El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
The U.S. interior secretary on Friday declared that Mexico has failed to halt the illegal wildlife trade threatening the world's smallest porpoise, the critically endangered vaquita, a move that opens the path for a possible trade embargo.
The vaquita, native to Mexico's Gulf of California, is imperiled by black market fishing for an endangered fish called the totoaba, whose bladder is highly valued in Asia for use in traditional medicine. Mexico's government has been under pressure to crack down on this illicit fishing.
"The government of Mexico has failed to stem the illegal harvest and commercial export of totoaba," U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wrote in a notification letter to the U.S. Congress. "This illicit trade has direct negative impacts on the survival of the vaquita."
Under U.S. law, the president may embargo wildlife products and limit other imports from nations deemed by the interior secretary to engage in trade that undermines the effectiveness of any international treaty protecting endangered species to which the United States is a party.
Haaland's letter did not mention a possible trade embargo. Under U.S. law, the president must notify Congress within 60 days of any action aimed to encourage conservation.
Mexico's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, the government said "immediate work" was being done on an action plan to protect the vaquita.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in March said Mexico had failed to deliver an appropriate plan to protect its the totoaba.
Fishing for the totoaba has brought the vaquita to the brink of extinction because the marine mammals can get tangled in nets cast by illegal fishers.
Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the non-profit U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity, said trade sanctions are crucial because without strong and immediate international pressure the vaquita could be lost forever. The United States imported about US$798 million of fishery products from Mexico last year, the group said.
(Reporting by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Will Dunham and Sarah Morland)
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.