Canada watching Iraq and cannabis edibles; In The News for Jan. 6

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This article was published 05/01/2020 (1819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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 Jan. 6.

What we are watching in Canada …

A spokesman for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada is closely monitoring developments after Iraq’s parliament called for the expulsion of foreign troops from the country.

But Sajjan’s press secretary, Todd Lane, would not say whether contingency plans are in the works for getting Canadian military personnel out of Iraq should the situation there deteriorate further.

Canada has 250 military members working with the NATO training mission as well as dozens of special forces troops who’ve been working in the northern part of the country with Iraqi security forces.

Iraqi lawmakers approved a resolution Sunday asking the Iraqi government to end an agreement under which American and allied forces have been in the country for more than four years to help fight the Islamic State group, also known as Daesh.

The bill is nonbinding and subject to approval by the Iraqi government but has the backing of the outgoing prime minister.

The Canadian-led NATO training mission in Iraq has been temporarily suspended in the wake of the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

A U.S. airstrike Friday killed Soleimani and a number of top Iraqi officials at the Baghdad airport.

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Also this …

A public-health doctor is warning that people who’ve never smoked marijuana could be at the highest risk of overdosing on cannabis edibles, which are soon expected to be on store shelves across the country.

Doctor Lawrence Loh, in the School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, says anyone who’s expecting a quick high could overdose on products such as cookies and brownies because food takes time for the body to absorb compared with smoking.

He says that means people could eat more than the marked dose of a product and end up with a racing heart, panic attacks and anxiety that sends them to the emergency room.

Loh has co-authored a commentary published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal about the health risks of edibles, which Health Canada recommends should be consumed in a 10-milligram dose of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Regulations governing edibles, beverages, vapes and topical forms of cannabis came into effect last October, a year after Canada legalized fresh or dried bud, oil, plants and seeds.

Most provinces have started selling cannabis edibles, with retail sales in Ontario starting today before products are available online next week.

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ICYMI (in case you missed it) …

Canada is golden again at the world junior hockey championship.

Akil Thomas scored late in the third period to cap a furious comeback and secure a 4-3 victory over Russia for the country’s 18th title at the annual under-20 tournament.

Canada earned its first medal in Europe since winning gold in 2008 when the Czech Republic last hosted. The Canadians finished a disappointing sixth on home soil last year when they were upset by Finland in the quarters.

Canada had battled adversity throughout the event, including an embarrassing 6-0 loss to Russia in the preliminary round, the national team’s worst defeat in the tournament’s 44-year history.

But the teenage roster, with the weight of a nation’s expectation on their collective shoulders, rebounded in dramatic fashion leaving their delirious fans breathless and proud.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

President Donald Trump insists that Iranian cultural sites are fair game for the U.S. military, dismissing concerns within his own administration that doing so could constitute a war crime under international law. He also warned Iraq that he would levy punishing sanctions if it expelled American troops in retaliation for a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed a top Iranian official.

Trump’s comments Sunday came amid escalating tensions in the Middle East following the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds force. Iran has vowed to retaliate and Iraq’s parliament responded by voting Sunday to oust U.S. troops based in the country.

Trump first raised the prospect of targeting Iranian cultural sites Saturday in a tweet. Speaking with reporters Sunday as he flew back to Washington from his holiday stay in Florida, he doubled down, despite international prohibitions.

“They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn’t work that way,” Trump said.

The targeted killing of Soleimani sparked outrage in the Middle East, including in Iraq, where more than 5,000 American troops are still on the ground 17 years after the U.S. invasion. Iraq’s parliament voted Sunday in favour of a nonbinding resolution calling for the expulsion of the American forces.

Meanwhile, Soleimani’s daughter, Zeinab, directly threatened an attack on the U.S. military in the Mideast while speaking Monday to a crowd of hundreds of thousands of mourners in Tehran that stretched as far as the eye could see.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Australia’s government says it is willing to pay “whatever it takes” to help communities recover from devastating wildfires.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the government is committing an extra 2 billion Australian dollars (US$1.4 billion) toward the recovery effort in addition to the sums already committed.

Rain and cooler temperatures brought some measure of relief to communities battling wildfires, however the bigger blazes continued to rage out of control.

Morrison said the military was attempting to get food, fuel and water to burned-out communities, and engineers were working to reopen roads and resupply evacuation centres.

And teams had arrived at an island wildlife refuge to help euthanize injured livestock and wild animals.

The fires have killed 24 people and tens of thousands of animals as they scorched millions of hectares, gutting more than 2,000 homes.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Jan. 6, 2020.