National News

Police in India say two men are facing charges in the deaths of a family who froze a year ago while trying to cross from Manitoba into the United States.

Deputy Commissioner Chaitanya Mandlik of the Ahmedabad crime branch in the state of Gujarat says the two men were arrested Sunday and other suspects are also wanted in Canada and the U.S.

He says the two men are accused of acting as immigration agents, supplying the family with paperwork and assisting them in getting to the U.S.

Baldev Patel cannot remember much of the last conversation he had with his son and, while the memories are fast fading, the hurt remains.  

Patel's son, 39-year-old Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, was found dead along with his wife and two children on Jan. 19, 2022, near a border crossing between Manitoba and the United States.

The RCMP has said the family was trying to get into the U.S. during severe winter weather and died from exposure. Investigators also believe the deaths were linked to a human smuggling operation.

A First Nation in southeastern Saskatchewan is preparing a proper burial after a fragment of a child's jawbone was found in an unmarked grave during a search of a local residential school site.

The Star Blanket Cree Nation made the discovery in the fall while the community was searching the site of the former Lebret Indian Industrial School. 

The bone was identified by the province's coroner's service to be that of a child between the ages of four and six from about 125 years ago. It was not located anywhere near an area that was known to be a graveyard. 

A prominent human-rights group says Canada is failing to address long-standing abuses, delivering a rebuke of what it calls the federal government's inadequate climate policy and violations of the rights of Indigenous people and immigration detainees. 

Human Rights Watch says more than two dozen First Nations remain under long-term drinking water advisories, despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to bring that number down to zero. 

A wave of high-profile cyberattacks has recently hit hospitals, businesses and organizations in Ontario, including the LCBO this week and Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and Scouts Canada in December.

The Canadian Press spoke with cybersecurity experts about whether cyberattacks are on the rise, why they are happening, and what people and businesses can do to protect themselves.

Are cyberattacks happening more often?

Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Thursday the Liberal government is "not hiding" from the travel debacle that unfolded over the holidays, while airline executives largely blamed the chaos on Mother Nature. 

Members of the House of Commons transport committee spent the day grilling corporate and government officials on who bears responsibility for one of the most hectic travel seasons in memory — and how a repeat can be prevented.

A First Nation in Saskatchewan says ground-penetrating radar has discovered more than 2,000 areas of interest and a child's bone was separately found at the site of one of the longest-running residential schools in the country.

Star Blanket Cree Nation Chief Michael Starr said Thursday it shows the harsh truth of what happened within the walls of the Qu’Appelle Indian Residential School.

“It was unthinkable. It was profound. It was sad. It was hurtful," Starr said Thursday. "And it made us very angry what had happened to our young people here."

Love her or loathe her, Barbie has been transformed again, this time into a version for children as young as 3.

Gone is the contentious hourglass figure for My First Barbie, which launched Thursday ahead of July's live-action film about the icon starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

The slightly softer-bodied Barbie follows on the high heels of tall, petite and curvy iterations that were released five years ago in a massive makeover.

The Girl Guides of Canada has renamed its Brownies branch the "Embers" in a bid to become more inclusive and welcoming to all girls.

The organization said Wednesday that the new name applies immediately to its program for kids aged seven and eight.

CEO Jill Zelmanovits said the previous name dissuaded some racialized girls and women from joining the outdoor adventure and activity group and that members embraced the chance to change that.

Provinces are awash with expired hand sanitizer that Ottawa sent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The federal government spent $376 million on more than 21 million litres of hand sanitizer, which the Public Health Agency of Canada distributed throughout the pandemic. More than eight million litres were distributed to provinces and territories, the agency said in an email Wednesday.

But now, most provinces have excess expired sanitizer and getting rid of it through disposal or repurposing comes with a hefty cost.