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Canada to drop COVID test requirement for travellers from China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

The Canadian government is ending the mandatory COVID-19 test requirement for anyone travelling to Canada from China, Hong Kong or Macao as of Friday. The government mandated pre-boarding tests for people coming from those places back in January after China removed long-standing public health restrictions, causing a countrywide outbreak of the virus.The government said it was concerned about reports of a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in China, and a lack of data available about potential variants that could be spreading through the country.At the time the Public Health Agency of Canada indicated the test requirement would remain in place until at least April 5. “Since Canada and other countries put in place temporary border measures in January 2023, data from China, the international community, and wastewater sampling conducted in Canada, have not detected any new variants of concern,” read a statement released by Canadian officials. The move to harden border restr...

NDP praises David Johnston as Tories, Bloc bemoan interference watchdog appointment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Federal opposition parties continued to call for a public inquiry into foreign interference Thursday, as the NDP welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s choice of a special rapporteur.On Wednesday, Trudeau announced that former governor general David Johnston will look into allegations of foreign meddling in Canada’s last two federal elections and recommend what the Liberal government should do about it.“Get real,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wrote in a Thursday statement.“Trudeau must end his cover up,” he charged, noting that Trudeau referred to Johnston as a “family friend” in 2017 and that the former viceregal was a member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said those ties show that Johnston is “close” to Trudeau, and he said Johnstonhas been “chummy” with China.“I don’t want to make out of that any personal character accusatio...

Stocks rally after battered First Republic gets a lifeline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rallying Thursday after a group of big banks offered a lifeline to the bank Wall Street had zeroed in on in its hunt for the next victim in the industry’s struggles. The S&P 500 was 1.7% higher in late trading after erasing earlier losses following reports that First Republic Bank could receive financial assistance or sell itself to another bank.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 355 points, or 1.1%, at 32,2229, as of 3:29 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.6% higher. This week has been a whirlwind for markets globally on worries that banks may be bending under the weight of the fastest set of hikes to interest rates in decades. The concerns have been flaring since Friday’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which was the second largest bank failure in U.S. history.Since then, Wall Street has tried to root out banks with similar traits, such as lots of depositors with more than the $250,000 limit that’s insured by the Fe...

Biden climate legacy at stake after backlash over Willow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Elise Joshi was at the White House last year, her eyes welled with happy tears as President Joe Biden hosted thousands of supporters to celebrate groundbreaking legislation targeting climate change. “In that moment, I felt a lot of hope that the administration was listening to us,” said Joshi, a California college student who is a leader of Gen-Z for Change, a coalition of young activists on social media.Now Joshi is planning to return to Washington, but for a very different reason. She’s outraged that administration officials approved the Willow project, a large-scale oil drilling proposal in Alaska, and she’s organizing a protest with compatriots from around the country.Joshi’s pivot underscores the political fallout that Biden is facing over Willow and the tension between honoring his promises on climate change and the nation’s energy needs. The president made fighting global warming a central part of his agenda, and White Hous...

Cyprus to speed up repairs to high-rises amid quake worries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cypriot authorities will spend more than 100 million euros ($106 million) to repair dozens of dilapidated high-rise housing units built decades ago for refugees from the island’s 1974 Turkish invasion, officials said Thursday.Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the plan foresees immediate repairs or complete reconstruction of 43 buildings deemed to be most at risk. He spoke after a meeting with lawmakers, engineers, municipal officials and representatives of thousands of displaced persons.Repairs will eventually be carried out to 315 other apartment buildings erected in the immediate aftermath of the invasion, which was triggered by a coup aimed at union with Greece and has left the island divided along ethnic lines.The buildings were among dozens of housing estates hastily constructed throughout the southern part of the island to shelter 160,000 Greek Cypriots who fled their homes amid fighting in the north where the Turkish army invaded.Renovat...

Why TikTok’s security risks keep raising fears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

TikTok is once again fending off claims that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would share user data from its popular video-sharing app with the Chinese government, or push propaganda and misinformation on its behalf.China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused the United States itself of spreading disinformation about TikTok’s potential security risks following a report in the Wall Street Journal that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. — part of the Treasury Department — was threatening a U.S. ban on the app unless its Chinese owners divest their stake.So are the data security risks real? And should users be worried that the TikTok app will be wiped off their phones?Here’s what to know:WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS ABOUT TIKTOK?Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that ByteDance could share TikTok user data — such as browsing history, location and biometric identifiers — with China’s authoritarian government. A law implemented by China...

Proposed 6-week abortion ban advances in Florida legislature

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A proposed six-week abortion ban received overwhelming approval from a Florida House committee Thursday as even Democrats acknowledged there’s nothing they can do to stop it from eventually becoming law.The proposal is moving along while a 15-week abortion ban signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last year i s still being challenged. The new proposal would only go into effect if the current law is upheld and would would make it a crime to provide an abortion past six weeks’ gestational age.“It’s a bill that recognizes the importance and value of the life of innocent, unborn human beings,” said Republican Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka said of her proposal. “The bill that’s before you is not solely a reflection of my personal beliefs, but a result of listening in an attempt to build consensus around a policy that supports life.”The measure could give DeSantis, who is widely expect to run for president, additional fodder to woo conservative ...

BNSF trains derail in Washington, Arizona; no injuries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

ANACORTES, Wash. (AP) — Two BNSF trains derailed in separate incidents in Arizona and Washington state on Thursday, with the latter spilling diesel fuel on tribal land along Puget Sound.There were no injuries reported. It wasn’t clear what caused either derailment.The derailment in Washington occurred on a berm along Padilla Bay, on the Swinomish tribal reservation near Anacortes. Most of 5,000 gallons (nearly 19,000 liters) of spilled diesel fuel leaked on the land side of the berm rather than toward the water, according to the state Ecology Department.Officials said there were no indications the spill reached the water or affected any wildlife.Responders placed a boom along the shoreline as a precaution and removed the remaining fuel from two locomotives that derailed. Four tank cars remained upright.The derailment in western Arizona, near the state’s border with California and Nevada, involved a train carrying corn syrup. A spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office...

Collision between minivan and truck leaves three dead, three injured in Quebec

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

SAINT-JOSEPH-DE-BEAUCE, Que. — A head-on collision between a minivan and a heavy truck in Quebec’s Chaudière-Appalaches region has left two children and their father dead.Provincial police today confirmed the death of a 4-year-old girl after reporting Wednesday that a 12-year-old boy and a 42-year-old man had been killed in the crash.Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday on Highway 112 in the small municipality of St-Frédéric, about an hour’s drive south of Quebec City.The minivan was carrying a family of six — four children and two adults. Provincial police say that one of the van’s occupants remains in critical condition while the other two suffered serious injuries that are not considered life-threatening.Authorities also said that none of the five people in the truck sustained any apparent injuries.It was not immediately clear what led to the collision, but investigators have ruled out weather or road conditions. Initial fin...

Businesses expect slower sales in short term as cost, labour issues persist: survey

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:10:35 GMT

OTTAWA — Businesses expect subdued sales in the short term as they face continued cost and labour pressures, despite slowing inflation, according to a survey by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.The chamber’s Business Data Lab released the results of its first-quarter poll on business conditions on Thursday, which found one-third of companies expect to raise prices next quarter.The retail, accommodation and food services sector, along with wholesale trade, construction and manufacturing sectors, reported feeling the most impacted by ongoing price pressures.Businesses said they expect inflation to remain the top obstacle over the next three months at 58 per cent, followed by input costs at 46 per cent and interest rates and debt costs at 40 per cent.Inflation slowed to 5.9 per cent in January, down from 6.3 per cent the month prior. Statistics Canada is expected to release February’s inflation rate next Tuesday.Most companies with at least five employees said they are stil...