The Monday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Highlights from the news file for Monday, Jan. 15

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POLICE SAY HIJAB-CUTTING DIDN’T HAPPEN: A Toronto police investigation has concluded that an incident reported by an 11-year-old girl who claimed her hijab was cut by a scissors-wielding man as she walked to school did not happen. The alleged incident, which was reported on Friday, made international headlines and drew public condemnation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario’s premier and Toronto’s mayor. On Monday, police said their investigation concluded with no charges laid and no consequences for the girl.

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HAWAII NUKE-ALERT FIASCO UNLIKELY HERE: The possibility of an incoming nuclear warhead from a country such as North Korea is hardly uppermost in the minds of Canadian emergency management authorities. The weekend fiasco in Hawaii, where residents and tourists spent 40 agonizing minutes expecting an incoming strike based on an erroneous alert, has highlighted a preparedness gap in Canada, where references to a nuclear attack are conspicuous by their absence. Nor does Canada yet have the kind of system that helped quickly spread the faulty alert — attributed to someone pushing the wrong button during a test.

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RUSSIA JOINS CHINA IN SLAMMING VANCOUVER NORTH KOREA MEETING: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending the decision not to invite China and Russia to a meeting on North Korea that will be held in Vancouver on Tuesday. But he does concede that the two countries will be integral to resolving the stand-off over North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program. Trudeau made the remarks in an interview Monday with The Canadian Press after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov piled onto criticism of the meeting, which China slammed last week as potentially harmful to the prospects for peace.

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TRUDEAU ABORTION COMMENTS RAISE IRE OF U.S. RIGHT: Justin Trudeau’s comments on abortion are raising the ire of the U.S. right wing. The prime minister’s suggestion that anti-abortion groups were out of line with Canadian society triggered criticism in the country next door — where abortion remains a subject of mainstream political debate and is a central issue in the struggle for control of the U.S. Supreme Court. One former Trump White House staffer tweeted: “This man is reprehensible.”

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CRANBERRIES SINGER DOLORES O’RIORDAN DEAD AT 46: Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of the Cranberries who split her time between Ireland and a remote town in Ontario, has died at 46. Publicist Lindsey Holmes says O’Riordan died suddenly Monday in London, where she was recording. The cause of death wasn’t immediately available. O’Riordan frequently talked about how she enjoyed visiting Ontario. Whether it was riding a Sea-Doo or a snowmobile she was known for exploring the great outdoors.

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QUEBEC POLICE BEEF UP COLD CASE SQUAD: Quebec provincial police are significantly increasing the number of officers assigned to its cold case squad. The force intends to add up to 25 more employees to the five-person unit in the coming months, with a focus on unsolved cases involving women and children. Lt. Martine Asselin explained that regular investigators often have to respond to breaking crimes or urgent cases, meaning unresolved killings head to the back burner.

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LAC-MEGANTIC JURORS ON DAY 5 OF DELIBERATIONS: Jurors in the Lac-Megantic criminal negligence trial have asked the judge their first questions since being sequestered last Thursday. During their fifth day of deliberations Monday, the jurors requested a dictionary and clarifications on various judicial matters. Jurors are deciding the fate of Tom Harding, Richard Labrie and Jean Demaitre. The three are charged with criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people after an oil-laden runaway train on July 6, 2013 derailed and exploded in the small town.

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KEVIN GLENN FIRST PLAYER TO DO FULL CIRCUIT OF CFL: Kevin Glenn’s trek through the CFL is now complete. The veteran quarterback signed with the Edmonton Eskimos on Monday, making him the first player in CFL history to be picked up by every team in the league during his career. Glenn envisioned achieving the milestone by signing a one-day contract with Edmonton, then retiring. But the 38-year-old Detroit native will provide depth behind incumbent Mike Reilly, the CFL’s outstanding player last season.

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RATE HIKE MAY FURTHER SLOW HOME SALES: Economists say Canada’s real estate market will hit a slow patch in 2018 if a rumoured interest rate hike forces buyers to delay their home purchases. They’re bracing themselves for fewer home sales and a drop in demand ahead of the Bank of Canada’s Wednesday announcement, which many predict will involve the interest rate being boosted after the economy’s strong performance last year. Some say the country has done so well that the rate may be bumped up a few more times over 2018.

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MAN CHARGED WITH PERSONAL DATA TRAFFICKING: An Ontario man who allegedly peddled information from an online database containing 1.5 billion usernames and passwords faces several criminal charges. The RCMP accuse Jordan Evan Bloom of Thornhill, Ont., of selling stolen personal identities through the website Leakedsource.com, which had a total of some three billion pieces of data. Bloom is alleged to have earned about $247,000 by selling data.

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