FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta – Canada’s Prime Minister landed in Fort McMurray on Friday and boarded a military helicopter to assess the damage caused by a raging wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than 88,000 people in the country’s oil sands capital.
Justin Trudeau arrived almost two weeks after a massive wildfire ignited, tearing through the Alberta town and surrounding areas, causing several oil sands operations to shut down.
Alberta officials say they will have a plan within two weeks for getting residents back into their homes.
Trudeau was scheduled to tour one of the city’s damaged neighborhoods and visit with first responders and volunteers. He planned to meet with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley later in the day.
PARIS – A French newspaper says France changed its military strategy last year and started airstrikes in Syria because of concerns months before the attacks on Paris that ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud was plotting to target a concert and take hostages.
The report in Friday’s Le Parisien, citing French and Belgian intelligence material and police recordings, lists repeated occasions when authorities allegedly failed to catch Abaaoud, even though he had been considered a major threat by several European intelligence services before the Nov. 13 attacks.
Abaaoud was killed in a police raid five days after the attack by Islamic State suicide bombers. Most of the 130 killed were hostages in the Bataclan concert hall.
Associated Press
