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TORONTO: Black male suspect sought after convenience store owner threatened with knife

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Suspect sought after convenience store owner threatened with knife

convenience store, knifeToronto police released this image of a man who investigators say allegedly attempted to assault a convenience store owner with a knife on Saturday, Aug. 16.
Codi Wilson, CP24.com
Published Saturday, August 16, 2014 8:55PM EDT
Last Updated Saturday, August 16, 2014 9:01PM EDT

Police are searching for a suspect who investigators say attempted to assault a convenience store owner with a knife Saturday afternoon.

According to Toronto police, the suspect entered a convenience store in the area of Bathurst Street and Drewry Avenue at around 12:30 p.m. and a verbal altercation occurred between the two men.

Police say the suspect pulled out a knife and began to swing it at the store owner. The owner, police say, was not struck but the suspect made multiple attempts to assault the man.

The suspect has been described as a black male, in his 30s, approximately five-foot-ten to six feet, with a large, muscular build, and a clean-shaven face.

He was last seen wearing a dark t-shirt and dark shorts.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3204 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

Read more: http://www.cp24.com/news/suspect-sought-after-convenience-store-owner-threatened-with-knife-1.1963089#ixzz3Abha4PZA


EDMONTON: Tam Van Ho charged with hit-and-run

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Chandra Lye, CTV Edmonton
Published Saturday, August 16, 2014 6:51PM MDT

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Officials said Tam Van Ho, 28, has now been charged with failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

The incident happened on July 20 at 100 Avenue and 117 Street.

Surveillance video of the suspect showed him entering Steamworks Bathhouse around 2 a.m. that morning and leaving around 4:24 a.m.

He then entered a BMW Z6 parked behind the Jewish Seniors Centre.

The victim was sleeping on the ground in the area when he was pushed and dragged along the ground by the vehicle.

He sustained non-life threatening injures.

Police said Ho turned himself in on Aug. 15.

He has since been released on a promise to appear.

With files from Julia Parrish

Read more: http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/hit-and-run-driver-turns-himself-in-1.1963097#ixzz3AfMOxBDt

TORONTO: Entire Cuban family gets sponsored, CIC expected to take measures

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Wife fights to keep sponsored hubby’s family out of Canada

michele-mandel

BY  ,TORONTO SUN

FIRST POSTED: 

TORONTO — Deborah Parsons thought she had secured love and a happy future when she sponsored her new Cuban husband to Canada nine years ago.

Instead, she brought home violence, debt and a now-convicted domestic abuser intent on bringing the rest of his family to his new country. And despite her repeated warnings to the immigration department about her husband’s past since coming to Canada, they won’t tell her what they are doing to ensure members of his family are not allowed to come here as well.

“Now that the veil of control and abuse has lifted, my hindsight has become quite clear,” Parsons, 45, wrote in a letter to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. “I was only used for sponsorship, then required to be the bread winner, a maid, a chef, a laundress, a secretary, an employment agency and a charity organization.”

She urged the minister to stop her husband from sponsoring his family and to provide her with information on the case to “ease the pain of the shame I carry daily for bringing someone like this to Canada.”

In an e-mail that arrived Thursday, Parsons was assured CIC is well aware of her concerns regarding her husband. “All information received will be carefully assessed and considered and the appropriate action taken.”

But it also said the Privacy Act prevents them from sharing any information about the “initiation or outcome of any investigation.”

Parsons was aghast. “Why, if I am still married to this (man) and am the Canadian who sponsored him, do I have no right to know what’s going on?” she demands. “Why does a whole Cuban family get sponsored to Canada on the back of (an alleged) fraud?”

In February 2003, a vacationing Parsons met lifeguard Raul Oscar Alvarez-Hervas at a Cuban resort when he rescued her sister following a paragliding accident. After a whirlwind telephone and e-mail romance, she returned to marry him three months later. “I was a stupid girl who thinks, ‘Isn’t this amazing, the poetry, the dripping flower e-mails. Isn’t he so romantic?’”

It took two years and thousands of dollars spent on paperwork, long distance phone bills, 10 return flights and gifts for him and his family before she managed to sponsor him here. But, just five months after his arrival, Alvarez-Hervas disappeared and Parsons wouldn’t see him again for 18 months.

Lucky for him, he came to Canada before a 2012 change was made to the immigration act to combat marriage fraud. Now an immigrant spouse must live with their Canadian sponsor for at least two years or their permanent resident status will be revoked.

Alvarez-Hervas, who did not respond to numerous telephone messages asking for comment, was in the clear.

Her husband returned to Toronto in 2008 and convinced her he was now ready to settle down. Foolishly, she took him back. But it was a tumultuous reunion and on June 24 of that year, she says Alvarez-Hervas beat her. Toronto Police charged him with theft under $5,000, two counts of threatening death and assault with a weapon.

(…)

Filipino nanny faces deportation for working illegally

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Nanny caught up in immigration backlog faces deportation

Ottawa says caregiver is inadmissible because she briefly worked under the table while waiting for an open work permit.

By:  Immigration reporter, Published on Tue Aug 19 2014

A Filipino nanny is facing deportation from Canada after she was found guilty of “misrepresentation” because she briefly worked under the table while waiting for an open work permit amid an immigration backlog.

Canada Border Services Agency has refused to defer Lilia Ordinario Joaquin’s removal on Friday. Her lawyer filed an emergency application Tuesday asking the federal court to review the CBSA decision and stop the deportation.

“I’d say ‘the fix was in’ for Lilia. She fulfilled all the requirements of the live-in caregiver program but was caught by an extraordinarily long period of delay in receiving her open work permit from the government,” said the woman’s lawyer, Jennifer Stone, of the Neighbourhood Legal Services.

“Because of this delay, she was forced to do some babysitting under the table. She didn’t want to go on welfare and she had no other choice. I believe a real injustice has been done in her case.”

Joaquin, who has a university degree in architecture, came to Toronto in 2007 under the live-in caregiver program. In 2009, the 52-year-old mother of five applied for permanent residency and an open permit after she met the minimum two-year “live-in” requirement of the program.

At the time, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) had a huge backlog and live-in caregivers who had qualified for permanent status routinely had to wait 18 months for open work permits. Joaquin’s didn’t arrive until two years later, in November 2011.

For four months, she babysat for a family while her application for a new work permit was in process. For that, she was deemed inadmissible for misrepresentation by “working without authorization.”

In refusing Joaquin’s deferral request, CBSA said deferring a removal is a temporary measure intended for “exceptional” circumstances.

(…)

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TORONTO: Vivian Wong, Leo Zheng and Thomas Ma lost money in condo development deal

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Police investigating after condo deal falls apart

Toronto police confirm they are investigating a number of complaints from prospective buyers in the condo development who say they have lost money.

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Vivian Wong, Leo Zheng and Thomas Ma are among the prospective buyers who say they lost money in a condo development deal that fell apart.  Toronto police are investigating.

TARA DESCHAMPS / TORONTO STAR Order this photo

Vivian Wong, Leo Zheng and Thomas Ma are among the prospective buyers who say they lost money in a condo development deal that fell apart. Toronto police are investigating.

By:  Staff Reporter, Published on Fri Aug 22 2014

When a group of retail and condo buyers purchased units in an up-and-coming Yonge and Finch building also featuring a hotel, they envisioned packing up their current homes and moving into new ones where they would raise families, grow old and make memories together.

Instead, they say they’ve been subjected to almost nine months of anguish as they fret over what happened to the condos they were expecting and the millions they collectively spent on units at 5220 Yonge St.

Toronto police confirm they are investigating a number of complaints from prospective buyers in the condo development who say they have lost money.

While police couldn’t say how many complaints they have received, Det. Const. Seng Sonemanivong of 32 division’s anti-fraud unit says, “There are numerous victims and we are getting more and more every day.”

Police are asking any other people who have lost money to come forward and help with the “active investigation” into the property.

One prospective buyer, Thomas Ma, says he and his wife have desperately been trying to contact developer Yo Sup (Joseph) Lee of Centrium at North York since January, when Lee sent buyers a letter saying plans for the building had fallen through and down payments would be returned.

They visited the lot where the building was to be constructed and found a few cinder blocks and an old city sign advertising Lee’s development proposal for a 14-storey, 150-hotel suite building and a 30-storey, 258-unit residential tower featuring some commercial space.

Ma says he hasn’t seen a penny of the $40,000 he shelled out for a retail unit in the building. The same is true for 29-year-old Leo Zheng and his wife who spent $120,000 on a commercial space and one-bedroom unit with a balcony and a view of bustling Yonge St. to raise his two children in.

(…)

OTTAWA: Chinese restaurant fined after rice served sent six children to hospital

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27 people at Tian Tian Chinese Summer Camp, 17 others got sick after eating rice

CBC News Posted: Aug 22, 2014 4:26 PM ET Last Updated: Aug 22, 2014 4:33 PM ET

A west Ottawa restaurant has been fined by Ottawa Public Health after rice it served made dozens of people sick and sent six children to hospital from a summer camp.

Paramedics were called to St. Cecilia School the afternoon of July 31 after several children and adults from the Tian Tian Chinese Summer Camp reported feeling ill.

Six children suffering from vomiting, dizziness and diarrhea were taken to hospital with suspected food poisoning. They were all released later that day.

Ottawa Public Health said in a statement Friday they inspected three restaurants that provided food for the camp that week. Two of those restaurants passed but the third, Lotus Chinese Food Takeout on Fallowfield Road, did not.

After interviewing more than 90 people from the camp, Ottawa Public Health said a total of 44 people felt sick after eating a fried rice dish from Lotus.

Analysis showed the presence of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that releases toxins causing symptoms reported by those who got sick, in the rice and a noodle dishes from Lotus.

“Although this type of bacteria was found in both the rice and the noodle dishes prepared, the bacteria in the rice dish was at a level consistent with levels known to cause food-borne illness,” the statement said.

Inspection records show Lotus was found in compliance with regulations on Aug. 1, but had a “critical” food safety issue on Aug. 19 related to keeping food protected from contamination.

Lotus has been fined for operating a food premise maintained in a manner permitting a health hazard, and operating a food premise maintained adversely affecting sanitary conditions. Together, the offences carry a maximum fine of $600.

OTTAWA: Misbahuddin Ahmed found guilty of two terrorism-related charges

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Former Ottawa hospital technician Misbahuddin Ahmed has been found guilty of two terrorism-related charges by a jury.

CBC News Posted: Jul 11, 2014 2:30 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 11, 2014 7:29 PM ET

Ahmed, 30, had pleaded not guilty to conspiring to knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity, participation in the activities of a terrorist group, and possession of explosives with intent to do harm after his arrest in August 2010.

His eight-week trial began in mid-May and went to a jury on Tuesday. On Friday, the jury found him guilty of the first two charges but not guilty to the possession of explosives charge.

Conspiring to knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, while participation in the activities of a terrorist group has a 10-year maximum term.

Ahmed will be sentenced on Sept. 15.

(…)

Crown lawyers said during the trial that Ahmed was a “committed jihadist” with an eye on potential Canadian targets, pointing to a bag in his basement they alleged held bomb-making materials.

Ahmed and his defence said during the trial that he was trying to stop a planned attack and was planning to destroy the contents of the bag, which he got from a known extremist.

The jury heard how the RCMP had tapped Ahmed’s phone and videotaped him meeting with that same extremist, whose name is covered under a publication ban.

A verdict is expected in the trial for Khurram Sher, one of Ahmed’s alleged co-conspirators, on Aug. 19.

Domestic violence acceptable reason to keep Mexican woman in Canada

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Mexican woman in Montreal facing deportation to remain in Canada

CBCCBC – Sun, 24 Aug, 2014

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Citizenship and Immigration Canada has stayed Sheila Sedinger Ayala’s removal order.

“It feels amazing,” Sedinger Ayala told CBC news. “Now I can concentrate on celebrating my daughter’s birthday which is this Saturday, the day I was going to be deported.”

Sedinger Ayala, 27, was initially ordered to be deported back to Mexico after her refugee claim sponsor  — her husband — was convicted of a criminal offence.

Her two Canadian-born children would  have stayed behind in Canada if the deportation went ahead.

(…)

The decision comes one day after an immigrant rights group hosted a news conference for Sedinger Ayala on Sunday.

With her fiancé by her side, Sedinger Ayala sobbed while she explained what had happened to her and why she should be granted temporary residency to allow her to stay in Canada while she sorts out her affairs.

Sedinger Ayala said she moved to Montreal from Mexico City in 2005, fleeing from a violent ex-boyfriend.

She had one child within a year of arriving in Canada — a product of gang rape while in Mexico, said Sedinger Ayala’s lawyer Angela Potvin.

She later met and married a man in Montreal with whom she had another child. She said he sponsored her bid for permanent residency and in 2008, the federal and provincial governments accepted her sponsorship application.

However, Potvin said the sponsor was found guilty of physical assault during the course of Sedinger Ayala’s sponsorship application, which in turn made him ineligible to sponsor her. She said the conviction cancelled her permanent residency bid.


Ukrainian Milana Muzikante and Lilia Ratmanski charged with threatening Sunwing flight while drunk on the plane

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Police identify two women charged with threatening Sunwing flight

The two women who caused a Sunwing flight headed to Cuba to turn back to Toronto Wednesday evening are facing numerous charges.

By:  Staff Reporter, Published on Thu Aug 28 2014

The two women who caused a Sunwing flight headed to Cuba to turn back to TorontoWednesday evening — escorted by two fighter jets — are facing numerous charges.

Milana Muzikante, 26, of Vaughan, and Lilia Ratmanski, 25, of Whitby, have been charged with smoking on an aircraft and endangering the safety of an aircraft. They were set to appear in court in Brampton for a bail hearing Thursday.

Peel Regional Police Const. Thomas Ruttan said the pair will face additional charges including mischief endangering life and uttering threats.

Outside the courtroom Thursday afternoon, Ratmanski’s mother said her daughter was an A student in nursing at York who “never smokes, never drinks.”

The mother, who identified herself as a Ukrainian native, was accompanied by a family friend. Neither gave their names.

“I’m so shocked,” the mother said. “I don’t understand what has happened.”

Her mother confirmed the young woman in a photo attached to a Facebook account under the name “Lilia Lemberg” was Ratmanski. According to that account, Ratmanski is a Kyiv, Ukraine, native, now living in the GTA.

Ratmanski and Muzikante have been photographed together on Facebook, apparently on Ratmanski’s birthday. According to the social media site, they also regularly attend events and bars in the city together.

On Aug. 18, Ratmanski posted, “Somebody please recommend a good resort in Varadero I am going crazy trying to decide! 4-5 stars.” Varadero is a popular resort town in Cuba.

The flight left Toronto at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday en route to Varadero via Manzanillo, but was disrupted by “two unruly female passengers,” Sunwing said.

The women consumed a “significant quantity of their duty-free alcohol purchase in the lavatory and lit a cigarette, triggering the smoke detector alarm,” said Sunwing spokeswoman Janine Chapman. “The passengers proceeded to get into a physical altercation with each other and made a threat against the aircraft.”

The pilot decided to turn the plane around over South Carolina and “that’s when NORAD got involved,” said Maj. Julie Roberge, a spokeswoman for NORAD based in Colorado Springs, Colo.

NORAD scrambled two CF-18 fighter jets based out of Bagotville, Que., to escort Flight 656 back to Toronto. The jets met the aircraft at the Canadian border and did not venture into American airspace, Roberge said.

The CF-18 escort lasted just four minutes, she said.

The aircraft landed at Pearson airport at about 8:30 p.m. and Ruttan said the entire plane “erupted in cheers” when the two women were removed from the aircraft.

The flight took off for a second time from Toronto around 11 p.m. Wednesday with a new flight crew, Chapman said.

(…)

GTA: Project Yellowbird busts Slavic-immigrant run high-end goods crime ring

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Busted crime ring stole $5 million worth of luxury cars and other valuables

CBC News Posted: Aug 29, 2014 6:18 PM ET Last Updated: Aug 29, 2014 7:00 PM ET

Toronto police showed off some of the millions of dollars worth of luxury goods on Friday that were recovered in Thursday’s raids in the GTA and Niagara region. The raids led to the arrests of eight people in an alleged high-end goods crime ring.

The investigation, dubbed Project Yellowbird after a Porsche Carrera stolen in December, resulted in the recovery of $5 million worth of stolen luxury cars and other valuables including jewelry, designer clothing and handbags, electronics, cigars and guns. 

Many of those items were on display at a press conference Friday.

Project YellowbirdToronto police display millions of dollars worth of recovered luxury goods from Project Yellowbird. (CBC)

The goods were stolen from residences in high-end neighbourhoods. An estimated $800,000 worth of goods was stolen from a single home.

Twenty-three stolen vehicles were recovered, which Blair said are worth an estimated $2.3 million as a whole. Makes such as Bentley, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are among the recovered vehicles.

Police described the robberies as “bold.”

“The homeowner came home, found his garage open, one of his cars was missing,” said Toronto Police Supt. Scott Gilbert. “He went in, found his house had been broken into. While he was on the phone calling the police, the suspects were around the corner and stole his other car from the driveway. The one he had just pulled up in.”

Police also released the names of the nine suspects in custody. Eight of them were arrested and one turned himself in.

All nine appeared in court for a bail hearing Friday. They are facing more than 150 charges, and additional charges are likely.

Mercedes recovered during Project YellowbirdToronto police say they have recovered 23 high-end vehicles, including this Mercedes-Benz, through a months-long investigation they have dubbed Project Yellowbird. (Toronto Police Service)

(…)

The suspects are:

  • Mykhaylo Antonov, 28,
  • Piotr Buczel, 38,
  • Arkadiusz Czeranowski, 38,
  • Krzysztof Harasiuk, 44,
  • Maciej Niezurawski, 46,
  • Oskar Boczkowski, 35,
  • Tania Hernandez-lopez, 29,
  • Magdelena Lejawa, 42,
  • Milena Zelenovich, 36.

The investigation involved officers from several Ontario jurisdictions.

‘We’ve turned off a pipeline’

Chief Bill Blair said the successful conclusion of the operation had made a very significant dent in the ability of the gang to continue victimizing the people of Toronto.

“We’ve turned off a pipeline, a pipeline that was victimizing people in the city and creating a very unsafe situation,” he said.

Four of the stolen cars, including the Porsche, were located as they arrived in Europe with the help of the Canada Border Services Agency and are now on their way back home, police said.

(…)

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 IN 2002, Maciej Niezurawski, one of the city’s most accomplished car thieves, lived in a Mississauga apartment with his wife and three-year-old daughter. He is over six feet tall, pushing 220 pounds, dresses casually–he’s a fan of the cotton track pant–and, at the time, had blond highlights in his spiky brown hair. He was 39 years old and drove a yellow Dodge Viper with vanity plate “VIPERRRR.”

On a warm September night, he did what he had done dozens of times before. He dressed himself in black from head to toe and walked out of his apartment a few minutes before midnight, leaving his family behind. He drove to the local Tim Hortons at Mavis Road and Central Parkway West and picked up his 24-year-old accomplice and lover. Together, they headed toward a house on Napa Hill Court, near Yonge and Steeles. While the owners of the house, Aksana and Gregory Miakouchkina, lay fast asleep, Niezurawski snuck around back and gingerly opened the unlocked sliding glass door. Inside, he quietly snatched the car keys and purse, off the kitchen table, then headed out and slipped into the Miakouchkinas’ $75,000 silver BMW X5 SUV, which was parked in the, driveway. With his girlfriend following behind, Niezurawski drove off to Stately Way, a decidedly unstately street of townhouses in Markham, and parked the hot car at a designated drop-off spot.

For the average car thief, this would be a full night’s work. But Niezurawski was both talented and ambitious. At about 1:30 a.m., he and his accomplice headed south to Princess Avenue, near Bayview and Sheppard, where Raj and Virender Bagga were asleep in bed. Virender, then 66, was a social worker until a stroke left him wheelchair-bound and incapacitated. His wife, Raj, who was then 58, had returned home late from a United Way meeting–she volunteers as a fundraiser on the city’s South Asian Committee–and parked her new $60,000 grey Acura MDX in the driveway. Their daughter, Priya, who lived at home, was in Seattle that week, visiting her brother, Bob. Raj had left her purse in the family room before heading up to bed at 11 p.m. Niezurawski walked into the Baggas’ back garden through an open iron gate, took the screen off their patio window, broke the glass and crept into the family room. He grabbed the purse and took off through the back door. Outside, he removed the keys, two credit cards and $700 in cash, tossed the purse onto the grass, slid into the car and drove past his girlfriend, who was parked a few blocks away. The two of them headed to nearby Palomino Crescent to dump the car, then drove off together. It had been a good night: two cars stolen without a hitch, everything according to plan. …

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By: Precious Yutangco Staff Reporter, Published on Wed Oct 01 2008

Halton Region police believe a man they arrested for allegedly stealing a BMW is connected to an organized auto theft ring.

On Sunday, police used a Boomerang Tracking Device to locate a 2006 BMW that had been stolen from Hamilton.

They found the car in a parking lot in the area of Prince William Dr. and Amelia Court, near Burloak Dr. and Hwy. 403 in Burlington. Police decided to start surveillance before seizing the stolen property.

Around 2 p.m. on Monday, police spotted a man getting into the car.

After a foot pursuit involving a canine unit, the suspect was arrested.

Arkadiusz Czeranowski, 33, of Burlington, has been charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000 and breach of probation.

The car is estimated to be worth over $150,000.

Police are continuing to investigate and are asking anyone with information to call them at 905-825-4777 x2355. Crime Stoppers accepts anonymous tips at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

ISLAMIC TERRORISM: King of Saudi Arabia warns that extremists could attack Europe and the U.S.

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Abdullah Al-Shihri and Sameer Yaacoub, The Associated Press
Published Saturday, August 30, 2014 12:35PM EDT
Last Updated Saturday, August 30, 2014 3:24PM EDT

 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The king of Saudi Arabia has warned that extremists could attack Europe and the U.S. if there is not a strong international response to terrorism after the Islamic State group seized a wide territory across Iraq and Syria.

While not mentioning any terrorist groups by name, King Abdullah’s statement appeared aimed at drawing Washington and NATO forces into a wider fight against the Islamic State group and its supporters in the region. Saudi Arabia openly backs rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, but is concerned that the breakaway al Qaeda group could also turn those very same weapons on the kingdom.

“If neglected, I am certain that after a month they will reach Europe and, after another month, America,” he said at a reception for foreign ambassadors Friday.

Official Saudi media carried the king’s comments early Saturday.

“These terrorists do not know the name of humanity and you have witnessed them severing heads and giving them to children to walk with in the street,” the king said, urging the ambassadors to relay his message directly to their heads of state.

The Islamic State group has been fighting moderate rebels, other extremists and Assad’s forces in Syria for nearly three years. Iraq has faced an onslaught by the Sunni extremists and their supporters since early this year, and the country continues to be roiled by instability.

While providing arms and support to Sunni militants in Syria, Saudi Arabia has denied directly funding or backing the Islamic State group.

British officials raised the country’s terror threat level Friday to “severe,” its second-highest level, because of developments in Iraq and Syria, but there was no information to suggest an attack was imminent. The White House has said it does not expect the U.S. to bump up its terrorism threat warning level.

Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. ally in the region, has taken an increasingly active role in criticizing the Islamic State group. Earlier this month, the country’s top cleric described the Islamic State group and al-Qaida as Islam’s No. 1 enemy and said that Muslims have been their first victims. State-backed Saudi clerics who once openly called on citizens to fight in Syria can now face steep punishment and the kingdom has threatened to imprison its citizens who fight in Syria and Iraq.

A decade ago, al Qaeda militants launched a string of attacks in the kingdom aimed at toppling the monarchy. Saudi officials responded with a massive crackdown that saw many flee to neighbouring Yemen. In the time since, the kingdom has not seen any massive attacks, though it has imprisoned suspected militants and sentenced others to death.

Meanwhile Saturday, police in Iraq said a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into an army checkpoint in the town of Youssifiyah, killing 11 people, including four soldiers, and wounding at least 24 people. Youssifiyah is 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Baghdad.

Hours later, a roadside bomb targeting an army patrol killed two soldiers and wounded five in Latifiyah, a town 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of Baghdad.

(…)

Yaacoub reported from Baghdad.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/saudi-king-issues-stern-terror-warning-for-europe-u-s-1.1984095#ixzz3BvqzA0Tq

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‘Small but notable’ number of Canadians engage in terror abroad

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/small-but-notable-number-of-canadians-engage-in-terror-abroad-1.1982981#ixzz3BvsHy8WK

Dutch Jacobus Marinus van Nierop to be deported to face criminal charges in France

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September 5, 2014 1:02 pm

Fugitive Dutch dentist, wanted for mutilating patients, ordered held

By Staff  The Canadian Press

MONTREAL – A Dutch dentist arrested this week in New Brunswick and wanted in France for allegedly mutilating patients through botched procedures will remain detained pending his removal from Canada.

Jacobus Marinus van Nierop had a detention review before the Immigration and Refugee Board Friday via teleconference.

(…)

The Canada Border Services Agency says it is making plans to return van Nierop to his native Holland, but that could change if French authorities demand he be returned to that country to face criminal charges.

(…)

In a strange twist, van Nierop told the hearing he thought he was being held in connection with the murder of his wife in the Netherlands in 2006.

© The Canadian Press, 2014

LASALLE, QC.: Family from Cameroon fears FGM if deported

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September 7, 2014 6:24 pm

Fearing female circumcision, Lasalle family fights deportation

Billy ShieldsBy Reporter

LASALLE – Hilary Fuh-Cham’s father was known as a “sub-chief” in his native village of Cameroon, a tiny place about 20 km outside the town of Bamenda, in the eastern part of the country.

But when his father died, his world turned upside down, triggering a series of events that left him,  his wife and three children in Canada fighting off deportation.

“The only time I said that I could not continue was when they told me my wife and my daughter would have to be circumcised,” he told Global News.

Fuh-Cham converted to Roman Catholicism when he was still quite young, but his father remained wed to indigenous beliefs.

When Fuh-Cham had to take up the role of sub-chief after his father’s death, it meant the women in his family had to undergo circumcisions and other practices they staunchly opposed, he said.

In December 2007, they arrived in Canada with their daughter in an attempt to gain refugee status.

“My main fear was losing my life,” said Yvette Fuh-Cham.

“I remember seeing my sister-in-law circumcised, the pain she had to go through. Just believing that’s going to be done to you, you have to leave, you have to hide.”

Their cause is being taken up by the Saint Jean Brebeuf parish in Lasalle.

“To my mind it’s like persecuted by the government, the federal government,” said Father Gerry Martineau, the pastor of the church.

“A lot of people will be extremely sad, his presence is felt. He’s very integrated into our community.”

The Fuh-Chams say they’ve attempted on three occasions to obtain the right to stay in the country either on refugee or humanitarian grounds, but have yet to get a result that keeps them in Canada – even though two of their children were born in Canada and have never been to Cameroon.

They say they have a little more than a month before they’ll be deported.

(…)

© Shaw Media, 2014

TORONTO: Hicham Laghzaoui charged with sexual assault on a man

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Several charges have been laid against 38 year old Hicham Laghzaoui including assault with a weapon and sexual assault on a man.TORONTO POLICE SERVICE

Arrest Made in Downtown Sexual Assault

Toronto, ON, Canada / Talk Radio AM640

September 08, 2014 11:22 am

Toronto Police have charged a woman in connection with a sexual assault downtown early Saturday morning.

Police say it happened around 3a.m. in the Dundas Street West and McCaul Street area, when a woman entered a home through the front door left unlocked.

Police allege the woman confronted the tenants inside and threatened to pepper spray them. According to police a man was then sexually assaulted.

Several charges have been laid against 38 year old Hicham Laghzaoui including assault with a weapon and sexual assault.

Police believe there could be more victims and are reminding the public, specifically university and college students, to lock their doors.

QUEBEC CITY (Fr.): Deux femmes qui portaient le voile et qui s’exprimaient en français auteurs de l’alerte à la bombe

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Les auteurs de l’alerte à la bombe résidaient à l’hôtel Best Western du Centre-ville

Nicolas Saillant

NICOLAS SAILLANT @

PUBLIÉ LE: | MISE À JOUR: 

Les patientes de l’urgence de l’Hôtel-Dieu qui ont prétendu être en possession d’une bombe se trouvaient au restaurant du Best Western sur de la Couronne lorsqu’elles ont demandé une ambulance dimanche soir.

Selon ce que le Journal a appris, les deux femmes qui ont été arrêtées tôt ce matin après avoir tenu les policiers et le personnel de l’Hôtel-Dieu en alerte toute la nuit, étaient au Bistro le 330 lorsqu’elles ont demandé une ambulance. Les femmes qui portaient le voile et qui s’exprimaient en français étaient clientes du Best Western centre-ville.

Selon l’employé du Bistro 330 qui a servi les deux femmes vers 21 h dimanche, l’une d’elles semblait confuse lorsqu’elle s’est assise à une table de la salle à manger. «Il y en a une qui ne parlait pas, elle avait des lunettes soleil, elle ne parlait pas, elle ne me regardait pas, rien», raconte le jeune homme qui a préféré ne pas être identifié.

Le serveur qui a présenté les dames de 41 et 45 ans comme étant «des sœurs» ajoute que celles-ci étaient indécises. «Sa sœur a dit, je vais prendre un café, finalement elle n’en voulait pas, puis elle l’a pris. Ensuite elles étaient supposées commander. Au moment de prendre la commande, elle a dit appelle une ambulance», raconte celui qui a composé le 9-1-1.

«Elles avaient l’air bien correctes», ajoute le serveur qui indique que l’ambulance s’est présenté environ 15 minutes plus tard. Des touristes de la Suisse, clients du Best Western ont aussi indiqué au Journal avoir été «intrigué» par l’ambulance ainsi que la présence de deux voitures de police au coin de la Couronne et de la rue du Roi hier soir.

«On était au pub en face et on a vu une ambulance et deux voitures de police vers 21 h 30. C’était curieux», indique la dame sans en savoir davantage.

Selon le superviseur ambulancier Jean-François Roy, «Il n’y avait absolument rien qui pouvait laisser présager ce qui allait suivre» lorsque les dames ont été prises en charge par les paramédics hier soir.

Hospitalisées

Vers 4 h 50 ce matin, les policiers de Québec ont procédé à l’arrestation des deux dames qui s’étaient retranchées dans une toilette de l’urgence. Selon les premières informations, du poivre de Cayenne aurait été utilisé pour faciliter l’arrestation des deux femmes et elles-ci n’ont pas été blessées.

Les prévenues ont ensuite été transportées vers un autre hôpital pour une évaluation psychologique. Une équipe de nettoyage de l’entreprise Qualinet a ensuite précédé à la ventilation de l’urgence pour éviter que le poivre de Cayenne n’incommode les patients et le personnel.

Depuis, l’urgence a été rouverte graduellement alors que les autres départements de l’hôpital fonctionnent normalement depuis ce matin.

État de crise

La policière a mentionné que les deux femmes étaient en crise. Il était impossible de connaître leur lien, de même que leurs motivations. Mme Viel n’a pas pu confirmer non plus si elles avaient bel et bien en leur possession un engin explosif.

Les étages situés au-dessus des urgences n’ont pas été vidés pendant le siège, a expliqué la porte-parole du CHU de Québec, Geneviève Dupuis. Selon elle, les manœuvres se sont déroulées sans anicroche.
«Comme la majorité des patients dormaient déjà, ça a eu peu d’impact pour eux. »

Une ligne téléphonique pour les patients de l’Hôtel-Dieu a été mise en place. Il est possible d’obtenir des informations au 418-525-4444, poste 2.


QUEBEC CITY: Nadjat Boudjerima and Nora Boudjerima arrested and charged in bomb threat

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Appel à la bombe : les sœurs Boudjerima évaluées et accusées

Nicolas Saillant

Dernière mise à jour: 08-09-2014 | 09h30

QUÉBEC – Les patientes de l’urgence de l’Hôtel-Dieu qui ont prétendu être en possession d’une bombe dimanche soir font maintenant face à des accusations de méfait, faux message et menace.

Nadjat Boudjerima, 41 ans et sa sœur, Nora Boudjerima, 45 ans, ont comparu lundi après-midi après avoir obtenu leur congé de l’hôpital où elles avaient été amenées après leur arrestation tôt en matinée.

Les deux femmes, qui ont créé tout un émoi dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi à l’hôpital de l’Hôtel-Dieu, font face à des accusations de menace de détruire, faux message et méfait.

Les deux sœurs, qui habitent Montréal, ont déjà fait face à des accusations semblables en 2007. Nadjat, la plus vieille des deux accusées, avait cependant été reconnue non responsable criminellement pour troubles mentaux.

Sa sœur cadette, Nora, avait quant à elle été acquittée. Selon nos sources, cette dernière a d’ailleurs une formation en chimie, ce qui aurait inquiété les autorités.

COMPORTEMENTS DOUTEUX

Selon la procureure de la poursuite, Mélanie Ducharme, les deux sœurs sont arrivées à Québec samedi, par train, mais déjà des employés de VIA Rail ont indiqué que les accusées avaient un comportement douteux et des propos incohérents. Ce même comportement a été observé par un employé du Bistro le 330, voisin de l’hôtel Best Western du centre-ville, où elles résidaient.

Selon le serveur, l’une d’elles semblait confuse lorsqu’elle s’est assise à une table de la salle à manger. «Elle avait des lunettes soleil, elle ne parlait pas, elle ne me regardait pas», raconte le jeune homme qui a préféré ne pas être identifié.

«Sa sœur a dit, je vais prendre un café, finalement elle n’en voulait pas, puis elle l’a pris. Ensuite, elles étaient supposées commander. Au moment de prendre la commande, elle a dit: appelle une ambulance», raconte celui qui a composé le 911.

Après être passées au triage de l’urgence, celles-ci se sont rendues dans les toilettes où un appel à la bombe a été fait. Après de longues heures de siège pendant lesquelles l’urgence a été fermée et les patients déplacés, la police de Québec a utilisé du poivre de Cayenne pour faciliter l’arrestation des dames.

ÉVALUATION PSYCHIATRIQUE

Après leur arrestation, vers 4 h 50 du matin, les sœurs ont été transportées vers un autre hôpital où elles ont été vues par un psychiatre.

Celles-ci demeureront détenues afin qu’une évaluation psychiatrique soit faite pour établir si elles sont aptes à subir leur procès. Elles reviendront devant le juge vendredi.

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Google translation:

QUEBEC – The patients of the ER of the Hotel-Dieu who claimed to be in possession of a bomb Sunday night are now facing charges of mischief, false message and threat.

Nadjat Boudjerima, 41 and her sister, Nora Boudjerima, 45, appeared Monday afternoon after being discharged from the hospital where they were brought after their arrest in the early morning.

The two women, who created quite a stir in the night from Sunday to Monday in the hospital of the Hôtel-Dieu, facing charges of threatening to destroy false message and mischief.

The two sisters, who live in Montreal, have already faced similar charges in 2007 Nadjat, the oldest of the two accused, however, had been found not criminally responsible for mental disorders.

Her younger sister, Nora, had meanwhile been paid. According to our sources, the latter has also a background in chemistry, which would have alarmed the authorities.

QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOR

According to the counsel for the prosecution, Melanie Ducharme, the two sisters arrived in Quebec City on Saturday by train, but already employees of VIA Rail said that the accused had questionable behavior and incoherent. The same behavior was observed by an employee of Bistro 330, next to the Best Western downtown, where they resided.

Depending on the server, one of them looked confused when she sat at a table in the dining room. “She had sun glasses, she did not speak, she did not look at me,” says the young man who preferred not to be identified.

“His sister said, I’ll have a coffee, she finally did not want, and then she took it. Then they were supposed to control. In making the order, she said call an ambulance, “says one who called 911.

After passing triage of emergency, they traveled to the toilet where a bomb threat was made. After a long siege during which the emergency was closed and patients moved, the Quebec police used pepper spray to facilitate the arrest of the ladies.

PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION

After their arrest, around 4 pm 50 am, the sisters were transported to another hospital where they were seen by a psychiatrist.

They remain held to a psychiatric evaluation be done to determine whether they are fit to stand trial. They will come back before the judge on Friday.

TORONTO: Franklin Afrifa arrested in killing of Olatoyebi Waheed; Benard Asante still at large

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Police are searching for Benard Asante, aka Benard Kissi, 24, of Toronto in connection to a fatal drive-by shooting near Jane and Eglinton earlier this week. Police have arrested Franklin Afrifa, 25, on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Asante is wanted on the same charges.

Man arrested in fatal drive-by shooting

One man has been arrested and police are still searching for a second in connection to the shooting on Aug. 19, which killed a Toronto man.

By:  Staff Reporter, Published on Sun Aug 24 2014

A man has been arrested and one man is still wanted in connection to a fatal drive-by shooting earlier this week.

EMS was called to the area of Jane St. and Eglinton Ave. W. around 6:45 p.m. on Monday, to what appeared to be a targeted drive-by shooting on a busy North York street.

Olatoyebi Waheed, 24, of Toronto, was killed in the shooting, and a 23-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Toronto Police executed two search warrants at residential addresses in Toronto on Sunday.

Franklin Afrifa, 25, of Toronto, was arrested at one of the homes. He faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder, and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Police are still searching for Benard Asante, also known as Benard Kissi, 24, of Toronto. He is wanted on the same charges.

Asante is described as black, five feet five inches, and 130 lbs. He has his hair in cornrows.

Police say Asante is considered armed and dangerous, and believe he may have left Toronto.

(…)the victims were known to each other.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

With files from Kim Brown and Jennifer Pagliaro

Toronto lawyer Meerai Cho arrested in condo fraud totalling $12.4-million

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Police laid 75 charges against Meerai Cho, 63, related to condo fraud totalling $12.4-million in expected losses from deposits on units at 5220 Yonge St.

Toronto lawyer arrested in alleged condo fraud totalling $12.4-million

KAT SIENIUC

The Globe and Mail

Published 

Last updated 

A Toronto lawyer was arrested Tuesday after at least 25 people came forward alleging they paid deposits for a condo in north Toronto, only to learn later that the land had been sold, the developer had fled and their money was gone.

Police laid 75 charges against Meerai Cho, 63, related to condo fraud totalling $12.4-million in expected losses from deposits on units at 5220 Yonge St.

(…)

At a time when construction is booming in Toronto, the alleged fraud calls into question whether strong enough safeguards exist for condo buyers in the city. While real estate lawyers and authorities say a crime of this nature is rare, others say the new-sale market needs more oversight.

“This wasn’t something that somebody met them [victims] down the back alley. This was a condo development, they were dealing with a lawyer at this time, and the purpose of the trust account is to hold the monies in trust, they are not supposed to be moved,” Det. Constable Devereaux said.

The victims’ losses vary from $40,000 to $700,000 in deposits, according to police.

The city approved 54 new condo projects in 2011, 60 projects in both 2012 and 2013 and have already approved 30 this year.

Leor Margulies, a real estate lawyer with Robins Appleby and a member of the executive board of the Building Industry and Land Development Association in Toronto, said this kind of fraud is very unusual.

“I don’t recall this ever happening,” he said.

That’s because, he says, there are sufficient safeguards in place that – when combined – protect buyers’ funds: The Condominium Act requires developers to ensure buyers’ deposits are held by an escrow agent – in this case, Ms. Cho – in a safe trust account; Additionally, all developments containing residential units must register with Tarion Warranty Corporation, which covers up to $20,000.

(…)

Address:

MeeraiCho.com
60 St. Clair Avenue East #802 Toronto, Ontario M4T 1N5 TEL:(416)960-0066 FAX:(416)960-0055

Email : meerai@meeraicho.com

TORONTO: Sivakumar Sivagnanam, 63, arrested in sexual assault of 12-year-old girl

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News Release header

Broadcast time: 08:34
Friday, August 29, 2014

42 Division
416-808-7474

The Toronto Police Service would like to make the public aware of an arrest in a Sexual Assault investigation.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2014, at approximately 10 a.m., a girl, 12, was in her home in the Morningside Avenue and Ellesmere Road area.

It is alleged that:

- she answered a knock at the door

- a man entered the home and sexually assaulted her

Sivakumar Sivagnanam, 63, of Toronto, was arrested. He is charged with: 

1) two counts of Being Unlawfully in a Dwelling 
2) two counts of Sexual Assault 
3) two counts of Sexual Interference 
4) Forcible Confinement 

He appeared in court at 1911 Eglinton Avenue East on Thursday, August 28, 2014, 10 a.m., courtroom 412.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook. Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World. 

For more news, visit TPSnews.ca.


Constable David Hopkinson, Corporate Communications, for Detective Hunter Smith, Sex Crimes

 

OTTAWA: Deepan Budlakoti fighting for Canadian citizenship

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Ottawa man born in Canada loses round in fight for citizenship

 

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, September 10, 2014 11:06AM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, September 10, 2014 2:42PM EDT

OTTAWA — An Ottawa man says he will appeal after losing a round in his court battle for Canadian citizenship.

Deepan Budlakoti was suddenly told by federal officials four years ago that he is not a citizen — even though he was born in Canada and had been issued a birth certificate and a Canadian passport.

The government argues Budlakoti did not automatically become a Canadian at birth in October 1989, as his parents were employed by a foreign diplomat, the Indian high commissioner.

Budlakoti, 24, was ordered out of Canada three years ago due to drug and firearms convictions. He unsuccessfully tried to challenge the order in court.

In December 2012 he completed his sentence and was released into custody of the Canada Border Services Agency.

Federal Court Justice Michael Phelan was not convinced by Budlakoti’s argument that his parents quit the Indian High Commission in June 1989, months before he was born.

“That employment terminated at some point in 1989 — the exact date is hotly contested and the facts in this record are difficult to make out,” Phelan says in his reasons for the judgment.

The judge says Budlakoti’s case is undermined by contemporary documentation, including a Dec. 6, 1989, employment authorization allowing his father to work for a new employer instead of the high commissioner.

In addition, Phelan says the fact Budlakoti was given a Canadian passport does not necessarily mean he was a Canadian citizen.

The judge dismissed the man’s claims that federal actions had violated his Charter of Rights guarantees to enter, remain in or leave Canada, and to life, liberty and security of the person.

In a statement Wednesday, Budlakoti and his supporters called the court ruling “shocking and deplorable.”

“Obviously, I will appeal,” Budlakoti said. “I refuse to be exiled from my homeland, to be made an outcast in my own society. This case is important for everyone in Canada, it sets a precedent that we should all be worried about.”

Budlakoti says he has been left stateless.

India has denied he is a citizen of that country or that he is entitled to citizenship, though Phelan says the record on this point “is sketchy at best” and “not a matter which this court can decide.”

(…)

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ottawa-man-born-in-canada-loses-round-in-fight-for-citizenship-1.2000285#ixzz3Cx8dJ3lU

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