OTTAWA - Relatives of those killed when Iran's military shot down Flight PS752 in January 2020 say Canada has become a safe haven for regime officials.

CALGARY - Danielle Smith delivered a dramatic political comeback Thursday, winning the leadership of the United Conservative Party to become Alberta’s next premier almost eight years after she decimated the movement with an epic floor crossing.

CALGARY - Former journalist and business owner Danielle Smith won the United Conservative Party's leadership race on Thursday and, in doing so, becomes Alberta's next premier. Here are some facts about Smith:

CALGARY - The political story of Danielle Smith is one of triumph then defeat, followed by betrayal, banishment and, now, redemption.

OTTAWA - Three Conservative MPs who were absent from a vote in the House of Commons on conscience rights say they supported the proposed legislation.

YELLOWKNIFE - The owners of a Yellowknife pub headed to trial Thursday to fight a charge of violating Northwest Territories COVID-19 public health orders.

REGINA - A member of James Smith Cree Nation was wrongfully accused by RCMP of killing an individual during the stabbing attacks last month in the community and in the nearby village of Weldon, Sask.

VANCOUVER - A Vancouver residents association has launched a legal bid to quash a services agreement between the city and the Squamish Nation for the largest Indigenous-led housing and retail development in Canadian history.

OTTAWA - Federal Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu says she remains "open" to legislating fire and building codes on First Nations, even though Ottawa has no plans to do so now.

OTTAWA - Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said he doesn't appreciate Google "trying to intimidate Canadians," after the company pushed back on the government's proposed online streaming bill.

OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre refused to apologize Thursday and tried to turn the tables on his Liberal critics after it was revealed tags had been embedded in his YouTube videos designed to reach out to those in the "male supremacy" movement.

OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada will take time to weigh arguments about the constitutionality of a refugee agreement between Ottawa and Washington after hearing a challenge from claimants and human-rights advocates.

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden is pardoning people convicted under federal law of possessing marijuana — and signalling that he's willing to revisit whether cannabis should remain a controlled substance in the United States.

OTTAWA - The revelation that Canadian officials have been in frequent talks with the Taliban undercuts Ottawa's argument that humanitarian groups cannot operate in Afghanistan, constitutional lawyers say.

Joyce and Earl Burns were childhood sweethearts.

OTTAWA - The watchdog for the federal public service has ruled that Global Affairs Canada committed "gross mismanagement" in the way it dealt with complaints about a senior employee accused of throwing objects, mocking colleagues and even pushing and slapping someone.

MONTREAL - A boat used by firefighters during a deadly rescue mission last year in the St. Lawrence River off Montreal Island was not designed to operate in rapids, Quebec’s workplace health and safety board said Thursday.

OTTAWA - The federal government has more than doubled the amount of donations it will match to help the people of Pakistan recover from disastrous flooding.

SAN FRANCISCO - British Columbia Premier John Horgan has signed a new climate pact with the governors of Washington, Oregon and California that includes investments in cross-border climate infrastructure like electric vehicle charging stations.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Armed Forces is too often the first choice when it comes to responding to natural disasters like hurricanes, Canada's top military commander said Thursday.

OTTAWA - MPs unanimously passed legislation today to temporarily double GST rebates to help low- and modest-income Canadians, and the bill will now be sent to the Senate.

OTTAWA - Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre has ordered an immediate halt to all non-essential activities in favour of boosting military recruitment and retention, as the Canadian Armed Forces faces an unprecedented personnel crisis.

VANCOUVER - Pharmacists in British Columbia are welcoming an expansion of their powers to prescribe drugs and give vaccines, but they also say that how the changes are implemented will matter.

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Oct. 6 ...

MONTREAL - Quebecers made history Monday when they elected a record number of women to the province's legislature, but political observers say more is needed to ensure equality between men and women in politics.

MONTREAL - Hockey Quebec says it has lost confidence in Hockey Canada and will not transfer funds to the national organization, while a well-known Canadian brand extended its sponsorship boycott.

OTTAWA - Nearly all Conservative members of Parliament voted for a bill they say would protect the conscience rights of health professionals when it comes to medical assistance in dying.

VANCOUVER - An expert in bear behaviour says an attack on a family in northeastern British Columbia that left two women with critical injuries appears to have been a rare example of a "predaceous" attack by a black bear.

YELLOWKNIFE - The Northwest Territories government and the union representing health-care workers in the territory have reached a temporary agreement aimed at addressing labour shortages.

OTTAWA - The federal government has tabled a long-awaited plan in the House of Commons to improve access to diabetes treatment and prevention in Canada, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced Wednesday.

OTTAWA - Refugee and human-rights advocates are telling the Supreme Court of Canada that a binational pact "contracts out" Canada's international obligations to refugee claimants to the United States, without proper followup to ensure Washington is doing the job.

MONTREAL - Communication problems and a misunderstanding were at the heart of the decision to cancel this year's Montreal's Pride parade hours before it was scheduled to begin, according to a newly released report.

OTTAWA - The new sport integrity commissioner needs to do a wider inquiry digging into a toxic culture of abuse in Canadian sporting organizations, federal Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge said Wednesday.

OTTAWA - Justice Minister David Lametti said Canada still hasn't sorted out how to solve an issue other countries fixed months ago, leaving Canadian humanitarian groups unable to help desperate Afghans.

OTTAWA - The federal government is asking a judge to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed by Black civil servants, arguing the matter is better pursued in another jurisdiction as a labour grievance.

WASHINGTON - A prominent New York senator is joining the ranks of American lawmakers who want the White House to end vaccination rules at the Canada-U.S. land border.

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is trying to help broker a plan to get Haiti on its feet after a gas shortage that has sparked violence, as Latin American countries focus on growing inequality.

Gasoline prices in Canada continue to creep higher ahead of the Thanksgiving long weekend.