BREAKING B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
A Canadian man living in Ecuador for the last 18 years said he and his family feel highly uncertain and insecure as gang violence in the country escalates.
"We really don't know what the next steps are going to look like from the government's end," Jeff Karram told CTV National News.
He said people in the country are living under an 11 p.m. curfew, shops are closed, classes are cancelled and most people are staying home.
"Everybody in our company is doing home office right now. If there is anybody that has to move around, they are the exception, everybody else is staying at home," Karram said.
In Guayaquil on Tuesday, a TV station was taken over by a group of armed men during a live afternoon newscast. The group, wielding explosives and guns, threatened and assaulted employees of the TC Television network's station for 15 minutes on air.
No one was killed and 13 suspects were arrested, but the violent broadcast stunned much of the region and elicited a wide-ranging government response.
Those taken hostage described moments of terror — one cameraman was shot in the leg, another's arm was broken.
The TV station is 20 minutes from Karram's home.
"With everything that was going on yesterday (Tuesday) in the streets, because there were people unfortunately shot in the streets, there was one gentleman who just an odd bullet unfortunately hit him and killed him," Karram said. "He was shot no more than three minutes from where I work and about 10 minutes from where I live."
More than 2,300 Canadians are registered in Ecuador. Eighteen of them have reached out to Global Affairs Canada in recent days with questions, including around issues related to travel.
Most of Ecuador's population is hiding indoors as gang violence over the control of the drug trade exploded in the South American country. Shootouts, kidnappings and killings continue as police and armed forces roam the streets, their sights set on drug cartels and gang members after Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa declared his country was now at war.
Officials said they have arrested nearly 330 people for alleged acts of terrorism as of Wednesday afternoon, displaying a forceful response aimed at reassuring the country of 18 million people.
In the last five years, gangs vying for control of the drug trade have taken over nearly one fourth of the country's prisons.
Noboa vowed to crack down after his election in November. On Monday he declared a state of emergency after the prison break of drug kingpin Adolfo Macias, also known as Fito. Gangs have taken prison guards and police officers hostage and videos of executions have circulated online.
Karram, originally from Toronto, said he and his wife have discussed moving out of the country altogether as crime worsened over the past two years. However, he said it isn't that simple for him.
"You're looking at somebody like me who is living in Ecuador and you say 'Why isn't that person getting out of there?' But the reality is I've got my work here … all my wife's family is here," he said, adding Ecuador used to be a peaceful place to live.
"Ecuador is such an amazing place, but at the end of the day, security is everything."
Karram said he and his family will leave if the violence turns into a full-blown war, however, "I'm just praying that it doesn't get to that."
With files from The Associated Press
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
One passenger was killed and 30 injured after a Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI flight from London hit severe turbulence en route on Tuesday, forcing it to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, officials and the airline said.
Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives returned to the House of Commons on Tuesday with a renewed call for Speaker Greg Fergus to resign, this time over 'very partisan' and 'inflammatory' language used to promote an upcoming event.
Donald Trump's reelection campaign called 'The Apprentice,' a film about the former U.S. president in the 1980s, 'pure fiction' and vowed legal action following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump.
Anything is possible this week, as far as Canada's weather is concerned, with forecasts ranging from scorching heat in some parts of the country to rain and snow in others.
Nestle NESN.S will market a new, US$5 line of frozen pizzas and protein-enriched pastas in the United States which it says it designed specifically for people taking drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss.
Canada's annual inflation rate slowed to a three-year low of 2.7 per cent in April, matching expectations, and core measures continued to ease, data showed on Tuesday, likely boosting chances of a June interest rate cut.
Amal Clooney is one of the legal experts who recommended that the chief prosecutor of the world's top war crimes court seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of the militant Hamas group.
Members of a Canadian group representing families of those killed when Iranian officials shot down Flight PS752 in January 2020 say they are not sorry to hear of the death of Iran's president.
Public libraries in Atlantic Canada are now lending a broader range of items.
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.