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Australian trade minister visits China as part of joint efforts to repair ties

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell visited China on Thursday as part of a joint effort to repair ties scarred by political rifts over the past decade. In a statement issued by his office, Farrell said he would be “advocating strongly for the full resumption of unimpeded Australian exports to China.” China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, with two-way exchanges totaling $287 billion in 2022. China recently resumed imports of coal, cotton and copper from Australia after a lengthy unannounced trade embargo. Farrell said he would push for a review of tariffs on Australian barley and represent “the interests of Australian exporters and producers.” China blocked such exports in retaliation for government actions targeting Beijing’s alleged interference in Australian elections, civic life and the large Australian-Chinese community. Despite improvements in economic relations, ties between the two remain tense. In April, Australian Foreign Minister Penny ...

Toronto approves multiplex residential buildings in low-rise neighbourhoods

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

Toronto’s residential landscape will be changing in an effort to build more housing in the city.City Council voted in favour of moving forward with a recommendation to allow multiplexes in all neighbourhoods. In Wednesday’s 18-7 vote, council adopted a staff report that will make amendments to the City’s Official Plan and city-wide zoning bylaw.“We have done extensive consultation, I have sent this out to my community multiple times,” says Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie, adding she believes the change is something most Toronto residents want.The amendment means single-family homes in any neighbourhood could be torn down and replaced with low-rise housing of two, three, or four units. The move will add to the diversity of housing options in areas where buildings with multiple units was previously not possible.“There has been housing growth through mid- and high-rise apartment buildings concentrated in densely populated areas of the city,” rea...

Japan’s Honda records lower profit, projects recovery ahead on sales rebound

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Honda’s profit for the fiscal year that ended in March dropped 1.7% as sales took a hit from a semiconductor shortage and restrictions in China related to the coronavirus pandemic.But the Japanese automaker said Thursday that recovery was on the way, forecasting record sales and operating profitability for the current fiscal year.Net profit for the fiscal year that just ended totaled 695.2 billion yen ($5.2 billion), as declining auto sales and rising research costs offset the perks of a favorable currency exchange rate.A cheap yen is a plus for Japanese exporters like Honda because it raises the value of overseas revenue when it is converted into yen.Sales for the fiscal year grew 16% to 16.9 trillion yen ($126 billion), lifted by healthy motorcycle sales. Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. projected record sales revenue for the fiscal year ending in March 2024, at 18.2 trillion yen ($136 billion). The 1 trillion yen ($7.5 billion) operating profit projected for the fiscal ye...

‘Now or never’: Migrants rush to US border ahead of Title 42 expiration

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

MATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — Migrants rushed across the border hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions were to expire Thursday, fearing that new policies would make it far more difficult to gain entry into the United States.In a move to clear out overwhelmed holding facilities, Border Patrol agents were told Wednesday to begin releasing some migrants with instructions to appear at an immigration office in the United States within 60 days, according to a U.S. official. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and provided information to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.The Biden administration has been unveiling measures to replace Title 42, which suspended rights to seek asylum since March 2020 on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. On Wednesday, the Homeland Security Department announced a rule to make it extremely difficult for anyone who travels through another country, like Mexico, to qualify for asylum. It also introduced ...

OPP officer dead, 2 others injured in shooting east of Ottawa

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

An Ontario Provincial Officer has died and two others are injured after a shooting east of Ottawa.Provincial police were called to a home on Laval Street in the village of Bourget, around 50 kilometres east of Ottawa, shortly after 2 a.m. on Thursday after someone reported hearing a gunshot.When three officers arrived at the scene, police say they were shot at by someone inside the home.The officers were taken to hospital in Ottawa, but one of the officers was later pronounced dead.The extent of the injuries suffered by the officers is not known but police say they are recovering.One person has been taken into custody.

How Europe is leading the world in building guardrails around AI

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Authorities around the world are racing to draw up rules for artificial intelligence, including in the European Union, where draft legislation faced a pivotal moment on Thursday. A European Parliament committee voted to strengthen the flagship legislative proposal as it heads toward passage, part of a yearslong effort by Brussels to draw up guardrails for artificial intelligence. Those efforts have taken on more urgency as the rapid advances of chatbots like ChatGPT highlight benefits the emerging technology can bring — and the new perils it poses.Here’s a look at the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act: HOW DO THE RULES WORK? The AI Act, first proposed in 2021, will govern any product or service that uses an artificial intelligence system. The act will classify AI systems according to four levels of risk, from minimal to unacceptable. Riskier applications will face tougher requirements, including being more transparent and using accurate data. Think about it ...

Bank of England raises UK interest rates to highest level since 2008

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has raised interest rates to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the U.K.The decision on Thursday by the bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee to lift its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5% was widely anticipated in financial markets. The increase was its 12th in a row.Like other central banks around the world, the Bank of England has sought to keep a lid on inflation, which over the past year has been fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That sent energy prices soaring, a development that then led to price increases across a wide array of goods and services.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is set to raise interest rates later Thursday to their highest level since late 2008 as it continues to combat stubbornly high inflation in the U.K.Financial markets expect the bank’s nine-member Monet...

Editorial Roundup: New York

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

New York Post. May X, 2023. Editorial: Weed ruins young men’s mental health, study shows: STOP legalizationOops: A massive new study proves the normalization of cannabis use is an ongoing social disaster.You’ve got to be under the influence — of toxic ideology, if not pot itself — to ignore the evidence.Researchers analyzing the health data of 6.9 million people have linked weed use to hugely increased mental-illness rates among adolescent males — including as much as a shocking 30% of schizophrenia cases among young men.The trend represents not just greater use, but the increasing potency of weed and weed products.That will only keep rising as the profit motive and industrialization of production, now that it’s so widely legalized, promote delivery of ever-more concentrated THC (the psychoactive chemical in weed) to users.Schizophrenia is one of the most serious, and tragic, psychiatric disorders.It can be treated, but patients often go off their meds, become homeless or semi-homel...

Woman charged in series of baseball bat attacks on Northwest Side

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

CHICAGO — A 26-year-old woman has been charged after several baseball bat attacks on the city's Northwest Side, according to Chicago police.Denise Solorzano, of Chicago, faces three felony counts of aggravated battery in a public place, four felony counts of aggravated battery/use of a deadly weapon and one felony count of aggravated assault.Police said Solorzano was identified as the person who attacked a 27-year-old and 31-year-old woman with a baseball bat in the 4500 block of North Mozart in the Albany Park neighborhood on Tuesday. The assault was captured on video. Woman in custody in connection with 6 baseball bat attacks on Northwest Side: police Just moments later, she attacked a 34-year-old woman with a bat in the 3000 block of West Cullom.According to police, Solorzano is also charged in connection to the batteries of a 19-year-old woman in the 4000 block of West Lawrence and a 33-year-old woman in the 4200 block of West Richmond on Sunday.She is due in bond court Thursday.

Thursday Forecast: Mostly sunny and low 80s

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:55:59 GMT

Thursday: Mostly sunny, cooler lakeside, SSE 5-10. High: 82, Low: 72Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, early AM rain/storm showers, ESE 5-10. Low: 63Friday: Mostly cloudy, 70% showers and thunderstorms, cooler lakeside, ESE 5-10 G15. High: 71, Low: 62Chicago Weather | Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center's Forecast (wgntv.com)7DAY wgntv.com/weather