Israel's Netanyahu vows to destroy Hamas tunnels 'with or without a ceasefire'

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel will destroy the Hamas tunnel network in the Gaza Strip "with or without a ceasefire," as the military called up another 16,000 reservists to pursue its campaign in the densely populated territory.

A Palestinian firefighter participates in efforts to put out a fire from the wreckage of a house, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City July 31. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Netanyahu's vow came as international efforts to end the 23-day-old conflict seemed to sputter despite concern over the mounting death toll, with more than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 50 Israelis, almost all of them soldiers, killed since July 8.

"We have neutralized dozens of terror tunnels and we are committed to complete this mission, with or without a cease-fire," Netanyahu said. "Therefore I will not agree to any offer that does not allow the military to complete this important mission for the security of the people of Israel."

An initial Israeli aerial campaign against Hamas was widened into a ground offensive on July 17. Since then, the campaign has concentrated on destroying more than 30 cross-border tunnels that militants have constructed to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.

Israel says most of the 32 tunnels it has uncovered have now been demolished and that getting rid of the remainder will take no more than a few days.

The new call-up orders to boost the number of reserves taking part in the offensive follow another day of intensive fighting, in which 116 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were killed.

An Israeli soldier carries a 120 mm mortar shell outside the central Gaza Strip on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, says he will not accept any ceasefire that stops Israel from completing destroying militant infiltration tunnels. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

It also coincides with stalled diplomatic efforts to end the war, which has already claimed more than 1,360 Palestinian lives — most of them civilians — and reduced entire Gaza neighbourhoods to rubble.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli defence official said the purpose of the latest call-up was to provide relief for troops currently on the Gaza firing line. However, Israeli officials have also said they do not rule out broadening operations in the coming days.

Fifty-six Israeli soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side have died in the campaign, as Palestinians have fired hundreds of rockets at Israel — some reaching major cities — and carried out attacks inside Israel through tunnels beneath the heavily guarded frontier.

Israel has now called up a total of 86,000 reserves during the Gaza conflict, which it launched on July 8 to try to end rocket fire from Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza.

The UN's top human rights official, meanwhile, is accusing Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes in the latest Gaza war.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Thursday said that by placing and firing rockets within heavily populated areas both sides are committing "a violation of international humanitarian law, therefore a war crime."

Pillay also told reporters in Geneva that she sees "a recurrence of the very acts" from the 2009 Gaza war in which the UN concluded Israel deliberately targeted civilians and might have committed war crimes, along with Hamas.

Wednesday marked a second day of particularly heavy Israeli air and artillery attacks, at a time when Egyptian ceasefire efforts appeared to have stalled. Israeli media said late Wednesday that Israel's security cabinet decided to press forward with the operation.

Egyptian officials, meanwhile, met with an Israeli envoy about Israel's conditions for a ceasefire, including disarming Hamas, according to a high-ranking Egyptian security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the delicate diplomatic efforts.

Hamas has said it will only halt fire once it receives guarantees that a seven-year-old Gaza border blockade by Israel and Egypt will be lifted.

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Pot advocate Marc Emery seeks 'political revenge' against Tories

B.C. marijuana advocate Marc Emery has spoken to CBC News in his first interview since being transferred from a U.S. federal prison to a private deportation facility in Louisiana.

Emery was sentenced to five years in prison in 2010 for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana after his Vancouver-based mail order business was busted in a joint operation involving U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies in 2005.

After his paperwork is completed and a flight is booked to Detroit, it is estimated he will return to Canada sometime between Aug. 10 and 25.

Emery spoke exclusively to CBC Radio's On The Coast and CBC News Network's News Now with Ian Hanomansing on Wednesday. You can watch part of his interview on the CBC News Network above.

Speaking to CBC Radio, Emery, who is known as the Prince of Pot, said he was frustrated but doing well, and is eager to get home and continue his campaigning work.

"The whole thing is nonsense. I should never have been turned over to the U.S. government," said Emery, a fervent Liberal supporter, already fired up for next year's general election.

"My own government betrayed me and I'm going to wreak an appropriate amount of political revenge when I get home and campaign against the Conservative government," said Emery.

"Hopefully we'll do a good job and get the young people to vote for Justin Trudeau's Liberals and get that legalization agenda enacted in Canada as soon as possible."

'Is all this rigmarole necessary to get me back to Canada?'— Marc Emery, B.C. pot advocate

Trudeau has said that by legalizing pot, the government can tax and regulate it.

Emery and his wife, Jodie, have already announced plans to hold rallies in 30 Canadian cities to try to unseat the Conservatives and stir up support for Trudeau.

However, the Liberals have so far been cool in their response to the couple's support for Trudeau.

In a brief statement to CBC News last month, Liberal spokesman Dave Sommer said the party "does not endorse the Emerys' plans in any way. They are not affiliated with the party and we haven't had any hand in planning these events at all."

The Conservatives, meanwhile, who oppose efforts to legalize pot, seem more than eager to exploit any possible connection between Emery and the Liberals.

Impatient over delay

Emery also criticized the delay in his return to Canada, accusing U.S. and Canadian officials of dragging their feet.

"I've been DNA tested, and fingerprinted, and chained and shackled every inch of the way throughout the United States prison system.

"So, the Canadian government knows who I am, they have my passport. So is all this rigmarole necessary to get me back to Canada?"

Waxing philosophical about his experience in U.S. prison, Emery said many people had expressed some degree of interest, admiration or agreement with his advocacy work.

"I've never encountered any disrespect from prison officials and nor inmates. Inmates were particularly kind to me," he said, adding that he had also joined fellow inmates in forming a band.

"I learned to play bass guitar. I was in a very wonderful band and played wonderful, wonderful music for three years, and I'd never picked up an instrument in my life prior to being in prison, so I bring home something extra."

Getting back in the pot business

Emery said he would probably get back into the marijuana seed business as soon as he could — at least in Canada.

"We sponsored hundreds of political activities and rallies all around the world with that money. Of course I don't regret it. And they've been very fruitful," said Emery.

"We've seen the results of 20 years of my activism throughout the world, and the landscape has changed considerably.

"Most of Canada and most of the United States favours legalization and this is going to come to pass. And a lot of that was due to our early work in Vancouver."

Marc Emery cries while embracing a friend before turning himself in at the courthouse in Vancouver in September 2009. Emery was sentenced to five years in prison in 2010 for conspiracy to manufacture marijuana after his Vancouver-based mail order business was busted. He has been transferred from a U.S. federal prison to a private deportation facility in Louisiana. (Andy Clark/Reuters)

Meanwhile, Emery said, the legalization of marijuana in Washington state and Colorado made his time in prison even more worthwhile.

"That was a great thing. That made my time even more worthwhile. I mean I've always expected I would end up in prison. Don't mistake that. I just thought it would probably be a Canadian prison," he said.

"But an American prison, fine by me, if that's the way you have to achieve martyrdom to achieve something you want, that's fine by me. I was pleased."

In the end, Emery said, he recognizes the irony that many people, including his U.S. prosecutor John McKay, who opposed his work years ago, are now advocates for the legalization of marijuana themselves. 

"Nonetheless, I'm the one that's triumphant. They're the ones that changed the way in their mind to come to where I'm standing, and that's all you want when you're a person like me, that's all that matters," he said.

"Not the amount of time you spent in jail, not the cost, whatever it takes, whatever you have to do in order to get your objectives obtained. And so I'm happy."

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Jet stream anomaly brings heat waves to coasts, chilly days to central Canada

Scorching temperatures are setting records this week as heat waves roll over Canada's East and West, while residents in Central Canada who are experiencing a particularly chilly summer are left longing for a few sweltering days.

The reason for the abnormal summer weather could be extreme fluctuations in the jet stream, according to weather experts.

Temperatures in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary are currently well above seasonal averages, soaring into the 30s.

A heat wave in Newfoundland lifted temperatures to an all-time high this week. The humidex value rose to a record-breaking 38.7 at the St. John's airport on Wednesday.

Thursday will likely be another record-breaker in Newfoundland, said CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon, with the temperature forecast to be close to 30 C, and a humidex near 40.

The 30-degree mark at the St. John's weather station is a rare event — it has reached that mark just nine times over the past 72 years. 

In the West, hot weather has resulted in a summer record for power consumption in Alberta. Residents are being asked to voluntarily reduce their power consumption by turning off unnecessary lights and appliances. 

A heat wave hit Edmonton this week as the city gears up for its annual Heritage Festival. 

Meanwhile, chilly days, rain and sweaters at the beach have been the norm this July in Ontario and Quebec.

A jet stream that is riding high across the North, the West, and over the East Coast — but that is dipping far down in the interior with an Arctic chill — is the culprit for this summer's unusual patterns, according to experts.  

Jet streams: Extreme and locked in place

"The jet stream, a fast band of moving air in the upper atmosphere that directs air masses, is sort of stuck in this one position," said CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe. "This is the same setup that we saw a few weeks ago — we didn't get much of a break from it — and now we are back to this blocked pattern." 

The jet stream looks more like a roller coaster than a bungee cord this summer. (CBC News)

The jet stream is riding high on the coasts, all the way up to the Northwest Territories before diving down across the Great Lakes and then riding up again to Newfoundland and Labrador, like waves in the ocean with troughs and dips.

Where it rides high, it allows warm air to move in from the south. That southern air moves over land and does not spend a lot of time over the ocean, and it's cooking.  

Where the jet stream is riding low, it brings a large swath of cold air from the Arctic abnormally far south. 

Ontario, Quebec and the eastern parts of the Prairies are experiencing a cold low, the summer expression for what was known over the winter as a polar vortex. "It's like an unwanted house guest. It won't leave. It's stuck there and it keeps the warm American air out," said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips.  

It's not so much the heat that is strange this summer, nor is the stretch of chilly days at the beach, but where it's happening that is odd.

"It's not unusual to see extremes. We often see these blocking patterns and get heat waves or cold spells, but what is notable this year is that the heat wave isn't happening in Toronto or Ottawa or Montreal, which is where we normally see the rise in the jet stream," Wagstaffe said.

In addition, the jet stream has been locked into this abnormal pattern twice already this summer. "And for the places that are seeing such cold weather this summer, it is following such an extreme winter," she said.

From May to July, Toronto has had only four days see temperatures above 30 C, Phillips said. "St. John's, N.L., has had more days above 25 C than Toronto or Ottawa, where they may see a record of 20 C this July," he said.

Climate-change related?

While it's not definitive, these patterns could be linked to climate change. With a warming climate the jet stream is unquestionably affected, said University of British Columbia climate professor Simon Donner.

"It's possible that what we are going to see in the future is that jet stream is a bit slower and a bit wavier," Donner told CBC News. "Meaning air is going to drag up further north from southern regions and cold air is going to be dragged further south, and I think that's a little of what we're seeing this summer."

There is a growing number of studies on the connection between a changing climate and an amplified jet stream, featuring bands that stretch farther up and down in either direction.

"Newer studies show that in a warmer climate, you get greater amplitudes in the jet stream, which leads to more extreme weather. And not just extreme hot weather, but reversals too, as the atmosphere tries to balance itself out," Wagstaffe said.

'Don't write the obituary on summer yet' 

Most long-range temperature models show more of the same for the rest of the summer leading into the fall.

The current weather patterns don't come as a major surprise, as they were predicted in Environment Canada's July-August-September forecast outlook. 

The probability of warmer summer weather is higher along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts according to the agency's temperature models, while parts of south-central Canada are expected to see below-normal temperatures.

"At least for August it is looking like more of this cold pool of air that has come down from the Arctic," Wagstaffe said. "As we head into next week the jet stream will become less amplified, so we will see a less extreme version of what we're getting this week."

For those waiting for the chance to unzip the hoodie and cool off with a dip in the lake, all summer dreams are not lost.

"We might see a change in August," Phillips said. He expects the hot weather on the coasts to carry on, but the central part of the country might warm up as well.

"I wouldn't write the obituary on summer-like weather yet."

Plus, he said, there are reasons to be grateful, such as saving money on air conditioning and being comfortable without tossing and turning in the sweltering heat at night.

"People think summer is passing them by if they haven't had humid, hot hazy days where it's more like the tropics," he said. "But I think there is a silent majority that are saying, 'Wow, this is so comfortable.'"

Compared with last year when there was severe flooding rain in both Toronto and Calgary, "nature has actually kind of given us a break."

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Ontario girl, 15, dies after being trapped by soccer net’s crossbar

A 15-year-old girl is dead in Bradford, Ont., north of Toronto, after an apparent accident on a soccer field.

The girl was playing on the field with a friend when she became trapped under the crossbar of an overturned soccer net, according to South Simcoe police, who were called to the scene at about 3:30 p.m. ET.

Police said her friend tried to lift the net, but it was too heavy. She called 911 and the girl was transported to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries, according to police.

Police said they are investigating what caused the soccer net to tip over.

The girl was playing on the field with a friend when she apparently became trapped under the crossbar of an overturned soccer net, according to South Simcoe police. (Tashauna Reid/CBC)

"We know for a fact she was pinned under the bar, as to how she became underneath it and how the net came into position it was is part of our investigation," said Sgt. Sean Willan. 

Police would not say if the net was anchored to the ground. The field is closed for the investigation. 

No one else was on the field at the time and the nearby community centre was closed. 

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'Mr. Big' stings get stricter rules from Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a lower court ruling that ordered a new trial for a Newfoundland murder suspect, in a decision that puts stricter rules on how police obtain confessions through "Mr.Big" sting operations, but does not forbid the practice.

The justices ruled that so-called Mr. Big stings like the one that convicted Nelson Hart pose major problems — namely, that they tend to produce unreliable confessions and risk becoming abusive.

Mr. Big stings are controversial operations in which undercover officers pose as criminals to draw confessions from suspects.

Hart was convicted in 2007 in Newfoundland of two counts of murder in the drowning deaths of his twin three-year-old daughters based largely on his confession to undercover officers.

In 2012, a majority of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador's Court of Appeal overturned Hart's conviction, questioning the reliability of his confession to undercover officers posing as members of the mob. The Crown appealed to the Supreme Court.

In Friday's majority decision, Justice Michael Moldaver said, "I have concluded that the April 1 confession must also be excluded.

"As such, it is doubtful whether any admissible evidence remains upon which a jury, properly instructed and acting reasonably, could convict.

"However, the final decision on how to proceed rests with the Crown," Moldaver added.

The ruling clarifies for the first time whether the existing legal framework adequately protects the rights of individuals whose confessions were obtained through this technique, and whether these confessions should be admissible in court.

Supreme Court ruling in Hart case

CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content

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SARS was 'wake-up call' that could prevent Ebola spread to Canada, doctor says

A Toronto doctor who specializes in the treatment of tropical diseases says it's unlikely a recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa could spread to North America.

Dr. Jay Keystone, who works in the tropical diseases unit of Toronto General Hospital, was interviewed Wednesday on CBC Radio's Metro Morning.

A woman puts on a protective mask to protect against SARS at a wash station at the entrance to North York General Hospital in Toronto in May 2003. (Kevin Frayer/Canadian Press)

He said the SARS outbreak in 2003 that killed more than 40 people in Toronto helped improve how we identify, treat and contain infectious diseases. He said such measures are lacking in countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

As of July 23, the number of Ebola cases in West Africa reached 1,201, with 672 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

The fast-acting Ebola virus, which first appeared in 1976, produces a violent hemorrhagic fever that leads to internal and external bleeding. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with blood, bodily fluids, and tissues of infected people or animals.

Though there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for Ebola, Keystone said there are a number of measures travellers to the region can take to protect themselves.

Here's what Keystone told Metro Morning guest host David Common:

How does a person contract Ebola?

"They usually acquire it from close contact with blood and body fluids, and that means someone coughs in your face, you handle a body or you look after someone and don't have ideal infection-control methods. You get the virus on your hands, you touch your nose, your mouth."

What symptoms do Ebola patients show?

"It looks like the flu: fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches and pains. That's in the first few days. And then vomiting, diarrhea and the really serious part of the illness — that is the hemorrhage part — really doesn't occur until toward the end of the first week."

Once a patient is hemorrhaging, can they be saved?

"It all depends on the quality of medical care. Most Ebola outbreaks have occurred in villages, in mission hospitals where essentially they have a very poor level of health care and very poor infection control methods. The mortality rate in this outbreak ... is about 60 per cent. So you can survive. The better the care, more likely you are to survive but there's no antibiotic or anti-viral agent to treat this disease."

Why has this outbreak been so bad?

"First, there's a lot of cross-border travel. Whereas most other outbreaks have been isolated in the middle of virtually nowhere. Also, people in these countries don't trust the government. They don't believe in the infection. They hide their cases. If someone dies, they take [the body] home. And unfortunately the funeral procedures where you touch the body, and handle the body, markedly increases your risk. These cases are now more in central areas, cities rather than tiny villages. All of those reasons I think have compounded to make this a much greater outbreak."

Doctors treating patients in Africa have died. Foreign doctors have been infected. Should we be worried about Ebola making its way to Canada?

"I don't think we need to be worried. Health-care providers, paramedics, the people who deal with the situation first-hand, I think we're the ones who have greatest risk. You have to remember since 1976 when this virus was first described, there are less than a handful of cases of [patients] who've gone to North American or European countries and very rarely is there secondary transmission. And that's because we have much better public health, infrastructure and certainly better methods of isolating [patients]. SARS was a perfect wake-up call and Ebola is following that ... our health-care system improved dramatically after SARS."

What do doctors in West Africa need to do to control the outbreak now?

"Mostly it's case finding. And that's the biggest problem. Someone comes in ill, they go back to their village and other people are infected but no one knows about it. The problem is they don't have enough personnel to follow up carefully and also people are hiding cases. It's all about case finding, surveillance, making the diagnosis, isolating the individuals and using appropriate isolation procedures. That will help, but it's going to take a long time given what's going on there.

What should people travelling to West Africa know and do to protect themselves?

"The most important thing is to try and stay away from people who are ill. You won't get Ebola unless the individual you're in contact with is sick. So if someone is well, you're not going to get it. So you just need to have a heightened awareness that this is going on and wash your hands frequently, certainly before meals. [Ebola is spread through] direct contact, it's not someone walking into a room with someone with Ebola and getting the infection. Ebola generally is not aerosolized, meaning it doesn't go well into the air."

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At least 15 dead after Israeli tank shells hit UN school in Gaza

Israeli tank shells slammed into a crowded UN school sheltering Gazans displaced by fighting on Wednesday, killing at least 15 and wounding 90 after tearing through the walls of two classrooms, a spokesman for a UN aid agency and a health official said.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling also killed 40 Palestinians elsewhere in the coastal territory Wednesday, including multiple members of two families struck in their homes, health officials said.

The Israeli military said mortar shells had been fired from near the school, and that soldiers fired back. Some reports put the deaths as high as 20.

A Palestinian woman holds her grandson, who medics said was injured in an airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday. Its estimated that 43 people were killed overnight. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

"Witnesses in the refugee camp [are] reporting that they heard and saw five shells hitting a UN school where about 3,000 Palestinians are living for the moment, hitting and collapsing a classroom and killing at least 15, or up to as many as perhaps 20 people, injuring dozens of others, some of whom are in very serious condition," CBC correspondent Nahlah Ayed reported this morning.

A Canadian delegation of MPs and senators was visiting the area Wednesday, meeting with local officials.

Some are on a fact-finding mission, Ayed said, while "others are here to show their support for Israel and its fight against Hamas."

Later today, the military declared a four-hour humanitarian ceasefire in parts of Gaza beginning at 3 p.m. local time, but Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said it lacked any "value" because it excluded border areas from where Hamas wanted to evacuate the wounded.

Shortly after the ceasefire went into effect, sirens warning of Hamas rocket fire sounded in several communities in southern Israel.

The latest violence further dimmed hopes of a sustainable truce in the fighting, now in its fourth week. The strike at the UN school in the Jebaliya refugee camp came on the heels of Israel's heaviest air and artillery assault so far in the conflict.

Many Palestinians are reeling in neighbourhoods throughout Gaza after the heaviest day of bombardment since renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas began three weeks ago. (Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

Israel escalated its campaign on Tuesday, with airstrikes destroying key symbols of Hamas power, including the home of the top Hamas leader. Gaza's only power plant was shut down after shells set its fuel tank on fire.

On Wednesday, Israeli aircraft struck dozens of Gaza sites, including five mosques it said were being used by militants, while several other areas came under tank fire.

In Jebaliya, tank shells hit the UN school before dawn, said Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency. The agency is sheltering more than 200,000 people displaced by the fighting at dozens of UN schools across the coastal strip.

Assad Sabah said he and his five children were huddling under desks in one of the classrooms because of the constant sound of tank fire throughout the night.

"We were scared to death," he said. "After 4:30 a.m., tanks started firing more. Three explosions shook the school."

"One classroom collapsed over the head of the people who were inside," he said.

In one classroom, the front wall was blown out, leaving debris and bloodied clothing. Another strike tore a large round hole into the ceiling of a second-floor classroom. The wall of the lavatories was also damaged.

The Israeli military said it fired after its soldiers were targeted by mortars operating from the vicinity of the school.

The mortars were fired from a distance of some 200-metres (yards) from the school, said an Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

About two hours after the strike, hundreds of people still crowded the school courtyard, some dazed, others wailing.

Aishe Abu Darabeh, 56, sat on the ground with her relatives.

"Where will we go?" she asked. "Where will we go next? We fled and they (the Israelis) are following us."

Four of the dead were killed just outside the school compound, two in their home nearby and two in the street, after returning from pre-dawn prayers, their relatives said.

A Palestinian girl cries receiving treatment for injuries caused by an Israeli strike at a UN school in Jebaliya refugee camp, at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday. (Khalil Hamra/Associated Press)

The bodies of two members of the al-Najar family, 56-year-old Shaher and his 41-year-old brother, Bassem, were laid out in one of the rooms of their small home, surrounded by wailing relatives. Outside the gate, another relative held on to his crying son, hugging him tight and saying: "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

Abu Hasna, the UN agency spokesman, said the international community must step in.

"It's the responsibility of the world to tell us what we shall do with more than 200,000 people who are inside our schools, thinking that the UN flag will protect them," he said. "This incident today proves that no place is safe in Gaza."

Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gaza health official, said at least 15 people were killed and about 90 wounded in the school strike.

In all, 55 Palestinians were killed by airstrikes and tank shelling in different areas of Gaza on Wednesday, al-Kidra said.

In the southern town of Khan Younis, 10 members of one family died when an airstrike hit a relative's home where they had sought refuge, al-Kidra said.

After the strike, relatives climbed over piles of debris, surveying shattered windows and demolished walls.

"I was sleeping, me and my brother and one of my relatives, we were sleeping. And we tried to look through the window to see what happened. But we couldn't see anything because of the smoke. And when we came down, we saw everything was damaged," said Mohammed al-Astal, a relative.

53 Israeli soldiers killed

In the Gaza City neighbourhood of Tufah, shelling killed at last seven members of another family, including four children, said Ayman Sahabani, the head of the emergency room at Gaza's Shifa Hospital.

The total number of Palestinians killed since the start of fighting July 8 rose to 1,284, al-Kidra said. More than 7,100 Palestinians have been wounded.

Israel has lost 53 soldiers and three civilians.

Israel says its Gaza operation is meant to stop Hamas rocket and mortar fire that has reached increasingly deeper into its territory and to destroy a sophisticated network of tunnels used for attacks in Israel.

Gaza militants have fired more than 2,600 rockets toward Israel over the past three weeks, according to the Israeli army.

The Israeli military has said it is hitting targets linked to militants, such as rocket launching sites, weapon depots and Hamas' tunnels. Over the past 23 days, Israeli forces have hit 4,100 targets in Gaza, about one-third connected to the militants' ability to launch rockets at Israel, a statement said.

The military has not provided details on strikes in which multiple members of one family were killed. There have been several dozen such strikes, according to the Palestinian human rights group Al-Mezan.

Dropping leaflets

The military says Hamas militants often launch rockets from crowded residential areas, thus endangering civilians. The army says it has also given civilians a chance to leave dangerous areas by sending warnings in phone calls and leaflets.

On Wednesday, aircraft dropped leaflets over Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood, urging residents to stay away from Hamas militants and to report possible rocket launches. The leaflet gave a contact phone number and email and warned of a new operation.

"The army is warning residents in the areas where the operation will take place that for your safety, you have to keep away from terrorists and the locations from which they operate," the leaflet said.

Israeli leaders have said that troops would not leave until all the Hamas tunnels have been demolished.

The army said 32 tunnels have so far been located but did not say how many remain. Since Tuesday morning, troops have demolished three more tunnels, a statement said.

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The 100-year conflict that is the First World War still rages: Brian Stewart

It has been called the "seminal catastrophe" of modern times and the calamity from which all other calamities sprang.

In fact, you have to wonder if, in all of history, more tears have flowed over anything quite so much as they did over the First World War and all of its tragic consequences.

The conflict itself saw 16 million killed, including 10 million soldiers, half of whom, it has been estimated, were never found or identified in the sea of mud and craters that the battlefields became.

No one will ever be able to calculate the lifetimes of grief left for those millions of relatives of the fallen, and for those survivors with broken bodies and spirits.

For years after the war, people talked of "the great silence" as the pain lay too deep to be spoken aloud.

Those of my generation were familiar with seeing the visible survivors, men in their late sixties and older without arms or legs, sometimes with only half their faces, and so many with damaged minds.

On another level of regret, the war's societal devastation seeded so many deadly political consequences.

In just four years it collapsed four entire empires — the German, the Austro-Hungarian, the Russian, and the Ottoman (Turkish).

It bankrupted Europe both literally and emotionally, shattered faith in governments everywhere and left people desperate for extreme new ideologies that promised to make life livable again.

By giving birth to communism, fascism and the Nazis, the First World War was the essential precondition for the Second World War just 21 years later, and for the nuclear age and Cold War that followed.

"It is hard to imagine a worse initial condition for the modern era of which we are the inheritors," the Australian historian Christopher Clark wrote.

Still feeling its tremors

Indeed, to this day shockwaves from that monster war continue to rumble through our world.

Its aftershocks, it can be argued, broke up the WWI-created Yugoslavia in the 1990s, as its key nationalities found they couldn't live as one.

Similar shockwaves have kept much of the Middle East dangerously aflame in intractable clashes that owe their genesis to the aftermath of 1918.

The winners, in a manner of speaking. The four big Allied leaders, from left: British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Italian Premier Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, French Premier Georges Clemenceau and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson are seen in Versailles at the Paris peace conference in May 1919. (Reuters)

After the Turkish Ottoman Empire collapsed, Britain and France redrew most the frontiers of the Middle East, and the names so often linked to today's crises — Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran, the Gulf region, North Africa — are largely the creations of that post-war diplomacy.

And of course the ceaseless Israel-Palestinian crisis can be traced to WWI British promises of land to both sides, promises that inevitably came into conflict.

Even the renewed tension in Eastern Europe today links back to the First World War peace treaties, which promised Ukraine an autonomy that was then snatched away in the early 1920s by the new Soviet Union.

To quote the title of a new book by British sociologist Frank Furedi on the centenary of the 1914 conflagration: First World War: Still No End in Sight.

A reckless dance

The war even embittered the new superpower of the 20th century, the United States. Late to arrive, it still lost 116,000 dead in less than 10 months.

The ensuing disillusion led the U.S. into an aloofness that seriously weakened Europe's democracies and effectively destroyed the fledgling League of Nations, its failure another stage-setter for the Second World War.

Canada was one of the few countries to feel itself to have gained, becoming through its sacrifice a recognized sovereign country "forged in fire."

Our small population, barely a quarter of today's, lost an appalling 60,000 dead. But historians confirm our battle honours were clearly seen as a defining national moment that tends to be remembered with enormous pride.

Soldiers on parade on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg in 1915. ((Archives of Manitoba, L.B. Foote fonds, Foote 2303))

In Europe the scale of the casualties could not support such positive views.

Despite thousands of ceremonies and monuments to comfort civilians, the numbers lost defied comprehension — 700,000 from Britain were killed, nearly 1.4 million from France.

I first toured our battlefield cemeteries in France and Belgium in my youth over a half-century ago, and can still feel, in the new histories coming out, that war's continuing power to shock and sadden.

I never expected to be quite so moved again, but I have felt increasingly caught up in the poignancy of those memories while helping plan the 1914-18 "In Memoriam" ceremony at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium tomorrow (Thursday), which is intended to mark the last dying hours of peace on July 31, 1914, before the "guns of August" took over.

Throughout that July a century ago, the public warnings of war that followed the Austrian archduke's assassination grew remarkably slowly until they reached a torrent in the final 10 days.

The speed was dizzying. There was far too little time to negotiate, almost no open debate and only limited public comment.

The obvious need for an emergency summit of the leading nations was never seriously acknowledged.

Even the top levels of governments, the history books now reveal, seem barely informed of the deadly dance of diplomats and generals.

Most striking to me was the innocence of the European publics. Because the great powers had avoided large wars for decades, people certainly did not expect, or seek, a giant "world war" that would go on for months let alone years.

But though ordinary Europeans (and Canadians) had not wished for conflict, people appeared to come around remarkably quickly to support their own nations' claim that they were fighting a purely defensive war.

Over its four years, the First World War came to be seen as a battle of existence, an encompassing struggle over culture and values that made compromise impossible.

Soldiers and civilians alike came to hope that so much sacrifice in blood would ensure a singular legacy for future generations by making their awful ordeal a "war to end all wars."

Sadly it was anything but. Still we honour the noble wish, at least, and the astounding bravery of those days.

What we should never forget is the real legacy of that war, which is to stand as the greatest warning ever against the sheer folly of reckless and accidental conflicts that have no obvious end.

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Civilian RCMP contractor washed blood off truck after fatal B.C. hit-and-run

The family of a Langley, B.C., man killed last year in a hit-and-run incident is questioning why the civilian RCMP contractor involved wasn't arrested, after a final report on the case revealed he washed blood off his truck and stopped for coffee and gas before contacting police three hours later. 

• Scroll down for the full report on the hit and run death of Andrew Leduc

Andrew Leduc, a 37-year-old father of three young children, was hit and killed on August 7, 2013 by a semi-truck on the Surrey side of the Langley Bypass around 3 a.m. while walking in the curb lane.

The truck driver, a civilian expert and consultant that RCMP and other law enforcement agencies use to assist in traffic investigations, did not stop.

After CBC News told the Leducs' story last week, the family received the final report by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which clears the driver of all wrongdoing.

Colleen Leduc-Ledezma, the dead man's sister, said it's not the closure the family hoped for.

"I did truly believe that it was an accident and none of this would have happened if he just stayed at the scene," she said.

Adam Leduc, Andrew's brother, is upset and says he doesn't understand why the police did not arrest the driver.

"This is incredible. Just by reading what's on here, I cannot understand why he wasn't arrested," he said.

"This never would have happened with 'Joe average.' The guy just can't get away with it because he works for the police."

The driver was returning the truck to Starliner Transport yard in Mission, B.C., after having assisted Surrey RCMP with a re-enactment of a fatal vehicle collision they were investigating earlier in the day.

Other vehicles swerved to avoid Leduc

According to the OPCC report, Leduc appeared impaired to witnesses on the night in question and had methadone in his blood. 

He was seen stumbling westbound, away from 60 Avenue, in the eastbound curb lane of the Langley Bypass, the report states, then apparently bent down to pick something up from the middle of the road.

Three vehicles had already swerved to avoid him, the report says, when the truck, driven by the civilian RCMP contractor, hit him around 3 a.m.

The driver, cited in the report, later told police he saw something in the road, but thought it was a rolled-up sleeping bag that had fallen off the back of a camper van.

"l just kept on going, checked the mirrors and there was nothing … around," the driver told police.

"The big thing l was thinking of was, 'Did I miss something in terms of … if there was a pedestrian that fell down or a drunk for instance?'"

On mobile? Click here for a Google map of the collision area

Same Surrey police team investigates

Langley police arrived on the scene soon after the collision, the report says. But Surrey police took over the investigation — the same team who had earlier completed the re-enactment with the driver.

Upon getting a description of the truck, the report says, one of the team recognized the collision could involve the driver they had been working with earlier and left him a voice mail.

Another member of the team identified the potential conflict of interest, and the investigation was moved to the Surrey Serious Crimes Unit instead.

Meanwhile, the report says, the driver was returning the truck to the yard from which he had borrowed it.

Truck driver hosed blood off bumper

According to the report, the driver got to the yard at around 4 a.m. and while checking over the truck, noticed there was blood on the front bumper. He later told police he was deeply disturbed by this discovery.

"So that's when I thought 'Oh no,' and I just … I felt pretty sick, you know … 'cause I thought it was … an animal or a person," he later told police.

The driver then hosed down the front bumper to wash the blood off, because, the report says, he did not want to leave the vehicle dirty for the owner.

When asked why he didn't call police when he realized he may have hit someone, according to the report, he claimed his cellphone battery was dead.

He then drove his own vehicle home, stopping to buy coffee and gas on the way. It wasn't until he arrived home at 6 a.m., three hours after the collision, that he contacted police.

The driver gave a voluntary statement to police that afternoon.

Headlights installed upside-down

The following day, police officers examining the truck found the driver's side of the bumper damaged slightly and body tissue on the vehicle.

They also found both passenger side headlamps had been installed upside-down, a factor that the report says contributed to the driver's inability to see the road and Leduc in the dark.

Andrew Leduc's brother Adam says the family is considering pursuing a civil lawsuit. (CBC)

"The lighting conditions at the time were very poor in the area of the collision. These poor conditions were compounded by the misalignment of the headlights," the report states.

"The poor lighting conditions are an important factor in reconciling why [the driver] was not able to recognize Mr. Leduc as a pedestrian crouched in the roadway and why he did not take evasive action."

Statute of limitations expired

The Police Complaint Commissioner's report also considers a charge of failure to stop at the scene of an accident under the Criminal Code of Canada. The statute of limitations for the Provincial Motor Vehicle Act has already expired. 

"At the time of the collision the driver did not believe that he had struck a pedestrian and continued on his way to return the vehicle," the report says.

"[He] was adamant that had he known that he had struck a pedestrian, he would have stopped and provided assistance."

It concludes that the driver was co-operative and consistent throughout the process — and based on the available evidence, no charges will be recommended.

"We will never know why Mr. Leduc was in the roadway at that time of the morning, apparently in search of something on the roadway.

"What is clear is that this very tragic incident was accidental in nature and that this has no doubt had a traumatic impact on the lives of his family."

Surrey RCMP's initial investigation found the driver was not criminally responsible, nor was there anything to indicate to investigators he was driving recklessly or carelessly.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Bert Paquet told the CBC police were prepared to reopen the investigation if the OPPC had recommended it, but that was not the case.

The Leduc family is considering pursuing a civil lawsuit. Leduc's sister Colleen says she still hopes the case will end up before the courts.

"Had he just stayed at the scene … we would have had those answers, we would have had that closure," she said.

"It shouldn't just be over."

On mobile? Click here to read the full report on the hit and run

2013 02 2014 07 25 Review of Criminal Investigation (PDF)
2013 02 2014 07 25 Review of Criminal Investigation (Text)

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'The neighbours always tell': How murder houses are sold by realtors

The property listing for 11 Butler Crescent N.W. shows a "gem" of a house bookended by old trees and boasting a detached garage and handsome stucco-and-wood finish. But the photos of the little blue house in Calgary's Brentwood neighbourhood also belie the horror that occurred there three months earlier.

Police arrested 22-year-old Matthew de Grood in connection with a stabbing spree at that address on April 15. Five students died in what was the worst mass murder in the city's history.

The otherwise nondescript residence became a gruesome crime scene, or what the real-estate industry refers to as a "stigmatized property." While the online MLS listing makes no mention of the murders, there's no legal obligation to do so in Alberta — or in most of Canada, for that matter.

"That's the problem," said Mark Weisleder, a prominent Toronto property lawyer. "Everybody agrees this stigma does affect property values, and it shows that this is bothering people."

Weisleder said that most U.S. states require sellers to disclose whether a suicide or murder occurred at a property if the seller knows about such an incident within the past three years.

'The neighbours always tell'

"This whole concept of psychological stigmas is a very difficult area of the law that's evolving in this country, but there's no question in my mind that for [potential buyers] from certain cultures and religions, this is going to be a big issue," he said.

The Alberta Real Estate Association often reminds realtors they are under no legal requirement to release information, but there are no guarantees that prospective clients wouldn't learn the backstory themselves, said Aruna Marathe, the organization's associate counsel for industry relations.

Zackariah Rathwell, 21,Lawrence Hong, 27, Kaitlin Perras, 23, ​Jordan Segura, 22, and Joshua Hunter, 23, died after Matthew de Grood, 22, allegedly went on a stabbing rampage at the party in the early hours of April 15. (Facebook)

"The neighbours always tell. And in this case you have an obligation to your seller, but an ethical obligation as well," she said.

The onus is also on the buyer or the buyer's representative to know what they don't want.

Asking the seller the right questions then becomes paramount, said Barry Lebow, a Toronto-based forensic real estate expert and real estate broker.

'In some provinces, the agent really has to become a real-estate detective.'- Barry Lebow, expert witness on stigmatized properties

"In some provinces, the agent really has to become a real-estate detective," he said.

Under the rules for Ontario realtors' Code of Ethics, he said, "agents are bound to have to deal with material facts, and to deal honestly, but there's no rules for sellers outside of Quebec. That's the only jurisidction in Canada that has any disclosure laws on murder."

The trouble is realtors may not be in the know about a suicide, murder or violent crime that occurred in the home they're asked to sell, particularly if the event did not capture widespread media attention.

Matthew de Grood, accused of stabbing five people to death at a Calgary party in April, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder. He appeared in a Calgary court on Tuesday. (Canadian Press)

Knowing of a murder, the seller's representation has two options in order to comply with the "fairness, honesty and integrity" code, said Bruce Mathews, deputy registrar with the Real Estate Council of Ontario, which regulates the industry.

"They can simply say the truth — yes, a murder happened, if it's a yes," he said. "Or if they're under instructions from the seller not to disclose their information, they would have to say something to the effect of, 'I'm sorry, I can't answer that question, you'll have to do your own research.' And that would be a perfectly acceptable way of handling those issues."

While the real estate associate for the Brentwood house in Calgary didn't overtly mention the stabbings, he did include an entry in a "private remarks" section viewable between realtors.

Marathe, with the Alberta Real Estate Association, said she checked the realtors-only part of the MLS listing and noticed an additional note in the section urging interested parties to call him for more information concerning the history of the property.

'Do the right thing and disclose'

"He has put in a comment to other realtors saying, basically, 'Don't put an offer on this property until you talk to me,'" she said. "[The seller] has obviously in this case instructed the realtor to do the right thing and disclose."

Still, it would be up to the buyer to make the inquiry in the first place.

Serial killer Robert Pickton was eventually convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 2007. Police found the remains or DNA of 33 women on his Coquitlam farm in B.C. (CBC)

"If somebody chooses not to use a realtor and then becomes upset because this wasn't disclosed, you're not using the tools that are there effectively," Marathe said.

The key factors in the disclosure debate come down to "latent versus patent defects," explained Bill Kirk, President of the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Whereas patent defects are completely evident, such as a structural or physical problem, latent defects refer to invisible problems that may not come up during a home inspection.

"Realtors are under Canadian common law, where it's not incumbent on a seller or an agent to divulge anything that isn't particular to the property itself that renders the property dangerous or uninhabitable," he said. "In this particular case, it has nothing to do with the property."

A former house that operated as a marijuana grow-op might seem to be even less desirable to some clients than the house where a murder happened — if the grow-op caused mould or structural impairments, said Keith Lancastle, with the Appraisal Institute of Canada.

Bernardo home, Pickton farm demolished

"Even if two or three people were killed because of a carbon monoxide leak in the house, once that's fixed, what's going to be the impact on the property? Maybe not much," he said.

Paul Bernardo has been in maximum security prison since 1995. The former home that the notorious Ontario serial killer and rapist rented was eventually demolished. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Still, well-kept homes in prime neighbourhoods may go unsold for a prolonged time or eventually sell for below asking price due to the "murder house" stigma.

Some properties never overcome their infamy at all.

In 2003, B.C. police ordered the demolition of buildings that once stood at serial killer Robert Pickton's Coquitlam pig farm.

The St. Catharines, Ont., home where Paul Bernardo tortured and raped his victims was razed. The McDonald's restaurant in Sydney River, N.S., where an employee and two of his friends shot, stabbed and beat three workers to death during a break-and-enter was also eventually torn down.

"And the O.J. Simpson house? That was demolished, too," Lebow added.

"The Jeffrey Dahmer house, the Karla Homolka house, the Robert Pickton farm – these are not murder sites. These are notorious murder sites."

While Lebow said "natural death itself is not a big deal" when it comes to a property listing, a violent death is on "another strata."

"Read the obituaries. How often to do you see, 'Died peacefully at home surrounded by their loved ones?'" he noted.

Marathe agreed some clients may actually take comfort in knowing an historic house was where a previous resident passed away.

"They might say, 'Isn't that wonderful? Somebody died happily on this property,'" she said.

---

Online tool for checking stigmatized properties

Aspiring home owners curious about whether they have been eyeing stigmatized properties have a new online tool to find out.

HouseCreep.com, founded by Ottawa resident Albert Armieri and his Toronto-based brother Robert, launched last year.

"There's a bedbugs registry, so why isn't there a site about scenes of gruesome crimes for a prospective renter or buyer?" Armieri said. "We thought, 'Geez, if I was buying a home and my realtor had that type of information, I would appreciate knowing.'"

The site lists more than 20,000 properties in North America. The Brentwood house has not yet been added.

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'You guys can have your own debate': Rob Ford gets heated with mayoral panel organizers

A shouting match erupted ahead of last night's Toronto debate for mayoral candidates, with Mayor Rob Ford alleging bias by organizers, who said they had to restrict the number of staffers that candidates could bring inside because of space constraints.

The conflict arose as Ford tried to enter the venue — a church in East York — on Friday, accompanied by his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, his driver and his press secretary.

Candidates were told they would be allowed to take only one staffer inside.

'Stanley Cup winners don't hand back the Stanley Cup.'- Rob Ford, Toronto mayor

"You know what? See you later guys ... you guys can have your own debate," Rob Ford said at one point.

The Fords also alleged the debate was biased because one organizer — who did not take part in or mediate the debate — has stated support for candidate John Tory. Also, one of the members of the media panel is a host at the same station where Tory hosted a radio show before entering the race.

Organizers eventually made an exception and allowed Ford to enter along with his brother and two staffers. The debate itself, which was hosted by the Parkview Hill Community Association, was a tame affair. The candidates tackled issues such as transit, youth unemployment and the culture at Toronto City Hall.

All of Ford's main opponents for mayor — former MP Olivia Chow, Coun. Karen Stintz, former councillor David Soknacki and former provincial Progressive Conservative leader Tory — took part.

When asked about the fracas that preceded the debate, Tory suggested the Fords were trying to deflect a recent newspaper story reporting alleged links between the two brothers and a private printing company that was seeking to do business with the city.

"I think this is just part of the overall circus the Fords bring to town any time there's a story out about them they don't want to talk about," said Tory, who said the debate was handled professionally.

Ford stickhandles question

Rob Ford used a hockey analogy during the debate to describe his desire to win another term as mayor.

"Stanley Cup winners don't hand back the Stanley Cup," Ford said when asked a hypothetical question as to whether he could consider stepping aside for another like-minded candidate with greater support on council.

"We're in first place, our team is on top — if anyone should step out of the race, it's these people on the left," Ford said, gesturing to the four other candidates.

At the end of the debate, he used another sports analogy, inviting those listening to "join the team" this fall.

"We're going to win this election on Oct. 27," said Ford.

Olivia Chow and David Soknacki were two of the five high-profile mayoral candidates who participated in a debate at a Toronto church on Monday evening. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)

In the last half of the debate, the candidates were asked how they would "bring professionalism back to Toronto's government," if elected as mayor.

Tory got the first crack at the question.

"You act like a professional," said Tory, who added a certain tone needs to be set — something he says Ford has failed to do.

John Tory and Karen Stintz shared their views of how they would handle Toronto issues when they participated in Monday's mayoral debate. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)

"He's set the wrong example, he's conducted himself in a way that was absolutely the opposite to what's needed to get people to work together as previous mayors have done."

Stintz, who was next up, took a dig at Tory's prior gig as host of an afternoon radio talk show.

"City hall, it's not a talk show, John, it's not a talk show," Stintz said.

"And it's not a gong show, it's not."

Council needs to 'come together,' Chow says

The veteran councillor went on to say that council had performed well, despite some of the stresses it has faced in the past year.

"We stepped up to the challenge, we did what we had to do and we kept this remarkable city running," she said.

Ford said it's all about leading by example, a statement that prompted laughter from members of the audience. 

"You're elected to do something and you do exactly that," Ford said.

Chow said council needs to "come together and do the job that needs to be done" at city hall.

Soknacki said there was a need "to enforce the rules that we have," and put teeth in the rules, which would in the long term lead to a more productive and civil council.

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More than doctors needed to contain 'unprecedented' Ebola outbreak

Doctors alone aren't enough to contain West Africa's deadly Ebola outbreak, which has already infected, and in some instances killed, key medical personnel, including prominent Western and local physicians.

Quebec doctor Marc Forget, who has been on the front lines of the epidemic in Guinea for seven weeks, told CBC News that past Ebola outbreaks were contained quite quickly with the intervention of international groups such as Doctors Without Borders working in conjunction with a country's ministry of health.

This time, he says, "the magnitude of the disease is unprecedented," and a stronger response is required, both in resources and personnel — including water, sanitation and logistics specialists, as well as medical staff.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says one of the big challenges facing the three West African countries fighting the epidemic is that "people are not seeming to even admit, in some cases, that there is a problem, not believing that Ebola is there.

The unprecedented Ebola outbreak in West Africa requires a stronger response in both resources and personnel, those fighting the outbreak say. Medical staff working with Doctors Without Borders prepare to bring food to Ebola patients kept in an isolation area at a treatment centre in Kailahun, Sierra Leone on July 20. (Tommy Trenchard/Reuters)

"There have been some very unusual perceptions that it's the health workers that are actually bringing the Ebola in," Fauci said in an interview with TV2Africa.

He also cited the lack of resources for appropriate care and treatment, and noted that another challenge is that the disease is no longer clustered in small, underpopulated regions, but is now showing up in larger centres "where there's a high density of population."

The fast-acting Ebola virus produces a violent hemorrhagic fever that leads to internal and external bleeding, and has already killed over half those infected in the current outbreak, according to the World Health Organization.

As of July 23, the number of Ebola cases in West Africa reached 1,201, with 672 deaths.

The outbreak is devastating large areas of three countries. Guinea has had the most deaths, 319; Sierra Leone has had the most cases, 525; and hundreds are affected in Liberia as well.

Physicians infected

Sheik Umar Khan, head doctor fighting the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, had treated more than 100 Ebola victims before getting the deadly disease himself. (Umaru Fofana/Reuters)

Currently, two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and missionary Nancy Writebol, are receiving treatment for Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia's capital. They are both with the American medical charity Samaritan's Purse.

Ugandan doctor Samuel Muhumuza Mutoro died from the virus on July 1 in Liberia.

So did Liberian government official Patrick Sawyer, who died July 25 in Nigeria, becoming that country's first Ebola case. (The hospital where he was treated is now under quarantine.)

On Saturday, Dr. Samuel Brisbane, one of Liberia's most high-profile doctors, died from the disease.

And in Sierra Leone, the top Ebola doctor, Sheik Umar Khan, is receiving treatment.

While these high-profile cases garner media attention, the World Health Organization says "stepping up outbreak containment measures, especially effective contact tracing," is what's now needed.

Quebec doctor returns from the battlefront

Quebec's Forget agrees. He left Africa on July 9, after working in Guinea for seven weeks with Doctors Without Borders, the main aid organization in that battle.

Dr. Marc Forget returned to Canada in July after seven weeks in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders, fighting the unprecedented Ebola outbreak in West Africa. (MSF)

At night, Forget treated patients at the group's clinic in Guéckédou, the epicentre of the epidemic, then during the day he did outreach.

That requires responding to alerts when someone is sick in a village. Everyone who has been in contact with an infected person displaying symptoms is at risk, so Forget and his team needed to check the patient, do contact tracing and then follow up with those people.

For the patient, "If we have any suspicion, we bring him back in a special ambulance so he's isolated, and we explain to his family and the community why he needs to come to the centre," Forget told CBC News during a telephone interview from Montreal.

Outreach also requires that whenever someone tests positive for Ebola, it's essential to decontaminate their home. "We burn, for example, the mattresses, decontaminate the walls and everything with chlorine solution, so people can go back home safely," Forget explains.

Certificate of recovery provides reassurance

The Doctors Without Borders team also takes the few survivors back to their villages and give them a certificate of recovery to fight the stigma toward cured patients.

Saa Simbiano, along with his mother, shows off his certificate of recovery after receiving treatment for Ebola from Dr. Marc Forget at the Doctors without Borders centre in Guéckédou, Guinea. (MSF)

"If we don't give them any certificate of recovery, then it's sometimes very difficult. They are cured but then they are rejected from the community because people don't understand what's going on."

Forget says that in Guinea, "there's so much misunderstanding and fear about the disease" that community education is critical. "There's a lot of paranoia" about Ebola and even about the outreach programs.

Sometimes people "think it's a foreigner thing that was brought by Médecins Sans Frontières [Doctors Without Borders] and we're spraying the houses and we give them Ebola," he says.

"We faced resistance, we faced hostility. In some villages they completely shut down, they're throwing rocks at us, at ministry of health authorities, Red Cross workers."

Safe burial

Another challenge in trying to contain Ebola is the very strong cultural beliefs in that area of Africa.

A nurse receives a suspected Ebola patient inside the high-risk area at the Doctors Without Borders treatment centre in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, on July 9. (Sylvain Cherkaoui/Cosmos/MSF)

As Forget explains, the No. 1 contamination risk is touching the body around the time someone has died from Ebola.

"They do rituals before they bury the body that involves washing the bodies and even, sometimes, sleeping with them, the dead person."

So after someone dies at a treatment centre, the Doctors Without Borders staff bring the family to the centre and do what they call a safe burial.

"We wash the body and we put them in a body bag, but with the zipper open so they can see the face, and we bring the body to the village," in conjunction with the Guinea Red Cross, Forget says.

"People can still do a burial process but in a safe way so they don't touch the body … they can still pray and perform ceremonies but without touching the body.

"When that is understood, things get easier for us," he notes.

Forget says he may return to Africa in October after working in Northern Canada, and hopes others will volunteer.

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UBC student dies in fall from Stanley Park's highest point

A young UBC student has been identified as the man who fell to his death from one of Stanley Park's most popular viewpoints.

The B.C. Coroners Service says Mai David Huy Huynh, 22, was with a group of friends at Prospect Point, the highest point in the park, in the late afternoon Saturday.

At some point, his friends noticed he was missing.

Shortly after 6 p.m. PT, his body was found 70 metres below, on the seawall.

David Huynh, 22, died after falling 70 metres from Prospect Point in Stanley Park on Saturday. (Facebook)

Huynh, who was from Abbotsford, was a commerce student enrolled in the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.

A statement posted to the UBC Commerce Undergraduate Society's Facebook page describes him as an "incredible young man" known for his generous, optimistic and outgoing nature.

"David's passion and positive outlook impacted and inspired countless peers," it says.

The B.C. Coroners Service and the Vancouver Police Department are investigating his death.

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Former Alberta premier's flights had ‘false passengers,’ auditor general says

A review by Alberta's auditor general found "false passengers" were booked on at least a dozen government flights, making it possible for then Premier Alison Redford to fly alone with her entourage.

Merwan Saher also concluded Redford derived a "personal benefit" by taking her daughter on dozens of government flights. Saher raises the question of whether Redford's desire to take her daughter on out-of-province trips may have influenced the decision to use government aircraft rather than commercial carriers.

These findings are contained in an internal report to the government obtained exclusively by CBC News.

University of Alberta political scientist Jim Lightbody said he has never seen anything like the report.

A review by Alberta's auditor general uncovered a scheme in which the staff of former premier Alison Redford booked 'false passengers' to restrict who could fly with her on government flights. (Jason Franson/Canadian Press)

"It reveals a scarcely disguised contempt for taxpayers' money," Lightbody said.

Under pressure from the opposition and the public, Redford on March 4 suspended all out-of-province travel on government planes and asked the auditor general to review the government's use of aircraft.

Saher is expected to issue a final public report next month.

Redford resigned as premier on March 23 after her caucus and the Conservative Party lost faith in her leadership as the Tories plunged in the polls, owing in part to a scandal over what the opposition alleged were lavish travel expenses.

Redford's constituency assistant said she was unavailable for comment about the report.

Blocked passengers

Saher's report reveals how Redford's staff blocked other passengers from flying with the premier on government planes.

The government has an internal website that shows the scheduled flights and available seats for 21 days in advance. 

'It reveals a scarcely disguised contempt for taxpayers' money.'— University of Alberta political scientist Jim Lightbody on report findings

"We were told by [the premier's] office staff and multiple staff from the Department of Treasury Board and Finance that for certain flights the remaining seats available on the plane were blocked to restrict access to Premier Redford on the aircraft," the review states.

Staff entered passengers into the booking system to fill the seats, then removed the passengers before printing the flight manifest.

"The implications of this practice were that other government employees or elected officials would not have been able to travel on those aircraft," the report states, adding that "both Premier Redford and the former chief of staff [Farouk Adatia] denied any knowledge of this practice."

Redford and her former chief of staff Adatia denied any knowledge of the practice of blocking passengers.

Personal benefit

In April, a CBC News investigation revealed Redford had flown her daughter, Sarah Jermyn, on 50 government flights, including for two long weekends in Jasper. On one flight between Calgary and Edmonton, Redford also flew the family's nanny.

"We did not find any government business reason for the daughter's travel on government aircraft," the report states. It makes no reference to the flight that transported the family's nanny.

"We conclude that Premier Redford obtained a personal benefit by having her daughter accompany her on government aircraft," it says.

Saher also concluded the government's travel-expense policy requires that when a decision is made to use the government aircraft rather than a commercial airline, it must be documented. But the review found examples where discretion was exercised, but no documentation existed to explain the decision.

Redford told the auditor general she did not request the government planes, but the report notes that in every case, the request came from the premier's office.

Scottsdale trip

In December 2012, Redford was booked on a commercial flight to Arizona to attend the Western Governors' Association meeting in Scottsdale. But the booking was cancelled and she flew on a government plane.

"The commercial flight and government aircraft both left on the same day within a few hours of each other," the report states. "The passengers on the government aircraft were the premier, her daughter and one security officer."

No documentation was provided to explain why the government plane was used when a commercial flight had already been booked and paid for.

"We also noted that four government officials, including the premier's executive assistant, flew commercially to attend this event," the report states, adding that "there was no process to try [to] co-ordinate their travel to reduce the cost."

Palm Springs trip

In April 2013, Redford flew with her daughter at her own expense on a commercial flight to Palm Springs, Calif., for a holiday.

After former premier Ralph Klein died, a government plane flew from Alberta to Palm Springs and returned to Calgary carrying Redford and her daughter so that Redford could attend Klein's memorial service.

The premier's office publicly explained that commercial flight options were considered, but weren't feasible because bad weather had created a backlog of passengers awaiting flights. 

'Staff involved in the scheduling of that flight told us that Premier Redford insisted on using government aircraft for the return flight.'— Auditor General Merwan Saher in review

Saher's review, however, found Redford's office had identified commercial flights to return her to Alberta.

"Staff involved in the scheduling of that flight told us that Premier Redford insisted on using government aircraft for the return flight."

Redford did not repay the $9,200 cost of the flight.

The auditor general qualified his findings about Redford's use of government planes for out-of-province travel.

"We do not know, considering all of the factors, if the best travel option was selected, because there was no analysis done on the options available," the report states.

South Africa trip

The cost of a December 2013 trip by Redford to South Africa to attend the funeral of Nelson Mandela caused public outrage. Redford took a government plane to Ottawa to catch a ride on the prime minister's jet. Her executive assistant, Brad Stables, flew on a commercial flight to South Africa.

Both Redford and Stables returned to Alberta first class by commercial carrier. The premier's staff said she needed to take a commercial flight in order to attend her cabinet's swearing-in ceremony. The government plane returned empty from Ottawa to Alberta.

The report found Redford decided to bring Stables to South Africa, "even though in our review of the documentation, we noted the federal government had taken care of the on-ground logistics."

The review further found Redford could have returned to Alberta on the prime minister's jet with enough time to attend her cabinet's swearing-in ceremony.

After initially refusing to repay the nearly $45,000 cost of the South Africa trip, Redford relented.

The auditor general's review confirmed Redford, by personal cheque, paid the government $44,254 for the South Africa trip. She issued another cheque for $3,156 to cover the cost of trips in which friends of her daughter flew on government flights, and for a March 2013 flight to Vancouver in which she attended her uncle's funeral, accompanied by her daughter.

Checks and balances needed

Under a section of the review titled "Implications and Risks if Recommendation not Implemented," the auditor general observes that whoever becomes premier in the future has "considerable influence over the way business is conducted within that office and also within the public service.

"Because of this significant influence, there needs to be a proper check and balance system established to monitor and provide oversight of the spending by that office to ensure that expenses and usage of government assets is appropriate."

'These are people who work for the citizens of Alberta, and someone, sometime, somehow, should have said, 'No, this is wrong.'"—Jim Lightbody

Lightbody, the political scientist, said many people within Redford's office and various ministries would have known about the "blatant abuse" of government aircraft, yet no one spoke out publicly.

"These are people who work for the citizens of Alberta, and someone, sometime, somehow, should have said, 'No, this is wrong,'" Lightbody said.

University of Alberta political scientist Jim Lightbody says the auditor general's findings detail a blatant abuse of public resources. (CBC)

Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said the auditor general's findings are yet another example of what is fundamentally wrong with a government that has been in power for too long.

"They just have a sense of entitlement that runs so deep, beyond the premier's office, into the cabinet ministers' offices, down into the level of the staff, and it is just pervasive," she said. "It is part of the culture."

Alberta is the only province in Canada that still maintains a fleet of aircraft for government employees.

Smith said Redford should be required to repay the government for all flights that carried her daughter, and she repeated her call for the government fleet of aircraft to be sold.

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'Highly sophisticated' Chinese cyberattack hits Canada's research agency

A "highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor" recently managed to hack into the computer systems at Canada's National Research Council, confirms the country's chief information officer, Corinne Charette.

The attack was discovered by Communications Security Establishment Canada.

In a statement released Tuesday, Charette confirms that while the NRC's computers operate outside those of the government of Canada as a whole, the council's IT system has been "isolated" to ensure no other departments are compromised.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is in Beijing, and was scheduled to hold a press conference on his visit Tuesday, but that briefing was abruptly cancelled. No reason was immediately given.

For its part, the NRC says in a statement released Tuesday morning that it is now attempting to rebuild its computer infrastructure and this could take as much a year.

The National Research Council says it is attempting to rebuild its computer infrastructure, which could take up to a year. Canada's information officer said Tuesday that a 'highly sophisticated Chinese state-sponsored actor' recently hacked into the computer systems at the NRC. (CBC)

The NRC works with private businesses to advance and develop technological innovations through science and research.

The NRC says it has already been in contact with many of its "clients and stakeholders," but it could take as long as a year to secure the system.

This is not the first time the Canadian government has fallen victim to a cyberattack that originated in China.

In January 2011, the federal government was forced to take the Finance Department and Treasury Board — the federal government's two main economic nerve centres — off the internet after foreign hackers gained access to highly classified federal information.

The attack also targeted Defence Research and Development Canada, a civilian agency of the Department of National Defence that assists in the scientific and technological needs of the Canadian Forces.

The attacks were traced back to China.

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UN head urges talks to break 'senseless cycle' of violence as fighting resumes

Israeli jets struck three sites in Gaza today after a rocket was launched at Israel, the military said, disrupting a relative lull in the war-torn territory at the start of a major Muslim holiday.

The strikes followed an almost 12-hour pause in fighting and came as international efforts intensified to end the three-week conflict between Israel and Hamas. The UN has called for an "immediate" ceasefire.

Israel's military said it struck two rocket launchers and a rocket manufacturing facility in central and northern Gaza after a rocket hit southern Israel earlier Monday. The rocket caused no damage or injuries.

A Palestinian woman kisses the grave of her son, who medics said was killed during the Israeli offensive, on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at a cemetery in Beit Lahiyah in the northern Gaza Strip. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)

The military said Hamas fired a single rocket into Israel in the morning hours, but there were no casualties or damage.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it had not carried out any attacks in Gaza since 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, but that troops on the ground were pressing on with efforts to destroy the cross-border tunnels constructed by Hamas for attacks inside Israel.

Also, the Israeli military opened artillery fire on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza in response to the rocket fired at Ashkelon, said the office of Israel's military spokesman. "Quiet will be met with quiet," the office statement said.

Despite the exchange, Monday has has been the quietest day of the conflict, which until now has seen "non-stop aggression" from both sides, CBC's Paul Hunter reported.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks with Israel's UN ambassador Ron Prosor, before a midnight meeting of the Security Council. Both Israel and Palestinian representatives condemned the UN's actions thus far in relation to the conflict in Gaza. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

However, Hunter and others were caught in the middle of intense fighting on Sunday, just as they were boarding a bus to a border crossing, shortly before a possible truce was due to take effect.

"Thuds, bombs, plumes of smoke were increasingly getting closer, and we kind of made a run for it," he said. "There were explosions left, right and centre — scars in the roadway in front of us. Something hit the road to the left of us, and smoke came upon us, and we were fleeing what was behind us. It was relentless, in both directions."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on both sides in the conflict to begin talks to "address root causes" and "break the endless, senseless cycle" of violence in the Gaza Strip, where people have "nowhere to run."

"Every area is a civilian area," he told reporters in New York after returning from a six-day visit to the Middle East.

"Gaza is in critical condition," Ban said, adding he talked to Palestinian leaders who described the destruction as a "man-made hurricane."

As Muslims began celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday on Monday, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, there was fear and mourning instead of holiday cheer in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian families huddled inside their homes, fearing more airstrikes, while those who came to a cemetery in Gaza City's Sheik Radwan neighbourhood to pay traditional respects at their ancestors' graves gathered around a large crater from an airstrike a week ago that had broken up several graves.

In New York, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for "an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire."

Shortly after midnight Monday, the council issued its strongest statement yet on the now-21-day conflict that has already killed 1,030 Palestinians and 43 Israeli soldiers — along with two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker in Israel who died in rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza.

In a presidential statement issued shortly after midnight Monday, the Security Council urged Israel and Hamas "to accept and fully implement the humanitarian ceasefire into the Eid period and beyond." It said this would allow for the delivery of urgently needed assistance.

The statement also called on the parties "to engage in efforts to achieve a durable and fully respected ceasefire, based on the Egyptian initiative."

Israel did not immediately comment on the statement.

On Sunday, President Barack Obama telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his concern over the mounting Palestinian casualties.

The White House said Obama reiterated that Israel has a right to defend itself and condemned Hamas's rocket attacks. Obama said a lasting peace will ultimately require a demilitarized Gaza and dismantling of terror groups. The U.S. president also pushing for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire that would allow Israeli and Palestinian civilians to return to normalcy.

International diplomats have hoped that a temporary lull in the fighting could be expanded into a more sustainable truce to end the bloodshed.

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Black boxes show MH17 suffered massive decompression after shrapnel hit

A Ukrainian security spokesman says data from the recovered flight data recorders shows Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed due to a massive, explosive loss of pressure after being punctured multiple times by shrapnel.

National security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kyiv Monday the plane suffered "massive explosive decompression" after it was hit by fragments he said came from a missile.

The data recorders were sent to experts in Britain for examination.

Flight 17 went down on July 17 as it flew from Amsterdam toward Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people aboard died. The U.S. and Ukrainian governments say it was shot down by a missile fired from territory held by armed pro-Russian separatists, probably by mistake.

The separatists deny shooting down the plane; Russia says the Ukrainian military may have shot it down.

On the ground, a delegation of Australian and Dutch police and forensic experts failed to reach the crash site for a second day running as clashes rage in a town on the road to the area.

CBC correspondent Susan Ormiston said she can hear heavy bombardment near Shakhtarsk, a town around 30 kilometres from the fields where the aircraft was downed.  

"After about 30 minutes we spotted the convoy racing back, likely making the assessment that it was too dangerous to continue to the crash site," she said. 

AP reporters saw a highrise apartment block in the town being hit by at least two rounds of artillery.

The mandate of the police team is to secure the currently rebel-controlled area so that comprehensive investigations can begin and any remaining bodies be recovered.

Accusations of tampering

Ukraine has accused rebels of tampering with evidence and trying to cover up their alleged role in bringing the Malaysia Airlines plane down with an anti-aircraft missile.

Separatist officials have staunchly denied responsibility for shooting down the airliner and killing all 298 people on board.

In their campaign to wrest control over more territory from separatist forces, Ukraine's army has deployed a growing amount of heavy weaponry. Rebels have also been able to secure large quantities of powerful weapons, much of which the United States and Ukraine maintain is being supplied by Russia.

Moscow dismisses those charges.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report out Monday that at least 1,129 people have been killed between mid-April, when fighting began, and July 26. The report said at least 3,442 people had been wounded and more than 100,000 people had left their homes. A UN report from mid-June put the death toll at 356.

At least eight civilians were killed by fighting and shelling in two cities held by separatist militants overnight Sunday, officials in the rebellion-wracked region said.

Authorities in Luhansk said that five people were killed and 15 injured by overnight artillery strikes. Three were killed in Donetsk as a result of clashes, the city's government said.

Rebels accuse government troops of deploying artillery against residential areas. Authorities deny that charge, but also complain of insurgents using apartment blocks as firing positions.

No rule of law

The UN said in its report that rebel groups continue to "abduct, detain, torture and execute people kept as hostages in order to intimidate" the population in the east. It said rule of law had collapsed in the rebel-held areas and that 812 people had been abducted in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since mid-April.

It also reported heavy damage to electrical, water and sewage plants and estimated the costs of rebuilding at $750 million US — money the government would have to find by cutting social programs.

The U.S. State Department on Sunday released satellite images that it says back up its claims that rockets have been fired from Russia into eastern Ukraine and heavy artillery for separatists has also crossed the border.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the claims Monday during a televised press conference, asking "why it took 10 days" before the U.S. released the images.

A four-page document released by the U.S. State Department appears to show blast marks from where rockets were launched and craters where they landed. Officials said the images, sourced from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, show heavy weapons fired between July 21 and July 26 — after the July 17 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

The images could not be independently verified by The Associated Press.

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'We're not the Jetsons yet': Volvo's 'world first' safety features next step in a smarter car

A drowsy driver is about to drift off the road when suddenly the seat belt tightens, or extra torque is applied to the steering wheel and the vehicle pulls itself back on track.

Or maybe a driver is turning in front of an unseen oncoming car when on-board radar and a tiny camera prompt the brakes to kick in automatically, avoiding a collision.

As futuristic as such scenarios seem, Swedish auto giant Volvo is turning these possibilities into reality when it reveals its new XC90 luxury SUV next month, complete with two safety features it's touting as "world-firsts": auto braking when turning in front of an oncoming vehicle and run-off-road protection.

Volvo's new XC90 will have run off road protection, a feature that includes seatbelt tightening if an accidental road departure is detected. (Volvo Cars of Canada)

"It all has to do with our vision," says Volvo Canada CEO Marc Engelen, alluding to the automaker's goal that no one will be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car by 2020.

"This is the first step. In every new car which we launch after XC90, you will see some more safety … features, which will go to that vision."

The new features on the XC90, which will be available at Canadian Volvo dealerships next April, are high-tech developments in an automotive safety landscape that has evolved considerably from the 1950s and '60s when vehicles didn't even have seat belts.

But as much as such developments hold the potential for boosting safety, observers caution that they aren't the last word when it comes to reducing serious and fatal collisions.

No help if you're drinking and driving

"We're still not in the world of the autonomous vehicle where all cars are driving themselves," says Kristine D'Arbelles, manager of public affairs for the Canadian Automobile Association. "Drivers still have to be good drivers.

"You can have a tonne of technology on your vehicle that is meant to try to keep you safe, but if you're texting and driving, or if you're drinking and driving, some of those safety features aren't going to help you."

Driver Alert Control, which is standard in the new Volvo XC90, detects and warns tired or inattentive drivers and now has a rest stop guidance feature that directs a tired driver to the nearest rest area. (Volvo Cars of Canada)

In other words, "We're not the Jetsons yet," she says, and the driver remains "the most important safety feature" on any vehicle.

Still, the idea of a car knowing when a drowsy driver is about to hit the soft shoulder, or if a turn can't be made safely, has considerable allure.

"Any sort of advancement in technology that can potentially save a driver in a collision, or reduce collision fatalities or injuries, is obviously a good thing," says D'Arbelles. "We'd never be against something like that."

Engelen has driven in a vehicle equipped with run-off-road protection and says it's "pretty amazing."

"It will detect that actually you are going off the concrete or going off the normal road … and then the car will automatically turn back to the road."

Master in your own car

But the company long known for its focus on safety is not engineering a world where drivers don't exist, even for the autonomous vehicles it is testing in Sweden.

'You are the master in your car.'- Marc Engelen

"That is very important for Volvo," Engelen says.

In the auto-braking feature, for example, if it engages but drivers want to get out of it, they could push the pedal.

"You are the master in your car," Engelen says.

Automotive safety engineering also holds the potential for features that could tell drivers they're not fit to get behind the wheel at that moment.

"Maybe one day in the future there will be a vehicle where you touch the steering wheel and the steering wheel will be able to sense … your heart rate, the temperature of your skin, [and] it'll say: 'Look, maybe you're not in the best condition to drive right now,' " says William Altenhof, a professor of mechanical, automotive and materials engineering at the University of Windsor.

"I think that will happen one day. I don't know if it will be in my time."

Fewer fatal crashes

Fatal collisions have been on a relatively steady decline in Canada and other developed countries for a few decades. Numbers from Transport Canada show a downward trend in motor vehicle crash fatalities from 3,501 in 1992 to 2,006 in 2011.

There's no one reason behind that decline, says Transport Canada. While improved vehicle safety features are part of it, the department says other contributing factors include:

• Better road infrastructure, engineering and investment;
• regulations related to speed, occupant restraints, impaired driving and distracted driving, as well as targeted enforcement of these regulations;
• improved trauma treatment;
• changing public attitudes about the importance of road safety.

Societal trends are also important, says Peter Frise, scientific director and CEO of AUTO21, an auto-related research network based out of the University of Windsor.

"The state of the economy affects how many kilometres per year people are driving. The price of fuel is somewhat correlated with how much people are driving" he says.

"If people are driving less, it follows that they'll have fewer road crashes."

Frise thinks Volvo's new features are great, and are "certainly in accord with what's going on throughout the automotive world," where much emphasis is being placed on collision avoidance, in addition to protection of occupants in vehicles.

But none of that matters if drivers ignore features in their cars or trucks.

"You can have the best headlights in the world, but if you're not paying attention out the windshield, then … those headlights don't do anything for you," says Frise.

No instant impact

But even if all drivers were taking advantage of every safety feature offered in their vehicles, and paying close attention to their surroundings, there's still a sense it will be some time before technological advances can make a full impact on road safety.

"It's not enough to say we'll all be safer once Volvo puts this stuff in their cars," says Frise. "We'll all be safer when everybody has it."

A front-facing camera and radar in Volvo's new XC90 are located in the upper part of the windscreen and integrated behind the rear-view mirror. (Volvo Cars of Canada)

And that could take a while.

"The average age of a car in North America is 11 years, so it's going to take a long time" before some of these aids are everywhere, says Frise.

"Just because one model of one car has got a certain technology, that doesn't mean all the other ones do as well. In fact, they don't, and some of these new technologies really only function well if everybody's using them at once."

Still, there is no good reason not to try to enhance auto safety, he says.

And from Volvo's perspective, the ultimate goal, beyond 2020, is "no more crashes," says Engelen.

He knows that's a longer-term prospect, and one that combines a host of better driver training and regulation. "We can't do it alone."

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