SASK. ELECTION

Minister Beaudry-Mellor concedes to NDP's Aleana Young in Regina University

The NDP has knocked off a Saskatchewan Party cabinet minister and bumped up its likely seat count to 13, after Regina University incumbent Tina Beaudry-Mellor conceded defeat to challenger Aleana Young on Thursday.

© Provided by Leader Post 

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party candidate Aleana Young speaks to media in Regina on Oct. 24, 2020. The next day, she gave birth to her first child.

Young, who gave birth to a daughter on Sunday, said she always knew the race would be close and didn’t think she’d know the victor until the final count next week.

“I had sincerely been looking at Nov. 7, so had essentially given myself this week to just really enjoy sitting in my new baby bubble and spending time with my husband and my new daughter,” she said.

That’s what she was doing until about 1:05 p.m. Thursday, when she saw a Facebook post from her opponent. “The good people of Regina University have chosen and I would like to congratulate Aleana Young on both of her deliveries,” Beaudry-Mellor wrote.

Young said the next three hours were “particularly bonkers,” as phone alerts streamed in.

But Thursday was bittersweet for the NDP in Regina. The closely fought race of Regina Pasqua looks out of reach, as challenger Bhajan Brar failed to catch up to Saskatchewan Party incumbent Muhammad Fiaz. Brar acknowledged that it’s now hardly possible for him to prevail, and said he was preparing to concede to his opponent.

New results in both races came as election workers count 40,214 mail-in ballots that arrived on or before election night, province-wide. By late Thursday afternoon, they had finished their tallies for all 61 constituencies.

The NDP saw its share of the vote rise from 29.12 per cent on election night to 30.78 per cent in the updated count, while the Sask. Party saw its share drop from 62.95 to 61.57 per cent. The new vote share is barely better for the NDP than in 2016.

There are still potentially 21,000 mail-in ballot packages that were sent to voters but weren’t returned as of election night. They’ll be counted on Nov. 7. But there’s little chance they’ll change the game in Regina University or Regina Pasqua.

Young was trailing by 178 votes in University on election night. But after election workers counted 1,370 mail-in ballots over two days, she has built up an advantage of 226 votes over Beaudry-Mellor.

There are still 444 mail-in ballot packages out there. But Beaudry-Mellor read the tea leaves. She thanked her staff and campaign team, and promised to continue supporting the Saskatchewan Party. Beyond that, her plans are simple.

“I am going to take some time to be with my kids and my dogs and to reflect,” Beaudry-Mellor added. “I’ll see you around soon.”

Young said her daughter, Hara, will likely make a few appearances in the legislative assembly, where rules were recently changed to allow MLAs to bring their young children.

Results for Regina Pasqua came just hours after Young got the news. Brar was trailing Sask. Party incumbent Muhammad Fiaz by 576 votes on election night. The updated count tightened the race somewhat, with Brar now behind by 386 votes.

But Brar told the Leader-Post that it doesn’t look possible for him to make up the difference, even with about 800 ballots potentially out there. He would need roughly 75 per cent of them if they all arrive, and he’s sure they won’t.

He had earlier predicted victory and told the Leader-Post that it would belong to the people of his constituency. But he would not blame them for his defeat.

“It is not the people’s fault. It is my fault,” he said. “I could not convey my clear message to the people.”

awhite-crummey@postmedia.com

Florida unions reach out to infrequent voters in final stretch of campaign

Florida-based union members who lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic are making their final push to get out the vote for Joe Biden days before the election.

© CBS News / LaCrai Mitchell seiu-members-meet-downtown-before-canvassing-nearby-neighborhood.png

They're targeting infrequent voters — who in some cases haven't cast a vote since 2008 — and hoping that sharing their personal stories will help get more of them to the polls. With over 7.3 million votes already cast in Florida, where polls show Biden and President Trump are virtually tied, hospitality and fast-food workers are trying to have one more conversation with some of the 7 million Floridians who are registered but haven't voted yet.

High numbers of voters who did not cast a ballot in the last election are turning out in battleground states this year. In Florida, 25.8% of Democrats who have voted early in Florida so far did not vote in 2016, according to the Democratic elections data firm TargetSmart. Among Republicans, 21.8% of the total who've voted so far did not not in 2016.

Most of the members of UNITE HERE, a union representing 34,000 hospitality workers in Florida, were laid off at the start of the pandemic. Seven months later many still haven't returned to their jobs, says Wendi Walsh, the union's state political director. She said UNITE HERE scrambled to get its members access to unemployment benefits and then ultimately hired some who were willing to share their stories with voters as canvassers.

They are "incredibly focused on how they've been treated over these last several months, both by Governor DeSantis and by Donald Trump," said Walsh.

Florida Republicans in the state shut down their in-person voter mobilization efforts during the pandemic, but not for as long as Democratic groups did. Walsh said in June, UNITE HERE took an "educated risk" and restarted its in-person get-out-the-vote efforts. It consulted health professionals, hired hundreds of laid-off members, and a couple dozen began door-knocking again. The group has helped fill the in-person voter engagement gap left by Democratic organizers who were still holding mainly virtual events due to COVID-19.

"As much as we were having some success on the phones...you really can't replace looking someone in the eye and talking to them about their vote," said Walsh.

In September, Biden made his first in-person visit to Florida as the Democratic nominee after the coronavirus forced him to cancel a trip in March. He was here again Thursday, during the last full week of the campaign. By the time Biden landed here in mid-September, Mr. Trump had already been to Florida — now his official residence — at least 10 times since the year began.

More than 300 UNITE HERE members are working as full-time canvassers — making $684 per week — and 500 volunteers are calling voters and sending texts. Since they returned to the field three months ago, none have tested positive for the coronavirus.

CBS News joined UNITE HERE members during a socially-distanced canvass in Central Florida. Lizbeth Concepcion, 33, is a housekeeper at Disney and a Hurricane Maria refugee. Like other Puerto Rican voters in Florida who are working to defeat President Trump, Concepcion said some of his past comments and actions towards the island will be top of mind as she votes. Concepcion is a paid canvasser who said she's also knocking doors in part because of the discrimination she's felt as a member of the LGBTQ community and because of the racism she's experienced.

"I feel like I'm doing something big for this society, and I enjoy it a lot," said Concepcion.

"When I knock at the door, I tell them about my story," said Francesca Clerizier, a 51-year-old mother of six who'd lost her job at Disney before joining UNITE HERE as a canvasser. "I tell them please go out to vote. If you don't want to go to vote, vote for me, because I need it for my kids. I need it for my life."

Concepcion and Clerizier have helped UNITE HERE members connect with more than 100,000 Biden supporters viewed as "low propensity" — those who are less likely to vote and haven't participated in recent presidential elections. These voters receive multiple phone calls and face-to-face visits from the union, Walsh said, to keep pushing them to vote. So far, her team has made 5.3 million phone calls and has knocked on nearly 350,000 doors.

Other groups like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are also hitting the pavement again. In January, it launched a $150 million program — the largest in its history — to reach infrequent voters in Black, LatinX, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

© Provided by CBS News

SEIU members meet before canvassing in neighborhood in Orlando, Florida.

 / Credit: CBS News / LaCrai Mitchell

Alphonso Mayfield, 42, an executive committee member for Florida for All, a group of progressive partner organizations, said SEIU has knocked on 519,000 doors since September.

CBS News joined SEIU on a humid Saturday afternoon in downtown Orlando, where an organizer gathered members for canvassing. Using her iPad, she pulled up a list of addresses of voters in the area. Ten minutes later, the group approached a yard adorned with a Biden-Harris sign and a "Yes on #2" sign. The person on their list had in fact moved, but the middle-aged woman who answered the door said her family had already voted for Biden, eliciting a chorus of cheers from the SEIU members.

After about 30 minutes, the group came across a registered voter who hadn't cast his ballot yet.

"We're trying to get people to go out and vote for the minimum wage to be $15," said Jamelia Fairley, a fast-food employee who was canvassing. "You'll vote yes on Amendment two?" she asked the voter. He said he would, and the SEIU group behind her cheered again.

© Provided by CBS News 

SEIU member Josephy Gourgue knocks on doors in downtown Orlando

Most of the neighborhood encounters were friendly, and they came across no undecided voters. At one home, a resident shooed the canvassers away from a neighbor's yard, accusing them of soliciting, but this didn't faze them.

"The Joe Biden-Harris policy is better suited for the working class. He's talking about raising the minimum wage," said Joseph Gourgue Sr., a 61-year-old wheelchair attendant at the airport who makes $9 an hour.

Fairley, 25, is a leader in the Fight for 15 campaign, an effort to increase the minimum wage in Florida to $15 an hour. She brought her young daughter with her as she knocked on doors to promote the pay hike.

"It's hard living off of $10 an hour because I still can barely afford rent and food on the table," said Fairley. She added, "We're trying to make a change and the only way we can make a change is if we go out and vote."

Coronavirus, consolidation taking toll on energy jobs

By Jennifer Hiller

© Reuters/ANGUS MORDANT FILE PHOTO: 

A long exposure image shows the movement of a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Oil and gas companies worldwide are taking an axe to their employment rolls, shedding workers to survive what is expected to be a prolonged stretch of weak demand.Exxon Mobil Corp said it will cut its workforce by 15%, or about 14,000 people, along with oil majors Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc .

All told, more than 400,000 oil and gas sector jobs have been cut this year, according to Rystad Energy, with about half of those in the United States, where several big exploration companies and most large oil service companies are headquartered.

Coronavirus has devastated swathes of the global economy, with energy, travel and hospitality among the industries hit hardest. Energy companies were already struggling with weak returns, particularly those operating in U.S. shale regions, but have had to double down on cost cuts as investors pressure companies to improve margins.

© Reuters/Jim Tanner FILE PHOTO: A combination of file photos shows the logos of five of the largest publicly traded oil companies BP, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil Royal Dutch Shell, and Total

"The COVID-era reality across the oil industry is austerity on an epic scale. There is no escaping the fact that this means, among other things, job losses," said Pavel Molchanov, analyst at Raymond James. In addition to Exxon, Chevron Corp, Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd and Canada's Cenovus Energy Inc all announced plans in recent weeks to cut staff.

Global fuel demand slumped by more than a third in the spring. While consumption has recovered somewhat, it remains lower than a year ago with major economies resuming lockdowns to contain the pandemic.

Video: US would look different without fracking for natural gas, energy secretary says (Fox Business)  https://tinyurl.com/y4fv9bt5

The downturn has been particularly harsh in the United States, the world's largest crude oil producer. The nation has recorded the most deaths from coronavirus, and the damage from the pandemic has sent unemployment to about 8%.

U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said it is unlikely to return to the peak, near 13 million barrels per day, reached in 2019, largely through the use of fracking technology used by shale companies. The shale industry has been hit hard by the pandemic because it is easy for oil firms to cut staff and spending in the sector.

Fracking has become a hot-button issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. Democratic challenger Joe Biden wants to limit fracking on federal lands, while incumbent President Donald Trump has pushed for more drilling, and argues Biden's position would destroy jobs.Consolidation is helping drive job cuts. Chevron plans to eliminate roughly 25% of the staff acquired with Noble Energy, which it acquired this month. Shell said its oil output likely peaked last year, and it plans to cut roughly 10% of its workforce. Cenovus said it will cut 25% after it buys rival Husky Energy Inc .

In Australia, more than 2,000 oil industry jobs have been cut since March, including at Exxon and Chevron. Top independent gas producer Woodside said earlier this month that it would cut around 8% of its workforce.

Mohammad Barkindo, secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, recently expressed concern that the pace of oil demand is below expectations, potentially requiring major producers to maintain production cuts.

Not all companies are throttling back. PetroChina Co Ltd <601857.SS>, Asia's largest oil and gas producer, reported a 350% surge in profit from a year earlier.In an outlook released earlier this month, BP Plc laid out two scenarios that suggest world oil consumption, roughly 100 million barrels per day, peaked last year. BP Plc recently cut about 50% of its exploration team as it shifts operations towards renewable energy development. Currently, futures markets suggest crude prices may not advance beyond $40 a barrel for at least two more years due to weak demand, and that could limit hiring.

"The practical reality is when you have oil prices in the $30 to $40 range, I don't think many companies have the luxury to wait for a recovery," said Alex Pourbaix, chief executive at Cenovus.

(Reporting By Jennifer Hiller; Additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London, Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Writing by David Gaffen; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Federal government unveils rules for $750-million emissions reduction fund

OTTAWA — Oil and gas companies that use federal cash to help cut methane emissions from their operations won't have to repay every penny if they eliminate the methane emissions entirely.  

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan unveiled rules for the $750-million emissions-reduction fund first announced by the federal government at the end of April.

"Any time we are able to help companies reduce emissions … that is a very good investment for Canada and is a very good investment for Canadians," said O'Regan.

"It's an incredibly effective way for us to reach our targets."

Methane has more than 80 times the global-warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and accounts for more than one-tenth of Canada's total emissions each year.

Almost half of them come from the oil and gas sector.

Canada has committed to cutting methane emissions between 40 and 45 per cent by 2025, but current regulations are only expected to cut 29 per cent by then.

The government has not estimated yet what emissions will be cut through this new program, but said up to half the cost of the loan can be forgiven if a project eliminates methane emissions.

If projects only cut some but not all emissions, the entire loan will have to be repaid.

Several environment groups were critical of the government for tentative agreements it reached with Alberta and Saskatchewan on methane emissions, which the groups argue won't be as strict as the regulations Canada laid out.

The equivalency agreements on methane emissions with Alberta and Saskatchewan will allow them to use their own regulations instead of having to follow Ottawa's.

But Environmental Defence, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Environmental Defense Fund, asked the government not to finalize those agreements until they can be improved to get Canada closer to its target.

Dale Marshall, national climate program manager at Environmental Defence, said the reason Ottawa can't say how many emissions this fund will cut is because it's not tying the cash to meeting the regulations.

"That's the difference with regulations," he said. "The level of reductions doesn't depend on industry coming forward with proposals. It ensures that every oil and gas facility is doing what is needed, especially given that these are very, very cost-effective."

Patrick McDonald, climate director at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the new program offers some flexibility which is good, but how much impact it will have will depend on what companies apply and get accepted.

He said most companies are already looking to move to cut methane emissions, with or without regulations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2020.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

Judicial discretion for mandatory minimum sentences for murder would save $8.3M: PBO

Bill S-207, which would also apply to mandatory minimum sentences for other crimes, is being debated in the Senate.

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget office says allowing judges to use their discretion on whether to apply a lesser sentence for murder could save the federal government $8.3 million per year

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Independent Sen. Kim Pate last month reintroduced legislation that would let judges deviate from mandatory minimum penalties, including for murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison.

Pate and advocates who support the proposed legislation say mandatory minimum penalties do not allow judges to consider extenuating circumstances such as abuse and systemic racism in the criminal justice system.

The parliamentary budget office says that based on a similar law in New Zealand, it expects about three per cent of murder convictions would result in lesser sentences due to exceptional circumstances.

HARPER CONSERVATIVE GOVT BROUGHT IN AMERICAN STYLE MINIMUM SENTENCING 2006-2016

The result would be fewer people in long-term custody at federal correctional institutions as well as in parole programs, which is where the cost savings would come from.

Pate welcomed the budget officer's findings, saying the money saved by her bill could go to supporting marginalized communities.

“Over 50 years of evidence, including findings of the Supreme Court of Canada, make clear that mandatory minimum penalties do not deter crime,” Pate said in a statement Thursday.

“Mandatory sentences fail to respond to the individual and community circumstances in which crime exists and create more harm," she said.

"In both human and fiscal terms, they are one of the most costly and least effective ways of trying to make our communities safer."

Bill S-207, which would also apply to mandatory minimum sentences for other crimes, is being debated in the Senate.

Asked about the issue at a House of Commons committee Thursday, Justice Minister David Lametti said the principle of cabinet confidence limited what he could say.

“I’m well aware of Sen. Pate’s bill, and I’ve discussed it with her,” Lametti said, adding the subject of mandatory minimums was “on my radar screen.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2020.

More pandemics coming if environmental issues not dealt with: report

An international group of scientists has concluded pandemic problems are just starting unless the world moves to deal with the issues creating them.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"The factors driving pandemics are human activities — unsustainable growth in livestock production, deforestation, the wildlife trade and global connectivity," says Peter Daszak, a British expert on disease ecology and head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

The panel, which has 137 member nations, commissioned a report into the environmental roots of pandemics and new diseases including AIDS, H1N1, SARS, Ebola and COVID-19. The authors of the peer-reviewed report drew on the findings of more than 700 journal articles -- about a third published in the last year.

"Pandemics are becoming more frequent, driven by a continued rise in the underlying emerging disease events that spark them," the report says.

"Pandemic risk could be significantly lowered by promoting responsible consumption and reducing unsustainable consumption."

The report estimates mammals and birds host about 1.7 million undiscovered viruses. Somewhere between 540,000 and 850,000 could infect humans.

More than five new viral diseases emerge every year, about three-quarters of which originate in animals.

Growing human populations that push into previously unpopulated lands, as well as the deforestation required to grow crops, are a big part of the problem. The panel found about a third of the new diseases result from land-use changes, agricultural expansion and urbanization.

The trade in wildlife, which has increased more than fivefold in value over the last 14 years, also increases close contact between humans and unfamiliar animals, the report says. So does climate change, which drives migration of both people and animals.

"We are part of the animal kingdom," said report co-author Carlos Zambrana-Torrelio, a Bolivian biologist.

"We can get viruses from animals. What happens is all these human activities are putting together humans more in close contact with animals that have these viruses. In the past, we would never get so close."

It's no longer good enough to wait for pandemics to emerge and rely on a medical response, the report concludes. It points to research that is starting to be able to predict where future pandemics will arise, which animals will host the virus and the environmental and economic changes that drive them.

"Pilot projects, often at large scale, have demonstrated that this knowledge can be used to effectively target viral discovery, surveillance and outbreak investigation," it says.

The report calls for reform in how land-use changes are funded to account for biological risks. Habitat conservation should be stepped up.

People in viral hotspots need education about potential risks. Animals most likely to host dangerous viruses should be blocked from the wildlife trade, which also needs higher safety and cleanliness standards.

Government policies should discourage consumption of products that drive deforestation and habitat loss.

"We have a choice now," Daszak said.

"We can either continue business as usual and have more and more pandemics that emerge quicker, spread more rapidly, kill more people and crash our economies -- or we can shift toward preventing pandemics."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2020.

-- Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960.

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

USA

Scaled-back Thanksgiving plans leave turkey farmers in limbo

For the turkey industry, this Thanksgiving is a guessing game.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Millions of Americans are expected to have scaled-down celebrations amid the pandemic, heeding official warnings against travel and large indoor gatherings. That leaves anxious turkey farmers and grocers scrambling to predict what people will want on their holiday tables.

Kroger — the nation’s largest grocery chain — said its research shows 43% of shoppers plan to celebrate Thanksgiving only with those in their immediate household. It has purchased more turkeys than usual — in all sizes — but it’s also predicting an increase in demand for alternatives, including ham, pork roast and seafood. Kroger also expects to see more demand for plant-based meats, like a vegan roast stuffed with mushrooms and squash.

Walmart says it will still carry plenty of whole turkeys, but it will also have 30% more turkey breasts in its stores to accommodate shoppers who don’t want to cook a whole bird.

It’s not always easy to pivot. Angela Wilson, the owner of Avedano’s Holly Park Market in San Francisco, ordered turkeys last year for this Thanksgiving. She can’t cancel the order, so they’re still coming in.

But Wilson said this Thanksgiving might be busier than in the past, since customers who usually go out of town will be staying home. She’s also stocking up on smaller birds like quail and game hen.

Some farmers are making tweaks based on what they think customers will be looking for. Dede Boies raises heritage breed turkeys at Root Down Farm in Pescadero, California. The turkeys she sells for Thanksgiving were born in May, so she has spent months thinking about how the coronavirus might impact the holidays.

Boies decided to harvest some turkeys early this year. It’s a gamble, because the birds gain a lot of fat and flavour in their final few weeks, but she figures customers will want smaller birds. She’s also offering more chickens and ducks.

“We’ve invested so much time and energy and love into these birds, and the whole point is that they go and they are celebrated with people for these great meals. We’re just really hoping that still happens,” Boies said.

Butterball — which typically sells 30% of America’s 40 million Thanksgiving turkeys — said it’s expecting more gatherings, but it’s not convinced people will want smaller turkeys. Its research shows that 75% of consumers plan to serve the same size turkey or a larger turkey than they did last year.

Butterball says about half its turkeys will be in the 10-16 lb. range and half will be in the 16-24 lb. range, the same as usual. Anyone looking for a specific size should plan to shop early, said Rebecca Welch, senior brand manager for seasonal at Butterball.

“Don’t be afraid to go big,” she said. “It’s just as easy to cook a large turkey as it is a smaller one, and it means more leftovers.”

Nancy Johnson Horn of Queens, New York, usually shares a big turkey with her in-laws, her parents and her own family of five. But Horn, who writes The Mama Maven blog, said that gathering won’t happen this year because her kids are attending school in-person and she is worried about spreading the virus.

“As much as it hurts me, I will have to cook myself this year,” she said. She’s not sure what will be on the menu. She’s only cooked a whole turkey once in her life and she’s never made mashed potatoes.

This Thanksgiving comes at an already tenuous time for the $4.3 billion U.S. turkey industry. Thanks to better technology for carving breast meat, per capita consumption of turkey nearly doubled over the 1980s, peaking at 14.4 pounds per person in 1996, according to Mark Jordan, executive director of LEAP Market Analytics in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

But interest in turkey has been steadily falling, thanks in part to price increases five years ago when flocks were hit by bird flu. Annual consumption is now around 12 pounds, Jordan said.

Turkey sales have even been falling at Thanksgiving as consumers explore alternatives, according to Nielsen data. Last November, Americans spent $643 million on turkey, down 3.5% from the previous year. They spent $1.9 billion on beef, which was up 4%. And they spent $12 million — or more than double the prior year — on alternatives like plant-based meat.

Jordan thinks the uncertainty about Thanksgiving demand will hurt groceries hardest. If they discount turkeys, they can sell them but it will hurt profits. If they keep prices high and consumers pass, they’ll be stuck with a lot of turkeys.

“I don’t see many ways that they win this holiday season,” Jordan said.

The uncertainty may well see a repeat at Christmas — both in the U.S. and beyond.

Christmas turkeys are a staple in Britain, where turkey farmers are also bracing for slimmed-down festivities after the government told people not to meet in groups of more than six.

Richard Calcott raises 2,000 Christmas turkeys each year at Calcott Turkeys in Tamworth, England. He bought his turkey chicks — known as poults — in February and March, and it was too late to switch to a smaller breed when pandemic restrictions took hold.

He has tweaked their diets to reduce the weight of each turkey by around 2.2 pounds by the time they’re ready for market. Still, Calcott said he continues to get some orders for larger birds.

“It’s been a very difficult year for a lot of people this year,” he said. “Christmas will be a good time to get families back together.”

___

AP Video Journalist Haven Daley contributed from San Francisco. AP Writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this story.

Dee-Ann Durbin, The Associated Press

'They came with dogs:' Genomes show canines, humans share long history

EDMONTON — Somewhere near Lake Baikal on the Siberian steppes, archeologists were opening 7,000-year-old graves. 

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The bodies had been carefully interred. One was buried with a long, carved spoon. Another had been honoured with a necklace of elk teeth.

"They look like people being buried — except they're dogs," said Robert Losey, a University of Alberta archeologist.

Those ancient pets are not only moving evidence of their owners' esteem, they're now part of research hinting at how far back dogs and humans go.

"We don't just have a human history that's independent of everything else on Earth," said Losey, one of 56 international authors of a paper published Thursday that links human and canine genetics.

"We've been successful by relying on and altering the histories of other species."

The first dog probably emerged from a type of wolf, but no one knows when, or where, or who domesticated it. It was a while ago. The oldest dog burial dates back about 14,000 years.

Losey and his many colleagues sequenced the genomes of 27 ancient dogs — including the one with the elk-tooth collar — with a maximum age of about 11,000 years. They compared them with genomes of 17 ancient humans who lived in roughly the same time and place as the dogs.

The dog genomes showed that 11 millennia ago, dogs had been domesticated long enough to produce five separate genetic lineages. That suggests the relationship between humans and dogs was old even then.

"They'd already been around for a long time, enough to differentiate groups by the end of the ice age," said Losey.

Scientists also found the movement of those different dog genomes tracked the movement of the human genomes.

"When people migrated, they didn't migrate alone," Losey said. "They came with dogs, often a genetically distinct form of dogs."

When the first farmers came to Europe from what is now eastern Turkey, they didn't adopt the dogs already living there. They brought their own. The genomes of both species track together nicely.

That didn't always happen. But Losey and his colleagues found that throughout most of prehistory, humans lighting out for new territory preferred companions they already knew.

The differences between the genetic strands weren't breeds. Losey said the variation between dogs then was much less than it is today and that most of them would have looked much alike.

"They would have been somewhat diverse," Losey said. "Most or all of them would physically mix right in with a modern dog — some all-black dogs, some all-white dogs, some with floppy ears. If my neighbour were walking one of these dogs from 10,000 years ago, you wouldn't blink an eye."

Losey, a dog lover himself, said studying the relationship between humans and dogs gives him a little insight into that long-ago pet owner who laid his friend to rest by the shores of Lake Baikal.

"There's such a huge public interest in dogs," he said.

"Every time we learn even a little bit more about their long history with people, we get additional insight into what it means to live with these animals."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2020.

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

US wages and benefits grow at sluggish pace amid pandemic

WASHINGTON — Wages and benefits for U.S. workers grew slowly this summer as employers sought to hold the line on pay gains in the midst of the pandemic.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

U.S. workers’ total compensation rose 0.5% in the July-September quarter, the second straight quarter of slower growth in wages, the Labor Department said Friday. Growth was the same as in the April-June quarter. That’s down from 0.8% in the first three months of the year.

For the year ending in September, wages and benefits increased 2.4%, the slowest pace in three years. The data comes from the Labor Department's Employment Cost Index, which measures pay changes for workers that keep their jobs. The data isn't affected by the mass layoffs in the spring.

The figures suggest that businesses are holding the line on labour costs, even as they recall millions of the workers that were laid off in March and April when the coronavirus outbreak forced the closures of thousands of businesses nationwide. Still, the U.S. has regained barely more than half the 22 million jobs lost to the pandemic. The unemployment rate is a still-high 7.9%, though that is down from its 14.7% peak in April.

Pay and benefits fell in the third quarter for employees of colleges, universities and professional schools, for the first time since 2009, during the Great Recession. Compensation for those workers dropped 0.4%, compared with a gain of 0.6% in the second quarter.

Colleges and universities are struggling with declining enrollments amid the pandemic, with many classes conducted online.

Wages for state and local government employees increased just 0.1% in the third quarter, the slowest pace in seven years. State and local governments have also been forced to cut jobs as tax revenues fall. Most states are legally required to balance their budgets.

Christopher Rugaber, The Associated Press

Belarus leader threatens to leave protesters 'without hands' as strike rumbles

KYIV (Reuters) - Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to leave protesters "without hands" on Friday, sharpening his rhetoric as hundreds marched through the streets and rallied outside universities to keep pressure on the veteran leader to resign.

© Reuters/BelTA FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Lukashenko meets with Interior Minister Kubrakov in Minsk

Students, factory workers and pensioners answered a call by exiled opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to launch a nationwide strike this week - a fresh move to force Lukashenko to hold new elections after months of mass protests.

The ex-Soviet country sank into crisis after opponents accused Lukashenko of rigging the Aug. 9 presidential election to extend his 26-year rule. He denies vote fraud and has held on to power, buoyed by support from traditional ally Russia.

More than 16,000 people have been detained in a violent crackdown by security forces that has prompted Western countries to impose new sanctions on Minsk.

"If someone touches a serviceman...he must leave at least without hands," Lukashenko said in a televised meeting.

Protesters rallied outside several universities on Friday in solidarity with students who were expelled this week for joining the strike, footage circulating in local media showed.

Video: https://tinyurl.com/y4hx6d5r 

Thousands protest in Belarus as opposition calls for Lukashenko to resign (ABC News)

Several hundred people at the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics chanted "well done!" and applauded teachers who went on strike in solidarity with the expelled students, a video by TUT.BY showed.

Dozens, some holding posters saying "solidarity is our weapon", protested near the law faculty of the university, according to a picture published by Radio Svoboda.

More than 100 people protested in front of a school in Minsk, a day after police detained the father of three students who had joined the protests.

"Support students and teachers. Remind the regime: we will not let the future of our country be ruined," Tsikhanouskaya said in a statement.

Dozens of factory workers have been laid off as punishment for joining the strike, according to information given by the strike groups.

The authorities have also closed several cafes and restaurants for supporting the strike, TUT.BY reported.

That included the Brø bakery in Minsk, whose founder Ilya Prokhorov wrote on Facebook that the shop had been shut by the authorities on sanitary grounds.

Lukashenko partially closed the country's land borders, replaced his interior minister and named three security hawks to new roles on Thursday in an attempt to tighten his grip.

(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Mark Heinrich)