An Alberta man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a series of sexual assaults against vulnerable women at a rural property near Calgary. Richard Robert Mantha, 62, was convicted of six offences, including drugging one of his victims, in incidents that occurred between 2019 and 2023. He was also found guilty of uttering threats against another woman. The court heard that most of the victims worked in the sex trade. Justice Judith Shriar said Mantha showed “callous disrespect” when he laughed as one terrified victim fled his rural property, fearing for her life. Mantha received cre

Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Maninder Sidhu, is travelling to India and the Philippines this week to advance new trade agreements and create new opportunities for Canadian businesses. During his visit to India, Sidhu will lead high-level trade discussions focused on opening new opportunities for Canadian aerospace, artificial intelligence, clean energy and critical minerals sectors. He is also expected to meet with leading Indian business leaders and investors and encourage them to invest in Canada. Sidhu said another key objective of the trip is to advance free trade agreement

A 60-year-old man has been arrested by Vancouver police for allegedly crashing into multiple vehicles and fleeing the scene. According to police, the incidents occurred around 9 a.m. Tuesday in southeast Vancouver, near East 49th Avenue and Elliott Street. Officers said people were inside the vehicles when they were struck. Police said several vehicles were damaged, but no injuries were reported. After the collisions, the suspect allegedly abandoned his vehicle and fled the scene on foot. Police later arrested the suspect, identified as Wayne Tran. He is facing charges related to dangerous dri

B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay has reportedly faced calls to resign amid growing internal turmoil within the party. An emergency caucus meeting was held in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday night, where at least two sitting MLAs reportedly questioned Findlay’s leadership and asked her to step down immediately. According to reports, the meeting was tense and ended at around 11:30 p.m. Findlay did not agree to step down and remains leader of the party. The latest development comes after nine MLAs left the B.C. Conservative caucus since Findlay took over as leader in May. The party

The ‘Rail Roko’ protest launched by the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha across Punjab on Thursday significantly disrupted rail services. Farmers blocked railway tracks at several locations over their various demands. At Devidaspura near Jandiala Guru in Amritsar, farmers staged a protest on the railway tracks, affecting the Amritsar-Delhi rail route. Several trains were diverted, while some services were cancelled. The protest was held at five locations in Punjab-Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Moga, Ferozepur and Sangrur. The farmers’ organisations are demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (M

Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is serving a death sentence in connection with the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Patiala Central Jail, urging the government to make a decision on his long-pending mercy petition. In the letter, Rajoana said that no final decision has been taken on his mercy petition for the past 15 years. He said he has been in prison for 31 years and has been waiting for a final decision regarding his death sentence for a long time. Rajoana stated that he had never concealed his actions before th

At least 21 people, including eight children, were killed after a building damaged by bombardment collapsed in Gaza a day later. Rescue teams rescued 45 people alive from beneath the rubble, according to Palestinian officials. Rescue crews completed their search of the collapsed building on Thursday. Bulldozers are now being used to clear the debris and prepare space for tents to shelter displaced residents who had been living in the building. Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said rescue teams managed to pull 45 people from the rubble and take them to hospitals despite a shortage

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has urged his MPs to put Canada’s national interest ahead of party interests during a Conservative caucus meeting in Penticton, B.C. Addressing his caucus, Poilievre said that in the current challenging period, including the impact of U.S. tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, Conservatives have a duty to put the country before the party. He said the Conservatives would support decisions by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government when they believe those decisions are in Canada’s interest, while opposing policies they disagree with. Poil

911 emergency services were temporarily disrupted across several Canadian provinces early Thursday morning, including Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Manitoba. The outage was reported in multiple areas, prompting police departments to advise residents to use non-emergency numbers or Wi-Fi calling to reach emergency services. Bell Canada confirmed that a technical issue occurred on its network at around 3:13 a.m., after which backup systems were activated to route calls to emergency services. By around 6 a.m., police departments in Toronto, Peel, York, Durham, Hamilton and Winni