DEVELOPING 120 active fires burning across Canada, 30 are 'out of control'
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen arrived in Cairo, Egypt today for a two-day peace summit.
At the summit, Canada announced it would be sending an additional $50 million in humanitarian aid to help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and neighbouring regions. A news release by Global Affairs on Saturday said the aid would be going toward providing food, water, medical assistance and life-saving assistance to civilians in the area, "ensuring that none of the money goes into the hands of Hamas."
“It is critical that Palestinian civilians in Gaza who need life-saving assistance receive it as soon as possible. Canada will continue to work with its trusted and experienced humanitarian partners to make sure this funding reaches those who are suffering,” Joly said in a news release.
Canadian officials met with their counterparts to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has claimed the lives of thousands in Gaza, a number likely to rise, humanitarian organizations say as aid arrives in the war-torn region for the first time since the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza closed two weeks ago.
Since Hamas' deadly attack on Oct. 7, Canada has sent $10 million in humanitarian aid and organized 16 flights out of Tel Aviv to help evacuate Canadians and their family members. While there are more flights scheduled to leave Israel over the weekend, due to the Rafah border closure there is still no plan to get the more than 400 Canadians in Gaza out.
In Canada, 33 members of Parliament penned a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for an immediate ceasefire in the name of innocent civilians on both fronts.
UN Food Program Country Director for Palestine Samer Abdeljaber told CTV News one million people in Gaza were already food insecure, though with the crisis this number has grown and shelters have become overcrowded. As the war continues, Abdeljaber says it’s becoming increasingly difficult for humanitarian staff in Gaza to help civilians as many of them have been displaced themselves.
“Our staff that are in Gaza are actually displaced, most of them who are living in shelters or with relatives. They lost their [homes],” Abdeljaber said. “It's a very difficult situation that they're in as a team. We want to get in the search and get those who are in need to get out for health related reasons, but until that opportunity comes unfortunately, we are doing everything we can."
With files from The Associated Press, Rachel Aiello and Michael Lee
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
Kevin Spacey is pushing back on the 'rush to judgment' against him and is being backed by some big names as he seeks to reclaim his acting career.
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
Canada's new $10-a-day child care program is expanding, but there's growing evidence that demand for the program is rising even faster, leaving many parents on the outside looking in.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.