National News

MONTREAL — Workers with Quebec's forest fire agency have voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate as the summer wildfire season approaches.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today...

The B.C. government got federal approval this week to recriminalize public drug possession, a major climb down for the first-of-its-kind pilot in Canada. 

CALGARY — Police in Calgary say multiple people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Calgary Thursday night.

The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy has died. Murphy worked as a columnist for the newspaper, which said in an obituary on its website that he died at 77 after a battle with cancer. Here's what Canadians are saying about the news.

The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pro-oil pundit who was at once the steady stickhandler of a national call-in radio show and a driver of divisive online discourse, has died.

Data from the Ministry of Public Safety says gang-related homicides have climbed from 21 per cent of all killings in the province in 2003 to 46 per cent last year.

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg man has admitted to killing four women but claims he's not criminally responsible because of mental illness. Jeremy Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder. His trial began Wednesday.

WINNIPEG — The trial of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki heard Thursday that police found physical evidence of the victims in his Winnipeg apartment, including jewelry, clothing, DNA and a bloodstained bathtub. Const.

OTTAWA — The federal government has announced $1.7 million for groups supporting gender and sexual minorities abroad, while facing criticism from activists that Ottawa is too slow to follow through with its funding promises.