Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Federal officials in charge of the National Microbiology Lab defended security protocols at the Winnipeg institution against accusations from MPs of bureaucratic incompetence Friday. 

"We acted as expeditiously as we could, given the information that was available," Public Health Agency of Canada head Heather Jeffrey said Friday.

The son of a Canadian woman believed to be among those held hostage by Hamas in Gaza wants the world to push for an end to the fighting, and says he fears Israel's escalating offensive could end all chance of bringing his mother safely home. 

"My basic belief is that the military actions don't solve anything," said Yonatan Zeigen.

His mother, Vivian Silver, is one of an estimated 229 hostages taken by Hamas during its bloody Oct. 7 rampage in Israel.

The federal government is coping with cyberattacks this week, as a hacker group in India claims it has sowed chaos in Ottawa — but Canada's signals-intelligence agency says the "nuisance" attacks likely haven't put private information at risk.

The attacks seem to have hit institutions controlled by the government, but not the core infrastructure from which federal departments and agencies operate.

The Canadian Armed Forces says its website became unavailable to mobile users midday Wednesday, but was fixed within a few hours.

The woman accusing former New Democrat MP Roméo Saganash of sexual assault is going public, saying she wants to support others.

Carmen Roy, who works for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, is alleging that she was sexually assaulted on May 1 in Winnipeg, and police say they arrested the former MP on June 27.

In a written statement to The Canadian Press, Roy says she is pondering a civil suit.

Her lawyer says Roy was at work when the alleged incident happened, but she is not able to provide more details.

As federal parties craft the scope of a possible inquiry into foreign interference, Canada's media-literacy charity argues governments and schools need to do a better job of preventing citizens from being manipulated by hostile states.

"We are going to need a media-literate populace," said Matthew Johnson, education director with MediaSmarts, a non-profit aimed at boosting critical thinking among Canadians.

"Whatever the source of disinformation, but certainly including foreign interference, digital media literacy really is both the first and last line of defence."

International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan is announcing $71 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan and two neighbouring countries that are dealing with a large number of refugees in the wake of a violent crisis.

Sajjan says the funds will flow through agencies of the United Nations and the Red Cross as well as non-governmental organizations to provide basic food, water and health services.

Nearly $31 million will go toward Sudan, while slightly more will be sent to South Sudan, which seceded from that country in 2011.

Canada and the United States have agreed to share more information about the smuggling of guns across their shared border.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says Ottawa has signed four new or updated agreements with Washington that allow the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency to exchange more data with partners south of the border.

Mendicino says the agreements under a rebooted Canada-U.S. Cross-Border Crime Forum will allow more information-sharing with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Four astronauts selected to orbit the moon say the Artemis II mission can help inform how Canada responds to food insecurity, health-care needs and climate adaptation in the Arctic.

"How do we actually get eight billion people to row in the same direction and work on these problems? Because these are global problems," said Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian colonel who will join three Americans in space.

"We can do great things together. We can do better as a human race. And here's one small example," he said alongside his crewmates in a Tuesday interview with The Canadian Press.

Canada's biggest federal public service union is preparing to ramp up its ongoing strike by moving picket lines to strategic locations such as ports on Monday, as both sides continued to accuse each other of poor communication.

In a Sunday interview with The Canadian Press, Public Service Alliance of Canada National President Chris Aylward said civil servants need to further affect the economy to push Ottawa for a solution.

The pomp and circumstance of a presidential visit will give way today to a series of talks about green energy, migration and Haiti, as U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Parliament Hill.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to greet Biden late Friday morning for a welcoming ceremony at West Block.

Dignitaries from the House of Commons and Senate, including the Speakers from each chamber and the leaders of each elected party and most Senate groups, are set to join them.

Biden and Trudeau plan to then have a bilateral meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office.