Two Port of Montreal terminals shut down as dockworkers begin new strike

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple snapped out of a recent iPhone sales slump during its summer quarter, an early sign that its recent efforts to revive demand for its marquee product with an infusion of artificial intelligence are paying off.

Sales of the iPhone totaled $46.22 billion for the July-September period, a 6% increase from the same time last year, according to Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter report released Thursday. That improvement reversed two consecutive year-over-year declines in the iPhone’s quarterly sales.

The iPhone boost helped Apple deliver total quarterly revenue and profit that exceeded the analyst projections that sway investors, excluding a one-time charge of $10.2 billion to account for a recent European Union court decision that lumped the Cupertino, California, company with a huge bill for back taxes.

Apple earned $14.74 billion, or 97 cents per share, a 36% decrease from the same time last year. If not for the one-time tax hit, Apple said it would have earned $1.64 per share — topping the $1.60 per share predicted by analysts, according to FactSet Research. Revenue rose 6% from last year to $94.93 billion, about $400 million more than analysts forecast.

But investors evidently were hoping for an even better quarter. Apple’s stock price slipped slightly in extended trading after the numbers came out.

The results captured the first few days that consumers were able to buy a new iPhone 16 line-up that included four different models designed to handle a variety of AI wizardry that the company is marketing as “Apple Intelligence.” The branding is part of Apple’s effort to distinguish its approach to AI from rivals such as Samsung and Google that got a head start on bringing the technology to smartphones.

Even though the iPhone 16 was specifically built with AI in mind, the technology didn’t become available until Apple released a free software update earlier this week that activated its first batch of technological tricks, including a feature designed to make its virtual assistant Siri smarter, more versatile and more colorful. And those improvements are only available in the U.S. for now.

“This is just the beginning of what we believe generative AI can do,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts during a Thursday conference call.

Cook said plans to expand the AI iPhone features into other countries in December, as well as roll out other software updates that will inject even more of the technology in the iPhone 16 and two high-end iPhone 15 models that are also equipped with the special computer chips needed for the slick new features. The December expansion will include an option to connect with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to take advantage of technology that Apple isn’t making on its own.

Investors are betting that as Apple’s AI becomes more broadly available, it will prompt the hundreds of millions of consumers who are using older iPhones to upgrade to newer models in order to get their hands on the latest technology.

Although the iPhone sales bounced back, another key part of Apple’s operations — its services division — didn’t fare quite as well as analysts anticipated amid regulatory efforts in Europe and U.S. to force the company to allow more payment options within its app store. That crackdown threatens to undercut a lucrative fee system that enables Apple to exclusively collect a 15% to 30% commission on many of the digital commerce transactions completed within iPhone apps.

The revenue in Apple’s service division climbed 12% from a year ago to nearly $25 billion, but that figure was about $200 million below analyst projections.

Apple’s revenue also dipped slightly from a year ago in China, where the company has been facing stiffer competition in the smartphone market.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Mounties have dismantled what they say is the largest, most sophisticated illicit drug “superlab” in Canada that had been acting as a “supermarket” for organized crime.

Police say the lab mass produced and distributed the powerful opioid fentanyl and methamphetamine across Canada and internationally.

David Teboul, assistant commissioner with the RCMP’s Pacific region, told a news conference Thursday that dismantling the lab “undoubtedly saved thousands of lives in Canada and abroad.”

“I cannot understate the sophistication … that our investigators have noted in this particular lab,” he said.

Its size, the type of equipment used and the nature of the drug recipes, including a recipe used by a Mexican cartel, indicate how advanced this lab was, Teboul said.

“This brought the level of sophistication of this operation to an unprecedented level, certainly in Western Canada, if not the entire country.”

Officers served search warrants last week on the drug lab in Falkland, B.C., in the southern Interior, and associated locations in Surrey, in Metro Vancouver.

Police say they seized 54 kilograms of fentanyl, “massive” amounts of precursor chemicals, 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, and smaller amounts of cocaine, MDMA, and cannabis.

At the Surrey locations they found a total of 89 firearms, including handguns, AR-15-style rifles and submachine-guns as well as small explosive devices, ammunition, silencers, high-capacity magazines, body armour, and $500,000 in cash.

Teboul said the lab was set up to continue to produce drugs without having to refuel on chemicals for weeks, if not months.

“This place that our investigators took down was a supermarket for organized criminality enterprises,” he said.

Teboul said the drugs in this case were not destined for the U.S. market, but were being sent internationally. He would not say where while the case is still being investigated.

He said criminals in situations such as this are highly sophisticated and have changing allegiances.

“This is all about making money. These are individuals who operate by way of convenience and opportunities, and they’re not necessarily associated to one particular group that wears funny patches on their backs or these kinds of things,” he said.

Investigators say a suspect, Gaganpreet Randhawa, was arrested and is in custody facing six drug and firearms-related offences. Teboul said more arrests are possible.

He said environmental mitigation and cleanup of the lab will cost at least $500,000 and could be “significantly higher.”

Fentanyl is a main ingredient in much of the toxic illicit drugs that have killed nearly 48,000 people across the country between January 2016 and March 2024, according to the federal government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

EDMONTON – Alberta has introduced a trio of bills focusing on transgender people and students using preferred pronouns.

Premier Danielle Smith’s government proposed Thursday one bill that would require children under 16 to have parental consent if they want to change their names or pronouns at school.

Moments after the legislation was introduced in the legislature, LGBTQ+ organizations Egale and Skipping Stone Foundation announced they will be taking legal action, calling it discriminatory.

A similar law is on the books in Saskatchewan, where the government invoked the notwithstanding clause, a measure that allows governments to override certain Charter rights for up to five years.

Smith told reporters she believes the Charter allows for limits on rights and that her government’s restrictions are reasonable.

“We have all kinds of restrictions on the ability of minors to make decisions. And we do that because we want to make sure that they are at full capacity to be able to make decisions that are going to be consequential to them,” she said.

The bill would also require parents to opt in for their children to be taught about sexual orientation and sexual and gender identity at school.

Smith said parents need to know what’s going on with their children.

Bennett Jensen, director of legal at Egale – one of two groups that also took the Saskatchewan government to court – told The Canadian Press none of the policies are reasonable or balanced, and run counter to the expert consensus and evidence.

“It violates the Charter rights of Albertans and will cause devastating harm,” he said.

Jensen said the courts have been clear that children and young people have rights, and governments cannot focus on a specific subset of young people and deny them rights.

When asked how the rules would be enforced in schools, Smith said the Alberta Teaching Profession Commission has the ability to discipline teachers if they defy the government’s direction.

The requirements would not apply in First Nations schools, but two-spirit Indigenous students in provincially run schools would be subject to them.

The second bill would prohibit doctors from treating those under 16 seeking transgender treatments, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

Currently, national policy restricts bottom surgery across Canada to those 18 and over, and such procedures don’t take place in Alberta.

The bill would also ban regulated health professionals from performing any gender-affirming surgery, including top surgery, on minors.

Jensen said the legislation singles out transgender youth, while still allowing non-transgender youth to get top surgery or to receive hormone therapy and puberty blockers for medical reasons.

“That’s discriminatory, and it’s based in bias,” he said.

Government officials said top surgery is very rare. Smith said the government doesn’t know how many minors are accessing puberty blockers or hormone therapy.

“We just want to make sure that it’s very clear that those are adult decisions to be made by adults,” she said.

Kellie-Lynn Pirie, who underwent a transition before reverting back to her birth sex, is the founder of DeTrans Alliance Canada. She said at a government news conference that she wasn’t ready to make the life-altering decision even as an adult.

“This is simply not a decision we can expect children to make,” she said.

The third bill would ban transgender athletes from competing in female amateur sports and require school and sports organizations to report eligibility complaints.

The government said it’s aiming to protect fairness and safety in sports.

Sport Minister Joseph Schow said sex registration at birth would determine competitive eligibility. Such documentation is accessible through provincial authorities.

Smith said she wants to see sports leagues create mixed-gender divisions to ensure all athletes can compete.

Many organizations have spoken out against the policies, first announced nine months ago, including Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Medical Association and the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

The proposed legislation comes days before members of Smith’s United Conservative Party are set to vote in her leadership review Saturday.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith’s government is “picking on vulnerable people” to pander to her party’s base.

He said he’s heard from some 4,500 Albertans “deeply hurt” by the policies in just the past week.

Asked about the premier’s position that the legislation is in line with the Charter, he said he suspects most courts would disagree. He urged Smith to let the courts decide.

Nenshi said his party wants every Albertan, including those in the LGBTQ+ community, to not have to worry about whether their rights will be stripped.

Janis Irwin, an openly gay NDP MLA, said she’s heard from thousands of people who feel they “don’t have a place” in Alberta.

Marni Panas, a transgender woman, said there is a lot of misinformation and lies about transgender people and gender-affirming care.

“If you get to know us … you would start to understand that we’re nothing to be afraid of,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.

— With files from Aaron Sousa