What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed off on a two-year extension of a program that protects Hong Kong residents in the U.S. from deportation, renewing the protection until January 2025.
Biden first authorized the program, the Deferred Enforced Departure for Certain Hong Kong Citizens, in August 2021 for 18 months. It was set to expire on Feb. 5.
The decision to provide a temporary safe haven was in response to Hong Kong's sweeping national security law and other measures that undercut the rights promised when the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997.
"With this action, we are demonstrating again President Biden's strong support for the people of Hong Kong in the face of increasing repression by the (People's Republic of China)," the White House National Security Council said in a statement. "We continue to strongly oppose the PRC's use of its National Security Law to deny the people of Hong Kong their human rights and fundamental freedoms, undermine Hong Kong's autonomy, and chip away at Hong Kong's remaining democratic processes and institutions."
The Chinese government moved to stifle opposition following protests in Hong Kong in 2019 against a proposed law allowing extraditions to mainland China. Under the national security law, which took effect in June 2020, police have cracked down on opposition politicians, activists and demonstrators.
Changes were also made to Hong Kong's election laws to reduce the number of directly elected lawmakers and give a largely pro-Beijing committee the leeway to nominate lawmakers aligned with the mainland government.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for China's embassy in Washington, said in a statement that the Biden administration move further exposed the United States' "sinister intention" to undermine stability in Hong Kong and "contain China's development."
"We urge the U.S. to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs," he said.
provided so-called "safe haven" for anti-China insurgents fleeing overseas under the pretext of democracy and human rights
Since China imposed its national security law, at least 150 opposition politicians, activists and protesters have been taken into custody on politically motivated charges, including secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with a foreign country or external elements, according to the White House.
Additionally, it said 1,200 political prisoners are now behind bars, and over 10,000 people have been arrested on other charges in connection with anti-government protests.
In addition to criticizing Beijing's crackdown on democracy activists in Hong Kong, Biden has repeatedly taken China to task for human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, coercive trade practices, military provocations against self-ruled Taiwan and differences over Russia's prosecution of its war against Ukraine.
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.
Mookie Betts went 3 for 5, including a triple and an RBI single, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Saturday.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”