The Canadian government is imposing new sanctions on two Iranians it accuses of participating in the violent repression of women and girls in Iran. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is making the announcement on International Women's Day. Joly says Iranian women and girls face an increasingly repressive environment where they risk injury or death for expressing themselves or demanding basic rights. Canada has now laid sanctions against 155 individuals and 87 entities since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022. Amini died in police custody after being arrested, purportedly for wear

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. He arrived at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar to inaugurate projects worth more than 6400 crore rupees under the 'Developed India, Developed Jammu and Kashmir' programme. Meanwhile, he also gave job letters to 1000 youths. This was PM Modi's first visit to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. Addressing a rally in Srinagar, he said - this is the new Jammu and Kashmir. It was awaited for decades. This is the Jammu and Kashmir for which Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life. T here is a glimpse of the futu

Ottawa is reeling after police said six people, including four children, were found dead Wednesday evening in a townhouse in the south-end Barrhaven suburb. Six people were killed at an Ottawa townhouse, including Darshani Banbaranayake Gama Walwwe Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake, 35; her four children Inuka, seven, Ashwini, four, Rinyana, two, and Kelly, two months; and a 40-year-old man, Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gamini Amarakoon. The woman's husband was brought to hospital with injuries. The couple were from Sri Lanka. A 19-year-old man, Febrio De-Zoysa, was arrested Thursday and charged with

Scientists calculate that for the ninth straight month Earth has obliterated global heat records. The European Union's climate agency Copernicus says February, the winter as a whole and the world's oceans set new high-temperature marks. Sea surface temperatures weren't just the hottest for February, but are eclipsing any month on record, soaring past August 2023's mark and still rising at the end of the month. Scientists say it is clearly long-term human-caused warming from the burning of coal, oil and gas, along with a boost from a natural El Nino's warming of the central Pacific that alter

Quebec health officials are reporting two more measles cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the province to 12. The new cases are both in Montreal, adding to the seven that were previously reported in the public health jurisdiction that encompasses the city and its on-island suburbs. Quebec's Health Department says two cases have been reported in Laval, Que., located north of Montreal, and one case is in the central Mauricie region. Montreal's public health agency says that seven cases in its jurisdiction, including the two new infections, are due to community transmissi

Former British Columbia cabinet minister Selina Robinson has quit the NDP, citing antisemitism in the ruling party's caucus. Robinson, who is Jewish, says she can no longer remain in the party because it is not properly addressing antisemitism in the province or among her former colleagues. Robinson told an impromptu news conference in a hallway of the B.C. legislature that she will now sit as an Independent. She resigned her cabinet post as minister of post-secondary education last month after saying modern Israel was founded on "a crappy piece of land." The Jan. 30 remarks sparked an outcry

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and King Charles spoke today for the first time since the King's cancer diagnosis. The Royal Family says the King held an audience with the Canadian prime minister via video link. Buckingham Palace announced a month ago that the King was cancelling "public-facing duties" while undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer. British media reported in December that the King and Queen Camilla were planning to visit Canada this May, though those reports were never confirmed. The Canadian government said following news of the King's diagnosis that it was not pl

Sweden on Thursday officially joined Nato, becoming the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance. This marks the end of decades of post-World War II neutrality for Sweden, as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have grown following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The ceremony was presided by Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson and secretary of state Antony Blinken, took place at the State Department. Blinken described the occasion as a historic moment for Sweden, the alliance, and the transatlantic relationship. He emphasised that the Nato alliance is now stronger and larger

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif, has ordered the authorities to speed up the process of privatization of loss-making government companies, including Pakistan International Airlines. Presiding over a high-level meeting in Islamabad, he expressed concern over the country's economy. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that the people of Pakistan are forced to pay a heavy price for keeping the loss-making government businesses running. At the same time, in a tweet, he thanked the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, for congratulating him on his second term. Meanwhile, the spoke