National Business

WASHINGTON (AP) — General Motors will pay nearly $146 million in penalties to the federal government because 5.9 million of its older vehicles don't comply with emissions and fuel economy standards.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s record-breaking rally kept going after weak reports on the economy kept the door open for possible cuts to interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% Wednesday to set an all-time high for the 33rd time this year.

HALIFAX — A boil-water advisory that had affected more than 200,000 people living and working in Halifax and the surrounding area was lifted Wednesday morning, 40 hours after it came into effect.

OTTAWA — Canada's merchandise trade deficit widened to $1.9 billion in May as exports fell to their lowest level since July last year. The result compared with a revised trade deficit of $1.3 billion for April, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

VANCOUVER — Greater Vancouver's real estate board says the number of homes sold in June tumbled 19.1 per cent from the previous year as inventory continued accumulating to levels not seen since the spring of 2019.

TORONTO — Ontario plans to help the province's beleaguered news industry with a change in advertising rules. The province has directed its four largest agencies to spend 25 per cent of its advertising dollars on Ontario publishers.

Health Canada says thousands of heat pumps sold in the country are being recalled over a risk of excessive heat exposure. The recall includes multiple models of Daikin, Amana and Goodman-branded heat pumps.

TORONTO — Ontario pension fund manager OMERS has signed a deal to sell medical lab company LifeLabs to U.S.-based firm Quest Diagnostics in a deal valued at $1.35 billion including debt.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits inched up last week and remain historically low, however the total number of people collecting jobless benefits continues to grow.

To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S.