RCMP issue alert for rural residents in central Alberta : In The News for May 8

They say the alert is in effect for everyone within 20 kilometres of Township Road 422 and Range Road 245 A in Ponoka County, including everyone in Maskwacis.

RCMP say they are looking for a 30-year-old Maskwacis resident who is described as six feet three inches tall, 250 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair with blond tips and a buzz cut.

They say he was last seen wearing a black shirt and track pants.

Police are advising people who see him to not approach him and call 911 immediately.

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Also this …

Canada’s electronic waste more than tripled in the last two decades and is expected to keep increasing, a new study indicates, with researchers urging better e-waste management to reduce environmental harm and bring economic rewards.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo conducted what they called a comprehensive estimate of e-waste in Canada to better understand the lifecycle of electronic items from point of sale to disposal.

The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, looked at e-waste data going as far back as 1971.

E-waste consists of discarded electronic products including computers, televisions, cell phones, consumer goods like electronic toys and household lighting, and large household appliances such as refrigerators or washing machines.

The research indicates e-waste generation per person increased from 8.3 kilograms in 2000 to 25.3 kilograms in 2020.

Canadians produced nearly one million tonnes of e-waste in 2020, and that’s expected to reach 1.2 million tonnes annually by 2030, the study suggests.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

The death toll has risen to eight after an SUV slammed into a crowd of people waiting for a bus Sunday outside a migrant shelter in the border city of Brownsville, Texas.

At least 10 others were injured, police said, as they prepared to arrest the hospitalized driver.

With no bench at the unmarked city bus stop, some of the victims were sitting on the curb around 8:30 a.m. when the driver hit them, surveillance video from the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center showed. Brownsville police investigator Martin Sandoval, who confirmed the latest death Sunday evening, said police did not know whether the collision was intentional.

Shelter director Victor Maldonado said the SUV ran up the curb, flipped and continued moving for about 200 feet (60 meters). Some people walking on the sidewalk about 30 feet (9 meters) from the main group were also hit, Maldonado said. Witnesses detained the driver as he tried to run away and held him until police arrived, he said.

“This SUV, a Range Rover, just ran the light that was about 100 feet (30 meters) away and just went through the people who were sitting there in the bus stop,” said Maldonado, who reviewed the shelter’s surveillance video.

Victims struck by the vehicle were waiting for the bus to return to downtown Brownsville after spending the night at the overnight shelter, said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.

Most of the victims were Venezuelan men, Maldonado said. Brownsville has seen a surge of Venezuelan migrants over the last two weeks for unclear reasons, authorities said.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

Iran hanged two men Monday convicted of blasphemy, authorities said, carrying out rare death sentences for the crime as executions surge across the Islamic Republic following months of unrest.

Iran remains one of the world’s top executioners, having put to death at least 203 prisoners since the start of this year alone, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. But carrying out executions for blasphemy remains rare, as previous cases saw the sentences reduced by authorities.

The two men executed, Yousef Mehrad and Sadrollah Fazeli Zare, died at Arak Prison in central Iran. They had been arrested in May 2020, accused of being involved in a channel on the Telegram message app called “Critique of Superstition and Religion,” according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Both men faced months of solitary confinement and could not contact their families, the commission said.

The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary confirmed the executions, describing the two men as having insulted Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and promoted atheism. Mizan also accused them of burning a Quran, Islam’s holy book, though it wasn’t clear whether the men allegedly did that or such imagery was shared in the Telegram channel.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, who leads Iran Human Rights, decried the executions as exposing the “medieval nature” of Iran’s theocracy.

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On this day in 1987 …

Ottawa unveiled the $1 coin. Made of nickel, copper and recycled tin, it was dubbed the loonie because of the loon engraved on its flip side.

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In entertainment …

Plans for a star-studded night of music celebrating the legacy of Gordon Lightfoot are already taking shape, according to his longtime friend and concert promoter.

Bernie Fiedler says several prominent Canadian musicians who counted themselves among Lightfoot’s friends, including Burton Cummings, Tom Cochrane and Murray McLauchlan, have already committed to performing at a tribute show.

Fiedler says while it’s too early to predict when the event might happen, he hopes it’ll take place at Toronto’s Massey Hall, a venue Lightfoot frequented.

He says he’d like the show to include Lightfoot’s original band as the accompaniment “if they’re willing.”

Fiedler outlined the details at a public visitation for the folk singer on Sunday in his hometown of Orillia, Ont., where an estimated 2,400 fans attended.

The “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Sundown” singer died last week at 84.

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Did you see this?

As India’s trade minister visits Ontario this week, corporate Canada is hoping both countries will commit to signing a trade agreement this year after more than a decade of talks.

“It just seems to me like a no-brainer,” said Goldy Hyder, head of the Business Council of Canada.

“We need to have the capacity to demonstrate that democracies can work for business, because when they work for business, they work for people.”

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is to meet his Canadian counterpart, Mary Ng, at an event Monday in Ottawa, before plans to join a delegation of large Indian businesses Tuesday in Toronto.

In an interview, Hyder said he’s hoping the two agree during the visit to push for some form a trade deal this year, since multiple negotiations have been underway since 2010 and electoral cycles could further prolong these talks.

For decades, outsiders have seen India as a poorer country with a protected market that makes it hard for foreign companies to set up shop.

However, Hyder said trade deals with Australia and the United Arab Emirates show the country is branching out. India is on track to be a powerhouse for complex semiconductors, vaccines and life-sciences research.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2023.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

RCMP issue alert for rural residents in central Alberta : In The News for May 8

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