A wildfire in the Los Angeles area of California has destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings and homes. The fire is so intense that it has forced evacuations from the homes of Hollywood stars and even Vice President Kamala Harris. So far, five people have died in the fire. About 300,000 people have been instructed to evacuate to safe areas. The fire has spread a blanket of smoke over the entire region. Among the stars whose homes have been destroyed are Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes, and Paris Hilton. Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, lost their 45-year-old home in the Palisades fire. It is believed tha

Alberta is preparing to send water bombers, night-vision helicopters and incident command team support to help battle wildfires ravaging parts of Los Angeles. Premier Danielle Smith says on X that neighbours are always there for each other in times of need and the province will assist its American friends in this crisis. Water-bombing pilots and crews from Quebec and a British Columbia company are already fighting the wind-whipped flames in the Southern California city. Officials have said hurricane-force winds began igniting one neighbourhood after another on Wednesday in the coastal neighbou

A sentencing hearing is set to start today for three men convicted of helping co-ordinate a blockade at the Canada-U.S. border at Coutts, Alta., in protest of COVID-19 rules and restrictions. Alex Van Herk, Marco Van Huigenbos and Gerhard (George) Janzen were each found guilty in April of mischief over $5,000. They were charged for their roles in the blockade that tied up cross-border traffic for two weeks in early 2022. Defence lawyers didn't call evidence during the trial, and the three accused didn't testify. Mounties told the jury that, as the protest dragged on, officers increasingly turn

New York's highest court declined to block Donald Trump's upcoming sentencing inhis hush money caseThursday, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as the president-elect's likely last option to prevent the hearing from taking place Friday. One judge of the New York Court of Appeals issued a brief order declining to grant a hearing to Trump's legal team. Trumphas asked theSupreme Courtto call off Friday’ssentencingin thehush money case. His lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court on Wednesday afterNew York courtsrefused to postpone the sentencing by Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Tr

President Joe Biden on Wednesday cancelled the final overseas trip of his presidency just hours before he was set to depart for Rome and the Vatican, choosing to remain in Washington to monitor the response todevastating fires raging in California. Biden was scheduled to leave Thursday afternoon, aftereulogizing former President Jimmy Carterat a memorial service in Washington, for the three-day trip to meet with Pope Francis and Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The trip was meant as a coda to the second Catholic U.S. president’s time in the White House a

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed inthe Israel-Hamas war, Gaza's Health Ministry said Thursday, as the conflict raged into a 16th month with no end in sight. The ministry said a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded. It has said women and childrenmake up more than half the fatalities, but does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in resid

Canada has been included in the top 5 "losers" in the new global passport ranking, while Singapore has maintained its position as the country with the most powerful passport in the world. According to the Henley Passport Index, Canada is ranked seventh out of 199 passports, down three places over the past decade. Canada is tied for seventh place with Malta and Poland, whose passports offer visa-free access to 188 destinations. Singapore, meanwhile, is the only country whose passport provides visa-free access to 195 destinations. Japan ranks second in the Henley Passport Index, while Finland,

The BC Centre for Disease Control says it is comparing the genetic features of a local teenager's avian flu case with that of a Louisiana patient who died earlier this week. Clinical microbiologist Dr. Agatha Jassem, co-program head of the virology lab at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory, says they want to understand how the viruses in the two cases are related to each other, as well as to viruses circulating in birds. This will help to assess how easily it adapts and transmits between animals and humans. Both cases are related to viruses detected in wild birds and poultry. While th

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced today that he will not be joining the Liberal Party’s leadership race. LeBlanc expressed his gratitude for the support he has received within the party but confirmed that he will not be a candidate in the upcoming leadership contest for the Liberal Party of Canada. This comes in the wake of Trudeau’s announcement that he will step down, prompting the party to choose a new leader. The leadership election campaign is expected to begin soon. Trudeau recently appointed LeBlanc as Finance Minister, and he had been con