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Sobeys announces price freeze between November, January 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

As the cost of living continues to add pressure to many Canadians’ household budgets, a grocery retailing giant says it’s freezing prices on thousands of products — but only until the new year.Empire, which owns Sobeys, tells CityNews it has “historically” been a practice of the company to “freeze the vast majority of our prices on all packaged products between November and January, in partnership with our supplier partners.”“This practice has never been an external or public commitment, nor was it a mandatory practice internally,” Empire spokesperson Andrew Walker said in an email. “Typically, we would hold prices on approximately 90 per cent of packaged products during this time, subject to exceptions in select instances.” Related articles: More competition needed in grocery to help stabilize food prices: Freeland Champagne says he wishes grocers were more ‘forthcoming’ on plans to stabiliz...

Freedom Mobile ups roaming plan offerings as revamp under Quebecor continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

TORONTO — Freedom Mobile is announcing a new international roaming plan that provides its customers unlimited calling and texting in 73 destinations as it continues to roll out new offerings since being acquired by Quebecor Inc.-subsidiary Videotron.Freedom says its new Roam Beyond package includes 60 gigabytes of international mobile data for $65 per month after digital discount.The plan covers the U.S. and Mexico, along with countries in Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East.Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau says Freedom, which his company acquired from Shaw when the latter was sold to Rogers Communications Inc., is “reinventing international roaming with an offer never before seen in Canada.”Freedom announced earlier this year it would offer a $50 monthly plan, its first with national coverage, that includes unlimited calls and texts as well as 40 gigabytes of data usable throughout Canada and the U.S.It also revealed Tuesday it has extended 5G...

Company at centre of E. coli outbreak at Calgary daycares enters not guilty plea

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

CALGARY — A company that runs a commercial kitchen at the centre of an E. coli outbreak at multiple Calgary daycares has entered a not guilty plea to municipal bylaw charges.The City of Calgary charged Fueling Minds Inc. and its two directors, Faisal Alimohd and Anil Karim, in September with serving food at childcare centres in Calgary without a food services business licence.They face 12 charges and a total fine of up to $120,000.A lawyer for the company met with the Crown prosecutor at the Calgary Courts Centre today and entered the not guilty plea.A trial date has been set for Sept. 6, 2024.There were at least 446 E. coli cases connected to the outbreak, which lasted eight weeks and saw 39 children and one adult hospitalized.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.The Canadian Press

Prince Harry to appeal to UK government for evidence in lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry’s battles with British tabloids are taking a detour from London courts to the halls of government as he seeks evidence from a decade-old inquiry that is central to his phone hacking lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail, his lawyer said Tuesday.The Duke of Sussex and celebrities such as Elton John and actor Elizabeth Hurley who are suing Associated Newspapers Ltd. want to use documents that were disclosed confidentially to a government inquiry into a scandal involving journalists who eavesdropped on voicemails of celebrities, politicians and even murder victims.An attorney for Harry and the celebrities said he would ask government ministers to revoke or amend a previous order that restricted publication of records of payments to private detectives who allegedly bugged phones and used listening devices to illegally snoop on his clients.The newspapers deny the claims.Earlier this month, Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the Mail’s attempt to throw o...

World’s largest cryptocurrency exchange to pay over $4 billion in agreement with US, AP source says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange has agreed to pay more than $4 billion as part of an agreement with the U.S. government, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The development in the case against Binance was confirmed on the condition of anonymity ahead of an expected announcement. The value was first reported by Bloomberg. It comes months after the company was accused of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit from regulators. Binance is a Cayman Islands limited liability company founded by CEO Changpeng Zhao. The charges were similar to practices uncovered after the collapse of the second largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, last year.Zhao has also faced allegations of diverting customer funds, concealing the fact that the company was commingling billions of dollars in investor assets and sending them to a third party that Zhao also owned. At the ...

Niger’s junta asks West Africa’s court to compel neighbors to lift coup sanctions, citing hardship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Niger’s junta on Tuesday asked West Africa’s regional court to order the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country by its neighbors following a July coup in which the democratically elected president was deposed.“There is no sector of the Nigerien society that has not been affected by these sanctions” which have caused untold economic hardship in one of the world’s poorest countries, Younkaila Yaye, one of the junta’s lawyers, argued at the hearing in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.After elite soldiers toppled Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, the country faced economic sanctions from West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, as well as countries including the United States that had provided aid for health, security and infrastructure needs.Neighbors shut their borders with Niger and more than 70% of its electricity, supplied by Nigeria, was cut off after financial transactions with West African countries were suspended. Niger’s assets in external banks were frozen and ...

‘Slap in the face’: Indigenous women’s group reacts to Emmy win for Sainte-Marie film

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

A group of Indigenous women says the International Emmy Award for a documentary about folk legend Buffy Sainte-Marie feels like a “slap in the face.”The Indigenous Women’s Collective describes itself as a group of mothers, grandmothers, academics and activists advocating to stop colonial violence against Indigenous women.The collective says in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that documentaries are supposed to present factual information.“Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On,” a documentary made before the singer’s Indigenous ancestry was called into question, won in the arts programming category.The singer-songwriter’s ancestry was challenged in a CBC investigation last month that presented several identity documents and interviews with family members that suggested she is Italian American.Saint-Marie has denied the accusation and White Pine Pictures, one of the companies that produced the documentary, says in a statement on its website that it...

Music Review: New live jazz album of 1964 performances by Bill Evans trio sings and swings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

The newest gem in the ever-growing catalog of Bill Evans, the late jazz pianist, commemorates a return to his roots.European classical music is at the foundation of Evans’ distinctive sound, and “Tales — Live in Copenhagen (1964)” features previously unreleased recordings from his first European tour.The vinyl version will be released for Record Store Day on Friday, Nov. 24, with the CD edition scheduled for Dec. 1. The album is record label Elemental Music’s follow-up to “Treasures — Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965-1969),” an engaging two-CD set of later performances.“Tales” contains 11 cuts, 10 of which feature Evans with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker. Most of the tunes had been part of the trio’s repertoire for some time when they arrived in Copenhagen, and their comfort level results in music filled with inventive interplay that is a marvel of syncopation and synchronicity.As always, Evans’ rhythmic creativity delights. There are two ren...

Padres give Mike Shildt another chance to manage 2 years after his Cardinals exit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mike Shildt has been hired as manager of the San Diego Padres, returning to the dugout two years after he was suddenly fired by the St. Louis Cardinals following a third straight playoff appearance.The Padres announced Tuesday that Shildt had been given a two-year contract.Shildt replaces Bob Melvin, who was hired away by the San Francisco Giants on Oct. 25 with a year left on his contract with the Padres. That ended a fractured two-year relationship with general manager A.J. Preller.Shildt was voted NL Manager of the Year in 2019 while with the Cardinals. He takes over a big-spending team that flopped dramatically in 2023, a year after making a stirring run to the NL Championship Series and after increasing its opening day payroll to $258 million, third highest in the majors.Shildt has been a senior advisor to the major league staff and player development department with the Padres since 2022. His familiarity with the team’s top minor league prospects could b...

WGN online store launches Tom Skilling collection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:04 GMT

Just in time for the holidays, a new edition has been added to the WGN online store.Don't just enjoy the weather, WEAR the weather. On Tuesday, the old number 9 launched The Tom Skilling collection at WGNtv.com/store.Shirts, mugs, shower curtains, area rugs, you name it! Fans will be able to purchase items and have them shipped directly to loved ones this holiday season.Check it out here.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.