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Stock market today: Global shares mostly slip after US markets closed for a holiday

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares mostly declined Tuesday after a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Secretary of State Antony Blinken yielded no signs of progress from either side on Taiwan, human rights, technology and other issues of contention. France’s CAC 40 inched down less than 0.1% to 7,312.73 in early trading, while Germany’s DAX slipped 0.4% to 16,134.01. Britain’s FTSE 100 added nearly 0.1% to 7,592.28. The futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.4%. The Chinese government said the meeting between Xi and the top U.S. diplomat produced “candid and in-depth” talks. Bilateral relations are at their lowest point in decades. Both sides indicated a willingness to cooperate.“There is no doubt China and the U.S.A. need each other, and their relationship to be back on a more secure footing for mutually beneficial commercial reasons, as well as reducing the risk of actual conflict,” Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY...

Rescuers race against time to find the missing sub in the Atlantic bound for the Titanic site

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

Rescuers in a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean raced against time early Tuesday to find a missing submersible carrying five people on a mission to document the wreckage of the Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that sank more than a century ago.The submersible named the Titan, part of a mission by OceanGate Expeditions, carried a pilot, a renowned British adventurer, two members of an iconic Pakistani business family and another passenger. Authorities reported the vessel overdue Sunday night about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center. Every passing minute, however, puts the Titan’s crew at greater risk. The submersible had a 96-hour oxygen supply when it put to sea at roughly 6 a.m. Sunday, according to David Concannon, an adviser to OceanGate. “It is a remote area — and it is a challenge to conduct a search in that remote area,” said Rear Adm. John Mauger, a commander for the U.S. Coast Guard,...

In The News for June 20: Did last night’s byelections change anything in Ottawa?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of Tuesday, June 20, 2023 …What we are watching in Canada …Four byelections have returned seats back to the Liberals and Conservatives in strongholds many observers expected to remain status quo. The federal Conservatives’ Branden Leslie cruised to victory in the southern Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar over People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier. Leslie captured nearly 65 per cent of the vote. Bernier, whose fledgling party had its best showing yet in the riding during the 2021 federal election, came up short in his effort to regain a seat in the House of Commons, getting only 17.2 per cent of votes.The race for Winnipeg South Centre saw Ben Carr, son of the late Jim Carr who held the riding for the Liberals and had served in cabinet, easily recapture the seat with a little more than 54 per cen...

‘Motivated and prepared’: Canadian Forces engineers training Ukrainian troops

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

WROCLAW, Poland — A passionate Ukrainian soldier hopes the skills he’s learning from Canadian troops and their allies will ultimately help make a difference in winning the war with Russia.About 100 Ukrainian soldiers are being trained at a secret location in southwestern Poland. Canadian military arranged for The Canadian Press to visit the camp.The base is in a rural region with tiny villages, each blending into the next, with plenty of trees and privacy.It’s called Camp Sapper, named after elite combat engineers who are skilled in minefield placement and clearing, bridge building, demolitions, field defences, and road and airfield construction. There are a variety of courses going on. One involves detecting mines first using a metal detector then lying prone and digging carefully into the dirt.There are also impromptu exercises administering emergency first aid.Every 15 minutes or so, there’s a loud bang. A puff of smoke floats into the air as Polish soldiersprov...

Manitoba city discusses options, possible memorial to honour 15 killed in bus crash

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

DAUPHIN, Man. — A western Manitoba community is grappling with how to honour 15 seniors killed in a fiery bus crash last week.Dauphin city council held an in-camera meeting Monday to discuss how it should respond to the collective grief and whether there should be a public memorial or vigil.Dauphin’s ministerial association is also set to gather today and discuss options. A minibus was carrying the group of seniors from Dauphin and the surrounding area to a casino Thursday when it went into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer truck near the town of Carberry.Health officials say ten others on the bus, including the driver, remain in hospital.Five are in critical condition.The names of those killed have not been officially announced.Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak says the city is listening to families and what they need in order to heal during this difficult time. Ernie Sirski, reeve for the Rural Municipality of Dauphin, says the trauma is ongoing and a lot of people are still trying to...

Byelections return seats to Liberals, Conservatives but with closer contest in Oxford

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

OTTAWA — Four byelections have returned seats back to the Liberals and Conservatives in strongholds many observers expected to remain status quo. The federal Conservatives’ Branden Leslie cruised to victory in the southern Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar over People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier. Leslie captured nearly 65 per cent of the vote. Bernier, whose fledgling party had its best showing yet in the riding during the 2021 federal election, came up short in his effort to regain a seat in the House of Commons, getting only 17.2 per cent of votes.The race for Winnipeg South Centre saw Ben Carr, son of the late Jim Carr who held the riding for the Liberals and had served in cabinet, easily recapture the seat with a little more than 54 per cent support from voters.Anna Gainey, a former Liberal party president and former policy adviser to cabinet ministers, nabbed 50.8 per cent of the vote to keep Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount red, following the resignation o...

Ozempic ads seem to be everywhere. Doctors and ethics experts are worried about that

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

With ads popping up on TV, social media, giant billboards and at professional sports games, Canadians may be feeling bombarded by marketing for Ozempic and sister drug Rybelsus. Some have taken to social media to document their most remarkable sightings, including Ozempic and Rybelsus ads wrapping entire streetcars and encircling the field at Toronto Blue Jays baseball games.      Both medications are semaglutide drugs manufactured by Novo Nordisk  — Ozempic is the injectable form and Rybelsus is the pill form. They’re approved in Canada for treating Type 2 diabetes and often prescribed off-label to treat obesity.But some doctors and medical ethics experts say the marketing campaign is too aggressive. They worry that such intense saturation of advertising could lead to pressure on doctors to prescribe Ozempic to patients who don’t actually need it, leading to shortages for those who do. They also worry that serious potential side-effects such as pancreatitis and gallblad...

Businesses’ changing credit usage a worrying trend: Equifax

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

TORONTO — Equifax Canada says new data suggests a significant shift in credit usage among businesses in the first quarter of 2023. The agency says the latest numbers highlight growing financial stress in the industrial and financial trades, and cast doubt on the stability of the Canadian economy. Equifax says businesses’ total outstanding balance on bank-issued instalment loans declined by 2.4 per cent from the first quarter last year.However, credit card balances grew by 15 per cent and lines of credit increased by 11 per cent. Equifax Canada’s head of commercial solutions Jeff Brown says in a press release that the decline in installment loans and the shift towards credit card usage could be impeding businesses’ growth potential and hindering their ability to make larger investments.The first quarter also saw a slowdown in new business openings, which Equifax says is a concerning trend.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.The Canadian Press

Daily horoscope for June 20, 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important decisions from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. EDT today (2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Cancer into Leo.Happy Birthday for Tuesday, June 20, 2023:You are spontaneous, charming and entertaining. You are often dramatic and passionate. You need to be around warmhearted, levelheaded people. This year is about service to others, especially family. Therefore, take care of yourself so that you can be of support to someone. Is it time for a makeover?ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★For the next four weeks, your focus is on home, family and your private life. For many, this will be increased interaction with a parent. For others, it will be a focus on real estate, residential moves or redecorating and updating where you live. Tonight: Cocoon.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★The pace of your days will accelerate in the next four weeks, with a busy schedule of short trips, errands, appointments plus increased interaction with siblings, relati...

Olaf Scholz faces tricky balancing act in Germany-China talks

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:12:23 GMT

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (pictured) faces a delicate balancing act this week at German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin, seeking to maintain good ties with Germany's largest trade partner while complying with a G7 pledge to "de-risk" from Beijing.Scholz received Chinese premier Li Qiang for dinner in the chancellery on Monday evening (19 June) ahead of the seventh round of bilateral, biennial talks which are also the first face-to-face session since the COVID-19 pandemic.The summit takes place today (20 June) in the chancellery before Li and the Chinese ministers for trade and reform attend the German-Chinese forum for economic and technological cooperation.The fact Li chose Germany for his first overseas trip as premier reflects the special relationship between Europe and Asia's largest economies. Rapid Chinese expansion and demand for German cars and machinery fuelled Germany's own growth over the past two decades.China became Germany's single biggest trade partner in 2016...