U.S. officials are working with Haitian authorities to try to secure the release of 12 adults and five children with a U.S.-based missionary group who were abducted by a gang notorious for killings, kidnappings and extortion. Police say the group was snatched by the 400 Mawozo gang on Saturday. As authorities seek the release of the group, local unions and other organizations expect to launch a strike Monday to protest Haiti's worsening lack of security. The Western Hemisphere's poorest nation is again struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings and other crimes. The kidnapping of the

Saskatchewan is transferring six COVID-19 patients from its overcrowded intensive care units to Ontario hospitals. Some are arriving as soon as today. And Premier Scott Moe is asking the federal government to send help in the form of health-care workers able to work in intensive care settings. Moe says he appreciates any help Ottawa can provide and realizes that while it may not be a large number of staff, it will be a specialized contingent. Although Moe says more people are getting vaccinated since the province announced a new proof of vaccination or proof of negative test requirement.

The chief of B-C's Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and residential school survivors will speak before Justin Trudeau gets his turn today.The prime minister is making his first visit to the community since it announced back in the spring that it had found some 200 unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school.The First Nation issued several invitations to Trudeau to attend its event marking Canada's first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation but was outraged that he chose to go on vacation instead.

The Transportation Safety Board was scheduled to release the results of its investigation today into the "possible relation" between train activities and a wildfire this summer in Lytton, B.C.The fire raced through the town on June 30, killing two people and leaving few buildings undamaged, after a heat wave pushed the temperature up to a Canadian record of 49.6 C in Lytton.The safety board said in July that it sent investigators to the area to investigate any potential link to trains.Canadian Pacific Railway said in a statement in July that it found nothing to indicate that any of its trains

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday condemned the Centre's decision to extend the Border Security Force (BSF)'s jurisdiction over a wider area along the borders of three states and said that it is a "direct attack on federalism". Channi requested the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to immediately roll back this irrational decision. "I strongly condemn the GoI's unilateral decision to give additional powers to BSF within the 50 km belt running along the international borders, which is a direct attack on federalism. I urge the Union Home Minister @AmitShah to immediately rol

Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, on Thursday reached the site along with security forces. A total of eight people including three farmers had died in the violence in the Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3. A Congress delegation on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding an independent judicial investigation by a Commission comprising of two sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India or the High Court.

B.C. is reporting 605 new cases of COVID-19, including 18 epi-linked cases, for a total of 195,186 cases in the province.There are 5,172 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 187,564 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 374 people are in hospital and 153 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the past 24 hours, four new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,033.The new deaths include:Northern Health: threeIsland Health: one There has been one new health-care facility outbreak at Tofino General Ho

A man armed with a bow and arrows killed five people and wounded others near the Norwegian capital of Oslo. That's according to police in the town of Kongsberg who arrested the assailant on Wednesday evening. The police chief says there was ``a confrontation'' between officers and the suspect, but he did not elaborate. Two other people were wounded and hospitalized in intensive care, including an officer who was off duty and inside the shop where the attack took place. Police were alerted to the attack around 6:30 p.m. and arrested the suspect about 20 minutes later. The community is 66 kilom

The British Columbia government says a $132 million program that adds staff, beds and services across the province seeks to help people who require substance-use treatment and recovery care. Sheila Malcolmson, the province's minister of mental health and addictions, says the program will include 65 new or improved services, about 130 more staff and 195 new substance-use treatment beds. She says some of the new initiatives include a sobering centre in Prince George, an addiction medicine treatment team at Burnaby Hospital and withdrawal services at several locations in B.C.'s Interior. Dr. Pat