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Ukraine’s human rights envoy calls for a faster way to bring back children deported by Russia

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman voiced hope Friday that a coalition of countries formed to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia will be able to come up with a faster mechanism to repatriate them. Over 19,000 children are still believed to be in Russia or in occupied regions of Ukraine.Dmytro Lubinets spoke to reporters following the first meeting of the National Coalition of Countries for the Return of Ukrainian Children, which was formed based on a recommendation by Canada, in Kyiv.He said Russia continues to deport Ukrainian children to the territories it controls, citing information his office has received. This effort earlier this year prompted the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his envoy for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova.Judges at the ICC said they found “reasonable grounds to believe” the two were responsible for war crimes, including the ille...

Saskatchewan’s methane emissions underestimated, rate of releases high: research

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

New research suggests Saskatchewan’s oilpatch emits a potent greenhouse gas at a higher rate than almost anywhere else in North America. Matt Johnson of Carleton University’s Energy and Emissions Research Lab says Saskatchewan’s methane emissions have fallen in recent years. But he says most of that drop seems to have come from production cuts, not industry improvements.Worse, his research concludes that about 2.6 per cent of natural gas produced in the province leaks into the atmosphere, where it warms the climate about 80 times that of carbon dioxide. That rate is well above what is allowed in proposed American and European regulations. Johnson says it doesn’t make sense to talk about percentage declines in methane emissions because old measurements are unreliable.Like his previous research in Alberta and British Columbia, it finds methane emissions are underestimated by about 50 per cent.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2023.Th...

‘We are fixing the problem:’ Chow urges residents to take King streetcar

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow has vowed to make the King Street streetcar a faster way to get around once again.In an interview with CityNews, Chow said the city is doing everything possible to ease the congestion, causing streetcars to move slower than before the King Street Pilot.“My goal is to get the number of people taking the streetcar back to the pre-COVID pandemic, and it’s just as fast as when the pilot [first started],” said Chow.CityNews recently learned that eastbound travel times from Bathurst to Jarvis Streets during the evening rush hours averaged 19 to 26 minutes before the pilot program in 2017. The latest times show it is now worse, with an average of 22 to 29 minutes.The King Street pilot was made permanent in April 2019 after a one-and-a-half-year project that showed it increased daily weekly ridership by 16 per cent, and at the time, it took 16 minutes to travel from Bathurst Street to Jarvis Street.The pilot made it illegal for Toronto drivers to ...

Alberta finance minister says he has not ‘flip-flopped’ on proposed pension change

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

EDMONTON — Finance Minister Nate Horner — after promising any stand-alone Alberta pension plan would not follow the contentious Quebec model, then saying it might, then saying it won’t — told reporters Friday that possibility is back on the table.Horner rejected suggestions he was sending mixed messages, but the Opposition NDP called it another example of how the United Conservative government is crafting key policies on the back of a napkin as it examines having Alberta leave the Canada Pension Plan.“I have never flip-flopped on this issue,” Horner told reporters at the legislature as he and Jim Dinning, the chair of the province’s pension engagement panel, delivered an update on the public consultation process.“If Albertans were to come back … and say this (the Quebec model) is exactly what they want, they would have to have that conversation with the government of the day.”Quebec runs its own pension system, with a dual mandate to maximize fund returns but also invest in th...

A ‘soft landing’ or a recession? How each one might affect America’s households and businesses

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The solid hiring revealed in Friday’s jobs report for November, along with a raft of other recent economic data, is boosting hopes that the U.S. economy will achieve a “soft landing” next year rather than a widely feared recession. A so-called soft landing would occur if the economy slowed enough to bring inflation down to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, without tumbling into a deep recession.It’s a tricky task. The Fed has sharply raised its key interest rate to try to moderate borrowing and spending and tame inflation. The risk is that the Fed would miscalculate and keep its benchmark rate — which affects many consumer and business loans — too high for too long and end up causing a recession. In the past, the Fed’s policymakers have often sought to engineer soft landings after a spurt of economic growth ignited inflation or threatened to do so. Most frequently, the Fed has failed.What would a soft landing look like, compared with a potent...

Oshawa man charged in suspected hate-motivated incident against woman

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

A 54-year-old Oshawa man is facing charges after threatening a woman in what police say is a suspected hate-motivated incident.Investigators say a man approached a woman wearing a hijab in the area of Danforth Avenue and Victoria Park Avenue at around 6:15 a.m. on Dec. 1 and made derogatory remarks about her religion.The man then allegedly uttered a death threat before fleeing the scene.The woman was not physically injured in the incident.Several days later members of the hate crime unit have arrested George Murray and charged him with uttering death threats. He’s scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 15, 2024.“This investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence,” police said in a statement on Friday.Police say if a person is charged and convicted of an offence which has been motivated by bias, prejudice or hate, the judge in the case will take into consideration hate as an aggravating factor when imposing a sentence.

FTC opens inquiry of Chevron-Hess merger, marking second review this week of major oil industry deal

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Chevron’s acquisition of Hess oil company, the second inquiry the independent agency has opened this week of a major oil industry merger.Chevron and Hess said in separate filings that the FTC is seeking additional information and documentary materials related to Chevron’s proposed $53 billion purchase of Hess, announced in October.The statements Friday follow an announcement earlier this week that the FTC is reviewing ExxonMobil’s proposed $60 billion acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources. Such requests for information are steps the agency takes when reviewing whether a merger could be anticompetitive under U.S. law. If completed, the Exxon and Chevron deals would be among the largest mergers in the energy industry in two decades.The inquiries come after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators urged the FTC to investigate the two deals. Schumer said Friday the Chevron-H...

CSIS boss apologizes for rape claim response, revamps harassment plan

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

Canada’s spy chief has apologized to staff over his response to rape and bullying allegations in the agency’s British Columbia office.In a town hall this week, David Vigneault told Canadian Security Intelligence Service staff about new anti-harassment measures in what he called an “extraordinary moment.”He says the officer accused in the complaints, made public in an investigation by The Canadian Press last week, is no longer employed by the agency, as of Monday.Vigneault says he has ordered the creation of an ombudsperson’s position to handle workplace problems “without fear or reprisal.”He says the agency will also release annual public reports on harassment and wrongdoing in the agency.The moves come after The Canadian Press reported on what officers called a “toxic workplace” in the agency’s B.C. surveillance unit.One officer said she was raped nine times by a senior colleague while in surveillance vehicles on missions ...

New proposal to lower prescription drug costs

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - The Biden administration plans to take on a new strategy to try and lower the price of prescription drugs.Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra says the proposal would allow the federal government to open the door to cheaper generic drugs if major drug makers refuse to lower prices."It’s a fancy term called march in rights. When taxpayers have helped fund the invention of a particular medicine and therefore it's on the market because taxpayers make it available, we have the right to march in and say this isn't correct this is not fair to the American taxpayer,” Becerra said.Becerra would not name any specific drugs or drug makers the administration plans to target.Opponents are already pushing back.A spokesperson with PhRMA which represents the country's leading pharmaceutical companies argues the march in rule is being misused and will stifle the creation of future lifesaving drugs.Statement attributable to Megan Van Etten, PhRMA spokesperson:“Th...

UPenn loses $100 million donation after antisemitism hearing

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 19:57:45 GMT

(The Hill) – The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) lost a major $100 million donation on Thursday amid fallout from UPenn President Liz Magill's comments at a recent House hearing on campus antisemitism. In a letter to UPenn Senior Vice President Wendy White, lawyers for Ross Stevens, the founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, said Stevens would be withdrawing his gift, now valued at about $100 million, that was expected to fund the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance. Lawyers for Stevens allege UPenn violated the terms of Stone Ridge's limited partner agreement with the school."Mr. Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University's stance on antisemitism on campus," his lawyers wrote. "Its permissive approach to hate speech calling for violence against Jews and laissez faire attitude toward harassment and discrimination against Jewish students would violate any policies or rules that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on religion, including those of ...