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EU agrees better energy efficiency Green Deal rules

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union member countries and negotiators from the EU Parliament have agreed on a provisional deal aimed at reducing energy consumption across the 27-nation bloc.Under the agreement, EU countries must achieve the goal collectively to ensure a reduction of consumption of at least 11.7% compared with the forecasts for 2030 that were made three years ago.The deal, which is part of the EU’s plans to become climate neutral by 2050, must be formally adopted by the Parliament and the Council — which brings together government ministers from each member state — to enter into force.The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, welcomed the provisional agreement, which also includes measures to tackle energy poverty. The agreed rules should also ensure that EU countries promote local heating and cooling plans in cities with more than 45,000 inhabitants.“Saving energy is a key step to saving the planet,” said Frans Timmermans, the executive Vice...

Versace reaches for the stars with glittery Hollywood show

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Decamping from her usual base in Milan to show her wares in Los Angeles — only three days before the Oscars — Donatella Versace says she was inspired by the energy, glamour and power of Hollywood. She had plenty of that, but needed one more thing to make it all work: good weather.And so, with rain expected on Friday, Versace was forced move her show ahead by a day. It may have been chaotic, but it was the right move. Her star-studded runway show Thursday took place on a cool but gorgeous Los Angeles evening on a spectacular rooftop overlooking the snow-capped San Gabriel mountains, sleek skyscrapers, and the Hollywood hills. Oh, and daylight ceded to darkness right as the show ended — just in time to turn on the floodlights, blast “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince and head to cocktails.The sun was still out when the crowd began making its way up to the roof of the imposing Pacific Design Center on Melrose Avenue, with its distinctive blue glass exterior. Guests included ...

Shiffrin leads giant slalom, closes in on 86th World Cup win

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

ARE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin made a strong start Friday in her pursuit of a record-tying 86th World Cup victory by taking a big lead in the first run of a giant slalom.Shiffrin was more than half a second faster than her highest-ranked rivals with a smooth and fluent run in the sunshine at the lakeside resort in Are.The second run is later Friday.The 27-year-old American can move even with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark with a victory. Stenmark won a record 86 World Cup races in the 1970s and 80s.___More AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsThe Associated Press

In The News for March 10 : How did Canada’s job market fare last month?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 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 March 10 …What we are watching in Canada …Statistics Canada is set to release its February labour force survey this morning.The data will give an update on how the labour market is faring amid high interest rates and a slowing economy.In January, the economy added 150,000 jobs, which was a higher number than expected, while the unemployment rate was hovering at five per cent. RBC is forecasting employment ticked up slightly last month while the unemployment rate edged up to a “still very low” 5.1 per cent. At its latest interest rate announcement, the Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady but flagged that the labour market is still too tight. The central bank is expecting higher interest rates to eventually weigh on employment and dampen wage growth. —Also this …Airports and airl...

Global stocks, Wall St. futures sink ahead of US jobs update

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets and Wall Street futures fell Friday ahead of a U.S. job market update amid unease about possible further interest rate hikes.Markets in London, Shanghai, Frankfurt and Tokyo declined. Oil prices were lower.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell Thursday by its biggest one-day margin this year after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned rates might be raised faster than expected to cool stubbornly high inflation.Traders looked ahead to U.S. government hiring data due out Friday after other indicators showed the job market has stayed strong despite repeated interest rate hikes. That is good for workers, but Fed officials worry rising wages might fuel inflation. That might lead to more rate hikes to dampen business activity and hiring.Fed officials are “clearly messaging that rates will move higher,” Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics said in a report.In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London fell 1.5% to 7,760.88 and Frank...

Head of Google Canada set to return to House of Commons committee

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

OTTAWA — The head of Google Canada is set to return to a House of Commons committee to talk about the company’s decision to block news access to some of its users. Sabrina Geremia was summoned by MPs, and was originally scheduled to appear in front of the heritage committee on Monday. But technical difficulties delayed the meeting and MPs invited her back today, while also requesting documents related to Google’s news ban. Three other Google executives, including its CEO, have refused a summons to appear. New Democrat MP Peter Julian says he plans to introduce a motion to notify the House of Commons that there was a refusal of the summons.Google says it is running a five-week test to limit news as a possible response to the government’s proposed Online News Act, which would require tech companies to pay news organizations for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.The Canadian P...

Climate change slowing down, not speeding up, movement of large Arctic rivers: study

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

YELLOWKNIFE — Scientists have long believed that rapid warming in the Arctic would cause river channels to move faster, but a new study has found the opposite may be true for large, winding rivers in the region.The paper, published in the scientific journal Nature and Climate Change, details how an international team of researchers tested this theory by analyzing satellite imagery of rivers in Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories over time. They found migration rates of these rivers, rather than increasing, decreased overall by about 20 per cent between 1972 and 2020. “My reaction was ‘oh boy, it’s going to be hard to convince people about this,'” lead author Alessandro Ielpi said of the findings. “It’s potentially a disruptive idea. It may potentially reshape the way we think about northern environments and the way they are adapting to the changing climate.”Ielpi, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and G...

‘There is this blemish’: Man charged in bathhouse raid calls expungement move lacking

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

TORONTO — Ron Rosenes remembers Toronto police officers knocking on the door of his room at a downtown bathhouse on Feb. 5, 1981, during co-ordinated raids that targeted four gay clubs in the city that night.Officers arrested and charged Rosenes and almost 300 other men with being in “a common bawdy house” as part of Operation Soap, which was among the largest mass police raids in Canadian history. “It was the first time in my life when the state or the police arm of the state confronted me and charged me with doing something in a space that I believed to have been a safe place for gay men to gather,” Rosenes said in a phone interview.“There is this blemish, if you will, on my life, and in police records, for a crime that for which I was unjustly charged.”The federal government announced this week that it would expunge the records of those arrested over several so-called “indecency” offences, particularly charges largely directed at th...

Federal and provincial justice ministers meeting to discuss bail reform

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

OTTAWA — Justice Minister David Lametti is preparing to face off with his provincial counterparts in Ottawa Friday on whether to reform Canada’s bail system, as premiers, federal Conservatives and law enforcement leaders demand more restrictions.But while he has signalled an openness to reform, Lametti has also cautioned that more-restrictive laws could bump up against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — and experts warn there are already too many innocent people awaiting trial behind bars. In a January letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, all 13 provincial and territorial premiers called on the feds to establish a “reverse onus” system for firearm and other offences, which would require a person seeking bail to show evidence as to why they should not stay behind bars. Nearly two months later, the provinces’ patience seems to be wearing thin. British Columbia Premier David Eby said earlier this week that residents are “very frustrated” with a...

Aid for war-related sexual violence in Ukraine also benefits domestic abuse survivors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:52:43 GMT

UZHHOROD, Ukraine — Kseniya Horovenko, a psychologist, has welcomed them into a brightly lit room furnished with a few chairs, couches and tables topped with small Ukrainian and Canadian flags.She has heard the stories of so many survivors — women, men and children, too — in the year since Russia invaded Ukraine, a conflict where several countries, including Canada, have concluded that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war.“Not everyone talks about it. We only hear some things,” Horovenko said through a translator.“People want to forget many things.”She co-ordinates a Canadian-funded counselling service in Uzhhorod, a small resort town near the border with Slovakia, where people arrived by the thousands after fleeing Russian-occupied territories.The service, which has provided support to some 200 survivors of sexual and domestic abuse, is one of many that Canada launched through the United Nations Population Fund as part of a $7-million aid package...