The National Rifle Association is pressing ahead with its annual meeting in Houston, despite the mass shooting tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. The association has issued a statement making it clear the event will proceed as planned. It describes the shooting in Uvalde as the act of a ``lone, deranged criminal'' and suggests schools need to be more secure. 19 children and 2 teachers were killed in the mass shooting, all of them inside the same fourth-grade classroom.

An official says an 18-year-old gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school barricaded himself inside a classroom, ``shooting anyone that was in his way.'' Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told NBC's ``Today'' that police and others responding to Tuesday's attack broke windows at the school in an effort to allow students and teachers inside to escape. Olivarez told CNN that all victims were in the same fourth-grade classroom at Robb Elementary School. Eventually law enforcement officers broke into the classroom and killed him.

Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada is shipping 20,000 rounds of artillery ammunition to Ukraine.Anand says the ammunition is ``exactly'' what Ukraine's government asked for from its allies. She says the rounds are the standard NATO artillery calibre and compatible with the artillery guns provided to Ukraine by Canada and other countries. In April, Canada shipped four M777 howitzers to Ukraine, part of more than $130 million in military equipment Canada has donated since Russia launched its unprovoked attack in Ukraine in February. The new ammunition comes with a price tag of $98 million,

BC health officials say an investigation has determined there are no known cases of monkeypox in the province. Canada's chief public health officer said earlier today that a couple dozen people were under investigation for the viral disease, including a few contacts in BC. But a statement from Provincial Health Services Authority and the BC Centre for Disease Control says officials interviewed two possible contacts in B-C and determined they had not been exposed. Monkeypox is typically milder but similar to the now-eradicated smallpox virus, and can cause fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaus

A day after the federal Liberals banned Chinese firms Huawei Technologies and ZTE from helping build Canada's 5G networks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says more must be done to secure critical systems against threats. Trudeau says the government is working closely with big financial institutions as well as other companies across the country to protect vital networks from malicious attackers. Speaking to reporters today, he says Canada will do more, whether through legislation, new spending or better and stronger partnerships. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Thursday the governme

European and American health authorities have identified a number of cases of monkeypox this week, a surprising outbreak of an illness that has previously been limited mostly to central and western Africa. Doctors are still unsure how exactly monkeypox is spreading. The disease is normally transmitted either from wild animals like rodents and primates or from very close contact with infected people. British officials say most recent cases have been men who have had sex with men, and who had no history of travel to Africa. That suggests the disease is already spreading in the country. Quebec's

The Liberal government has banned China's Huawei Technologies from Canada's long-awaited blueprint for next-generation mobile networks. The development of 5-G, or fifth-generation networks, will give people speedier online connections and provide vast data capacity to meet ravenous demand as innovations such as virtual reality, immersive gaming and autonomous vehicles emerge. Critics, including the opposition Conservatives, have long pressed the Liberals to deny Huawei a role in building the country's 5G infrastructure, saying it would allow Beijing to spy on Canadians more easily.

Quebec's Public health authorities are investigating a number of suspected cases of monkey pox in the Montreal area. Dr. Mylene Drouin says based on recent outbreaks in Europe and a case reported in the United States with travel ties to Montreal, there is a strong possibility the infections in the city involve the virus linked to monkey pox. Dr. Drouin says the disease is transmitted by prolonged close contact and there is no risk from everyday activities like taking public transit or shopping or dining out. Public health authorities are investigating 17 suspected cases of monkeypox in the M

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has stepped down as leader of the United Conservative Party. Kenney received 51.4 per cent support from the party in a leadership vote. The results were announced online tonight.