<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;">MONTREAL:&nbsp;After accepting a job near Montreal, Mansef Aloui packed up his life in Tunisia, hopeful his children would thrive in Canada -- but his pathway to settle in the country has been shut down.&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m broken. My life has been upended. My daughter is in her room, she cries day and night,&quot; the 50-year-old told AFP, his voice faltering over an impending departure from a country where he had hoped to stay.&nbsp;For decades, Canada was viewed as one of the world&#39;s most coveted destinations for immigrants, especially among people from the developing world.&nbsp;Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney has tightened immigration levels, echoing moves by his predecessor Justin Trudeau, who conceded last year that Canada had let in too many people to address labor shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;Carney&#39;s budget, narrowly approved last month, said: &quot;We are taking back control of our immigration system and putting Canada on a trajectory to bring immigration back to sustainable levels.&quot;&nbsp;Aloui was hired two years ago to be a supervisor at a factory in Laval, near Montreal, in Canada&#39;s French-speaking Quebec province.&nbsp;A program for skilled workers that would have allowed him to apply for permanent residency, known by its French acronym PEQ, was scrapped by the provincial government last month.&nbsp;&quot;Everything is blurry for me,&quot; Aloui said, a month before the expiration of his legal rights to remain in Canada.&nbsp;Canadian values&nbsp;Canada plans to authorize 380,000 new permanent residents in 2026, down from the 395,000 approved this year and a substantial decrease from the half-million people given rights to settle in 2024.&nbsp;Temporary resident permits are set to be trimmed nearly by half, with the 2026 target set at 385,000, compared to 673,650 this year, as the government massively curbs foreign student visa slots.&nbsp;The national statistics agency reported Wednesday that Canada&#39;s population declined by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2025 -- currently standing at 41,575,585 -- the first contraction since 2020, and caused primarily by foreign student departures.&nbsp;For Gauri Sreenivasan, co-executive director at the Canadian Council of Refugees, &quot;there has been no fundamental shift in Canadian values&quot; broadly supportive of immigration.&nbsp;But she accused Canadian politicians of exploiting &quot;a global current&quot; surrounding immigration, where newcomers are blamed for a range of challenges, including housing shortages and overstretched healthcare systems.&nbsp;&quot;Canada&#39;s population is declining and immigration is essential to our future prosperity,&quot; she said, warning against the use of &quot;toxic and xenophobic narratives&quot; that can harden attitudes against newcomers.&nbsp;Data also points towards shifting public sentiment.&nbsp;In 2022, 27 percent of Canadians believed the country was accepting too many migrants, a figure that has risen to 56 percent, according to the Environics Institute.&nbsp;The consensus has frayed Sergio da Silva told AFP he feels &quot;betrayed&quot; by the cancellation of Quebec&#39;s PEQ program.&nbsp;&quot;We studied, we speak French. We meet all the conditions to stay,&quot; said the 36-year-old Brazilian, who is also set to lose his Canadian residency rights.&nbsp;University of Montreal immigration expert Catherine Xardez said Canada had established a uniquely pro-immigration consensus, with cross-party support for welcoming people and bureaucratic processes that allowed migrants to stay.&nbsp;&quot;Canadian exceptionalism in immigration has been shaken,&quot; she told AFP. &quot;The consensus has frayed, that&#39;s obvious.&quot;&nbsp;She said a central challenge is that Canada&#39;s system was built to accommodate candidates for permanent residency.&nbsp;But the influx of temporary immigrants, especially hundreds of thousands of foreign students, has caused friction in multiple communities.&nbsp;Xardez said the situation in Canada was &quot;in no way comparable&quot; to developments in Europe or the United States, where politicians have achieved electoral successes fueled in large part by anti-immigration messaging.

Americas

Canada's immigration system is shifting as the government reduces immigration targets and cancels key programs like Quebec's PEQ. While some Canadians express concerns about housing and labor shortages, experts warn against rising anti-immigrant sentiment.

Migrants forced to leave Canada after policy change feel 'betrayed'

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;US President Donald Trump met Friday with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, with the talks partly focused on the future of a North American free trade deal. The leaders met in Washington on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.&ldquo;The three leaders met for approximately 45 minutes,&rdquo; Carney spokesperson Audrey Champoux said in an email. &ldquo;They&#39;ve agreed to keep working together on CUSMA,&rdquo; she added, using the Canadian acronym for the existing free trade deal between the three countries, which Americans call the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USMCA deal was struck during Trump&rsquo;s first term. Steep tariffs&nbsp;Trump has slapped steep tariffs on exports from Canada and Mexico that do not fall under the USMCA, which Washington is seeking to renegotiate next year. Friday&rsquo;s talks were the first between Trump and Sheinbaum. Carney has visited the White House twice since Trump&#39;s return to power, but it will be his first encounter with Trump -- except for a brief meeting at a summit in South Korea -- since the US leader suspended trade talks in a bizarre row over an anti-tariff ad. Trump has also threatened further punishment if they fail to curb cross-border migration and drug trafficking -- and irked Sheinbaum by saying he would be &ldquo;OK&rdquo; with air strikes on Mexico to tackle traffickers. She has vowed the strikes will never happen. 51st US state&nbsp;Canada also was outraged by Trump&rsquo;s calls earlier this year for it to become the 51st US state. Carney drew criticism at recent G20 meetings in South Africa when, asked by a reporter when he last spoke to Trump, answered, &ldquo;Who cares?&rdquo; The three countries launched their joint World Cup bid in 2017 during Trump&#39;s first term in the White House. Trump said Friday that the United States had worked closely with Mexico and Canada over the tournament, adding &quot;the coordination and friendship and relationship has been outstanding.&quot;

Trump met with Canadian PM Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during the 2026 World Cup draw, discussing USMCA renegotiation, tariffs, and migration while affirming cooperation on trade and tournament coordination, despite ongoing diplomatic frictions.

Trump talks trade with Canada, Mexico leaders at World Cup draw

GYEONGJU: Canadian Premier Mark Carney on Saturday called talks with China&#39;s leader Xi Jinping a &quot;turning point&quot; in relations, adding he had raised tricky topics like foreign interference with Beijing. Canada&#39;s relations with China have been among the worst of any Western nation, but both are at the sharp end of Donald Trump&#39;s tariff onslaught, even after Xi and the US leader&#39;s deal Thursday to dial back tensions. China and Canada on Friday held their first formal talks between their leaders since 2017 on Friday. &lsquo;Unlocked a path forward&rsquo;&quot;We have now unlocked a path forward to address current issues,&quot; Carney told journalists in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, referring to China.&nbsp;&quot;Our overall discussion was constructive,&quot; he added. Carney said Saturday he had accepted an invitation from Xi to visit &quot;in the new year&quot;. &quot;I directed our ministers and officials to work together to find solutions to current challenges and to identify areas for cooperation and growth,&quot; he said. Carney apologizes to Trump&nbsp;The US president last Saturday said he was hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10% and terminated all trade talks. This followed what Trump called a &quot;fake&quot; anti-tariff ad campaign that featured the late ex-president Ronald Reagan. Carney said Saturday he had apologized to Trump for that ad. &quot;I did apologize to the president. The president was offended,&quot; he said.

Carney said Saturday he had accepted an invitation from Xi to visit "in the new year"; says ‘we have now unlocked a path forward to address current issues’, adding ‘our overall discussion was constructive.’

Canada PM says Xi talks 'turning point', apologizes to Trump

AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10%, in the latest fallout over a Canadian anti-tariff ad that featured late US leader Ronald Reagan. The announcement came two days after Trump said he had terminated all trade talks with Canada over what he called the &quot;fake&quot; ad campaign. &quot;Their Advertisement was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY, but they let it run last night during the World Series, knowing that it was a FRAUD,&quot; Trump said on his Truth Social platform, posting the message as he flew to Asia for meetings with key regional leaders. &quot;Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,&quot; he said. &#39;High tariffs trigger trade wars&#39;The ad from the Canadian province of Ontario used quotes from a 1987 radio address on trade that Reagan delivered, in which he warned of the ramifications he said high tariffs on imports could have on the US economy. It cited the Republican as saying that &quot;high tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,&quot; a quote that matches a transcript of his speech on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library&#39;s website. The Ronald Reagan Foundation wrote on X on Thursday that the Ontario government had used &quot;selective audio and video&quot; and that it was reviewing its legal options. Adding extra spice to the cross-border row, baseball&#39;s World Series features a Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, facing a US team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays thrashed the Dodgers 11-4 in the first game on Friday. Ontario said it would pull the offending anti-tariff ad on Monday so that negotiations could restart, but not before it aired again on Saturday night during the second game of the baseball showdown. Economic strategy &#39;needs to change&#39;Trump&#39;s global sectoral tariffs -- particularly on steel, aluminum, and autos -- have hit Canada hard, forcing job losses and squeezing businesses. For now, the United States and Canada adhere to the existing North American trade deal, the USMCA, which ensures that roughly 85% of cross-border trade in both directions remains tariff-free. But in a speech on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the United States has raised &quot;its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression.&quot; &quot;Our economic strategy needs to change dramatically,&quot; Carney added, saying the process &quot;will take some sacrifices and some time.&quot; Trump and Carney are both set to attend a dinner on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in South Korea on Wednesday. But Trump has said he had no plans to meet Carney.

Taxation

US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Canadian goods by 10%, condemning Ontario’s anti-tariff ad featuring Ronald Reagan as 'fraudulent.' The move follows halted trade talks, escalating tensions ahead of the APEC summit in South Korea

Trump increasing tariffs on Canada by 10%

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was immediately ending all trade talks with Canada, accusing it of misquoting former president Ronald Reagan in an advertising campaign against tariffs. &ldquo;Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump&nbsp;said on his Truth Social network. &ldquo;The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.&rdquo; <div class="fr-embed" style="line-height: 2;"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115426967566430347/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">&nbsp;</iframe></div> The ad used quotes from Reagan&#39;s speech, in which he warned against some of the ramifications that high tariffs on foreign imports could have on the US economy. It cited Reagan as saying that &quot;high tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,&quot; a quote that matches a transcript of his speech on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library&#39;s website. The latest extraordinary twist in relations between the North American neighbors comes just over two weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Trump in the White House to seek a relaxation of stiff US tariffs. The Ronald Reagan Foundation said on X that the government of the Canadian province of Ontario had used &ldquo;selectively audio and video&rdquo; from a radio address to the nation on trade by Reagan in April 1987. It said the ad &ldquo;misrepresents&rdquo; what the Republican former actor had said in his address, adding that it was &ldquo;reviewing its legal options in this matter.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1981524620265046408&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Flogin&sessionId=1141a9813ad0ce793e60bfedfb742088948967ab&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 777px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>Trump said the ad was designed to &ldquo;interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court,&rdquo; which is due to rule on his sweeping global tariffs. &lsquo;World-class leader&rsquo;The sudden decision to end trade talks will come as a blow to Carney, whom Trump described as a &ldquo;world-class leader&rdquo; when they met on Oct. 7, adding that the Canadian would be &ldquo;very happy&rdquo; with their discussion. At the time, however, Trump offered no immediate concessions on tariffs. Roughly 85% of cross-border trade in both directions remains tariff-free, as the United States and Canada continue to adhere to the existing North American trade deal, the USMCA. But Trump&#39;s global sectoral tariffs -- particularly on steel, aluminium, and autos -- have hit Canada hard, forcing job losses and squeezing businesses.

Business

The latest extraordinary twist in relations between the North American neighbors comes just over two weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Trump in the White House to seek a relaxation of stiff US tariffs.

All Canada trade talks ‘terminated’: Trump

WASHINGTON: Canada&#39;s finance minister voiced optimism Thursday that the Group of Seven nations can &quot;move from dependence to resilience&quot; in the face of China&#39;s tightening rare earth export controls. Speaking to AFP in Washington, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said rare earths were a key topic in around two hours of talks with his G7 counterparts on Wednesday. He expressed hope, however, that Canada and its allies can find solutions together to &quot;move from dependence to resilience.&quot; &quot;Around the table, we have all the solutions to address this issue, including Canada, which has critical minerals,&quot; he said. Chinese export controls&nbsp;In early October, China announced fresh controls on the export of rare earth technologies and items, drawing a fiery rebuke from US President Donald Trump. Trump swiftly threatened to slap an additional 100-percent US tariff on goods from China, a move that would again snarl supply chains. Champagne&#39;s remarks to AFP came on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank&#39;s fall meetings, where he chaired the gathering of G7 finance leaders. Other leaders in the grouping -- consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- have raised worries over China&#39;s rare earth controls as well. &lsquo;Deeply concerned&rsquo;Japan&#39;s Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said his country is &quot;deeply concerned&quot; about the extensive restrictions China announced, urging for a united G7 response. UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves criticized Beijing&#39;s move as a &quot;wrong decision&quot; that is dangerous for the global economy. And US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday slammed China&#39;s actions, vowing that: &quot;We are not going to let a group of bureaucrats in Beijing try to manage the global supply chains.&quot; Bessent also warned: &quot;If some in the Chinese government want to slow down the global economy through disappointing actions and through economic coercion, the Chinese economy will be hurt the most.&quot; Tit-for-tat tariffsTit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China hit triple-digit levels earlier this year, although Washington and Beijing have since de-escalated tensions. But their truce remains shaky, with Trump previously also threatening to scrap a potential meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after Beijing announced the rare earth curbs. During their talks in Washington, G7 finance ministers also discussed &quot;the challenges to global economic growth and the need to promote and advance more inter-G7 trade, with particular focus on imbalances and critical minerals,&quot; a statement said.

In early October, China announced fresh controls on export of rare earth technologies; Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and US have raised worries over China's rare earth controls. 

Canadian minister hopeful G7 can lower rare earth reliance on China

WASHINGTON: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday at a time when one of the world&rsquo;s most durable and amicable alliances has been fractured by Trump&#39;s trade war and annexation threats.&nbsp;Carney&#39;s second visit to the White House comes ahead of a review next year of the free trade agreement, which is critical to Canada&#39;s economy. More than 77% of Canada&#39;s exports go to the US&nbsp;Trump&rsquo;s talk of making Canada the 51st state and his tariffs have Canadians feeling an undeniable sense of betrayal.&nbsp; Relations with Canada&rsquo;s southern neighbor and longtime ally haven&rsquo;t been worse.&nbsp;&ldquo;We&#39;ve had ups and downs, but this is the lowest point in relations that I can recall,&rdquo; said Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States and current deputy chairman of TD Bank.&nbsp;&ldquo;Canadians aren&#39;t being instructed what to do. They are simply voting with their feet,&quot; he said. &quot;I talk every day to ordinary citizens who are changing their vacation plans, and I talk to large business owners who are moving reward trips away or executive business trips. There is an outright rebellion.&quot;&nbsp;There is fear in Canada over what will happen to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Carney is looking to get some relief on some sector-specific tariffs, but expectations are low.&nbsp;&ldquo;Improving relations with the White House ahead of the USMCA review is certainly an objective of the trip, but opposition parties and part of the Canadian public will criticize Prime Minister Carney if he doesn&rsquo;t achieve some progress on the tariff front at this stage,&rdquo; said Daniel B&eacute;land, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.&nbsp;Trump said Monday that he anticipated Carney wanted to use the meeting to discuss trade.&nbsp;&ldquo;I guess he&rsquo;s going to ask about tariffs, because a lot of companies from Canada are moving into the United States,&rdquo; Trump, a Republican, told reporters after signing an executive order related to Alaska. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s losing a lot of companies in Canada.&rdquo;&nbsp;Carney has said the USMCA, which is up for review in 2026, is an advantage for Canada at a time when it is clear that the US is charging for access to its market.&nbsp; Carney has said the commitment of the US to the core of USMCA means that more than 85% of Canada-US trade continues to be free of tariffs.&nbsp; He said the US average tariff rate on Canadian goods is 5.6% and remains the lowest among all its trading partners.&nbsp;But Trump has some sector-specific tariffs on Canada, known as Section 232 tariffs, that are having an impact. There are 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The ties between the two countries are without parallel. About $2.5 billion (nearly $3.6 billion Canadian) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.&nbsp; Canada is the top export destination for 36 US states. There is close cooperation on defense, border security and law enforcement, and a vast overlap in culture, traditions and pastimes.&nbsp;About 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of US electricity imports are from Canada.&nbsp;Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the US and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.

Europe

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday to ease tensions over tariffs and trade, as relations between the longtime allies hit a historic low ahead of the 2026 USMCA review.



Carney meets Trump to improve strained Canada, US trade relations

WASHINGTON : An experimental medication made from marijuana successfully reduced back pain in a new study, offering further support for the drug&rsquo;s potential in treating one of the most common forms of chronic pain.&nbsp;The 800-patient study by a German drugmaker is the latest evidence of the therapeutic properties of cannabis, which remains illegal under U.S. federal law even as most states have made it available for medical or recreational use.&nbsp;Health officials in Canada and Europe have previously approved a pharmaceutical-grade form of cannabis for several types of pain, including nerve pain due to multiple sclerosis. In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug containing CBD &mdash; one of the many non-intoxicating chemicals found in cannabis &mdash; to treat rare seizures in children with epilepsy.&nbsp;Unlike that drug, known as Epidiolex, the new cannabis formula from drugmaker Vertanical contains THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that gets users high. But levels of the chemical are very low, essentially a microdose compared to what&rsquo;s available in gummies, chocolate bars and other products sold at marijuana dispensaries in the U.S. The company said patients in the trial didn&rsquo;t show any signs of drug abuse, dependence or withdrawal.&nbsp;Vertanical is seeking approval for a large group of patients: those suffering from lower-back pain, a chronic condition that affects millions and has few proven treatments.&nbsp;Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen can&rsquo;t be used for long-term pain because of their side effects, which include stomach ulcers and indigestion. Opioids are no longer recommended, after the overprescribing of painkillers such as OxyContin in the 1990s and 2000s led to the ongoing epidemic of addiction to that class of drug.&nbsp;Chronic pain is one of the most frequently cited conditions of people enrolled in state-run medical marijuana programs. But there&#39;s been little rigorous research on the drug&#39;s use in that group.&nbsp;Lead study author Dr. Matthias Karst said in an email that the new findings show cannabis &quot;can significantly reduce pain and improve physical function in patients with chronic low-back pain, without the safety concerns commonly associated with opioids.&rdquo; Karst is a pain specialist at Hannover Medical School and a consultant for Vertanical.&nbsp;For the new study, patients with back pain were randomly assigned to take Vertanical&rsquo;s proprietary liquid cannabis extract or a placebo.&nbsp;At the end of 12 weeks, patients taking the medication reported a nearly 2-point reduction in pain on an 11-point scale, compared with 1.4 points for those taking placebo. The difference was statistically significant. Those getting the drug also reported improvements in sleep and physical function.&nbsp;Patients who continued with a six-month extension phase continued to experience reductions in pain. The results were published Monday in the journal Nature.&nbsp;Side effects included dizziness, headache, fatigue and nausea and led to more than 17% of people discontinuing the drug early. Researchers said that dropout rate was lower than what&#39;s typically reported with opioids, which can cause constipation, nausea, drowsiness and carry risks of addiction.&nbsp;Vertanical has filed an application for its drug with European regulators. In the U.S., the company says it is &ldquo;working closely&rdquo; with regulators to design a study to support FDA approval.

Food

An experimental medication made from marijuana successfully reduced back pain in a new study

A drug made from marijuana reduced back pain in a large study

LONDON: England finally has a Women&#39;s Rugby World Cup title to confirm its utter world domination after outclassing Canada 33-13 in front of a record crowd at Twickenham on Saturday. The clearcut victory by five tries to two capped an astonishing World Cup cycle in which England won every match, 33 in a row, the greatest streak in international rugby. The prospect of a home tournament topped by a home champion sold out Twickenham five weeks ago, and 81,885 spectators, the largest crowd in women&#39;s rugby history, were treated to a showcase of England&#39;s unstoppable power. England was appearing in a seventh straight World Cup final but had won only one of the previous six, in 2014. The other title was in 1994. Losing the 2022 final to New Zealand, the last time England tasted defeat, was a bitter blow for the most resourced, most deepest and strongest women&#39;s team in world rugby. It drove the Red Roses to get the formula right when the World Cup came home for the first time in 15 years. &ldquo;The past certainly dictates the now and the girls hung tough in the whole tournament and connected with the nation,&rdquo; England coach John Mitchell said. &ldquo;I thought we were superb defensively in the tournament; our attack didn&#39;t need to be at its best but it was effective enough to get the job done. Canada are a good side but they hadn&#39;t come up against us and we were waiting.&quot; Canada bossed everyone, including defending two-time champion New Zealand in the semifinals, en route to its first final in 11 years, validating its No. 2 ranking and unbeaten campaign this year. But the best offloading team in the tournament with the fastest ruck speed couldn&rsquo;t get its natural game going, crashing into England&#39;s defense. Canada didn&#39;t have a plan B. &ldquo;We smashed it out there today and I can&rsquo;t thank the girls enough for putting their bodies on the line,&rdquo; England captain Zoe Aldcroft said. &quot;There was no doubt in our minds coming into this that we were going to do the job.&rdquo; England saved its best performance of the World Cup for last, setting the tone at the first scrum, shoving Canada backward. The English would destroy Canada&#39;s scrum and mauls. Even goalkicking lock Sophie de Goede, at the heart of Canada&#39;s impressive performances just two months into her comeback from an ACL tear, was stymied. She got to smile after the final, though, after receiving the world player of the year award ahead of England&#39;s Megan Jones and New Zealand&#39;s Jorja Miller. De Goede&#39;s teammates threw her in the air. As it did in every game, Canada scored first through glitter-faced right wing Alex Hogan-Rochester from a two-on-one. The lead lasted only three minutes. Out of nothing, fullback Ellie Kildunne, last year&#39;s world player of the year, broke a tackle, stepped a couple more and scorched the cover to score behind the posts. More Canada errors were turned into points by England. There was a lineout drive try for hooker Amy Cokayne, who scored three similar tries in the 2022 final. An intercept on halfway by Tatyana Heard was the origin of a try for No. 8 Alex Matthews, playing in her fourth straight final. Canada had to score next but on England&#39;s try-line the ball was poached by Aldcroft. Canada admitted it was struggling by kicking a penalty while 21-5 down. The half finished with England prop Hannah Botterman greeting her second jackal penalty with a double-fisted roar in delight. England started the second half with a try by lock Abbie Ward. When Zoe Harrison&#39;s conversion attempt hit the post, it was her first miss in 15 goalkicks going back to the pool stage. While Botterman was in the sin-bin, Hogan-Rochester got her second try for Canada. When another sustained period of pressure died from a knock-on in front of the England posts, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney put his head in his hands. England put the finishing touches on the biggest win in a final in 27 years when a spiral bomb spun back into its hands and Matthews scored her second try. New Zealand takes bronze New Zealand bowed out in style after slamming six tries against France to win the bronze medal. Rebounding from their semifinal defeat to Canada, their first loss in a knockout match in 34 years, the world champion Black Ferns won 42-26. Winger Braxton Sorensen-McGee, the 18-year-old sensation at her first World Cup, scored her 10th and 11th tries, the second highest tally in World Cup history. Only retiring teammate Portia Woodman-Wickliffe scored more; 13 in 2017. Renee Holmes was the player of the match for a 17-point haul, including five goalkicks from eight off the tee. New Zealand led 39-7 after an hour then suddenly dropped off tackles and France scored three tries in 10 minutes to flanker Lea Champon and backs Gaby Vernier and Emilie Boulard. France also scored the opening try by scrumhalf Pauline Bourdon Sansus from an inside pass by retiring co-captain Marine Menager. But most of the next hour was New Zealand&rsquo;s with often breathless play started by forwards Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Liana Mikaele-Tu&#39;u and Chryss Viliko. Sylvia Brunt scored one try and set up two, and sevens superstar Jorja Miller, who missed the semifinal injured, sent in lock Laura Bayfield for 26-7 at halftime. Then Sorensen-McGee turned it on. A dummy, left-foot step, and 30-meter glide to the try-line. Moments after Woodman-Wickliffe was replaced to huge acclaim, Sorensen-McGee dived in beside the right corner flag. &quot;There are only three teams that get to win a medal and to be one of those teams, no matter what color it is, we&rsquo;re so grateful,&rdquo; Brunt said.

Rugby

England clinched its second Women’s Rugby World Cup, defeating Canada 33-13 at Twickenham before a record crowd. The Red Roses extended their unbeaten run to 33 matches, cementing their dominance as Canada settled for runner-up.

England outclasses Canada, wins Women's Rugby World Cup 

DURBIN: Starbucks said Thursday it&#39;s closing hundreds of US and Canadian stores and laying off 900 non-retail employees as it focuses more of its resources on a turnaround.&nbsp;The Seattle coffee giant said store closures would start immediately. The company wouldn&#39;t give a number of stores that are closing, but it said it expects to have 18,300 North American locations when its fiscal year ends on Sunday, which is 124 fewer than it had at the end of its 2024 fiscal year. As of June 29, the company had 18,734 locations.&nbsp;Starbucks said workers in its stores will be offered transfers to other locations where possible and severance packages.&nbsp;Starbucks said it will notify non-retail employees whose positions are being eliminated early Friday. Starbucks asked employees who can work from home to do so on Thursday and Friday.&nbsp;In a letter sent to employees Thursday, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said a review of the company&#39;s stores identified locations where the company doesn&#39;t see a path to financial stability or isn&#39;t able to create the physical environment customers expect. Those stores are being closed.&nbsp;&ldquo;Each year, we open and close coffeehouses for a variety of reasons, from financial performance to lease expirations,&rdquo; Niccol wrote. &ldquo;This is a more significant action that we understand will impact partners and customers. Our coffeehouses are centers of the community, and closing any location is difficult.&rdquo;&nbsp;Starbucks said it expects to spend $1 billion on the restructuring, including $150 million on employee separation benefits and $850 million related to the physical store closing and the cost of exiting leases.&nbsp;Starbucks shares were down less than 1% in morning trading on Thursday.&nbsp;It was not immediately clear how many of the stores that are closing are unionized.&nbsp;Workers at 650 company-owned US Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since 2021, but they have yet to reach a contract agreement with the company.&nbsp;Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing workers, said Thursday that the closures were made without input from Starbucks&#39; baristas. The union said it intends to engage in bargaining at every union-represented store that is closing to ensure workers can be placed at another store they prefer.&nbsp;&ldquo;Fixing what&rsquo;s broken at Starbucks isn&rsquo;t possible without centering the people who engage with the company&rsquo;s customers day in and day out,&rdquo; the union said.&nbsp;News of the store closures came just over a week after unionized employees in three states sued Starbucks over its new dress code, saying the company refused to reimburse workers who had to buy new clothes.&nbsp;Starbucks said it used a consistent set of criteria to determine the stores that are closing, and union representation wasn&#39;t a factor.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s rare for Starbucks to shrink its store count during a fiscal year.&nbsp;Niccol said Starbucks plans to increase its North American store count in its next fiscal year. The company said it also plans to redesign more than 1,000 locations in the next 12 months to give them a warmer, more welcoming feel.&nbsp;This is the second big round of layoffs at Starbucks this year. In February, Niccol announced the layoffs of 1,100 corporate employees globally and eliminated several hundred open positions. At the time, Niccol said Starbucks needed to operate more efficiently and increase accountability for decisions.&nbsp;In July, Starbucks reported its sixth straight quarter of lower same-store sales, as weak US traffic continued to be a drain on the company.Niccol is trying to turn that around by adding staff, making stores cozier and introducing software that helps prioritize orders and make sure customers can get their drink within four minutes.

American coffee brand closing hundreds of US and Canadian stores and laying off 900 non-retail employees in a $1 billion restructuring plan. The move follows declining sales, with efforts to redesign stores and boost efficiency underway. 

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