Five stories in the news today, Feb. 24

Five stories in the news for Friday, Feb. 24:

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CONSERVATIVES GATHER FOR ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Canadian conservatives are gathering for an annual confab in Ottawa as the federal Conservative Party inches ever closer to selecting a new leader. Barring any last-minute entrants before today’s deadline to register for the leadership contest, there are 14 contenders for the job — all of whom will be eager to sway grassroots party members among the delegates at the Manning Conference.

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Boogie The Bridge

Boogie The Bridge Event Information

4h ago

Two and Out

PETERS: The Loop's eviction will show us what happens when a bandage is ripped off a gaping wound

1h ago

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: 'Fairness' is not a word I would use to describe the federal budget

7h ago

ONTARIO ANTI-ISLAMOPHOBIA MOTION ADOPTED

A Liberal backbencher’s anti-Islamophobia motion was unanimously passed in the Ontario legislature Thursday. The motion calls on the legislature to “stand against all forms of hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance,” rebuke a “growing tide of anti-Muslim rhetoric and sentiments” and condemn all forms of Islamophobia. It passed as the federal government weighs a similar motion that has sparked controversy in the House of Commons and beyond.

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JUDGE TO RULE IN TRIAL OVER DIABETIC TEEN’S DEATH

A judge in Calgary is expected to rule today whether the parents of a diabetic boy who died of starvation and lack of treatment are guilty of first-degree murder. Emil and Rodica Radita have pleaded not guilty in 15-year-old Alexandru’s death. Alexandru, who was one of eight children, weighed less than 37 pounds when he died in 2013 of complications due to untreated diabetes and starvation.

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JUDGE TO RULE IF POLICE TO BE TRIED IN SHOOTING DEATH

A New Brunswick judge is expected to decide today if two Bathurst police officers will stand trial in the shooting death of a Tracadie businessman two years ago. Const. Patrick Bulger and Const. Mathieu Boudreau are each charged with manslaughter with a weapon, two counts of assault with a weapon, and two counts of unlawfully pointing a firearm in the death of Michel Vienneau on Jan. 12, 2015.

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SEAN SPICER LAUGHS OFF NOTION OF GREAT WALL NORTH

White House spokesman Sean Spicer has laughed off the idea of building a wall along the northern U.S. border. A journalist from Montana had floated the notion during his daily media briefing Thursday. Spicer and the assembled reporters chuckled when an NBC News reporter asked via video whether there were plans to apply to Canada the same treatment U.S. President Donald Trump has directed at Mexico.

The Canadian Press