This image provided by Time magazine, shows the cover of the magazine's Person of the Year edition with President-elect Donald Trump in New York. Time editor Nancy Gibbs said the publication’s choice was a “straightforward” choice of the person who has had the greatest influence on events "for better or worse." (Nadav Kander for Time Magazine via AP)

Highlights from the news file for Thursday, Dec. 8

JOHN GLENN DEAD AT 95: American astronaut John Glenn is dead at age 95. Glenn was the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth, which made him an all-American hero. He later served in the U.S. Senate. He was the last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted that Glenn was "an inspiration to us all."

———

CIVIL RIGHTS TRAIL BLAZER TO APPEAR ON BANKNOTE: A pioneer of Canada's civil rights movement will be the first Canadian woman to appear on the face of a Canadian banknote. Nova Scotia's Viola Desmond is remembered for her refusal to leave her seat in the "white's-only" section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow -- for which she spent a night in jail and paid a $20 fine. She later rallied the black community in Halifax as she launched an appeal of her conviction, which was turned down. Desmond will appear on the 10 dollar bills that go into circulation in 2018.

———

FIRST NATIONS LEADERS WANT IN ON CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS: Indigenous leaders say they should be taking part in discussions about a national climate change plan alongside their provincial and territorial counterparts. They're frustrated at being invited to a separate meeting with the prime minister ahead of Friday's First Ministers meeting in Ottawa, where climate change is expected to dominate the discussion. Assembly of First Nations Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day, the organization's co-chair on climate change, says First Nations deserve to be treated with the same respect as premiers and territorial leaders.

———

FEDS TO BUY NEW SEARCH AND RESCUE PLANES: The federal government says it's going to buy 16 new aircraft to replace the military's aging search and rescue planes. It's ordering the aircraft from European aerospace giant Airbus. The pricetag will be $2.3 billion. The effort to replace Canada's search and rescue planes has been mired in controversy and delays for more than a decade. Initial efforts in 2002 were quickly derailed after the military was accused of rigging its requirements for a new search-and-rescue plane to favour one design.

———

SENATE ABANDONS PLANS TO RECOUP QUESTIONABLE EXPENSE CLAIMS: The Senate is dropping plans to sue a group of former senators to recoup questionable travel, office and housing expenses. The Senate's internal economy committee decided it wasn't worth the cost to sue the seven — one of whom is dead — who refused to repay money flagged by the auditor-general in a review of Senate spending released last year. A statement by the committee said the legal fees that would be required to pursue any claims would be greater than the amount that would be likely recovered.

———

BUSINESS LEADERS WANT AIRPORT SCREENING COSTS SLASHED: A coalition of business leaders in Canada's eight largest cities is putting pressure on the federal government to slash security screening times and cut travelling costs, saying such measures are needed to bolster the economy. The Canadian Global Cities Council is pushing to make airports more internationally competitive in order to attract more tourists, enhance economic activity and improve the travelling experience. It wants international security screening standards to be adapted and targeted checks of travellers from high-risk countries to speed up how long it takes to pass through security.

———

BC OPENS OVERDOSE PREVENTION SITES: British Columbia's opioid crisis has prompted the province to open new overdose prevention sites, which will offer similar services to supervised-injection sites. Two sites were to open Thursday in Vancouver, while another two locations open next week in Victoria and the final two will open in Surrey later this month. The provincial government says all the sites are in areas with high numbers of overdoses and are an immediate response while supervised-injection site applications are in development or awaiting approval from Health Canada. Health Minister Terry Lake says the province is seeing an alarming increase in overdose deaths and action is required at all levels to save lives.

———

MOTHER OF MAN ACCUSED IN CHARLESTON SHOOTINGS HAD HEART ATTACK: Dylann Roof's lawyers say his mother suffered a heart attack after listening to opening statements in her son's death penalty trial. Roof's mother collapsed as she tried to stand after prosecutor Jay Richardson detailed what he said was Roof's cold and calculated plan to kill nine black people in a Charleston church in a racially motivated attack. She said "I'm sorry" several times as family members and court security came to help. The filing did not give her current condition. Roof's lawyers detailed the heart attack in a request Thursday for a mistrial because of the emotional testimony of the first day of his death penalty trial. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel denied the request and testimony continued Thursday.

———

FIRST NATION MAKES LAND CLAIM OVER PARLIAMENT HILL: Ontario's Algonquin Anishinabe First Nation is seeking aboriginal title over much of downtown Ottawa, including Parliament Hill. It has filed a claim in Ontario's Superior Court, saying it never ceded control over what it considers its traditional lands. The claim includes islands in the Ottawa River, as well as a long stretch of shoreline that includes Parliament, the Supreme Court, the National Library and the Canadian War Museum.

———

GIRAFFES AT RISK OF EXTINCTION: Biologists say giraffes are at risk of extinction. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature says the giraffe population has shrunk nearly 40 per cent in just 30 years. Scientists have put it on the official watch list of threatened and endangered species worldwide, calling it "vulnerable." That's two steps up the danger ladder from its previous designation of being a species of least concern. Scientists blame habitat loss.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016