Category Archives: Canada

Lisa LaFlamme dropped as Canada TV anchor after going grey

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Award-winning host of CTV National News ‘shocked and saddened’ by termination as company blames ‘changing viewer habits’

Allegations that a popular television news anchor in Canada lost her job after “going grey” have prompted anger and disbelief, casting one of the country’s largest media organisations into turmoil and highlighting the rigid expectations facing women in the workforce.

In a two-minute video posted on Twitter on Monday, Lisa LaFlamme announced she had been ousted as anchor of CTV National News, one of the country’s most-watched evening shows.

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Canada conservation officers seek runaway wolf days after zoo break-in

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The Greater Vancouver Zoo revealed a pack of grey wolves had escaped after ‘suspicious’ damage to the fence of their enclosure

Conservation officers in Canada are searching for a runaway wolf three days after a mysterious break-in freed a pack of the predators from a popular zoo.

The Greater Vancouver Zoo announced on Tuesday morning it would not open to crowds that day, and later acknowledged that a pack of grey wolves had escaped after “suspicious” damage to the fence of their enclosure. The zoo said the incident was probably the result of “malicious intent”.

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Toronto blackout puts top businesses in the dark and forces mall evacaution

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Power utility Hydro One said the outage, which started at about noon on Thursday, affected 10,000 customers

A power outage in Toronto’s downtown core has left the offices of Canada’s top businesses in the dark, forced the evacuation of one of the city’s biggest shopping malls, and caused some bank branches to be locked.

The power utility Hydro One said the outage, which started at about noon on Thursday, affected 10,000 customers in downtown Toronto, Canada’s biggest city. Hydro One was investigating but gave no details on the cause.

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Spyware is huge threat to global human rights and democracy, expert warns

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Cybersecurity expert Ron Deibert to testify to Canadian MPs about troubling spread of invasive surveillance tools

The mercenary spyware industry represents “one of the greatest contemporary threats to civil society, human rights and democracy”, a leading cybersecurity expert warns, as countries grapple with the unregulated spread of powerful and invasive surveillance tools.

Ron Deibert, a political science professor at the university of Toronto and head of Citizen Lab, will testify in front of a Canadian parliamentary committee on Tuesday afternoon about the growing threat he and others believe the technology poses to citizens and democracies.

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Canadian province declares emergency amid worst wildfires in over 50 years

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Blazes have consumed vast tracts of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador and remain out of control

Officials in Canada’s easternmost province have issued a state of emergency as crews battle the worst wildfires the region has experienced in more than half a century.

Sprawling blazes have consumed thousands of hectares of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last two weeks and remain out of control.

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Weather tracker: regions across world still reeling from an extreme July

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From US floods to drought in France, communities around globe are still feeling effects of July’s extreme weather

Central US states are still reeling from a week of extreme flooding events in the final days of July. Initially, the extreme rainfall into St Louis gave a quarter of the normal annual rainfall in just 12 hours, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). A few days later, in eastern Kentucky, at least 10-12 inches (about 25-30cm) fell in the space of a few days, causing devastating flooding in the Appalachian region of the state.

The complex, numerous and steep valleys in the region enabled rainwater to quickly run down valley sides and build up on the limited and often built-up floodplains. Deforestation and historic mining activity in the region have also been mentioned as potential contributors. Both flooding events have been classified as one in 1,000-year events by the NWS.

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Weather tracker: Mediterranean Sea hit by major marine heatwave

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No respite from record-breaking temperatures as the ocean warms and wildfires rage on land

Many parts of Europe have seen record-breaking temperatures over the past few months, but it is not just the continental landmass which has been affected. The Mediterranean Sea is experiencing a major marine heatwave, with sea surface temperatures in western parts of the Mediterranean 4-5C warmer than average. Temperatures have been above average for prolonged periods since the start of May, with June the warmest on record for large portions of the Mediterranean basin. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has classified the current event as a “severe” category 3 event, one level from extreme thresholds.

Marine heatwaves can have devastating impacts on marine ecosystems and are expected to increase in intensity and frequency in the future due to human-induced climate change. Scientists have found that marine heatwaves between 2015 and 2019 in the Mediterranean caused mass casualties in marine species, coral bleaching and harmful algal blooms.

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Australian mountain climber Matthew Eakin one of two men found dead on K2

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The bodies of two mountaineers, Eakin and Canadian man Richard Cartier, found on the world’s second-highest mountain in Pakistan

An Australian and a Canadian climber have been found dead on K2, with the world’s second-highest mountain in Pakistan claiming at least three lives in recent weeks.

The Himalayan Times identified the Australian mountaineer as Matthew Eakin and the Canadian climber as Richard Cartier, after reports the two had gone missing last week during their descent from Camp 2 to Camp 1.

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Pope Francis ‘begs forgiveness’ over abuse at church schools in Canada

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Pontiff apologises on visit to country over ‘catastrophic’ historical mistreatment of Indigenous children

Pope Francis has apologised for the “disastrous error” and “evil” of Canada’s church-run residential schools, asking survivors of the system that abused tens of thousands of children for forgiveness as he toured the country on a “pilgrimage of penance”.

The pontiff’s widely anticipated apology came during a Monday morning visit to the community of Maskwacis, Alberta – the first formal event of his one-week tour after landing in the western province on Sunday.

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Typically mild Pacific north-west braces for another blazing heatwave

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Officials urge residents to take precautions as forecasts point to temperatures far above historic averages

A searing heatwave is expected to bring dangerously high temperatures to US Pacific north-west – a region known for its mild, temperate summers.

As Oregon, Washington, parts of northern California and British Columbia brace for a week of temperatures well above historic averages, officials are warning residents in the region – many of whom lack air conditioning and are unaccustomed to heat – to take precautions.

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Attack in Vancouver suburb leaves two homeless people and gunman dead

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Another victim remains in critical condition as Royal Canadian Mounted Police say suspect was shot dead by officers

Canadian police say two people have been killed in an early morning gun attack in a Vancouver suburb that left two others injured and appeared to target homeless residents. The suspect was shot dead by officers.

On Monday morning, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said most of the shootings were in downtown Langley in southwest British Columbia. There was also a reported shooting in the neighbouring Langley township.

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Weather tracker: Europe to cool down as western US holds on to heat

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Jet stream will push heat away to south of Europe, while Pacific Northwest will see temperatures climb

After weeks of intense heat and wildfires across Europe with temperatures into the high 30s Celsius each day in central and southern areas, and frequently reaching above 40C (104F), temperatures will gradually start to temper from the north-west through this week.

The jet stream will meander southwards, pushing the plume of heat away to the south and west and bringing conditions much closer to or below normal, with the exception of some parts of Spain, which may hang on to the heat without much relief.

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Pope in Canada to apologise for abuse of Indigenous children in church schools

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‘This is a trip of penance,’ says Pope Francis, ahead of mass to be held during five-day trip

Pope Francis landed in Canada on Sunday to kick off a five-day trip that will centre around his apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse that Indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools.

“This is a trip of penance. Let’s say that is its spirit,” the pope told reporters after his flight took off from Rome.

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Pope Francis to visit Canada in ‘pilgrimage of penance’ over church-run schools

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Pope will meet Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors, thousands of whom were taken from families

Pope Francis will spend the next week on a “pilgrimage of penance” in Canada, meeting with Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors as he looks to atone for the church’s grim legacy in the country.

For the first papal visit to Canada in two decades, the pontiff plans to visit First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities as he travels from Alberta to Quebec, ending his visit in the Arctic territory of Nunavut.

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How a conservative US network undermined Indigenous energy rights in Canada

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Internal documents explain why oil and gas interests would benefit from a key Indigenous declaration being ‘defeated’

A US-based libertarian coalition has spent years pressuring the Canadian government to limit how much Indigenous communities can push back on energy development on their own land, newly reviewed strategy documents reveal.

The Atlas Network partnered with an Ottawa-based thinktank – the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) – which enlisted pro-industry Indigenous representatives in its campaign to provide “a shield against opponents”.

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Man acquitted of bombing 1985 Air India plane shot dead in Canada

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Ripudaman Singh Malik, 70, was accused of being a part of the worst terror attack in Canadian history in which 329 people died

A man acquitted over the bombing of a 1985 Air India flight from Montreal to Mumbai has been killed in Canada, in what police believe was a targeted shooting.

The family of Ripudaman Singh Malik confirmed the 70-year-old was shot and killed Thursday morning in front of his clothing import business.

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Ex-boyfriend charged over Elnaz Hajtamiri kidnapping in Ontario

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Police arrest Mohamad Lilo after frustrating six-month investigation into abduction by ‘fake officers’

Canadian police have arrested and charged a man in a kidnapping case that has baffled investigators for months and produced few leads.

Mohamad Lilo, an ex-boyfriend and former business partner of Elnaz Hajtamiri, was charged with her kidnapping, six months after she was abducted by men dressed as police officers.

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Canada exempts Russian gas turbine from sanctions amid Europe energy crisis

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Ottawa defies Ukraine’s objections to return of equipment for Nord Stream 1 pipeline, saying it needs to support Europe’s access to ‘reliable and affordable energy’

Canada will return a repaired Russian turbine to Germany that it needs for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, despite objections from Ukraine, as the sanctions regime came up against the energy crisis sparked by the war.

Canada’s minister of natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said in a statement on Saturday the government was issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions, to support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”.

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Massive network outage in Canada hits homes, ATMs and 911 emergency lines

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Rogers, which dominates mobile and internet market, says teams working to restore service amid widespread disruptions

A major outage of mobile and internet networks caused widespread disruptions across Canada on Friday, affecting banks, police emergency lines and customers in the second outage to hit one of the country’s biggest telecom providers in 15 months.

Customers gathered at coffee shops and public libraries to access alternate networks, while financial institutions reported problems with everything from automated machines to cashless payment systems.

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‘Asleep at the wheel’: Canada police’s spyware admission raises alarm

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Experts warn that RCMP document detailing covert surveillance of Canadians’ mobile devices highlights lax government oversight

An admission from Canada’s national police force that it routinely uses powerful spyware to surveil citizens has prompted concern from experts, who warn the country is “asleep at the wheel” when it comes to regulating and reining in use of the technology.

During a parliamentary session in late June, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police submitted a document, first reported in Politico, outlining how a special investigative team covertly infiltrates the mobile devices of Canadians. The tools, which have been used on at least 10 investigations between 2018 and 2020, give the police access to text messages, email, photos, videos, audio files, calendar entries and financial records. The software can also remotely turn on the camera and microphone of a suspect’s phone or laptop.

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