National News

OTTAWA — Ottawa's Indo-Pacific strategy has yet to give Canada adequate visibility or distinguish it from the U.S. in the region, experts have told researchers commissioned by the federal government.

ST. JOHN'S — There was a very happy chicken in a suburb of St. John's, N.L., on Friday after residents who had been forced to leave their homes because of a wildfire were finally cleared to return.

MONTREAL — Students at Concordia University in Montreal have pulled off what they're calling the first attempted space launch in Canada this century.

VERCHÈRES — Authorities began unloading thousands of tonnes of sugar from a cargo vessel run aground in the St. Lawrence River near Montreal on Friday in an attempt to free the ship. The Federal Yamaska became stuck near Verchères, Que.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney's government said Canada's support for Ukraine remains resolute ahead of talks Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

OTTAWA — Canadian officials negotiating a global treaty to end plastic pollution at the United Nations say they didn't push other countries to agree to a cap on plastic production because such a measure likely would not be adopted.

SURREY — An RCMP team patrolling the waters near the border between Canada and the United States helped rescue a group of 12 kayakers, including six children.

MONTREAL — Montreal police have opened a criminal investigation into reports that people at a music festival last weekend were allegedly poisoned without their knowledge.

OTTAWA — China is taking its dispute with Canada over steel tariffs to the World Trade Organization. Beijing filed a complaint Friday with the WTO in response to Canadian restrictions on imports that contain steel melted or poured in China.

TORONTO — The Pan American Health Organization says Canada has the highest number of measles cases on the continent and more action is needed to address low vaccination rates.