Global Markets: China conducts drills around Taiwan

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.

– The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “punishment drills”, staging mock attacks and flying heavily-armed warplanes around Taiwan on Thursday, just days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te was sworn in. The drills were held in the Taiwan Strait to the north, south and east of the country, as well as around four Taiwanese islands. In Lai’s inauguration speech on Monday, he urged China, which does not recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty, to stop its threats. Lai had offered talks to Beijing but was rejected each time.

– A second human case of H5N1 avian flu was discovered in a Michigan farm worker, United States and Michigan health officials announced on Wednesday. The worker was in contact with infected dairy cows and the risk to the public is low. The patient had mild eye symptoms and has since recovered. The first case, found in a Texas farm worker in March, had eye inflammation and also recovered.

– The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Thursday showed Canada ranked seventh worldwide in foreign aid, spending more than US$8 billion in 2023. Included in the total was US$1.5 billion, or 19 per cent, spent supporting refugees, asylum claimants and Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. The OECD average was 13.8 per cent, with the U.S. spending 9.7 per cent of its aid budget within its own borders and the United Kingdom using 28 per cent.

– The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced on Thursday that Toronto will be home to the league’s 14^th franchise and Canada’s first, beginning play in 2026. The unnamed club, awarded to Kilmer Sports Ventures, will play out of the 8,700-seat Coca-Cola Coliseum in downtown Toronto’s Exhibition Place with some games to be played at the larger Scotiabank Place in Toronto as well as in Vancouver and Montreal. WNBA exhibition games have been played in Canada, in Toronto in 2023 and in Edmonton earlier this year, both sellouts.

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