BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
A prosecutor in Mexico said Tuesday the killing of two Canadians at a Caribbean coast resort last week was motivated by debts between international gangs apparently dedicated to drug and weapons trafficking.
On Friday, prosecutors said both dead men had criminal records in Canada, and one was a known felon with a long record related to robbery, drug and weapons offenses. A third Canadian, a woman, was wounded and is being treated at a local hospital, but is not yet able to speak with investigators.
"The investigations indicate that this attack was motivated by debts that arose from transnational illegal activities that the victims participated in," said Oscar Montes, the chief prosecutor of the Quintana Roo state. "The information (is) that they were involved in weapons and drug trafficking, among other crimes."
Montes said the attack had been planned for almost a month by a cartel or gang that had not previously been known to operate in the area. But in keeping with standard procedure, he declined to name the gang.
The attack took place Friday at the Hotel Xcaret resort is south of Playa del Carmen. The attackers apparently had guest wrist bands to enter the resort.
Montes said a first group of assassins hired to kill the Canadians earlier in January abandoned the job because there was too much security. A second assassin flew in to the resort and carry out the killing, he said.
Authorities said the two suspects arrested in the case so far include a professional kidnapper from Mexico City who coordinated the plot.
Police also arrested a female, identified only by her last name, Nu, who was apparently part of the group of 10 Canadians who were vacationing at the resort. Montes said Nu both "cared for the children" of the victims and allegedly met with the killers and may have been providing them information on their activities.
The hired killer who actually fired the shots is being sought.
Last week's killings are just part of a series of brazen acts of violence along Mexico's resort-studded Mayan Riviera coast, the crown jewel of the country's tourism industry. Several rival drug gangs are fighting for control of the area's lucrative drug market.
On Tuesday, prosecutors reported a man had been shot to death at a well-known beach club restaurant in Playa del Carmen. They did not identify the dead man, but the local business chamber identified him as the manager of the business.
In November, a shootout on the beach of Puerto Morelos left two suspected drug dealers dead. Authorities said there were some 15 gunmen from a gang that apparently disputed control of drug sales there.
In late October, farther south in the laidback destination of Tulum, two tourists -- one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German -- were caught in the apparent crossfire of rival drug dealers and killed.
Following those events, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent nearly 1,500 members of the National Guard to reinforce security in the area.
If Canadian gangs were involved in Quintana Roo, it would not be shocking. The Caribbean coast state, because of its huge flow of foreigners, has seen a number of crime rings with international connections.
A Romanian gang has long operated in the state, using ATM machines to clone credit cards or make illegal withdrawals. And this week authorities arrested two Ukrainians for their alleged involvement in a fuel theft ring. Immigrant traffickers have long used Cancun as base for smuggling Cuban migrants.
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.