Ontario Premier Doug Ford has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump's comments blaming Canada for wildfire smoke affecting parts of the United States. He called Trump's remarks "absolutely unacceptable" as crews battle hundreds of forest fires across the province.
Ford said Ontario was doing everything possible to contain the blazes and protect communities, adding that Canada would support the United States if the situation were reversed.
Trump said on Friday that poor Canadian forest management was responsible for the smoke blanketing large areas of the U.S. and threatened to add the costs of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Ford said around 655,000 hectares of forest were burning across Ontario and pledged there would be "no limit" on spending to protect residents.
He argued that if Washington wanted Canada to clear more forest, it should remove tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, saying greater access to the U.S. market would help address forestry management challenges.
Canada's federal government said military aircraft were being deployed to evacuate residents from the remote community of Fort Hope in northwestern Ontario, where some of the most intense fires are burning.
The federal Natural Resources Department said 69 new wildfires were reported overnight, bringing the national total to 955 active fires.
Smoke from the fires has spread into the United States, prompting air quality alerts across several states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Ohio and Washington, D.C. Parts of western Pennsylvania recorded "very unhealthy" air quality on Saturday.
Canadian officials said wildfire activity in Ontario had eased over the past 24 hours, with more favourable weather expected in the coming days.
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Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has dismissed media reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow earlier this week to warn Russia against attacking NATO, dismissing them as "scare stories," which had nothing to do with reality.
Rescuers in Nepal used helicopters on Thursday to scour for hundreds still missing after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border with China's Tibet, sending catastrophic floods through towns and valleys, killing 162 people.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for greater economic cooperation among Muslim countries, saying their combined economic weight remains disproportionately small compared with their population, strategic location and resources.
Iran is setting conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the war, the lifting of the U.S. blockade and sanctions. At the same time, Washington is stepping up economic pressure on Tehran through what the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Mail sorting centres used by Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal company, were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight, the firm said. Elsewhere, four people were injured after drones struck an apartment building in Sevastopol, Crimea, according to the Moscow-installed governor.
Icelanders will vote on Saturday, 29 August, on whether to resume negotiations with the European Union, in a referendum that could reopen the country’s long-debated membership question.
Iran is setting conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including an end to the war, the lifting of the U.S. blockade and sanctions. At the same time, Washington is stepping up economic pressure on Tehran through what the White House calls “Operation Economic Outcast.”
Mail sorting centres used by Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal company, were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight, the firm said. Elsewhere, four people were injured after drones struck an apartment building in Sevastopol, Crimea, according to the Moscow-installed governor.
The United Nations refugee agency is planning further reductions to its workforce and budget in 2027 as it adapts to severe funding pressures, even as global displacement is forecast to reach a record high.
Türkiye has dramatically increased diesel imports from the United States and India this month as Russian supplies have been diminished and Middle East energy flows disrupted.
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