Why these immigrants to Canada say they're thinking about leaving, or have already moved on
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Easter Island's towering stone heads and other archaeological elements have been charred by a fire, according to local Indigenous and Chilean authorities.
The fire -- caused by the nearby Rano Raraku volcano -- started Monday and razed more than 100 hectares of the island, damaging its famous stone-carved statues known as 'Moai' which were created by a Polynesian tribe over 500 years ago, native officials reported.
Ariki Tepano, who serves as the director of the indigenous Ma'u Henua community which manages the Rapa Nui National Park, described the damage as "irreparable" and warned that the "consequences go beyond what the eyes can see," in a statement Thursday.
The Rapa Nui National Park -- whose name comes from the Indigenous moniker for the island -- is a protected area displaying the legacy of the Rapa Nui culture.
The UNESCO World Heritage-listed island lies some 3,500 km (2,174 miles) off the coast of Chile and is the most remote inhabited island on the planet. The far off island has long been a bucket list destination for travelers from around the world, primarily due to the giant Moai monuments.
Chile's Undersecretary of Cultural Heritage Carolina Pérez Dattari said that officials from the country's National Monuments Council (CNM) "are on the ground assessing the damages" from the fire on the island's sacred stone figures.
The composition of the statues can be adversely impacted from "exposure to high temperatures ... which could create big fractures that affect the Moai's integrity," according to the CNM.
The island's national park -- which features 386 Moai carved from solid basalt -- is currently closed off to tourists while conservationists investigate the extent of the losses, the Rapa Nui council confirmed in a Facebook post.
Not long before the coronavirus pandemic put a pause on travel, Easter Island was grappling with a series of bad behaviour from tourists, who would sometimes take photos with the Maoi in angles where it looked like they were "picking the noses" of the giant statues.
Two years ago, a Chilean island resident was arrested after his truck crashed into one of the stone figures and smashed the ahu, or platform, it was perched on.
Polynesian seafarers first arrived on Rapa Nui approximately 900 years ago, and have long made researchers curious why the huge statues were placed where they are.
But recent studies suggest the statues could be connected to where the island settlers found undersea freshwater springs.
According to UNESCO, the Polynesian society settled on the island and established a "powerful, imaginative and original tradition of monumental sculpture and architecture, free from any external influence," such as the "erected enormous stone figures known as Moai, which created an unrivaled landscape that continues to fascinate people throughout the world."
Rapa Nui Natural Park has been corrected to Rapa Nui National Park.
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Adult film star Stormy Daniels is on the stand a second time Thursday as former U.S. president Donald Trump’s hush money case continues in Manhattan. Follow live updates here.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
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Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
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Wildfire and emergency management officials in British Columbia are urging residents to be prepared for increased fire activity as temperatures are expected to soar above 30 C in parts of the province this weekend.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.