LIVE B.C. seeks ban on using drugs in 'all public spaces,' shifting approach to decriminalization
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
A major Chinese real estate developer whose struggle to avoid defaulting on billions of dollars of debt rattled financial markets says it has called off the sale of a US$2.6 billion stake in a subsidiary and has made no progress in selling other assets.
China Evergrande Group's planned sale of 50.1% of its property management unit to a rival, Hopson Development Holdings, was canceled because the buyer "had not met the prerequisite to make a general offer for shares," Evergrande said late Wednesday in a statement through the Hong Kong stock exchange. It gave no other details.
Evergrande's struggle to reduce its 2 trillion yuan ($310 billion) of debt to comply with curbs on borrowing by China's real estate industry has prompted fears a default might trigger a financial crisis. The Chinese central bank has tried to allay those fears and said Friday the "risk of spillover" to the financial industry is controllable.
The ruling Communist Party is pressing companies to reduce debt levels it considers dangerously high.
In a separate announcement, Evergrande said late Wednesday except for the sale of shares in a Chinese bank, "there has been no material progress" in plans to shed other assets to "ease the liquidity issues" of the company.
Evergrande missed payments in late September and early October to investors in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued abroad. The company said Wednesday a 30-day grace period to make those payments before it would be declared in default had yet to expire.
Economists say Beijing can prevent a credit crunch if Evergrande defaults on debts to Chinese banks and bondholders but wants to avoid appearing to arrange a bailout while it tries to force other companies to reduce reliance on debt.
If regulators get involved, they are likely to focus on protecting families that paid for apartments that are yet to be built, not banks and bondholders, economists say. That would cause bigger losses for banks, construction companies and small investors who own Evergrande debt.
Another real estate company, Fantasia Holdings Group, announced Oct. 5 it failed to make a $205.7 million payment due to bondholders.
Hundreds of smaller Chinese developers have gone bankrupt since regulators began tightening control over the industry's finances in 2017.
The slowdown in construction helped to depress China's economic growth an unexpectedly low 4.9% over a year earlier in the three months ending in September. Forecasters expect growth to decelerate further if the financing curbs stay in place.
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.