Around 20 Ostriches Were Running Loose In An Alberta Town & It Was A Wild Time (VIDEO)

Story by Charlie Hart • Yesterday 
Provided by Narcity Québec

Police in Taber, Alberta spent their morning dealing with a pretty wild incident, when 20 ostriches started running loose in the street and causing mayhem.

In a statement, Taber-Vauxhall RCMP said just before 8 a.m., they'd received reports of approximately 20 ostriches running loose in the road around Highway 39 area on Thursday, November 24.

Police said the huge birds had gotten loose, escaping from their enclosure within Taber town limits.

"The group made their way out of town where they created traffic hazards," Taber Police said in a Facebook post.

One of the ostriches was hit and killed on the road.

A local from Taber captured a video of the moment where someone is seen leaning out of the passenger window of an RCMP vehicle to try and grab one of the large birds.

However, the ostrich manages to escape and continues running down the street, seemingly pretty unbothered by the whole attempted capture.

According to police, the person seen in the video is the owner of the ostriches. Safe to say, they're probably having a rough day.

Since the initial reports of the ostriches breaking loose, police have been working with the owner to recapture the birds.

By 12:30 p.m., police said most of the ostriches had been secured and officers would be on the scene to help the owner capture the remaining birds.

So if you're driving around the Taber area today, be sure to watch out for any loose ostriches on the way and drive safely.

'Not a prank call': RCMP chase down escaped ostriches running amok in Taber, Alta.

Story by Tyler Dawson • Yesterday 

Mounties in the Alberta town of Taber were hit with an unusual task Thursday: Rounding up a herd of ostriches that escaped from a farm.


RCMP officers had to round up some escaped ostriches in Taber, Alta.© Provided by National Post

And, like the mounted police of old, they got their man.

“We received multiple calls,” said Cpl. Troy Savinkoff with the southern Alberta RCMP district. “A lot of the calls we received were immediately with the caveat ‘This is not a prank call.'”

The clarity, doubtless, was important. The herd ran amok through Taber — perhaps best known for its bylaw against swearing, screaming or yelling in public — after they got out of an enclosure shortly before 8 a.m. One ostrich, sadly, was killed on the highway nearby where they escaped.

It took more than five hours to catch them all.

A video posted to social media shows an RCMP truck chasing after one ostrich, while a man — apparently the owner — leans out the passenger window and grabs it around the neck. The ostrich is then hauled to the ground as the truck comes to a stop, but the farmer loses his grip.

“Oh my gosh, this is the first time I’ve ever seen this,” says a woman’s voice in the video.

The ostrich scrambles to its feet and takes off — hotly pursued by another police cruiser.

In the sanitized style of police communications, the Taber Police Service announced on Facebook that the birds “made their way out of town where they created traffic hazards.”

While unusual, police in rural Alberta are often involved in recovering livestock that have gone AWOL. They’re just usually cattle or horses, said Savinkoff. It was, he said, the first time any of the officers could recall having dealt with ostriches on the loose.

“Certainly I’ve never dealt with it,” said Savinkoff.

The incident led to a number of jokes among residents on the Taber police Facebook page.

“Missed that, must have had my head in the sand??” joked user Alf Rudd.

“The names of the ostriches were not released to the public because their family has connections to the police,” said Douglas Carle.

Ostrich escapes are not entirely unusual. Earlier this year, around 80 of the flightless birds absconded from a farm in Chongzuo, China; video of that incident shows the birds sashaying down the darkened streets.

'Witnesses to history': University makes 3D virtual replicas of residential schools


CALGARY — A new project from the University of Calgary is creating 3D digital records of some Alberta residential schools.

'Witnesses to history': University makes 3D virtual replicas of residential schools

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Taylor Family Digital Library, in consultation with Indigenous communities in Alberta, has created accurate virtual and physical models of three former residential schools with plans for more in the future.

Prof. Peter Dawson, the project's leader, said it is important to preserve a dark part of Canada's history.

"Why preserve these buildings that are associated with so much tragedy and human trauma? It's for precisely that reason that we are working with (three groups) to preserve these schools. Because these schools really are witnesses to history and sites of conscience," said Dawson, head of the university's Department of Anthropology and Archaeology.

"They're the physical manifestation of an education system, in name only, that caused great harm and suffering to generations of Indigenous children."

An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada over a century. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has detailed mistreatment at the schools, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children.

With the use of lidar technology and original building plans, three dimensional images of the Old Sun Indian Residential School at Siksika Nation, east of Calgary, Blue Quills school in St. Paul, Alta., and Poundmaker's Lodge Carriage House, which once formed part of the Edmonton Indian Residential School in St. Albert, Alta., have been created.

Stories from residential school survivors are to be embedded into each virtual replica.

"The sad reality is that many, many people don't know about this history. I thought it was important to preserve it digitally because the young people, as they heard more and more about the residential schools, were angry," said Vivian Ayoungman, 75, who spent nine years the at Old Sun school.

Related video: 'Brings to Light': exhibit on legacy of the residential school system opens in Winnipeg    Duration 3:25    View on Watch

"I thought we've really got to do some work. We can't be part of erasing our own history. We have to have the evidence. We want to preserve that building so that people know that it wasn't a figment of our imagination. That it really happened to us."

Ayoungman eventually became a teacher and now works at a community college located in the old residential school building where she attended as a child.

"We have really painful memories of those times when it was a residential school," she said.

"I got strapped for speaking my language at a very young age. I entered that school not speaking a word of English."

Ayoungman said those who survived residential schools are getting older, and having a digital record will ensure their history survives.

"There's no danger of it being forgotten. It's preserved how forever long digitization lasts," she said.

Her nephew Kent Ayoungman, 42, said both his parents and grandparents attended residential schools and he had no idea what they went through.

"Growing up, they never talked about their experiences, what they went through. So we didn't really know," he said.

"Who wants to hear about what they went through when they were in those places? It just changed the life of our people. We need to talk about it. Our people need to hear these stories of what they went through."

The project is entering a second phase, which is to digitally document the original grounds surrounding the three residential schools — a landscape that included hockey rinks, athletic grounds, gardens, and barns — to provide a more complete account of daily life at the schools.

The scans are eventually to be archived at each former school and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2022.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

Alberta's famous 'wage premium' rapidly eroding, experts say

CALGARY — Experts say Alberta businesses are poised to face a reckoning on wages next year because the province has not kept up with the rest of the country when it comes to wage increases.


Alberta's famous 'wage premium' rapidly eroding, experts say© Provided by The Canadian Press

For years, Alberta workers have been the highest paid in the country thanks to the province's lucrative oil and gas sector.

That hasn't changed, with the most recent data from Statistics Canada showing that workers in Alberta still enjoy the highest average weekly earnings in Canada by a small margin.

Related video: It’s more than an abstract number, these are the additional costs Albertans are facing due to inflation
Duration 5:07  View on Watch

But despite tight labour markets, Alberta has seen the weakest wage growth of any province over the last two years.

Nationally, wages are up seven per cent over the last two years, while in Alberta, they’re up less than one per cent. In some industry sectors, Alberta's wages are actually falling, while they're rising in other countries.

Experts say flat wages mean Alberta households are feeling the impact of inflation more than other regions of the country.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2022.

Economic challenges and goals similar for Lethbridge and Great Falls, Montana

Story by Quinn Campbell • Yesterday 

Global News

Vehicles lined up at the Coutts border crossing as travelers flock to the border on November 8, 2021.

Economic challenges and goals similar for Lethbridge and Great Falls

Duration 1:57   View on Watch

Trevor Lewington with Economic Development Lethbridge was the only Canadian speaker at this year's Montana Economic Developers Association Conference in Great Falls. Lewington said it was a chance to share, listen and learn.

"Most of Montana's focus areas are very similar to what we are working on. Agri-food plays big, looking at clean tech and renewables plays big, value-added manufacturing and other sectors.

"So, sometimes we think we are special and unique but our neighbours are actually working on similar opportunities as we are," added Lewington.

He said on average, Alberta exports just over $2 billion a year in goods to Montana, with the majority comprised of oil- and natural gas-related products.

"Of the $1.6-ish-billon worth of goods that Montana exported, almost $700 million of that came to Canada, and of course Lethbridge is a big destination for that, and likewise the U.S. in general is Alberta's largest trading partner."

COVID-19 border rules end ‘too little, too late’ for southern Alberta tourist season

Jolene Schalper with the Great Falls Development Authority said Lethbridge is Great Falls' sister city with important ties.

"We have a lot of Lethbridge companies, Lethbridge has a lot of Great Falls companies and we just want to make sure that we are very intentional these days about that relationship," added Schalper.

Transportation and shipping logistics are also key focuses.

"If they can get closer to the border and then if it makes more sense to ship to the port from Canada or if it makes more sense to ship to the port from the U.S., we want to make sure Albertan and Montanan companies have that option," she added.

While the goals are similar, Lewington says so are the economic challenges.

"Loud and clear: work force. The availability of talent is the number one concern in the business community in Montana, no different than here. In fact, in the state of Montana, across the whole state, they're forecasting about 45,000 job vacancies and that's on a state-wide population of a million people," he added.

Lewington cites tourism as one collaborative success, adding he hopes to see that sector continue to grow.

Fossil Discovery Suggests Nessie, the 'Mythical' Creature, Could Have Existed

NESSIE IS NOT A PLESIOSAUR SHE IS A GIANT EEL

Story by Rosemary Giles 

One of the most famous mythical creatures in the world is the Loch Ness Monster. Spurred on by alleged sightings of the beast, along with occasional photographic evidence, amateur investigators constantly visit the Scottish loch with hopes of capturing proof of their own. While many of the photographs of Nessie have been revealed as fakes, people haven't stopped their searches. Many are still trying to find an explanation for what the monster could be.

Historically, one of the assumptions was that Nessie could be a plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile. This theory was dismissed for a number of reasons, including the fact that this creature was only found in saltwater. A discovery by scientists in Morocco might just change this belief, however. Nessie could have indeed been a plesiosaur.

Descriptions of the Loch Ness Monster

There are many varied descriptions from people claiming to have seen the Loch Ness Monster. In 1933, a couple said they saw a "dragon or prehistoric monster" cross the road and go into the water. Then, in 1934, the famous "surgeon's photograph" was taken, showing a creature with a small head and long neck peeking out of the water. It was this photograph that led people to believe Nessie could be a plesiosaur.


An alleged photograph of the Loch Ness Monster, near Inverness, Scotland, April 19, 1934. (Photo Credit: Keystone/ Getty Images)

The idea of the surviving plesiosaur was bolstered in 1975 when Boston's Academy of Applied Science used underwater photography and sonar to capture an image they believed to be Nessie. It seemed to show a flipper similar to that of a plesiosaur. Other images surfaced as well, one of which appeared to show the head, neck, and torso of the same type of creature.

Plesiosaurs could live in freshwater

Related video: 55 fossils discovered by local curator

Duration 1:02

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In a joint discovery, scientists from the University of Portsmouth, the University of Bath, and the Université Hassan II found fossils of small plesiosaurs located in a 100 million year old river system in Morocco. The fossils included neck, back, and tail vertebrae, as well as teeth and a piece of forelimb. They were found in different locations, meaning that they were from many animals, and not one single skeleton.


Rupert van der Werff puts the final touches on a Plesiosaur skeleton. 

(Photo Credit: Gareth Fuller/ PA Images/ Getty Images)

This discovery raised a lot of questions, as it was initially thought that plesiosaurs only lived in saltwater environments. It is unclear whether they lived temporarily in these freshwater environments, or permanently. However, the heavy wear on the teeth indicates that they likely ate the same type of food as the spinosaurus, fossils of which have also been found in riverbeds.

The scientists felt that their theory of plesiosaurs spending lots of time in freshwater environments was also backed up by the sheer number of fossils that they found, meaning that they weren't just traveling to the river to feed.

Could it be Nessie?

The scientists were, of course, asked about the connection between this discovery and the Loch Ness Monster. They said that given the new evidence that plesiosaurs could live in fresh water, there is a chance that Nessie might have existed in Loch Ness. However, they also said that other evidence indicates that the last of the species died roughly 65 million years ago, along with the dinosaurs.



Former Royal Air Force pilot Tom Dinsdale displays a model he made of the Loch Ness Monster which he claimed he saw. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images)


Nick Longrich, one of the researchers, also expressed that the environment in Loch Ness was not conducive to supporting the animal, as it is much too small. He squashed the theory, saying it would be difficult for a plesiosaur to exist undetected by humans. "Something like a plesiosaur, it's large. It's conspicuous. It has to surface and breathe air. If they existed, people would see them come up for air. One would die and wash up on-shore like whales."

Loch Ness Monster Probably A Giant Eel, According To ...

Sep. 5, 2019 — Water samples analyzed for DNA are actually referred to as “environmental DNA” by scientists. After analyzing the samples, scientists determined ...

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=NESSIE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CRYPTOZOOLOGY

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=LAKE+MONSTERS

184 years ago, an American poet created a Thanksgiving myth we still believe today

Story by Troy Bickham, and ,The Conversation • Yesterday .

Have you ever wondered why Thanksgiving revolves around turkey and not ham, chicken, venison, beef, or corn?


184 years ago, an American poet created a Thanksgiving myth we still believe today© Provided by Inverse

Almost 9 in 10 Americans eat turkey during this festive meal, whether it’s roasted, deep-fried, grilled, or cooked in any other way for the occasion.

You might believe it’s because of what the Pilgrims, a year after they landed in what’s now the state of Massachusetts, and their Indigenous Wampanoag guests ate during their first thanksgiving feast in 1621. Or that it’s because turkey is originally from the Americas.

But it has more to do with how Americans observed the holiday in the late 1800s than which poultry the Pilgrims ate while celebrating their bounty in 1621.
Did they or didn’t they eat it?


184 years ago, an American poet created a Thanksgiving myth we still believe today© Provided by Inverse

The only firsthand record of what the Pilgrims ate at the first Thanksgiving feast comes from Edward Winslow. He noted that the Wampanoag leader, Massasoit, arrived with 90 men, and the two communities feasted together for three days.

Winslow wrote little about the menu, aside from mentioning five deer that the Wampanoag brought and that the meal included “fowle,” which could have been any number of wild birds found in the area, including ducks, geese, and turkeys.

Historians do know that important ingredients of today’s traditional dishes were not available during that first Thanksgiving.

That includes potatoes and green beans. The likely absence of wheat flour and the scarcity of sugar in New England at the time ruled out pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Some sort of squash, a staple of Native American diets, was almost certainly served, along with corn and shellfish.

A resurrected tradition

Historians like me who have studied the history of food have found that most modern Thanksgiving traditions began in the mid-19th century, more than two centuries after the Pilgrims’ first harvest celebration.

Related video: What Is The History Of Thanksgiving?
Duration 1:09
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The reinvention of the Pilgrims’ celebration as a national holiday was largely the work of Sarah Hale. Born in New Hampshire in 1784, as a young widow, she published poetry to earn a living. Most notably, she wrote the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

In 1837, Hale became the editor of the popular magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book. Fiercely religious and family-focused, it crusaded for the creation of an annual national holiday of “Thanksgiving and Praise,” commemorating the Pilgrims’ thanksgiving feast.

Hale and her colleagues leaned on 1621 lore for historical justification. Like many of her contemporaries, she assumed the Pilgrims ate turkey at their first feast because of the abundance of edible wild turkeys in New England.

This campaign took decades, partly due to a lack of enthusiasm among white Southerners. Many of them considered an earlier celebration among Virginia colonists in honor of supply ships that arrived at Jamestown in 1610 to be the more important precedent.

The absence of Southerners serving in Congress during the Civil War enabled President Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.

Turkey marketing campaign


184 years ago, an American poet created a Thanksgiving myth we still believe today© Provided by Inverse

Godey’s, along with other media, embraced the holiday, packing their pages with recipes from New England and menus that prominently featured turkey.

“We dare say most of the Thanksgiving will take the form of gastronomic pleasure,” Georgia’s Augusta Chronicle predicted in 1882. “Every person who can afford turkey or procure it will sacrifice the noble American fowl to-day.”

One reason for this is: A roasted turkey makes a perfect celebratory centerpiece.

A second one is that turkey is also practical for serving a large crowd. Turkeys are bigger than other birds raised or hunted for their meat, and it’s cheaper to produce a turkey than a cow or pig. The bird’s attributes led Europeans to incorporate turkeys into their diets following their colonization of the Americas. In England, King Henry VIII regularly enjoyed turkey on Christmas day, a century before the Pilgrims’ feast.

Christmas Connection


184 years ago, an American poet created a Thanksgiving myth we still believe today© Provided by Inverse

The bird cemented its position as the favored Christmas dish in England in the mid-19th century.

One reason for this was that Ebenezer Scrooge, in Charles Dickens's “A Christmas Carol,” sought redemption by replacing the impoverished Cratchit family’s meager goose with an enormous turkey.

Published in 1843, Dickens’ instantly best-selling depiction of the prayerful family meal would soon inspire Hale’s idealized Thanksgiving.

Although the historical record is hazy, I do think it’s possible that the Pilgrims ate turkey in 1621. It certainly was served at celebrations in New England throughout the colonial period.

This article was originally published on The Conversation by Troy Bickham at Texas A&M University. Read the original article here.

Canada unveils new climate adaptation strategy with more than $1-billion commitment

Story by David Thurton, Kate McKenna • Yesterday CBC

Canada's first climate adaptation strategy, unveiled today, commits the federal government to new targets for preventing extreme heat deaths, reversing species loss and protecting homes in flood- and wildfire-prone areas.


Weeks after post-tropical storm Fiona ripped through the Hebrides cottage community on New London Bay near Stanley Bridge, P.E.I., buildings and debris still littered the countryside and shoreline.© Shane Hennessey/CBC

Environment and Climate Change Canada released the strategy — which has been almost two years in the making — in Prince Edward Island, one of the Atlantic provinces that felt the brunt of Hurricane Fiona in September.

The strategy envisions a country prepared to deal with the worst impacts of climate change. The high-level document talks about multiple targets but doesn't provide any hard numbers. The government says its goal is to set the stage for more detailed implementation plans to be rolled out later.

The government also announced $1.6 billion over five years in new funding to help jump-start the work that needs to be done. The money is meant to improve disaster response, protect Canadians from extreme heat and health effects and top up the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund.

The funding required from the public and private sectors to address the impacts of climate change in Canada is estimated at $5.3 billion per year, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, a trade association that represents the industry.

A federal official speaking on background told reporters Thursday the new funding is a "down payment" and acknowledged more will be required to achieve the strategy's goals. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair seemed to acknowledge this at the announcement.

"Clearly, there will need to be significant investments by all orders of governments and all Canadians across the country," Blair told reporters.

The NDP says it's not enough.

"This is a step in the right direction," said New Democrat emergency preparedness critic Richard Cannings. "It's just it's taken a long time.

"It's too little. We need much more ambition here to really do some meaningful things [to] prepare Canadians and communities for climate change."

While governments and communities have been anticipating and planning for the effects of climate change — which range from droughts and floods to permafrost loss, failing infrastructure and pressure on ecosystems — more needs to be achieved, says the strategy document.

Related video: WION Climate Tracker: Canada's first climate adaptation strategy
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"Our collective actions have often been insufficient or disjointed, and have not resulted in the swiftness and scale of adaptation that communities in Canada require," the document states.

Embedding climate change in all decision-making

In the hope of resetting the country's approach, the strategy rests on several pillars: disaster resilience, health and well-being, nature and infrastructure.

Without going into specifics, the strategy outlines several targets — such as reducing the number of people affected or killed by floods, wildfires and extreme heat.

On the infrastructure front, the strategy calls for embedding "climate change in all decisions to locate, plan, design, manage, adapt, operate and maintain infrastructure systems across their lifecycle."

The strategy commits Canada to new construction guidelines and standards, especially in areas prone to wildfires, flooding and other climate-related threats.

It sets broad targets for stopping and reversing nature and biodiversity loss. Indigenous communities, it says, must have opportunities to protect their traditional lands.

The strategy calls for expanding urban forests and wetlands in city landscapes. These nature-based solutions have been proven to reduce emissions and minimize the impacts of flooding and heat waves on urban populations.

The most significant aspect of Thursday's plan is that it outlines these priorities, said Sarah Miller, an adaptation research associate at the Canadian Climate Institute. She added that some may be tempted to focus on how much money is needed.

"That's essential because without [setting priorities], no amount of money is going to make a real difference," she said.

The strategy is meant to be a living document. The government promises to update it every five years and to start issuing progress reports as soon as 2025.

Feeling the effects of climate change

Climate change has had devastating impacts on Canadians already. In June 2021, Western Canada experienced a historic heat dome which set a record temperature of 49.6 degrees C in Lytton, B.C. A forest first would later tear through the community.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault called Hurricane Fiona in September "the most severe hurricane in the history of Canada. We've never seen anything like this."

"Lives were lost, and this is because of climate change," he added.

Economic analysis shows the impacts of climate change will be severe, even if the world does not exceed the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C. A recent United Nations report warned that the failure of individual nations to cut their emissions is "leading our planet to at least 2.5 degrees warming, a level deemed catastrophic by scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."

The Canadian Climate Institute estimates that by 2025, the impact of climate change could cut economic growth by $25 billion annually. More recently, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that even if the world meets its emissions reduction commitments, Canada's real GDP will take a 5.8 per cent hit in 2100.

Independent agency probing CSIS following claim that operative smuggled teenage girls into Syria

Story by Ashley Burke • Yesterday CBC

An independent government agency is reviewing how Canada's spy agency handles human sources after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in August to follow up on claims that a CSIS operative smuggled three British teenagers into Syria in 2015.

The three teens — Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16 — left east London for Syria in 2015. Sultana and Abase are believed to be dead. Begum is at a detention camp in northeastern Syria.

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) has confirmed that it agreed to undertake a review of the case in response to a written request in September from Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

The Prime Minister's Office said Trudeau asked Mendicino to look into the matter.

NSIRA said the review is looking into how the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) handles "human source operations" and is "following up on earlier … studies related to how risks are managed and the minister is informed."

Mendicino also asked for the review to probe CSIS's risk assessment process to ensure the agency is following the law and "upholding the values Canadians expect," according to his office.

The review is taking place as Begum's appeal of former U.K. home secretary Sajid Javid's decision to revoke her citizenship plays out in hearings in Britain this week — putting the spotlight back on CSIS's alleged involvement in the case.

CBC News attended the hearing when Begum's legal team argued the U.K. has failed to investigate whether authorities did enough to prevent the minor from being trafficked to Syria when she was 15 years old for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

Begum was married while a minor to an ISIS fighter and went on to have three children who died young, according to media reports.

Her legal team said in its written argument that an investigation should have looked at whether adequate steps were taken by "U.K. authorities to liaise with the intelligence/security services of the U.K.'s allies operating in Turkey (including Canada and their agent Mohammed al-Rashed)."

Testifying behind a curtain to conceal his identity, an MI5 agent told the court that Begum, now 23, was an intelligent student in high school who "knew what she was doing" when she travelled to Syria to join ISIS in 2015 and didn't express regret or remorse during media interviews in 2019.

MI5 maintains that Begum poses a national security risk.

Trudeau defended CSIS in August, saying that "the fight against terrorism requires our intelligence services to continue to be flexible and to be creative in their approaches." He said he would follow up on claims connected to U.K.-based writer Richard Kerbaj's book The Secret History of the Five Eyes.

The book claims Mohammed al-Rashed, a Syrian-born CSIS operative who was also working for ISIS, smuggled the teenagers into northern Syria.

The book also said it was only after CSIS learned al-Rashed had been arrested in Turkey — and the case would go public as a result — that two CSIS officers travelled to London to reveal the agency's involvement in the case to local police investigating the teens' disappearance.

Kerbaj's book claims the meeting was for "self-serving purposes" and that CSIS "hoped the police force's investigation would not force CSIS to be questioned or be held accountable."

When asked about the allegations, CSIS told CBC News in a statement that it cannot comment on "investigations, methodologies or activities in order to maintain the operations and to protect the safety and security of Canadians."

Oversight regime not in place at time of allegations

The Prime Minister's Office told CBC News on Tuesday that "CSIS must abide by Canadian law and is subject to rigorous review by oversight bodies." But the PMO also said that "any activities that occurred prior to 2017 would not have benefited from this oversight regime."

That year, roughly two years after Begum travelled to Syria, the government introduced the National Security Act, which led to the introduction of an intelligence commissioner to oversee the spy agency's sensitive activities, Mendicino's office said.

The Globe and Mail has reported that al-Rashed broke a CSIS rule that bans paid agents from engaging in illegal activity, including human trafficking.

Steven Blaney, the Conservative public safety minister at the time, wasn't aware of the operation and did not approve it, the Globe and Mail reported.

Former senior CSIS intelligence officer Huda Mukbil calls CSIS's alleged handling of Begum's case "shameful."

"The buck stops at trafficking minors," said Mukbil, who worked for CSIS for 15 years, including a stint as a CSIS agent in the U.K. from 2005 to 2006. "The moment that the source was aware these were minors … he had every obligation to ensure they are not trafficked into that territory."

She's now calling on the U.K. to reinstate Begum's citizenship and said Canada must launch a public inquiry into CSIS's handling of the case.

"We need to ensure this doesn't happen again," said Mukbil, who left CSIS in 2017, was part of a discrimination lawsuit against the agency and ran in the last federal election for the NDP.

Joshua Baker, an investigative journalist at the BBC, has travelled to the detention camp multiple times to speak directly with Begum for his podcast I'm Not a Monster.

Baker said Begum told him she had no idea that the man who smuggled her from Turkey to Syria in 2015 was an asset for Canadian intelligence.

"But what she has said is that she feels it would have been impossible for her, and indeed others like her, to reach Syria without the help of smugglers like Mohammed al-Rashed," he said.



CCTV footage issued by the Metropolitan Police in London shows Abase, left, Sultana, center, and Begum going through Gatwick airport to catch a flight to Turkey on Feb 17, 2015.© Metropolitan Police/The Associated Press

Baker said he obtained documents that show al-Rashed was part of a network moving men, women and children to Syria for ISIS long before Begum left the U.K. Two CSIS handlers at the embassy in Jordan were dealing with al-Rashed, but it's "difficult to know" if CSIS knew he was going to transport the teenage girls to Syria, said Baker.

The Globe and Mail reported that two sources said CSIS learned about the teens' whereabouts four days after they crossed the Turkish border and informed British intelligence within 48 hours.

Maya Foa is the executive director of London-based Reprieve, a non-profit association of international human rights lawyers and investigators. She said Canadian and U.K. authorities failed the teens.

"This is classic trafficking, grooming, and we did fail," said Foa. "The British authorities failed and the Canadian authorities who were involved through the double agent failed. This is a 15-year-old."

Foa said she has been travelling to northeastern Syria for three years, interviewing women and families in detention camps. She met again with Begum last month, she said.

"I know from my conversations with Shamima Begum that she wishes her school and others had behaved differently around that time," she said.

Has al-Rashed asked for asylum?

One of Begum's friends at school had already travelled to Syria before Begum left the country, according to written arguments from her legal team. Police spoke to Begum at school and gave her a letter to share with her parents, the document said.

But that letter was never delivered, nor did police inform Begum's parents that their daughter might be at risk because her friend had already travelled to Syria, Begum's legal team argues.

Al-Rashed was arrested in Turkey in 2015 and jailed for smuggling and terrorism offences. He was released from a Turkish jail in August, sources told the Globe and Mail and Britain's Daily Telegraph.

CBC News asked Mendicino's office if al-Rashed is in Canada and if the minister signed off on a request for political asylum. Mendicino's office said "it would be inappropriate to comment on specific cases."

Kerbaj's book claims al-Rashed applied for political asylum in Canada in the past — and that's how CSIS first became aware of him and brought him on as an operative.

Fish ‘capable of killing 30 people' and 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide hits UK shores

Story by Charles Harrison • Yesterday 

An incredibly dangerous fish full of poison and capable of killing 30 people was discovered on a British beach. Loaded up with poison that can be up to 1,200 times more deadly than cyanide, the killer fish was found on a beach in Cornwall by a visiting marine animal investigator. Constance Morris was on a family holiday to Newquay when she discovered the dangerous creature.

Her work took her to Towan Beach, where she spotted something unusual. She approached a fish being pecked at by seagulls, and soon realised it was not any ordinary swimmer.

The oceanic puffer is loaded up with tetrodotoxin, an extremely deadly poison. It carries enough to kill 30 adult humans within its skin and flesh - and there is no antidote for it.

Experts state the fish are a rarity on British shores, with even Constance, who collects specimens for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, didn't clock it.


Cornwall beach sees puffer fish 'capable of killing 30 people'© Constance Morris/Pen News

Luckily Ms Morris was wearing gloves when she discovered the creature.

She said: "While waiting for all the family to gather, I was just looking out over the beach when I noticed some black back gulls having a peck at a fish. I record dead marine animals for the trust's Marine Strandings Network and couldn't not go down to see what it was.

"As I walked up to the fish I instantly knew it was an unusual find."

She added: "It's been identified by a few people as a Lagocephalus lagocephalus, the oceanic pufferfish, which can be highly toxic.


Beautiful Towan beach in Newquay , Cornwall© Getty

"So it's advised you leave them alone and certainly don't touch. I didn't know what this fish was, but I've found odd fish before and know these animals can be important and of interest to scientists.

"So, being ever ready to scoop something unpleasant off the beach, I bagged it up and put it in my backpack. I am just lucky I carry a kit with me at all times for just this sort of thing."

She added: "Good job I keep marigolds in my kit."

Tetrodotoxin poisoning causes numbness and paralysis which spreads throughout the body - eventually leading to death by respiratory failure.


Selective focus on eyes and head of puffer fish. (Lagocephalus sceleratus, silver-cheeked toadfish, or Sennin-fugu is an extremely poisonous marine bo© Getty

Ms Morris said the fish was roughly 12 inches long, with a flabby white underside and a stubby face. It has just four teeth - two at the top, two at the bottom - which resemble a beak, and is used to crack open hard-shelled clams, mussels, and shellfish.

The fish's biological name, "lagocephalus lagocephalus", literally translates to "rabbit head."

Matt Slater, a marine conservation officer the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said he only had a handful of records of the oceanic puffer apparing.

He said: "It is definitely Lagocephalus lagocephalus - the Atlantic oceanic puffer. They can produce toxic slime so they're best to handle with gloves."

Despite the high toxicity of the fish, Pufferfish is a delicacy called fugu in Japan. However, only licensed chefs who have undergone three years of training can prepare Pufferfish meat.

Texas 'Anti-Woke' Bank Goes Bust In 3 Months

Story by Mary Papenfuss • Yesterday 

HUFFPOST
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Abank startup backed by billionaire Donald Trumpsupporter Peter Thiel and pitched as “anti woke” for “pro-freedom” Americans is closing up shop after less than three months.

The bank, GloriFi, burned through $50 million in investment money, laid off most of its staff on Monday, and informed workers it was shutting down, The Wall Street Journal was the first to report. Hoped-for funding to keep the operation running fell through last Friday.

“We will be closing all accounts opened to date,” GloriFi’s website informed consumers. Checking accounts were being shut down Friday, and savings accounts on Dec. 6.

GloriFi had been touted as an alternative conservative banking system for consumers who find Wall Street too liberal.

Entrepreneur and major GOP donor Toby Neugebauer and business partner Nick Ayers — the chief of staff for former Vice President Mike Pence — said that a huge market of plumbers, electricians and police officers were fed up with big banks that didn’t share their values, according to a Journal profile of the operation earlier this year.

GloriFi offered bank accounts and credit cards, and planned to provide mortgages and insurance while also touting capitalism, family, law enforcement and the freedom to “love of God and country,” according to the Journal.

Neugebauer also pitched plans to offer gun owners discounts on home insurance, credit cards made of shell casing material, and assistance paying legal bills if customers shot someone in self-defense, Rolling Stone reported.

Right-wing commentator Candace Owens was the spokesperson for the brand.

Besides Thiel, the operation also lured investors including former Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loefflerand Citadel founder Ken Griffin.
But within months, GloriFi has missed launch dates, blaming faulty technology and vendor problems, and investors’ money was nearly gone, according to news reports.

The “financial challenges related to startup mistakes, the failing economy, reputational attacks, and multiple negative stories took their toll,” said a statement on the company’s website.