LOCAL
A teenaged girl was killed after getting hit by a dump truck on her walk to school. 14-year-old Violet Liang, who had a 90% average at C.W. Jeffereys Collegiate and was described as “perfect” by friends, would have been 15 on Wednesday. [National Post]
Ontario’s police watchdog are investigating after police deployed a taser on an 80-year-old Mississauga woman, who fell afterwards and suffered a fractured hip. Ontario recently announced it would allow local police forces to decide which officers can carry and use tasers. [CBC]
Police are asking for help identifying a man accused of sexual assaulting a woman on the eastbound College streetcar at Yonge at around 5:30 p.m. Thursday. A security camera captured footage of the suspect. [680 News]
NATIONAL
A series of earthquakes struck an area off British Columbia’s coast, but they weren’t large enough to cause damage or tsunamis. The largest quake measured 6 on the Richter scale, followed shortly by two which struck in quick succession of 4.5 and 4.9 [Globe and Mail]
Premier Pauline Marois has denounced vandalism at a Quebec mosque that was splashed over the weekend with what may be pig’s blood. Marois, who is controversially proposing to prevent public employees from wearing religious symbols like the Muslim hijab, called the attack “unacceptable,” while members of the small Muslim community regard it as an isolated incident. [Globe and Mail]
The bid-rigging system that plagued Quebec’s construction industry in the Montreal area allegedly crept into four Gatineau offices, from where they also work with the federal government. The members of the four firms designed a system to split public bids, first by communicating in person, then by using an elaborate coding system over the phone to communicate their prices before submitting their bids. [Globe and Mail]
INTERNATIONAL
President Obama won the support of Democrats and Republicans in the House for an attack on Syria, making approval from a skeptical Congress more likely. They agreed on the wording that would give Obama authority for a 60-day military strike against Syria, with a one-time 30-day extension. [New York Times]
A man who threatened police officers in Cleveland during 911 calls is making a court-ordered public apology by standing near a police station with a sign describing himself as an idiot. He began the vigil Monday and must stand outside for three hours a day for the rest of the week. [National Post]
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that any military strikes against Syria for an alleged chemical weapons attack are legal only in self-defence under the UN charter or if approved by the UN Security Council. He also stated that if UN inspectors confirm the use of chemical weapons in Syria, the Security Council, long deadlocked over Syria’s 2 1/2 year civil war, should overcome its differences and take actions, while Israel testing a U.S. backed missile system in the Mediterranean raised tensions. [CBC]
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