NEW YORK : For more than a decade, US Bank pressured its employees to open fake accounts in their customers' names in order to meet unrealistic sales goals, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday, in a case that is deeply similar to the sales practices scandal uncovered at Wells Fargo last decade. The CFPB alleged that US Bank accessed consumers credit reports to open checking and savings accounts, credit cards and lines of credit without their permission. Employees were encouraged to do so, in order to meet the bank's goals of selling multiple products to each customer with t

Eminent lawyer Vinod Ghai is set to be the next advocate general of Punjab, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced on Thursday. "He is a competent lawyer and we sincerely hope that the cases of Punjab will be properly advocated," said Mann after he emerged from a cabinet meeting. Mann also said that the state cabinet has approved the new milling policy, for the upcoming paddy harvest season. He said that the new policy will stop the smuggling of paddy by the mafia. Bhagwant Mann also clarified that those prisoners who are very close to completing their sentence or who are handicapped

Danielle Smith was the target of most of her United Conservative leadership race colleagues at the party's first debate. Many of the candidates in the Medicine Hat debate criticized Smith's proposal to bring in a bill to give Alberta the power to ignore federal laws and court rulings deemed not in its interest. Former finance minister Travis Toews (TAVES) says Alberta must be tough with Ottawa but a plan to cancel laws is delusional and former cabinet minister Rajan Sawhney (RAW-jun SAW'-nee) says the bill would bring chaos to the economy. Smith, the former Wildrose party leader, says her bill

The price of electric power in Alberta has taken another big jump. Sophie Simmonds, the director of Anova Energy, says the regulated rate for consumers has increased by more than 150 per cent in the past 18 months. The Alberta Utilities Commission has approved the regulated rate option prices for the month of August and they remain at historic highs. Both Enmax and Epcor have had rates higher than 17 cents per kilowatt-hour and Direct Energy's regulated rate sits at just under 17 cents. Energy analysts say the rising prices are because of high demand, tight supply and the high cost of natural

Hockey Canada continues to be under fire for the use of its membership-generated National Equity Fund to pay settlements related to sexual assault and abuse allegations. Hockey Canada says it has paid out 7.6 million dollars in nine such settlements since 1989. It says 6.8 million dollars of that was related to serial abuser coach Graham James. The fund was also used to pay for the services of a law firm that has been investigating an alleged sexual assault in 2018 that has Hockey Canada officials before a committee of MPs this week.

A strong earthquake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens. In the capital, hospital patients were evacuated and terrified people rushed outdoors. The 7-magnitude quake was centered in a mountainous area of Abra province, said Renato Solidum, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, who described the midmorning shaking as a major earthquake. “The ground shook like I was on a swing and the lights suddenly went out. We rushed out of the office, and I heard screams and some of

Vancouver Police are investigating after a woman was allegedly set on fire while sitting on a sidewalk on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Monday."This was a shocking attack that targeted a vulnerable member of our community," says Constable Tania Visintin. "We need witnesses and anyone with information to call police and help solve this crime."The victim, a woman in her 50s, was sitting on the west side of Dunlevy near Powell on July 25 at around 1:30 a.m. A stranger came up to her, poured a flammable substance on her head, and lit it on fire. The woman immediately ran to a nearby business to

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has obtained charges of first degree murder in Ripudaman Singh Malik's killing in Surrey. Charges have been laid against 21-year-old Tanner Fox and 23-year-old Jose Lopez for the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik. IHIT is going to do a press conference at 3pm on Wednesday. Sgt. David Lee provided the details about the charges in an email and said more information would be provided in the press conference. Ripudaman Singh Malik was killed in broad daylight on July 14th at a plaza near 82nd Ave. and 128th street.

Actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mithun Chakraborty on Wednesday claimed that 38 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs are in touch with the Opposition. Calling it 'breaking news', the former TMC leader claimed, "Do you want to hear breaking news? At this moment, 38 TMC MLAs have very good relations with us, out of which 21 are in direct (contact with us)." Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed the Centre saying it was 'not easy to break Bengal" with the help of investigative agencies. Claiming that the "BJP has no work" except toppling governments, Ba