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Feds say direction to bring men in Syria home amounts to ‘wholesale expansion’ of law

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

OTTAWA — A judge’s erroneous direction that Canadian officials should secure the release of four men from detention in northeastern Syria amounts to a “wholesale expansion” of the law, a federal lawyer told an appeal hearing Monday.Lawyer Anne Turley said the decision creates a new right to be returned to Canada, or even be rescued by Ottawa, when a citizen finds themselves in trouble abroad, despite no involvement of Canada in the foreign detention.Turley made the argument while asking a Federal Court of Appeal panel to overturn a January ruling by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown.In his decision, Brown said Ottawa should request repatriation of the men in Syrian prisons run by Kurdish forces as soon as reasonably possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents. Brown ruled the men are also entitled to have a representative of the federal government travel to Syria to help facilitate their release once their captors agree to hand them over....

S&P/TSX composite posts gain Monday on energy strength, U.S. markets mixed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s main stock index gained more than a hundred points Monday, buoyed by strength in the energy and financial sectors, while U.S. markets were mixed. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 123.25 points at 19,624.74.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 194.55 points at 32,432.08. The S&P 500 index was up 6.54 points at 3,977.53, while the Nasdaq composite was down 55.12 points at 11,768.84.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.09 cents US compared with 72.66 cents US on Friday.The May crude contract was up US$3.55 at US$72.81 per barreland the May natural gas contract was down 15 cents at US$2.22 per mmBTU.The April gold contract was down US$30 at US$1,953.80 an ounceand the May copper contract was up less than a penny at US$4.08 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The Canadian Press

Fed official: SVB itself was main cause of bank’s failure

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s top financial regulator is asserting that Silicon Valley Bank’s own management was largely to blame for the bank’s failure earlier this month and says the Federal Reserve will review whether a 2018 law that weakened stricter bank rules also contributed to its collapse. “SVB’s failure is a textbook case of mismanagement,” Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, said in written testimony that will be delivered Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee. Barr pointed to the bank’s “concentrated business model,” in which its customers were overwhelmingly venture capital and high-tech firms in Silicon Valley. He also contends that the bank failed to manage the risk of its bond holdings, which lost value as the Fed raised interest rates.Silicon Valley was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on March 10 in the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. Late Sunday, the FDIC said that First Citize...

Family of US couple kidnapped in Haiti plea for release

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Nikese Toussaint was at church, so she didn’t see the text message from her sister.All she knew at that point was that their brother and his wife, who live in the U.S., had landed safely in Haiti to visit ailing relatives and prepare for Rara, a colorful and boisterous festival born out of the dark days of slavery.It wasn’t until Toussaint got home and her sister followed up the unread text with a phone call that she learned her warnings had materialized: their brother, an accountant; his wife, a social worker; and another person were snatched off a public bus amid a surge in gang-related kidnappings.Toussaint took a deep breath. Not again, she thought.Seventeen years earlier, gangs had kidnapped two of her cousins in the capital of Port-au-Prince. They were eventually released but remain traumatized.This time, the gang that kidnapped her brother, wife and another person is demanding $200,000 — each.“How are we ever going to come up with that money?” Tou...

Family of girl killed by police during Kansas standoff sues

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — The family of a toddler who was fatally shot by a police officer during a standoff last year between her father and law enforcement has filed a federal lawsuit over her death.Kansas authorities have said that 2-year-old Clesslyn Crawford was shot by a Joplin, Missouri, police officer during a confrontation March 26, 2022, in Baxter Springs. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation had said Crawford’s 37-year-old father, Eli Crawford, shot and killed the girl’s mother, 27-year-old Taylor Dawn Shutte, and fired at officers for more than three hours before fatally shooting himself.The Wichita Eagle reports that the girl’s family sued the cities of Baxter Springs and Joplin along with Cherokee County and the unnamed officer who fired the shot that killed the toddler. The lawsuit said they were responsible for the girl’s death. Those cities and Cherokee County didn’t immediately respond to calls from the newspaper seeking comment on the...

In Trump probe, key witness as grand jury is back at work

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A pivotal figure in the hush money payment investigation of Donald Trump was seen Monday leaving the Manhattan building where a grand jury has been meeting for months, though there was still no word on when the panel might vote on a possible indictment of the former president.David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend and the former chief executive of the parent company of the National Enquirer, was also seen weeks ago at the same building, suggesting that his testimony could be key as prosecutors continue to push toward potential criminal charges of the ex-president.This was the first time the panel was hearing testimony in the Trump probe since last Monday, when a witness favorable to the ex-president appeared before the grand jury. The jurors did not meet at all on Wednesday, one of the days when they ordinarily convene, and heard other matters on Thursday.The grand jury is now back on Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anon...

Two final bodies pulled from rubble after Old Montreal fire, five bodies identified

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

MONTREAL — The bodies of the final two missing victims of a fire in Old Montreal were pulled from the rubble on Monday, as investigators shifted their attention to uncovering the causes of the deadly blaze.The total number of people killed in the March 16 fire sits at seven, and fire operations chief Martin Guilbault said there was no reason to believe anyone else was inside the charred building.“At this stage of the investigation, we can reaffirm that, apart from the seven people who were initially missing, we have no information indicating that additional victims are in the rubble,” he told reporter at the scene. “Our effort will now focus on finding the cause of the fire.”Montreal police Insp. David Shane on Monday identified four victims as An Wu, 31; Dania Zafar, 31; Saniya Khan, 31; and Nathan Sears, 35. Another victim — 76-year-old photographer Camille Maheux — was identified last week. The remains of the final two victims would be sent to a lab to be ...

Saskatchewan judge grants bail to sisters who say they were wrongfully convicted

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

YORKTON, Sask. — Two sisters who have spent nearly 30 years in prison for what they say are wrongful murder convictions hugged tightly after a Saskatchewan judge granted them bail. “I always knew in my heart we’d be free,” Odelia Quewezance, 51, said outside Yorkton Court of King’s Bench on Monday. Quewezance and her sister, Nerissa, 48, were convicted of second-degree murder in the 1993 stabbing death of 70-year-old farmer Anthony Dolff near Kamsack, Sask.The federal Justice Department started a review of their convictions last year, saying there may be a reasonable basis to conclude there was a miscarriage of justice.Defence lawyers asked for the Indigenous sisters to get a conditional release while the federal review continues.Justice Donald Layh granted their request, saying the Quewezance sisters raised sufficient “evidentiary matters that make their application of appropriate strength to support their release.”“I wish you the best on your ne...

Chicago firefighter accused of running prostitution business inside his condo

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

CHICAGO —  A Chicago firefighter is charged after allegedly promoting a prostitution business from his home on the city's Northwest Side.  Brendan Kennedy-Gasior, 37, allegedly ran an erotic massage business where he allowed sexual acts to be performed in exchange for money from May 2020 to August 2020, according to court documents obtained by WGN News. SEE ALSO | 4 CPD officers stripped of police powers amid investigation into gun seizures, source saysProsecutors allege that Kennedy-Gasior advised the female victim to get a burner phone to post ads on an adult website. Upon inquiries, Kennedy-Gasior would determine the price for services. Kennedy-Gasior would allegedly receive payments through cash or Zelle before the sex act was performed, court documents detailed.Witnesses who spoke to investigators admitted to going to the condo several times for erotic massage services. Investigators allegedly uncovered digital receipts, renewal of services and emails about setting up...

'How is Ramadan for Muslim inmates?:' Religious leader visits inmates during holy month

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:10 GMT

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — As Muslims around the world embrace the spiritual month of Ramadan, a North-suburban religious leader makes it a point to share grace with those spending the special time of year away from loved ones. “Mosques across the world are packed in these blessed nights. The community is standing shoulder to shoulder in prayer, breaking their fasts together, there is a lot of joy. But the Muslim community often forgets to ask, 'How is Ramadan for Muslim Inmates?'" Imām Azfar Uddin said.Imām Uddin, a religious guide to the Islamic Foundation North community in Libertyville, wants to provide Muslim inmates the community that they are often stripped of when they enter the system.He visits the Lake County Jail once a month to provide a Friday sermon to Muslim inmates. Once the pandemic hit, Imām Uddin was limited to only speaking to them through a glass wall — a barrier that turned to a bridge.“When I was first told about our new arrangements, I was upset. But I realized I was a...