A four-day temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has begun on Friday. Under this agreement Hamas has released 13 Israeli hostages in the first round. This information was given by the Prime Minister's Office of Israel. During the 4 days of the ceasefire, Hamas will release a total of 50 hostages and in return Israel will release 150 Palestinian prisoners.U. K. Hamas, declared a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, attacked Israel on October 7 and took about 240 people hostage. Qatar played a major role in the ceasefire between the two sides. The International Com

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says new research it commissioned finds municipalities would need $600 billion in infrastructure funding to help build 5.8 million homes by 2030. That's the number of homes the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. says Canada needs to build to restore affordability. Canadian municipalities are voicing their disappointment that the federal Liberals didn't include a new infrastructure funding model in its fall economic statement this week, despite the prime minister promising one would come in the fall. The federation held a news conference in Ottawa toda

The Public Health Agency of Canada says Malichita brand cantaloupes have likely caused a salmonella outbreak acrossfive provinces.It says as of Wednesday, there have been 26 confirmed cases in B.C., Ontario, Quebec, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador.Six people have been hospitalized.The agency says if people aren't sure what brand of cantaloupe they have, they should throw it out.The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued food recalls earlier this month, includingfor whole cantaloupes, pre-cut cantaloupes and fruit trays that used the Malichita brand.It has also recalled some pre-cut pineap

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a visit to Toronto on Thursday.Poilievre said Canada has become a dangerous place in Trudeau's eight-year reign, with hate crimes rising to 150 percent.He said that the economy is in shambles and Canadians are being pitted against each other.Poilievre said Trudeau's weak law has allowed criminals and other violent elements to freely roam on the streets and attack people.It is worth noting that Poilievre is also constantly raising the issue of home heating, citing a recent survey that 70 perc

A spokesman for Qatar's Foreign Ministry hopes the momentum of the deal between Israel and Hamas will lead to an end of theviolence. The deal entails a temporary four-day ceasefire which will see the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. The cease-fire will start at 7 a.m. local time tomorrow, with 13 women and children held by Hamas freed in the afternoon. Officials say three Palestinian prisoners would be freed for every hostage. The deal includes increased aid that will start to enter Gaza.

One of British Columbia's first measures to combat the housing crisis is being expanded to include 13 more communities. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy says the New Democrat government's speculation and vacancy tax will now apply to 59 B.C. cities and towns. Vernon, Penticton, Courtenay and Kamloops are among the 13 communities that have been added, and starting in 2025 residential property owners will have to declare how they used the home in 2024. The levy aims to get more people into empty homes and has collected $313 million since it was first introduced in 2018. Conroy says independent d

The FBI says a deadly car crash and explosion at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing between New York state and Ontario shows no sign of terrorist involvement and there were no explosive materials at the scene, and the case has been turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation.Details of what led to the crash remain scarce, with security camera video released by the U.S. government showing the car speeding through an intersection, hitting a low median and flying through the air into a line of vehicle checkpoint booths on the American side of the crossing.Federal

Authorities say a vehicle has exploded at a checkpoint on the American side of a US-Canada bridge in Niagara Falls. Four border crossings in the area are closed. The FBI's field office in Buffalo is investigating the explosion on the Rainbow Bridge. Photos and video taken by news organizations and posted on social media shows a security booth that had been singed by flames.

A new poll suggests most Canadians support the federal government's decision to pause the carbon price on home heating oil for three years. The Liberals announced the move in October, saying it was a way to give people who use heating oil time to switch over to electric heat pumps. Polling firm Leger surveyed more than 1500 Canadians online, asking a range of questions about the carbon price. 63 percent of respondents say they support the move and it's most popular in Atlantic Canada, where it will have the biggest impact. About one-third of homes in the Atlantic region use heating oil. 7