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Troubles shadow lingers as N Ireland marks 25 years of peace

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Peter Olphert was 14 when Irish Republican Army gunmen killed his father. Forty years later, he says it’s time to set aside the past.Mark Thompson lost his brother to British Army bullets, another victim of “the Troubles” that wracked Northern Ireland for three decades. He thinks society can’t move forward until it confronts unfinished business and holds some of those responsible to account.This month marks 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement largely ended bloodshed that left 3,600 people dead, some 50,000 wounded and thousands bereaved. Northern Ireland is observing the anniversary with a reunion of key peace process players and a visit from U.S. President Joe Biden.The peace accord may have stopped the fighting, but deep divisions remain over the conflict’s legacy — making it hard for some of Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people to move past it. And Britain’s exit from the European Union has only complicated matters, creating poli...

Eight sheltered but more spaces needed as Vancouver seeks rooms for displaced campers

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

VANCOUVER — A handful of homeless people set up tents overnight along a stretch of Vancouver’s Hastings Street that was cleared Wednesday in a co-ordinated effort by city officials and Vancouver police.Mayor Ken Sim ordered the long-standing encampment removed after the city’s police and fire chiefs warned of escalating crime and an unacceptable fire risk.At the camp’s peak, about 180 structures covered the sidewalk along the busy street.Now there are questions about where the displaced residents will go, and many have vowed to return to the only place they feel safe as soon as enforcement lifts.Vancouver city manager Paul Mochrie has said there are not enough shelter spaces to accommodate everyone, but a statement issued Wednesday night from Sim’s office said eight people had asked for accommodation and it had been supplied.The statement says “shelter space availability is fluid” but pledged to continue to work with government partners to “...

Bottle battle: Boston talks of banning tiny bottles of booze

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The little bottles of booze at Huntington Wine and Liquor are displayed prominently at the front counter of the Boston store, some stacked neatly in display cases, others tossed haphazardly in trays.Steven Rubin, whose family has owned the store since 1970, estimates that they account for up to 15% of his sales.“They are a major part of our business, and have a high profit margin,” he said.But he might be on the verge of losing those sales.Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo has proposed banning city liquor stores from selling the bottles that hold from 50 to 100 milliliters (1.7 to 3.4 fluid ounces), which he says would address both alcohol abuse and excessive litter.“The fact that this handled even one of these two issues would have been enough for me,” Arroyo said at city hall hearing on the issue on Monday. “The fact that it plays in both of these issues I think is an overwhelming reason to move forward with something like this.”The little bottles are favored by p...

Ana Bailão to support moving Science Centre to Ontario Place if elected mayor

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

The future of Ontario Place is top of mind for a couple of Toronto mayoral candidates who are revealing their plans for the space should they be elected.Former councillor Ana Bailão announced Thursday morning she would support relocating the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place. She says the move would free up the land the Science Centre currently occupies and make room for new housing.If elected, Bailão says she would approve building 5,000 new homes, including 1,500 affordable homes, on the city-owned land where Science Centre sits.“By building new homes here, residents would be able to live close to where they work with access to transit on the Ontario Line and Eglinton Crosstown,” reads a release from Bailão’s campaign.“To accelerate progress on housing we need to be bold and innovative. This is a smart solution for Ontario Place.”The province is proposing a 65,000 square metre private entertainment, water recreation and wellness centre for the s...

IMF head expects less than 3% global economic growth in 2023

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund chief said Thursday the world economy is expected to grow less than 3% in 2023, down from 3.4% last year, increasing the risk of hunger and poverty globally.Kristalina Georgieva said growth is expected to remain around 3% for the next five years, calling it “our lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990, and well below the average of 3.8% from the past two decades.”She said slower growth would be a “severe blow,” making it even harder for low-income nations to catch up.“Poverty and hunger could further increase, a dangerous trend that was started by the COVID crisis,” she said.Georgieva’s comments at a Meridian-Politico event come ahead of next week’s spring meetings of the IMF and its sister lending agency the World Bank in Washington, where policymakers will convene to discuss the global economy’s most pressing issues.The annual gathering will take place as central banks around the world continue to raise interest r...

Here’s a quick glance at unemployment rates for March, by province

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada’s national unemployment rate was 5.0 per cent in March. Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):_ Newfoundland and Labrador 10.3 per cent (9.9)_ Prince Edward Island 6.6 per cent (7.3)_ Nova Scotia 5.7 per cent (5.7)_ New Brunswick 5.8 per cent (6.3)_ Quebec 4.2 per cent (4.1)_ Ontario 5.1 per cent (5.1)_ Manitoba 4.7 per cent (4.7)_ Saskatchewan 4.7 per cent (4.3)_ Alberta 5.7 per cent (5.8)_ British Columbia 4.5 per cent (5.1)This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2023.The Canadian Press

Here’s a quick glance at unemployment rates for March, by Canadian city

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

OTTAWA — The national unemployment rate was 5.0 per cent in March. Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities. It cautions, however, that the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):_ St. John’s, N.L. 5.6 per cent (6.2)_ Halifax 4.5 per cent (4.7)_ Moncton, N.B. 5.2 per cent (5.3)_ Saint John, N.B. 5.3 per cent (6.4)_ Saguenay, Que. 3.7 per cent (4.2)_ Quebec City 1.7 per cent (1.9)_ Sherbrooke, Que. 4.4 per cent (4.0)_ Trois-Rivières, Que. 3.9 per cent (3.4)_ Montreal 4.8 per cent (4.7)_ Gatineau, Que. 4.5 per cent (4.4)_ Ottawa 4.0 per cent (4.0)_ Kingston, Ont. 5.4 per cent (5.5)_ Belleville, Ont. 5.1 per cent (5.5)_ Peterborough, Ont. 5.3 per cent (4.2)_ Oshawa, Ont. 4.6 per cent (4.5)_ Toronto 5.8 per cent (5.8)_ Hamilton, Ont. 5.7 per cent (5.6)_ St. Catharines-Niagar...

National employment numbers for March from Statistics Canada, at a glance

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

OTTAWA — A quick look at Canada’s March employment (numbers from the previous month in brackets):Unemployment rate: 5.0 per cent (5.0)Employment rate: 62.4 per cent (62.4)Participation rate: 65.6 per cent (65.7)Number unemployed: 1,053,000 (1,066,400)Number working: 20,088,800 (20,054,100)Youth (15-24 years) unemployment rate: 9.2 per cent (9.9)Men (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.4 per cent (4.3)Women (25 plus) unemployment rate: 4.1 per cent (4.2)This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2023.The Canadian Press

UK criticized for failures in Windrush immigration scandal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A civil rights group urged U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday to follow through on promises made to thousands of people of Caribbean descent who were wrongly targeted as illegal migrants in the so-called Windrush scandal that emerged five years ago.The Black Equity Organisation submitted a petition signed by more than 50,000 people that criticized the “painfully slow” response by the government and the decision by Home Secretary Suella Braverman to scrap several recommendations for immigration agency improvements that her predecessor accepted. “We urge your government to stick to the promises made — there is still an opportunity to show that you and your ministers are serious about righting past wrongs,” a letter to Sunak said. “To do anything less sends a clear message that the suffering of the Windrush generation was in vain and the hostile environment still exists.”The group is named for the Empire Windrush, the ship that brought the first 500 Caribbe...

OpenAI to offer remedies to resolve Italy’s ChatGPT ban

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:57:24 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The company behind ChatGPT will propose measures to resolve data privacy concerns that sparked a temporary Italian ban on the artificial intelligence chatbot, regulators said Thursday. The Italian data protection authority, known as Garante, last week blocked San Francisco-based OpenAI’s popular chatbot, ordering it to temporarily stop processing Italian users’ personal information while it investigates a possible breach of European Union data privacy rules. Experts said it was the first such case of a democracy imposing a nationwide ban on a mainstream AI platform. In a video call late Wednesday between the watchdog’s commissioners and OpenAI executives including CEO Sam Altman, the company promised to set out measures to address the concerns. Those remedies have not been detailed.The Italian watchdog said it didn’t want to hamper AI’s development but stressed to OpenAI the importance of complying with the 27-nation EU’s stringent privacy...