May, 2024
Israel offers Hamas ceasefire proposal that could end war in Gaza, Biden says
Israel has presented Hamas with a truce proposal that could immediately lead to a six-week ceasefire in Gaza, after the United States said the deal could pave the way to ending the war after nearly eight months. The first of the deal’s three phases would see Israeli forces fully withdraw from all “populated areas” of Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners — including women, children and the elderly — released from captivity. Palestinian families would be able to return to their homes, if they still stand, and aid deliveries to the devastated enclave would “surge” to 600Read more
Gov’t polling showed many Canadians’ drug decriminalization fears
Months before British Columbia sought to scale back its drug decriminalization pilot project, the federal government’s own polling suggested to officials that a majority of Canadians believed the policy would lead to an increase in overdoses. The results of the 11-page survey by the Privy Council Office, the wing of federal bureaucracy that supports the Prime Minister’s Office, also suggests Canadians were split over whether decriminalization would make their community any less safe. “I guess what people are thinking is that [decriminalization] will somehow enable drug use,” said Thomas Kerr, aRead more
Conviction fallout: Trump would need special permission to attend next year’s G7 in Canada
As a result of Donald Trump’s criminal convictions he would require special permission, if he becomes U.S. president, to enter Canada for next year’s G7 summit. The precedent-smashing guilty verdict against a major-party U.S. presidential candidate has prompted confusion about the potential international ripple effect, given that Canada is among dozens of countries to refuse entry to felons. Canadian officials have already begun discussing, among themselves, how they would navigate what could be a novel scenario as early as next summer. A federal official laid out to CBC News the CanadianRead more
House of Commons committee should close loophole on MPs’ travel, Liberal MP says
Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen is calling on the House of Commons to close a loophole that allowed MPs travelling to political party conventions to expense hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel costs in the past year. In a letter to Speaker Greg Fergus obtained by CBC News, Gerretsen said the loophole is allowing some MPs to bypass a House of Commons rule that bars MPs from claiming travel expenses linked to partisan political activity, “effectively making it hollow and meaningless.” While MPs can’t normally claim travel expenses for travel toRead more
Ottawa is spending $1.7M for 10 new jobs at a pasta plant. Are such loans and government aid worth it?
When the federal government said earlier this week its $1.7 million loan to a Brampton, Ont., pasta plant would create 10 jobs, some questioned whether that taxpayer money was being put to good use. One economics professor tweeted he was “legit astonished” by the investment in Italpasta. “Do they not understand just how insane this is? That spending north of $170k for *one job* is an embarrassment, not an achievement?” wrote Stephen Gordon of Laval University. And that was just a fraction of the billions of dollars in subsidies that were announced recently for theRead more
2nd human infected with H5N1 bird flu in U.S., CDC says
A Michigan farm worker has been diagnosed with bird flu — the second human case associated with an outbreak in U.S. dairy cows. The patient had mild eye symptoms and has recovered, U.S. and Michigan health officials said in announcing the case Wednesday. The worker had been in contact with cows presumed to be infected, and the risk to the public remains low, officials said. The first case was found in late March, when a farm worker in Texas was diagnosed in what officials called the first known instance globally ofRead more
Immigrant workers say future in limbo as government ranking system scores soar
Kanika Maheshwari moved to Brampton from India in 2020 to study business management. Her dream, she says, was to open a jewelry business one day. Since graduating, she has been working with a logistics company as a sales executive. The 29-year-old has built a life in Canada with her husband, who works as a trader — both are saving to open her jewelry store. But Maheshwari says her dream is now at risk because her Canadian work permit expires in August, and she hasn’t heard back about her permanent residencyRead more
OpenAI previews chatbot with real-time voice capabilities
ChatGPT maker OpenAI said on Monday it would release a new AI model called GPT-4o, capable of realistic voice conversation and able to interact across text and image, its latest move to stay ahead in a race to dominate the emerging technology. New audio capabilities enable users to speak to ChatGPT and obtain real-time responses with no delay, as well as interrupt ChatGPT while it is speaking, both hallmarks of realistic conversations that AI voice assistants have found challenging, the OpenAI researchers showed at a livestream event. “It feels likeRead more
Destroying Michael Cohen: Trump team sets off on mission at trial
Donald Trump’s legal team set out to demolish the credibility of the key witness in his criminal trial, assailing Michael Cohen as an untrustworthy, ill-tempered, revenge-hungry narrator. For two days, a jury heard Cohen methodically build up elements of the case against his former boss and confidant. But just seconds into the cross-examination Tuesday, the defence’s objective became clear: Tear down the witness in the jury’s eyes. The grilling started with a fiery opening. Cohen was accused of making clear his desire to see Trump imprisoned, in profane public tirades against the defendantRead more
Biden condemns antisemitism in Holocaust memorial speech
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned that the threat of antisemitism is growing, in remarks honouring the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, as his support for Israel’s assault on Gaza divides his Democratic Party. “Never again simply translated for me means: Never forget. Never forgetting means we must keep telling the story, we must keep teaching the truth,” Biden said as he addressed a bipartisan memorial held at the U.S. Capitol’s Emancipation Hall. “The truth is we’re at risk of people not knowing the truth.” Biden spoke inRead more