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Justice minister commits to targeted bail reform to address repeat violent offenders

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

OTTAWA — Justice Minister David Lametti says the federal government will move forward quickly on “targeted reforms” to the Criminal Code that would update Canada’s bail system.He made the commitment on Friday afternoon after what he called a “good and productive” meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts.“We have a broad consensus on a path forward,” he told reporters, saying reforms will address the challenges posed by repeat violent offenders and those facing firearms or other weapons charges.“Bail is a constitutional right, but it is not absolute,” Lametti said.“Our laws are clear that bail can be denied where there is just cause, when it is necessary for the safety of the public or to maintain the public’s confidence in the administration of justice.”Premiers, federal Conservatives and law enforcement leaders have ramped up pressure on Ottawa since the beginning of the year to make bail more restric...

S&P/TSX composite falls more than 1.5 per cent, U.S. markets also slip

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index lost more than 1.5 per cent Friday on broad-based weakness led by financials and technology, while U.S. markets also fell.The S&P/TSX composite index was down 311.80 points at 19,774.92.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 345.22 points at 31,909.64. The S&P 500 index was down 56.73 points, or almost 1.5 per cent, at 3,861.59, while the Nasdaq composite was down 199.47 points, or 1.8 per cent, at 11,138.89.The Canadian dollar traded for 72.43 cents US compared with 72.52 cents US on Thursday.The April crude contract was up 96 cents at US$76.68 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down 11 cents at US$2.43 per mmBTU.The April gold contract was up US$32.60 at US$1,867.20 an ounce and the May copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.03 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Killing of Maryland high schooler solved 52 years later

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

MILLERSVILLE, Md. (AP) — More than a half-century after Maryland high school student Pamela Conyers was found strangled to death following her disappearance from a local shopping mall, law enforcement officials announced Friday that they finally solved the case.But the suspect, Forrest Clyde Williams III — whom detectives identified using DNA technology and genetics research — died in 2018 of natural causes. Officials haven’t linked him to other unsolved crimes, leaving many unanswered questions for residents of the close-knit suburban community outside Baltimore. The night of Conyers’ disappearance, the 16-year-old attended a high school pep rally and then drove to the mall. Her parents reported her missing when she never returned from running errands. Four days later, authorities discovered her body in a wooded area, not far from the family car she had been driving.There was no evidence to suggest Conyers knew her accused killer, Anne Arundel County police officials said at a news...

Joly pushes China to include Ukraine in peace talks, as South Africa seeks resolution

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is asking China to expand its talks with Russia on a peace plan for Ukraine to include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Joly says that earlier this month at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, she asked her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang to have Chinese President Xi Jinping speak with Zelenskyy.She was speaking at a public discussion on multilateralism with Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Anniken Huitfeldt in Ottawa.At that event, South Africa’s envoy to Canada urged both countries to support a peace settlement to the war instead of arming Ukraine.Meanwhile, Huitfeldt acknowledged that developing countries are upset that the Ukraine crisis has pulled the West’s attention and funding away from issues that have festered for years.Huitfeldt said that Norway prefers to take a neutral approach to conflicts and help peace mediations, but she said the invasion of Ukraine presents a security risk for all of Europe.This...

Mississippi man gets 2 years for threats to CDC officials

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man allegedly upset about the COVID-19 vaccination program has been sentenced to two years in prison for threatening federal health officials, federal prosecutors said. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, placed phone calls to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in July 2021 and left threatening voicemails for the agency’s director, Rochelle Walensky, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca.An investigation found Bates made similar threats towards Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health, LaMarca’s office said. Bates pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to charges of making threats in interstate commerce.The Associated Press

Sketch released as police try to identify victim of vicious attack west of Toronto

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

Toronto police have released a composite sketch of a male victim violently assaulted and left unconscious on a sidewalk west of the city.Authorities were called to the Celestine Drive and The Westway area in Richview around 11 p.m. on Sunday for reports that a young man was unconscious on the sidewalk.It’s alleged that a dark-coloured sedan stopped in the area, and two suspects exited the vehicle and opened the trunk. The suspects moved an injured man out of the trunk and put him on the sidewalk.The suspects then got back into the vehicle and fled the scene.Police have been unable to identify the victim, described as a young man or boy, anywhere from 13 to 20 years old. He remains in the hospital in critical condition, with injuries to his face.Police say they’re working with neighbouring forces and the Homicide & Missing Persons Unit to identify the young man and gather information on suspects and the suspect vehicle. The composite sketch was completed by a forensic...

Prosecutors accuse Barcelona of corruption in ref payments

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Prosecutors have formally accused Barcelona of corruption because of its payments of millions of euros over several years to a company that belonged to the vice president of Spain’s football refereeing committee.The decision, made official on Friday, was reported this week by Spanish newspaper El País. An investigating judge will decide whether the accusations should lead to charges.Barcelona, which denies wrongdoing, has been under scrutiny since the club’s payments became public. The payments were initially investigated as part of a tax probe into the company.Prosecutors in Barcelona have issued three accusations which include alleged corruption in sports and fraudulent management. The other accusation related to the alleged falsification of mercantile documentation.Spanish soccer has been rocked since it was revealed that Spain’s tax officials were probing Barcelona’s payment of 1.4 million euros ($1.5 million) from 2016-18 to a company b...

Russia lists World Wildlife Fund, others as foreign agents

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Friday added the World Wildlife Fund to its register of foreign agents, along with a prominent Kremlin critic, a renowned economist and a few others.Russian law requires individuals and organizations that are determined to have received foreign funding and to have engaged in loosely defined “political activity” to identify themselves as “foreign agents.” The label brings additional government scrutiny. It also carries a strong pejorative connotation in Russia. Authorities have used the law to discredit those listed and to stifle dissent. The World Wildlife Fund, which is headquartered in Washington, is a conservation group with projects throughout the world, including in Russia. Explaining the decision in Moscow, the Russian Justice Ministry said the organization, “under the guise of protecting nature and the environment … tried to influence the decisions of the executive and legislative authorities” and “hindered the implementation of...

Ex-Alabama player Miles indicted on capital murder charges

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles has been indicted by a grand jury on capital murder charges for the January shooting death of a 23-year-old woman near campus, his lawyer confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday.Michael Davis, who is also charged in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris, was also indicted, defense lawyer Mary Turner told the AP. Turner only represents Miles.Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb told AL.com that the indictments against Miles and Davis, who’ve been held without bond since their arrest, were issued on Wednesday.Harris was sitting in a car when she was struck by a bullet. A police investigator testified last month that Miles provided the handgun Davis allegedly used in the shooting. During a court hearing last month, Turner suggested Miles was in a defensive posture when he told Davis where the gun was located. But prosecutors maintained there was ample evidence to pursue charges in the shoo...

Stocks tumble as Wall Street wonders what will break next

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:40 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Fear rattled Wall Street, and stocks tumbled Friday on worries about what’s next to break under the weight of rising interest rates following the biggest U.S. bank failure in nearly 15 years.The S&P 500 dropped 1.4% to cap its worst week since September. That’s despite a highly anticipated report on Friday showing pay raises for workers are slowing and other signals Wall Street wants to see of cooling pressure on inflation.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 345 points, or 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite sank 1.8%.Some of the market’s sharpest drops again came from the financial industry, where stocks tanked for a second day. Regulators took over Silicon Valley Bank in a surprise midday move after shares of its parent company, SVB Financial, plunged more than 60% this week. The company, which served the industry surrounding startup companies, was trying to raise cash to relieve a crunch. Analysts have said it was in a relatively unique situation, but it&...