Politics

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says Vancouver saw the highest average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the first quarter. The average asking price in B.C.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate panel challenged on a bipartisan basis the merits of cancelling billions of dollars in spending for foreign aid and public media as part of a contentious hearing Wednesday examining the White House's request for the cuts.

NEW YORK (AP) — Zohran Mamdani has claimed victory over a wounded, but still formidable former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A group of Dallas-area families and faith leaders have filed a lawsuit seeking to block a new Texas law that requires copies of the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom.

OTTAWA — A longtime B.C. MLA who was barred from running for the Conservative party in the April election said the Tories need to do a deep dive into their nomination processes — but he has little faith that will happen.

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government is making good use of its relationship with Halifax's wildly successful Lebanese community, announcing on Wednesday that it had secured agreements with two universities in Lebanon to bring doctors to the province.

THE HAGUE — Canada and its NATO allies agreed Wednesday to substantially hike their defence spending target to five per cent of annual GDP by 2035. Prime Minister Mark Carney endorsed the plan to invest 3.

TORONTO — Ontario's ombudsman is urging the province to address a "growing crisis" in correctional facilities, pointing to a record number of complaints about facilities in the last year as well as deteriorating conditions.

OTTAWA — Google asked the federal broadcast regulator Wednesday to exercise caution and restraint in regulating online platforms. Representatives from Google, which owns YouTube, appeared before a CRTC hearing on market dynamics.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation introduced Wednesday in Congress would block Chinese artificial intelligence systems from federal agencies as a bipartisan group of lawmakers pledged to ensure that the United States would prevail against China in the gl