A dark moment in Nova Scotia's storied maritime history has been brought vividly to life thanks to YouTube creator Tom Lynskey.

Advocates and scientists are raising concerns with the availability of data on one of Canada's largest fisheries, as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans DFO is waiting on industry to provide data on the herring fishery in southwest Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy.

From Nova Scotians helping others to major snowfall events, people flocked to the CBC News Nova Scotia YouTube channel for news this year. These are some of our most popular videos from 2024.

The people who run our health care system say they are making a significant effort to reduce the amount of downtime at emergency rooms, particularly in central Newfoundland.

NL Health Services says emergency department closures in the region have decreased by 97 per cent from last January to this December.

Craig Davis, vice-president and chief operating officer for the central zone, says virtual ERs have been extremely successful in maintaining services for rural sites.

NL Health says that a virtual ER operates in many ways the same way as a traditional emergency room. Patients are assessed and treated by staff on site, and a virtual physician or nurse practitioner works closely with the onsite team to determine a diagnosis and treatment plan through a video connection.

Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the crash that remained unknown.

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea.

The plane went down about 3 kilometers (around 2 miles) from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft lying upside in the grass.

On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic across the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the country observed a nationwide moment of silence.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.

“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.

Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.

According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals.

As the official crash investigation started, theories abounded about a possible cause, with some commentators alleging that holes seen in the plane’s tail section possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.

Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country’s North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya happened on Wednesday, although it wasn’t officially confirmed.

Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.” Osprey provides analysis for carriers still flying into Russia after Western airlines halted their flights during the war.

Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said that the company had issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.

“This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do,” Nicholson wrote online. “It is painful to know that despite our efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”

Asked about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict.”

Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine it.

___

Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Aida Sultanova in London, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press

A St. John's transit advocate says that while funding for Metrobus to acquire new electric and hybrid buses to enhance its fleet is a good thing, the diesel buses they'd replace shouldn't be taken out of service.

Nine-year-old Gabe Piccott of Torbay has big dreams. His Christmas wish list is filled with microphones, lights and green screens — everything he needs to be the next big videographer. He started his journey when his mother was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Conservation Halton has partnered with Halton Healthcare and PaRx to offer up to 10 free visits to conservation areas in the region when receiving a prescription for nature.

A Tetlit Gwich’in artist in Yellowknife says teaching others her craft has been helping her own mental health. 

Ukrainian refugees who have settled in Quebec but only registered for health coverage after a May 2024 deadline have learned that some family members can’t have government health coverage, while others will see their coverage expire soon.

US President Joe Biden and his incoming successor Donald Trump issued starkly contrasting Christmas messages Wednesday, with the latter doubling down on recent comments about seizing the Panama Canal, buying Greenland and annexing Canada.

While Biden posted a short, traditional seasonal message about “kindness and compassion,” Trump fired off a rapid volley of three dozen posts throughout the day on his Truth Social website. His messages addressed “radical left lunatics” and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high.”

“Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections,” the president-elect said in one message, using his characteristically erratic style of capitalization.

The Republican’s comeback electoral win in November came on the back of heightened political polarization and division across the country, which Trump leaned into in his posts.

Trump posted a photo showing himself as “patriot of the year,” and another smirking at former president Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Others included articles praising his cabinet picks, his wish to purchase Greenland and his complaints about fees paid by US ships passing through the Panama Canal.

The president-elect again called Trudeau the “governor” of Canada, saying if the country became “our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%” and “their businesses would immediately double in size.”

Trump also doubled down on his threats to demand US control of the Panama Canal, complaining that China had “illegal” influence over the waterway and that Washington “puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything.'”

Minutes later, he announced his pick of Florida politician Kevin Marino Cabrera as ambassador to Panama, “a Country that is ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams.”

The post Trump wishes ‘Merry Christmas’ to ‘left lunatics’ in frenzy of social posts appeared first on CANADIAN AFFAIRS.

From an anonymous office in a New Delhi mall, matrimonial detective Bhavna Paliwal runs the rule over prospective husbands and wives — a booming industry in India, where younger generations are increasingly choosing love matches over arranged marriage.

The tradition of partners being carefully selected by the two families remains popular. But in a country where social customs are changing rapidly, more and more couples are making their own matches.

So for some families, the first step when young lovers want to get married is not to call a priest or party planner but a sleuth like Paliwal with high-tech spy tools to investigate the prospective partner.

Sheela, an office worker in New Delhi, said that when her daughter announced she wanted to marry her boyfriend, she immediately hired Paliwal.

“I had a bad marriage,” said Sheela, whose name has been changed as her daughter remains unaware her fiance was spied on.

“When my daughter said she’s in love, I wanted to support her — but not without proper checks.”

Paliwal, 48, who founded her Tejas Detective Agency more than two decades ago, says business is better than ever.

Her team handles around eight cases monthly.

In one recent case, Paliwal discovered a decimal point salary discrepancy in a prospective husband’s salary.

“The man said he earns around $70,700 annually,” Paliwal said. “We found out he was actually making $7,070.”

‘Service to society’

It is discreet work. Paliwal’s office is tucked away in a city mall, with an innocuous sign board saying it houses an astrologer — a service families often use to predict an auspicious wedding date.

“Sometimes my clients also don’t want people to know they are meeting a detective,” she said, laughing.

Hiring a detective can cost from $100 to $2,000, depending on the extent of surveillance needed.

That is a small investment for families who splash out many times more on the wedding itself.

It is not just worried parents trying to vet their prospective sons or daughters-in-law.

Some want background checks on their future spouse — or, after marriage, to confirm a suspected affair.

“It is a service to society,” said Sanjay Singh, a 51-year-old sleuth, who says his agency has handled “hundreds” of pre-matrimonial investigations this year alone.

Private eye Akriti Khatri said around a quarter of cases at her Venus Detective Agency were pre-marriage checks.

“There are people who want to know if the groom is actually gay,” she said, citing one example.

Arranged marriages binding two entire families together require a chain of checks before the couple even talk.

That includes financial probes and, crucially, their status in India’s millennia-old caste hierarchy.

Marriages breaking rigid caste or religious divisions can have deadly repercussions, sometimes resulting in so-called “honour” killings.

In the past, such premarital checks were often done by family members, priests or professional matchmakers.

But breakneck urbanization in sprawling megacities has shaken social networks, challenging conventional ways of verifying marriage proposals.

Arranged marriages now also happen online through matchmaking websites, or even dating apps.

“Marriage proposals come on Tinder too,” added Singh.

‘Basis of lies’

The job is not without its challenges.

Layers of security in guarded modern apartment blocks mean it is often far harder for an agent to gain access to a property than older standalone homes.

Singh said detectives had to rely on their charm to tell a “cock and bull story” to enter, saying his teams tread the grey zone between “legal and illegal.”

But he stressed his agents operate on the right side of the law, ordering his teams to do “nothing unethical” while noting investigations often mean “somebody’s life is getting ruined.”

Technology is on the side of the sleuths.

Khatri has used tech developers to create an app for her agents to upload records directly online — leaving nothing on agents’ phones, in case they are caught.

“This is safer for our team,” she said, adding it also helped them “get sharp results in less time and cost.”

Surveillance tools starting at only a few dollars are readily available.

Those include audio and video recording devices hidden in everyday items such as mosquito repellent socket devices, to more sophisticated magnetic GPS car trackers or tiny wearable cameras.

The technology boom, Paliwal said, has put relationships under pressure.

“The more hi-tech we become, the more problems we have in our lives,” she said.

But she insisted that neither the technology nor the detectives should take the blame for exposing a cheat.

“Such relationships would not have lasted anyway,” she said. “No relationship can work on the basis of lies.”

The post Bride, groom, spy: India’s wedding detectives appeared first on CANADIAN AFFAIRS.

More than 400,000 pills containing the deadly opioid fentanyl were seized and destroyed by Mexico’s Attorney General’s office, along with six tons of chemical precursors for the drugs, the agency said Wednesday.

A statement said the narcotics were seized in multiple operations in the western Mexico state of Jalisco, where the powerful New Generation cartel operates.

The agency seized “416,751 tablets and 6.9 kilograms (15 pounds) of fentanyl, 990 acetaminophen tablets” and more than six tons of twenty different chemical precursors, all of which were destroyed.

Mexico has ramped up its operations against the trafficking of synthetic narcotics, especially fentanyl, with US president-elect Donald Trump ramping up pressure on the issue.

The Republican, who will begin his second term on January 20, has threatened to levy 25-per cent tariffs on Mexican exports if the country fails to contain drug trafficking and the influx of illegal immigrants to the United States.

Earlier in December, the Mexican government announced the seizure of over one million fentanyl pills, described as “the largest seizure of fentanyl in history” by Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, has been linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States and 50,000 deaths in Canada.

Mexico is one of the main trafficking routes for the drug and for the chemicals to manufacture it, most of which come from China.

Trump has also threatened tariff hikes on Canada and China over illegal migration and their alleged role in the US opioid crisis.

The post Mexican authorities seize more than 400,000 fentanyl pills appeared first on CANADIAN AFFAIRS.

For almost three decades, the Swiss Guard uniforms have been crafted by Ety Cicioni, the Vatican’s head tailor. Maintaining the century-old design of uniform has become a challenge as certain materials, fabrics and sewing techniques have become obsolete

Terry Fox Walk raises money and awareness

By Maya Jones and Brynn Crossman

Woodstock High School held a Terry Fox Walk on Tuesday, Oct. 8, to commemorate Terry Fox and his efforts to walk the span of our country.

The school hosted fundraising events for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Terry Fox Foundation. It is important to spread awareness about cancer. The Canadian Cancer Society predicts that 247,100 Canadian citizens will be diagnosed with cancer in 2024. With our fundraising efforts, we hope to raise awareness for individuals affected by cancer.

Fundraising activities included Toonies for Terry, which allowed staff and students to win one of two t-shirts wearing tall ‘Socks like Terry Fox,’ a lemonade sale, and a popular ‘soak the teacher’ event, where a few brave teachers volunteered to get wet to raise money. 

Terry Fox’s legacy motivated us students, and we raised a lot of money to ensure anyone affected by cancer knew we admired them. We believe treatments can improve, and a cure for cancer is possible.

The post WHS students honour Canadian hero first appeared on River Valley Sun.

Boxing Day once reigned supreme in Canada. However, with the rise of the internet and American companies like Amazon, has Black Friday officially taken the crown? We asked shoppers what they thought.

The play button got heavy use over the last 12 months on videos that explained, surprised and dug deeper.

From watching the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre to their sons stepping on the same ice to represent Canada — Cole Beaudoin and Oliver Bonk's parents say the feeling is surreal. 

In a year-end interview, Smith reflected on pressing issues and said her next steps will be revealed in the government’s budget, set to be tabled on Feb. 27.

Since kitchens can turn into sites of debates over leftovers, CBC News put some questions to food scientists. Here are the answers.

This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.

The Associated Press