Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
With martial law still in place in Ukraine, civilian men are only allowed to travel for exceptional reasons and one has been offered by the United Kingdom: its armed forces are training Ukrainian men and turning them into combat-ready soldiers.
The program has turned Ukrainian lawyers, builders, even dance choreographers, into soldiers after a five-week course which is based on the U.K.'s infantry training. In this case however, the average man is in his 30s and their instructors say the level of maturity and urgency they project come from knowing what's waiting for them. In just a few days, many will be leaving the picturesque rolling hills of southern England for the frontlines of the war in eastern Ukraine more than 3,000 km away.
"For our Ukrainian allies, there is no more mission rehearsal," Lt. Col. Kempley Buchan-Smith, told CTV News, adding "when they leave here, they need to be ready for the fight."
Some came here having never held a weapon. But as their country celebrates Defender's Day on October 14, they leave as the newest crop of soldiers having learned about trench and urban warfare, patrol tactics, battlefield first aid and having spent days firing live rounds in a setting meant to simulate the chaos of war.
One recruit in his 20s, who now goes by the name of Panda, says watching fellow recruits from so many different backgrounds change their thinking and develop instincts in the field, is inspiring. "There are no air raid sirens here, no missiles going over our heads," he says, "it means we are motivated to keep training until we're ready," he adds.
Over the past few months, the course has had to be tailored to developments in the battlefield, meaning switching from a defensive battle to an offensive one.
"Rather than defending a position, remaining static in entrenched locations or in houses, we're looking at how you assault those houses, how you assault trenches and how you take the fight to the enemy," explained Buchan-Smith.
Translation in the training field is provided by Ukrainian refugees - mostly women - who fled the war and who believe this is the best way they can help their country.
The U.K. has committed to training 19,000 recruits and more than 5,700 have completed the course since June.
As part of Operation Unifier, the Canadian Armed Forces were training Ukrainian military personnel in Ukraine until February, when the war began. They've been deployed to the U.K. since August and will remain here until at least December.
"It's so rewarding, so fulfilling, in light of what's going on in Ukraine," Maj. Mike Pal told CTV News, "it's really good to see a sense of purpose for how important this is," he went on to say.
"It remotivates us when we see indiscriminate killing and war crimes going on," he adds.
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
A 49-year-old man has been charged in connection with an alleged assault that happened earlier this week in Dartmouth, N.S.
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Nathaly Paola Castro Torres has a rare disorder called Laron syndrome that is caused by a genetic mutation. It stunts her growth but also provides a hidden silver lining: Her body is protected from chronic diseases such as cancer that often take life away long before old age.
Canadian baseball player Tyler Black made a major splash in his first-ever big league game for the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Guitarist Duane Eddy, best known for twangy riffs on hits such as 'Rebel Rouser' and 'Cannonball,' has died at the age of 86.
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
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.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.