Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Russia's war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are dragging down global economic growth more than expected and driving up inflation that will stay high into next year, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said Monday in a darkening outlook.
The Paris-based organization projects worldwide growth to be a modest 3% this year before slowing further to just 2.2% next year, representing around $2.8 trillion in lost global output in 2023.
The war in Ukraine has driven up food and energy prices worldwide, with Russia a key global energy and fertilizer supplier and both countries major exporters of grain for millions of people worldwide already facing hunger. Meanwhile, China's COVID-19 lockdowns have shuttered large parts of its economy.
"The war, the burden of high energy and food prices, as well as zero COVID-19 policies from China, mean that growth will be lower, and inflation will be higher and more persistent," OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann told reporters in Paris.
The inflation and energy supply shock led the OECD to project annual economic growth to slow to around 1.5% in the United States this year and just 0.5% next year. The group expects the economy to grow 1.25% this year in the 19 countries using the euro currency, with risks of deeper declines in several European economies during the winter months, and 0.3% in 2023.
It noted the spectre of energy shortages in Europe after Russia reduced supplies of natural gas needed to heat homes, generate electricity and power factories. Shortages could send energy prices up worldwide and force businesses to ration, pushing many European countries into a recession next year, the OECD said.
Growth in China is expected to drop to 3.2% this year. Except in 2020 when the pandemic emerged, it would be the lowest growth rate in China since the 1970s. The group projected it would rise slightly to 4.7% next year.
Inflation is expected to drop gradually through next year in most Group of 20 countries as central banks keep raising interest rates and global growth slows. Headline inflation is projected to ease from 8.2% this year to 6.6% in 2023 in the G20 economies, but that's still far above many central banks' targets of 2%.
"These challenging economic situations will require bold, well-designed and well-coordinated policies," Cormann said.
The OECD called for short-term help for people hurt the most by rising prices, further interest rate hikes by central banks, climate policies that follow countries' search for alternate energy sources and international cooperation to strengthen food supplies.
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.