Politics

TORONTO — Advance voting in Toronto's mayoral contest opened today, inaugurating the final stretch of the campaign with just over two weeks left before election day. The 50 advance voting locations across the city are open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s popular outgoing foreign minister, who was one of the key negotiators of his country’s recent membership in NATO, said Thursday he will run as a candidate in the presidential election early next year.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm proposed Thursday to create an ethics body that would set up common rules of conduct for institutions after the 27-nation bloc was rocked last year by a cash-for-influence scandal.

VANCOUVER — A 96-square kilometre wildfire in the Prince George fire centre has prompted an evacuation order by Peace River Regional District.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics’ search for a new home drew Nevada lawmakers into a special legislative session Wednesday to weigh whether the state should cover $380 million of the $1.5 billion stadium planned for the Las Vegas Strip.

OTTAWA — A leader of the fight to secure freedom for a Canadian human-rights activist detained in China for 17 years is taking the latest diplomatic deep-freeze between Ottawa and Beijing in stride.

TORONTO — Ontario is set to increase the wages of early childhood educators in a bid to boost recruitment and retention amid a staff shortage that advocates warn could hamper the growth of the national $10-a-day child-care program.

VANCOUVER — The nondescript parking lot at the centre of debate about the future of Vancouver's historic Chinatown is unchanged in the six years since plans to build a condo tower there were shot down by the city's development permit board.

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia and Indonesia signed agreements Thursday that ended longstanding maritime border disputes and vowed to bolster cooperation to fight “highly detrimental discriminatory” measures against palm oil.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed protections for abortion providers and gave more power to libraries facing book challenges — and they did it with Republican support.