За першу добу підприємці подали 2700 заявок на «Енергодопомогу ФОП». Ще понад 9000 заявок було у процесі оформлення. Про це повідомила Прем’єр­міністр Юлія Свириденко.

«Одноразову безповоротну фінансову допомогу до 15 000 гривень можуть отримати ФОПи 2—3 груп, які працюють у соціально важливих галузях і забезпечують людей ліками, продуктами та іншими базовими послугами. Програму спрямовано на підтримку малого бізнесу для забезпечення безперервної роботи в періоди відключень електроенергії», — зазначила очільниця уряду.Кошти можна спрямувати на придбання або ремонт генераторів та іншого енергообладнання, пальне для генераторів або оплату електроенергії для автономної роботи під час відімкнень.Подання заявок відбувається онлайн через портал «Дія», повідомляє Департамент інформації та комунікацій з громадськістю Секретаріату КМУ.

But if England are to have any chance in India and Sri Lanka, it feels like Salt and Buttler, their two leading batters, will have to hit form.

After Buttler’s period at number three, the pair were reunited as openers at the end of last summer and, despite a quiet run for Salt in Sri Lanka, have returned impressive results.

Salt hit scores of 141 not out, 85 and 89 against South Africa and Ireland. Buttler also made 83 against South Africa when an opening stand of 126 sent England on their way to a record 304-2.

Salt, a notoriously aggressive starter, cuts loose from the start, striking at 149.7 in the first two overs of T20s since the start of 2024 – the third best of any opener at this World Cup.

Buttler, in comparison, has a strike-rate of just 105 in that time. He sits back and watches Salt do his thing.

But by the final two overs of the powerplay Buttler is often flying.

The former captain, having taken a bit of time to get in, has been striking at 172.9 in the fifth and sixth overs, even outdoing Salt’s healthy strike-rate of 163.7.

The pair take on the powerplay in specific and complementary ways.

A partial government shutdown has recently come to an end, but another one may be on the horizon if Democrats and Republicans can’t hammer out an agreement on potential restrictions to put on immigration enforcement tactics that have been put in the spotlight after two fatal shootings by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis last month.

A day after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the overwhelming majority of his caucus voted against a funding deal Senate Democrats had struck with the White House, Democratic leaders presented a unified message as they laid out their demands for reform at the Department of Homeland Security — calling on Republicans to “get serious” as lawmakers face a Feb. 13 deadline to fund the agency.

“The House and Senate are completely and totally on the same page in terms of Democrats,” Jeffries told reporters Wednesday. “Leader Schumer and I had a close, positive conversation yesterday about the path forward.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said they “had a really good and productive meeting, and we’re on the same page.”

As Jeffries and Schumer steady themselves for bipartisan negotiations, both leaders appeared eager to capitalize on the public backlash against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions.

Democrats called to separate the DHS funding following the deaths of Renee Good, a mother of three who was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, and became more urgent after the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was killed in a shooting involving federal law enforcement in Minneapolis on Jan. 24.

Sixty-two percent of Americans say current efforts by ICE to deal with unauthorized immigration go too far, according to polling conducted by Ipsos Jan. 30 to Feb. 1. 

Democrats lay out 10 key demands for DHS funding

In a letter Wednesday to Republican leaders, Jeffries and Schumer laid out 10 key demands from Democrats on DHS funding, including calling for judicial warrants before agents can enter private property, a ban on Immigration and Customs Enforcement wearing face masks, requiring the use of body cameras and new laws for use-of-force standards.

“Furthermore, there are steps that the Trump administration has the power to take right now to show good faith, including fully ramping down the surge in Minnesota and removing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem from her position,” Jeffries and Schumer wrote in the letter.

In remarks earlier Wednesday, Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democratic appropriator in the upper chamber, said “Democrats are at the table. We are focused on getting a bill, but it has to be a bill that reins in the abuses that we are seeing by ICE and CBP.”

Still, bipartisan negotiations did not commence Wednesday, and Speaker Mike Johnson sent the House on recess a day early on Wednesday afternoon. 

“The bottom line is we’re ready to sit down and negotiate,” Schumer said earlier. “If [Republicans are] not serious and they don’t put in real reform, they shouldn’t expect our votes. Plain and simple.”

In earlier remarks, Schumer and Jeffries seemed unsure whether they’re negotiating with President Donald Trump or congressional Republicans — with Schumer reporting that Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Democrats to talk to the White House. 

“Both are afraid of their shadows, and they’re getting a lot of blowback and pressure from their left,” Thune said of Jeffries and Schumer, according to Bloomberg, with Thune adding he hadn’t received an offer from Democratic leaders as of Wednesday morning.

“Thune is scared of his own shadow,” Jeffries told reporters early Wednesday afternoon. “We are negotiating because we want to try to achieve an outcome, but the changes that are enacted with respect to the way in which the Department of Homeland Security is conducting itself need to be bold, meaningful and transformative.”

The GOP response

Johnson said that Democrats “want to have a judicial warrant on top of the immigration judge warrant. And we can’t do that,” noting time constraints.

Johnson has signaled a “good faith” willingness to compromise on body cameras, but was adamant that Republicans would not support a ban on face masks for agents. 

“When you have people doxing them and targeting them, of course, we don’t want their personal identification out there on the streets, and so we’ve got to work through this in a meaningful way, in a thoughtful way that comports with common sense,” Johnson said Sunday.

Exit ramps

So far, Democrats have not put their proposal into legislative text.

Republicans have also not crafted any legislation so far to address next week’s deadline.

“Let’s hope that over the next two weeks, we can negotiate and get this done,” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “[Democrats] say they want a real negotiation with President Trump and Republicans over immigration enforcement policy, and we are happy to have that debate.”

Jeffries told reporters that he is a “hard no” on a continuing resolution for Homeland Security through the end of the fiscal year.

“We need to resolve this issue by Feb. 13,” Jeffries said. “American citizens are being killed in the streets. Children are being kidnapped. Houses of worship, schools and hospitals are being stormed. We need to get this done and get this done immediately.”

Democrats predicated that Republicans are setting the stage for a shutdown.

“Mike Johnson has articulated unreasonable positions,” Jeffries said. “He’s actually supporting the notion that masked and lawless ICE agents should be deployed in communities throughout America. That’s Mike Johnson’s position. That’s contrary to what the American people believe should be taking place.”

Johnson told reporters that he was heading to the White House later Wednesday to talk to the president. 

“We’ll see how it all develops,” Johnson said. 

What is the impact of shutting down DHS next week?

The DHS appropriations bill funds far more than ICE, despite ICE getting most of the attention in this current standoff. The bill also funds Transportation Security Administration, FEMA, the Coast Guard and the Secret Service, among other federal agencies.

While there is some FY2026 funding for ICE, the agency received a $75 billion infusion of funding over the next decade through the already-passed “Big Beautiful Bill,” so a lapse in funding at DHS would not cease operations there.

“What they’ll be shutting down is FEMA operations, as we’re cleaning up from the winter storm. They’ll be shutting down TSA, which is obviously necessary to keep the country moving through our airports. Coast Guard operations,” Johnson said of Democrats’ actions. “I mean, so many important functions in the Department of Homeland Security is what will be adversely affected by these partisan games. Let’s hope and pray that they don’t do that. Let’s hope that over the next two weeks, we can negotiate and get this done.”

Restaurants across B.C. that use a company to manage tip collection and staff wages say it has, without stating why, stopped distributing money and some restaurants are reporting that they are out thousands of dollars.

Everyday Payments is described as “delivering real-time employee payouts. Businesses using the service span hospitality, food service, beauty, wellness, and commission-based industries.

“Leveraging the AnyDay platform, the solution combines a powerful employer portal with a flexible mobile app and payment card for cardholders; simplifying fund management, improving visibility and control, and enabling faster, more predictable access to earnings.”

Eric Griffith, owner of Alta Bistro and Alpha Cafe in Whistler, told Global News that when he logged in to the system last Wednesday morning, he knew something was wrong.

“We’re missing $4,550,” he said.

“But I thought, ‘OK, this has to just be an error. They’ll resolve it. They must know that this has happened.’ Well, the emails go out, try to contact support, whatever, and it was just no response until the weekend.”

Griffith said business owners started realizing they were not alone.

“Monday, there was a press release from the company, which is what they emailed us as well, saying there’s some type of compliance issue. We’re working through it, and there’s a reconciliation, but no answers to any questions as to why this happened,” he said.

“What is the intention? When is the money coming back?”

Griffith said they started using the program as it saves time and administrative work and keeps track of all the money and staff tips.

“So this piece of technology was very useful and working well, absolutely well,” he said.

“The staff were happy. I was happy because I was saving time, and also it was just easy.”

However, with so much uncertainty now, Griffith said he doesn’t know what to do.

“So if it’s 5,000 to me and it’s $100,000 to someone else, it’s still like relative impact, right, which is ultimately hurting the business, the ability for the owners and businesses to pay the staff, and then, I mean, for me, it comes down to paying my suppliers and other things, right?,” he added.

“That money becomes a hole, right? So, yeah, I don’t want to think.”

4:43
Canada restaurant outlook 2026

Matthew Upton, one of the owners of The Broken Seal restaurant in Squamish, told Global News they are missing $12,000.

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“It’s huge,” he said.

“That’s over two weeks’ worth of payroll. It’s half of what our ends is. It’s a huge effect for us.”

Upton said the last week has been very challenging, trying to get in touch with someone at Everyday Payments. He said he was on hold for four hours on Friday, four hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday and never got a response from anyone until Monday.

“It’s very concerning,” he said.

“It’s, I think, as a whole, the hospitality industry is not an easy industry to be in, and when there’s unknowns, we have such small margins, so keeping as much money in our bank account is the most important thing. So when you have large amounts come out, it’s definitely daunting, for sure.”

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BC Restaurant & Foodservices Association, said he has heard the same issues from restaurants all over the province.

“I have just read two emails in the last five minutes,” he told Global News.

“One restaurant group lost $50,000, one restaurant group is out $15,000 — one’s in Prince George, one’s in Vancouver.”

Tostenson said in the case of one Vancouver restaurant, close to one million dollars was taken out of the “wallet” that Everyday Payments manages on behalf of employees to distribute tips.

“This is really, really serious, and there’s a lot of concern in the industry, because these funds go into a third party for the purposes of paying out and distribute the gratuities to our hard-working employees,” he added.

“And they’ve the company that manages that, Everyday Payments, for some reason that we don’t know, have taken the money and emptied all the wallets. I think this is in the millions of dollars, to be perfectly honest with you. This is really serious.”

Global News has reached out to Everyday Payments.

Initially, a form message was received, stating, “As you can imagine, Everyday People are inundated. Note that card creation and loading are temporarily paused while they work with DC Bank to resolve a service interruption affecting new card loads.

“Existing cardholders are not impacted and can continue using their cards as normal, but additional loads cannot be processed at this time.”

Later, a spokesperson for the company said in an email that they are aware of the concerns and they understand why the timing has been stressful for some restaurants.

“We are reviewing inquiries relating to a short transition period at the end of January, during which operational adjustments were implemented to move the platform to a fully prefunded processing model,” the statement read.

“During this period, some merchants experienced delays or changes in the timing of debits and loads.

“Importantly, funds were not removed from merchant accounts or cardholder wallets other than through established funding and settlement processes.”

Tostenson said the issue began after the company merged with another, and each appears to be pointing the finger at the other.

” Anybody is trying to reach out to the companies, all they’re doing is getting standard administrative messages back,” he said.

“And in the meantime, we’re scrambling to make sure that our employees are whole, so we’re having to find the money that’s gone to make sure we pay our employees. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Tostenson said the guidance from the industry now is for businesses to check their wallets online and see what money is in there.

He also confirmed that police reports have been filed in Whistler and Prince George, but no one has heard from the company.

“The question that everybody wants to know is, where is my money?” Tostenson said.

The engines are still 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids, as they have been since 2014, but one of the two electrical motors that recovered energy has been removed.

The total amount of electrical energy has been increased by a factor of three, but the battery is more or less the same size. If the battery is fully depleted, the engine loses 350kw (470bhp), leading to potentially dramatic speed differentials.

Drivers will be backing off towards the end of straights – and being careful about when they apply the throttle – to ensure the most efficient energy usage, even on a qualifying lap.

The cars are also smaller and lighter, have less downforce and have ‘active aerodynamics’ – where both front and rear wings open on the straights to increase speed and the possibility for energy recovery.

Norris said the new car “certainly feels more powerful and quicker” on the straight.

“The biggest challenge at the minute is battery management and knowing how to utilise that in the best way,” he said.

“It’s not simple. You can explain it in quite simple terms. It’s just you have a very powerful battery that doesn’t last very long, so knowing how to use it in the right times, how much energy, how much of that power you use, how you split it up around the lap…

“The biggest challenge is how you can recover the batteries as well as possible, and that’s when it comes down to using the gears, hitting the right revs.

“Obviously, you’ve got some turbo lag now, which we’ve never really had before. All of these little things have crept back in, but I don’t think that changes too much.

“In a perfect world, I probably wouldn’t have [all] that in a race car, but it’s just F1. Sometimes you have these different challenges.”

His team-mate Oscar Piastri said the cars were “not as alien as I think we might have feared” and insisted he “didn’t think F1 had lost its identity at all”.

The Australian added: “There’s going to be some things to get used to but in terms of some of the fears that maybe we had before we got on track, a significant majority of those have been alleviated now.

“There’ll be some differences, but I think fundamentally they’re still the fastest cars in the world.”