DEVELOPING BoC to announce interest rate decision today as many forecasters anticipate rate cut
To cut or not to cut -- that is the question the Bank of Canada will answer this morning as it announces its latest interest rate decision.
China said Monday its launch of a new spacecraft was merely a test to see whether the vehicle could be re-used.
The launch involved a spacecraft rather than a missile and was of "great significance for reducing the use-cost of spacecraft and could provide a convenient and affordable way to make a round trip for mankind's peaceful use of space," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.
China's space program is run by its military and is closely tied to its agenda of building hypersonic missiles and other technologies that could alter the balance of power with the United States.
"China will work together with other countries in the world for the peaceful use of space and the benefit of mankind," Zhao said.
Zhao's comments on the test conducted in August came days after China launched a second crew to its space station. Their six-month mission, when completed, will be China's longest crewed space mission and the three-person crew will set a record for the most time spent in space by Chinese astronauts.
Alongside its space program, China's expansion into hypersonic missile technology and other advanced fields has raised concerns as Beijing becomes increasingly assertive over its claims to seas and islands in the South China and East China Seas and to large chunks of territory along its disputed high-mountain border with India.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price would not comment on intelligence about the August test but noted the U.S. remained concerned about China's expansion of its nuclear capabilities, including delivery systems for nuclear devices.
These developments underscore that (China), as we said before, is deviating from its decades-long nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence," Price told reporters Monday in Washington.
He said the U.S. was engaging with China about its nuclear capabilities and would continue to maintain the U.S.'s deterrent capabilities against threats to the United States and its allies.
U.S. ally Japan, one of China's chief regional rivals, said it would boost its defenses against what it interpreted as a new offensive Chinese weapon.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno on Monday called it a "new threat" that conventional equipment would have difficulty dealing with. He said Japan will step up its detection, tracking and shooting-down capability of "any aerial threat."
China appears to be rapidly pushing development of hypersonic nuclear weapons to gain strike capability that can break through missile defenses, Matsuno said.
He criticized China for increasing its defense spending, particularly for nuclear and missile capabilities, without explaining its intentions.
"China's rapidly expanding and increased military activity at sea and airspace has become a strong security concern for the region including Japan and the international society," Matsuno said.
To cut or not to cut -- that is the question the Bank of Canada will answer this morning as it announces its latest interest rate decision.
An Italian court re-convicted Amanda Knox of slander on Wednesday, even after she was exonerated in the brutal 2007 murder of her British roommate while the two were exchange students in Italy.
While a growing number of Americans may be considering moving north to Canada to escape Donald Trump, an immigration lawyer says few will actually qualify to live and work here.
It was Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s birthday on Monday, but he could've probably done without the package that one of his more obscure backbenchers dropped on his doorstep, writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his latest column for CTVNews.ca.
If you've managed to catch a glimpse of the auroras this spring, you may be wondering what they have to do with the sun, and why they seem to be happening more than usual lately.
A New Hampshire man has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing his mother after the two had argued about the volume on the video games he was playing.
In his latest personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew has advice for high earners who should consider wealth and time management strategies to create even greater financial freedom for themselves.
On a small table outside a tent in Deir al-Balah, 10-year-old Renad is making 'Gaza-style white sauce pasta.' She fills a pot with bottled water and lights a small propane burner. She has a fresh onion and a green pepper, but uses canned mushrooms for the sauce.
Staff at a southern Alberta eatery were thrilled to meet country superstar Shania Twain when she and her husband stopped in for a meal recently.
Mounties in Kelowna nabbed a would-be burglar with an apparent sweet tooth over the weekend.
When Alyssa Anklewich’s history teacher assigned her Westwood Collegiate class an essay about D-Day, the 15-year-old had other ideas.
Many people are familiar with the benefits of being in nature, but forest therapy goes a step further than a simple walk in the woods.
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.
Car 14 is a luxury passenger car that once made regular runs from London to Port Stanley starting in 1917.
A hefty donation by a renowned local activist to the University of Winnipeg has created what is believed to be the most comprehensive two-spirit archives in all of Canada.
Leanne Van Bergen discovered a skulk of 10 baby foxes, and two mothers, had made themselves at home on her property in Beausejour.
An 81-year-old Waterloo, Ont. woman thought she’d never ride a horse again after a brain bleed led to severe physical complications.
A CP24 camera caught the moment a driver frantically got out of her car as it was being dragged by a truck on Avenue Road Wednesday afternoon.