Handi-Trans system.

Halifax Regional Police say no charges are expected to be laid.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Protest marches Friday in Serbia’s capital Belgrade and a northern city saw tens of thousands of people respond to a call from university and high school students to strike as part of a monthslong struggle against corruption in the Balkan country.

The massive marches were part of a nationwide anti-graft movement that started after a concrete canopy crashed in November at a railway station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people and triggering protests against the populist government of President Aleksandar Vucic.

“I am here for justice, for a better tomorrow,” Srecko Nedeljkovic, a Belgrade resident, said. “That’s all it’s about, nothing else. The only important thing is that we live in a country governed by the rule of law.”

Many in Serbia believe that the huge concrete construction fell down because of poor renovation work fueled by government corruption in infrastructure deals with Chinese state companies. Authorities have said it was an accident that happened because of construction flaws. They have indicted 16 people over the crash but doubts prevail that actual culprits will face justice.

University students behind the protests have insisted on full accountability, which has garnered widespread support among Serbia’s citizens who are largely disillusioned with politicians and have lost trust in state institutions.

Many shops, bars and restaurants in Serbia on Friday remained closed in support of the universities and schools where classes have been suspended for more than three months. Smaller protests were held in several other towns and cities throughout the country after calls by protesters for a general strike in the country.

In Belgrade, a huge column of people walked on the streets around the downtown area passing by government buildings. Marching students said their protest presented a ‘prelude’ to a massive rally planned for March 15 in Belgrade, after similar rallies were held in previous weeks in other cities.

Vucic has sought to downplay the protests, saying they were part of a ploy by the West to oust him from power. Vucic on Friday said he had discussed an alleged attempted revolution in a phone conversation with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Vucic said on Instagram that “Russia understands well and can see clearly what is going on and will continue to support legally and legitimately elected authorities in Serbia.”

Persistent protests have become the biggest challenge to Vucic in years. The populist leader and his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party have held a firm grip on power in Serbia for over a decade, facing accusations of stifling democratic freedoms despite formally seeking European Union entry for Serbia.

In a counter-protest, a group of pro-Vucic students started camping outside the Serbian presidency building, saying they want to continue normal studies and demanding an end to months-long blockades of Serbia’s universities. The protest was apparently designed to minimize the scope of the anti-graft students’ actions.

The Associated Press

Police in Halifax now say a woman found injured on Gottingen Street in Febraury was struck by a bus after slipping on ice.

On February 28 around 7 p.m., officers responded to reports of the 40-year-old woman being found injured. She was rushed to hospital where she died of her injuries.

“Witnesses describe seeing the woman slip on ice,” Halifax Regional Police said in a media release. “Further investigation has determined she then fell under a large vehicle.”

Police say it’s now been confirmed that vehicle was a Halifax Transit bus, and say an autopsy determined the woman’s injuries were “consistent with this conclusion”.

The investigation is ongoing, but HRP says no charges are expected to be laid.

The province says it will receive $809 million from tobacco companies for the impact smoking has had on the healthcare system.

Nova Scotia joined all other provinces and territories in suing the companies for healthcare costs related to tobacco use.

“The Government of Nova Scotia pursued this litigation to hold the tobacco industry accountable for the harms it has caused Nova Scotians and for the related healthcare costs,” said Premier Tim Houston. “Those wrongful practices resulted in extraordinary costs to our healthcare system, and we set out to recover those costs.”

A mediated settlement was approved by the Superior Court of Ontario on Thursday.

According to the province, Nova Scotia is expected to receive about $200 million in the first year and expects to receive the rest over the next 15 to 20 years.

The total value of settlement is $32.5 billion, with the provinces getting $24.7 billion.

MONTREAL — Companies interested in buying or liquidating Quebec electric vehicle maker Lion Electric Co. have been given an extension to make offers.

Bids were due March 7, but the company’s court-appointed monitor has announced that deadline has been pushed to March 14 at 5 p.m.

Lion Electric built school buses and trucks at plants in Quebec and Illinois and has about 2,200 vehicles on the road, but went through several rounds of layoffs last year and has halted production.

The company, based in St-Jérôme, Que., obtained protection from its creditors in December and is seeking a buyer with a restructuring plan that would focus only on school buses and return all manufacturing to Quebec.

A report to the Quebec Superior Court last month said potential buyers and liquidators were interested in the company, but did not say how many.

Shareholders filed a class-action lawsuit against the struggling company in February, claiming it misrepresented its financial health to investors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press

This is a photo collection curated by AP photo editors.

The Associated Press

A fifth person has been charged in connection with the disappearance and killing of a Halifax teen three years ago.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed a case of avian influenza in a bird flock in Shelburne County.

Halifax Regional Police have arrested a fifth person in connection with the homicide of Devon Sinclair Marsman.

Police say 40-year-old Mark Douglas Robert Doyle was taken into custody at 7:35 a.m. on Thursday. He has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder and is scheduled to appear in Halifax Provincial Court today.

Marsman was last seen on February 24, 2022, in the Spryfield area. Police declared his death a homicide on September 17, 2024.

Last week, investigators confirmed that remains discovered during the investigation belonged to Marsman.

To date, four others have been charged:

• Treyton Marsman, 26 – Second-degree murder, indignity to human remains, and obstructing justice.
• A unidentifed 20-year-old man (who was a youth at the time) – Accessory after the fact to murder and obstructing justice.
• Emma Maria Meta Casey, 23 – Accessory after the fact to murder, indignity to human remains, and obstructing justice.
• Chelsey Herritt, 26 – Accessory after the fact to murder, indignity to human remains, and obstructing justice.

The police investigation remains ongoing.

Suspend some or all democratic norms, and then ram the corporate wishlist through as quickly as possible — this is exactly what Tim Houston is now doing. It's why the Halifax Examiner has created the Dismantling Democracy series.

The post Tim Houston chuckles it up with mining execs while ignoring ‘the realities of the world’ appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

On Thursday, N.S. premier was unable to tell reporters if pause on “auto parts” tariff includes Michelin tires made by 3,600 workers in Nova Scotia, because no Canadian official had seen anything in writing from the U.S. government.

The post Province House roundup: Tariffs, tourism, mining, and firing appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

Non-profit that opened in 1977 operates Stone Hearth Bakery, Common Roots Urban Farm, Ampersand Café in the Halifax Central Library.

The post Employment agency MetroWorks files for bankruptcy, closes operations appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Canada and the Philippines, both vocal critics of China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea, have concluded talks for a key defense pact that would allow their forces to hold joint combat drills and boost defense engagements, the Department of National Defense in Manila said Friday.

Canada and other Western nations have been reinforcing their military presence in the Indo-Pacific to help promote the rule of law and expand trade and investment in the region.

That dovetails with Philippine efforts under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to broaden defense ties with friendly countries to bolster his country’s defense as it faces an increasingly assertive China in the disputed South China Sea.

The agreement with Canada “will establish a framework for increased cooperation, fostering closer collaboration between defense and military establishments, improving interoperability between forces and facilitating more effective joint exercises and capacity-building exercises,” the Philippine defense department said.

It is expected to allow larger joint exercises, including in the South China Sea off the western Philippines.

No date was specified for signing the agreement but a Philippine official said that could happen in the next few months at the earliest.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday that the Philippines would continue to build security alliances with other friendly countries to deter China’s aggression.

Teodoro said China’s hostile actions should be regarded as a global threat because they could eventually restrict movement in the South China Sea, a key global trade route crucial for global supply chains.

The Philippines has visiting forces agreements with the United States and Australia that provide a legal framework for temporary visits by foreign troops and large-scale combat exercises.

The Philippines signed a similar accord with Japan in July that’s expected to be ratified by Japanese legislators by mid-year. Negotiations with New Zealand also recently concluded, and officials have been holding talks with France for a similar accord.

Philippine authorities may seek visiting forces agreements with other countries including Germany, India and Singapore, Teodoro said.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and has deployed coast guard and navy fleets and suspected militia ships to guard what it says is its territory and airspace. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan also lay claims that clash with China’s, and territorial confrontations have flared between Beijing and Manila in the last two years.

In August, Canada joined the United States, Australia and the Philippines in air and naval maneuvers to promote the rule of law and unhindered passage in the South China Sea.

China said it conducted air and sea combat patrols on the same day. Although no confrontations were reported, the Philippine military said three Chinese navy ships tailed the four-nation maneuvers.

Last month Canadian Ambassador to Manila David Hartman said his country has “been vocal in confronting the provocative and unlawful actions of the People’s Republic of China in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea” and ”will continue to do so.”

Canada signed an agreement on defense cooperation with the Philippines last year. Another agreement signed in Ottawa in 2023 gave the Philippines access to data from Canada’s “Dark Vessel Detection System,” which harnesses satellite technology to track illegal vessels even if they switch off their location-transmitting devices.

The Philippine coast guard has used the high-tech Canadian technology to track Chinese coast guard ships and fishing vessels in the South China Sea.

Jim Gomez, The Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Fire crews battled a fire on luxury boats in Miami early Friday.

Video from WSVN-TV showed massive flames shooting from a boat. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the blaze, setting up hoses and shutting down a roadway as they battled the fire for hours, the station reported.

Three boats were on fire, but the blaze has been controlled, the department said in a text message. No other information was immediately available.

According to authorities no injuries have been reported, the station reported. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office also responded.

The Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — Once again, most Americans will set their clocks forward by one hour this weekend, losing perhaps a bit of sleep but gaining more glorious sunlight in the evenings as the days warm into summer.

Where did this all come from, though?

How we came to move the clock forward in the spring, and then push it back in the fall, is a tale that spans over more than a century — one that’s driven by two world wars, mass confusion at times and a human desire to bask in the sun for a long as possible.

There’s been plenty of debate over the practice, but about 70 countries — about 40% of those across the globe — currently use what Americans call daylight saving time.

While springing the clocks forward “kind of jolts our system,” the extra daylight gets people outdoors, exercising and having fun, says Anne Buckle, web editor at timeanddate.com, which features information on time, time zones and astronomy.

“The really, really awesome advantage is the bright evenings, right?” she says. “It is actually having hours of daylight after you come home from work to spend time with your family or activities. And that is wonderful.”

Here are some things to know so you’ll be conversant about the practice of humans changing time:

How did this all get started?

In the 1890s, George Vernon Hudson, an astronomer and entomologist in New Zealand, proposed a time shift in the spring and fall to increase the daylight. And in the early 1900s, British homebuilder William Willett, troubled that people weren’t up enjoying the morning sunlight, made a similar push. But neither proposal gained enough traction to be implemented.

Germany began using daylight saving time during World War I with the thought that it would save energy. Other countries, including the United States, soon followed suit. During World War II, the U.S. once again instituted what was dubbed “war time” nationwide, this time year-round.

In the United States today, every state except Hawaii and Arizona observes daylight saving time. Around the world, Europe, much of Canada and part of Australia also implement it, while Russia and Asia don’t currently.

Inconsistency and mass confusion

After World War II, a patchwork of timekeeping emerged across the United States, with some areas keeping daylight saving time and others ditching it.

“You might have one town has daylight saving time, the neighboring town might have daylight saving time but start it and end it on different dates and the third neighboring town might not have it at all,” says David Prerau, author of the book “Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time.”

At one point, if riders on a 35-mile (56-kilometer) bus ride from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, wanted their watches to be accurate, they’d need to change them seven times as they dipped in and out of daylight saving time, Prerau says.

So in 1966, the U.S. Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which say states can either implement daylight saving time or not, but it has to be statewide. The act also mandates the day that daylight saving time starts and ends across the country.

Confusion over the time change isn’t just something from the past. In the nation of Lebanon last spring, chaos ensued when the government announced a last-minute decision to delay the start of daylight saving time by a month — until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Some institutions made the change and others refused as citizens tried to piece together their schedules. Within days, the decision was reversed.

“It really turned into a huge mess where nobody knew what time it was,” Buckle says.

What would it be like if we didn’t change the clocks?

Changing the clocks twice a year leads to a lot of grumbling, and pushes to either use standard time all year, or stick to daylight saving time all year often crop up.

During the 1970s energy crisis, the U.S. started doing daylight saving time all year long, and Americans didn’t like it. With the sun not rising in the winter in some areas till around 9 a.m. or even later, people were waking up in the dark, going to work in the dark and sending their children to school in the dark, Prerau says.

”It became very unpopular very quickly,” Prerau says.

And, he notes, using standard time all year would mean losing that extra hour of daylight for eight months in the evenings in the United States.

A nod to the early adopters

In 1908, the Canadian city of Thunder Bay — then the two cities of Fort William and Port Arthur — changed from the central time zone to the eastern time zone for the summer and fall after a citizen named John Hewitson argued that would afford an extra hour of daylight to enjoy the outdoors, says Michael deJong, curator/archivist at the Thunder Bay Museum.

The next year, though, Port Arthur stayed on eastern time, while Fort William changed back to central time in the fall, which, predictably, “led to all sorts of confusion,” deJong says.

Today, the city of Thunder Bay is on eastern time, and observes daylight saving time, giving the area, “just delightfully warm, long days to enjoy” in the summer, says Paul Pepe, tourism manager for Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission.

The city, located on Lake Superior, is far enough north that the sun sets at around 10 p.m. in the summer, Pepe says, and that helps make up for their cold dark winters. Residents, he says, tend to go on vacations in the winter and stay home in the summer: “I think for a lot of folks here, the long days, the warm summer temperatures, it’s a vacation in your backyard.”

Jamie Stengle, The Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police used batons and stun grenades on Friday to disperse thousands of members of the banned Hizbut Tahrir group as they marched near Bangladesh’s main Baitul Mokarram Mosque in the country’s capital.

Police said many people were injured and several protesters were arrested during the violence which came after weekly prayers.

Masud Alam, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said attempts were made to disperse the rally after marchers broke away from the police barricade. Witnesses said scores of people were injured.

The incident happened as between 3,000 to 5,000 protesters joined the procession, chanting slogans such as “Freedom has one path, Khilafat, Khilafat” and “Naraye Taqbir, Allahu Akbar.”

The Islamist group had mounted a social media campaign in recent days and distributed leaflets and used posters across Dhaka urging people to join the procession, dubbed “March for Khilafat.”

Hizbut Tahrir says it wants unification of all Muslim countries over time in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, headed by a caliph elected by Muslims. Its supporters believe this is an obligation decreed by Allah, warning that Allah will punish those Muslims who would overlook this duty. It also wants the introduction of Sharia law.

The group was banned in 2009 as a “threat to public security” by the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina under an anti-terrorism law.

Hasina was forced to flee last August after weeks of protests over a quota system for allocating government jobs turned into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule and an interim government was established under Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus. Hasina has been in exile in India since her ouster.

Bangladesh, a nation of about 170 million people, is largely Muslim-majority and is governed by mostly secular laws based on British common law. But many Islamist groups and hardline political parties want to establish tough Sharia law in the country, which has experienced terrorist attacks in the past.

The Associated Press

When some hot water pipes burst at the rental property they own, a Nova Scotia family was shocked to learn insurance wouldn't cover the expected $100,000 in repair bills. The reason? An insurance concept that isn't widely known to most consumers.

The owner of a Halifax heritage property says she's relieved a nearby development has been ordered to follow stricter conditions after recent blasts had people inside worried they were being "bombed."

Coun. Steve Parsons voted for the budget, but was joined by several colleagues in calling on Nova Scotia's Public Works Department for enough money to finish what are known as J-class roads in CBRM.

No change in price at the gas pumps in Nova Scotia this week.

The Nova Scotia Utilities and Review Board decided to leave the minimum price for gas at 157.1 for a second consecutive week.

There was a small drop in the price of diesel, with fuel prices falling by 3.6 cents at midnight to 185.0.

At this time last year, we were paying 1.64 for gas and 1.88 for diesel.

The clocks change this weekend as we ‘spring forward’ into daylight saving time.

On the one hand, this time switch does mean we’re getting close to spring… but it also means we lose one hour of sleep this weekend.

The change back to daylight saving will happen at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning when the clocks will spring forward one hour.

Not all Canadians will be changing the clocks this weekend, though, as Yukon, most of Saskatchewan, and parts of Quebec, Ontario, and B.C. don’t adhere to daylight saving time.

And there could be good reason to ditch the switch—studies have shown the beginning of daylight saving time can negatively interfere with sleep regulation.

A 2019 report in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found there’s an increased risk of heart attacks in the weeks following the spring and fall time changes.

And a 2016 report from Finland suggested stroke-related hospitalizations increased for two days after the switch.

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s stiff duties have been temporarily paused on some Canadian products, bringing little relief as the tariff threat continues to hang over America’s closest neighbour.

Trump signed an executive order Thursday delaying tariffs on goods that meet the rules of origin requirements under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, and lowering levies on potash to 10 per cent, until April 2.

Ottawa responded by suspending a planned second wave of retaliatory tariffs.

Markets have been in turmoil since Trump followed through Tuesday on his threat to impose a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, with a lower 10 per cent charge on Canadian energy.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says businesses on both sides of the border need more certainty.

Joly told news channel CNN on Thursday that Canada continues the work to ensure the tariff threat is dropped for good.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Gabbi Kosmidis still feels shivers from watching the intensely gory 2006 horror thriller “Silent Hill” as a child.

“It was an insane film for an 11-year-old to watch,” says the Toronto-based voice actor, now 30.

“I loved it, but I still, to this day, have nightmares from it.”

She’s now channeling that early brush with the macabre into her role in “Night of the Zoopocalypse,” a Canadian animated horror comedy loosely based on a short story by “Hellraiser” creator Clive Barker.

Hitting theatres Friday, the 92-minute film follows a group of animals battling for survival after a meteor strike unleashes a virus that turns their fellow zoo dwellers into zombies.

Kosmidis voices Gracie, a plucky young wolf who spends all night trying to stop the spread, teaming up with a group of unaffected animals, including a crotchety mountain lion played by “Stranger Things” star David Harbour, and a cheeky ostrich, played by Kids in the Hall alum Scott Thompson.

Kosmidis believes the PG-rated movie can act as a gateway to ghastly fare for horror-curious kids.

“I wish I had this film when I was growing up, to be honest, because I watched much scarier movies than I probably should have,” she says on a virtual call with Thompson.

“I mean, nobody’s old enough to see ‘Silent Hill,’” quips Thompson, who says he grew up on horror comedies like 1948’s “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.”

“Zoopocalypse” was inspired by Barker’s unpublished short story “Zoombies,” about a child trapped in a zoo during a zombie outbreak. Barker brought the concept to Canadian production company Copperheart Entertainment, who then approached Toronto storyboard artist Ricardo Curtis with an idea to turn it into an “animated family film.”

Curtis called up his longtime collaborator Rodrigo Perez-Castro, an animation vet and horror buff, to help him direct.

“Clive gave us full freedom to basically do what we wanted to do, which is the most amazing thing to hear when you’re a director working with someone’s property. We showed it to him and he loved it,” says Curtis.

There are Barker-esque horror tropes laced throughout the Canada/France/Belgium co-production, including a gooey alien chrysalis and the merging of zombie-animal flesh. But Perez-Castro says that while Barker’s story was human-centered, “we thought it was more interesting to make it an allegory of the human condition through animals.”

The duo was inspired by zombie films like 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead,” which some interpreted as a social commentary on racial segregation in the United States at the time it was released.

“We were making the movie during the pandemic as we were all in our own bubbles, just like animals are in their own enclosures, and we were all fighting ideologically and not getting along,” recalls Perez-Castro.

“We thought, ‘Let’s just reflect that through animals.’ They’re obviously different species and they have to work together to overcome this really weird night that they have to face.”

Curtis says they steered clear of making any statements about the ethics of zoos themselves, which the creators and actors have mixed feelings about.

“I don’t love picking animals out of their natural habitat and putting them into an enclosure. I don’t necessarily agree,” says Kosmidis.

“However, in terms of the animals that are almost extinct or need more protection, zoos can actually provide that for them.”

But Thompson counters: “Maybe the spotted salamander of Tanganyika is not meant to continue. Maybe you shouldn’t force the last two to have sex.”

The comedian envisions a future where zoos no longer house animals — instead, they’ll be filled with humans, kept on display by aliens.

“When the aliens do arrive, I’m going to be so friendly, because I want to be in that zoo,” says Thompson.

“I want to be in that zoo, too, actually! I would love to be in an alien zoo,” Kosmidis agrees.

Thompson cracks that his career has been the perfect training ground for life in alien captivity.

“I mean, we’re actors, so we’re this close to being zoo animals,” he says, imagining a director shouting commands.

“‘Dance, hedgehog! Dance for your supper!’”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press

The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release its decision today about third-party election advertising rules in Ontario that limit spending.

Before 2021, third parties in Ontario could spend up to $600,000 on advertising in the six months before a provincial election call.

That year, Premier Doug Ford’s government stretched that restricted spending period to one year while keeping the spending limit the same.

The Progressive Conservative government argued the extended restriction was necessary to protect elections from outside influence, but critics said it amounted to the government trying to silence criticism ahead of the 2022 provincial election.

Teachers’ unions challenged the law, which a lower court struck down and the province responded by tabling a new bill with the controversial notwithstanding clause – but that decision was then successfully challenged on appeal.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario said the use of the notwithstanding clause was fine, but found the law to be unconstitutional because it violated free expression rights of third-party advertisers.

It said the new law violated a voter’s right to meaningful participation in the electoral process, which isn’t subject to the notwithstanding clause, and gave the government one year to create new, Charter-compliant legislation.

But Ontario’s attorney general sought an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, which was granted in late 2023.

Prior to a 2017 law enacted by the Liberal government at the time, there were no limits on third-party advertising in Ontario.

In the 2014 election, third parties spent $8.64 million, which amounted to 17 per cent of all election spending.

Unions were some of the largest third-party advertisers. The Working Families Coalition, known for its anti-Tory ads, spent $2.5 million during the campaign, with contributions from some of the province’s biggest unions.

The coalition and several teachers’ unions are part of the case before the Supreme Court while there are more than a dozen interveners, including the attorneys general of Canada, Alberta and Quebec along with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Chief Electoral Officer of Ontario.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN, N.B. — Police in New Brunswick are expected to release long-awaited details today about an investigation into why two men spent years in prison for a murder they didn’t commit.

The Saint John Police Force says it will publicly release a summary of the report from the investigation later today.

Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie were convicted of a 1983 murder in Saint John, N.B., and exonerated in January 2024 after a court ruled they had been victims of a miscarriage of justice.

Innocence Canada, which led the fight to exonerate the men, has alleged that the convictions were the result of police tunnel vision, non-disclosure of important evidence, recantations by the Crown’s key witnesses, and a disregard for the men’s strong alibis.

Gillespie spent 21 years in prison and died last April, months after he was exonerated.

Mailman, who spent 18 years in prison, turns 77 later this month, and he has said that the thing he wants most for his birthday is a copy of the police report.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

The Canadian Press

When International Women’s Day arrives on Saturday, Christa Hill won’t be at any of the many celebrations marking the occasion.

The Calgary-based co-founder of tech education company Tacit Edge is abstaining from the March 8 gatherings because she finds they often create a “veneer” that falsely makes attendees feel corporate Canada is working together to improve conditions for women.

“When we get up on a stage and we tell people what we’ve done, it gives this false sense of accomplishment in the room that the problem is solved and it’s in hand, but it’s not,” she said.

“It is incredibly volatile. This wheel can roll back anytime.”

Hill and many others in the tech industry backing away from the events this year say their choice isn’t meant to give the impression that women shouldn’t be celebrated. In fact, they think the opposite: women should be supported more.

They maintain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts should be year-round and touch every level of corporate Canada rather than be hived off as “performative,” annual celebrations hosted and attended by women instead of the people most able to make change.

If the country sticks with this pattern, they fear it won’t just be stalled progress they’re coping with but an outright regression.

Stoking that risk is a dramatic pullback in DEI efforts across North America after U.S. President Donald Trump spent his first days in office ordering all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff put on paid leave and eventually laid off.

Wall Street heavyweights including Goldman Sachs, Google and McDonald’s, which had long been urged to address the lack of diversity in their ranks, promotions processes and the gender wage gap took Trump’s move as a sign they could back away from some of those efforts.

Meanwhile, Ottawa-based e-commerce giant Shopify Inc. scrubbed pages associated with its diversity and inclusion programs from its website. The company did not respond to requests for comment about potential cuts but many staff previously working on those programs have LinkedIn profiles noting they are no longer with Shopify.

For April Hicke, co-founder of women’s tech collective and talent organization Toast, such developments reaffirmed her company’s decision to stop appearing at International Women’s Day events and give staff the Friday before off to “celebrate themselves.”

In a typical year, more than half of Toast’s travel funds are spent in March on sending staff to Women’s Day events, where they’re often not paid to speak on panels in front of predominantly female audiences.

“Unfortunately, spending our money, spending our time and bending over backwards for these things is not actually driving systemic change,” said Hicke.

“The only way we’re going to be able to drive systemic change is by bringing (men) into the conversation.”

She thinks men need to be involved because they dominate leadership positions in most industries and tend to be paid better.

A report from the Dais, a public policy organization at Toronto Metropolitan University, has said the gender pay gap in Canada’s tech sector almost tripled between 2016 and 2021, with the average salary of a woman in the industry amounting to about $20,000 less than her male counterpart.

“What’s the point of these Women’s Day events when you’re paying us less now than you were years ago?” questioned Laura Gabor, who founded inclusivity organization What in the Tech? and runs air purification company Ecologicca.

“I would much rather not have any International Women’s Day events and I would much rather even not have it acknowledged, but have systemic changes in companies where the wage gap for women doesn’t continue to increase in tech.”

She likened companies that host Women’s Day events but don’t support female staff with equal pay or working conditions to workplaces that throw pizza parties but don’t offer salary increases.

“It feels very superficial and it feels very performative,” she said.

Gabor’s frustration with the state of DEI in Canada has grown so much in recent months that she decided to release an open letter in February to try to get people to take the lack of action — and the threat of progress slipping away — more seriously. It has now garnered almost 1,100 signatures.

The note warns that if Canada abandons DEI now, “we risk handing even more power to a small, homogenous group of business leaders who would strip away jobs and equality in pursuit of profit.”

Shopify served as her inspiration.

On top of backing away from DEI efforts, the company allowed rapper Kanye West to sell T-shirts bearing swastikas for days before taking down the site amid outcry.

Several of its leaders, including president Harley Finkelstein, also joined an initiative called Build Canada, which publishes policy papers meant to prod the country toward prosperity. All 11 papers it has released so far were written by men.

“If you’re getting rid of these teams, if you’re showing with your actions that these people are not a priority, these groups are not a priority for you in any way, shape, or form, then what does Build Canada stand for?” Gabor said.

Though some may feel such developments make their participation in International Women’s Day more important than ever, Hill says their time is better spent resting up for the other 364 days of the year, when there is more room to make a difference.

She reasons that International Women’s Day events can be costly and take time away from other work that may actually have an impact.

Unpaid appearances she’s made at these events over the last six years alone, plus the time spent preparing for them and the travel fees associated with getting there have cost her $8,400.

She fears her participation has also given a false impression that the current corporate playbook is working.

“When someone wants to create some kind of change, the playbook is to give them a day and then (women) get flowers,” said Hill.

“Keep the flowers. I don’t need them and can buy my own but give me equal pay instead.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada is expected to release unemployment figures for February today.

Economists polled by Reuters expect a gain of 20,000 jobs in the month, and for the unemployment rate to have ticked higher to 6.7 per cent.

RBC Economics expects the unemployment rate held steady at 6.6 per cent in February and calls for a gain of 15,000 jobs.

Canadian employers have largely kept up the pace of hiring in recent months, bringing the unemployment rate down from a recent high of 6.9 per cent in November.

The labour force survey will offer a glimpse of how Canadian businesses were reacting to threats of a trade war with the United States before tariffs came into effect earlier this week.

The February jobs figures are also the last major data release the Bank of Canada will get before its interest rate decision on March 12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press