Canada

The western province of British Columbia was still under a state of emergency, as fast-moving wildfires threatened homes in the city of West Kelowna.

Most residents of Yellowknife, a city farther north, had evacuated because of another dangerous blaze.

New Zealand sent 92 firefighters from Fire and Emergency, the Department of Conservation and forestry companies to help fight wildfires in Canada this year.

This fourth group, named Delta, was the last deployment as Canada had not made any new requests for help.

Securing two wins against the visitors is a confidence booster for the Tonga rugby team preparing to fly off to the Rugby World Cup in France next month.

The 'Ikale Tahi scored a total of six tries against Canada's two in front of around 4,000 fans.

With the game serving as the Tongans' last warm up match before jetting off to France, head coach Toutai Kefu used players he was interested to see in the game line-up, including a few local players who were given the chance to show their worth.

Kefu said “Come down for the game, our second test versus Canada. So come down please and support the Ikale Tahi as they gear up for the Rugby World Cup.”

Kefu has also named seven debutants in his line- up for the game.

The debutants are Sione Tupou, John Ika, Paula Latu, Vutulongo Puloka, Christopher Hala’ufia, Feleti Inoke and Tasi Feke.

Tonga will be taking on Canada at 3pm (local time) this afternoon.

IKALE TAHI SQUAD:

Forwards:

It was a much improved performance from the home side – who finished winless and at the bottom of the table during the recent Pacific Nations Cup – as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored their opponents by four tries to none.

Hard running number eight Sione Vailanu led the way with a brace of five-pointers for the Ikale Tahi while Sam Moli (hooker) and Sonatane Takulua (captain and scrum-half) also crossed the whitewash.

Takulua also succeeded with four conversions which meant he finished with a 13-point haul.

In front of a febrile crowd at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Raso struck in the ninth minute with a low, right-footed shot and doubled down in the 39th from a goalmouth scramble as unused captain Sam Kerr cheered by the touchline.

Fowler made sure of the win with a deft touch in the 58th minute that pinged in off the right post, before stand-in skipper Steph Catley slotted a penalty in stoppage time as a relieved nation celebrated the co-hosts' advance.

Australia had needed three points from the match to advance after their shock 3-2 defeat by Nigeria.

Teresa Abelleira opened the scoring in the ninth minute before Hermoso and Redondo converted their respective braces for Spain.

Hermoso scored in the 13th and 70th minutes, and Redondo tallied in the 69th and 85th minutes.

Misa Rodriguez made two saves for Spain, who will battle Japan, also with two wins, on Monday for the top spot in Group C.

Eunice Sakala finished with eight saves for Zambia, who will clash with Costa Rica on Monday for third place.

Japan 2, Costa Rica 0

Maka-I-Moana Eugene Mumui Halafihi, 30, was sentenced in North Vancouver Provincial Court after pleading guilty to two charges of possessing child pornography reports Kaniva News.

In handing down his sentence, Judge Joseph Galati outlined how on 20 April 2020, Halafihi arranged to meet another man he’d met online for the purpose of using crystal methamphetamine and watching pornography together while taking part in sexual activities.

During their encounter, Halafihi accessed 20 to 30 digital file folders on his computer, each containing a number of short videos.

The province asked for the criminal code exemption after overdoses claimed more than two thousand lives in BC last year.

This time-limited three-year trial is the first of its kind in Canada.

Adults will be allowed to possess a combined total of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.

The latest new cases were reported in France, Italy and Sweden.

It follows the confirmation of cases in the US, Spain and Portugal on Wednesday, as well as the investigation of 13 suspected cases in Canada.

Monkeypox is most common in remote parts of Central and West Africa.

Cases of the disease outside of the region are often linked to travel to the area.

Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which is usually mild and from which most people recover in a few weeks, according to the UK's National Health Service.

Truckers rallying against Canada's Covid vaccine rules had blocked the Ambassador Bridge on Monday night, forcing vehicles to take long detours.

The bridge over the Detroit River is a vital trade link between it and the US.

More than 40,000 people and $323m (£238m) worth of goods cross it daily.

According to police in Michigan and Windsor, protesters had forced authorities to close it shortly before 9 PM on Monday - just hours after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had accused the demonstrators of attempting to "blockade our economy".