Canadian firefighters searched the ashes of a Quebec retirement home Thursday after it burned nearly to the ground on a bleak midwinter night, leaving more than 30 residents feared dead.

Quebec police confirmed five fatalities from the blaze, while three dozen more remained unaccounted for as rescuers prepared to search through the night for more victims.

Canada said on Thursday that it will provide around Can$100 million ($90 million, 65 million euros) to help Jordan cope with an influx of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

The pledge came as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper held talks in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah II about the Syrian conflict and its impact on the kingdom.

A massive fire at a Quebec residence for the elderly has killed at least three people, with 30 more missing, authorities said Thursday.

The blaze at the home, which housed an estimated 50 to 60 elderly people in 52 units, broke out shortly after midnight.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was shouted down by Arab lawmakers at the Israeli Knesset on Monday in a speech which won him a standing ovation from Jewish MPs.

Arab Israeli MP Ahmed Tibi hurled mostly inaudible comments at Harper before walking out with another lawmaker as the Canadian premier delivered a 20-minute speech which was markedly pro-Israel on his first-ever visit to the Jewish state.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada said Monday the staunch Israeli ally would provide additional financial support for the West Bank, as he met Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

"I have the pleasure to announce today that Canada will this year give additional (financial) support for the economic development of the West Bank," Harper told reporters, saying this was key for "social stability" and for advancing peace.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper began his first official visit to Israel on Sunday, with his Israeli counterpart hailing him as a "great friend" of the Jewish state and people.

Canada is one of Israel's staunchest allies and was one of the few countries that opposed a successful Palestinian bid for upgraded status at the United Nations in 2012.

Israel's defense minister has lashed at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, saying a security plan he presented is "not worth the paper it was written on," an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday.

"The American plan for security arrangements that was shown to us... provides neither security nor peace," Moshe Yaalon was quoted by Yediot Aharonot as saying.

Japanese engineering giant JGC Corp. said Tuesday it has won a contract to help build a Canadian liquefied natural gas plant in a deal reportedly worth $9.4 billion.

JGC said its joint venture with U.S.-based Fluor Corp. was awarded the tender by Chevron Canada to design and build the Kitimat LNG plant in the western province of British Columbia.

Canada's closure of science libraries containing a vast repository of environmental data dating back more than a century has researchers worried that valuable books and reference materials are being lost in the name of cost-cutting.

Unique in its shore access to three oceans (Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific) and with the largest number of freshwater lakes in the world, Canada over the years has amassed a huge cache of books and scientific reports on fisheries, meteorology and wildlife -- on everything from beluga whales to songbirds.

A Mexican judge has ordered two Canadian women held for up to 40 days while prosecutors investigate the firebombing of a government office and car dealership, an official said Friday.

The women, both in their 20s, were placed under Mexico's system of "arraigo" detention on Thursday along with a Mexican man.