--Seventeenth NewsWatch--

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(Pharmacare)

Federal Health Minister Mark Holland says Ottawa is open to adding more medications to the list of drugs covered by its proposed pharmacare program.

Conservative health critic Stephen Ellis asked the minister why a class of antidiabetic medication was not included in a list of drugs initially offered by the legislation.

The bill does not include Ozempic, a new medication for diabetes that has been used off-label as a weight-loss drug.

Holland says the current list represents an "absolute minimum,'' and the government is open to adding to it based on negotiations with provinces and recommendations from a parliamentary committee. (17)

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(Cda-US-NATO)

Ahead of the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington, D-C, A group of 23 U-S senators are writing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to urge Canada to increase NATO defence spending.

The letter says they are concerned and profoundly disappointed that Canada's most recent projection indicated that it will not reach its two-per-cent G-D-P commitment within this decade.

Both Trudeau and Defence Minister Bill Blair have said the government expects to spend more than that in the end, however, because the policy also includes plans to buy a new fleet of submarines and other equipment that has not been costed. (17)

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(Ont-UofT-Encampment) (Audio: 124)

The University of Toronto says protesters will have 24 hours before further action is taken to end the encampment on the downtown campus.

The university says it has met with representatives from the encampment, issued proposals and now the matter is up to them.

University President Meric Gertler says no matter what, the encampment must end and if an agreement with the protesters is not reached, further action will be needed. (17)

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(US-Campus-Protests-Harvard-Commencement)

Hundreds of students in graduation robes walked out of the Harvard commencement ceremony chanting free Palestine, after weeks of protests on campus.

It comes a day after the school announced that 13 Harvard students who participated in a protest encampment would not be able to receive diplomas alongside their classmates.

Student speaker Shruthi Kumar says this semester their freedom of speech and expressions of solidarity became punishable. (17)

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(Eby-Housing) (Audio: 122)

The second phase of a homebuilding partnership between British Columbia, Metro Vancouver and non-profit housing providers will deliver up to 670 below-market rental units in four separate urban areas.

B-C Premier David Eby says phase two follows a memorandum of understanding signed last year to create two-thousand affordable rental homes over the next decade.

The province is providing 226-million dollars to the project, while Metro Vancouver is contributing land and cash worth more than 367-million. (17)

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(EU-Russia-Belarus)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Belarus for a two-day visit as part of several foreign tours to kick off his fifth term in office.

Putin is to hold talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, who greeted him on the tarmac before they held a "short conversation'' at the airport.

Russia uses Belarus as a staging ground in the war in Ukraine, deploying some of its troops there from Belarusian territory.

In 2023, Russia also moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. (17)

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(NewsWatch by John Kennedy)

The Canadian Press