IN PHOTOS Northern lights dance across the night sky in southern Ont.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
The United States' case against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou suffers an "evidentiary vacuum" linking her actions with any risk of reputational damage or financial loss suffered by HSBC, her alleged victim, one of her lawyers argued in court Tuesday.
Scott Fenton attempted to hammer home a theme in the defence team's arguments: that the United States failed to provide crucial evidence of deprivation or risk of deprivation, a fundamental element of fraud, so the telecom executive should be freed.
Meng was arrested at Vancouver's airport in 2018 at the request of the United States to face fraud charges that both she and Huawei deny. She is out on bail during the extradition hearing, living in one of her Vancouver homes.
"The overwhelming weight of the jurisprudence makes it clear that in all cases, concrete evidence must exist that the alleged deceit triggers either actual loss or a concrete, non-speculative risk of financial loss," Fenton said.
The B.C. Supreme Court hearing is at the tail end of formal arguments in the extradition case.
Meng's arrest embroiled Canada in a bitter battle between the United States and China.
Days after she was taken into custody, Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested in what has widely been seen as retaliation and Canadian officials have promised to continue fighting for their release.
The fraud charges against Meng centre on a PowerPoint presentation she gave during a meeting in a Hong Kong tea room in 2013 with a senior HSBC banker.
Meng, who is Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of the Chinese telecom giant's founder, is accused of misleading the banker about Huawei's control over another company that did business in Iran, putting put the bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions against the country.
Lawyers for Canada's attorney general, who represent the United States in the case, argued last week that Meng's alleged lies would clearly constitute fraud in Canada.
Government lawyer Robert Frater told the court that Meng's deceit lay in both what she said and left unsaid during the meeting.
Meng "went to some length to demonstrate that Huawei had a rigorous approach to sanctions compliance, and that Huawei demanded the same of any partners working in Iran," he said.
She neglected to tell the banker that Huawei controlled the company, Skycom, that was the subject of HSBC's concern, he said.
As a result, HSBC made financial decisions based on incomplete information about its clients that put it at risk of not only violating sanctions, but also at risk of reputational damage and financial losses, Frater told the court earlier.
Fraud law is clear that actual loss need not occur, only risk of loss, the government has argued. Meng's alleged misrepresentations fall within the definition.
However, Meng's team has tried to convince the judge the Meng's case is anything but ordinary and, in fact, the government lawyers are trying to turn fraud law "on its head."
The United States has presented a case against Meng that is riddled with evidentiary gaps and fails to demonstrate a concrete link between the presentation and any civil or criminal liability or risk of losses, her legal team has argued.
Court documents from the defence say Skycom made payments from its Chinese bank account to a third party's HSBC U.K. bank account, and HSBC cleared those payments through a U.S. subsidiary.
The dollar-clearing transaction is the only sanctions violation that occurred, Fenton said Tuesday, and HSBC was entirely responsible for its own decision.
The United States has not offered proof that HSBC's continuation of loan-related business with Huawei caused it any risk of loss.
Reputation is not something that is protected under fraud law, and even if it was, the United States has failed to provide anything beyond a theoretical risk, Fenton said.
"We're left with a reputational risk theory that ultimately flounders on the shoal of no evidence, and no amount of conjecture or theorizing or speculation -- as is well known to the court -- could possibly be a substitute for actual evidence demonstrating a concrete risk of identifiable pecuniary harm to HSBC," Fenton said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2021.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
In the quiet and leafy Vancouver neighbourhood of South Cambie, best known for its botanical garden, playoff fever is about to set in.
Evan Bouchard scored 5:38 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers bounced back for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Friday.
Biden wants the 2024 election to be a referendum on Trump's record and plans, but he also wants voters to look favourably on his own policies and actions
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.