Baby Gourmet Foods recalls organic baby cereal over possible bacteria contamination

CALGARY - A brand of baby cereal is being pulled from all in-store and online retailers in Canada due to possible Cronobacter contamination.

Calgary-based Baby Gourmet Foods has issued a product recall for its Banana Raisin Oatmeal Organic Whole Grain Cereal, which is sold in 227 g packages.

The bacteria can cause serious or fatal infections to the bloodstream, central nervous system and intestines.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the recall was triggered by agency test results.

In the news today: Interest rate cut possible this week: Economists

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed...

President Joe Biden ends his 2024 re-election bid

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined a chorus of officials and political compatriots praising Joe Biden's years of public service on Sunday after the president bowed to weeks of mounting pressure and officially withdrew from his country's looming election.

Biden's decision to step aside as the Democrat candidate, announced in a letter posted to social media, came after members of his own party spoke out in increasing numbers to voice concerns over the 81-year-old’s mental acuity and ability to win the faceoff with Republican rival Donald Trump.

Mom wants quicker reform on disaster preparations, one year after flood took son

HALIFAX - The mother of a boy who died a year ago in a Nova Scotia flood says her grief returns daily, along with frustration over what she considers the province's slow pace in reforming its preparations for climate disasters.

Tera Sisco's six-year-old son Colton Sisco died after the vehicle he was in overturned during torrential thunderstorms on July 22, 2023. About 258 millimetres of rain to the municipality of West Hants — a rural area northwest of Halifax — fell during the overnight flash flood.

"It's still a struggle, every day," said Sisco in a recent telephone interview. As the one-year mark of her son's death approached, she said her memories of being with him before the flooding are "on replay."

"It's hard. ... there's part of me that still doesn't want to believe it happened."

More evacuation orders in B.C. as heat wave aids lightning-triggered wildfires

Lightning-triggered wildfires over the weekend have prompted a number of evacuation orders and alerts across British Columbia, a situation that has been exacerbated by an ongoing heat wave. The BC Wildfire Service said Sunday that crews are battling more than 300 blazes, with several evacuation orders in effect in both Central and East Kootenay as well as in Thompson-Nicola, Cariboo and Bulkley — Nechako in the northwest. “Fire suppression efforts continue to be challenged due to hot, dry conditions and localized winds,” the wildfire service said in its Sunday update. “A three week heat wave continues, and more hot and […]

U.S. President Joe Biden steps aside as Democratic candidate, ending re-election bid

WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined a chorus of officials and political compatriots praising Joe Biden's years of public service on Sunday after the president bowed to weeks of mounting pressure and officially withdrew from his country's looming election.

Biden's decision to step aside as the Democrat candidate, announced in a letter posted to social media, came after members of his own party spoke out in increasing numbers to voice concerns over the 81-year-old’s mental acuity and ability to win the faceoff with Republican rival Donald Trump.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden wrote in the letter posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.

"And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."

Second B.C. university issues trespass notice to pro-Palestinian protesters

VICTORIA - The University of Victoria in British Columbia says it has told the pro-Palestinian protesters at an on-campus encampment that they are trespassing, setting the stage for the camp's removal.

The protesters say on their group social media page that the university administration has told them to "vacate by 8 a.m. Monday," but add in a separate post that they are planning a rally at the camp instead.

The university says in its latest encampment update that it has "taken a calm, measured and reasoned approach" to the protest since it was set up on May 1, but administrators "see no further prospect for a successful dialogue."

In response, protesters naming themselves "People's Park UVIC" confirm on social media that the school has issued them a trespass notice, but add that the group is planning a "trespass breakfast" at the deadline time and calling for supporters to attend.

Woman struck in Toronto and her unborn baby die despite live-saving measures: TPS

TORONTO – A pregnant woman and her unborn baby are dead after being hit by a vehicle in downtown Toronto. Police say the 42-year-old woman was hit late Thursday afternoon as she was using a crosswalk on Queen Street East. The 70-year-old driver remained at the scene. The woman was rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead. Police say life-saving measures were performed to deliver the infant, but the baby died on Friday. They say the investigation is ongoing and are asking for anyone with security of dashcam footage of the incident to contact police.

Alberta wildfires prompt more evacuations, and Edmonton offers masks for smoke

EDMONTON – Wildfires in northern Alberta forced more people from their homes on Saturday while Edmonton offered masks to residents to help them deal with all the smoke. Little Red River Cree Nation had already issued an evacuation alert for the communities of John D’Or Prairie and Fox Lake on Friday, but upgraded that to an evacuation order on Saturday and said in a statement that everyone in those communities must be out by 10 p.m. The statement from the First Nation says the communities remain safe, and that residents should stay calm and make their way out safely. Traffic […]

Trudeau and family head to British Columbia for vacation in unnamed location

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will head to British Columbia on Sunday, where he will be on vacation with his family until Aug. 1.

A government official says the Prime Minister's Office is not disclosing the specific location for security reasons.

Spokesman Mohammad Hussain says in an email that Trudeau travels on government aircraft as required, and will reimburse the equivalent of a commercial airline ticket for himself and his family.

Hussain says Trudeau will also pay for his family's stay.

Police seize over 30 stolen vehicles, thousands of dollars in Montreal area

MONTREAL - Quebec provincial police have announced the seizure of more than 28 vehicles and thousands of dollars in the Montreal area this week as part of their fight against organized vehicle theft in the province.

Police spokesperson Nicolas Scholtus says that following an investigation that began in March investigators searched buildings and vehicles in the Montreal area on Thursday targeting a criminal gang exporting stolen vehicles.

In addition to the vehicles, police also found over $17,000 in Canadian currency, over $35,000 US and a half dozen cellphones.

The busts were carried out by a mixed squad of officers from various police forces – including provincial police and Montreal police – tasked with fighting organized crime.

Canada’s airports, hospitals begin returning to normal after global IT outage

MONTREAL - Airports, hospitals and police services across Canada continued their gradual return to normal operations on Saturday as they recovered from a global technology outage caused by a defective update to computers using Microsoft Windows.

And as systems around the world continued to come back online, one security expert warned Canadians can expect more disruptions down the road unless industry practices change.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said Friday's glitch felt round the world occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows, adding the resulting outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.

Microsoft released a statement on its official blog on Saturday revealing the extent of the impact on customers.

Wildfires erupt in B.C. with lightning, heat fuelling fire behaviour across province

The mayor of a British Columbia Interior community says the area's long-term care residents have been moved out as a fast-moving wildfire looms nearby.

Barbara Roden, mayor of Ashcroft, B.C., located about 360 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, said Saturday that community remains under an alert to be ready to evacuate on short notice.

Roden said the anxiety among residents is "settling down a little bit" as the nearby Shetland Creek wildfire appeared to push northward Saturday.

"In the early stages of a fire, there is of course a lot of stress, a lot of fear, a lot of nervousness," she said. "(But) we've seen that the fire has largely stayed in a northerly course, not veering off to the east towards Ashcroft or Cache Creek, the more populated areas in this region."

How B.C.’s firefighting smokejumpers take ‘ultra-extreme and make it seem mundane’

VANCOUVER - Standing on the edge of an open aircraft hatch, a smokejumper in a pale yellow suit steadies himself before rocking back then swinging out the door and vanishing as gravity takes over.

"Jumper's away," someone inside the plane yells as the video pans outside the window, where smoke billows toward the sky from a wildfire below.

The footage is from last year at the start of what would soon become the busiest smokejumping season in the 25-year history of the program.

Smokejumpers, also known as parattack crews, are wildland firefighters who are trained to parachute from fixed-wing aircraft, called "jumpships."

Gun-control group fears Liberals have ‘abandoned’ efforts on assault-style firearms

OTTAWA - A prominent gun-control group fears the Liberal government has abandoned its commitment to enact a comprehensive ban on assault-style firearms, citing "no tangible progress" on key steps to fulfil the pledge.

In an open letter to Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, PolySeSouvient spokeswoman Nathalie Provost expresses concern that "we won't see these measures materialize in our lifetimes" as the clock ticks toward a federal election that must be held by October of next year.

A record of wasting public support and bungling various opportunities over the years would be a "devastating legacy" for the Liberals, wrote Provost, a survivor of the 1989 mass shooting at Montreal's École Polytechnique.

The group wants the government to follow through on plans to proceed with a buyback of banned assault-style firearms including the AR-15, prohibit others that fell through the legislative cracks and strengthen regulations on large-capacity magazines.