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In the news today, Dec. 19

Dec 19, 2018 | 12:30 AM

Four stories in the news for Wednesday, Dec. 19

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APPEAL COURT TO RULE IN B.C. TERROR CASE 

British Columbia’s Appeal Court is scheduled to release a decision today on a couple whose guilty verdict over plotting to blow up the provincial legislature was thrown out by a lower court judge. The Crown argued at an appeal hearing in January that B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce had no basis to conclude the RCMP manipulated John Nuttall and Amanda Korody into planting explosive devices around the legislature. In June 2015, a jury found Nuttall and Korody guilty of conspiring to commit murder, possessing an explosive substance and placing an explosive in a public place on behalf of a terrorist group.

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ST. MICHAEL’S SEX ASSAULT CASE UP IN COURT

The case of six students charged for allegedly sexually assaulting another student at a private school in Toronto is up in court today. The teens face sex assault and assault charges for an incident at St. Michael’s College School that was caught on video. The six teens, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were all released on bail after their first appearance in mid-November. St. Michael’s expelled eight students amid a growing police investigation into eight incidents at the private Roman Catholic all-boys institution.

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MAYOR CALLS FOR SAFE DRUGS TO PREVENT OVERDOSES

Vancouver’s mayor says he will direct staff to look for a site where drug users can get safe opioids to prevent overdoses as part of a plan recommended by an emergency task force calling for more services for people who are dying alone. Kennedy Stewart said the number of overdose deaths has remained about the same as last year despite the best efforts of front-line workers, first responders and health professionals who seem to be fighting a losing battle. The B.C. Coroners Service recorded 369 deaths in Vancouver last year and by September this year, 297 people had died.

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REFUGEE WHO LOST FINGERS HAS FOUND HIMSELF IN CANADA

A refugee who lost his fingers after crossing into Canada during a powerful winter storm says it was worth it because he has found a new home in Winnipeg. Razak Iyal says he still wakes up in the middle of the night feeling the icy winds on Christmas Eve two years ago when his life drastically changed. The overnight wind chill dipped to -30 C that night as Iyal and Ghanian Seidu Mohammed trudged through snowy fields in the dark to cross into Canada from the United States near Emerson, Man. Both were granted refugee status in 2017. Iyal says he is struggling to find a job he can do without his fingers, but has found a supportive and loving community.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— The sexual assault case of Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard is back in court today.

— Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Kathy Dunderdale is expected to testify again today in the Muskrat Falls hydro project.

— Commissioner Michel Carrier will hold a news conference on the New Brunswick government’s announced changes regarding language requirements for paramedics.

— The trial of Edward Downey, who faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Sara Baillie and her daughter Taliyah Marsman, continues today.

— Statistics Canada to release its consumer price index for November.

The Canadian Press