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Canadian parliamentarians visit Taiwan in united show of support against China

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

OTTAWA — A delegation of senior parliamentarians from all four of Canada’s main federal parties is in Taiwan this week to show support for the island as it faces the threat of a Chinese invasion.Led by Liberal MP John McKay in his role as chair of the House of Commons defence committee, the delegation includes members of Parliament from the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois and NDP.In an interview, McKay said Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen expressed gratitude for the visit, which is meant to demonstrate Canada’s continued commitment to the island in the face of Chinese aggression.“Ultimately, the objective is to support Taiwan,” said McKay, who described the island as being on the front lines of a geopolitical battle between democracy and authoritarianism.  “Ukraine has forced people to choose sides, to see who your friends are,” he said. “In some respects, Taiwan’s bullying by China is forcing everyone to choose sides.”China has v...

S&P/TSX composite ekes out gain, U.S. stock markets down after inflation data

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index eked out a gain Wednesday, while U.S. markets slumped later in the day to post small losses on the heels of fresh inflation data. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 32.47 points at 20,454.32.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 38.29 points at 33,646.50.The S&P 500 index was down 16.99 points at 4,091.95,while the Nasdaq composite was down 102.54 points at 11,929.34.The Canadian dollar traded for 74.40 cents US, according to XE.com,compared with 74.17 cents US on Tuesday.The May crude contract was up US$1.73 at US$83.26 per barreland the May natural gas contract was down nine cents at US$2.09 per mmBTU.The June gold contract was up US$5.90 at US$2,024.90 an ounceand the May copper contract was up six cents at US$4.08 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Extended power outages raise questions about resilience of Quebec’s power grid

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

MONTREAL — As some Quebecers remained in the dark Wednesday a week after an ice storm struck the province, energy experts said the lengthy outages reopen questions about the resilience of the province’s electrical grid.As of Wednesday afternoon, Hydro-Québec said fewer than 1,700 customers were without power across the province, down from more than 3,000 earlier in the day. The number has been steadily dropping since the April 5 storm knocked out power to more than 1.1 million homes and businesses — almost a quarter of all customers.François Bouffard, an electrical engineering professor at McGill University, said that as Quebec becomes increasingly reliant on electricity, the province’s utility and its municipalities need to think seriously about how to strengthen the grid — and who will pay for those measures.“Resilience, in terms of energy, is becoming a real problem that as a society we need to sit down and think about very strategically,” he said in an interview Wedn...

US stocks slip after Fed warns on ‘mild’ recession

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower following the latest update on inflation and the latest warning of a possible recession. The S&P 500 lost 0.4% Wednesday after bouncing between small gains and losses earlier. The Nasdaq composite slid 0.9% and the Dow also fell. Minutes from the Fed’s last meeting revealed Wednesday that its staff economists have forecast that a pullback in lending resulting from the banking turmoil will cause a “mild recession” starting later this year. A report Wednesday morning showed that prices at the consumer level were 5% higher last month than a year earlier. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story appears below. Stocks are wavering in mixed trading Wednesday following the latest update to show inflation continues to cool.The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower in afternoon trading after bouncing between small gains and losses earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48 points, or 0.1%, at 33,732, as of 2:38 p.m. Eastern time, whil...

Judge affirms stricter interpretation of federal mining law

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Another judge has adopted a U.S. appellate court’s stricter interpretation of a century-and-a-half-old mining law in a new ruling that blocks a metals mine in Nevada. The ruling could have ramifications for a huge lithium mine near the Nevada-Oregon line and other future mines on public lands across the West.U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks in Reno vacated the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s approval of Eureka Moly’s planned molybdenum mine about 250 miles (402 kilometers) east of Reno in a case that dates to 2013 and made two trips to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Hicks cited the 9th Circuit’s unprecedented ruling in an Arizona case last year that upended the government’s long-held position that the 1872 Mining Law conveys the same rights established through a valid mining claim to adjacent land for the disposal of tailings and other waste.That ruling blocked construction of a copper mine based on the conclusion those rights ...

WestJet says third parties should share compensation costs after flight delays

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

CALGARY — The CEO of WestJet Airlines says his company is asking the federal government to allow airlines to recover passenger compensation costs from other industry partners, if they played a role in causing flight delays or disruptions.Under the current air passenger bill of rights framework, airlines are the only party required to compensate travellers for unnecessary flight cancellations or disruptions.But WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech says airlines aren’t at fault if a passenger’s flight is held up by a backlog at customs or a breakdown of baggage handling equipment at an airport.He says compensating passengers every time something goes wrong is costly for airlines and in the long-term will cause airfares to rise. He says WestJet is asking the government to provide a mechanism for airlines to recover some of these costs from third parties who may be partly liable for disruptions.The federal government has committed to making changes to this country’s airl...

Claims guards aided killer fake death in S. Africa jailbreak

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A convict serving a life sentence for murder and rape who escaped from a top-security prison in South Africa by faking his own burning death likely got warders to help smuggle a corpse into his cell, a parliamentary hearing was told Wednesday.Thabo Bester’s elaborate escape happened nearly a year ago — when he was formally declared dead by suicide — but has only been made public and pieced together in the past three weeks. Critics allege that officials intentionally covered up the story.New details emerged in Wednesday’s hours-long parliamentary hearing into security failures in the breakout, as lawmakers questioned senior officials from the prison and British private security company G4S, which has a long-term contract to run it.Bester, who was convicted on one count of murder and two counts of rape and sentenced in 2012, was finally re-arrested in Tanzania last weekend along with his girlfriend, a celebrity doctor and socialite, police sa...

FBI: Armored truck robberies reported in Chicago area

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

CHICAGO — The FBI is investigating three armed robberies of armored trucks on Wednesday afternoon in Lansing, Calumet City and Chicago.The first one happened in Lansing, according to the FBI.Another armed robbery happened around 9:30 a.m. in the 1900 block of Sibley Boulevard in Calumet City. String of mail carriers robbed at gunpoint in Chicago continues The third armed robbery was reported around 2 p.m. in the 500 block of West 31st Street in Chicago. This is in the city's Bridgeport neighborhood.A witness said they saw someone jump into the armored truck with a firearm and then come out with bags of money. The witness said the person put the bags into a vehicle and the driver drove away.The witness said they then flagged down a police officer who was driving by and reported the robbery. Man dies after being shot in head while inside vehicle on South Side "They ended up taking out the gun and pointed it at the driver of the Brinks truck and the other two went into the Brinks ...

It's a different feel during the Bulls' postseason in 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

Matt Peck of CHGO joined "9 Good Minutes" on WGN News Now, an online talk show that features local journalists discussing a wide variety of Chicago sports topics. TORONTO — Getting back to postseason play hasn't been the celebration it was a year ago for a franchise that is looking to return to the top of the National Basketball Association.While fans weren't naive to the fact that the team needed work in April 2022, winning 45 games and returning to the playoffs was something to feel good about. It was a small step back to respectability after a mostly forgettable Fred Hoiberg and Jim Boylan era that saw the team miss the playoffs for four-straight campaigns.But an inactive offseason started turning the tide more towards the negative and that only continued into an inconsistent regular season. Never were the Bulls over .500 after November 2, never winning more than three games in a row over the 82-game slate.Great efforts against some of the NBA's best were often followed by lacklu...

These cities are bouncing back best (and worst) from the pandemic

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:10:32 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- San Diego has surged back from COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, but a few hundred miles north, San Francisco's downtown is near death, according to recent findings from the Institute of Governmental Studies public policy research center. In a study updated earlier this year titled "The Death of Downtown?" researchers looked at a number of economic health factors for 62 major cities to see which appeared least damaged by nearly three years of economic uncertainty. "With the initial shock of the pandemic, downtowns emptied out. Even as life has gradually returned to malls and neighborhood commercial corridors, the urban core is no longer a bustling center of activity. This trend has led many to wonder: is this finally the death of downtown?" study authors wrote. Researchers say a debate is forming about whether urban centers have emptied out permanently, similar to what was seen in the 1970s, or whether the recent urban resurgence will regain momentum as we fully ...