Beyond Local

OTTAWA — More than 36,000 people have signed a petition calling on the federal Liberals to live up to their election promise to ban the live export of horses for slaughter.

YASENYTSIA-ZAMKOVA, Ukraine — Olena Boiko recalls being in a state of shock when nurses began to wheel her on a gurney toward the basement bomb shelter while she was in labour to give birth to her first child.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine's capital city was eerily quiet Friday as people in Kyiv marked the start of the second year of war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. announced a new round of sanctions on Russian firms, banks, manufacturers and people Friday, aiming them at entities that helped Russia evade sanctions earlier in the year-old war against Ukraine.

MONTREAL — The family of a Guatemalan farm worker crushed to death trying to repair a flat tire on his employer’s car says they are disappointed Quebec’s labour tribunal denied them compensation.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — China called for a cease-fire and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on Friday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautiously welcomed Beijing’s involvement -- but said success would depend on actions not words.

LAVAL, Que. — A Quebec man accused of killing two young children when the city bus he was driving slammed into a Montreal-area daycare has been judged fit to stand trial, and his lawyer on Friday requested that his client also be evaluated for criminal responsibility.

VEGREVILLE, Alta. — The Alberta government is pledging more than $27 million in its upcoming budget to help Ukrainians resettle in the province one year after Russia invaded the eastern European country.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s leader pledged Friday to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians marked the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion that upended their lives and Europe's security.

EDMONTON — Alberta's auditor general says the province’s continuing-care system struggled desperately to cope in the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic mainly due to crippling staff shortages.