World

The fine for those caught driving with a mobile device in Alberta is set to increase today. The ban on using a mobile device came into effect in September 2011, with fines rising in subsequent years from $172 to $287. Starting today, the monetary penalty will now be paired with three demerit points.

A Canadian couple who renovated their kitchen to match a cartoon one on “The Simpsons” has been saluted by the popular TV show. Marcia Andreychuk and Joel Hamilton had their names mentioned during the episode “Barthood,” a parody of the Richard Linklater film “Boyhood.” It aired on Dec. 13. In the episode, Homer and Bart are watching hockey when the …

The B.C. government’s quit-smoking assistance program is now available to people who drop by a pharmacy to qualify for free nicotine replacement products. As of Jan. 1, 2016, participants no longer have to register by calling 8-1-1 to reach the HealthLinkBC medical advice service. The program has also expanded its offerings to include nicotine inhalers and lozenges as well as …

Sixteen city hotels will go green as part of the NYC Carbon Challenge, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the city 80 percent by 2050. The expansion of the Carbon Challenge to these 16 hotels is projected to reduce citywide GHG emissions by an additional 32,000 metric tons and result in an estimated $25 million in energy …

Telus customers will be receiving a rebate from the company after an agreement was made with the Competition Bureau worth $7.34 million. The bureau launched an investigation in 2012 over certain third-party services that the country’s largest wireless carriers billed customers for without their permission. At issue is false or misleading representations in ads for services that sent trivia questions …

TSA: Travelers in 5 states may need more than driver’s license to fly. On Dec. 22, the Department of Homeland Security alerted state officials in Illinois and Missouri that their exemptions to a federal identification standard will end. In practice, this means that driver’s licenses from those states wont be valid to pass through security at various federally operated or …

If you want to stop eating junk food, just take a long look in the mirror. Unhealthy food tastes worse when you see yourself eating it! Scientists found people who ate unhealthy food found it less tasty if they looked at themselves eating it in the mirror. Looking at yourself eating a calorie filled cheeseburger or sloppy slice of pizza …

The english entrepreneur Heather Mills is thankful for her vegan diet because she thinks it gives her more energy and makes her more productive. She said: “I found I had more energy [when I went vegan]. “I just love that feeling that I wake up in the morning and I don’t feel sluggish or rough and I’ve just got consistent …

The number of twins being born in the U.S. is at an all-time high, but birth rates of other multiples are at their lowest in two decades. The rate of twin births in the United States reached a record high in 2014, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for …

She captured the hearts of people across the country. But now baby Hermella, whose parents fought to keep on life support, has passed away. Nirmala Naidoo, family spokesperson from Open Arms Patient Advocacy Society, confirmed Monday Hermella Mammo died Dec. 20 at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. The story of the brown-haired, chubby-cheeked little girl who lived at the …

A British couple have made history after a surrogate dog gave birth to the first cloned puppy of its kind on Boxing Day. Laura Jacques and Richard Remde from Yorkshire paid $100,000 to have the puppy cloned at a clinic in South Korea. The first-of-its-kind boxer puppy was born on Boxing Day and was cloned from Dylan two weeks after …