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TORONTO — Canada's main stock index lost more than 100 points Tuesday ahead of an expected interest rate cut Wednesday, while U.S. markets were also down. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 121.09 points at 25,504.33. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 154.10 points at 44,247.83. The S&P 500 index was down 17.94 points at 6,034.91, while the Nasdaq composite was down 49.45 points at 19,687.24. “Relative to the churn we have seen in the markets the last few days ... today being a little bit of a boring day would be fairly welcome for many investors,” said Stephen Duench, vice-president and portfolio manager for AGF Investments Inc. Wednesday is set to be more exciting, with an interest rate cut expected in Canada and important consumer inflation data coming in the U.S. “I do expect a little bit more fireworks tomorrow,” said Duench. The Bank of Canada is widely expected to announce an outsized cut Wednesday of half a percentage point, he said. “Anything other than that would be a surprise.” The U.S. Federal Reserve has its last decision of the year scheduled for next week, and market watchers are leaning toward a smaller quarter-percentage-point cut there, said Duench. It would be the third cut this year after the central bank hiked rates to a two-decade high to fight inflation. The inflation report will be the last significant data point before the central bank’s decision, Duench said. If the inflation report shows price growth is proving more stubborn than expected, that could change the Fed’s thinking on rates next week, he said. “Maybe that's part of the reason we've seen churn in the market the last few days in the U.S.” Beneath the surface, there was some movement in the tech sector, where Oracle sank 6.7 per cent after its latest earnings report missed expectations. Meanwhile, Google's stock price rose by more than five per cent. The company on Tuesday unveiled its new chip meant for quantum computing. Duench said after the advent of artificial technology led a rally earlier this year, quantum computing could be another frontier for investors to keep an eye on. The Canadian dollar traded for 70.59 cents US compared with 70.77 cents US on Monday. The January crude oil contract was up 12 cents at US$68.59 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was down two cents at US$3.16 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was up US$32.60 at US$2,718.40 an ounce and the March copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.27 a pound. — With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press
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Cut IT rates, hand out Vouchersto drive consumption, urges CIIMatt Hancock has revealed England's hospitals were on the brink, mere "hours" away from exhausting supplies of certain personal protective equipment (PPE) during the initial months of the Covid-19 crisis. The ex-health secretary disclosed to the Covid-19 inquiry that some PPE was in critical shortage across the first pandemic wave. He holds a firm belief that in any forthcoming pandemics, vaccines should be compulsory for NHS and social care workers, and that masks ought to be obligatory in hospitals immediately. When probed by lead counsel to the inquiry, Jacqueline Carey KC, about the pre-pandemic lack of gowns impacting the capacity to provide adequate PPE, Mr Hancock admitted: "The stockpile that we had was not as good as it needs to be in the future, absolutely." Enquired whether England ever completely depleted its PPE stock, he conceded: "As a whole? No, but individual locations did. "We came extremely close. We came within small numbers of items on a regular basis during April and May 2020 – by the second wave, we were in better shape. "Gowns I think at one point we got to within six or seven hours of running out. "We were working incredibly hard to make sure that we didn’t (run out). We nearly did." On the topic of facemask usage in hospitals during future pandemics, he commented: "It should be brought in immediately, and supplies need to be ready, preferably in each hospital, to make that possible." Additionally, Mr Hancock stated that ensuring health and social care workers are fully vaccinated is a "reasonable step that should be expected" and advocated for simultaneous implementation in the NHS and social care sectors. The policy requiring Care Quality Commission-registered care home staff to be fully vaccinated to work in care homes, unless medically exempt, came into effect in November 2021, with full enforcement from April 2022. Mr Hancock expressed regret over not applying this rule to both social care and the NHS at the same time, emphasising: "If you are employed to care for others, then you should take reasonable steps to ensure you are not harming those in your care." "A clinically proven vaccine is a reasonable step that should be expected." Earlier, Mr Hancock, who was booed by a campaigner as he arrived to give evidence, claimed he had "ruffled some feathers" by shielding the NHS from political interference. He also told the inquiry meddling from Number 10 created "incredible difficulties" in Covid-19 testing efforts. The inquiry's third module is scrutinising the repercussions of the virus on healthcare frameworks within the UK's four nations. When questioned about his witness statements, which alluded to "inappropriate political interference from Number 10" affecting the scope of these hearings, Mr Hancock acknowledged: "Well, of course some of it did. For instance, the biggest interference that caused difficulties was within testing, where some of the political appointees in Number 10 caused incredible difficulties." He also pointed fingers at Scotland's former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, for instigating "all sorts of difficulties" during the crisis. At the onset of Thursday's hearing, Mr Hancock was probed about the protection of frontline workers throughout the pandemic. He maintained that the government did "everything we possibly could", but conceded: "Does that mean, in a system that employs 1.4 million people in the NHS, with another around two and a half million in social care, that every decision was perfect? Of course it wasn’t." Defending the Stay Home, Save Lives, Protect the NHS campaign, Mr Hancock affirmed its balance when asked, replying simply: "Yes. "We needed to ensure that the public across the whole of the UK understood the importance of staying at home whenever possible in order to stop the spread of the virus." Inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett questioned Mr Hancock about his assertion that the NHS was available to all during the pandemic based on need. She pointed out that individuals requiring cancer screening or major surgeries, such as hip operations, were unable to access necessary care. In response, Mr Hancock explained: "It was not safe clinically to go for some cancer treatment during the pandemic, because cancer treatment sometimes involves reducing the immune system. "It was better to delay some non-urgent operations in order to protect both the space in the NHS and the patients themselves because, as we know, you’re more likely to catch Covid in a hospital than in almost any other setting." Mr Hancock emphasized that "the overall point is, that we did not have a collapse in the system". Mr Hancock had previously resigned as Health Secretary after footage surfaced of him breaching social distancing rules by kissing his former aide, Gina Coladangelo, in his office. Following his sensational departure from the front bench, he joined the cast of the ITV reality series I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Upon exiting Dorland House after giving testimony on Thursday, the ex-health secretary was greeted with cries of "liar" from protestors. ChronicleLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our communities. We have a number of communities to join, so you can choose which one you want to be part of and we'll send you the latest news direct to your phone. You could even join them all! To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice . Join the ChronicleLive Breaking News and Top Stories community Join our Court & Crime community Join the Things to do in Newcastle and the North East community Join our Northumberland community Join our County Durham community Join our Sunderland community Join our NUFC community Join our SAFC community Join our Great North Run communityLetter: Let’s all have a joyous holiday gatheringU.S. President-elect Donald Trump has sharply criticized the extension of the national debt ceiling, labeling it as 'one of the dumbest political decisions made in years.' This comes in response to a 2023 budget agreement orchestrated by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, which suspended the debt limit until January 1, 2025. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to express his disapproval, stressing that Congress's decision jeopardizes future fiscal stability and insisting that Democrats should be held accountable for any resulting financial turmoil. Trump said, 'The Democrats must be forced to take a vote on this treacherous issue NOW, during the Biden Administration, and not in June.' While the deal allows the U.S. Treasury to honor its financial commitments for several months, the pressing concern is that lawmakers will need to revisit this issue next year to prevent a fiscal crisis. Trump's remarks underscore the contentious political atmosphere surrounding budgetary and fiscal policy debates in Washington. (With inputs from agencies.)
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Envisaged to be launched by December 1, the Chandigarh Health Education Centre (CHEC) at Government Model High School, Sector 22, has been pushed back to February 2025 amid delays in acquisition of exhibits. A first-of-its-kind initiative at a government school in the country, the centre is being set up by the UT administration in partnership with the Chandigarh Rotary Club to impart health education to students of city’s government schools. The focus of the centre will be on general health, oral health, nutrition/physical activity, drug/alcohol/tobacco prevention, pregnancy/STI prevention, and social and emotional health. Officials attributed the hold-up in the centre’s launch to delay in acquisition of exhibits to be donated by Rotary Club. As per the proposal, Rotary Club will provide exhibits, including latest holographic models and technologies, estimated to cost around ₹ 1 crore. “There has been a slight delay and we are scheduled to commence the centre by February. It will be started before the next academic session commences,” said UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar. In the works since 2017 The project was conceived in 2017, when Rotary International Chandigarh submitted a proposal for establishment of CHEC. After the UT administrator’s approval, Dr Atul Sachdev, then head of department of general medicine at GMCH, Sector 32, and Dr JS Thakur from Rotary Club had visited Education Health Centres in USA. Subsequently, they submitted a report, recommending a Health Education Centre in Chandigarh on the lines of McMillan Center in USA. As per the proposal, the facility should be able to impart health education to at least 1.5 lakh students of government schools every year initially. It should have at least six high-class dedicated teaching rooms with a capacity of 75 students each and an auditorium with a capacity of 150 students. All students will visit this centre at least once a year. The education department had pitched CHEC as an “innovative project” with the Centre in the project approval board meeting of Samagra Shiksha Scheme 2024, chaired by the Union education secretary. The central government had approved ₹ 50 lakh initially, with an understanding that an additional ₹ 1.2 crore will be considered for the next year based on recommendation by senior officers who visit the completed project. It was also conveyed that such a project has the potential of being replicated across the country, therefore the UT administration must ensure that the project is developed and made functional within this financial year.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ten yards into a scramble, Patrick Mahomes could have easily slid for a first down or simply ducked out of bounds and moved on to the next play. Instead, the three-time Super Bowl MVP cut back inside and raced another 23 yards up the field, helping to set up Spencer Schrader's 31-yard field goal as time expired as the Chiefs held on to beat the Carolina Panthers 30-27 on Sunday. “At that point, yards are more important than getting out of bounds,” Mahomes said. “With three timeouts, I just tried to just cut through and Justin Watson had a great block and was able to get down the field and get out of bounds.” The game-winning drive was the 21st of Mahomes' career, and the Chiefs won a game decided in the final seconds for the fifth time this season. Eight of the Chiefs' wins have come by one-score margins. “You always want to have some blowouts and be a little calmer in the fourth quarter, but I've always said it could be a good thing when you get to the playoffs later in the season knowing that you have been in those moments before, and knowing how to attack it play by play not making it too big of a moment,” Mahomes said. Then he smiled and said: “But I would say this more than anybody, I would love to win a game not by the very last play.” Mahomes completed 27 of 37 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns in his first game at Bank of America Stadium and ran for 60 yards — including 33 on that last-minute play — as the Chiefs (10-1) scored on six of their eight possessions. Noah Gray caught four passes for 66 yards and scored two touchdowns for the second straight week, and DeAndre Hopkins also found the end zone for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Kareem Hunt ran for 68 yards on 16 carries and caught three passes for 19 yards. Bryce Young played well for Carolina (3-8), finishing 21 of 35 for 262 yards and a touchdown while leading the Panthers back from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game on Chuba Hubbard's 1-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion with 1:46 remaining. Panthers coach Dave Canales, who benched Young earlier this season for veteran Andy Dalton, said last year's No. 1 overall draft pick “absolutely” will remain the team's starting QB next week. That's a break from Canales' recent pattern of waiting a few days to name a starter. “Bryce is certainly making the most of his opportunities,” Canales said. “And he is making a statement to all of us. Showing us he can make plays in critical areas. He did a great job extending today.” Said Young: “For me, I just want to focus on what I can control. Regardless, I always have the same mindset and preparation, wanting to be better throughout the week. I am definitely grateful for confidence.” Still, there is room for improvement. The Panthers moved the ball well but struggled in the red zone, resulting in field goals of 30, 32, 29 and 33 yards for Eddy Pineiro, the most accurate kicker in NFL history. The Chiefs wasted no time setting the tone as Samaje Perine returned the opening kickoff 56 yards and Mahomes found Gray for a 35-yard touchdown strike on the third play of scrimmage for a 7-0 lead. Gray went nine games without a TD catch before hauling in two last week against Buffalo. His 11-yard score late in the second quarter gave him two more against the Panthers . Chiefs coach Andy Reid praised Mahomes' poise but said he was concerned about his team's nine penalties for 90 yards. Moving on up Kansas City's Travis Kelce had six catches for 62 yards and moved into third place in career yards receiving by a tight end. He ranks behind only Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten. However, Kelce failed to find the end zone for the ninth time in 11 games this season. Brooks' debut Running back Jonathan Brooks made his NFL debut for Carolina, but the second-round pick was limited to 7 yards on two carries. Injuries Panthers: Rookie TE Ja'Tavion Sanders was taken to a hospital, where he was evaluated for a neck injury and released . He landed awkwardly on his head after making a catch near the end of the second quarter. Up next Chiefs: Host Las Vegas on Friday. Panthers: Host Tampa Bay next Sunday.
Forthright and fearless, the Nobel Prize winner took pot-shots at former prime minister Tony Blair and ex-US president George W Bush among others. His death came after repeated bouts of illness in which images of the increasingly frail former president failed to erase memories of his fierce spirit. Democrat James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr swept to power in 1977 with his Trust Me campaign helping to beat Republican president Gerald Ford. Serving as 39th US president from 1977 to 1981, he sought to make government “competent and compassionate” but was ousted by the unstoppable Hollywood appeal of a certain Ronald Reagan. A skilled sportsman, Mr Carter left his home of Plains, Georgia, to join the US Navy, returning later to run his family’s peanut business. A stint in the Georgia senate lit the touchpaper on his political career and he rose to the top of the Democratic movement. But he will also be remembered for a bizarre encounter with a deeply disgruntled opponent. The president was enjoying a relaxing fishing trip near his home town in 1979 when his craft was attacked by a furious swamp rabbit which reportedly swam up to the boat hissing wildly. The press had a field day, with one paper bearing the headline President Attacked By Rabbit. Away from encounters with belligerent bunnies, Mr Carter’s willingness to address politically uncomfortable topics did not diminish with age. He recently said that he would be willing to travel to North Korea for peace talks on behalf of US President Donald Trump. He also famously mounted a ferocious and personal attack on Tony Blair over the Iraq war, weeks before the prime minister left office in June 2007. Mr Carter, who had already denounced George W Bush’s presidency as “the worst in history”, used an interview on BBC radio to condemn Mr Blair for his tight relations with Mr Bush, particularly concerning the Iraq War. Asked how he would characterise Mr Blair’s relationship with Mr Bush, Mr Carter replied: “Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient. “I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world.” Mr Carter was also voluble over the Rhodesia crisis, which was about to end during his presidency. His support for Robert Mugabe at the time generated widespread criticism. He was said to have ignored the warnings of many prominent Zimbabweans, black and white, about what sort of leader Mugabe would be. This was seen by Mr Carter’s critics as “deserving a prominent place among the outrages of the Carter years”. Mr Carter has since said he and his administration had spent more effort and worry on Rhodesia than on the Middle East. He admitted he had supported two revolutionaries in Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, and with hindsight said later that Mugabe had been “a good leader gone bad”, having at first been “a very enlightened president”. One US commentator wrote: “History will not look kindly on those in the West who insisted on bringing the avowed Marxist Mugabe into the government. “In particular, the Jimmy Carter foreign policy... bears some responsibility for the fate of a small African country with scant connection to American national interests.” In recent years Mr Carter developed a reputation as an international peace negotiator. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his commitment to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts, his work with human rights and democracy initiatives, and his promotion of economic and social programmes. Mr Carter was dispatched to North Korea in August 2008 to secure the release of US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who had been sentenced to eight years of hard labour after being found guilty of illegally entering North Korea. He successfully secured the release of Mr Gomes. In 2010 he returned to the White House to greet President Barack Obama and discuss international affairs amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Proving politics runs in the family, in 2013 his grandson Jason, a state senator, announced his bid to become governor in Georgia, where his famous grandfather governed before becoming president. He eventually lost to incumbent Republican Nathan Deal. Fears that Mr Carter’s health was deteriorating were sparked in 2015 when he cut short an election observation visit in Guyana because he was “not feeling well”. It would have been Mr Carter’s 39th trip to personally observe an international election. Three months later, on August 12, he revealed he had cancer which had been diagnosed after he underwent surgery to remove a small mass in his liver. Mr Obama was among the well-wishers hoping for Mr Carter’s full recovery after it was confirmed the cancer had spread widely. Melanoma had been found in his brain and liver, and Mr Carter underwent immunotherapy and radiation therapy, before announcing in March the following year that he no longer needed any treatment. In 2017, Mr Carter was taken to hospital as a precaution, after he became dehydrated at a home-building project in Canada. He was admitted to hospital on multiple occasions in 2019 having had a series of falls, suffering a brain bleed and a broken pelvis, as well as a stint to be treated for a urinary tract infection. Mr Carter spent much of the coronavirus pandemic largely at his home in Georgia, and did not attend Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021, but extended his “best wishes”. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Mr Carter during his term as US president, died in November 2023. She had been living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Mr Carter said in a statement following her death. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
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Middle East latest: Israel bombs hundreds of sites across Syria as army pushes into border zoneCaitlin Clark is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball, finishing her career with 3,951 points across four seasons. Now, when she looks back, she questions why she wasn’t guarded better. In a TIME interview with Sean Gregory, Clark noted just how much higher the basketball IQ is in the WNBA than in the women’s game. “Professional players and professional coaches — this is no disrespect to college women’s basketball — are a lot smarter,” Clark said. “I love women’s college basketball. But if you go back and watch the way people guarded me in college, it’s almost, like, concerning. They didn’t double me, they didn’t trap me, they weren’t physical.” Clark acknowledged that many of the players she faced were not continuing their careers past college, and that basketball IQ played a role. “A lot of those women will never go on to play another basketball game in their life,” Clark said. “They don’t have the IQ of understanding how the game works. So I completely understand it. And it’s no disrespect at all. They don’t have the IQ. You have to simplify it for girls at that age.” In her senior season, Clark averaged 32.1 points, 8.5 assists, and 7.3 rebounds, recording six triple-doubles. Her 2024 tournament run was punctuated by a 41-point, 12-assist outing in an Elite Eight win over LSU . In that game, she was primarily guarded by Hailey Van Lith, a 5’ 7 guard who clearly struggled to keep up with her. Caitlin Clark tweet pic.twitter.com/d5g87C6Uxb At the time, many wondered why LSU didn’t double-team her or put a more physical defender on her. The end result was a 94-87 Iowa victory. Now, we know that Clark also often wondered about opposing teams’ and coaches’ lackluster schemes as well. Clark struggled in the early days of her WNBA career, but quickly found her footing, going on to average 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. From the jump, she faced a level of physicality and defensive intensity she rarely faced in college. In her TIME interview with Gregory, an NCAA women’s basketball game between USC and Ole Miss was fitting playing in the background. “I feel like if I was out there, I would literally have 50 [points],” Clark said. “The college game is so much easier than professional.”