National News
Fear, falsehoods and conspiracy theories ignite amid Canada’s wildfires
By Hina Alam, The Canadian Press on August 25th, 2023
Canada’s current wildfire season is devastating evidence of the effects of climate change, scientists say, but for some conspiracy theorists, the thousands of square kilometres of burnt ground isn’t enough to convince them. Instead, space lasers, arsonists and government plots to restrict people’s movement are some of the causes of the fires, according to fringe ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!N.W.T. wildfires disrupt phone, internet services as evacuee anxiety mounts
By The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
YELLOWKNIFE – Wildfires continued to disrupt communication services Thursday in the Northwest Territories while crews braced for a tough two days fighting the blaze threatening the capital city of Yellowknife. Northwestel said in a morning statement that all telecommunications had been restored in the evacuated community of Kakisa and that every community had connectivity. However, ... Read More »
1 responseB.C. fire crews temporarily pulled out as protest tried to ‘overwhelm’ RCMP blockade
By Brieanna Charlebois, Darryl Greer and Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
The BC Wildfire Service has confirmed it temporarily pulled out crews fighting fires in the province’s Shuswap region after protesters showed up at an RCMP roadblock Wednesday evening in what police say was an effort to “overwhelm” the blockade. Police say protesters challenged officers at the blockade on the Trans-Canada Highway, and “threats of violence” ... Read More »
2 responsesMother tells B.C. murder trial of final embrace with teenage girl, hours before death
By The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
VANCOUVER – The mother of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a British Columbia park six years ago has told a murder trial how she gave her a last hug, hours before the girl’s death. The Chinese mother has testified through tears that she didn’t know it would be their “final farewell.” The woman has ... Read More »
1 responseUkraine seeks Canada’s ‘diplomatic muscle’ in selling peace plan to skeptical states
By Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
OTTAWA – Canada aims to heed a new call from Ukraine to help it sell a peace plan with Russia to developing countries that have taken a neutral stance on Moscow’s invasion. Ottawa says it is gearing up for a diplomatic push on multiple continents to get the world to endorse Kyiv’s vision of an ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!TSB report warns that unnoticed locomotive fires pose wildfire risk
By The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is warning about the risks of fires going unnoticed on locomotives and setting wildfires, citing dozens of on-board blazes in a report into an incident two years ago in southeast British Columbia. The board says there have been at least 21 more on-board fires involving “remote” locomotives in the ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Prevent illegal mass data extraction, privacy authorities tell social media firms
By The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
OTTAWA – The federal privacy watchdog and some of his global counterparts are urging the largest social media companies to prevent bulk extraction of personal details from their websites. In a joint statement, privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne and data protection authorities from Australia, Britain and other countries say the practice, known as data scraping, poses ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!The wildland-urban interface: why wildfire fatalities seem so prevalent in the U.S.
By James McCarten, The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
WASHINGTON – The oceanfront home on Maui’s western shore sits unscathed, family car in the driveway, its pristine red roof and well-tended yard an oasis of hope on a bleak landscape of ash and destruction. The most enduring image of Hawaii’s wildfire tragedy is, in some ways, symbolic of the modern-day challenge of climate change: ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Protesters hoped to ‘overwhelm’ RCMP wildfire blockade in B.C. Shuswap region: police
By Brieanna Charlebois, Darryl Greer and Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
RCMP say protesters hoped to “overwhelm” a wildfire blockade on the Trans-Canada Highway in British Columbia’s Shuswap region, confronting officers late Wednesday amid some residents’ refusal to obey evacuation orders. The tensions over the evacuation orders that cover thousands of people in the region come as the directives elsewhere in B.C.’s Interior are expected to ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Foreign interference talks: Parties trade jabs for bipartisan chats from the cottage
By The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
OTTAWA – House leaders for the main federal parties have been working together this summer to make a public inquiry on foreign interference happen, as they put aside partisan jabs that dominated Parliament for much of the year. Alex Marland, head of the political science department at Memorial University, says the shift signals that political ... Read More »
Be the first to comment!Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan chides Joly for ‘unacceptable’ comments to Armenians
By The Canadian Press on August 24th, 2023
OTTAWA – Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry argues Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is undermining peace in the Nagorno-Karabakh region by referring to the area with the name used by Armenian secessionists. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it is mostly populated by Armenians, and neighbouring Armenia has fought for control of the ... Read More »
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