LOCAL
The largest meth lab bust in Ontario history led to five arrests. In total, police seized 120 kilograms of pure methamphetamine (equivalent to about four million pills), more than 110,000 meth pills, 14 kilograms of meth powder, five vehicles and $81,000 cash. [Globe and Mail]
The Ontario Transportation Minister, Glen Murray, says he’s not seizing control of transit planning in Toronto. Murray’s proposal for a Scarborough subway that would be shorter and take a different route than the one city council approved surprised many, angered TTC chair Karen Stintz and sparked sniping from Ottawa. [Globe and Mail]
Green Mountain Coffee, the maker of Keurig brand coffee and tea pods, is closing its Toronto facility, putting 120 people out of work. The Vermont-based company says it expects the Toronto facility to close by March 5, 2014. [CBC]
NATIONAL
Saint Mary’s University will conduct a review to see why frosh leaders were conducting a chant condoning non-consensual underage sex. St. Mary’s President said the behaviour is inexcusable, and that he and his colleagues were “shocked by this incident and are deeply sorry that our students, and now the community at large, were exposed to this deeply disturbing sexually charged material.” [CBC]
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is going to meet his Russian counterpart tomorrow in St. Petersburg to discuss the Syrian crisis and the use of chemical weapons. The two countries have so far differed on how to handle it, Russia siding with China at the UN to water down any motions about Syria. [CBC]
Health Canada is warning women about another recall of birth-control pills, the third in recent months. This recall involves Esme-28, a generic brand of contraceptive medicine sold by Mylan Pharmaceuticals. [Globe and Mail]
INTERNATIONAL
President Obama has declared Syria a threat to national security, saying Bashar Assad is as much a threat as the leaders of North Korea and Iran. America’s credibility with those countries will be a casualty if the U.S. fails to respond to Syria with military action now, an official said, a connection that’s not immediately clear to most Americans. [National Post]
The National Security Agency is circumventing the major tools designed to guard privacy rights of everyday citizens by various means, according to new documents leaked by former N.S.A. contractor Edward Snowden. The agency treats its success in deciphering protected codes as among its most closely guarded secrets. [New York Times]
The new, cheaper iPhone that Apple will soon unveil to a global audience is being produced under illegal and abusive conditions in Chinese factories. Workers are asked to stand for 12-hour shifts with only 2 thirty minute breaks, six days a week, allegedly working without adequate protective equipment, at risk from chemicals, noise and lasers. [The Guardian]
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