Five stories in the news today, Aug. 19

Five stories in the news today from The Canadian Press:

VIA PONDERS CHEAP FARES IN B.C. 

VIA Rail has joined discussions with the British Columbia government, First Nations and community groups to offer rock-bottom fares to “vulnerable” people who can’t afford to travel along the so-called Highway of Tears. The railway is collaborating with mayors and multiple agencies including the First Nations Health Authority to determine the criteria for $5 fares along a northern B.C. corridor where 18 women have been murdered or disappeared since the 1970s.

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TRAGICALLY HIP TO PLAY TOUR FINALE IN HOMETOWN TOMORROW

traffic delays

One injured in multi-vehicle crash along Nanaimo Parkway

46m ago

bringing the funk

VIDEO: Nanaimo dance duo through to Canada's Got Talent finale

3h ago

bolstered response

Oil response bases ready to go with pending increased tanker traffic

6h ago

Tragically Hip fans across Canada are prepping for the Man Machine Poem tour finale in the band’s hometown of Kingston, Ont., tomorrow. Emotions have been high since the band revealed that frontman Gord Downie had been diagnosed with an aggressive, incurable form of brain cancer. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning to attend what could be the band’s last show together.

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KURDI SAYS PICTURE SHOWS NEED FOR PEACE IN SYRIA 

The aunt of a Syrian toddler whose image lying lifeless on a beach shocked the world says a new photograph of a bloody boy pulled from a collapsed building in Aleppo is heartbreaking, but she fears these kinds of images thwart peace efforts by adding fuel to the fire of a years-long conflict. Tima Kurdi of Coquitlam, B.C., said Wednesday’s image of the child is being used in the West to garner further support for the rebels battling Syrian President Bashar Assad. Selective reporting will prolong the bloodshed and displacement, and instead of supporting either side world leaders need to focus on organizing peace talks that prioritize ending the conflict as soon as possible, she says.

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FOUR MEDALS FOR CANADA ON DAY 13 

Andre De Grasse took silver in the men’s 200-metre final on Thursday, for his second medal in his Olympic debut. The 21-year-old finished the race in 20.02 seconds, just behind Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, who took gold for the third straight Olympics in 19.78. And he could add a third medal in the 4×100 relay final. Erica Wiebe won gold in 75-kilogram final of women’s wrestling, Damian Warner captured the bronze in the decathlon and a bronze went to diver Meaghan Benfeito in the women’s 10-metre platform final.

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HIGH-END GRAFFITI ADORNS VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOOD

Murals are sprouting up like crazy in an east Vancouver neighbourhood. More than 40 artists are painting about 35 permanent works on buildings for the first Vancouver Mural Festival. Organizer David Vertesi says the idea is to get out art out of galleries and the studios and into public spaces.

The Canadian Press