Venezuela's Stock Market Has Blasted 260% Since Mid-December. Here's How Investors Can Win. - The Motley Fool

Pete Hegseth has been criticised after he mocked the contribution Nato countries made to the war in Afghanistan. The US defence secretary was branded “dishonest, disrespectful and dishonourable” over his comments, which he made in a speech to US army cadets. Hegseth suggested that “maybe five” countries contributed to the mission, with just “one or two” actually fighting. In fact, more than 1,100 non-American troops from 31 different countries were killed in Afghanistan, 457 of them from the UK. Hegseth: “I was a captain in Afghanistan and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters. “It was a beautiful thing to see, 50 different countries contributing to the Nato alliance and the [International Security Assistance Force] mission there. Except there were maybe five that contributed, it was actually closer to one or two that by the end were actually involved in kinetic operations. “In fact the patch ‘ISAF’ we joked it meant ‘I Saw Americans Fighting’.”Hegseth on Afghanistan:I was a captain in Afghanistan, and we would go to the headquarters in Kabul, and there would be 50 flags at the headquarters.

He was looking for microscopic shells in a Sarasota County quarry. What he found sat in a drawer for years before anyone understood where it came from. In the summer of 2006, Mike Meyer was doing the kind of work that never makes the news. An undergraduate at the University of South Florida, he had joined a fieldwork project in a quarry in Sarasota County, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, led by Roger Portell of the Florida Museum of Natural History. The students were collecting fossil clams, and Meyer’s job was to sieve the sediment packed inside them.

Donald Trump finishes speaking at a campaign rally at Majestic Valley Arena. via Associated PressDonald Trump has been condemned online after claiming Canada "will become the 51st state" of America. The US president's remarks threaten to reignite his feud with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney. Relations between the two countries have been badly damaged by an ongoing trade war, with Trump threatening to slap huge tariffs on Canadian goods. Trump has also angered the US's northern neighbour by unilaterally renaming Lake Ontario – which straddles the border between the countries – as Lake America. That sparked a backlash from Carney, who said: "We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. "Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always. "Speaking at a campaign rally ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, Trump once again accused Canada of ripping America off, and said the only way to stop it is by taking them over. He said: "Canada treats us very badly, they always have. Not any more. It's a whole different ball game now Trump is in town.

Published: October 19, 2026 at 11:37a.m. EDTHomeowners may be tempted to take the mortgage rate offered in a renewal letter, but savvy borrowers see it as the start of a negotiation process that could lead to big savings. With many borrowers now renewing at rates above what they previously locked in, mortgage professionals say the worst move is signing whatever arrives in the mail. The best results come from starting early, shopping around, and comparing more than the headline rate. Kola Ifabumuyi, a certified mortgage planner with Mortgage Architects, suggests starting about four months out from your renewal date, or earlier for self-employed borrowers or anyone whose income has changed. He advises homeowners to gather their mortgage statement and renewal offer, check how many years remain on the amortization, and decide what monthly payment they can afford. Anyone considering switching lenders should also start pulling together income documents. Personal plans matter as well. For instance, when Ifabumuyi worked with a homeowner planning to sell soon after renewal, they focused on what the mortgage would cost until the sale and what it would cost to break the contract.

PoliticsUpdated: October 19, 2026 at 11:30a.m. EDTPublished: October 19, 2026 at 11:07a.m. EDTSenator Pamela Wallin speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle OTTAWA — Pamela Wallin has resigned from the Senate, according to her biography on the Senate website. Wallin was appointed to the Upper Chamber in 2009 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She had a trail-blazing career as a broadcaster and became the first woman to be named bureau chief for CTV News in Ottawa in 1985. After she became embroiled in the Senate expenses scandal that started in 2013, she was asked to leave the Conservative caucus in the Upper Chamber. An audit determined that about $140,000 in expenses she charged to the Senate were improper as they covered travel related to her positions on corporate boards. Wallin has represented her home province of Saskatchewan and is two years shy of the mandatory retirement age of 75. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.

MarketsPublished: October 19, 2026 at 11:22a.m. EDTBNN Bloomberg is Canada’s definitive source for business news dedicated exclusively to helping Canadians invest and build their businesses. TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index dropped more than 300 points in late-morning trading, while U. S. markets were mixed. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 347.61 points at 35,828.94. Real-time TSX market updates hereIn New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 56.80 points at 51,945.61. The S&P 500 index was up 44.21 points at 7,703.65, while the Nasdaq composite was up 375.37 points at 26,515.41. The Canadian dollar traded for 70.93 cents US compared with 70.65 cents US on Friday. S&P 500 market updates hereThe December crude oil contract was down US$1.33 at US$97.69 per barrel. The December gold contract was down US$14.20 at US$4,166.90 an ounce.---This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.