IN THE NEWS

Rescue teams in northern Thailand are giving crash courses in swimming and diving as part of preparations to remove the young soccer squad from a cave. Enough supplies have been prepared to last 4 months, as timeline for rescue remains unclear.

Canada’s embassy in Haiti was overrun by a criminal organization after more than a dozen locals hired to work at the diplomatic mission in Port-au-Prince swindled more than $1.7 million through numerous schemes and frauds, internal investigation reports reveal.

A recent examination has found that Google lets hundreds of outside software developers scan the inboxes of millions of Gmail users who signed up for email-based services offering shopping price comparisons, automated travel-itinerary planners or other tools. Google does little to police those developers, who train their computers—and, in some cases, employees—to read their users’ emails.

Passengers trapped for a night on a stricken ferry off the Indonesian island of Sulawesi were rescued early Wednesday, officials said, as the death toll rose to 31 with three people missing and believed drowned inside the vessel.

The Calgary Stampede begins Friday and visitors will notice more security measures this year, including metal detectors, screening and vehicle barriers. A Stampede official said barriers are largely designed to match Stampede decor.

The Mount Agung volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali erupted Monday evening, ejecting a 2,000-metre-high column of thick ash and hurling lava down its slopes.

Belgian authorities have charged an Iranian diplomat and three other people with plotting a terrorist attack in France. The planned bombing targeted an Iranian opposition event near Paris which included Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's attorney.

Border officers stationed at Canada’s ports seize suspected stolen vehicles when they find them and then notify police, who are supposed to investigate. The CBSA says that if there is no police investigation, it has no reason to hold the cars and must release them — effectively allowing them to be exported overseas by crimes groups.

Bill C-21, scheduled for Senate debate in the fall, would allow the government to monitor how long someone is outside the country, to ensure they return before losing social benefits like Old Age Security, Employment Insurance and the Guaranteed Income Supplement. The information would be shared with the United States government.

An independent review of the Immigration and Refugee Board says there are persistent and systemic problems with the organization that handles asylum claims and appeals, problems it says can’t be fixed without a major shift at the top.

Airbus has delivered four H125 helicopters to Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. The aircraft will help increase service capacity for a wide range of NSDNR missions including search and rescue, forestry programs, wildlife and geological surveys, as well as firefighting. 

The entire police force of a Mexican town has been arrested after allegations that it was involved in the murder of a candidate in the mayoral election.

Canada's national police force is facing a $1.1-billion lawsuit over bullying and harassment claims that could eventually represent thousands of male and female RCMP officers, civilian staff, and even volunteers dating back decades.

The Liberal government has concluded a deal with Davie shipyard to purchase three medium icebreakers to relieve pressure on the Canadian Coast Guard's aging fleet. Sources close to the negotiations said that between the purchase and modification phase, the agreement could be worth just under $500 million.

Ontario’s doctors won’t have to tell local public-health units what shots they’ve given children starting July 1, Premier-designate Doug Ford has told them, putting off indefinitely a rule created by the Liberals that was to kick in two days after he’s sworn in.

Rising waters forced rescuers to suspend the search for 12 boys and their soccer coach missing for two days in a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand. The boys, aged 11-15, are believed to have entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province with their 25-year-old coach late Saturday afternoon.

Canadian border guards use a secret US anti-terror database called Tuscan. Rarely referred to publicly, Tuscan is svailable to Canadian border guards and immigration officers to help identify people who may be linked to terrorism.

Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first two of a total of six H145 helicopters to Swiss Air-Rescue Rega. These will replace Rega’s existing fleet of EC145 helicopters, which will be phased out by mid-2019. The first H145 helicopter is expected to be deployed at the Bern base in October.

The United States withdrew from a “hypocritical and self-serving” United Nations Human Rights Council on over what it called chronic bias against Israel and a lack of reform. It also comes as the United States faces intense criticism for detaining children separated from their immigrant parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Monday evening, more than 200 people are thought to have crammed aboard the small, rickety vessel to make the 40-minute journey across Lake Toba – only 18 people to have been pulled from the water alive after the vessel sank. A total of 213 people were estimated to be on board the 60-person capacity ferry.

The magnitude 6.1 earthquake that struck the area early Monday damaged buildings and left many homes without water or gas. The earthquake hit the area around Osaka, the country's second-largest city, killing four people and injuring hundreds while knocking over walls and setting off fires.

After years of delays, the terrorism trial of Awso Peshdary has started in Ottawa. Peshdary has pleaded not guilty to participating in the activity of a terrorist group, facilitating an activity for a terrorist group, and two counts of conspiring to participate or contribute to an activity of a terrorist group.

Specialized software helped to build the case against Alexandre Bissonnette, convicted of six charges of first-degree murder in the Quebec City mosque shooting. Sentencing arguments begin today.

A 2018 survey of 148,000 people in 142 countries asked people how safe they felt. Singapore was number one and Canada ranked eighth.

The American Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a new strategy for the US border with Canada. While the "most common threat to U.S. public safety along the Northern border continues to be the bi-directional flow of illicit drugs" the DHS noted the U.S. also faces "potential terror threats...primarily from homegrown violent extremists in Canada ..."

The hiring of a U.S. firm to advise the Department of National Defence on how to improve security at its installations across the country has sparked complaints that the job could have been done for cheaper by local firms or by the military’s own police force. Details of the almost $2-million contract to Watermark, a risk management firm in Virginia, were recently released under the Access to Information law.

Nearly 30 years after declaring Polio eradicated in Venezuela, the first case of the disease has been reported in the country as it reels from an economic crash crippling its healthcare system.

About 10,000 civil servants who work in or near the Quebec legislature will have Thursday afternoon and Friday off work, because G7 protestors are expected to make the area unsafe. The actual summit is being held 140 kilometres away but three protests are scheduled for Quebec City.

Bill C-211, a private member's bill passed unanimously by the House of Commons in June 2017, calls for a range of measures to assist Canadian frontline personnel with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The bill names first responders, fire fighters, military personnel, corrections officers and RCMP members but there are concerns that other professional groups should also qualify for PTSD treatment.

Legal marijuana is on the way in Canada but until federal legislation is enacted it is still against the law to possess, produce, import, export, or transport marijuana. Even before legalization, police in many areas are unable to control illegal sale and distribution networks due to lack of resources.

A report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says the Chinese government has influenced every level of New Zealand society and the situation has reached a “critical” stage. Based on reports delivered to an academic workshop, the report does not reflect the agency's official views.

Ontario Provincial Police arrested three men in connection with the seizure of more $1.3-million in unstamped tobacco last week after one of two rental trucks in a convoy went off the 401 highway near Morrisburg.

As May turns into June, the B.C. Wildfire Service has already been in action on 227 fires in the current fire season. A fire about 20 square kilometres in size is near Allie Lake, about 55 kilometres northwest of Kamloops has forced more than a dozen of people to evacuate their properties.

A former official at the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service is alarmed at the involvement of Chinese telecommunications company  Huawei with Canadian universities to acquire 5G wireless technology.  The government is being asked to study the security threat and economic cost of transferring Canadian intellectual property.