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Canadian commander explains how troops are responding to Iraq escalation

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The rocket attacks had been going on for months, as armed groups hostile to the United States made a nuisance of themselves, trying to signal to international coalition troops they were not welcome in Iraq.

Then the spiral began.

The U.S. killed Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general responsible for supporting the militias behind the rocket attacks, and Tehran responded by launching more than a dozen missiles into Iraq, striking a military base where Canadian troops were stationed.

In a phone call Saturday with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the Jan. 8 attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that he said had “put the lives of Canadians at risk in Erbil, Iraq.”

The incident changed the risks to Canadians troops in Iraq. Instead of quietly backing militia groups targeting military facilities used by the U.S., Iran had openly entered the conflict.

 

“Indirect fire on coalition bases has been happening for months,” the commander of Canada’s mission, Brigadier-General Michel-Henri St-Louis, told Global News in Kuwait on Sunday.

“But in the period we’re talking about, in the last 10 days, I think it’s important to remind ourselves that there has been a significant shift.”

 

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“The attacks of Iran into Iraq are a point-in-time of which there has been a movement in what the threat is, and that is significant and that is what we’re adapting to.”

Global News was not permitted to visit the Kuwaiti airbase where the Canadian Forces are stationed. Instead, Brig.-Gen. St- Louis met a reporter at the Canadian ambassador’s residence in Kuwait City.

In the interview, he described how the Canadian Forces were responding to the heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran. He also explained why Canada’s unfinished mission needs to resume.

Until it does, however, the Canadian military’s efforts to train and build up the Iraqi security forces so they can secure the country, particularly from the resurgence of the Islamic State, have halted.

The training provided both through Operation Impact, Canada’s contribution to the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve, and the NATO Mission in Iraq, are on an “operational pause.”

The troops are hunkered.

“Those two campaigns have put the training effort on pause as we calibrate ourselves, survey the force protection measures and are ready to react to whatever threat has increased in the last days,” said St-Louis, the commander of Joint Task Force Impact.

He would not disclose how many Canadian soldiers had been moved to Kuwait from Iraq, only that “troops have been repositioned in accordance to our reading of the threat in order to ensure the safety of our force.”

 

Kuwait is the headquarters of Canada’s mission in Iraq, which now also stretches into Jordan and Lebanon. From there, the Canadian Forces have staged the evolving fight against ISIS that began in 2014.

Initially, Canada participated in airstrikes against ISIS, then contributed helicopters and a Hercules transport plane, and later a hospital.

Since the territorial defeat of ISIS, first in northwest Iraq and then last year in northeast Syria, Canada has been focused on helping strengthen the Iraqi security forces.

The Canadians have been training the Iraqis to clear roads of improvised explosive devices in areas formerly held by ISIS, while teaching explosive ordinance disposal and communications.

To prevent the spillover of ISIS into neighboring countries, they have also been teaching winter warfare in Lebanon, and mentoring Jordan’s first all-female infantry platoon.

But as St-Louis put it, the region is “complex and volatile.”



Guards throw stun grenades at protesters after they storm U.S. embassy in Baghdad

On Dec. 27, a rocket attack on the K-1 airbase in Kirkuk killed an American contractor working as a linguist. Four U.S. troops and two members of the Iraqi security forces were injured.

The U.S. hit back hard, striking the Iranian-supported Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria, killing more than two dozen fighters and prompting a siege at the American embassy in Baghdad.

Next came the fateful U.S. drone strike on a vehicle carrying the Kataib Hezbollah leader and his Iranian benefactor Soleimani, whose clandestine Quds Force supports armed factions throughout the Middle East.

Furious over Soleimani’s killing, Iran began threatening retaliation, prompting Canada and other coalition countries to announce they would be pulling some of their troops out of Iraq to Kuwait.

“Throughout all that period, we were constantly adjusting our force posture, we were constantly assessing the threat, and making the decisions that were required to ensure the safety of the force,” St-Louis explained.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded early on Jan. 8, pausing Soleimani’s funeral to launch Operation Martyr Soleimani. More than a dozen missiles were fired at two military bases in Iraq.

Canadian military personnel were at one of them.

“The soldiers sought shelter and resumed the mission afterwards,” Brig.-Gen. St-Louis said.

While Iran claimed to have killed 80 and wounded 200, there were no casualties, leading to a back-up narrative that the attack was only a display of the accuracy of Iran’s missile program.

“Iran decided to conduct ballistic strikes into Iraq,” St-Louis said. “We were able to adopt the force protection posture that was required. And at the end of the day, we ensured the safety of our troops with no coalition or Canadians that were injured.”

He would not say whether the Canadian Forces were warned in advance about the missile strikes, saying that “as we are still in this complex and dangerous environment, I prefer not to clearly state what we knew, what we didn’t know.”

“I will just say that we adopted the force protection measures.”

But while Canada’s troops survived the Iranian missile barrage, hours later Iran launched another missile, this time at a passenger plane carrying 176, including 57 Canadians. None survived.

After denying for days the plane was downed by a missile, Iran finally confessed, blaming human error. “We all are grieving for those Canadians that we lost in that night,” the Brigadier-General said.

Despite political pressures in Iraq to expel the U.S. military in response to Soleimani’s killing, St-Louis said the Iraqis he deals with want the Canadians to carry on their mission.

“I think it’s important because the Iraqis continue to signify, at least at the military level to us, that they want us here,” he said.

When they could resume remains unclear.

“We’re closely coordinating with our allies in the coalition. We are in constant contact with the Iraqi security force to see what their read of the situation is. We constantly reassess the threat,” he said.

“And we are taking it one day at a time.”

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From transmission to symptoms, what to know about avian flu after B.C. case

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A B.C. teen has a suspected case of H5N1 avian flu — the first known human to acquire the virusin Canada.

The provincial government said on the weekend that B.C.’s chief veterinarian and public health teamsare still investigating the source of exposure, but that it’s “very likely” an animal or bird.

Human-to-human transmission is very rare, but as cases among animals rise, many experts are worried the virus could develop that ability.

The teen was being treated at BC Children’s Hospital on Saturday. The provincial health officer said there were no updates on the patient Monday.

“I’m very concerned, obviously, for the young person who was infected,” said Dr. Matthew Miller, director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

Miller, who is also the co-director of the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub, said there have been several people infected with H5N1 in the U.S.,and almost all were livestock workers.

In an email to The Canadian Press on Monday afternoon, the Public Health Agency of Canada said “based on current evidence in Canada, the risk to the general public remains low at this time.”

WHAT IS H5N1?

H5N1 is a subtype of influenza A virus that has mainly affected birds, so it’s also called “bird flu” or “avian flu.” The H5N1 flu that has been circulating widely among birds and cattle this year is one of the avian flu strains known as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) because it causes severe illness in birds, including poultry.

According to the World Health Organization, H5N1 has been circulating widely among wild birds and poultry for more than two decades. The WHO became increasingly concerned and called for more disease surveillance in Feb. 2023 after worldwide reports of the virus spilling over into mammals.

HOW COMMON IS INFECTION IN HUMANS?

H5N1 infections in humans are rare and “primarily acquired through direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated environments,” the WHO’s website says.

Prior to the teen in B.C., Canada had one human case of H5N1 in 2014 and it was “travel-related,” according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

As of Nov. 8, there have been 46 confirmed human cases of H5N1 in the U.S. this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. There is an ongoing outbreak among dairy cattle, “sporadic” outbreaks in poultry farms and “widespread” cases in wild birds, the CDC website says.

There has been no sign of human-to-human transmission in any of the U.S. cases.

But infectious disease and public health experts are worried that the more H5N1 spreads between different types of animals, the bigger the chance it can mutateand spread more easily between humans.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF H5N1?

Although H5N1 causes symptoms similar to seasonal flu, such as cough, fever, shortness of breath, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, runny nose and fatigue, the strain also has key features that can cause other symptoms.

Unlike seasonal flu, most of the people infected in the U.S. have had conjunctivitis, or “pink-eye,” said Miller.

One reason for that is likely that many have been dairy cattle workers.

“At these milking operations, it’s easy to get contamination on your hands and rub your eyes. We touch our face like all the time without even knowing it,” he said.

“Also, those operations can produce droplets or aerosols, both during milking and during cleaning that can get into the eye relatively easily.”

But the other reason for the conjunctivitis seen in H5N1 cases is that the strain binds to receptors in the eye, Miller said.

While seasonal flu binds to receptors in the upper respiratory tract, H5N1 also binds to receptors in the lower respiratory tract, he said.

“That’s a concern … because if the virus makes its way down there, those lower respiratory infections tend to be a lot more severe. They tend to lead to more severe outcomes, like pneumonias for example, that can cause respiratory distress,” Miller said.

WILL THE FLU VACCINE PROTECT AGAINST H5N1?

We don’t know “with any degree of certainty,” whether the seasonal flu vaccine could help prevent infection with H5N1, said Miller.

Although there’s no data yet, it’s quite possible that it could help prevent more severe disease once a person is infected, he said.

That’s because the seasonal flu vaccine contains a component of H1N1 virus, which “is relatively closely related to H5N1.”

“So the immunity that might help protect people against H5N1 is almost certainly conferred by either prior infection with or prior vaccination against H1N1 viruses that circulate in people,” Miller said.

HOW ELSE CAN I PROTECT MYSELF?

The Public Health Agency of Canada said as a general precaution, people shouldn’t handle live or dead wild birds or other wild animals, and keep pets away from sick or dead animals.

Those who work with animals or in animal-contaminated places should take personal protective measures, the agency said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.



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Wisconsin Supreme Court grapples with whether state’s 175-year-old abortion ban is valid

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservative prosecutor’s attorney struggled Monday to persuade the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reactivate the state’s 175-year-old abortion ban, drawing a tongue-lashing from two of the court’s liberal justices during oral arguments.

Sheboygan County’s Republican district attorney, Joel Urmanski, has asked the high court to overturn a Dane County judge’s ruling last year that invalidated the ban. A ruling isn’t expected for weeks but abortion advocates almost certainly will win the case given that liberal justices control the court. One of them, Janet Protasiewicz, remarked on the campaign trail that she supports abortion rights.

Monday’s two-hour session amounted to little more than political theater. Liberal Justice Rebecca Dallet told Urmanski’s attorney, Matthew Thome, that the ban was passed in 1849 by white men who held all the power and that he was ignoring everything that has happened since. Jill Karofsky, another liberal justice, pointed out that the ban provides no exceptions for rape or incest and that reactivation could result in doctors withholding medical care. She told Thome that he was essentially asking the court to sign a “death warrant” for women and children in Wisconsin.

“This is the world gone mad,” Karofsky said.

The ban stood until 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide nullified it. Legislators never repealed the ban, however, and conservatives have argued the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe two years ago reactivated it.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit challenging the law in 2022. He argued that a 1985 Wisconsin law that prohibits abortion after a fetus reaches the point where it can survive outside the womb supersedes the ban. Some babies can survive with medical help after 21 weeks of gestation.

Urmanski contends that the ban was never repealed and that it can co-exist with the 1985 law because that law didn’t legalize abortion at any point. Other modern-day abortion restrictions also don’t legalize the practice, he argues.

Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper ruled last year that the ban outlaws feticide — which she defined as the killing of a fetus without the mother’s consent — but not consensual abortions. The ruling emboldened Planned Parenthood to resume offering abortions in Wisconsin after halting procedures after Roe was overturned.

Urmanski asked the state Supreme Court in February to overturn Schlipper’s ruling without waiting for a lower appellate decision.

Thome told the justices on Monday that he wasn’t arguing about the implications of reactivating the ban. He maintained that the legal theory that new laws implicitly repeal old ones is shaky. He also contended that the ban and the newer abortion restrictions can overlap just like laws establishing different penalties for the same crime. A ruling that the 1985 law effectively repealed the ban would be “anti-democratic,” Thome added.

“It’s a statute this Legislature has not repealed and you’re saying, no, you actually repealed it,” he said.

Dallet shot back that disregarding laws passed over the last 40 years to go back to 1849 would be undemocratic.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin filed a separate lawsuit in February asking the state Supreme Court to rule directly on whether a constitutional right to abortion exists in the state. The justices have agreed to take the case but haven’t scheduled oral arguments yet.

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This story has been updated to correct the Sheboygan County district attorney’s first name to Joel.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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When to catch the last supermoon of the year

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Better catch this week’s supermoon. It will be a while until the next one.

This will be the year’s fourth and final supermoon, looking bigger and brighter than usual as it comes within about 225,000 miles (361,867 kilometers) of Earth on Thursday. It won’t reach its full lunar phase until Friday.

The supermoon rises after the peak of the Taurid meteor shower and before the Leonids are most active.

Last month’s supermoon was 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) closer, making it the year’s closest. The series started in August.

In 2025, expect three supermoons beginning in October.

What makes a moon so super?

More a popular term than a scientific one, a supermoon occurs when a full lunar phase syncs up with an especially close swing around Earth. This usually happens only three or four times a year and consecutively, given the moon’s constantly shifting, oval-shaped orbit.

A supermoon obviously isn’t bigger, but it can appear that way, although scientists say the difference can be barely perceptible.

How do supermoons compare?

This year features a quartet of supermoons.

The one in August was 224,917 miles (361,970 kilometers) away. September’s was 222,131 miles (357,486 kilometers) away. A partial lunar eclipse also unfolded that night, visible in much of the Americas, Africa and Europe as Earth’s shadow fell on the moon, resembling a small bite.

October’s supermoon was the year’s closest at 222,055 miles (357,364 kilometers) from Earth. This month’s supermoon will make its closest approach on Thursday with the full lunar phase the next day.

What’s in it for me?

Scientists point out that only the keenest observers can discern the subtle differences. It’s easier to detect the change in brightness — a supermoon can be 30% brighter than average.

With the U.S. and other countries ramping up lunar exploration with landers and eventually astronauts, the moon beckons brighter than ever.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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