Public support is strong for two per cent inflation target, Bank of Canada says

OTTAWA - The Bank of Canada says there is strong support for its flexible inflation targeting and the two per cent target rate in a new report.

The central bank consulted with stakeholders and the general public as part of the renewal process for its monetary policy framework agreement with the federal government, which it undergoes every five years.

"It was important for the bank to hear from Canadians as part of this process because inflation and interest rate decisions affect their day-to-day lives," governor Tiff Macklem said in a statement Thursday.

The review comes after the spike in inflation in 2022 that saw the annual rate peak at 8.1 per cent, a 39-year high. Though the pace of price growth has normalized since then, higher prices have taken a toll.

The 2 earthquakes that struck Venezuela are known as a ‘doublet.’ Here’s how they happen

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela’s northern coast, killing more than 180 people, were an event known as a “doublet.”

Doublet earthquakes happen when a pair of similar-sized quakes hit close in location and time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. On Wednesday evening, a 7.2 magnitude quake hit first, followed by a magnitude 7.5 just 39 seconds later.

The deadly one-two punch toppled buildings in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas and beyond. Some 1,500 people were injured and thousands were reported missing. The coastal region of La Guaira, which is north of Caracas, experienced some of the heaviest damage and casualties, officials said.

How rare are doublets?

Apple increases prices for Macs and iPads, blaming a shortage of memory chips

Apple on Thursday announced an increase in prices for Macs and iPads, citing a memory chip shortage brought on by the artificial intelligence boom.

The Cupertino, California-based company called the demand spike an “unprecedented challenge” for the consumer electronics industry.

“The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” the company said in a written statement.

The new, entry-level MacBook Neo will now cost $699, up from $599. The 512 gigabyte MacBook Air now costs $1,299, up from $1,099. The one terabyte MacBook Pro is $1,999, up from $1,699.

Carney says having no embassy in Iran puts Canada at ‘a disadvantage’

OTTAWA - Canada is "at a disadvantage" in countries like Iran where it lacks a diplomatic presence, but his government is not looking to re-establish relations with Tehran, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday.

"Engagement is not endorsement. Having an embassy, having consular services in a country does not mean we endorse the policies of that country," Carney told reporters Thursday.

Commenting on the deadly earthquakes in Venezuela during a Thursday press conference, Carney said not having diplomats on the ground in Caracas makes it hard for Ottawa to offer help to Canadians.

"There are a series of countries with whom we have not seen eye to eye, to put it mildly, where we do not have representation … Iran, Venezuela (are) two examples, there are others," he said.

Questions about resume gaps are expected. Here’s how job seekers can address them

NEW YORK (AP) — When Monique Di Liberto began looking for a paying job after putting her career on pause to parent full-time, she felt paralyzed by self-doubt.

“Who do you think you are trying this after 17 years?" Di Liberto recalled asking herself. "You have no business doing this.”

The fear and uncertainty she felt is familiar to many people seeking work after an absence from the job market. Whether they lost a position during mass layoffs or needed to leave one to care for an ill loved one, job applicants can expect questions about employment history lapses to surface during screenings and interviews.

“You have to address it honestly and directly,” said Andy Decker, CEO of Goodwin Recruiting, a candidate recruitment and placement firm. “Make sure that you’ve included anything you did during that time. Did you get certifications? Did you volunteer?”

Montreal shooting leads to national security investigation on ideological violence

MONTREAL - A specialized national security unit within the RCMP has opened an investigation into ideologically motivated violent extremism after Monday's midday shooting in Montreal that left three people dead, including a police officer and a bystander.

In an email Thursday, the RCMP said branches of its Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Eastern Canada and in the northwest region are working together on a case that is separate from the murder investigation led by Quebec provincial police.

These RCMP enforcement teams target terrorist groups or people who threaten national security. “As this is an ongoing investigation, for now we do not have any more information to share,” RCMP Const. Marie-Pierre Guertin said.

While neither the RCMP nor Quebec's provincial police have publicly released details about the suspected motive behind Monday's shooting, The Canadian Press has reviewed a manifesto written by the alleged gunman that expresses hatred toward women and calls for violence.

Carney coming to Calgary Stampede, carrying message that separation is no magic wand

Prime Minister Mark Carney is coming to next week’s Calgary Stampede, and plans to reiterate that quitting Canada will not be the magic wand separatists think it is.

Carney, taking questions from reporters in Ottawa on Thursday, said the fallout from the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union a decade ago should serve as a clear cautionary tale.

"I saw firsthand what gets sold in these referenda, that everything's gonna be easy, that you can keep your passport, the currency — you can stay in the country and leave it at the same time," he said.

Carney said Alberta's vote comes when Canada is trying to be seen as a stable, reliable international trading partner.

Saskatchewan NDP urges province to repeal pronoun law affecting LGBTQ+ youth

REGINA - Nearly three years after Saskatchewan's pronoun law came into effect, LGBTQ+ groups and the province's Opposition are warning of its consequences.

"We see concerns about incidents of discrimination going up," NDP Leader Carla Beck said at a news conference Thursday. "People (are) scared to talk about issues that would make students feel loved and seen and accepted."

In August 2023, Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party government imposed rules that require parental consent for children under 16 to change their names or pronouns at school.

The rules were challenged in court, but months later Moe's government invoked the notwithstanding clause and put them into legislation.

Some airlines reduce fuel surcharges as oil falls, while others hold steady

CALGARY - Some Canadian airlines are scaling back fuel surcharges as fuel prices fall, while others are holding steady for now.

WestJet Airlines says it has reduced its levy on companion vouchers to $40 from $60 per round trip or one-way fare.

Porter Airlines has cut the fuel surcharge for new reward flight bookings by half to $20, and says it will make further adjustments as conditions change.

Meanwhile, Air Canada is managing fuel costs through its regular fare structure, though a surcharge remains in effect on ground packages offered through its vacations business.

Carney says B.C. condo buyout proposal is about affordability, not bailouts

OTTAWA - Converting British Columbia's glut of unsold condos into affordable housing is about supporting Canadians, not distressed developers, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday as he defended his government's proposal.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Ottawa, Carney said the Liberal government had done a poor job of explaining the program laid out in Vancouver a week earlier.

A press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office on June 18 said Ottawa and the B.C. government plan to "leverage innovative financing tools to convert more than 2,200 vacant condo units in priority growth areas into affordable homes."

Carney said Thursday the federal government would put up 10 per cent of roughly $1.45 billion in total potential spending to convert the units, with the B.C. government footing the rest of the bill.

Reflecting Pool liner was cut with a sharp knife or razor, National Park Service says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service says.

The U.S. Park Police responded June 9 to a complaint by the park service, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization to halt the Trump administration's work on the project.

His statement does not say when exactly the damage occurred or whether it was a suspected case of vandalism and does not identify anyone who might have been involved.

The police report indicates damage to the pool, "including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,'' Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.

Carney says he and Trump discussed defence priorities, Arctic ahead of NATO summit

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump about efforts to protect the Arctic ahead of their attendance at the NATO summit in Turkey in two weeks.

Carney said the U.S. president called him Wednesday for a "long discussion" that involved other senior officials, including U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Carney said he and Trump also spoke about NATO, Iran and the broader situation in the Middle East. He declined to offer details but said the discussion touched on "both current and structural" issues.

"It was a very constructive conversation, those things we're working on together. I think those are best left until they come to fruition," Carney said.

Get a load of this: Humans and great apes share similar giggles

Humans and great apes have been giggling in similar ways since branching off the evolutionary tree, a new study suggests. How do we know this? Researchers tickled 13 captive apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos — and recorded the results.

These economists are worried Canada has a data quality problem

OTTAWA - Most economists, including at the Bank of Canada, were a bit surprised when Statistics Canada reported late last month that the economy contracted slightly over the first three months of the year.

The consensus estimate among economists and monetary policymakers was for real GDP growth of roughly 1.5 per cent annualized in the first quarter.

When the figures actually showed a 0.1 per cent decline, forecasters were left scratching their heads.

Incremental data released by StatCan leading up to the quarterly GDP result largely suggested Canada's economy was in line for modest growth to start the year.

Truancy report calls for students to engage in policies, programs

A new report calls on school leaders to treat truancy as “feedback” for fixing systemic gaps instead of an individual student issue.

The Winnipeg School Division has released a document that includes seven recommendations based on an absenteeism summit.

The list suggests schools need to do a better job of ensuring every child has at least one trusted teacher, coach or another adult in the building, but multiple items require cross-sector collaboration.

“Absenteeism cannot be understood as an isolated issue within schools,” a summary of the inaugural student absenteeism summit said. “Instead, it reflects broader systemic realities including factors related to social determinants of health, transportation barriers, intergenerational trauma, and gaps in culturally safe education systems.”

One Extraordinary Photo: England’s Harry Kane reacts to a missed scoring chance

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Petr David Josek is an award-winning AP staff photojournalist based in Prague, the Czech Republic. This is Josek’s fourth World Cup, and he has also shot five Summer Olympics and three Winter Olympics.

Why this photo?

It was late in a 0-0 game between England and Ghana and any scoring chance could have decided the match. The reaction of England's Harry Kane illustrates how intense the moment was and how much players valued any chance to score. Kane also is one of the main stars of the 2026 World Cup, so any goal he scores evokes conversations about other icons — Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo.

How I made this photo

What to know about the decision to make Bible stories required reading in Texas public schools

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Bible stories have become required reading for more than 5 million public school students in Texas.

The vote to approve the plan Friday by the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education reflects a broader conservative effort to introduce more religion into U.S. schools. Last year, Texas became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments.

The mandated reading list has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that it violates the constitutional separation of church and state, lacks diversity, and favors Christianity over other religions. Supporters say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum.

Here's what to know about the reading list and the broader fight over religion in public schools:

Winnipeg police offer eagle feather as option for sworn statements

The Winnipeg Police Service said Wednesday citizens and police officers have the option of swearing a legal oath by using an eagle feather.

Before the change, the options were to swear an oath on the Bible or make an affirmation.

Eagle feathers are regarded as sacred items by Indigenous Peoples, and when a person holds them, they’re expected to speak honestly, truthfully and with integrity. The feathers will be available at all division offices.

Sheila North, the external Indigenous relations adviser for the police service, said not everyone is comfortable with swearing on the Bible.

AI is helping gas stations collude to raise California fuel prices, lawsuit says

AI-powered software has allowed gas station operators across California to illegally collude and drive up prices at the pump, according to a federal lawsuit.

The proposed class action lawsuit, filed Monday, accuses gas station giants including Marathon and Circle K of violating California’s antitrust law through Kalibrate, a fuel-pricing software system used across the world. The plaintiffs describe Kalibrate as the “central nervous system for a conspiracy to extinguish retail price competition among gas stations.”

According to the lawsuit, Kalibrate helps “coordinate high prices” and even discourages its users from pricing their gas lower than competitors, saying that doing so would trigger a “downward spiral.”

“Kalibrate promises that if gas stations surrender their pricing decisions and competitively sensitive cost and volume data to Kalibrate Fuel Pricing, the software will enable them to avoid competing with other area stations and to charge higher prices to consumers,” the lawsuit said.

Conservative MPs launch fundraiser for LGBTQ+ refugees

OTTAWA - Two Conservative MPs say leading a fundraising cruise for LGBTQ+ refugees is a tangible way for the party to advance the rights of gender and sexual minorities.

"We're all God's creatures and we're all loved, and we all deserve to be loved and we all deserve to feel safe and secure," Scott Aitchison told The Canadian Press.

"I believe that it's important for all of us to — not to preach that, but to demonstrate that."

Aitchison is MP for Parry Sound—Muskoka, a riding popular with Torontonians who own cottages.