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Suspected Islamic militants ambushed a military post in western Niger and killed at least 70 soldiers, a presidential adviser said late Wednesday, marking the deadliest attack on the West African country's forces in recent memory. The violence comes just days ahead of a summit in France where French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to meet with West African leaders to discuss the future of the French military's role in the Sahel region. Source

WHAKATANE, NEW ZEALAND -- The eruption was so silent that Lillani Hopkins didn't hear it over the hum of the boat's engines. She didn't turn around until her dad whacked her. Then she saw it. Source

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady and signaled borrowing costs are likely to remain unchanged indefinitely, with moderate economic growth and low unemployment expected to continue through next year's presidential election. The decision by the U.S. Source

VICTORIA -- As investigators prepare to comb through the wreckage of the deadly plane crash on Gabriola Island Tuesday, new witness accounts are offering insight into the doomed flight's final moments. Dave Holme lives five houses down from the impact site on the northern tip of Gabriola Island. Source

OTTAWA -- Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is raising the case of a Canadian man detained in Cairo with the Egyptian government today. Champagne's spokesman says Yasser Ahmen Albaz's case was part of a discussion between Champagne and his Egyptian counterpart at a meeting today in Egypt. Source

France's prime minister offered concessions Wednesday in an ill-fated effort to calm a nationwide protest against pension reforms that critics say will erode the country's way of life, but he said the full retirement age must be increased for the country's youngest citizens. Source

It's official: Saudi Aramco is the biggest, most valuable company in the world. As oil prices remain stubbornly low and giant hedge funds vow to stay away from big energy investments, Aramco raised a record-setting $25.6 billion US in its much-anticipated initial public offering on Wednesday. Source

After the first crash of a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max last year, U.S. federal safety officials estimated that there could be 15 more fatal crashes of the Max over the next few decades if Boeing didn't fix a critical automated flight-control system. Source

John Ilett and his colleagues were working at a fish farm off the coast of northern Vancouver Island this week when they witnessed a knock-down drag-out fight between an octopus and bald eagle and caught the battle on video. Source

Indian lawmakers approved legislation on Wednesday granting citizenship to non-Muslims who migrated illegally from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Critics of the government said the legislation undermines the country's secular constitution, as protests against the law intensified in some parts of the country. Source