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MARIPOSA, Calif. -- A blaze burning in foothills west of Yosemite National Park destroyed dozens of structures and forced thousands to flee Gold Rush-era towns but fire crews have been able to stop it from reaching a threatened community on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Source

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to halt the CIA's years-long covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the regime of the nation's president Bashar al-Assad. Russia had long pushed the United States to end the program. Source

A Thai army general was one of dozens of people convicted in a major human trafficking trial that included 103 defendants accused of involvement in a modern-day slavery trade. Lt.-Gen. Manas Kongpaen was convicted of several offences Wednesday involving trafficking and taking bribes in the case involving migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Source

An eighth North Atlantic right whale has been found dead and another is entangled in fishing gear in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Marine Animal Response Society said in a Facebook post. In the past two months, seven other right whales have been found dead in the the Gulf of St. Source

In the tiny central B.C. community of Riske Creek, logging and ranching are a way of life, but in recent days, many of the 90 or so residents have found themselves on the front line of one of the largest fires in the province. Source

The ship that may have cost the military's second-in-command his career will be formally unveiled in an elaborate ceremony Thursday at Quebec's Chantier Davie Shipyard. The MV Asterix will serve as a temporary naval supply ship, starting early in the new year, after it goes through a series of shakedown trials. Source

The Liberal government has launched a $1-billion project to rehabilitate the crumbling Supreme Court building, though key systems are at risk of failure long before any repairs begin. A water-damaged section of the parking garage roof could collapse by the end of next year, and mechanical and electrical systems are predicted to fail by 2020 and 2021, says an internal document obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act. Source

It's nearing midnight in a dimly lit park in Istanbul, not far from the sea, and eight-year-old Kais is scooting around on his new bike. He's joined by a dozen other Syrian boys and girls, scampering on the slides and laughing on the swings under a full moon. Source

U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for the next ambassador to Canada, a deep-pocketed Republican donor with influential allies in Congress and family ties with a Kentucky coal empire, faces her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. Kelly Knight Craft will testify before the Senate committee on foreign relations in a joint session with Trump's nominees for ambassador to NATO and the U.K. Source

WASHINGTON - Members of the Trump campaign's inner circle, including his eldest son and son-in-law, are being called before Senate committees next week to talk about the 2016 election. The week has the potential to deliver the most high-profile congressional testimony involving the Russian meddling probes since former FBI Director James Comey appeared in June. Source