National News

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says up to half of the buildings in Jasper may have been burned after wildfires swept through the evacuated community.

Here are the latest developments on the wildfire situation in Alberta (all times are MT):

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10:13 p.m.

Cool and wet weather is making a difference in Jasper National Park.

A statement from the park Thursday night says up to 15 millimetres of rain has fallen in the area since midnight, leading to minimal fire spread.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta’s request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.

The park's social media account says the fire has caused significant loss within the townsite, but the specific locations or neighbourhoods affected are not being reported.

On the social media platform X, the account for Fairmont's Jasper Park Lodge says the flames have reached the hotel's grounds, but the extent of damage, if any, is not yet known.

One of two raging, wind-whipped wildfires bearing down on the historic Jasper townsite reached its southern outskirts early Wednesday night as a last-ditch attempt to reroute it failed.

Around the same time, all first responders were ordered out of Jasper National Park for their safety and to give fire crews more room to operate.

Firefighters remained in the town to douse spot fires and maintain sprinkler lines. Everyone else was reminded to get out.

The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate for a second consecutive time on Wednesday, but warned the path back to two per cent inflation may be uneven and would ultimately determine the pace of future rate cuts.

The central bank says its decision to lower its policy rate by a quarter percentage point was motivated by easing price pressures and weakening economic conditions.

Its key interest rate now stands at 4.5 per cent.

Multiple wildfires in Jasper National Park flared up with a vengeance late Monday night, forcing all park visitors along with the 4,700 residents of the Jasper townsite to flee west with little notice over mountain roads through darkness, soot, and ash.

Photos and video shared on social media illuminated a midnight cavalcade of bumper-to-bumper cars and trucks, headlights on, red tail lights glowing, cars inching, stopping, starting, crawling through swirling tendrils of acrid smoke.

Israeli police say a Canadian citizen was killed Monday after threatening local security officials with a knife near the border with the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military says the man drove to the entrance of the town of Netiv HaAsara, just 300 metres north of the Gaza border. The military says the man left his vehicle with a knife and approached the local security patrol, who opened fire and killed him.

There were no other injuries, the military said, providing a photo of a kitchen knife with a black handle. The rescue service Zaka also said nobody was injured. 

U.S. President Joe Biden is stepping aside as the Democratic candidate in that country's November election and throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris -- a Montreal-area high school graduate who spent several years in the city.

Here's what to know about her Canadian connections. 

Before she became America's first female, first Black, and first South Asian vice president-elect, Harris spent several years in Montreal, where she attended Westmount High School from 1978 to 1981.

There was a powerful word being repeated in the joyful Newfoundland community of New-Wes-Valley on Sunday: "Miracle."

Over and over, residents out walking or chatting to one another in local stores described the rescue of seven fishermen from the area who had somehow survived two days in a life-raft on the Atlantic ocean as nothing short of miraculous.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for returning our men," Betty Lou Pollett told a crowd of hundreds at the end of a community parade held to celebrate the fishers' return.

U.S. President Joe Biden is removing his name as the Democratic candidate in the November election following weeks of mounting pressure over the 81-year-old’s mental acuity and ability to win the faceoff with Republican rival Donald Trump. 

Biden says it has been his greatest honour to serve but he believes it is in the best interest of his party to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling his duties as president for the rest of his term.

From floods to Trump, otters with ice blocks to historic apologies in Saskatchewan, here's a look at some of this week's top news photos as selected by editors.