Police in the Greater Toronto Area are proactively ramping up patrols around Jewish places of worship and community gathering spaces as Passover begins Wednesday evening.

Toronto police say the public can expect an increased police presence in residential areas, grocery stores and other locations throughout the weeklong holiday, and rotating command posts will be deployed.

The command posts will appear at a number of synagogues, Baycrest Hospital, the Ledbury Jewish Centre, as well as intersections along Bathurst Street north of the city centre.

Meanwhile, police in York Region say they’ll also be increasing patrols during Passover and setting up command posts at two Jewish community centres and a Thornhill mall.

York Regional Police say residents may see officers near places of worship, gathering places and in their neighbourhoods.

Passover, a major Jewish holiday, is set to begin at sundown on Wednesday and will be observed until next Thursday.

The increased police patrols come as Premier Doug Ford says many Jewish people in Ontario are feeling increasingly unsafe.

In a video posted to social media, Ford reiterated his government’s commitment to addressing antisemitism and protecting Jewish communities and places of worship.

Last month, police in Toronto and York Region said they were investigating shots fired at three Toronto-area synagogues.

News of the shootings drew widespread condemnation from politicians representing all three levels of government and, shortly after, Ottawa earmarked $10 million to help Jewish communities bolster security at gathering places.

The shootings caused building damage but no injuries were reported.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A B.C. man convicted of first-degree murder is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday.

Brandon Teixeira was convicted last August of murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm with intent in the October 2017 shooting death of Nicholas Khabra in Surrey.

Charges were laid against Teixeira in 2018, but he had fled to the U.S. and was arrested in Oroville, Calif., on Dec. 1, 2019.

He was extradited back to Canada in April 2020.

At trial, jurors heard that Teixeira had shot and stabbed Khabra in a targeted hit, with a contract worth $160,000.

Crown prosecutor Dianne Wiedemann told the 14-person jury that Teixeira had accepted the “contract to kill” because he believed Khabra had set him up in a drive-by shooting several days prior.

The court heard that on the night of the killing, Teixeira pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Khabra four or five times, then pursued him to the front door of a house where he stabbed him multiple times.

The high-security trial heard graphic testimony from a witness known only as “Person X,” an alleged accomplice in the slaying who testified that he “froze” when the moment came to pull the trigger.

Teixeira’s lawyer challenged Person X’s credibility, stressing how the witness — a criminal with $50,000 in debt — had cut deals with both the RCMP and the Crown.

His agreement to work as a police informant netted him half a million dollars, while his deal with prosecutors saw him plead guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, for which he served a five-year sentence.

More to come…

 

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A significant increase in intimate image-related blackmail, known as sextortion, is prompting a warning from Winnipeg police for parents to monitor their kids’ social media and messaging platforms.

“Sextortion is a form of online sexual exploitation in which a perpetrator obtains intimate images of a victim through deception, coercion, or a prior relationship and then uses those images, or the threat of sharing them, to demand money, gift cards, additional images or coercive compliance,” said Const. Stephen Spencer with the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) during a news conference on Wednesday.

“If you are being extorted, (or) believe you might be being extorted with a sextortion case, do not pay,” said Spencer, urging victims to contact the police or Crime Stoppers.

Spencer described the reported spike in sextortion cases as “a growing area of concern.” In 2025, there were more than 11 times as many extortion cases reported to the WPS compared to 2020. Spencer said cases are categorized as extortion, but those numbers are largely intimate image-related.

“I can tell you these numbers are quite concerning,” said Spencer.

In 2020, the police received 19 reports of extortion; by 2023 this figure rose to 165, before peaking two years later with 223 cases reported.

Eighty per cent of the victims who reported being extorted to police were women, but when filtered to victims aged under 18, the police said 87 per cent of these reports came from boys.

“One of the big concerns, obviously, is that children right now are being heavily targeted on social media,” Spencer told reporters.

Parents should also be mindful of the potential consequences if their underaged children or teens are sharing nude images, police said.

“(The intimate images are) considered child sexual abuse and exploitation material under Canadian law, and even if those images were shared with consent, and even if both parties are under the age of 18,” explained Spencer.

Online luring of youth was said to occur via online platforms, including Snapchat, Discord, and Instagram.

“Device owners and accountholders — this means parents — can also face criminal charges if their device is used to share these images, even if it’s by their children,” Spencer added.

April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month across Canada. Winnipeg police said additional information, tips, and a four-part video series on sextortion will be shared over the course of this month.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Stormy weather closed schools in parts of New Brunswick and Newfoundland as Environment Canada warned of freezing rain and snow in much of the region.

The severe weather is the latest in a winter that has taken its toll on both students and seniors in Atlantic Canada.

Schools in the greater area of St. John’s, N.L., have been closed at least seven days since Jan. 1 because of bad weather.

The frequent closures have been tough for students who visit the Student Wellness and Counselling Centre at Memorial University in St. John’s.

Director Ken Fowler says the “bumper crop” of snow days kept students isolated and cooped up indoors.

He says this adds another stressor to a demographic already prone to loneliness and depression.

Sue Nesto, executive director of the Dartmouth Seniors Service Centre in Nova Scotia, said she has had to cancel more meal delivery days this year than usual, cutting seniors off from much-needed food and companionship.

“For some people, that’s the only socialization they get,” Nesto said.

Both Fowler and Nesto encouraged anyone who might be struggling to ask for help if they need it. Fowler also encouraged those who aren’t struggling to watch out for signs of distress in their friends and classmates.

“Check in on each other,” Fowler said. “Send a text, try to stay connected with people.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Calgary police have charged a man with extortion and uttering threats in connection with ongoing extortion investigations involving members of Calgary’s South Asian community.

Police say among the incidents being investigated are repeated acts of property damage and suspicious activity at multiple daycare locations outside Calgary.

Investigators say between March 4 and 22, officers with the CPS Organized Crime Unit and the RCMP documented a series of escalating incidents that also included alleged acts of intimidation and shootings connected to demands for large sums of money and requests to transfer control of businesses.

As a result of the investigation, Rana Cheema, 45, has been charged with extortion and uttering threats.

At this time, police say they don’t believe there was any risk to the children at the daycares, but due to the nature of the locations involved, the investigation was treated as a priority.

“We want to be very clear: Calgary is not a place where extortion, intimidation or violence will be tolerated,” said CPS Supt. Jeff Bell in a news release announcing the charges.

Police say there have been 41 extortion attempts in Calgary since January 2025, with 18 of them involving shootings at homes, businesses or vehicles.

Victims have also been receiving threats through international phone calls and social media platforms.

Police describe the investigation into the extortion allegations as complex and are making a plea for any additional victims to come forward.

“Many victims are living with fear, uncertainty, and, in some cases, hesitancy to come forward,” says Bell. “Our message to them is that you are not alone, and we will support you. We need to have all of the information to ensure people are held accountable for their actions.”

Cheema is expected to appear in court next on April 22, 2026.

 

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A border collie named Molly was rescued from the wild New Zealand bush one week after her owner fell from a 55-metre waterfall and was forced to evacuate without her, when the dog couldn’t be found at the time of rescue.

An emergency rescue helicopter found Jessica Johnson with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a remote rocky spot at the waterfall on New Zealand’s South Island. She was airlifted on March 24 and forced to leave without Molly.

Helicopter pilot Matt Newton, the owner-operator of Precision Helicopters New Zealand, took it upon himself to help find the missing dog.

“I contacted her in hospital and said I’d go for a look for it,” Newton told The Associated Press. “I went and looked for the dog several times and no avail.”

That’s when Newton and his family launched a fundraiser to pay for more flying hours and advanced search gear in order to reunite Molly with her owner.

Strangers came together and raised over $11,000 for a search and Newton was able to fund three more hours in a helicopter using thermal imaging equipment.

Newton was joined by a veterinary nurse, volunteer searchers and a dog named Bingo to help continue their search for Molly.

When Molly was found on Tuesday, she was located just a few metres from the spot where her owner had fallen.

“We struck jackpot within about an hour,” he said. “As we made our way up the river, we could see the dog in the thermal and then we could visually see it.”

The helicopter was able to drop low enough for a volunteer to disembark with the rescue dog Bingo to help guide Molly to safety.

“She knew what we were up to, I think,” he said. “She behaved real well. She didn’t run away and she was pleased to be rescued.”

“Thank you to everybody who donated & volunteered to help, the success of saving Molly would not have been possible without this joint effort. What a happy ending to reunite her with Jess after her accident. 1 week lost in the wild, Molly will be happy to be home,” Precision Helicopters Ltd. wrote on Facebook, sharing a video of Molly curled up on a pile of rocks in the area where her owner had fallen a week prior.

The pilot said Molly was in “surprisingly good condition” and reported back to the helicopter base, where other volunteers were waiting their turn to search for Molly.

“Instead we just had a big barbecue and all had a cuddle with Molly,” he said.

Hours after Molly’s rescue, Johnson — who is still recovering from her injuries — arrived for a tearful reunion with her dog.

“She’s been a bloody rough week. But with both of us back home I can add this adventure to the list. Still a great trip before our lives got turned upside,” Johnson wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

— With files from The Associated Press

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

One province and one territory are taking steps to lower the screening age for colorectal cancer, with more probing a similar change.

Earlier this week, Prince Edward Island announced it’s lowering the age to 45, with Nunavut confirming to Global News on Tuesday its plans to make the same change.

BC Cancer said in an email to Global News it is also investigating such an adjustment.

“While younger adults have a lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to older adults, emerging evidence has prompted BC to investigate lowering the starting age for screening,” said Dr. Fabio Feldman with BC Cancer. “Data collection and modelling work is now ongoing.”

Those actions has cancer survivor Barry Stein, who serves as CEO of Colorectal Cancer Canada, pleased because it could prevent more families from a “costly and traumatic” experience his family went through.

“So this program (screening) wouldn’t have helped me at that time, but it would have sensitized a lot more people about the disease,” he said.

Stein was diagnosed at the age of 41 in 1995. He said he ignored the symptoms he had and, by the time he was diagnosed, the cancer had metastasized to other parts of his body.

He ended up having to get four liver surgeries in New York. He also participated in chemotherapy treatments in Canada and an experimental vaccine trial in California.

That experience led Stein to become not only an advocate for himself, but for others and resulted in the founding of what was originally called the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada. It later became Colorectal Cancer Canada.

The organization has since launched a ‘screen at 45 campaign,’ urging provinces and territories to lower their screening age.

“We really want to save lives and that is the purpose of doing it,” Stein said. “We don’t want people to have to go through what I went through, which was a very traumatic, costly and traumatic experience to myself and my family.”

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan told Global News they are each reviewing recommendations, with Saskatchewan’s ColonCheck assessing evidence and the timeline to decrease the eligibility age.

Manitoba, Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador said they are continuing to review evidence, though no changes are coming at this time.

A spokesperson for the Ontario government said on background it’s reviewing ways to strengthen care, but “at this time, it would be too early to confirm any changes.”

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, people under 50 are now two- to two-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer than they were in previous generations.

Dr. Enrique Sanz Garcia, a clinical investigator at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, said those numbers are in line with what he’s seeing.

“This is something that we are seeing more often in our clinic at this point,” Sanz Garcia said.

He went on to tell Global News that while there aren’t confirmed causes explaining why colorectal cancer is presenting earlier in people, there are still factors linked to the disease itself.

Among them is a diet filled with high amounts of ultra-processed fats and a sedentary lifestyle.

“But the truth is that we are seeing many people who don’t have any of these risk factors and they still have cancer and colorectal cancer,” he said.

Guidelines in Canada currently recommend asymptomatic people with average risk between 50 and 75 to be screened using a fecal occult blood test. One of the most common is known as the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), an at-home screening tool that can detect blood in the stool, which may indicate colorectal cancer.

Sanz Garcia stresses if the FIT test does detect blood, it does not immediately mean you have cancer but people should then get a colonoscopy.

If you’re concerned about colorectal cancer even without family history or higher risk, he said people can look for some common symptoms, including bleeding, an alternation between constipation and diarrhea, abdominal pain and unexplained weight loss.

Yet he noted another reason for early screening is because many people can be asymptomatic.

“The reality is that most of the people that we are seeing in the clinic, they are caught by a screening,” Sanz Garcia said. “They are caught asymptomatic, they are caught because they go for the screening for colorectal cancer.”

— With files from The Canadian Press

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The Ford government says it will not give nurse practitioners billing codes, but will work to bring them into the publicly funded health-care system as the federal deadline to ensure coverage for medically necessary services passes.

More than a year ago, the federal health minister wrote to Ontario, telling the province to come up with a policy to fund and regulate nurse practitioners by April 1.

Despite getting the clarity it had requested, the Ford government missed the deadline.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones said she felt the federal approach lacked uniformity and could download costs.

“There is no additional Canada Health Transfer. We are going to see inconsistency across provinces and territories, but Ontario will be in compliance,” she told reporters on Monday.

“I want to see nurse practitioners practise in our publicly funded system. I want them embedded in our multidisciplinary teams. I want them working in our hospitals.”

Jones said the province hadn’t “done a fiscal” analysis of how much bringing nurse practitioners into the public system would cost.

Nurse practitioners have said they are looking for flexible funding models, such as those for family doctors, who can bill OHIP on a fee-for-service basis or who are paid per patient enrolled.

Jones said she has “no plans” to let nurse practitioners bill OHIP directly for services through the use of billing codes, saying that would have to be negotiated with the Ontario Medical Association.

The health minister did not say what approach she would take instead to bring nurse practitioners into the public system.

Liberal health critic Adil Shamji said it was a mistake to rule out billing codes before consulting with health-care experts.

“I think that there are many different ways that nurse practitioners could be publicly funded,” he told reporters.

“I’ve spoken to nurse practitioners; some are interested in that model, others are interested in other models altogether, whether they’re paid hourly wages or they’re brought on in a salaried model.”

Critics said it was “shocking” the government had missed the deadline — although Ontario won’t face penalties for non-compliance until next year.

“What has she been doing? She’s been in this role for years now,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said.

“This government has been in power for eight years. They’ve now missed the deadline for the nurse practitioners’ agreement. And again, did she not have time to figure this out?”

Nurse practitioners in Ontario can assess patients, order and interpret tests, and prescribe medication and treatment. They work in a variety of settings, including family health teams and community health teams, hospitals and long-term care homes, as well as in more than two dozen publicly funded nurse practitioner-led clinics.

Two years ago, a proliferation of private subscription fee-based nurse practitioner clinics made headlines. Jones responded to opposition and media questions by putting the onus on the federal government to close a “loophole” that allowed them to operate.

“If there is a wedge that is allowing these clinics to happen, then perhaps the member opposite could pick up the phone and call their federal counterparts, because that’s what I’ve been doing,” she said in question period in March 2024.

The next month, Jones formally wrote to the federal government asking them to make the change.

While Ontario began funding 25 nurse practitioner-led clinics in 2011, the Ford government expanded the program by including an additional seven clinics under the funding envelope in the early 2020s.

In her letter in 2024, Jones asked the federal government to “work with provinces and territories on a Canada-wide solution to close this loophole, to guard against unintended consequences, and prohibit nonphysicians from charging for publicly funded services.”

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

An American journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad had tried to cross from Syria into Iraq three weeks earlier and was initially turned back, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said Shelly Renee Kittleson had also been warned of threats against her in the days before her abduction. A freelance journalist who has worked for years in Iraq and Syria and was described by those who knew her as deeply knowledgeable about the region and the communities she covered, Kittleson was kidnapped from a street in the Iraqi capital Tuesday and remains missing.

Hussein Alawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said Kittleson had sought to enter via the al-Qaim crossing from Syria on March 9 but was turned back because she did not have a press work permit and because security concerns due to “the escalation of the war and aerial projectiles over Iraqi airspace as a result of the war on Iran.”

She later entered the country after obtaining a single-entry visa to Iraq valid for 60 days issued to allow foreign citizens stranded in neighboring countries to “transit through Iraq to reach their home countries via available transport routes,” he said.

Kittleson entered Baghdad a few days before she was kidnapped and was staying in a hotel in the capital, he said.

“The incident is being followed closely by Iraqi security and intelligence agencies under the supervision of” al-Sudani, Alawi said. He noted that one suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping plot has been arrested and is being interrogated.

Iraqi security forces gave chase to her captors and arrested one suspect after the car he was driving crashed, but other kidnappers were able to escape with the journalist in a second car.

An Iraqi intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, said Iraqi authorities believe she is being held in Baghdad and are trying to locate her and secure her release. He said authorities “have information about the abducting party” but declined to give more details.

U.S. officials have alleged that Kittleson was taken by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-linked Iraqi militia that has been implicated in previous kidnappings of foreigners. The group has not claimed the kidnapping and the Iraqi government has not publicly said anything about the kidnappers’ affiliation.

The Iraqi intelligence official said that prior to Kittleson’s abduction, Iraqis had contacted U.S. officials to notify them that there was a specific kidnapping threat against her by Iran-affiliated militias.

Dylan Johnson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on X Tuesday that the “State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.”

A U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said, “She was contacted multiple times with warnings of the threats against her,” including as late as the night before the kidnapping.

Kittleson’s mother, 72-year-old Barb Kittleson, who spoke to The Associated Press at her home in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, said she heard about the kidnapping from a news report on Tuesday and was visited by the FBI at her house on Tuesday night.

When asked how she felt about the kidnapping she said, “Terrible. Scared. I’ll pray for her.”

Barb Kittleson said she last exchanged emails with her daughter on Monday. Shelly Kittleson sent photos of herself from Iraq, her mother said.

“Journalism is what she wanted to do so bad,” Barb Kittleson said. “I wanted her to come home and not do it, but she said, ‘I’m helping people.’”

Surveillance footage from Baghdad that was obtained by the AP shows what seems to be the moment the journalist was kidnapped. It shows two men approaching a person standing on a street corner and ushering the person into the back of a car. There appears to be a brief struggle to shut the car door before the men get into the vehicle and it drives away.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Kilograms of drugs, tens of thousands in cash and a hydraulic press were taken as evidence by Saskatoon police following the arrest of a 34-year-old man.

More than nine kilograms of methamphetamine, 4.1 kilograms of cocaine and 609 grams of fentanyl were some of the substances seized, Saskatoon police said. In addition, police said on Wednesday, 212 grams of crack cocaine, more than $31,500 in cash and a hydraulic press with packaging materials were seized on Friday night.

The goods were impounded after officers arrested the 34-year-old and executed two search warrants. They searched properties in the 200 block of Willis Crescent and the 1600 block of 7th Street East, according to a news release shared by the force.

Police said the accused is facing several charges related to drug trafficking and the possession of counterfeit identity documents.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.