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‘Abnormal’: Quebec says there are still too many asylum seekers entering the province

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

Quebec’s immigration minister says the number of asylum seekers entering the province is “abnormal.”Christine Fréchette told reporters today that the federal government needs to do more to distribute would-be refugees across the country.She says that since the closure of Roxham Road — the irregular land border crossing between Quebec and New York state — there are now too many asylum seekers showing up at the province’s airports.Federal government statistics show that 17,080 people claimed asylum at Quebec airports between January and September of this year, more than double the second-highest province for airport claimants, Ontario.Fréchette says Quebec has welcomed more asylum seekers so far this year than all other provinces combined, which was also true in 2022.The minister also says Ottawa is too “loose” with the way it gives travel visas, saying many migrants are taking advantage of that pathway to claim asylum in the country. This report by...

West Virginia jail officers plead guilty to conspiracy charge in fatal assault on inmate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Two West Virginia corrections officers pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony conspiracy charge stemming from the fatal beating of an inmate in a case that has brought scrutiny to conditions and deaths at the jail.Southern Regional Jail officers Andrew Fleshman and Steven Wimmer entered the pleas during separate hearings in U.S. District Court in Beckley. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Their sentencings have been set for Feb. 22. The officers were charged in a criminal information that they conspired to deny Quantez Burks’ right to due process of law. Burks, 37, was a pretrial detainee at the jail in Beaver who died less than a day after he was booked into the jail in March 2022 on a wanton endangerment charge.According to court documents, Burks tried to push past an officer in order to leave his housing unit. Burks then was escorted to an interview room, where Wimmer and Fleshman assaulted Burks while he was handcuffed and po...

Man killed after pursuit and shootout with Alaska authorities, troopers say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A man was killed during a shootout after leading Alaska State Troopers and other officers on a chase that closed a 7-mile stretch of highway, authorities said. It was the second fatal shooting involving troopers this week. Troopers on Thursday identified the man killed a day earlier as Michael Grimes, 45, of Fairbanks. Troopers tried to stop a pickup driven by Grimes on Wednesday afternoon north of Healy in connection with an “active felony-level investigation,” Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Safety, said in an email. The troopers are part of the department. According to the agency, the truck failed to stop for marked trooper vehicles and a chase ensued, during which time Grimes shot at troopers. Troopers were joined by officers from other agencies assigned to a trooper-led narcotics team, McDaniel said. Troopers and other officers returned fire, hitting Grimes, the department statement said. Authorities used spike strips and...

Arrest made in fatal shooting of Salem State University student

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Police have made an arrest in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old Salem State University student just days before what would have been his first college basketball game, an official said.Missael Pena Canela, 18, of Salem, has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting early Wednesday of Carl-Hens Beliard, 18, according to Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker.Canela was arrested Wednesday evening by Salem police detectives and arraigned Thursday in Salem District Court. He pleaded not guilty.Salem police said they received a 911 call at about 1:24 a.m. for a report of a shooting and found Beliard inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to Salem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.Police said Wednesday that a preliminary investigation indicated the shooting didn’t appear to be random. Police said there also doesn’t appear to be any ongoing threat to the Salem State University community, adding that the investigatio...

Store-level sales across toy industry ‘disappointing’ in Oct: Spin Master

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

TORONTO — Spin Master Corp. executives say the lead-up to the usually bustling holiday sales season has so far wound up below expectations.Across the toy industry, October store sales have been “disappointing” and “well below retailers’ plans,” said Mark Segal, chief financial officer at the Toronto-based toy manufacturer.“Consumers are under pressure and whilst consumer spend remains high overall, consumers are allocating their spend to travel and experiences,” he said on a Thursday call with analysts.Segal’s observations about the market come as Spin Master gears up for its typically busiest season of the year. The company’s Paw Patrol, Bakugan, Hatchimals, Rubik’s Cube and Gund toys often take top spots on wish lists, generating higher sales and revenues than other times of year.However, this shopping season has come with stubbornly high inflation, making consumers think twice about purchases or hunt for deals more than they m...

Tax avoidance: Canadian companies transferred $120B to Luxembourg, study says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

MONTREAL — A Quebec research institute says some of Canada’s biggest companies have transferred billions of dollars in profits to Luxembourg to avoid paying domestic taxes.The research published today by IRIS says 59 Canadian companies — including 33 headquartered in Quebec — transferred some $119.8 billion in net profits to the European low-tax country over a period of about 10 years.The companies operate in several sectors including finance, natural resources, food and technology, and include big names such as Thomson Reuters, Alimentation Couche-Tard and Saputo Inc.The study notes that tax avoidance strategies aren’t illegal but violate the “spirit” of the law because they permit companies to pay ultra-low taxes in jurisdictions other than where the majority of their economic activities occur.Representatives from Thomson Reuters, Couche-Tard and Saputo Inc. were not immediately available for comment.The researchers say some companies on the list have recei...

15-year-old charged in armed carjacking in Burlington

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

A 15-year-old is facing half a dozen charges in connection with an armed carjacking in Burlington last weekend. Police in Halton Region say the victim was in their SUV at Appleby Arena, just off Appleby Line and the Queen Elizabeth Way, when they were approached by a group of three males in a pickup truck just after 3 p.m. on Oct. 29. Police say the males exited the vehicle, pointed a gun at the driver and demanded their keys. They then fled in the stolen SUV and pickup truck. Investigators say the SUV was later located in Hamilton and the suspects were observed by police near the stolen vehicle in a white Mercedes. When officers moved in to make an arrest, the suspects fled the scene striking the police car in the process. Police later located and arrested a 15-year-old who has been charged with robbery with a firearm, three counts of failing to comply with a youth probation order and two counts of possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order. The teen cannot be named un...

Canadian man in Gaza says Ottawa has asked him to be prepared to leave with family

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

A Canadian man trying to get out of Gaza with his family says Global Affairs Canada has asked him to gather his documents and be prepared to leave at any moment through the enclave’s border crossing with Egypt. Mahmoud Nasser says his wife, who has a Brazilian passport, got a call from Global Affairs today during which an official confirmed that Nasser, his wife, his Canadian father and brother and his Palestinian sister-in-law were all registered with Ottawa to evacuate. Nasser, who is sheltering at a refugee camp that’s a 20-minute drive away from the Rafah border crossing, says the official told them to be ready to leave and that a bus would be waiting for Canadians and their families on the Egyptian side once they were allowed to cross. Nasser says Global Affairs did not provide a date or time for a potential evacuation but told his family to watch a list being published online by the General Authority for Border Crossings in Gaza that has been detaili...

Canadian prisons ‘disturbingly and unconscionably Indigenized’: corrections watchdog

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

The federal prison watchdog says there are still too many Indigenous people behind bars in Canada.In fact, correctional investigator Ivan Zinger says the problem has gotten significantly worse since he originally flagged it a decade ago.Zinger’s latest annual report says 32 per cent of all federal inmates in Canada — and 50 per cent of the women — are Indigenous, compared to 25 per cent in 2013.The report describes the country’s penitentiary system as “disturbingly and unconscionably Indigenized,” with many lingering hallmarks of colonialism.That, Zinger says, contributes to the ongoing marginalization, criminalization and over-imprisonment of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.The new report urges the transfer of federally run healing lodges to local authorities, calls for a national Indigenous “decarceration” strategy and better supports for Indigenous elders who work in corrections.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.Th...

UN plans to cut number of refugees receiving cash aid in Lebanon by a third, citing funding cuts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:15:16 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Faced with an increasing funding crunch, the United Nations will cut the number of refugee families receiving cash assistance in Lebanon by nearly a third next year, a spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency said Thursday.Due to “significant funding reductions,” UNHCR and the World Food Program will give monthly cash aid to 88,000 fewer families in 2024 than in 2023, UNHCR spokeswoman Lisa Abou Khaled said.About 190,000 families will continue receiving the assistance, which is capped at a monthly maximum of $125 per household, she said. In the past, some families received extra assistance in the winter months for heating fuel expenses, but this year that program will also be halted, Abou Khaled said. That aid “was critical for vulnerable families to survive the winter season,” she said.Lebanon, which has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis since 2019, hosts some 790,000 registered Syrian refugees and potentially hundreds of thousands more who are unregiste...