Top News Advisory for Thursday, Oct. 14

Here are the latest Top News stories from The Canadian Press. All times are Eastern unless otherwise stated. Coverage plans are included when available. Entries are subject to change as news develops.

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TOP HEADLINES:

New COVID-19 rules for northern B.C.

Saskatchewan says vaccine rate underestimated

Ottawa facing pressure on COVID-19 tests at border

No train link to wildfire in Lytton B.C.: TSB

Canadians among world's biggest energy users

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NEW TOP STORIES SINCE THE LAST ADVISORY:

New COVID-19 rules for northern B.C.

COVID-BC

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada -- British Columbia's provincial health officer has announced new restrictions for the northern health region in an attempt to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 through those who are unvaccinated. Wire: National.

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Saskatchewan says vaccine rate underestimated

COVID-Sask

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada -- Saskatchewan's Minister of Health Paul Merriman says the province's low COVID-19 vaccination rate is an underestimation, despite data from the Public Health Agency of Canada showing otherwise. Wire: Prairies/BC. Photos: 1

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Prioritize in-person visits, Ontario tells doctors

Ont-Doctors

Toronto, Ontario, Canada -- Ontario doctors should be providing in-person care now instead of virtual visits, say their regulatory college, the Ministry of Health and the province's top doctor. By Allison Jones. Wire: Ontario/Quebec.

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B.C. school a chance for reconciliation: advocate

School-Cemetery-BC

New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada -- The relocation of the construction of a secondary school in New Westminster, B.C., once planned to be built over a cemetery not used in a century, is an example of reconciliation in action, an advocate says. By Nick Wells. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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Facebook changes harassment policies

CRAFT-Facebook-Harassment

The Canadian Association of Journalists said Facebook Inc.'s recent policy to better protect journalists from harassment is a welcome change, but more work needs to be done by the technology sector at large. Wire: Business. Photos: 1

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Quebec AI website shows impacts of climate change

AI-Climate-Change

Toronto, Ontario, Canada -- Imagine Parliament Hill blanketed in orange skies, floodwaters climbing the sides of BC Place stadium or a thick layer of smog fogging the view of Halifax from Citadel Hill. By Tara Deschamps. Wire: Business. Photos: 1

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Burnt items found near burial site of victims

Mother-Daughter-Murder

Calgary, Alberta, Canada -- A stroller, a child's cursive writing book and burnt material were found near where Calgary police unearthed the bodies of a mother and daughter in a shallow grave southwest of the city in May 2019. By Bill Graveland. Wire: Prairies/BC. Photos: 1

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Purolator hiring 2,400 for record holiday season

Purolator-Holidays

Toronto, Ontario, Canada -- Purolator Inc. is bulking up on staff, vehicles and pickup locations as it braces for its busiest holiday season yet. By Tara Deschamps. Wire: Business. Photos: 1

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Ontario town credits marketing plan with growth

Ont-Town-Incentives

A small town in northern Ontario says a marketing campaign launched four years ago has helped revive its economy, drawing dozens of families and more than doubling property values. Wire: Ontario/Quebec, Business.

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Saskatchewan ending contract with Extendicare

Sask-Extendicare

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada -- Extendicare, a national private long-term care provider, is ending its contract with the government of Saskatchewan after the province's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak happened in one of its homes. By Mickey Djuric. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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UDPDATED TOP NEWS STORIES:

Ottawa facing pressure on COVID-19 tests at border

US-Cda-COVID-Border

Washington, Washington, D.C., United States -- Ottawa is facing pressure to drop the requirement for fully vaccinated people, particularly Canadians who have crossed the border on a day trip, to submit a negative COVID-19 PCR test upon arriving back in Canada. Wire: National.

See also:

COVID testing a concern for Point Roberts, Wash.

Point-Roberts-Border-BC

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -- COVID-19 testing requirements for Canadians driving home from the United States could only prolong the hardships for the tiny coastal town of Point Roberts, Wash., community leaders say. By Brieanna Charlebois. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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No train link to wildfire in Lytton, B.C.: TSB

Wildfire-BC-Lytton

Lytton, British Columbia, Canada -- The head of the Transportation Safety Board says there's no evidence that a freight train sparked a wildfire that destroyed the town of Lytton, B.C., and the agency is closing its investigation unless it receives new information. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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Canadians among world's biggest energy users

Climate-Energy-Cda

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada -- Canadians are and will remain among the biggest consumers of energy over the next decade even as the world moves towards more efficient, renewable sources of power, the International Energy Agency says. By Mia Rabson. Wire: National.

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Nunavut declares emergency in Iqaluit over water

Iqaluit-Water

Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada -- The Nunavut government has declared a 14-day state of emergency in Iqaluit after water in the capital was deemed undrinkable and potentially tainted with petroleum. By Emma Tranter. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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Ontario plans for end to capacity limits: source

COVID-Ont

Toronto, Ontario, Canada -- Ontario will soon announce a plan for moving beyond the province's current reopening framework, including ending capacity limits in venues such as restaurants and gyms where proof of vaccination is required, a senior government source said Thursday. By Allison Jones. Wire: Ontario/Quebec. Photos: 1

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Supreme Court orders new trial in shooting death

SCOC-Shooting

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada -- The Supreme Court of Canada is ordering a new trial for an Ontario resident who was acquitted after shooting and killing an Indigenous man in 2016. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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Volunteers who helped Syrians now helping Afghans

Afghan-Refugees-Volunteers

Toronto, Ontario, Canada -- Volunteers who helped Syrian refugees settle in Canada six years ago are coming together once more to help Afghans who've recently arrived in the country. By Maan Alhmidi. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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East Coast Pentecostal churches face scrutiny

Atlantic-Churches-Vaccination

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada -- Recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have focused attention on what is being preached in Pentecostal churches in the affected areas, but a religious scholar says any ministers advocating against vaccination would be exceptions within the faith. By Sarah Smellie. Wire: Atlantic. Photos: 1

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Labrador council pushes back against Inuit group

NL-Inuit-Dispute

Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada -- Labrador's NunatuKavut Community Council says a group representing Inuit in Canada has no authority to ask Ottawa to deny it access to federal programs and services. Wire: Atlantic. Photos: 1

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Nova Scotia bill limits protests around hospitals

NS-Protests-Buffer

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada -- Nova Scotia is proposing legislation aimed at prohibiting protests that block access to hospitals and other health-care facilities. Wire: Atlantic. Photos: 1

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Ottawa says deals with Indigenous fishers working

NS-Indigenous-Lobster

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada -- Departing Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan says new fishing agreements with Mi'kmaq communities indicate her approach to the Indigenous lobster harvest is working, despite continuing tensions on the water. By Michael Tutton. Wire: Atlantic. Photos: 1

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Immediate pay hike for Quebec daycare workers

Que-Daycare-Strike

Québec, Quebec, Canada -- The Quebec government says it will immediately hike the pay of daycare workers, despite ongoing contract negotiations that have led to strikes across the province. Wire: National. Photos: 1

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Quebec riding recount halted, Liberals win

Elxn-Brome-Recount

Ottawa, , -- The Liberals have been confirmed as winners in the Quebec riding of Brome-Missisquoi after the Bloc Quebecois halted a recount of federal election votes. By Marie Woolf. Wire: National, Ontario/Quebec. Photos: 1

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No more daily prayer at Nova Scotia legislature

NS-Leg-Prayer-Dropped

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada -- The Nova Scotia legislature is replacing its daily prayer with a moment of quiet reflection. Wire: Atlantic. Photos: 1

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N.S. reports 26 new COVID-19 cases, 15 recoveries

COVID-NS

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada -- The Nova Scotia government reported 26 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday and announced it would make booster shots available to vulnerable people or for residents who need one to travel. Wire: Atlantic. Photos: 1

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Macklem meets with counterparts amid upheaval

BoC-Macklem

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada -- Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem is meeting with his international counterparts in the U.S. capital, trying to stir up solutions to global problems putting upward pressure on consumer prices. Macklem will speak with reporters late Thursday from the meeting. Wire: Business, National.

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Most SMEs optimistic about future: survey

SME-Survey

Toronto, , -- It didn't take long after the pandemic hit for Ali Khan Lalani to start thinking of his pizza restaurant as more of a tech company. By Salmaan Farooqui. Wire: Business. Photos: 1

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Tkachuk signs seven-year deal with Senators

HKN-Senators-Tkachuk

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada -- Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators have agreed to a seven-year, US$57.5-million contract. Wire: Sports. Photos: 1

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Rob Black announces departure from TSN

CRAFT-TV-Rod-Black

Longtime TSN announcer Rod Black says he has left the network. Wire: Sports.

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LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE STORIES:

The LJI is a federally funded program to add coverage in under-covered areas or on under-covered issues. This content is delivered on the CP wire in the "Y" or spare news category, or you can register to access it at https://lji-ijl.ca. This content is created and submitted by participating publishers and is not edited by The Canadian Press. Please credit stories to the reporter, their media outlet and the Local Journalism Initiative. Questions should be directed to LJI supervising editor Amy Logan at amy.logan@thecanadianpress.com. Below is a sample of the dozens of stories moved daily:

There are three scenarios in the IEA’s latest report — and they’re all bad news for Big Oil

LJI-ON-Canada-Oil-Industry-IEA-Report

The International Energy Agency’s latest projection is casting new doubt on Canadian megaprojects like the Trans Mountain expansion that experts say should force a reckoning in the country’s oil industry. 1,000 words. John Woodside/Canada's National Observer

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In the Dehcho, a one-man air charter connects communities

LJI-NT-DEHCHO-AIR-SERVICE

Since March, Goose Flying Service has shuttled residents and supplies around the smaller communities of the Northwest Territories' Dehcho region. Sergei Mjatelski, the company's owner and operator, has lived in Fort Simpson for six years. He said his service, a one-man operation, is a “taxi of the skies” filling a gap with charter flights carrying one or two people. 500 words. PHOTO. Sarah Sibley/Cabin Radio

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U of M computer science head warns of 'ongoing crisis'

LJI-MAN-COMPUTER-SCIENCE-CRISIS

The University of Manitoba’s head of computer science is sounding an alarm about the “ongoing crisis” in his department. Against a backdrop of contentious bargaining talks, James Young says his department has a students-to-faculty ratio of about 37 — nearly triple the second-highest ratio of 13 in biological sciences. With wait lists often larger than class sizes, he says hundreds of students cannot progress in their degree programs. 600 words. Maggie Macintosh/ Winnipeg Free Press

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Recently resurfaced road leaves scores of vehicles tarred

LJI-ON-TapleyTar

Frustrated and dismayed, hundreds of drivers are looking for answers and accountability after their vehicles were left coated with a thick, tar-like residue after passing through a recently resurfaced roadway near Millbrook, Ont., over the holiday weekend. 750 words. Brendan Burke/The Peterborough Examiner

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UPDATE FROM AP:

NEW/DEVELOPING

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UPDATES with Durst sentenced to life without parole in a California prison.

Adds: DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER; OBIT-STEVEN-DUBOIS; DATA BREACH-MISSOURI; UNITED NATIONS-YEMEN; SOCIAL MEDIA-FAKE REVIEWS-FINES; TRUMP-DEPOSITION; NIGERIA-ISLAMIC STATE; BRAZIL-DROUGHT; ELECTION 2022-LAXALT; BILL COSBY; OBIT-GARY PAULSEN; ABORTION-TEXAS; AFGHAN PLAYERS EVACUATED; UNITED STATES-GREECE; INTERIOR DEPARTMENT-PROTEST

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ONLY ON AP

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THE AP INTERVIEW-KERRY — Crucial U.N. climate talks next month are likely to fall short of the global target for cutting coal, gas and oil emissions, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry says, after nearly a year of climate diplomacy that helped win deeper cuts from allies but has so far failed to move some of the world’s biggest polluters to act fast enough. By Ellen Knickmeyer. SENT: 970 words, photos, video.

PANDEMIC AFRICA-GAMBIA-VACCINATIONS — As health officials in Gambia and across Africa urge women to get COVID-19 vaccines, they’ve confronted hesitancy among those of childbearing age. Although data on gender breakdown of vaccine distribution are lacking globally, experts see a growing number of women in Africa’s poorest countries consistently missing out on vaccines. Officials who already bemoan the inequity of vaccine distribution between rich and poor nations now fear that the stark gender disparity means African women are the least vaccinated population in the world. By Krista Larson and Maria Cheng. SENT: 2,160 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,100 words is also available. WITH: PANDEMIC AFRICA-GAMBIA-THE WOMEN — Gambian women’s voices on COVID-19 vaccines: “We are afraid”. SENT: 845 words, photos. WITH: MED-PANDEMIC-VACCINES-WOMEN — “Marginalized”: Women trail men in some vaccine efforts. SENT: 820 words, photos.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-LITIGIOUS-LAWMAKERS — Two politically conservative state legislators have become the go-to team of lawyers in Connecticut for groups seeking to sue the state over hot-button issues amid the coronavirus pandemic. Reps. Doug Dubitsky and Craig Fishbein have filed about a half dozen lawsuits over the school mask mandate and other aspects of the governor’s emergency executive orders. SENT: 815 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AFRICA-UNDETECTED-CASES -- Only one in seven COVID-19 infections in Africa are being detected, meaning the continent’s estimated infection level may be 59 million people, according to a new study by the World Health Organization. SENT: 400 words, photo.

CHINA-WHO — China’s Foreign Ministry warned against what it called possible “political manipulation” of a renewed probe by the World Health Organization into the origins of the coronavirus, while saying it would support the international body’s efforts. SENT: 310 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-TREATMENT-MERCK — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will ask its outside experts to review Merck’s pill to treat COVID-19 at a meeting in late November. SENT: 430 words, photo.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-RUSSIA — Russia recorded the highest daily numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths since the start of the pandemic, a rapidly surging toll that has severely strained the nation’s health care system. SENT: 550 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-MASKS — Health experts say it’s important to find a mask that’s comfortable so you’ll actually wear it as the coronavirus continues to circulate. SENT: 270 words, graphic.

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NATIONAL

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ABORTION-TEXAS — Eighteen states threw new support behind Texas’ ban on most abortions as the Biden administration waited Thursday for a ruling to determine whether the nation’s most restrictive abortion law will be allowed to remain in place. SENT: 425 words, photo.

MOTHER-AND-SON-KILLED — A prominent South Carolina lawyer has been charged with stealing insurance settlements meant for the sons of his late housekeeper, state police said. Alex Murdaugh was arrested at a drug rehab facility in Orlando, Florida, where his attorneys said he has spent the past six weeks since claiming he was shot in the head on the side of a lonely road near his home, authorities said. SENT: 420 words, photo.

CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES — Shifting winds posed new challenges for firefighters battling a blaze in Southern California coastal mountains that threatened ranches and rural homes and kept a major highway shut down for days. SENT: 650 words, photos.

CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL — A Coast Guard official says the amount of crude oil spilled in an offshore pipeline leak in Southern California is believed to be close to about 25,000 gallons — at the low end of earlier estimates. SENT: 500 words, photos.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER — Former suburban Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter who has said she meant to use a Taser instead of a handgun when she shot and killed Daunte Wright in April is laying out her potential defenses ahead of her November trial. Her attorneys say they may argue that the death of Wright, a Black motorist, was an innocent accident or an innocent mistake. SENT: 540 words.

DATA BREACH-MISSOURI — Republican Gov. Mike Parson condemned one of Missouri’s largest newspapers for exposing a flaw in a state database that allowed public access to thousands of teachers’ Social Security numbers, even though the paper held off from reporting about the flaw until after the state could fix it. SENT: 740 words.

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INTERNATIONAL

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TAIWAN FIRE — A building fire that raged out of control for hours overnight in a major city in southern Taiwan left 46 people dead and at least 41 others injured, authorities said. SENT: 545 words, photos.

FAREWELL-AFGHANISTAN — Ask almost anyone in the Afghan capital what they want now that the Taliban are in power, and the answer is the same: They want to leave. Some say their life is in danger because of links with the ousted government or with Western organizations. Others say their way of life cannot endure under the hard-line Taliban. Some fear that under them, an already collapsing economy will utterly crash. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.

CHILE-HAITIAN-IMMIGRANTS — More than 100,000 Haitians in Chile are facing a Monday deadline to regularize their immigration status or risk expulsion. And many say recent bureaucratic roadblocks have made that impossible. You need a job to get an identity card, but can’t get an identity card without a job. Tens of thousands of Haitians came to Chile in recent years, fleeing disasters and poverty while taking advantage of relaxed visa rules and a booming economy in Chile. SENT: 735 words, photos.

MEXICO-DISAPPEARED — The government’s registry of Mexico’s missing has grown more than 20% in the past year and now approaches 100,000. Activists and experts see little chance that the violence plaguing Mexico for more than a decade will change anytime soon. SENT: 800 words, photos.

MEXICO-CHILD-CARTEL-RECRUIT — In Mexico, children as young as 10 are being recruited by drug cartels. One teen tells a Mexican nonprofit group he was torturing members of rival cartels for information, killing them and cutting up their bodies or dissolving them in acid before he was framed and later sentenced. SENT: 1,020 words.

UNITED NATIONS-YEMEN — Yemen’s economy is collapsing, its humanitarian crisis is worsening, and the conflict in the Arab world’s poorest nation is growing more violent, the U.N.’s deputy humanitarian chief said. SENT: 800 words, photo.

BRAZIL-DROUGHT — President Jair Bolsonaro last month said hydroelectric dam reservoirs were “at the limit of the limit,” and called for Brazilians to turn off a lamp, take cold showers and stop using elevators when possible. SENT: 330 words, photos.

NIGERIA-ISLAMIC STATE — Nigeria’s military claimed Thursday that Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leader of an Islamic State-linked extremist group blamed for killing hundreds in the northeast, is dead. There was no immediate confirmation from the militants. SENT: 310 words, photo.

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HEALTH & SCIENCE

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SCI-ASTEROID-FRENZY — NASA is on an asteroid roll as it gets set to launch a series of spacecraft to visit and even bash some of the solar system’s most enticing rocks. A robotic trailblazer named Lucy is due to blast off Saturday on a 12-year cruise to unexplored swarms of asteroids out near Jupiter. Lucy will zip past a record eight asteroids for scientific study. Then in November, NASA will launch another spacecraft to a double-asteroid closer to home. SENT: 925 words, photos.

MED-WHO-TUBERCULOSIS -- The number of people killed by tuberculosis has risen for the first time in more than a decade, largely because fewer people have got tested and treated as resources have been diverted to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said. SENT: 445 words, photos.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level since the pandemic began, a sign the job market is still improving even as hiring has slowed in the past two months. Unemployment claims dropped 36,000 to 293,000 last week, the second straight drop, the Labor Department said. That’s the smallest number of people to apply for benefits since the week of March 14, 2020, when the pandemic intensified. SENT: 525 words, photos.

DEERE-CONTRACT — More than 10,000 Deere & Co. workers went on strike after “the company failed to present an agreement that met our members’ demands and needs,” The United Auto Workers union says. SENT: 555 words, photo.

TIKTOK-SHOPPING — TikTok, an app best known for dancing videos with 1 billion users worldwide, has also become a shopping phenomenon. National chains, hoping to get TikTok’s mostly young users into its stores, are setting up TikTok sections, reminiscent of “As Seen On TV” stores that sold products hawked on infomercials. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.

MEDIA DIVERSITY-EFFORTS — Despite renewed attention on efforts to diversify hiring in journalism since George Floyd’s killing, the ability to measure real progress is proving elusive. The News Leaders Association says it is extending the deadline for responses to its survey about employment practices at news organizations out of disappointment over how few are willing to reveal whether their staffs are diverse. SENT: 1,200 words.

SOCIAL MEDIA-FAKE REVIEWS-FINES — Federal regulators say they are cracking down on what they’re calling an explosion of businesses’ use of fake reviews and other misleading messages to promote their products and services on social media. SENT: 330 words, photo.

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SPORTS

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BBN-NLDS-DODGERS-GIANTS —Giants right-hander Logan Webb and the 107-win NL West champions take on the defending World Series champion Dodgers in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the NL Division Series for a spot in the NLCS against the Braves. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos. Starts 9:07 p.m.

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