TMCnet News
--Sixteenth NewsWatch--(Canadian Press Broadcast Wire (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) (Canada-Mali) (Audio: 132) Canada is sending one of its large C-17 military cargo planes to deliver supplies to the capital of Mali after a request from France. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper insists no Canadian Forces personnel will be involved in any combat action in the West African country. Al-Qaida-linked forces are trying to move south from their base in the north and the tide has been turning in their favour France has already begun launching military action from the air. (16) (Human Smuggling) (Audio: 126) Canada's human smuggling law has been struck down by the British Columbia Supreme Court. That leaves two high-profile prosecutions in limbo with a judge's advice that the federal government go back to the drawing board. The decision comes during the defence of four men accused of ferrying dozens of Tamil migrants to B-C's west coast in fall 2009. Lawyer Phil Rankin says as the law has stood, even encouraging someone to come to Canada might be considered human smuggling. Jury selection in the four men's trial has been halted. (16) (Ashley-Smith) (Audio: p04) The coroner presiding over the inquest into a young woman who killed herself in prison hopes the proceedings will serve as a memorial to Ashley Smith. About 30 people held a demonstration in support of Smith outside the offices of Corrections Canada in Ottawa. University of Ottawa assistant professor Jennifer Kilty expressed concern the country's prison system will get worse under the Harper government. Smith of Moncton, New Brunswick was 19 when she died in October 2007 in her segregation cell at the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, Ontario. (16) (Nortel-Fraud-Trial) It's a happy day for three former executives with defunct tech giant Nortel. They have been acquitted of massive fraud. A court Justice was ``not satisfied'' that ex-C-E-O Frank Dunn, ex-C-F-O Douglas Beatty and ex-controller Michael Gollogly (gol-AH-glee) had ``deliberately misrepresented'' the finances at the telecom company in 2002 and 2003. Following the verdict, the three jumped to their feet to hug family members and their lawyers. (16) (School Shooting) A 16-year-old California high school student who had been teased by his classmates is going to be charged as an adult for allegedly wounding a classmate with a shotgun and trying to target another. Bryan Oliver will face two counts of premeditated attempted murder and three counts of assault with a firearm in last Thursday's attack. He could get 32 years to life for just one of the attempted murder counts. If he'd been convicted as a juvenile, he could only be held until he's 23. (16) (Trapped in Car) A 67-year-old diabetic woman is recovering after being trapped for 18 hours in her crashed car in an icy pond in Minnesota. Nancy Breberg got lost on slippery roads in search of the hotel where she was meeting her husband when her S-U-V slid off the road. A passing cyclist spotted her vehicle's wheel sticking up through brush. Breberg's husband, Ron Breberg of Centerville, is calling Geoffrey Racette his hero for rescuing his wife. (16) (NewsWatch by Roger Ward) (The Canadian Press) (c) 2013 The Canadian Press |