National News

WASHINGTON — Voters across the United States got their first live prime-time look Wednesday at the bulk of the Republican field for U.S. president, absent the front-runner whose own hunger for power poses the only real threat to his ambitions.

Wildfires raging throughout British Columbia have damaged or destroyed hundreds of properties and forced more than 25,000 people from their homes. The province remains in a state of emergency as crews battle the more than 375 active blazes.

British Columbia's emergency management minister is calling for unity in the fight against the province's wildfires, as she decried people defying evacuation orders to try to defend their properties.

VANCOUVER — The Chinese mother of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby, B.C., park six years ago has taken the witness stand at the murder trial of her accused killer.

The Broken Rail Ranch in West Kelowna was engulfed in flames last Thursday, but Poomba is roaming the last patch of grass, cared for by firefighters.

OTTAWA — Liberal cabinet ministers are suggesting the federal government is ready to tackle long-standing problems related to the international student program, including cases of fraud and exploitation by shady educational institutions.

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the prime minister will soon receive his report outlining the response to recommendations from a public inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act.

OTTAWA — Canada has been pondering a new way to settle First Nation land claims, newly released internal documents show.

QUEBEC — It's the final bell for cellphones in Quebec classrooms as the province's education minister plans to ban the devices in most teaching settings, calling them a distraction for students.

MONTREAL — An arbitration tribunal has ordered the reinstatement of an orderly who was fired after an Indigenous woman filmed Quebec hospital staff insulting her as she died. In an Aug.