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Hazel McCallion LRT tracks being installed, but line will likely miss 2024 contractual date

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

As the Hazel McCallion LRT construction project makes headway with the beginning of rail track installation, officials say it’s not likely the line will meet its September deadline for substantial completion.CityNews recently visited the 19-stop, $5.4-billion line that runs between Port Credit GO station in Mississauga and the Brampton Gateway Terminal at Steeles Avenue East to check out progress made throughout the past year and look ahead to what’s coming in 2024.“We’re well underway towards that, but we’re not quite there,” Metrolinx vice-president Duncan Law told CityNews during a tour, describing the line as currently being in the final third of the overall project.He said September is the contractual date for most of the civil and engineering work to be done. Law said crews on the 18-kilometre project, which began the tendering process in late 2016 and started construction in early 2020, encountered delays due to COVID-19 and aging infrastru...

More Ukrainian children from Ukraine’s Russia-held regions arrive in Belarus despite global outrage

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian president on Thursday attended a government-organized meeting with children brought from Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, openly defying an international outrage over his country’s involvement in Moscow’s deportation of Ukrainian children. Speaking at the event marking the arrival of a new group of Ukrainian children ahead of the New Year holiday, President Alexander Lukashenko vowed to “embrace these children, bring them to our home, keep them warm and make their childhood happier.”Belarusian officials did not say how many Ukrainian children were brought into the country. A recent study by Yale University has found that more than 2,400 Ukrainian children aged 6-17 have been brought to Belarus from four Ukrainian regions that have been partially occupied by Russian forces. The Belarusian opposition has urged the International Criminal Court to hold Lukashenko and his officials accountable for their involvement...

S&P/TSX composite slips, U.S. markets tick up

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index was down in late-morning trading on broad declines, while U.S. stock markets were up slightly.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 77.59 points at 20,938.32.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 47.53 points at 37,704.05. The S&P 500 index was up 6.38 points at 4,787.96, while the Nasdaq composite was up 24.99 points at 15,124.69.The Canadian dollar traded for 75.76 cents US compared with 75.73 cents US on Wednesday.The February crude oil contract was down 49 cents at US$73.62 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was up 12 cents at US$2.55 per mmBTU.The February gold contract was down US$8.60 at US$2,084.50 an ounce and the March copper contract was down four cents at US$3.92 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)The Canadian Press

US sanctions money network tied to the Yemen Houthi rebels blamed for shipping vessel attacks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on a group of money exchange services from Yemen and Turkey alleged to help provide funding to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have been launching attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the southern Red Sea. Included in the sanctions are the head of a financial intermediary in Sana’a, Yemen, along with three exchange houses in Yemen and Turkey. U.S. Treasury alleges that the people and firms helped transfer millions of dollars to the Houthis at the direction of sanctioned Iranian financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal.The sanctions block access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prevent the targeted people and companies from doing business with Americans.Thursday’s action is the latest round of financial penalties meant to punish the Houthis. Earlier this month, the U.S. announced sanctions against 13 people and firms alleged to be providing tens of millions of dollars from the sale and shipment of Iranian commodit...

TTC to be free with extended service on New Year’s Eve

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

The TTC will once again offer free and extended service overnight on New Year’s Eve so Torontonians can get to and from their celebrations safely.Service will be extended until 3 a.m. on Monday Jan. 1, with the last train from Union to Finch departing at 2:31 a.m. and 2:27 a.m. to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The last southbound train from Finch to Union will depart at 2 a.m. and from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre at 1:50 a.m. The last northbound train on Line 1 will connect at Bloor-Yonge Station with the last westbound and eastbound trains departing the station on Line 2 at 2:40 a.m.For Line 2, the last eastbound train will depart Kipling Station at 2:15 a.m. and the last westbound train will depart Kennedy Station at 2:18 a.m. The last train for Line 4 will depart Don Mills Station to head westbound at 3:09 a.m. and Sheppard-Yonge at 2:57 a.m.Service will be free from 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 to 8 a.m. on Jan. 1 with regular Sunday schedule resuming on New Year’s Day. The Blue Night Netwo...

As tree species face decline, ‘assisted migration’ gains popularity in Pacific Northwest

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — As native trees in the Pacific Northwest die off due to climate changes, the U.S. Forest Service, Portland, Oregon and citizen groups around Puget Sound are turning to a deceptively simple climate adaptation strategy called “assisted migration.”As the world’s climate warms, tree growing ranges in the Northern Hemisphere are predicted to move farther north and higher in elevation.Trees, of course, can’t get up and walk to their new climatic homes. This is where assisted migration is supposed to lend a hand.The idea is that humans can help trees keep up with climate change by moving them to more favorable ecosystems faster than the trees could migrate on their own.Yet not everyone agrees on what type of assisted migration the region needs — or that it’s always a good thing.In the Pacific Northwest, a divide has emerged between groups advocating for assisted migration that would help struggling native trees, and one that could instead see native species replaced...

Air Canada signs sponsorship deal with Professional Women’s Hockey League

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

MONTREAL — Air Canada has a sponsorship deal with the soon-to-launch Professional Women’s Hockey League.The airline says it is an inaugural premier partner and the official airline for the first six teams in the league, which is set to hold its first game on Jan. 1, 2024.Air Canada is launching an ad campaign along with the launch.As part of the deal, the airline says it has secured intellectual property rights for the teams in Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, and Toronto, along with jersey branding rights for the Montreal team.The airline says the deal builds on its previous partnerships in professional women’s hockey, along with women’s sports including the Women’s National Basketball Association and the planned Project 8 professional women’s soccer league in Canada.The Professional Women’s Hockey League counts Canadian Tire as a founding partner, and has numerous official partner and official supplier partnerships. This report by ...

Last Canadian kidnapped by Hamas, Judih Weinstein Haggai, declared dead

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

The family of the only Canadian citizen who was still missing after Hamas militants conducted a brutal assault on Israel has confirmed her death.A relative says Judih Weinstein Haggai died on Oct. 7, the day of the attacks that killed an estimated 1,200 people, and her body is being held in the Gaza Strip.The 70-year-old woman’s family says she held Canadian, Israeli and American citizenships.Weinstein Haggai was born in New York state but moved to Toronto at the age of three, and moved to Israel 20 years later to live with her husband.She lived in the Nir Oz kibbutz, which sits less than three kilometres from her home, and was a volunteer who helped Palestinians in Gaza.Weinstein Haggai made puppets to help teach students English, and often posted haikus and meditations on YouTube.In an interview earlier this month, Weinstein Haggai’s relatives said she and her husband Gadi Haggai were out on an early-morning walk when the Oct. 7 attacks started.She sent a text message ...

Osisko Mining renews share buyback program

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

TORONTO — Osisko Mining Inc. says the Toronto Stock Exchange has approved its plans to renew its normal course share buyback program.Under the terms of the notice, Osisko could acquire up to about 36.5 million common shares through the program.The program runs between Jan. 1, 2024, and Jan. 1, 2025, with a daily maximum purchase of 191,304 shares.Osisko says that as of Dec. 19 it had 370.8 million common shares issued and outstanding.During its 2023 program, Osisko was approved to buy up to 29 million shares and actually bought just under 14 million shares.Companies routinely conduct share buyback programs as a way to return capital to shareholders and to try to boost share price.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 28, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:OSK)The Canadian Press

Anti-corruption authorities to investigate Zambia’s foreign minister over cash-counting video

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:10:54 GMT

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Anti-corruption authorities in Zambia said they will investigate after a video posted on social media allegedly showed the foreign minister receiving piles of cash from a Chinese businessman.Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo resigned but denied wrongdoing and said he had stepped down because he didn’t want to cause a distraction for the government. He did not deny he was in the video but said there had been “malicious claims over a business transaction between my private family business and our business partner.”“In due course, we will provide the accurate context,” he said.Kakubo said he would keep his position as a parliament member. The Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission said it would investigate the circumstances surrounding the video.The video shows at least three men counting piles of money neatly stacked on a table, some of it in U.S. dollars and some of it in Zambian kwacha. None of the men’s faces are visible, but they can be heard coun...