Ottawa says Canada will contribute $10 million to earthquake relief efforts in Turkey and Syria as part of an initial aid package.International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan says the federal government is conducting a needs assessment for further aid and is also considering deploying the country's disaster assistance response team to help with rescue operations.The death toll of Monday's earthquake has surpassed 5,300 and is expected to rise as search and rescue operations continue.The powerful 7.8 magnitude quake, which was followed by strong aftershocks, has levelled thousands of buildi

A Boeing 737 air tanker owned by a British Columbia company has crashed in western Australia while on deployment to a fire. Coulson Aviation, based in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, says in a statement that both pilots walked away from the accident and have been medically assessed. The statement says the company is offering all the support it can to its local and international crews and is grateful to its firefighting and aviation industry colleagues in Australia. Coulson announced last month that it had been awarded a contract to provide its Boeing 737 Flatliner, designated tanker 139,

The Crown wants the Quebec sexual assault case involving Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygaard to proceed more quickly. Nygaard's case has been adjourned for months as he faces charges in Toronto and the United States, and prosecutor Jerome Laflamme told a Quebec court judge today that the complainant wants to pursue legal action. Nygaard, 81, was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 under the Extradition Act following nine sexual assault-related charges in New York. He will stand trial in Toronto in September 2023 on charges of sexual assault and confinement. Nygaard will face trial in Quebec fo

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is "ready" to provide help after powerful earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria, killing thousands of people. In a statement, Trudeau called the reports and images from Turkey and Syria "devastating" and expressed his thoughts for those affected. More than 2,600 people have been killed so far and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue workers and residents search for survivors of Monday's earthquake. It was Turkey's worst earthquake this century and came before sunrise in bitterly cold weather, followed by another magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the after

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake has rocked large parts of Turkey and neighboring Syria.The earthquake, which hit Turkey and parts of northwestern Syria on Monday, has so far killed more than 2,600 people and left thousands injured or homeless, hampering efforts to find survivors.There are reports of many buildings collapsing and efforts are being made to find residents trapped under the piles of rubble.Rescuers on both sides of the border continued to search on Monday and officials feared the death toll could rise.It was Turkey's worst earthquake this century and came before sunrise in bit

Investigators searching for a motive in the worst mass shooting in Los Angeles County history say a search of the gunman's home discovered a rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and evidence he was manufacturing gun silencers. Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday that investigators have not yet established Huu Can Tran's motive in the massacre, which happened during a celebration of Lunar New Year at a Monterey Park dance hall. The assailant fired 42 rounds at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, where 11 people were killed and nine wounded. Luna says a hero later disarmed the gunman, wh

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been fined by police for taking off his seat belt to film a social media video in a moving car. Sunak has apologized for making an ``error of judgment'' while filming a message for Instagram from the back of an official government car during a visit to northwest England on Thursday. Lancashire Police said Friday it has looked into the video and ``issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.'' The conditional offer means that the person fined accepts guilt but doesn't have to go to court. Police didn't say how much Sunak wa

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday she is stepping down as New Zealand's leader and will not contest this year's general elections. Fighting back tears, Ardern told reporters in Napier that Feb. 7 will be her last day in office. ``I am entering now my sixth year in office, and for each of those years, I have given my absolute all,'' she said. Ardern described her job as among the most privileged but challenging jobs and said doing it required having a reserve to face the unexpected. She said she no longer had that reserve to face another term in office.

China's government is not happy that Canada and other countries are creating new COVID-19 restrictions for people flying from China. Beginning Thursday, Canada will require air travellers from China to have a recent negative test, similar to the US and some European countries. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says those rules are based on politics instead of science, and that some policies are ``disproportionate and simply unacceptable.'' China lifted many of its strict COVID-19 policies last month, sparking a wave of infections.