Prime Minister Justin Trudeau embraced a more intimate form of Pacific Rim diplomacy Thursday as he sat down with several world leaders on the margins of a sprawling international summit in California. Even before all 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group could gather for their traditional family photo, Trudeau had already hosted meetings with Japan, Thailand and Australia, with plans to meet Mexico and Vietnam in the afternoon.
The Canadian government says that as of Wednesday afternoon, it was in touch with 386 people still in the besieged territory. Global Affairs Canada says, so far, 367 Canadians, permanent residents and their relatives have been able to escape via the Rafah border crossing, most recently including two people on Wednesday and 10 on Monday.
Mounties in Burnaby say they're investigating after a pedestrian was hit and killed by a vehicle in the city Thursday morning. Burnaby R-C-M-P say officers attended the scene at 11 in the morning after reports that a female pedestrian was hit in the 43-hundred block of Hastings Street.
New data suggest that COVID-19 activity in British Columbia is trending downward, while influenza and RSV are on the rise. A weekly update provided Thursday by the BC Centre for Disease Control says COVID-19 cases, new hospitalizations and deaths are all declining from a peak in the first week of October.
British Columbia's gang squad and the Abbotsford Police Department say a sensitive law enforcement intelligence document was posted on an online media site. A statement from police and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit says the document was part of a response to the ongoing gang war that has killed numerous people in the last several years.
Canada's long-standing support of Israel in votes at the United Nations has come under renewed scrutiny during the latest Israel-Hamas war. On Oct. 27, Canada abstained on a motion calling for a sustained humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, and last week, it joined Israel and the U.S. in voting down a motion about Israeli settlements in the West Bank.