СÀ¶ÊÓƵ

BRUSSELS — Amid signs that more infectious coronavirus variants are spreading unchecked across Europe, governments and EU leaders scrambled Wednesday to speed up vaccine efforts that have been hampered by limited supplies and to fund ways to hunt dow

OTTAWA — Canada's national annual inflation rate was 1.0 per cent in January, Statistics Canada says. Here's what happened in the provinces (previous month in brackets): — Newfoundland and Labrador: 1.5 per cent (0.6) — Prince Edward Island: 0.

TOKYO — Japan's first coronavirus shots were given to health workers Wednesday, beginning a vaccination campaign considered crucial to holding the already delayed Tokyo Olympics.

NEW ORLEANS — Music blared from the courtyard of a French Quarter restaurant on Mardi Gras morning but nobody was there to hear it until Tom Gibson and Sheila Wheeler of Philadelphia walked out of their hotel’s nearly empty lobby.

As panicked Americans cleared supermarkets of toilet paper and food last spring, grocery employees gained recognition as among the most indispensable of the pandemic's front-line workers.

TORONTO — Some of the most active companies traded Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (18,492.50, up 32.29 points.) Zenabis Global Inc. (TSX:ZENA). Health care. Up 2.5 cents, or 16.13 per cent, to 18 cents on 44.

Calgary producer Spartan Delta Corp. says it has agreed to buy private rival Inception Exploration Ltd. and two packages of oil and gas assets in northwestern Alberta for a total of $148 million in cash and shares.

TORONTO — North American stock markets set new records following the holiday Monday as the energy sector got a boost from crude oil, which surpassed US$60 a barrel to reach the highest level in more than a year.

Premier Doug Ford defended the lifting of a stay-at-home order for most of Ontario on Tuesday amid warnings it could lead to a third wave of COVID-19.

MONTREAL — Air Canada's acquisition of Transat AT Inc. is up in the air after Canada's largest airline said it will not allow more time for the deal to go through. The acquisition was set to be completed by Feb.