Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Warning: This story contains details that may be disturbing to some
A Chinese man who set his ex-wife on fire as she livestreamed to her online followers was sentenced to death on Thursday, concluding a murder case that received nationwide notoriety.
The victim, 30-year-old Lhamo, was a farmer and livestreamer in a Tibetan autonomous prefecture in southwestern Sichuan province. She was streaming a video of herself last September when a man burst in, poured gasoline on her and set her on fire. She died two weeks later.
Her ex-husband, Tang Lu, was arrested soon after. On Thursday in court, he was found guilty of homicide, sentenced to death and ordered to pay compensation, according to state-run broadcaster CCTV.
The court found his crime "was extremely cruel" and "deserves severe punishment," CCTV reported.
Tang had a history of physical abuse toward Lhamo, reportedly beating her many times before they divorced in June 2020, according to CCTV. In the following months, he repeatedly sought her out and asked to remarry, but was turned away -- leading to the murder.
The case was widely covered in national and international media, drawing attention for the gruesome nature of Lhamo's death -- as well as raising discussion on the larger problems surrounding women and violence in China.
On Chinese social media, there was heated debate over how the country's legal system often fails to protect victims while easily pardoning perpetrators of abuse.
Part of the problem, many activists and women said, was the lingering and deep-rooted idea that domestic disputes are a family's private problem -- which can often mean authorities are reluctant to get involved, or that women face social stigma for speaking out.
Until 2001, when China amended its marriage law, abuse wasn't considered grounds for divorce.
China only enacted its first nationwide law prohibiting domestic violence in 2015, a groundbreaking piece of legislation that defines domestic violence for the first time, and includes psychological abuse as well as physical violence.
However, critics say there are still gaps -- it excludes same-sex couples and makes no mention of sexual violence.
After the death sentence was handed down Thursday, one user on the Chinese social media platform Weibo argued that "vague" terms like domestic violence should be dropped from legal cases because it "obfuscates right from wrong" and undermines the severity of the crime.
"Intentional assault is intentional assault, and homicide is homicide, regardless of the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim," said the user, with the comment gaining more than 24,700 likes.
Many others expressed support for Tang's sentence, and generally of China's use of the death penalty, in response to Lhamo's case.
The topics of domestic violence, abuse and dissatisfaction with the system had already been circulating in public discourse when Lhamo's murder occurred, adding to the growing outrage.
Just a few months before her death, China passed a controversial law requiring couples who want to divorce to first undergo a month-long "cooling off" period -- raising concerns it could further endanger victims of abuse and prevent them from leaving a dangerous relationship.
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
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.