Minister of Transport testifies, import ban on handguns comes into effect: in the news, August 19

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In The News is a roundup of articles from The Canadian Press designed to start your day. Here’s what’s on our editors’ radar for the morning of Friday, August 19, 2022.

What we are watching in Canada…

Flight cancellations, baggage delays and long lines at the airport have plagued Canadian travelers for months.

Now Transport Minister Omar Alghabra will testify before the House of Commons Transport Committee about the recent chaos at major Canadian airports and airlines.

The committee voted unanimously last week to hold a hearing on the delays and invite Alghabra to testify.

He is expected to appear by videoconference on Friday after recently testing positive for COVID-19.

Airlines and airports have grappled with an increase in travel this summer, compounded by staffing shortages affecting both carriers and federal agencies.

Critics say airlines have aggressively increased flight times as customer interest grew, without giving due consideration to these labor shortages.

Transport Canada said in a recent statement that it is working with industry partners to improve conditions at airports.

In its statement, the department cited fewer cancellations and delays in the first week of August compared to a month ago.

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Also this…

The federal government’s import ban on restricted handguns goes into effect Friday.

With few exceptions, individuals and businesses can no longer import restricted handguns into Canada.

The measure, announced earlier this month, is intended to accelerate a key pillar of the federal effort to limit the number of handguns in the country.

The Liberal government announced a plan in May to implement a freeze on the import, purchase, sale or transfer of handguns to help crack down on gun violence. .

The measure is part of a broader gun control package that would allow the automatic withdrawal of firearms licenses from people who commit domestic violence or engage in criminal harassment, such as stalking, as well as increased maximum sentences for smuggling and arms trafficking to 14 years. from 10.

The import ban is expected to last until a permanent freeze is passed by Parliament and comes into effect.

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What we’re watching in the US…

A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to offer redactions as it pledges to release at least part of the affidavit in support of the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s estate in Florida.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday gave prosecutors a week to submit a copy of the affidavit with proposed redactions for information he wishes to keep secret.

It comes just over a week after the FBI seized classified and top secret information during a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.

A prosecutor said the investigation into whether Trump illegally stored classified records was still « in its early stages. »

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What we watch in the rest of the world…

Sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says her country will never accept South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s ‘senseless’ offer of economic benefits in exchange for denuclearization measures, accusing Seoul of recycling rejected proposals the past.

Kim Yo Jong said the president would have done better to « shut up » rather than talk nonsense.

She also questioned the sincerity of South Korea’s calls for better bilateral relations as Seoul holds military exercises with the United States and lets militants fly propaganda leaflets across the border.

Yoon expressed hope for a meaningful dialogue with the North over his proposal for disarmament assistance.

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On this day at 1942, approximately 6,000 Canadian and British soldiers launch a disastrous raid against the Germans in Dieppe, France, with over 50% casualties.

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In entertainment…

R. Kelly’s legal team will have the opportunity to question the government’s star witness on Friday after she gave what jurors could see as damning testimony against Kelly at his federal trial in Chicago on charges including the production of child pornography.

Jane, the pseudonym used for her during the trial, has been at the heart of Kelly’s legal troubles for more than two decades. She testified for more than four hours on Thursday, telling jurors it was her and Kelly in a videotape that was at the heart of his 2008 child pornography trial, in which he was acquitted.

Jane, now 37, pulled over, pulled on a necklace and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as she said publicly for the first time that the man in the video was Kelly and the girl was her at 14.

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Have you seen this?

University of British Columbia researchers have found what they call a ‘weak point’ in the virus that causes COVID-19, a potential breakthrough in the effort to develop new treatments that work against all strains .

The main vulnerability, according to the researchers, is in all major variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Exploiting this weakness could lead to new ways to fight the disease that has killed millions worldwide since it was identified more than two years ago, according to the study, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Communications.

The UBC team studied the virus at the atomic level to find the weak spot and identify an antibody fragment that can attach to it through the many mutations of the virus, including growing Omicron subvariants. .

According to the researchers, the spike protein’s weak spot is consistent across all seven major variants of the virus, meaning an antibody could act as a ‘master key’ capable of overcoming widespread mutations.

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This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 19, 2022.

The Canadian Press

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