DEVELOPING Latest updates on the major wildfires burning in Canada
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.
EU leaders on Thursday sealed a deal to provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros (US$54 billion) to shore up its war-ravaged economy after Hungary dropped weeks of threats to veto the measure.
The aid package -- about two-thirds loans and one-third grants to be paid out over a four-year period -- is not intended to fund arms and ammunition, which fall under a separate EU plan. Instead, it aims to stabilize Ukraine's economy after nearly two years of fighting, pay for rebuilding, and set the country up for future EU membership.
The package will help Kyiv plug budget gaps while avoiding the skyrocketing inflation seen in the first months after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine lost a third of its economic output to wartime destruction and occupation by Moscow, which took over the main heavy industry hubs in the east.
The central bank had to print money to cover state expenses and inflation shot up, reaching a high of 26%. The economy rebounded somewhat last year, but Kyiv spends almost all of its tax revenue on the war.
As of Saturday, neither President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office nor the Ukrainian finance ministry have disclosed details of how the funds will be spent. However, statements by EU authorities, Ukrainian lawmakers and diplomats have identified key areas of concern:
Zelenskyy welcomed the assistance, in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He said that continued financial help from the EU would strengthen Ukraine's long-term economic stability, "which is no less important than military assistance and sanctions pressure on Russia."
Russia's economy, meanwhile, has weathered the unprecedented economic sanctions by Kyiv's Western allies better than expected, despite a price cap on Russian oil and natural gas and a widespread diversification in the West towards other energy sources.
In late November, Moscow adopted its biggest-ever federal budget, with defense spending overtaking social spending for the first time in modern Russian history. Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending have so far helped the Kremlin ride out the domestic impact of pivoting the economy to a war footing.
However, some analysts have called its spending plans "unsustainable in the long term," saying they expect tax rises after the presidential election in March.
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 ‘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 at his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
A burgeoning track star says his dream of going to the Olympics is being derailed by a deportation order after Immigration officials rejected his family’s claim for asylum
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
A medical examiner says a Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from ingesting a substance 'with a high capsaicin concentration.'
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
The province’s health minister and solicitor general are urging Toronto to rescind its request to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, calling the proposal 'misguided' and 'disastrous.'
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.
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.