The Friday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Highlights from the news file for Friday, July 15

ATTACK IN NICE LINKED TO RADICAL ISLAM, FRENCH PRESIDENT SAYS: French President Francois Hollande says Mohamed Bouhlel is a terrorist linked to radical Islam. The Tunisian man who drove a truck through crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice was known to police for making threats, theft and other crimes, but wasn’t known to intelligence services. Bouhlel ran down more than 250 people, killing at least 84 of them. The slaughter ended only after police killed him in a hail of bullets.

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CANADIAN STUDENT UNACCOUNTED FOR AFTER FRANCE TRUCK ATTACK: An Edmonton university is working with the federal government to track down a student missing in Nice, France. MacEwan University says Mykhaylo Bazelevskyy has permanent resident status in Canada, but travels under a Ukrainian passport. It says that explains why no Canadians were identified as missing after the attack. Four other students and a faculty member were in Nice participating in a program at the European Innovation Academy.

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COUP ATTEMPT IN TURKEY: Turkey’s prime minister says there was a coup attempt in his country. Binali Yildirim didn’t elaborate but said Turkey would never allow any “initiative that would interrupt democracy.” Military jets were heard flying over the capital, Ankara. A military statement read on state TV says the armed forces seized power, citing rising autocratic rule, and increased terrorism.

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SUSPECT CHARGED IN CHILD DEATH: Calgary police say a man charged with first-degree murder knew Sara Baillie and her five-year-old daughter Taliyah Marsman. Forty-six-year-old Edward Delten Downey was charged last night. The child’s body was discovered on a rural property Thursday evening and police say she was dead before they learned that she was missing. Baillie’s body was found Monday night.

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LIBERALS TO SELL NEW CHILD BENEFIT: The Trudeau cabinet will be fanning out into their ridings next week to sell the government’s new child benefit. The push comes just before payments hit bank accounts and mailboxes. MPs and federal workers have been swamped with questions about when the money will show up — July 20. They are also hoping to take the sting out of messages from the Opposition Conservatives that many middle-income families will get less overall because of tax changes accompanying the introduction of the new child benefit, like the elimination of the child tax benefit and other so-called “boutique” tax credits.

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ANOTHER TORY SET TO JUMP INTO PARTY’S LEADERSHIP RACE: Calgary MP Deepak Obhrai says he plans to enter the Conservative leadership race. During the Tories’ years in government, he held a number of junior cabinet positions in foreign affairs and, while on the opposition benches, he has also served as parliamentary critic on those files. Obhrai points to his strong background in communities, Parliament and as a grassroots advocate.

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CARNEY SAYS COMPANIES MUST COME CLEAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE RISK: Bank of England Governor Mark Carney says only about one-third of the world’s 1,000 largest companies provide effective disclosure of the risks they face due to climate change. He says that makes it difficult for investors, creditors and regulators to assess who is on top of the increasingly critical issue. Carney made the comments while attending a Toronto forum with federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna at a business breakfast forum.

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BMO LETS CUSTOMERS USE SMARTPHONES TO OPEN ACCOUNTS: The Bank of Montreal has launched a service that allows customers to sign up for accounts using their smartphones, as the lender looks to appeal to consumers’ shifting banking preferences. BMO says its customers are increasingly feeling more comfortable doing things on smartphones. The announcement comes as the bank and its competitors have been cutting costs through layoffs, boosting their digital offerings to appeal to young, tech-savvy customers and facing competition from a slew of financial technology, or fintech, upstarts.

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TEXTING AND WALKING STILL FINE IN ONTARIO: The Ontario government has rejected a request from Toronto city council to ban pedestrians from texting while crossing the street. Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca says there are no plans to bring in such a law.  He says the city of Toronto can pass a bylaw if it wants to prohibit the practice.

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RAONIC NIXES OLYMPICS: Canadian tennis star Milos Raonic is turning down this summer’s Olympic Games, days after he made it to the finals at Wimbledon. Raonic cites a variety of health concerns including the uncertainty around the Zika virus for his decision not to compete. Raonic isn’t the first high-profile athlete to withdraw from the Games amid concerns about the Zika virus. 

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The Canadian Press