'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
The EU's border agency will dispatch a plane to monitor the shores of the English Channel for migrant activity after 27 people died when their overcrowded, inflatable boat sank en route to Britain, the deadliest migration accident on record on the treacherous crossing.
European migration officials agreed on the new deployment at an emergency meeting Sunday in the French port of Calais. They also pledged to work together more closely against migrant smuggling networks and the trade in inflatable boats that are being used in increasingly frequent journeys by people fleeing conflict or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan or beyond.
U.K. officials were notably absent from the gathering at the Calais City Hall, after Wednesday's sinking prompted a new political crisis between Britain and France. The neighbors accuse each other of not doing enough to deter people from crossing the Channel, and countries across the European Union have long argued over how to manage migration.
"We have to prevent lives being lost. We have to prevent chaos coming to our external borders," EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told reporters after the meeting. She called for more sharing of intelligence and said governments need to "go after the money."
Starting Dec. 1, a plane operated by EU border agency Frontex will help France, Belgium and the Netherlands monitor their shores to better identify smuggling networks, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
German, Dutch and Belgian ministers also took part in the meeting, and participants stressed the need to cooperate with the U.K. Such cooperation has been complicated by Britain's departure from the EU this year.
"This meeting was not anti-English. It was pro-European," Darmanin said. "We want to work with our British friends and allies."
British Home Secretary Priti Patel said it was "unfortunate" that she was uninvited to the meeting, and reiterated Britain's proposal for returning migrants to France. French officials firmly rejected the idea when it was initially proposed.
France is carrying out an organized crime investigation into the sinking. Iraqi Kurds and at least one person from Somalia were among those aboard, though most have not been publicly identified.
The meeting Sunday focused on smuggling networks, who charge from 3,000 to 7,000 euros ($3,400 to $7,900) for the journey across the Channel. Darmanin said a car with German license tags was seized in connection with the investigation.
Earlier Sunday, Patel met with Dutch Migration Minister Ankie Broekers-Knol and stressed "the need for European partners to work together" through shared intelligence and joint police initiatives, according to her office.
"Both agreed that return agreements are essential for breaking the criminal business model," it said.
Aid groups, meanwhile, are arguing for more humane, coordinated asylum policies instead of just more police. At makeshift camps along the French coast, clusters of people from Sudan, Iran and Iraq huddled under the chilly rain, waiting for their chance to cross the Channel. They're undeterred by Wednesday's deaths or by the stepped-up beach patrols.
The number of migrants trying to cross the channel in small boats has jumped this year but overall the number of migrants arriving in Britain is low compared with other European countries. Darmanin said France handles five times as many asylum requests per year than Britain does.
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
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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.
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An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
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Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.