DEVELOPING Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
The government of Canada has upgraded its travel advisories to Israel and the West Bank, instructing Canadians to avoid all travel amid escalating tensions in the region.
Previously, the federal government had advised Canadians to "avoid non-essential travel" to Israel and certain areas of the West Bank.
"With a heightened risk of attacks on Israeli territory, the regional security situation remains highly volatile & could escalate without notice," Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said in a post Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
She added that Canadians should consider leaving by commercial means.
Countries including India, France, Poland and Russia have warned their citizens against travel to the region, already on edge over the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month. Germany on Friday called on its citizens to leave Iran.
Israel braced for an attack by Iran or its proxies on Friday as warnings grew of retaliation for an attack on Iran's embassy compound last week in Damascus, Syria, that killed a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' overseas Quds Force and six other officers.
In a press briefing on Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned that an attack on Israel could come "sooner, rather than later."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was preparing for scenarios in other areas besides Gaza.
Israel has stepped up military raids in the West Bank since launching its assault on Gaza, following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage.
In the West Bank, Israeli settlers shot and set houses and cars on fire in al-Mughayyir on Friday, killing a Palestinian man and wounding 25 others, Palestinian health officials say.
More than 460 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the war began, and at least 33,545 have been killed in Gaza, according to its health ministry, with most of the enclave's 2.3 million people displaced.
With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.