At least 49 people have died in flooding in South Africa, officials say

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says at least three people are dead after an incident at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department facility. There was a reported explosion at the facility Friday morning. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has not confirmed any deaths. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he’s been briefed on the matter. Los Angeles County Fire Department said it responded to calls about a possible explosion around 7:30 a.m. Newsom’s office said it occurred at the LA Coun

Police in Abbotsford, B.C., say a train derailment has forced the closure of 4th Avenue near the Canada-U.S. border crossing. The department says in a post to social media that the road is blocked off between West Railway to the commercial vehicle entrance for the Sumas border crossing. Police say access to the border entrance is not impacted.They say no injuries have been reported, but did not mention how the derailment happened. The department initially posted an advisory around 11 p.m. Thursday about the closure and to ask drivers to avoid the area. It says in the updated post on Friday tha

An Independent candidate running in a rural Alberta byelection says she has stopped door-knocking because of death threats. Sarah Spanier says she has told Mounties about the online threats, which she attributes to her advocacy for transgender people. She says she has received some messages stating she will be met with a shotgun if she knocks on doors. Spanier is one of almost 80 candidates running in Battle River-Crowfoot, with voters going to the polls Aug. 18. The riding was won handily by Conservative Damien Kurek in the April general election, but Kurek stepped down to all

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is urging workers to reject Canada Post's latest contract offer. Union national president Jan Simpson says a strong no vote would not only reject the offer, but also protect the integrity of the bargaining process. The Canada Industrial Relations Board will hold the vote on the proposed deal starting next week. Canada Post is at an impasse with the union representing roughly 55,000 postal service workers after more than a year and a half of talks. Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu last month asked the board to step in and put the Crown corporation's latest

A report commissioned by the town of Jasper says crews did their best to fight last year's devastating wildfire but the Alberta government complicated the response. The report was based on surveyed participants and firefighters who battled the blaze that destroyed much of the mountain town. It says the Alberta government wasn't jurisdictionally responsible to lead the crisis but made things more difficult with regular information requests and by seeking to exercise decision-making authority. The report says incident commanders had their focus disrupted and were forced to spend precio