BEIRUT, Lebanon — American and Syrian warplanes screamed over the Syrian city of Raqqa in separate raids this week, ostensibly against the same target, the Islamic State militants in control there.

In the first raid, on Sunday, United States warplanes hit an Islamic State building, with no report of civilian casualties. On Tuesday, Syrian jets struck 10 times, killing scores of civilians, according to residents and Islamic State videos.

Canada's process to protect endangered species is failing, study finds

The Canadian government may be shirking its legal responsibility to protect endangered plants and wildlife, a new study suggests.

Scientists found that 86 per cent of legally protected species in Canada either maintain the same level of risk or have deteriorated over time.

Warming World Spells Trouble for Growing and Aging Populations

LONDON—Life is about to become more hazardous for more people in more places. As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels grow and the planet inexorably warms, there will be more frequent and more damaging floods, droughts and heat waves than ever before.

And since human numbers continue to soar, and the average age of many populations starts to increase, there will be more people, and a greater proportion will be increasingly vulnerable to climate extremes.

A Year After Congressional Testimony, Drone Strike Victims Still Searching for Justice

Drone strikes launched on October 11 of this year in Pakistan's Tirah Valley in the Khyber region and in Shawal in the North Waziristan region brought the total number of strikes in Pakistan to 400 since June 2004. The CIA's covert drone program regularly strikes parts of Yemen and Somalia as well.

In addition, a US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against IS fighters since the US military first launched its own airstrikes in Iraq in August. An increased emphasis on drone warfare to combat IS forces has longtime critics of the CIA's covert drone program, especially as it's used in countries like Pakistan and Yemen, on guard.

"The war hawks never met a conflict, they never met a problem, they didn't think could be solved by invasion, occupying or drones, and we're going to see more of that, unfortunately," says filmmaker Robert Greenwald, who directed Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars, in an interview. "It's almost a knee-jerk reaction."

Leighton Hay, wrongfully convicted of murder in 2002, walks free

The charges against Leighton Hay, a Toronto man convicted of an execution-style murder in 2002, were withdrawn this morning and he walked out of court a free man after more than 12 years in prison.

The Crown said it is no longer in the public interest to pursue the case.

Hay, 19 at the time, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the July 2002 killing of 51-year-old Colin Moore. But he appealed based on forensic testing on hairs found in his apartment.

Fine print on Ottawa's $200-million veterans fund: It'll take 50 years to pay

The federal Conservative government has trumpeted a new commitment of $200-million to help veterans deal with their mental-health issues, but it has been less vocal about the fact that the money will be paid out over the next half a century.

Veterans advocates and opposition politicians accuse the government of deliberately misleading Canadians about the scope of the new investment, which was announced just before the release of a report critical of its treatment of former military personnel.

Lawbreaking protesters outmatched by institutional lawlessness

Barack Obama looked at his most clueless, responding to the riots and rage in Ferguson, Missouri. He hasn't seemed so callow since the BP oil spill. Like he just wished it was over and could get on to the delights of his post-presidency. Or back to immigration reform and stalling that damn pipeline.

Using his slow voice, as if he's explaining something so basic that it's hard to understand, he declared that the U.S. is a "nation built on the rule of law" and added next day, he has "no sympathy" for those who go violent. The problem with this, at least for those in the streets, is the U.S. is not a nation of laws and resorts to official violence and/or illegality routinely.

Want to make amends with vets? Start by firing Fantino

There are bullying, disingenuous, condescending windbags … and then there’s Julian Fantino.

This is the minister who yelled at octogenarian veterans in front of the cameras, offered a fake apology for his rudeness after standing them up — and then insulted them again the next day by calling them union dupes. (Still better than a fake apology.)

This is the minister who manfully ran away from the wife of a suffering veteran rather than deal with her SOS. Equipped with the personality of a bar bouncer on a short fuse, Fantino has bellyflopped in every job Stephen Harper has given him. He is the last person who should be dealing with war-damaged veterans. A cattle prod — not the English language — is his preferred instrument of persuasion. Canadian veterans don’t take kindly to cattle prods.

Maneuver to derail Alberta gay-straight alliance bill shows Prentice Tories will tolerate bullying for political gain

By choosing yesterday to put the right of citizens to use their religious beliefs as an excuse for bigotry on the same level as the right of citizens not to be victims of bigotry, Alberta Premier Jim Prentice and his Progressive Conservative Government chose to tolerate, if not encourage, anti-gay bullying in schools.

Sorry, but that's just the way it is.

No matter what's in Prentice's promised amendments to the Education Act, the Human Rights Act and the Alberta Bill of Rights -- introduced in an unholy rush yesterday to derail Edmonton-Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman's snowballing private member's bill that would have forced schools to permit students to organize gay-straight alliances -- there just ain't no way to square this circle.

Why Canada Shouldn't Open Up Its Dairy Market To New Zealand

New Zealand's high commissioner to Canada, Simon Tucker, was quoted recently as saying that he has been talking to Canadian dairy farmers, "and you do find a lot of them privately will talk that they recognize that change is necessary and inevitable." The change that he implies Canadian dairy farmers want is a fundamental shift in this country's system of supply management that would open up Canada's dairy markets to NZ milk.