110: A Canadian warship passed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday in what Ottawa called a commitment to an open Indo-Pacific – and in what China called an undermining of peace. Beijing claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan and the 110-mile-wide waterway dividing the two. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.
60,000: The number of arrests by border agents of migrants who crossed the southern US border illegally in July is expected to fall under 60,000, a massive drop from a peak of 250,000 in December, after President Joe Biden imposed stricter measures for asylum-seekers in June.
30: In an attempt to alleviate the housing crisis keeping many younger Canadians from buying a home, the federal government has implemented new mortgage rules giving first-time homebuyers with insured mortgages – the type required when a down payment equals less than 20% of the purchase price – up to 30 years to pay them off. Before now, the max was 25 years, and while this move will help lower some monthly payments, there’s a catch: It only applies to newly built homes, so many doubt it will help alleviate the housing crunch.
2.76 billion: After breaking ground in 2023, a company building a plant to produce battery components for electric vehicles near Kingston, Ontario, says it’s delaying construction because of a slowdown in EV sales. The project carried a total price tag of up to CA$2.76 billion, was projected to create 600 jobs, and the federal government was slated to invest up to CA$551.3 million.
