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As fossil fuel execs descend on U.N. climate summit, some ask ‘what are COPs about?’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

TORONTO — The world’s major climate negotiations risk turning into a trade show spectacle of unchecked corporate influence, some observers warn, as a record number of delegates representing fossil fuel interests descend on the United Nations climate change conference known as COP28. Hundreds of delegates with links to fossil fuel interests, including from Canada, are turning up at this year’s climate summit currently underway in Dubai, according to recent analyses by climate organizations and news agencies. Despite making up a small share of the more than 80,000 registered attendees, the fossil fuel industry’s presence at COP28 could water down action when the world risks careening past its emissions targets, said political economist Gordon Laxer.“It’s the political power and influence of Big Oil which is stopping real action,” said Laxer, a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta who researches the industry’s political influence. “There s...

Time’s up for some short-term rentals in B.C., as new housing rules transform scene

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

VICTORIA — Nancy Paine’s short-term rental business is dead in the water.As co-founder and CEO of Victoria-based Superhost, Paine said she had been at the forefront of the Airbnb revolution for seven years, acting as a “liaison” for homeowners needing help with the logistics of running a listing on the accommodation site.At the peak of business, her staff managed 65 properties, welcoming thousands of guests from around the world to what Condé Nast Traveller magazine recently rated as the “best city in the world.”“I have such great relationships with my homeowners,” Paine said. But Paine said that will all come to an end next spring when British Columbia enacts a law restricting short-term rentals to a homeowner’s principal residence. It’s among new housing regulations being rolled out over two years, with the government saying it wants to stop short-term rentals “taking away homes people need.”“I expect business volumes to really plumm...

Quebec unions representing 420,000 public sector workers start weeklong strike

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

MONTREAL — Unions representing 420,000 Quebec public sector workers are beginning a weeklong strike today.The workers, including teachers, education support staff and lab technicians, are members of a group of unions that calls itself the “common front.”The temporary strike comes after the common front rejected the government’s most recent contract offer, which includes a salary increase of 12.7 per cent over five years. It is the group’s third temporary strike since early November, and the unions say it will be the last before they launch an unlimited strike.Around 66,000 teachers who are members of a different union have been on strike since Nov. 23, while 80,000 nurses and other health-care workers will begin a four-day strike Monday.Quebec Premier François Legault said Thursday he’s willing to offer the workers more money but wants unions to make concessions on management issues, such as the transfer of nurses between health facilities.This report b...

B.C. jury to resume deliberations in Ibrahim Ali’s murder trial

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

VANCOUVER — A jury is resuming deliberations today in the case of Ibrahim Ali, whose marathon first-degree murder trial in B.C. Supreme Court wrapped up Thursday.Ali is accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl in a Burnaby, B.C., park more than six years ago.The closing stages of the eight-month trial this week heard that Ali’s defence team had been receiving threats over the case, with lawyer Kevin McCullough reading out one that said his family faced “a violent and brutal death” before Christmas.Those claims were heard Tuesday without the jurors present and can only now be reported after they retired to consider their verdict late Thursday.In his instructions to the jury, Justice Lance Bernard told jurors the case against Ali is circumstantial, requiring them to infer that Ali raped and strangled the girl in Burnaby’s Central Park in July 2017.Bernard said Ali’s lawyers argued in the alternative that there could be an “innocent explanation”...

Nunavut TV channel, The Weather Network deliver forecasts in Inuktut languages

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

Inuit Nunangat, the four regions comprising the Inuit homeland in Canada, is home to some of the country’s harshest climates. With the area’s severe, cold winters and short, cool summers, weather has been intrinsically connected to Inuit ways of life, reflected in clothing, sewing or hunting patterns. Inuit communities have had to adjust their ways of living as climate change affects their land, water and weather systems. With this in mind, independent broadcaster Uvagut TV set out to develop hourly weather broadcasts in Inuktut in partnership with The Weather Network. “Our weather is changing so rapidly that we don’t know if there’s going to be a blizzard or if the ice is safe to travel across,” said Lucy Tulugarjuk, executive director of Uvagut TV. “It’s a serious matter. It can be life and death.”In 2021, Nunavut Independent Television Network, an Inuit-owned non-profit, started Uvagut TV, meaning “Our TV,” becomin...

‘Silence isn’t neutral’: Emails show debate in Quebec universities on Israel, Hamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

MONTREAL — Five days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Université de Montréal rector Daniel Jutras was under growing pressure to say more about the conflict.Shortly after midnight on Oct. 12, he sent an email to colleagues saying that as other universities took public positions on the war, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the school to not follow suit. “I believe you’re right: silence isn’t neutral,” Sophie Langois, the university’s communications director, wrote back the next morning. “Especially after we took strong positions following the Paris terrorist attacks and the beginning of the war in Ukraine.” Documents obtained by The Canadian Press from Quebec universities show the debates within the institutions in preparing statements on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and in navigating the emotionally fraught tensions between the Jewish and Arab diasporas in the province. The emails reveal the pressures, internally a...

Adirondack United hungry for another shot at the title

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- After a historic inaugural 2022-2023 season, the Adirondack United are ready to take Section 2 by storm. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! Tekla: "All I want to do is win so, the intensity has been really high in practice and I feel like everyone is just as excited as I am. Super excited for what we're going to be able to do."What the United want to do, is make it back to the state title game. Last season Adirondack made it to the chip but was bested by Clinton. Given their prowess they know opposing teams want to give them their best shot."The pressure's always going to be on but I feel like that we all kind of thrive off it and last year being our inaugural season we're kind of used to it," said Bayley Duffy.The United were a standout team last season and understand that other teams will be aiming to knock them off. Coach Willis believes his team isn't fazed by that possibility."Every team that we play is g...

Siena women's basketball fends off Fordham to snap three-game losing streak

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

LUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- After dropping three straight games following a 2-0 start to the season, Siena women’s basketball re-gained the spark it needed to climb back into the win column Thursday evening. The Saints (3-3) picked up their first home victory of the 2023-'24 campaign with a 65-62 triumph over Atlantic 10 foe Fordham (5-5) at the UHY Center, improving to 8-0 all-time against the Rams. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! Leading for nearly the entire game and never trailing, the Green and Gold secured their first double-digit home lead of the year in the first quarter, jumping out to a 25-13 lead after ten minutes of play thanks to an 8-2 start to match their season high for the most points in a quarter.Under the direction of former Siena assistant coach Bridgette Mitchell, Fordham embarked on a 10-2 run midway through the third quarter to pull within four with 2:57 remaining in the period. The Rams would pull within one mul...

Daily horoscope for December 8, 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important decisions from 8 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. EST today (5 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. PST). After that, the Moon moves from Libra into Scorpio.Happy Birthday for Friday, Dec. 8, 2023:You have a lively, energetic personality. You passionately embrace ideas or a cause. This is the last year of a nine-year cycle, which means it’s time to take inventory of your life and let go of people, places and things from the past that are holding you back.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★Steer clear of difficult discussions with members of the public, partners and close friends. They will quickly become intense ego battles. You don’t need this! Instead, go with what works. Travel or do something to explore your world far away or close to home. Tonight: Check your finances.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★Avoid confrontations, especially those that are work-related today, because they will become nasty. We are all entrenched in our views, attitudes and prejudices, which makes i...

Commission proposes one-off extension of the current rules of origin for electric vehicles and batteries under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the UK 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:49:58 GMT

The European Commission on 6 December proposed to the Council a specific one-off extension – until 31 December 2026 – of the current rules of origin for electric vehicles and batteries under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). This proposal does not affect the TCA's wider rules of origin which will be applicable as of 2027, as planned. The Commission is also setting aside additional funding of up to €3 billion to boost the EU's battery manufacturing industry.The rules of origin for electric vehicles and batteries under the TCA were designed in 2020 to incentivise investment in the EU's battery manufacturing capacity. Circumstances not foreseen in 2020 – including Russia's aggression against Ukraine, COVID-19's impact on supply chains, and increased competition from new international subsidy support schemes – have led to a situation where the scaling-up of the European battery ecosystem has been slower than initially anticipated.Against this backdrop, and in light of the...