AS IT HAPPENED Wildfire reaches Jasper Wednesday night, causes 'significant loss'
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
The head of the World Health Organization on Monday voiced confidence that countries would one day reach a deal on a pandemic accord after failing to produce an agreement last week, although health officials warned it could take years.
Health officials have voiced frustration with the negotiations that have been dogged by lengthy discussions past midnight, last-minute shifts in position and growing criticism from right-wing commentators that the treaty would undermine sovereignty, which the WHO strongly denies.
In a symbol of the resistance, a truck with a sign reading "NO to the Pandemic Treaty. STOP the UN Power Grab" was seen near the U.N. headquarters in Geneva where the talks are taking place.
Ministers from among the WHO's 194 member states are seeking to wrap up more than two years of negotiations on new rules for responding to pandemics during the May 27-June 1 World Health Assembly after COVID-19 killed millions.
Negotiators failed to produce a draft deal on Friday for formal approval by the assembly this week.
"Of course, we all wish that we had been able to reach a consensus on the agreement in time for this health assembly, and cross the finish line," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his opening address.
"I remain confident that you still will, because where there is a will, there is a way. I know that there remains among you a common will to get this done."
A senior U.S. administration official said Washington remained committed to the process but estimated another 1-2 years of talks. "There's a lot of frustration," she said. A health diplomat said reforms to the process were being considered as well as an extension of between 5-24 months.
Negotiations are still ongoing for an update to existing health rules on outbreaks and negotiators say that a deal is close, including on a new tiered system of alerts following criticism the WHO was too slow to declare a COVID emergency.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown Law in Washington D.C. involved in the negotiations, said the outcome was a "shameful abdication of political leadership" but voiced confidence the reforms would pass this week.
"They have enormous potential value for making the world safer and more equitable," he told Reuters.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber and Emma Farge; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Nick Macfie)
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
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A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
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It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.