Canada

Canada's federal government said it would send military aircraft to assist emergency services in British Columbia battling to control the fires.

Earlier this week, people had to flee the village of Lytton in the province.

Lytton, which recorded Canada's highest ever temperature of 49.6C on Tuesday, was later destroyed by fire.

The blaze in the village, which is home to some 250 people and located about 260km north-east of Vancouver, forced many residents to leave without their belongings on Wednesday evening.

Brad Vis said the fire had caused extensive damage to Lytton, in British Columbia, and to surrounding critical infrastructure.

Jan Polderman, mayor of Lytton, told the BBC he had been "lucky to get out with my own life".

"There won't be very much left of Lytton," he said. "There was fire everywhere."

Mr Polderman told the BBC's Newshour programme his town was engulfed by a "wall of fire".

He had earlier ordered people to evacuate, saying flames had spread through the village in just 15 minutes.

Police in the Vancouver area have responded to more than 130 sudden deaths since Friday. Most were elderly or had underlying health conditions, with heat often a contributing factor.

Canada broke its temperature record for a third straight day on Tuesday at 49.6C in Lytton, British Columbia.

The US north-west has also seen record highs - and a number of fatalities.

Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves. However, linking any single event to global warming is complicated.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) has issued excessive heat warnings and watches across nearly all of Washington and Oregon state. Parts of California and Idaho are also affected.

Multnomah county, in Oregon, has warned of "life-threatening" heat.

Some cities have opened cooling centres, where residents can escape the heat in air-conditioned buildings.

The soaring temperatures are due to a dome of high pressure hovering over northwestern United States and Canada.

The fires at St Ann's Church and the Chopaka Church began within in an hour of each other in British Columbia.

Officers said both buildings were completely destroyed, and that they are treating the fires as "suspicious".

Last Monday two other Catholic churches in the province were destroyed in fires, as Canada marked National Indigenous People's Day.

"The investigations into the previous fires and these two new fires are ongoing with no arrests or charges," RCMP Sgt Jason Bayda said.

The Cowessess First Nation said the discovery was "the most significantly substantial to date in Canada".

It comes weeks after the remains of 215 children were found at a similar residential school in British Columbia.

"This is not a mass grave site. These are unmarked graves," Cowessess chief Cadmus Delorme said.

The Marieval Indian Residential School was operated by the Roman Catholic Church from 1899 to 1997 in the area where Cowessess is now located in southeastern Saskatchewan.

It is not yet clear if all of the remains are linked to the school.

The children were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, which closed in 1978.

The discovery was announced on Thursday by the chief of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was a "painful reminder" of a "shameful chapter of our country's history".

The First Nation is working with museum specialists and the coroner's office to establish the causes and timings of the deaths, which are not currently known.

About 900 residents of Tumbler Ridge, a small community in the foothills of the British Columbia Rockies, were left without internet over the weekend after a beaver chewed through a crucial fibre cable.

Internet provider Telus said it appeared the beaver was digging underground alongside a creek when it came across the cables, which were buried about 1 metre deep and protected by an 11-centimetre conduit.

Opposition to holding the Games in July has risen sharply in the past 48 hours, with several major stakeholders such as US Track and Field and UK Athletics, along with several national Olympic committees, calling for a delay because of the pandemic.

More than 13,000 people have died globally since the coronavirus outbreak began.

On Friday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were photographed touching down in Canada following a whirlwind few weeks, which included a speaking engagement at an exclusive JPMorgan event in Miami, as well as a reported visit Tuesday to Stanford University in California.

Leading the way, Meghan, 38, paired her dark pants and jacket with a striped button-up shirt while Harry, 35, kept it casual with a gray half-zip, jeans, and a baseball cap. The pair are said to have flown commercial, according to E! News, amid past criticism of using private jets.