It’s the end of the work week, and here’s what you need to know: A group hopes you can help them knit and crochet dolls for refugee children scarred by war; the federal government offers home and help for Syrians; Britain may vote to conduct airstrikes in Syria; Vancouver takes a leading role in tackling climate change; and a Manitoba-made rye is increasingly hard to find.
1. Comfort for child refugees: The organizers of a project inspired by a Canadian soldier who died in the Balkans two decades ago are appealing to knitters across the country, urging them to put their needles together for child refugees. The Izzy Doll project is asking for as many dolls as it can yet.
2. Home and help: The Canadians government has issued more than 900 permanent residency visas for Syrian refugees, and committed $100 million to help refugees overseas. The money will towards providing food, clothing, medicine, schooling and other necessities for refugees in Europe, Syria, Iraq and Egypt.
3. Fight against ISIS: British Prime Minister David Cameron is trying to secure enough votes to expand airstrikes against the Islamic State into Syria, and he may get a majority -- members of the Labour shadow cabinet appear to be on side. His last attempt at such a vote ended in defeat.
4. Cities take on global warming: Vancouver is already one of Canada’s leading cities when it comes to tackling climate change, and now Mayor Gregor Robertson wants his city to be the greenest in the world by 2020.
5. Rye demand: A Manitoba-made rye that was crowned the “world’s best whisky” is now flying off the shelves, as liquor distributors struggle to match the boom in demand. "I've looked in Toronto, Ottawa and now Carleton Place. Nothing, nothing,” said one dispirited customer.
And one more thing for Flashback Friday... It's been more than a decade since Google Earth began capturing satellite images of Canadian cities. Since then, the area around Toronto's CN tower has seen an explosion in growth, Vancouver hosted the Olympics and attracted tourists from around the world, and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights transformed Winnipeg's skyline. Here's a bird's-eye look at how some of the country's most prominent landmarks have changed over time:
