A man who admitted to terrorism-related acts with the militant group Islamic State is to be sentenced today in a Calgary courtroom. Hussein Borhot, who is 36, has pleaded guilty to one count of participating in terrorism group activity between May 9, 2013, and June 7, 2014, as well as to kidnapping for a terrorist group while in Syria. RCMP arrested him in July 2020 after a seven-year investigation. An agreed statement of facts read in court last month said Borhot travelled to Syria through Turkey to join the Islamic State. The statement said he signed up as a fighter, received substantial tr

The union for Calgary police officers is telling members to remove so-called 'thin blue line (TBL)' patches from their uniforms. The issue came to a head earlier this year when the police commission directed officers to remove the patches by the end of March. The commission had earlier said the decision to prohibit the symbol was made for reasons including its contentious association with colonialism and racism. Officers have until May 31 to remove the patches, although there was no word on how that will be enforced.

An official at Victoria International Airport estimates about 1,800 passengers were affected when it shut down due to an explosives scare. RCMP say they were called yesterday after a security employee spotted what appeared to be an incendiary device in a bag during a routine scan. They say two bags contained what the Mounties' explosives disposal unit determined were ``inert military surplus explosives'' and the man who claimed them has been released from custody with an upcoming court date. The airport's director of community relations says about 20 flights were cancelled, and police are rem

The gunman who massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas warned in online messages sent minutes before the attack that he had shot his grandmother. Salvador Ramos, who was 18, used an AR 15 style semi-automatic rifle in the bloodshed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. It ended when police stormed a classroom and killed him. Investigators have shed no light on the motive for the attack, which also left at least 17 people wounded.

British Columbia has launched the country's first provincewide lung cancer screening program. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the innovative program will both save lives and improve their quality. Screening will be available at 36 centres across all health authorities using existing CT scans for those who are between 55 and 74, currently smoking or have previously smoked, and have a smoking history of 20 years or more. Adrian Dix says the program is the first of its kind in Canada and an estimated 10,000 patients are expected to be screened in the first year. The medical director of the prog

Metro Vancouver's transportation authority says its recovery of ridership that plummeted during the pandemic has been stronger than many other North American transit networks, but still hasn't rebounded entirely. A statement from TransLink says ridership across its system has rebounded to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels after reaching 59 per cent last year. The 2021 transit service performance review released Wednesday says Metro Vancouver's recovery rates exceeded those of transit systems in Toronto, Montreal, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco. It says bus ridership led the way at 62

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the safety of Canadians participating in democracy should never be jeopardized by the kinds of racist insults and threats of violence lobbed at people attending a Liberal fundraiser in British Columbia on Tuesday. Trudeau says all governments should be seized with the issue amid a rise in the presence of aggressive or hateful protesters appearing at political events. Trudeau did not say why specifically he chose to appear at the Surrey, B.C., fundraiser virtually rather than in person but it is at least the second time in less than 10 months that he changed

Police say the man who was carrying luggage with suspicious contents that led to the closure of Victoria International Airport has been released from custody with an upcoming court date, although details on any charges haven't been provided. RCMP say members of their explosives disposal unit were called to examine items flagged by airport security yesterday and shut down the airport after determining two bags contained ``inert military surplus explosives.'' A statement from Corporal Andy Sanchez says the Mounties were called by a security employee who spotted what appeared to be ``incendiary

An official says an 18-year-old gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school barricaded himself inside a classroom, ``shooting anyone that was in his way.'' Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told NBC's ``Today'' that police and others responding to Tuesday's attack broke windows at the school in an effort to allow students and teachers inside to escape. Olivarez told CNN that all victims were in the same fourth-grade classroom at Robb Elementary School. Eventually law enforcement officers broke into the classroom and killed him.