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

U.S. PLAINTIFFS FIRE BACK AT KHADR DEFENCE: Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr cannot avoid a huge civil judgment against him by recanting the confession and guilty plea he made before an American military commission, lawyers acting for the widow of a U.S. special forces soldier argue in new court filings. Canadian courts must accept the agreed statement of facts that underpinned Khadr’s war-crimes conviction in 2010, they argue, regardless of whether he lied under oath when he admitted to tossing a hand grenade that killed the soldier eight years earlier.

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NAVAL OPS ON AGENDA FOR NORTH KOREA MEETING: Canada and other countries that supported South Korea during the Korean War will sit down in Vancouver next week to mull ways to tighten the screws on North Korea — including whether to start intercepting North Korean vessels. U.S. State Department officials have confirmed that China and Russia were not invited to next Tuesday’s meeting, which Canada is co-hosting with the U.S. in response to North Korea’s recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

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AUTO PARTS TO BE KEY CANADIAN NAFTA PITCH: Canada’s marquee proposal for this month’s high-stakes round of NAFTA negotiations will involve modernizing auto-parts rules, say sources familiar with the plans, which hinge on making progress on a long-standing irritant in order to propel the troubled talks forward. “We have been doing some creative thinking,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday prior to the start of a Liberal cabinet retreat in London, Ont. Talks are scheduled to resume in Montreal Jan. 23.

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ONT. TRUCKER CHARGED IN FATAL QUE. HIT AND RUN: A truck driver from Brampton, Ont., faces four charges related to a fatal hit and run south of Montreal last August. Harmandeep Singh, 23, was charged Thursday with one count of hit and run after causing death, two of hit and run after causing bodily harm, and one of hit and run involving a fourth person. Quebec provincial police arrested Singh at Montreal’s Trudeau airport when he returned from India on Wednesday. He will have a bail hearing Friday. A 21-year-old Mexican national vacationing in Quebec was killed in the collision on Highway 30 in Brossard on Aug. 3.

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NO CHARGES AFTER N.S. CARE-HOME HOMICIDE: The “tragic” death of an elderly Halifax-area woman has been ruled a homicide, but investigators say no charges will be laid because the 77-year-old suspect has a cognitive impairment. Halifax Regional Police said Thursday that an 86-year-old woman died on Sept. 3 of complications from an injury sustained during an altercation with a 77-year-old woman on June 7 at a continuing care home. Const. Carol McIsaac said the suspect is not criminally culpable due to her cognitive impairment. She said it’s a “tragic situation for everyone involved.”

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DAUGHTER OF MURDERED WINNIPEG COUPLE TO TRAVEL TO JAMAICA: The daughter of a Winnipeg couple killed in Jamaica says she will travel there to see her parents one last time and make sure their deaths are thoroughly investigated. “I need to see them,” said Debbie Olfert, whose parents Melbourne Flake, 81, and Etta Flake, 70, were found dead Tuesday morning. “Until I see them, I won’t believe it.” Jamaican police have confirmed they are investigating the deaths as homicides.

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FEDS CONSULTING ON INDEPENDENT ELECTION DEBATE BODY: The Trudeau government intends to create an independent body to organize leaders’ debates during federal elections — and hopes to have it in place in time for the 2019 campaign. Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould is inviting people to provide ideas for how an arm’s-length, election debate commissioner or commission should work. She’s giving them until Feb. 9 to provide online feedback.

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THUNDER BAY POLICE MOVING TO INCREASE DIVERSITY: A northern Ontario police department that has faced allegations of systemic racism says it is forming a working group to help it reshape its diversity training, recruitment, communications and community policing. The Thunder Bay Police Service says the working group will include members of the service and volunteers from the community. Officials say the initiative’s purpose is righting relations inside and outside the police service, particularly with the Indigenous community.

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ALTA. MAN WON’T BE CHARGED OVER DOGS ON TRUCK BED: A man who drove his pickup down a highway near Edmonton with two dogs on top of the truck-bed cover will not face charges. The Alberta SPCA says an investigator has checked the dogs and determined they weren’t hurt. The officer also spoke with the driver about the dangers of driving with dogs in the back of his truck.

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CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB WANTS MORE DOGS IN ITS PACK: Two dog breeds recently added to the American Kennel Club’s pack are not recognized north of the border, but the Canadian Kennel Club is hoping to add 12 others that are gaining popularity with dog lovers. Andrew Patton, spokesman for Canada’s primary registry for purebred dogs, says 2018’s incoming class could include the Portuguese sheepdog, Tibetan mastiff, rat terrier and Spanish water dog, if they get the stamp of approval from Agriculture Canada. But they don’t include the Nederlandse kooikerhondje or the grand basset griffon Vendeen, recently added by the American Kennel Club.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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

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