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Abortion pill challenge goes before conservative Texas judge

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas appointed by former President Donald Trump is considering a request by a Christian conservative group to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s more than 2-decade-old approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.The Alliance for Defending Freedom asked Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on Wednesday for an immediate order that would revoke or suspend the drug’s approval. Such a step would be an unprecedented challenge to the FDA, which approved mifepristone in combination with a second pill as a safe and effective method for ending abortion in 2000.Lawyers for the FDA are expected to argue that pulling mifepristone from the market would upend reproductive care for U.S. women and undermine the government’s scientific oversight of prescription drugs.Kacsmaryk has given each side two hours to argue their position in the high-stakes court case. Mifepristone’s manufacturer, Danco Laboratories, will join the FDA in arguing to keep the pill ava...

S&P/TSX composite drops over 350 points as concern over global banking sector spreads

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index sank along with international markets in late-morning trading as mounting apprehensions over the global banking sector spread. The S&P/TSX composite index was down 353.53 points at 19,340.63 after troubles at Switzerland’s Credit Suisse rattled markets only days after two high-profile bank failures in the U.S.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average down 465.28 points at 31,690.12. The S&P 500 index was down 50.60 points at 3,868.69, while the Nasdaq composite was down 109.27 points at 11,318.88.The Canadian dollar was trading for 72.45 cents US,compared with 73.12 cents US on Tuesday. The April crude contract was down US$3.41 at US$67.92 per barreland the April natural gas contract was down 15 cents at US$2.43 per mmBTU.The April gold contract was up US$18.30 at US$1,929.20 an ounceand the May copper contract was down 14 cents at US$3.87 a pound. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2023.Compani...

Canadian home sales drop 40 per cent in February compared with year ago

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

OTTAWA — Home sales in Canada plummeted 40 per cent last month compared with a year ago, with new listings and prices also dropping in what one economist called “hints of a bottoming process.”The plunge in sales came as prices declined 18.9 per cent compared with the all-time record posted in February 2022, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Wednesday.The actual average home price in Canada was $662,437 in February, down from $816,578 a year earlier, the association said, referring to figures that had not been seasonally adjusted.Compared with January, CREA said national home sales rose 2.3 per cent in February, powered by gains in Toronto and Vancouver, while the number of newly listed properties dropped 7.9 per cent month over month.The drop in transactions in February brought sales in line with what was recorded in 2018 and 2019, suggesting the rise in interest rates over the past year “has blown off some of the pandemic era froth in Canada’s housin...

Stocks tumble on Wall Street on renewed fears about banks

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are back to falling on Wall Street Wednesday as worries worsen about the strength of banks on both sides of the Atlantic.The S&P 500 was 1.3% lower in midday trading, while markets in Europe fell more sharply as shares of Switzerland’s Credit Suisse tumbled to a record low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 461 points, or 1.4%, at 31,694 as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time after earlier being down as many as 639 points. The Nasdaq composite was 0.9% lower. Credit Suisse has been fighting troubles for years, including losses it took from the 2021 collapse of investment firm Archegos Capital. Its shares in Switzerland sank more than 16% following reports that its top shareholder won’t pump more money into its investment. Wall Street’s harsh spotlight has intensified across the banking industry recently on worries about what may crack next following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history over the last week. Stocks of U.S. banks tumbled ...

Haiti claims delayed Canadian armoured vehicles hinder plan to control gangs

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

OTTAWA, Ill. — Haiti’s troubled government is accusing Canada of stalling in its promised delivery of armoured vehicles, and argues the delay is hindering a plan to clear violent gangs from Port-au-Prince.In an interview with Haitian radio, the country’s acting justice minister, Emmelie Prophète-Milcé, says in French that the company supplying the tanks “did not keep its word.”Violent gangs have held control over most of Haiti’s capital for months, leading to a shortage of essentials and medical care, and a rise in sexual assaults.As part of Canada’s response, Ottawa says it has been airlifting armoured vehicles that the Haitian government has purchased, which might avoid the need for an international military intervention.But Prophète-Milcé says the majority of the 18 armoured vehicles her country ordered have yet to arrive, and she claims “the police could implement their strategy if all the armoured vehicles were delivered on time.”...

What can ChatGPT maker’s new AI model GPT-4 do?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The company behind the ChatGPT chatbot has rolled out its latest artificial intelligence model, GPT-4, in the next step for a technology that’s caught the world’s attention. The new system can figure out tax deductions and answer questions like a Shakespearan pirate, for example, but it still “hallucinates” facts and makes reasoning errors.Here’s a look at San Francisco-based startup OpenAI’s latest improvement on the generative AI models that can spit out readable text and unique images: WHAT’S NEW? OpenAI says GPT-4 “exhibits human-level performance.” It’s much more reliable, creative and can handle “more nuanced instructions” than its predecessor system, GPT-3.5, which ChatGPT was built on, OpenAI said in its announcement. In an online demo Tuesday, OpenAI President Greg Brockman ran through some scenarios that showed off GPT-4’s capabilities that appeared to show it’s a radical improvement on previous versions. He dem...

Putin hosts Assad, expected to focus on rebuilding Syria

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hosted Syrian leader Bashar Assad in the Kremlin for talks expected to focus on rebuilding Syria after a devastating civil war and mending Damascus’ ties with Turkey.Welcoming Assad at the start of the meeting that comes on the anniversary of Syria’s 12-year uprising-turned-civil war, Putin emphasized the Russian military’s “decisive contribution” to stabilizing the country.Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad’s government to fight back armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country. While Russia has concentrated the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military foothold in Syria and kept warplanes and troops at its bases there.Assad thanked Putin for backing Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that the Kremlin’s support has remained strong despite the fighting in...

Floods kill 14 in Turkish earthquake-battered provinces

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Floods caused by torrential rains hit two Turkish provinces that were devastated by last month’s catastrophic earthquake, killing at least 14 people and increasing the misery for thousands who were left homeless, officials said Wednesday. Rescue teams were still searching for five people reported missing in three locations, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.Soylu said 12 people were killed by the floods in the southeastern Sanliurfa province while two others died in neighboring Adiyaman province.In Adiyaman, victims drowned after surging waters swept away a container home sheltering a family of earthquake survivors, HaberTurk television reported.The victims in Sanliurfa included five Syrian nationals whose bodies were found inside a flooded basement apartment and two other people who died inside a van that was trapped at an underpass.Television footage from Sanliurfa showed flood waters surging along a street and sweeping away cars, as well as a man being r...

Flair launches $50-million lawsuit against leasing companies following plane seizures

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

TORONTO — Flair Airlines has filed a $50-million lawsuit against several plane-leasing companies over what it claims were unlawful seizures of four of its aircraft over the weekend.The filings in Ontario Superior Court state that a trio of leasing companies found a better deal for the planes with a third party and then set Flair up for default.Flair claims in the court document that is an unlawful termination of leases.The statement of claim says the lessors dispatched agents to three Canadian airports to seize the four Boeing 737 Maxes “in the middle of the night as passengers were boarding planes for spring break vacations.”Flair also claims the lessors — Columba Lights Aviation Ltd., Corvus Lights Aviation Ltd., and MAM Aircraft Leasing 4, all based in Ireland — carried out the allegedly “malicious” seizures despite having made no objection to an arrangement put forward by Flair that would see it initiate payment early this week.Claiming substantial damage...

Jewish Americans press Israeli leaders to compromise

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:59:28 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A senior delegation of Jewish-American leaders on Wednesday paid a flash visit to Israel to urge leaders to find a compromise over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system.The arrival of some 30 leaders from the Jewish Federations of America marked a rare foray by the American Jewish community into domestic Israeli affairs and reflected concerns that the turmoil inside Israel could spill over to Jewish communities overseas.Eric Fingerhut, the president and chief executive of the Jewish Federations, said the 24-hour visit, coming at short notice, illustrated the “grave concern and worry” the Israeli debate has raised among American Jews.Netanyahu’s allies, a collection of ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist parties, launched the overhaul in January days after taking office. The program aims to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court and would give Netanyahu’s allies control over the appointment of the nation’s judges.They s...