Two dead after vehicle explosion at US-Canada border checkpoint

New York governor says ‘no indication of terrorist attack’ as officials investigate incident at Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls

A speeding car crashed in flames on the bridge linking New York state and Ontario at Niagara Falls on Wednesday, killing two people in the vehicle and sparking a security scare that closed four US-Canadian border crossings.

Hours later, federal and state authorities said investigators had found no evidence of an act of terrorism, though circumstances surrounding the crash on the Rainbow Bridge remained murky, leaving it to be determined whether it was accidental or intentional.

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Canadian former intelligence chief found guilty of leaking state secrets

Cameron Ortis from RCMP convicted of violating Security of Information Act in one of Canada’s largest ever security breaches

A jury has found the former head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police intelligence unit guilty of leaking state secrets, the first time a Canadian has been convicted under the country’s Security of Information Act

On Wednesday afternoon, jurors said Cameron Ortis was guilty of three counts of violating the act and one count of attempting to do so. They also found him guilty of breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer.

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Rainbow Bridge vehicle explosion: what we know about US-Canada border incident

Two people who were in the car have died, police say, as New York governor says there are no signs of terrorist activity

Four border crossings between the US and Canada were closed after a vehicle exploded at a checkpoint on a bridge near Niagara Falls, reportedly killing two people.

New York governor Kathy Hochul said after a preliminary investigation there was “no indication of a terrorist attack” in the explosion which happened on the US side of the Rainbow Bridge.

Hochul added: “The world is watching to find out what’s happening here”, citing “high stress” around the Israel-Hamas war. “Based on the preliminary investigation there’s no sign of terrorist” activity in the crash, Hochul said.

Three out of four of the US-Canada crossings, the Lewiston, Whirlpool and Peace Bridge, have been reopened after being temporarily shuttered. The Rainbow Bridge remains closed.

US Customs and Border Protection said it was working closely with the FBI and federal, state and local partners and the White House said it was watching the situation closely.

Law enforcement officials have identified the registered owner of the vehicle involved in the explosion at Rainbow Bridge, according to authorities who spoke to CNN. Hochul said in a press briefing that it was an individual local to western New York.

The New York City police department has sent NYPD officers upstate to “support efforts on the ground” following the explosion.

Several services were paused or otherwise halted. International arrivals and departures have been halted at the Buffalo Niagara international airport, CNN reports the Federal Aviation Authority saying. Amtrak suspended its services between New York and Canada.

A witness that saw the crash said the vehicle involved looked like it was traveling “over 100 miles an hour”.

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Vehicle explosion at US-Canada border shows no sign of terrorism, says New York governor – as it happened

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Here is testimony from a witness on the Rainbow Bridge explosion.

Describing the movement of the vehicle involved in the explosion, the witness said:

“My wife and I were walking down Main Street here and the car was coming … over 100 miles an hour. We could hardly see him, he was going that quick.

There was a car in front of him, he swerved around it and then it looked like he hit the fence and this fire started. And then all of a sudden, he went up in the air and then it was a ball of fire like 30, 40 ft high… [The car] was going towards Canada.”

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Sikh activist accuses India of ‘transnational terrorism’ after US foils plot to kill him

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun makes comments after Washington raised concerns Indian government may known of plot

A prominent Sikh activist who was reportedly the target of a foiled assassination attempt on US soil has accused India of “transnational terrorism” after Washington raised concerns the Indian government may have had knowledge of the plot.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the US had thwarted the plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen, after the June murder of another Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a Vancouver suburb.

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Legal dispute rages over unsolved C$24m gold heist at Toronto airport

Airline and armoured car company locked in bitter lawsuit over who is to blame for one of Canada’s largest ever heists

A brazen gold heist at Toronto’s main airport, in which thieves seized nearly C$24m ($17m) worth of gold bars and cash, is still unsolved after more than half a year.

But the airline and armoured car company that handled the cargo are now locked in a bitter lawsuit over the theft, with each saying the other is to blame for one of Canada’s largest ever heists.

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Canada-China detention feud reopened after claims of ‘unwitting’ espionage

Freed detainee Michael Spavor says he unknowingly passed intelligence to Michael Kovrig, who then told Canadian officials

A simmering diplomatic feud prompted by China’s detention of two Canadian citizens has been reopened after one of the men claimed he was arrested for unknowingly passing on intelligence to Canada and its allies.

The Globe and Mail reported Michael Spavor is seeking a multi-million dollar settlement from Canada’s federal government, alleging he “unwittingly” provided intelligence on North Korea to fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig, who then shared that information with Canada and Five Eyes allies.

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Mystery of ‘decades-old’ plane wreck in Canadian backcountry solved

Police were stumped when ‘crashed’ plane was found in British Columbia, but it was placed there last summer for rescue training

When a hunter in British Columbia stumbled upon the crumpled remains of an airplane fuselage on 3 November, he reported the grim findings to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Officers were dispatched to the remote crash site to survey the wreckage and concluded that the shell of the bush plane, with no motor, wings, doors or seats, was likely more than two decades old.

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Canadian man convicted of murdering Muslim family in 2021 truck attack

Nathaniel Veltman found guilty on four counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder over London, Ontario, attack

The Canadian man who killed four members of a Muslim family, has been found guilty on four charges of first degree and one count of attempted murder, in a case that tested how the country’s terror laws might prosecute far-right extremism.

The jury took around six hours to convict Nathaniel Veltman, who faces a life imprisonment sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. Justice Renee Pomerance will determine whether Veltman’s actions meet the threshold for terrorism when she issues her sentencing.

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Canadian peace activist confirmed killed in Hamas attack

Officials confirm ‘lifelong advocate for peace’ Vivian Silver, 74, killed after initial reports suggested she had been taken hostage

Vivian Silver, a Canadian-born activist who spent decades working to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, has been confirmed killed after initial reports suggested she had been kidnapped during the 7 October Hamas attacks.

In a statement on Tuesday, Idit Shamir, Toronto’s Israeli consul general, confirmed the 74-year-old had been killed by Hamas during the assault on Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel.

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Canada investigates alleged ‘threats’ against Air India after boycott call

Officials launch investigation after separatist leader posts video warning Sikhs against flying with airline on 19 November

Canadian officials and the Royal Canadian Mounted police are investigating alleged “threats” against Air India after a separatist leader warned Sikhs against flying with the airline on 19 November.

The US-based activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun posted a video last week in which he called for a boycott of India’s flagship carrier.

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Shots fired at another Jewish school in Montreal amid tensions over Israel-Hamas war

Third such case in less than a week in Canadian city but unclear if incidents are related

A Jewish school in Montreal was hit by gunfire, according to local media, marking the Canadian city’s third such attack in less than a week amid heightened tensions over the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

No one was injured when the facade of Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal was struck early on Sunday. Bullet marks and shells were found after residents heard gunfire, CBC News in Canada reported.

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Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard found guilty of sexual assault

Prosecutors had said the 82-year-old lured women to a private bedroom suite after inviting them on a tour of his headquarters

The former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been found guilty on four counts of sexual assault after five women testified he used a private bedroom suite in his company headquarters to assault them.

The verdict by a Toronto jury came midday on Sunday after five days of deliberation.

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Canada reels at ‘deliberate’ killing of boy, 11, in gangland hit targeting father

Police call shooting of unnamed boy and his father, Harpreet Uppal, at Edmonton gas station ‘sick and twisted’

An 11-year-old boy has been deliberately shot and killed alongside his father in what police have called a “sick and twisted” escalation of gang violence in the Canadian city of Edmonton.

The boy, who has not been named, was sitting next to his 41-year-old father, Harpreet Uppal, in their vehicle outside an Edmonton gas station on Thursday when they were attacked, police said on Friday. Another child, a friend of the boy, was also present but physically unharmed.

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Justin Trudeau condemns shots fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal

Canadian prime minister says ‘attacking each other is not who we are’ after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups

Justin Trudeau has condemned recent violence in Canada after shots were fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal and clashes broke out between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students at a university in the city.

Police on Thursday said they were investigating overnight shootings at two Jewish schools in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood after staff reported finding bullet holes in the front doors of the schools.

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Canada: murder charge for ex-boyfriend of woman abducted by fake police

Case of Elnaz Hajtamiri, taken from Ontario home by three men with police equipment in January 2022, had stumped investigators

The ex-boyfriend of a Canadian woman who was abducted by fake police officers has been charged with first-degree murder, marking the latest twist in a high-profile kidnapping case that had appeared to stump investigators for nearly two years.

Elnaz Hajtamiri was dragged from a property in an Ontario beach community on 12 January 2022 by three men with police equipment who forced their way into the home and hauled her barefoot through the snow to a waiting vehicle.

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Canada’s emissions cut plan insufficient to meet targets, official report finds

Auditor general says key measures to cut emissions by 40-45% to meet Paris accord commitment delayed or not prioritized

Canada’s emissions reduction plan is insufficient to meet its target to cut emissions by 40% to 45% below the 2005 level by 2030, according to a new a report released by the country’s auditor general.

The audit found the government’s plan insufficient because key measures needed to meet the 2030 target were delayed or not prioritized, according to a statement from the office of the auditor general on Tuesday.

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Buffy Sainte-Marie Indigenous roots controversy rocks Canada First Nations

New documentary threatens to tarnish folk singer’s reputation as a cultural icon who fought tirelessly for social justice movements

Allegations in a documentary that the popular American folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie misrepresented her Indigenous roots have rattled First Nations communities in Canada, where she claims to have been born, highlighting the complex legacy of an artist whose decades-long career is defined by advocating for Indigenous rights.

Sainte-Marie describes herself as a “Cree singer-songwriter” has long traced her identity to the Piapot First Nation reserve in Saskatchewan, where she claims she was born in 1941. Sainte-Marie says she was taken from her biological mother when she was an infant and raised by a white family in the US.

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Disabled man drags himself off plane after Air Canada fails to offer wheelchair

Airline was forced to apologize to Rodney Hodgins who flew to Las Vegas with his wife to celebrate their anniversary in August

Air Canada has been forced to apologize after a man with spastic cerebral palsy was forced to drag himself off a plane when the flagship carrier failed to provide a wheelchair for him.

Rodney Hodgins, 49, a hardware salesman from British Columbia who requires the use of a motorized wheelchair, flew to Las Vegas with his wife, Deanna, to celebrate their anniversary in August.

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Buffy Sainte-Marie denies allegations she misled public about Indigenous ancestry

Singer calls allegations ‘deeply hurtful’ after documentary questions ‘shifting narrative’ surrounding her Cree roots

Folk singer and social justice advocate Buffy Sainte-Marie has denied allegations that she misled the public about her Indigenous ancestry, after a Canadian documentary questioned the “shifting narrative” surrounding her Cree roots.

On Friday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s investigative wing, the Fifth Estate, published an investigation into the singer’s ancestry, alleging her life story is part of a broader narrative “full of inconsistencies and inaccuracies”.

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