As Hurricane Milton makes landfall, more than 1.6 million customers are left without power in Florida
The Category 2 storm has left 1.6 million homes and businesses without power in Florida as Milton pummels through the state.
France has recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic and COVID-19 hospitalizations have doubled over the past month, as the fast-spreading Omicron variant complicates the French government's efforts to stave off a new lockdown.
More than one in 100 people in the Paris region have tested positive in the past week, according to the regional health service. Most new infections are linked to the Omicron variant, which government experts predict will be dominant in France in the coming days. Omicron is already dominant in Britain, right across the Channel.
Meanwhile a surge in Delta variant infections in recent months is pushing up hospital admissions in France, and put ICUs under strain again over the Christmas holidays. More than 1,000 people in France with the virus died over the past week, bringing the country's overall death toll to more than 122,000.
President Emmanuel Macron's government is holding emergency meetings Monday to discuss the next steps in tackling the virus. Some scientists and educators have urged delaying the post-holiday return to school, or suggested re-imposing a curfew.
But France's education minister says schools should open as usual on Jan. 3, and other government officials are working to avoid measures that would hammer the country's economic recovery.
Instead the French government is hoping that stepped-up vaccinations will be enough. The government is pushing a draft law that would require vaccination to enter all restaurants and many public venues, instead of the current health pass system which allows people to produce a negative test or proof of recovery if they're not vaccinated.
In neighbouring Belgium, the government imposed new measures starting Sunday that ordered cultural venues like movie theatres and concert halls to close.
Some venues defied the ban, and thousands of performers, event organizers and others demonstrated Sunday in Brussels against the decision, carrying signs reading "The Show Must Go On" or "No Culture No Future." They accuse the Belgian government of double standards because it allowed Christmas markets, with their boisterous crowds and mulled wine drinking, to stay open, along with restaurants and bars.
Even the scientific committee advising the Belgian government had not asked for the culture industry closures, leaving virologist Marc Van Ranst to ponder that, in Belgium, "gluhwein beat culture."
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the Dutch government has gone farther than most European countries and shut down all nonessential stores, restaurants and bars and extended the school holidays in a partial new lockdown.
In Britain, where the Omicron variant has been dominant for days, government requirements have been largely voluntary and milder than those on the continent, but the Conservative government said it could impose new restrictions after Christmas. The U.K. hit a new high of 122,186 daily infections on Friday, but did not report figures for Christmas.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland imposed new restrictions Sunday on socializing, mainly limiting the size of gatherings, moves that the restaurant, pub and nightclub industries have described as economically devastating.
The Category 2 storm has left 1.6 million homes and businesses without power in Florida as Milton pummels through the state.
A West Vancouver company has been ordered to repay a homebuyer's $1-million deposit after it failed to complete construction on the property in time.
During the campaign, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad has repeatedly said people are "dying on the streets" in the province 鈥 and on Tuesday he claimed to have witnessed that very thing in downtown Vancouver while he was on his way to the leaders' debate.
Sheriff's deputies in Washington's Kitsap County frequently get calls about animals -- loose livestock, problem dogs. But the 911 call they received recently from a woman being hounded by dozens of raccoons swarming her home near Poulsbo stood out.
Dozens of cars were pulled out of the Detroit River in west Windsor on Tuesday, causing many questions for Windsorites.
President Joe Biden warned on Wednesday that Hurricane Milton carried incredible destructiveness and urged people to take safe shelter while condemning misinformation about the storm as un-American.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are being recalled in Canada due to a steering-related issue that could increase a driver's risk of crash.
The leader of the Bloc Quebecois says his party 'might play a role' in helping the Liberals get House of Commons business rolling again 鈥 after days of Conservative-led debate on a privilege matter 鈥 but that his assistance would come at a cost.
A Turkish Airlines jetliner headed from Seattle to Istanbul made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after the captain died on board, an airline official said.
Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.
Saskatchewan鈥檚 Jessica Campbell has made hockey history, becoming the first ever female assistant coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Have you ever seen videos of hovercrafts online or on TV and thought, 'Wow, I wish I could ride one of those.' One Alberta man did, and then built his own.
A B.C. couple is getting desperate 鈥 and creative 鈥 in their search for their missing dog.
Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.
A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.
Bernie Hicks, known as the 鈥楤atman of Amherst,鈥 always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
Bubi鈥檚 Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.