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EPA
HOMS - Government forces shelled the central Syrian city of Homs on Monday, striking a makeshift medical clinic and residential areas and killing at least 17 people in the third day of a new assault on the epicenter of the country’s uprising, activists said. The government denied shelling the city, however, and said “armed terrorist groups” were attacking civilians and police in several neighborhoods. (AFP)
MORE: Forces launch offensive in Homs US closes embassy in Damascus Army steps up shelling
PREVIOUS: Syrian uprising Bashar al-Assad Arab League
RELATED: Russia admits brief cut of gas supplies to Europe
SALVADOR - Thousands of police strikers occupying part of the state legislature in the tense northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador vowed to resist Monday if government troops moved to evict them amid escalating violence reported to have claimed 83 lives. Saturday, a contingent of 3,500 army, navy and federal police took control of security in Bahia 3 days after leading police officers went on strike demanding higher pay. (AFP)
MORE: Troops sent in
AFP
NEGROS ORIENTAL - At least 15 people have died after a 6.7 magnitude quake struck the central Philippines. The quake hit 70km north of Dumaguete city on Negros island at 11:49 at a depth of 20km, according to the US Geological Survey. The Office of Civil Defense told the BBC that at least 29 people were also reported missing. But one local report put the number of dead at 43. (BBC)
MORE: Tsunami warning triggers panic Earthquake kills 43
EPA
LAHORE - A gas explosion reduced a three-storey factory to rubble, killing two people and trapping dozens more on Monday, according to police and officials in the Pakistani city of Lahore. (Telegraph UK)
MORE: Scores trapped Factory collapse
AP
GRAHAM – "I'm sorry, goodbye," Josh Powell' wrote in an email to his attorney just minutes before authorities say he set fire to his home, killing himself and his 2 young sons days after he was denied custody and ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation. The Sunday blaze at Powell's home brought yet another twist in the very public scandal that began when Susan Powell vanished in 2009. (KING 5)
MORE: 'I'm sorry, goodbye' Murders-suicide Murderer
CHIHUAHUA - Gunmen killed 9 people, including a police officer and 5 musicians, and wounded 11 others at a nightclub in the northern Mexican city of Chihuahua. (LAHT)
PREVIOUS: Cartels
DELHI - Internet giants Google Inc and Facebook removed content from some Indian domain websites on Monday following a court directive warning them of a crackdown “like China” if they did not take steps to protect religious sensibilities. The two are among 21 companies asked to develop a mechanism to block objectionable material after a private petitioner took them to court over images deemed offensive to Hindus, Muslims and Christians. (Reuters)
BEIJING - China said Monday it has banned its airlines from complying with an EU scheme to impose charges on carbon emissions opposed by more than two dozen countries including India, Russia and the US. A statement on the website of China's State Council also said airlines were barred from using the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) to increase fares or other passenger charges. (AFP)
PREVIOUS: Climate Debate
RELATED: Chinese spend big in foreign countries during Chinese New Year
VATICAN CITY - Catholic leaders from around the world gathered on Monday for an unprecedented Vatican summit to find ways to root out pedophilia in the clergy that came under heavy criticism from victims. Bishops from 100 countries and the leaders of 33 religious orders will take part in the four-day meeting, as well as the Vatican's anti-abuse prosecutor Charles Scicluna and just one abuse victim, Ireland's Marie Collins. (AFP)
PREVIOUS: Catholic Church abuses
Ecstasy-related deaths sparking debate
Over the past year and until now, there have been 19 deaths in BC and 12 in Alberta related to ecstasy overdoses - at least 5 in the past few weeks alone. 13 of those total deaths have been linked to PMMA a chemical turning up inside Canadian ecstasy. (National Post)
MORE: Cops slam harm-reduction campaign
PREVIOUS: More deaths linked Tainted ecstasy death Deaths linked to toxin Same contaminants
PARIS - Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title and banned for two years after sport’s highest court found him guilty of doping.
Reuters
CAIRO - Egypt's military rulers were facing mounting pressure on two fronts Sunday, with a fourth day of violent street protests spearheading calls to speed up the transfer of power to a civilian administration and the US threatening to cut more than a billion dollars in badly needed aid. The protests, which were sparked by anger at the authorities inability to prevent a riot after a soccer match last week left 74 people dead, have morphed from a demonstration of anger at the police into renewed calls on the military to step down. (AP)
MORE: Street battles enter 4th day Junta stands to gain from unrest
PREVIOUS: 3rd day Street clashes 2011 Egyptian revolution
RELATED: Egypt 'to put on trial foreign NGO workers' NGO Egypt refers 43 foreign NGO workers to criminal trial NGOs named
KANDAHAR - 7 people were killed Sunday in a suicide car bomb attack on police headquarters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a bastion of Taliban militancy. 3 policemen and 4 civilians died in the blast in the car park, the ministry said in a statement, while 9 other people were injured. (AFP)
RELATED: Taliban military comeback
SICHUAN - 3 Tibetans have set fire to themselves in south-west China, reports say, in the latest apparent protest against rule from Beijing. Exiled activists said one Tibetan died and the others had serious injuries. If confirmed, the latest protest would mean 19 Tibetans had self-immolated in the past year and 13 of them had died. Most of the protesters are Buddhist monks or nuns. Beijing has described the self-immolators as terrorists. (BBC)
MORE: 3 Tibetans self-immolate
RELATED: CCP's not so hidden hand
OTTAWA - Just what legally constitutes a foreign activity in Canada that is detrimental to this country's national security interests these days, anyway? As it turns out, Canada is practically incapable of answering that question with any enforceable coherence. (Ottawa Citizen)
Rob Walsh
OTTAWA - Rob Walsh sat ringside in Parliament for 20 years and watched a paradox unfold. Even as members of Parliament saw a historic reassertion of their ancient parliamentary privileges, increasingly strident partisan politics steadily eroded the rules and respect for the institution that is supposed to keep the government’s power in check. (PostMedia)
PREVIOUS: House of Commons law clerk
Appointed board's concept of success
TORONTO - Calgene Corp of Summit, NJ, agreed to permanently lower the prices it charges for Thalomid. The drug was being sold for $31.35 a pill for the 50-milligram dose. Under the voluntary compliance undertaking, the dosage prices will be lowered (-$1.74) to $29.61. The offer is the result of a review of the product undertaken by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, an economic tribunal set up by the federal government. The new pricing regime will remain in place for as long as the drug is under the review board's jurisdiction - in other words as long as it is under patent. (CP)
Cocaine, alcohol, explosives, knives and handcuff keys are part of the haul at federal prisons as officials across the country struggle with a rising tide of contraband. Between 2007 and 2011, the amounts of drugs, intoxicants, weapons and other unauthorized items confiscated by prison staff has steadily risen, in some cases by more than 170%, according to documents obtained by the Star. In August 2008, the federal government pledged $122M over 5 years in an effort to eliminate drugs from federal prisons. The funding went toward purchasing additional security equipment. (Toronto Star)
Bad law draws criminal complaint
A Quebec man has filed a criminal complaint against Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu for a comment he believes could incite suicide. The complaint comes after the Conservative senator said this week that he was against the death penalty, but not opposed to ropes being left in the cells of serial killers who have no chance of rehabilitation. He said they should have the option of taking their own life. (CBC)
COMMENT: Why we all hate politics
PREVIOUS: Lots of support
RELATED: End of life options
CALGARY - It's a familiar sound: the jangle of a shopping cart filled with empties being pushed down a bumpy back alley. In many parts of the city, bottle pickers are so commonplace that people aren’t surprised if what they leave outside their blue bins is gone within minutes. (PostMedia)
RELATED: Power of central banks
Omar Brebesh
TRIPOLI - Omar Brebesh, who served in the Paris embassy from 2004 to 2008 was detained on January 19 and appears to have died from torture, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The report into Brebesh’s apparent torture and killing comes days after Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced it was suspending its work in Misrata detention centres because militias there were torturing detainees while asking the doctors for medical assistance. (Jazeera)
PREVIOUS: Militia accused of torture Libyan civil war
AP
KABUL - Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, the United Nations said Saturday. Taliban-affiliated militants were responsible for more than three-quarters of the civilian deaths in 2011, the fifth year in a row in which the death toll went up, the UN said. (AP)
MORE: Civilian death toll hits' record high'
PREVIOUS: War in Afghanistan
AP
MOSCOW - Tens of thousands of Russians flooded downtown Moscow on Saturday to demand an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule, braving sub-zero temperatures to keep the protest movement alive one month before a presidential election that Putin is still expected to win. The protest - which drew 120,000 people, according to organizers - was the third mass demonstration since Putin's party won a parliamentary election Dec. 4 with the help of what appeared to be widespread fraud. (AP)
MORE: Protests return to freezing streets
VENTURA - A member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club who has 4 felony "strike" convictions was sentenced Friday to 35 years to life in prison. Lawyers representing Thomas Heath, 64, asked the judge to give their client 17 years in prison. Heath was convicted of dissuading a victim and street terrorism. (Ventura County Star)
DELHI - The RCMP have implicated a Canadian tech executive in an alleged bribery and bid-rigging scheme that involves prominent public figures in India at a time when outrage over corruption has paralyzed its Parliament. The federal Justice Department is planning to prosecute businessman Nazir Karigar, an Indian-born Canadian citizen on charges that he violated the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act – a law that forbids the payment of bribes abroad. (Globe & Mail)
MORE: Bribery case 'No evidence Patel took bribe'
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday for the first time that his government is considering increasing the eligibility age for Canada's Old Age Security (OAS) system, which provides benefits for people once they turn 65. (PostMedia)
PREVIOUS: Pension changes won't kick-in without notice Rethink your retirement OAS to age 67 Retirement agenda 70 should be the new 65
First Nations' teeth have been good for us
Treating impoverished First Nations patients is a surprisingly lucrative enterprise for the country's dentists, with the six highest-billing practitioners receiving more than $1M a year from Health Canada, according to government figures the National Post obtained. (PostMedia)
MORE: 1stN school can't afford teachers Court decision brings 1stN legal claims down to earth
PREVIOUS: Judge rules for appointed manager
A number of companies tout the supposed health benefits of their food products but the claims don't resonate with nutrition and medical experts. (CBC)
MORE: Maple leaf changes labels
RELATED: Super Bowl Commercials 2012
AFP
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Some 246 survivors have been rescued in the aftermath the sinking of a passenger ferry off the east coast of Papua New Guinea, authorities said Friday. More than 100 people remained unaccounted for. About 350 people were aboard the MV Rabaul Queen when it sank. (CNN)
MORE: MV Rabaul Queen Hope for more survivors
AP
EU - Hungarian villagers were scavenging for coal with their bare hands on Thursday as a blast of Siberian air killed scores in Eastern Europe and looked set to keep its icy grip on the continent for another week. At least 139 people have died across Eastern Europe and Germany since the cold snap began, interrupting what had been an unusually mild European winter. (AFP)
MORE: No end in sight EU deep freeze Ukraine weather deaths pass 100 EU freeze hits transport hubs Snow falls in Rome for 1st time in 26 years
OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada issued a landmark ruling Friday on what constitutes a corporate trade secret under the Access to Information Act. The 6-3 decision is victory for advocates of more open government and it raises the bar for companies who rely on exemptions in the act to block the release of documents that might contain sensitive corporate information that could hurt their business. (CP)
JUDGMENT: 2012 SCC 3
A new strain of the Sykipot Trojan is been used to compromise the Department of Defense-sanctioned smart cards used to authorize network and building access at many US government agencies, according to security researchers. (Register)
MORE: Hijacking smart cards
RELATED: India sought backdoor access from mobile firms Hackers target law firms to get secret deal data
MONTREAL - A casual text message to work colleagues encouraging them to ''blow away'' the competition at a trade show allegedly plunged a Muslim man into a terrorism probe. Telecommunications sales manager Saad Allami says the innocent message, aimed at pumping up his staff, has had devastating consequences on his life. (CP)
MORE: Quip made me a terror suspect
LONDON - A sensitive conference call between FBI and British police's cybercrime investigators was recorded by the very people they were trying to catch, officials and hackers said Friday. Hacking collective Anonymous published a roughly 15-minute-long recording of a conference call apparently devoted to tracking and prosecuting members of the loosely-knit group. The FBI said the information "was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained." (AP)
MORE: FBI probe call hacking
PREVIOUS: Anonymous Big Brother Mexican websites EU nations sign ACTA ACTA Double standard on 'secrets'
IPO puts 'public markets' to shame
NEW YORK - Facebook's imminent stock sale risks putting public stock markets to shame. Investors will surely clamour for a piece of the social network. But unlike Google's 2004 initial public offering, everyone who's anyone has already made a killing off Mark Zuckerberg's dorm-room project. At a $100 billion valuation, it's hard to imagine much could remain. (Reuters)
MORE: Facts learned from IPO paperwork
Green rules driving up food prices
Over the past 10 years, beef prices have risen by roughly 26%, and pork prices have gone up by 14%. The price of animal feed has gone up largely due to the demand for corn and wheat to make ethanol. In recent years governments have mandated that gasoline must be blended with a certain percentage of ethanol in order to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In the US, 40% of the nation's corn crop is now being used for ethanol production. In Ontario that number is 30%. (CTV)
From mixing machines to pink Swiffer sheets, there are thousands of pink products on the market that support the fight against breast cancer. But consumers need to do their homework because not all pink products are legitimate. Around 19% of contributions to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation come from Shop for the Cure sales, its partnership with businesses who sell products through cause marketing programs. But seeing a pink ribbon on a product isn't a guarantee you're buying products that support the foundation. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: Non-Profit Industry
Catalyst files for creditor protection
VANCOUVER - Struggling pulp and paper producer Catalyst Paper Corp. said Tuesday it has decided to file for court protection from creditors after some workers and bondholders rejected the company's plan for restructuring debt and cutting costs. (Canadian Business)
MORE: Tax battle won by town 2012 SCC 2 BC taxing industry to the bone
UNHCR
GENEVA - More than 1,500 people drowned or went missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in 2011 making it the deadliest stretch of water for refugees last year, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday. (AFP)
REPORT: More than 1,500 in 2011
Saskatoon-Humboldt Conservative MP Brad Trost is questioning the "ironclad" party discipline that prevails in Ottawa, saying it stifles debate and prevents independent thinking. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)
OTTAWA - Public servant harassment complaints cost taxpayers more than $2.5M in consultant fees, according to latest federal government figures. Public Works and Government Services costs obtained by the Citizen show that 27 consulting companies - most of them in Ottawa - are on the standing order list of contractors brought in when harassment complaints can’t be resolved internally. In the fiscal years 2009-2010, the latest full year available, 477 harassment cases were handled by outside consultants. (Ottawa Citizen)
OTTAWA - The RCMP Public Complaints Commission is asking for the public's input in its probe of how the Mounties dealt with harassment complaints within the force. The commission's inquiry, launched in November by interim chairman Ian McPhail, will examine whether the RCMP followed laws and policies when investigating allegations of workplace harassment and conducted investigations in a thorough and impartial manner. It will also look at whether existing RCMP guidelines for dealing with such allegations are adequate. (PostMedia)
JD report prompts RCMP reaction
The RCMP has scrapped plans to send hundreds of officers to Arizona for training in recognizing and testing drug-impaired drivers after learning that the sheriff's office they had partnered with has been accused of engaging in "unconstitutional policing." Officer Christopher Hegstrom, a spokesman for the sheriff's office said Monday in a statement that the accusations against the force are unproven and overstated by a "sensationalistic press, and so far represent mere words uttered by administration officials in Washington, DC, who refuse to provide any proof that the allegations may have any basis in fact." (PostMedia)
COMMENT: Sheriff for Commissioner
TORONTO - The business of collecting donated clothes, selling them in local thrift stores and shipping them overseas has become so lucrative it has created a cut-throat turf war in Ontario. In 2010, Canadian exports of worn clothes were valued at $174M. Ontario's share of that market is over $132M. Independent drivers are paid by collection companies to pick up the donations. The collection companies pay the drivers by the pound and in turn sell the clothes at a profit to bulk buyers, who then often resell it to for-profit thrift stores and buyers in the Third World. Charities do get some of the money but it is often a flat fee. (CBC)
IQALUIT - Nunavut’s coroner says there were 34 suicides last year in the territory, the second-highest number since 1999. The youngest was 12 years old. Iqaluit had a record high of 11 suicide deaths last year. Nunavut's 37 suicides in 2003 remains the territory's record high. (CBC)
Scientific research in the Arctic will be largely curtailed for at least a year after the Canadian icebreaker Amundsen was taken out of service for major repairs. The 33-year-old Amundsen, Canada’s only dedicated research icebreaker, is docked in Trois-Rivieres, Que., where it is to undergo major repairs, including replacing at least four of its six diesel engines. The ship, which is to be featured on Canada’s new $50 bill, is not expected to be put back in service until May 2013 at the earliest. (Toronto Star)
OTTAWA - 3 doctors from Saudi Arabia are suing the University of Ottawa and several of its officials for more than $100M. The suit claimis racial discrimination, conspiracy to injure, defamation, breach of contract, and negligence, among other allegations. (QMI)
NEW YORK - A former Bonanno crime family captain who helped put mob boss Vinny “Gorgeous” Basciano away for life - and who also ratted out dozens of other wiseguys - was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for his role in two Mafia rubouts. Dominick Cicale, who has already served 7 years behind bars, will get credit for that time, and when he gets out will be re-settled under a new identity in the witness-protection program. (NY Post)
LIUZHOU - China said on Tuesday that it had detained 7 company executives after tonnes of industrial waste including a toxic metal polluted a river, threatening water supplies for millions of people. A 300-kilometre (190-mile) stretch of the Longjiang River in the southern region of Guangxi could eventually be contaminated, sparking panic buying of bottled water in nearby cities, state media said. (AFP)
PREVIOUS: Don't drink the water Cadmium
RELATED: China steps up security in Tibet
WASHINGTON - US prosecutors have said that data belonging to Megaupload users and stored by third parties could be deleted as soon as Thursday. Users have been unable to access data since the file-sharing service was raided. The warning was made in a letter filed by the US Attorney's Office. Megaupload's lawyer Ira Rothken told the AP that at least 50M users had data which could be deleted. (BBC)
MORE: WikiLeaks & Megaupload
PREVIOUS: Greed & Corruption: Copyright
RELATED: Censorship machine You are the product
OTTAWA - The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has established 3 foreign-aid pilot projects in Africa and South America with large mining corporations, as part of a plan to ensure that foreign aid also fuels economic growth and international trade at home. (Globe & Mail)
MORE: What's going on at CIDA?
TORONTO - Canada has joined Colombia as a leading exporter of synthetic or designer drugs, flooding the global market on an almost unprecedented scale, police say. (QMI)
PREVIOUS: MB growing haven 100 years of the war on drugs US opens new Canadian front in war on drugs ONDCP National northern border counternarcotics strategy .pdf
MONTREAL - Along with his father, Vito Rizzuto built a criminal empire in Montreal. Drugs, extortion, loan-sharking ... and millions upon millions of dollars, squirreled away in bank accounts from the Cayman Islands to Eastern Europe. The Rizzutos ran their operation virtually unfettered for 30 years. But then, things began to unravel. (CBC 5th Estate)
PREVIOUS: Deported killer ready to return Advisor agrees to be deported Mafia
CBC
VANCOUVER - One former and one current student were killed when a mini-van carrying 3 young men collided head-on with another car carrying 3 young women at Dewdney Trunk Road and Dunbar St around 2:30am Sunday. RCMP are still investigating the cause of the accident but say it looks like speed was a factor. (CBC)
Muslim clerics in Canada issued a fatwa on Saturday against honour killings, domestic violence and hatred of women. “These crimes are major sins in Islam, punishable by the court of law and almighty Allah,” said Prof. Imam Syed Soharwardy, representing 34 clerics affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada (ISCC). The fatwa - a morally binding religious edict - was issued by the ISCC in the wake of a quadruple-murder trial involving a polygamous Muslim-Canadian family living in Montreal. (Toronto Star)
MORE: Fatwa condemns 'honour killings' Imams condemn honour killings
PREVIOUS: Guilty Shafia family murder PTC murder
Fribjon Bjornson
FORT ST JAMES - Police in BC have identified the human remains found in a vacant home on the Nak'azdli reserve in BC Friday. The victim is 28-year-old Fribjon Bjornson. Bjornson was reported missing on Jan 21, and the remains were reported to police Wednesday afternoon. The motive and exact cause of death remains under investigation at this time. (QMI)
MORE: Suspicious death
PREVIOUS: Missing man
Ian John Folster
WINNIPEG - Police say three males, ages 17, 18 and 21, are each facing one count of second degree murder for their involvement in a fatal stabbing. On Thursday, Ian John Folster died from his injuries, after spending more than a week in the hospital. The 29-year-old was stabbed on January 25 at a home in the 400-block of Bannerman Ave. Adam Kent Monias, 18, Stephan Charles Monias, 21, and a 17 year old boy are facing one count each of second degree murder. (CTV)
MORE: Victim dies
VICTORIA - Internal RCMP documents show the force scrambling to fill jobs in BC despite years of warnings that chronic understaffing is putting police and the public at risk. One in 10 Mountie positions in BC sits empty, says a management report obtained by the Times Colonist. Jobs left unfilled due to medical, parental and other forms of extended leave push the vacancy rate to almost 16% province wide and to 17.4% on Vancouver Island. (Victoria Times Colonist)
CALGARY - Earlier this week, an informal computer hacking collective that operates under the name “Anonymous” released the addresses and phone numbers of thousands of people who had registered with websites affiliated with white-supremacist causes. Of the more than 70 Canadian residents revealed, more than a dozen were listed in Calgary and Edmonton. (PostMedia)
MORE: Hacked neo-Nazi websites reveal Canadian connections Nazi-leaks.info Ron Paul linked
RELATED: Feb 11 ACTA day of action
Billy Bowden
WINNIPEG - 13 people alleged by police to be "high-level" drug dealers were charged Friday in connection with the latest largescale sweep orchestrated by Manitoba's organized crime unit. Project Deplete, a police investigation that began last August and culminated Friday with arrests in Winnipeg and Edmonton, is the latest effort of Manitoba's Integrated Organized Crime Task Force. (QMI)
MORE: Arrested appear in rap video
PREVIOUS: Drug bust
VPD
VANCOUVER – Police say 2 men have been arrested and charged after 34 bank robberies in and around the city. Duane Robert Burd, 39, has been charged with 20 counts of robbery and 6 counts of using an imitation firearm. Timothy Peter Everett, 30, has been charged with 11 counts of robbery, 3 counts of using an imitation firearm and additional charges. (CTV)
MORE: 2 suspects arrested
TORONTO - ORNGE has paid $11M to lawyers - taxpayer money used to create its now bankrupt for-profit companies, two closed charities and to raise funds on Bay Street. The legal expenses, covering 2006 to January 2012, were released by ORNGE to the Star this week. Almost $9M went to the Toronto based law firm of Fasken Martineau, where key ORNGE adviser and federal Liberal strategist Alf Apps is a partner. The remaining payments went to other law firms. (Toronto Star)
PREVIOUS: Non-Profit Industry
MONTREAL - The province will head to court to seek a multimillion-dollar compensation from an engineering consortium it blames for last summer's collapse in the Viger Tunnel. It announced the lawsuit Friday upon releasing a report that said the collapse of a huge concrete slab onto the Ville-Marie expressway happened because of shoddy preparation before maintenance work. (CTV)
MONTREAL - Kinh Ho Quan, 56, and Hermel Bosse, 58, were arrested this week on charges alleging they took part in at least 20 fraudulent transactions totalling nearly $4.5M and bilked individuals, financial institutions and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which provides mortgage loan insurance. (PostMedia)
CBC
HALIFAX - An 18-year-old is facing charges after another man was stabbed to death in Halifax last night. When police arrived on the scene they found a 25-year-old man on the corner of Ashdale Ave and Titus St, suffering from a stab wound. Marc Bernard Tremblay of Halifax was pronounced dead shortly after paramedics arrived on the scene. Police say Aidan David Cromwell of Halifax has been charged with second-degree murder and two counts of breach of recognizance. (CTV)
MORE: Teen charged Man charged
CityNews
TORONTO - One man is dead and a Toronto police officer sustained injuries following a fatal shooting in an east-end neighbourhood Friday morning. Officers were called to Milverton Blvd before 10:30am following reports of a suspicious incident involving a man with scissors. Police confronted the man armed with two pairs of scissors before at least three shots were fired. (CTV)
MORE: Man shot by police Man identified
Brandon James Howson
VANCOUVER - A man connected to the drug trade in Maple Ridge has been identified as the person who was found dead in a Pitt Meadows field on Tuesday. Brandon Howson, 26, was discovered by a passerby around 10:30am, lying face down in a cranberry field at the end of 224th St by 144th Ave. He lived nearby. Police believe he was murdered. (Maple Ridge News)
MORE: Victim identified Victim known to police
LONGUEUIL - Aided by an anonymous tip, the Longueuil police say that a murder committed 5 years ago could now be solved. A man, 41, and 3 women aged between 20 and 35 were arrested Thursday morning in connection with the August 2007 murder of Yannick Boucher, 27. Boucher was struck by bullets in his Old Longueuil apartment on Roy Street. The 41-year-old man was a Chambly resident and will be charged with second degree murder. The three women will be charged as accomplices for furnishing false information to the police and hindering a police investigation. (CTV)
MORE: Arrests made
PREVIOUS: Quebec murders 2007
MONTREAL - A fugitive Hells Angel who was nabbed by police on a Montreal city bus has been arraigned on murder charges. Stephane Menard was picked up Thursday after being on the run since 2009. The biker is accused of fatally shooting Robert Leger, an aspiring member of the Bandidos biker gang in Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley in Quebec's Eastern Townships. He is also charged with conspiring to kill members of rival biker gangs between 1994 and 2002. (Winnipeg Free Press)
Laura Chee
EDMONTON - The woman charged in connection to the death of a U of A pharmacy student nearly one year ago was given her sentence Thursday. Stephanie Beckley, 27, from Kamloops, BC was charged with drunk driving causing death in a crash that occurred at 178 St and 76 Ave on Feb 21, 2011. Laura Chee, 23, was taken to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries a short time later. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: Alleged drunk driver Woman dies in crash
Denis Jerome Labossiere
WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg jury convicted a man on three counts of murder for killing his parents and brother, but his co-accused walked free. The jury took less than a day to deliberate, finding Jerome Labossiere guilty of killing his own family in their St. Leon home in November 2005. Labossiere's co-accused, Michael Hince, was acquitted. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: $10K to have family killed Son OK'd plan Jury hears of confession Triple murder trial begins Guilty Court hears from witness Help fixing shotgun Trial begins
OTTAWA - A 19-year-old Ottawa man is facing jail time in the street racing death of his friend in June 2010. Kareem Alli was found guilty of dangerous driving causing death by street racing Wednesday in the death of 18-year-old Christian Williams. (CTV)
KENTVILLE - Charges have been withdrawn against two people in connection with the death of an eight-week-old baby in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service says the Crown dropped the charges against Candace Chetwynd of Port Hastings and Shawn MacIsaac of Waterville. The 21-year-old Chetwynd and 26-year-old MacIsaac were charged on Jan 13 with aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life after a baby boy suffered a cardiac arrest at a Kentville hospital on Jan 4. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: Charges in infant death Charges
VANCOUVER - A Vancouver billionaire who pleaded guilty Thursday to forcibly confining a sex worker and possessing an unlicensed firearm has been sentenced to one year of probation and a $5,000 fine. The charges stemmed from a night in December, 2008 when police were called to a mansion owned by David Ho, a former member of the Vancouver police board. Ho, 60, had picked up the 20-year-old woman in Delta, and the two returned to his home in an upscale neighbourhood to have sex and allegedly smoke cocaine. (CTV)
MORE: No jail time Billionaire pleads guilty Billionaire gets probation
PREVIOUS: Businessman charged David Ho; Ultra-secretive and ultra-rich
Jarrod Bacon
VANCOUVER - BC gangster Jarrod Bacon and his father-in-law Wayne Scott have been found guilty of conspiracy to traffic cocaine. The two were convicted Friday in BC Supreme Court of agreeing to purchase as much as 100 kilograms of cocaine from a police agent back in August 2009. (CTV)
MORE: Jarrod Bacon guilty
PREVIOUS: Gangs
VAUGHAN - 60 people, including 3 teenagers, face child pornography charges in what the OPP said is the largest bust of its kind in Canadian history. The OPP said Thursday more than 200 charges were laid against the suspects from across the province. One suspect is also under arrest in the US. (CTV)
MORE: Charged Persons .pdf
VANCOUVER – Police are trying to find 5 men who disappeared without a trace in the city in 2011. They are: Permadech Tatti, Daniel Holt, Mitchell Gallivan, Brian Mbaruk and Mathew Huszar. All of the men are between age 19 and 29, and none of their disappearances has any evidence of foul play. Last year, more than 3,500 people were reported missing in Vancouver and these 5 males are the only ones who have not been found. (CTV)
MONTREAL - Quebec's new anti-corruption legislation contains a loophole that allows businesspeople connected to companies that have been convicted of a criminal offence to own a stake in companies that obtain public sector construction contracts. (Montreal Gazette)
PREVIOUS: Greed & Corruption Quebec
VANCOUVER - Former premier Bill Vander Zalm described in the Supreme Court of BC how his career was brought to an end - and he tried to justify accepting an envelope stuffed with cash from a Taiwanese billionaire. The payment of $20,000 in $100 US bills has haunted Mr. Vander Zalm ever since 1991, when the transaction was revealed in a report by then acting conflict of interest commissioner Ted Hughes. The money was given to Mr. Vander Zalm in a Vancouver hotel room by Tan Yu, a businessman who for $16M was buying Fantasy Gardens, a theme park Mr. Vander Zalm owned with his wife, Lillian Vander Zalm. (Globe & Mail)
MORE: Flustered
PREVIOUS: Libel trial Lawsuit
VANCOUVER - Engaging in premarital sex was a vile enough transgression by a 19-year-old man to earn him expulsion from the polygamous BC community of Bountiful, where he had lived all his life. The sister of Winston Blackmore, bishop of Bountiful from 1984 to 2002, testified Thursday at Blackmore's appeal in the Tax Court of Canada that her youngest son, Clayton Palmer, was "kicked out of the community" in 2001 with a cruel and hasty farewell from his uncle. (Vancouver Province)
PREVIOUS: 'Prepare for the worst' 21 wives Tax court fight Bountiful Sex Crimes
Kenzie John Beaton
JASPER - A complaint about the noise coming from a hotel room in the resort town of Jasper, Alta., quickly escalated into the stabbing of a young man from Mabou. Kenzie John Beaton, 22, died Saturday evening after suffering a single stab wound to the lower abdomen. RCMP said 21-year-old Cody Kyle Jensen of Edmonton was arrested at the hotel minutes after police received the call at about 4am Saturday. He has been charged with second-degree murder. (Cape Breton Post)
MORE: Man killed, suspect in custody
PREVIOUS: Stabbing Arrest made
Andrene Graham
TORONTO - Andrene Graham ended her relationship with Paul Black last summer - and 6 months later, he ended her life. 12 hours after shooting his ex in the head behind Dufferin Mall last weekend, Black’s life was snuffed out during “an interaction” with police in a Richmond Hill park. Graham, 40, was found slumped over in an alley off Chesley Ave around 6:35pm Friday. (Toronto Sun)
MORE: Man shot had killed ex-girlfriend
PREVIOUS: SIU probes shooting Woman found in laneway
Mechelle Duncan
MOSHERVILLE - A Nova Scotia man is facing charges after a woman died while they were off-roading in Hants County last week. Mechelle Duncan was killed Thursday night when the SUV she was riding in broke through the ice of a pond near the couple's home in Mosherville. Police have arrested and charged 36-year-old Steve Douglas Saunders in connection with the incident. (CTV)
Reported suicide breeds skepticism
Jeffrey Albert Lynds
MONTREAL - "Healthy skepticism" is being raised over the reported suicide of Hells Angel Jeff Lynds in a Quebec jail cell, a defence lawyer says. (Truro Daily News)
PREVIOUS: Hells Angel found dead Inmate found dead 3rd murder charge Brothers plead guilty Life sentence Arrested
Beverly Rowbotham Mark Stobbe
WINNIPEG - Prosecutor Wendy Dawson told jurors Mark Stobbe allegedly assaulted his wife and killed her in a "brutal" fashion by striking her 16 times on the head with a hatchet in the backyard of their home. For the first time, the Crown laid out its theory of how prosecutors and police came to suspect Stobbe, 54, killed Beverly Rowbotham, 42, on the night of Oct. 24, 2000. (QMI)
MORE: Trial continues Details revealed
PREVIOUS: Ordered to stand trial Stobbe arrested
VANCOUVER - If a woman Robert Pickton stabbed in 1997 had died, his conviction would have been a “slam-dunk,” said a Vancouver police constable who worked the serial killer investigation. Instead, the charges were stayed and it’s believed Pickton went on to kill at least 10 more women before being arrested in 2002. Det. Const. Lori Shenher - the first witness at the Missing Women Inquiry who was actually involved in the Pickton investigation - testified Monday she’d interviewed his stabbing victim shortly after being assigned to the missing persons unit in 1998. (QMI)
MORE: Cop slams investigators
PREVIOUS: RCMP apologize Kim Rossmo Ex-detective stands by his testimony Police lawyers coming out of the woodwork
David Holmes
CALGARY - Details on the death of a disabled man in provincial care last fall became public on Monday and an investigation found several breaches of protocol when it came to his care. A scathing report lays the blame for the man's death squarely on the problem plagued group home where he was living. The 35-year-old Calgary man died last November after he was scalded in a bathtub. (CTV)
REPORT: PPC investigation 7361 .pdf
MORE: Errors found Program changes
Criminal organization or flawed definition?
Telegraph-Journal
Rodney Tingley, a white-haired 58-year-old grandfather who police said was the head of one of New Brunswick’s most notorious crime families, lay in bed the night officers came for him. His wife, Gayle, was next to him; their six-year-old grandson was in between. The police raid didn’t come as a surprise, exactly. Mounties had been investigating Tingley for more than 14 months. But the pure force of it shocked him. (Macleans)
ALBANY - A Montreal woman caught trying to smuggle a large quantity of ecstasy across the US border last year has been sentenced to a prison term of more than 15 years. Tara Haynes was sentenced to a 188-month sentence during a sentence hearing held in a US federal court in Albany New York. (Montreal Gazette)
Labour board upholds union complaint
TORONTO - The Ontario government deliberately misrepresented a contract settlement with its largest public-sector union by awarding employees an additional 1% wage increase as part of a “secret arrangement” to keep labour costs down, the province’s labour board has ruled. (Globe & Mail)
OTTAWA - An Ottawa high school teacher has had her teaching licence revoked after admitting she had "inappropriate relations" with three male students. Joanne Léger-Legault pleaded no contest to the allegations of professional misconduct presented to the Ontario College of Teachers discipline committee, which heard the case last year. (CBC)
VANCOUVER - One of 13 young people whose luxury cars were seized after an alleged street race last year has had his driving prohibition thrown out in a judge's decision slamming the "arbitrary" and "unreasonable" punishment. Cheng Jie Wang decided to appeal that suspension, and won out in court last week, earning police and the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles a scolding in BC Supreme Court. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: Crown wants luxury cars seized Alleged street race
VANCOUVER - Police are defending their dog handlers in response to a lawsuit from a man who says he needed almost 100 staples to close gashes left during an encounter with the K-9 unit. The takedown came after he shattered a bus window because he said he was repeatedly passed by at a transit stop. The police department released details from the arrest report Monday, alleging that Evans ran from a cruiser that followed him into a dark alley with sirens blaring. (CTV)
PREVIOUS: Man sues
RELATED: New BC Taser standards RCMP dog bites BC teen during arrest
OSHAWA - A man was found dead in his Celina St home on Saturday night. An autopsy was performed Sunday, but the details including the man’s identity, have not been released. Initially, police said the death was "suspicious." Later, officers confirmed it was a homicide investigation. (CityNews)
PREVIOUS: Suspicious death
Kearn Nedd
TORONTO - Kearn Nedd, 28, was hailed as a hero after he was gunned down April 16, 2011, at the Rozz Banquet Hall on Advance Blvd. Samir Abdelgadir, of Mississauga, was arrested and charged with a slew of gun and drug-related offences. The second accused is 15 years old, but at the time of Nedd’s slaying he was only 14. The teen was already in custody on another matter when he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. (QMI)
PREVIOUS: Killed while trying to stop a robbery MMA fighter dead Banquet hall shooting
YFrog
WHISTLER - A limousine driver killed in a fiery crash on the Sea to Sky Highway Saturday night has been identified as Shafiqur Rah man, 54, of Vancouver. Rahman died after his limousine collided with a northbound Dodge truck at Function Junction just south of Whistler. The impact caused the limousine to explode and burst into flames. The driver of the truck, a 19-year-old from Calgary, is being investigated for impaired driving by drug. (PostMedia)
MORE: Police suspect drug use caused crash Impaired driving suspected
REGINA - A 43-year-old Regina police officer is facing impaired driving charges. Police say Darryl Blampied was arrested after officers responded to a report of a suspected drunk driver in the 1000-block of Park St around 2:30am Sunday. Blampied, a corporal with 10 years of service, was not on duty at the time. (CTV)
Laura Young & George Burnett
HAMILTON - Police have charged an alleged serial killer with the murders of 2 people and the random stabbings of 3 others last year. Loujack Nougues Café, 25, of no fixed address, was arrested yesterday and charged. Laura Young, 37, was the first victim, found stabbed to death just after 9am dumped in a snowbank behind 116 Cathcart St on Feb 16. Sept 6, George Washington Burnett, 82, was found lying in his bed, with a knife in his neck, at 55 Stirton St. (Hamilton Spectator)
MORE: Man charged Arrest made
PREVIOUS: 'Downtown fixture' Body in backyard Elderly man murdered Elderly man murdered in his home
VANCOUVER - The wife of a 61-year-old Richmond man found dead on Jan. 26 has been charged with his murder. John Alexander was found at his home in the 11900-block of Aztec St after a woman phoned 911 at about 1:30pm claiming to need medical attention. His wife Jo Anne Alexander, 61, has been apprehended under the Mental Health Act and charged with second-degree murder. An autopsy found he had died of blunt head trauma. The victim was in poor health, having undergone brain surgery to treat his epilepsy, and his wife was his primary caregiver. The couple had two adult children. They had been married 40 years and there was no history of domestic abuse between the couple. (Global)
MORE: Wife charged
CBC
TORONTO - The mother of a one-time marijuana dealer who claims drug squad officers viciously assaulted and robbed him 14 years ago says her son sometimes lies to get what he wants. Greeba Quigley, 75, agreed Friday that her son Christopher Quigley is a capable liar. (Toronto Star)
PREVIOUS: Witness pressed about plea deal Cops beat, ripped off dealers Curtain raised 1st witness Witness feared for his life Timeline Toronto Police Scandal
POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS
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Monday, February 06, 2012 15:34:11