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Climate and Environment

    • Australian data: Greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2021

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    CANBERRA, Australia -

    Australia's new government on Monday blamed the previous administration's inaction on climate change for an increase in the nation's greenhouse gas emissions last year.

    Australia emitted 488 million metric tons (538 million U.S. tons) of carbon dioxide and equivalent gases in the last calendar year, up 0.8%, or 4.1 million metric tons (4.5 million U.S. tons), from 2020, according to the government's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory update for the .

    Factors that caused the increase included a 4% rise in transport emissions as pandemic travel restrictions eased and 4.2% more agricultural emissions as rain ended years of drought across large swathes of southeast Australia.

    Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, whose centre-left Labor Party came to power at elections last month, accused the previous conservative coalition of relying on COVID-19 and drought to achieve emission reductions toward the end of its nine years in power.

    "With the resumption of more normal economic activity, continuing recovery from drought and increases in manufacturing and resources sector activity, the previous government caps off its record of denial and delay by increasing emissions on the way out," Bowen said in a statement.

    Labor was elected on a promise to reduce Australia's emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030.

    The former government had a less ambitious target of a 26% to 28% cut by the end of the decade.

    Some minor parties and independent lawmakers are calling for stronger action to limit global warming to less than 2 C (3.6 F).

    By the end of last year, Australia had achieved a 21.4% reduction, according to the latest data released Monday.

    Opposition spokesperson on climate change Ted O'Brien said Australia's emissions were now lower than any time when Labor was last in government from 2007 until 2013.

    O'Brien challenged the new government to deliver cheaper power and to beat its target while delivering economic growth.

    Tim Baxter, a senior researcher at the Climate Council think tank, expected Australia's emissions to rise further this year before the new government's more effective policies showed results.

    "It takes a little while for these sorts of policies to flow through," Baxter said. "They could be stronger, but the Labor Party has some measures that will start bending the curve."

    The council is an independently funded non-profit that replaced the Climate Commission, a publicly funded agency abolished in 2013 by the previous government.

    The council recommends Australia reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2035. The government's net-zero target is 2050.

    News of Australia's increasing greenhouse gas emissions comes as climate activist group Blockade Australia kicked off a weeklong campaign of disruption in Sydney by shutting down the downtown Sydney Harbor Tunnel during Monday morning's peak traffic period.

    Traffic had to be rerouted across the Sydney Harbor Bridge for about an hour.

    Police arrested 11 demonstrators including a woman who parked her car across the tunnel's south-bound lanes then attached her neck to the steering wheel with a lock and chain, officials said.

    New South Wales state Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Dunstan condemned the actions of some of the 50 to 60 demonstrators.

    "The behaviour of this group was nothing short of criminal activity," Dunstan said.

    "The throwing of bicycles, the throwing of garbage bins, the throwing of other items in the path of police, in the path of media, in the path of innocent members of the public just walking by, will not be tolerated and cannot be by the people of New South Wales," he added.

    Blockade Australia protest organizer Sally-Ann Brown said the disruption was necessary because policymakers were not listening.

    "I got the feeling today that the public were not upset, the police were upset," Brown said.

    CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

    Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

    Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

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    A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

    The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

    Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

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    Canada

    • Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

    • Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

    • Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

    • Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.

    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

    • The Métis Nation of Saskatchewan has pulled out of a national body representing Métis, citing problems with an Ontario group and throwing the future of the Métis National Council into question.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    • A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes 'indescribable' pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    • Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

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    Business

    Lifestyle

    • When Bernard Morissette got a call from Loto-Quebec on Sept. 18 and was asked if he was sitting down, he had no idea what was coming his way.

    • An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

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    • The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have won five in a row. The Edmonton Elks have won five of their last six games. They are the two hottest teams in the West. When they meet Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium, something has to give.

    • Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the two sides announced Friday.

    • F1 star Max Verstappen punished over bad word

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    Autos

    Local Spotlight

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    An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

    They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

    A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

    Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

    The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

    The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

    It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

    A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

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    • The debate over sexual orientation and gender identity education in schools is heating up. Protests both for and against SOGI in the curriculum took place across the country Friday.

    • A fire that destroyed a historic bridge in Kamloops, B.C., is now being investigated as arson, local Mounties say.

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    • The parents of a teenager who died after allegedly consuming the poisonous products of a Mississauga man are now suing him, as well as several doctors involved in her care.

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    • The man charged with fatally stabbing lifelong Banff resident Ethan Enns-Goneau in 2022 has been convicted of second-degree murder.

    • Environment Canada issued a frost advisory for Calgary late Friday afternoon.

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    • Agreement in principle has been reached to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), the two sides announced Friday.

    • For years, the commute to Ottawa's west end was one of the biggest complaints for attending fans. But those who live in Kanata and in the immediate LeBreton area say the move would be a big change their respective neighbourhoods.

    • Ottawa police are investigating a shooting downtown Friday afternoon.

    • Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

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    • A man who asserted his right to work in French has won his case before the Tribunal, invoking the new provisions of the province's French-language law (Bill 96) to that effect.

    • Two Edmonton Police Service officers have been criminally charged in connection with an assault.

    • There's a friendship in the Edmonton Oilers crease between Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard.

    • A woman is dead after a highway collision on Saddle Lake Cree Nation.

    • A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.

    • Mattea Roach among the Maritimers honoured with the King Charles III Coronation Medal Friday.

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    • The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

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    • Five Regina schools were placed into lockdown or secure the building mode following a report of a weapons investigation at Miller High School on Friday.

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    • Protests were held in front of Kitchener City Hall on Friday, both for and against LGBTQ2S+ inclusive education and queer rights in schools.

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    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

    • A Brampton driver, 27, was charged this week when northern Ontario police stopped the SUV he was driving on Highway 17 after a reported shooting and found more than $100,000 in cash.

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    • Two men from Barrie have been charged after a deadly shooting at a park in Keswick on Wednesday.

    • Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.

    • A jury has found a Barrie man guilty of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of a man at a Banff bar two years ago.

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    • Windsor police say a 25-year-old mother has been charged with the drowning death of her 5-year-old child in the family’s backyard pool.

    • The federal government is investing $18.4 million dollars into the region.

    • New Democrat Leader David Eby has launched his British Columbia election campaign a day early, making the key battle ground of Surrey his first stop.

    • The Old Man Lake wildfire near Sooke is the only one currently burning on Vancouver Island. It’s a region of the province that this year saw a drastic drop in blazes in the backcountry.

    • Police in Victoria, B.C. issued a warning this week about lighters that look like pistols, saying they have received 20 reports of firearms in public spaces since July 1 that turned out to be gun-shaped torches.

    • A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.

    • The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

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    • After a summer of preparation, the Lethbridge Hurricanes are ready to open the 2024-25 season.

    • As a new semester is underway, Lethbridge Polytechnic and the University of Lethbridge say the number of students on campus is on the rise.

    • A Lethbridge resident is facing charges after police seized drugs and weapons at a traffic stop for bicycle equipment violations.

    • A 26-year-old driver from Surrey, B.C., has been charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm in a crash that killed two youths in northern Ontario last year.

    • Ontario Provincial Police say three suspects from southern Ontario have been charged and drugs worth $300,000 have been seized following a traffic stop Sept. 16.

    • A Brampton driver, 27, was charged this week when northern Ontario police stopped the SUV he was driving on Highway 17 after a reported shooting and found more than $100,000 in cash.

    N.L.

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