UN chief condemns deadly bomb attack on Shikarpur Imambargah - Daily Times

NEW YORK - Condemning Friday's bombing of an Imambargah in Shikarpur, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored this vicious targeting of people on account of their religious affiliation, and called on the Pakistan authorities to step up their efforts to protect religious minorities and combat terrorism.

A statement issued by his spokesperson in New York said, "The secretary-general is appalled by such vicious targeting of people on account of their religious affiliation. He calls upon the authorities to redouble their efforts to protect religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan and to combat terrorism in all its forms. "The secretary-general extends his condolences to the families of the victims and his sympathies to the government and people of Pakistan."

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Islamic extremism delays permit for Montreal Muslim centre - CBC.ca

A new Islamic community centre in Montreal is facing opposition before it even opens.

The project is tied to controversial Imam Hamza Chaoui, who has controversial views on sharia law and ties to suspected radicals. 

Montreal city officials will decide Monday what to do about the proposed community centre, which would be situated in the east end borough of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.

Although a city permit has not yet been issued, the Moroccan-born Chaoui is promoting it on his Facebook page.

Connections to radicals

Chaoui has connections to radical Islamists.

The future of an east-end Montreal Islamic community centre is unclear because it's being promoted by Hamza Chaoui. a controversial imam. (CBC)

He has preached at the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu mosque attended by Martin Couture-Rouleau, the Muslim convert who killed warrant officer Patrice Vincent in October.

Chaoui was also the leader of a Muslim association at Laval University. One of that association's member, Chiheb Esseghaier, is about to be tried on charges related to a plot to derail a Via Rail train travelling between Toronto and New York two years ago.

Chaoui uses social media to share his fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. He has posted to YouTube and Facebook his views sympathetic to sharia law, and he advocates that women should have designated guardians.

"There are non-Muslims who come to our home and tell us, 'Really, you cut off heads, you cut off hands?' But that's religion. It's our religion in our own country. We decide how we implement it," he said in a Youtube video.

His Facebook page has nearly 1,000 likes.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said Thursday he wants to know more about the status of the community centre before it receives an operating permit.

"We are not talking about opening a church or whatsoever, we are talking about a community centre," he said.

Political outcry

Quebec Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil said she doesn't want to tell the City of Montreal what to do, but she cautioned the city against providing Chaoui with a platform for his extremist views.

'The teachings, if you will, of this imam, they are totally unacceptable in a free and democratic society." - Kathleen Weil, Quebec Immigration Minister

"The teachings, if you will, of this imam, they are totally unacceptable in a free and democratic society," she said.

The Parti Québécois opposition, meanwhile, called Chaoui's teachings "medieval."

"Imam Hamza Chaoui said in the past that democracy and Islam are incompatible, and that voting is a sin. We strongly condemn these medieval remarks," said the party's secularism critic, Agnès Maltais.

A spokeswoman for the Coalition Avenir Québec called on the premier to go further.

"Philippe Couillard needs to affirm that teachings of that nature are not compatible with our values, and we won't tolerate them," said Nathalie Roy.

Chaoui was unavailable for comment.

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The close: US stocks sink on GDP, TSX boosted by energy stocks - The Globe and Mail

Resource stocks led the Toronto Stock Market higher, but U.S. stocks sank, sending the S&P's 500 Index to its biggest monthly decline in a year, as weaker-than-forecast economic growth overshadowed a rally in energy shares sparked by a surge in the price of crude.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 251.9 points to 17,164.95, as Chevron Corp. fell after slashing its drilling budget. The S&P 500 declined 26.26 points to 1,994.99, extending its monthly loss to 3.1 per cent. The Nasdaq composite was off 48.17 points to 4,635.24, even as Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. surged.

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Energy shares gained 0.7 per cent as U.S. oil surged more than 8 per cent. Amazon.com Inc. and Biogen Idec Inc. soared at least 10 per cent after reporting earnings.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index added 36.20 points to 14,673.48, led higher by energy shares as oil climbed.

The TSX financial sector was the major weight, down per cent after Barclays Bank downgraded several of the major Canadian banks, saying that "slower than anticipated economic growth will weigh on the earnings growth and valuations of the group."

In addition, data showed an unexpected decline in Canada's economy in November.

Statistics Canada said gross domestic product in November declined 0.2 per cent, worse than the flat showing that economists had expected after a 0.3 per cent increase in October. The agency said the drop extended across major sectors including manufacturing and mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar plunged to fresh six-year lows on the data, falling 0.63 of a cent to 78.67 cents (U.S.) The loonie has been weighed down by low oil prices and the Bank of Canada's interest rate cut on Wednesday. On Thursday, the loonie lost half a cent to close at 79.3 cents (U.S.), close to its lowest level since early April 2009, adding to the three-quarters of a cent drop on Wednesday.

In the U.S., equities tumbled amid concern over economies in Europe and Russia as data showed slower growth in America. The U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace than forecast in the fourth quarter as cooling business investment, a slump in government outlays and a widening trade gap took some of the luster off the biggest gain in consumer spending in almost nine years.

"All this data does is further cloud the entire investment picture," Michael James, a Los Angeles-based managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities Inc., said in a phone interview. "It confirms that there's going to be continued uncertainty and continued significant volatility."

Gross domestic product grew at a 2.6 per cent annualized rate after a 5 per cent gain in the third quarter that was the fastest since 2003, Commerce Department figures showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of 85 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 3 per cent advance. Consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70 per cent of the economy, climbed 4.3 per cent, more than projected.

A separate report showed American consumer confidence reached an 11-year high in January as a strengthening labor market and plunging gas prices kept households looking on the bright side.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials are confronting divergent economic forces as they weigh the timing of the first interest– rate increase since 2006. Surprisingly strong job gains argue for tightening sooner, while inflation held down by a plunge in oil prices and a cooling global economy provides grounds for delay.

"In the background of all of these reports is the Fed," Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, said by phone. Paulsen helps manage $351-billion in assets. "It's the big elephant in the room in terms of how fast they might raise rates."

The central bank boosted its assessment of the economy in a statement this week and downplayed low inflation readings, while repeating a pledge to remain "patient" on raising interest rates. It acknowledged global risks, saying it will take into account readings on "international developments" as it decides how long to keep rates low.

"Zero interest rates are not the right interest rates for this economy," James Bullard, president of the Fed Bank of St. Louis, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "Inflation is low, but not low enough to rationalize zero interest rates. There's a lot of underlying momentum in the U.S. economy."

Strength on the TSX came primarily from the resource sectors with the energy group moving ahead almost five per cent as oil climbed $3.71 to US$48.24 a barrel.

Traders looking for a bottom to the plunge in prices reacted positively to news of a big drop in U.S. rig counts as producers respond to oversupply. Investors also drove up stocks in companies taking strong measures to deal with the drop in prices, including slashing spending plans and in some cases cutting dividends.

A major gainer was Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., which said Thursday that it was slashing its quarterly dividend to five cents a share. It had already announced a cut in the payout in December to 20 cents from 35 cents at a time when oil was about US$67 a barrel. COS shares gained $1 or 14.7 per cent to $7.85.

The base metals sector rose 4.2 per cent as March copper rose four cents to US$2.47 a pound.

The gold sector was ahead four per cent as April bullion gained $23.30 to US$1,279.20 an ounce.

The TSX financial sector was the major weight, down 2.25 per cent after Barclays Bank downgraded several of the major Canadian banks, saying that "slower than anticipated economic growth will weigh on the earnings growth and valuations of the group."

Barclays downgraded the stock of Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank and TD Bank  — three of the Big Six — plus Quebec-centred Laurentian Bank to underweight from equal weight. Barclays called last week's surprise quarter-point cut to a key Bank of Canada rate "a net negative" for the banks.

"If it's not energy, it's the financials that will move the market and right now, investors are concerned rate cuts will squeeze margins," said Scott Vali, vice-president, Canadian equities, CIBC Asset Management.

The TSX finished the week with a gain of 113 points or 0.8 per cent, led by gains in the energy, tech and consumer staples groups. Base metals were the biggest losers as demand concerns continued to push copper down to fresh six-year lows.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, jumped 12 percent to 20.97, capping its biggest weekly gain since Dec. 12.

Companies from Procter & Gamble Co. to DuPont Co. and Pfizer Inc. have said the U.S. currency's strength is hurting profits. The strongest dollar in a decade is making American goods and services more expensive overseas, eroding sales.

About 78 per cent of the S&P 500's more than 220 companies that posted earnings this season have beaten analyst estimates, while 56 per cent have topped sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Nine of 10 primary industry groups in the S&P 500 declined, as energy stocks rebounded from a loss to post a 0.7 per cent advance. Utilities paced losses with a decline of 2.2 per cent.

Chevron Corp. fell 0.5 per cent after dropping as much as 4 per cent. The energy company slashed its drilling budget by the most in 12 years and said it may delay some shale projects as energy producers around the world hoard cash and curtail ambitions in response to free-falling oil prices.

PulteGroup Inc. slid 5.6 per cent as Wells Fargo Securities analyst Adam Rudiger downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform.

Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. retreated more than 3.1 per cent to pace losses among the biggest companies.

Amazon.com Inc. surged 14 per cent, the most since April 2012, after the online retailer posted a fourth-quarter profit following two straight quarters of losses.

Google Inc. jumped 4.7 per cent even as fourth-quarter sales and profit missed estimates.

Visa Inc., the world's largest payments network, climbed 2.8 per cent as first-quarter profit beat analysts' estimates and the company announced a 4-for-1 stock split. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is poised to replace Visa as the most heavily weighted component of the Dow after the split.

MasterCard Inc. added 0.8 per cent after profit beat analysts' estimates as customer spending climbed.

Biogen Idec Inc. jumped 10 per cent after the maker of multiple sclerosis drugs made a 2015 profit forecast that surpassed analysts' estimates.

"Certainly GDP was a pretty big miss but in the tech world we've got Amazon and Google higher and in the credit card world we're up," Todd Salamone, senior vice president at Cincinnati- based Schaeffer's Investment Research Inc., said in a phone interview. "Also, the question going forward is whether bad data relieves the market in some way in terms of the Fed remaining on hold longer than expected with rates."

Earlier, equities futures fell as Russia's central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate by two percentage points, letting the ruble slide as the economy sinks toward recession.

Data showed consumer prices in the euro area fell more than economists forecast in January, underscoring the challenges facing European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. The ECB last week unveiled a 1.14 trillion-euro ($1.3-trillion) quantitative-easing program to combat deflation.

With files from The Canadian Press

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PM Harper admits proposed anti-terror law would not have stopped Ottawa attack - APTN National News

Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
Prime Minister Stephen Harper admitted the anti-terror bill tabled in the House of Commons Friday would not have stopped the Oct. 22, 2014, attack in Ottawa.

The Ottawa attack spawned an internal federal review that led to the creation of the new anti-terror bill, yet the new powers it gives law enforcement agencies in Canada would not have been able to stop Michael Zehaf Bibeau.

Bibeau was gunned down by RCMP officers and former Sgt.-at-Arms Kevin Vickers inside Centre Block on Parliament Hill. Bibeau ran onto Parliament Hill, past the RCMP security cordon, and hijacked a ministerial car after shooting Cpl. Nathan Cirillo dead at the National War Memorial.

The Harper government's press package accompanying the announcement of the new anti-terror bill mentions the Ottawa attack as an example of how "the world is a dangerous place."

Harper was asked by a reporter during a press conference in Richmond Hill, Ont., Friday if the proposed law would have been able to stop the twin October attacks in Ottawa and in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., which were committed by Canadian citizens enthralled by ISIS' version of jihad.

Harper said the new bill would likely not have been able to stop Bibeau.

"In the case of the incident in Ottawa it is a little more difficult to speculate how a case like that would be handled in the future under these laws…The fellow in Ottawa, Bibeau, was not on the police radar," said Harper.

A photo of Michael Zehaf Bibeau, 32

The prime minister, however, said it may have stopped the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu attack because the perpetrator was well-known to the RCMP.

"There is no doubt, that specifically, some of the powers in here…a greater ability to detain those suspected of imminent terror acts, the ability to detain people like that, to respond to them more quickly, it is, I would say no doubt, that situations like St-Jean in the future, that police will have more and better tools to deal with that situation than they had in October," said Harper.

Two days before Bibeau stormed Parliament Hill, a Quebec man named Martin Couture-Rouleau rammed and killed Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent with a car in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Couture-Rouleau was shot and killed by police.

University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran said it's problematic the new anti-terror bill would not be able to stop the stated motivation for its creation, which was the Ottawa attack.

"This bill was announced after Zehaf-Bibeau went postal, but it's just a pretext because the bill has nothing to do with that incident," said Attaran, who is an expert on law enforcement and terror issues. "Sure, Zehaf-Bibeau terrorized Parliament, but he was just a crazy man with drug problems. If (The Canadian Security Intelligence Agency) had powers to 'disrupt' terrorism that would not have stopped him because you can't stop crazy."

The bill gives major new powers to CSIS by allowing the spy agency to disrupt security threats as long as it has "reasonable grounds." Under the proposed bill, CSIS would still need to get a warrant from a court whenever it planned to launch disruption operations. The warrants would last for 120 days.

The new bill would also give the agency powers to work with foreign intelligence agencies on operations targeting and diverting things like shipments of dangerous chemicals to extremists. It would also give CSIS the ability to get an "assistance order" that could, for example, force a landlord to let agents bug a tenant's apartment. CSIS would also be able to launch cyber disruption operations for "counter-messaging" or hack radical websites and Twitter accounts.

"This worries me because CSIS is so extremely paranoid," said Attaran, who listed people like Tommy Douglas, Norman Bethune, Lester Pearson and John Diefenbaker who have come under state surveillance in the past. "What is going to happen in 'disrupting' irksome but honourable people today like First Nations, anti-pipeline activists or even Mennonites?"

List of now-dead Canadians who were under state surveillance

Download (PDF, 1.26MB)

Attaran said parts of the bill that target anything that "promotes" terrorism could also impact journalism, like The Globe and Mail's Talking to the Taliban series that featured interviews with the Taliban.

"The bill says that a court can order the deletion of any information from a computer that promotes terrorist propaganda," said Attaran. "Could this have been used to make the Globe delete its story from the Web? Yes."

Attaran also said he's concerned about another section of the bill that seems to promote snitching.

"If you 'fear' that someone might commit a terrorism offense you can denounce that person to a judge who has the power to lay a peace bond on that person or even jail that person for up to 12 months without a trial," said Attaran.

The Harper government weakened oversight of the spy agency when it scrapped the CSIS Inspector General position in 2012 and Attaran said he worries the agency's new powers could lead to the same scenario that created the McDonald Commission.

The commission was created in 1977 to investigate the RCMP's disruptive and illegal operations against the FLQ. The commission's findings led to the creation of CSIS.

"We have gone full circle since the McDonald commission," said Attaran.

Harper, however, said during his press conference that these new powers for law enforcement were necessary because "a great evil has been descending on our world" and it has been "growing more powerful." Harper called this growing evil "jihadi terrorism." He said it was "one of the most dangerous enemies our world has ever faced." The prime minister said "violent jihadism" sought to harm Canadians in their "cities" and "neighbourhoods."

When he was opposition leader, Harper criticized former Liberal prime minister Jean Chretien for not joining the U.S. in its war on Iraq after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City and Washington DC which left nearly 3,000 dead.

The Iraq war is blamed for creating the fertile ground that gave rise to ISIS after Sunni-Shiite tensions exploded following the pull-out of U.S. soldiers. The Syrian civil war next door gave beaten but hardened Islamist fighters renewed strength and they capitalized on the growing Sunni alienation from Baghdad.

Western forces, including Canadian Special Forces soldiers and jets, are currently trying to reverse ISIS territorial gains in Iraq. ISIS also controls extensive territory in Syria.

-with files from The Canadian Press

jbarrera@aptn.ca

@JorgeBarrera

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AirAsia captain left seat before jet lost control -sources - Reuters

By Siva Govindasamy, Kanupriya Kapoor and Tim Hepher

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA/PARIS Sat Jan 31, 2015 9:58am IST

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA/PARIS Jan 31 (Reuters) - The captain of the AirAsia jet that crashed into the sea in December was out of his seat conducting an unorthodox procedure when his co-pilot apparently lost control, and by the time he returned it was too late to save the plane, two people familiar with the investigation said.

Details emerging of the final moments of Flight QZ8501 are likely to focus attention partly on maintenance, procedures and training, though Indonesian officials have stressed publicly that it is too early to draw any firm conclusions.

The Airbus A320 jet plunged into the Java Sea while en route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board.

It had been suffering maintenance faults with a key flight control computer for over a week, and one person familiar with the matter said the captain had flown on the same plane with the intermittently faulty device just days before the crash.

AirAsia said it would not comment while the matter was under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) of Indonesia.

Reuters reported this week that maintenance problems on the Flight Augmentation Computer (FAC), and the way the pilots reacted to them, were at the heart of the investigation.

After trying to reset this device, pilots pulled a circuit-breaker to cut its power, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

People familiar with the matter told Reuters it was the Indonesian captain Iriyanto who took this step, rather than his less experienced French co-pilot Remy Plesel, who was flying the plane.

The outage would not directly upset the aircraft but would remove flight envelope protection, which prevents a pilot from taking a plane beyond its safety limits, leaving the junior pilot to fly the jet manually in delicate high altitude conditions.

The decision to cut off the FAC has surprised people following the investigation because the usual procedure for resetting it is to press a button on the overhead panel.

"You can reset the FAC, but to cut all power to it is very unusual," said one A320 pilot, who declined to be identified. "You don't pull the circuit breaker unless it was an absolute emergency. I don't know if there was one in this case, but it is very unusual."

It is also significant because to pull the circuit breaker the captain had to rise from his seat.

The circuit breakers are on a wall panel immediately behind the co-pilot and hard or impossible to reach from the seated position on the left side, where the captain sits, according to two experienced pilots and published diagrams of the cockpit.

Shortly afterwards the junior pilot pulled the plane into a sharp climb from which investigators have said it stalled or lost lift.

"It appears he was surprised or startled by this," said a person familiar with the investigation, referring to the decision to cut power to the affected computer.

The captain eventually resumed control, but a person familiar with the matter said he was not in a position to intervene immediately to recover the aircraft from its upset.

Data already published on the plane's trajectory suggest it may have been difficult for someone to move around the cockpit in an upward-tilting and by then possibly unstable aircraft, but there is so far no confirmation of the cockpit movements.

"The co-pilot pulled the plane up, and by the time the captain regained the controls it was too late," one of the people familiar with the investigation said.

Tatang Kurniadi, chief of Indonesia's NTSC, told Reuters there had been no delay in the captain resuming control but declined further comment.

Airbus declined to comment.

Lawyers for the family of the French co-pilot say they have filed a lawsuit against AirAsia in Paris for "endangering the lives of others" by flying the route without official authorisation on that day. Investigators have said the accident was not related to the permit issue.

AirAsia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

Although more is becoming known about the chain of events, people familiar with the investigation warned against making assumptions on the accident's cause, which needed more analysis.

Safety experts say air crashes are most often caused by a chain of events, each of which is necessary but not sufficient to explain the underlying causes of the accident. (Editing by Will Waterman)

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Blizzard hits Boston and New England but spares New York - Irish Times

A powerful blizzard struck Boston and surrounding New England on Tuesday, leaving some 4.5 million people grappling with as much as three feet of snow and coastal flooding.

New York City residents, who had braced for a significant blast, were spared the worst.

Snow was forecast to keep falling into early Wednesday in eastern New England, possibly setting a record snowfall in Boston. At Logan International Airport, 23.3 inches (59.2 cm) of snow was on the ground early evening, swept higher in parts by strong winds.

"There are drifts now of four, five and six feet in some places," Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said. "This is clearly a very big storm for most of Massachusetts."

A statewide travel ban was scheduled to be lifted at midnight but Massachusetts residents were urged to stay off the roads if possible.

Boston-area trains, buses and subways were set to resume normal service on Wednesday but delays were predicted for the morning commute.

On the resort island of Nantucket, more than half of homes and businesses were still without power at early evening, and crews working to restore electricity were at times getting stuck on roads throughout the day, Police chief William Pittman said.

Lacking electricity and heat at home, more than 100 people flocked to a shelter at a high school and others simply warmed themselves in their running cars, Pittman said.

"We are going to have another tough night ahead of us," Pittman said, citing fresh snowfall and blustery conditions as well as downed trees and power lines, and icy water over roadways. "After midnight, things are going to start improving."

Icy flooding closed the island's downtown waterfront, white-out conditions forced some roads to be shut down and ferry and plane service was cancelled, according to local reports.

Storm-driven coastal flooding added to the state's woes, as low-lying towns south of Boston grappled with rising water.

High tides breached a seawall in Marshfield, about 30 miles (50 km) south of Boston, damaging 11 homes, several of which were condemned, police said. Police urged residents to evacuate.

Denise Gorham (57) said she watched a heavy wooden shed filled with window air conditioners float away on waters that surrounded the house after the breach.

"It's been horrible. I've been here 12 years and we've weathered every single storm. It was just like the ocean was on the street itself," said Gorham, a writer, who was trying to keep warm over her fireplace after the power went out.

Escaping the brunt of the storm

Further south, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut escaped the worst of the storm, despite dire predictions by meteorologists and officials.

Travel bans in those states were lifted, and New York City's subway system was restarted after being closed for 10 hours.

"It wasn't nearly as bad as predicted, but with the wind and snow hitting your face it's still no picnic," said Mike Spigarolo (56) of Milford, Connecticut as he cleared his property with a snowblower.

The heaviest snowfall was recorded outside Boston, with 36 inches (91.4 cm) in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, and 35 inches (88.9 cm) reported in Auburn, according to the National Weather Service.

Some 45,900 customers across the storm-hit region were without power, according to local utilities, with the bulk of the outages on Massachusetts' Cape Cod and outlying islands.

The severe weather claimed the lives of at least two people. Police in Trumbull, Connecticut said an 80-year-old man collapsed while shoveling snow and died on Tuesday at a nearby hospital.

Police said a teenager died late on Monday when he crashed into a lamppost as he was snow-tubing in the New York City suburb of Suffolk County, on the east end of Long Island, which saw more than two feet of snow in places.

Over-reaction

New Yorkers were divided on whether Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had over-reacted ahead of the storm. Cuomo had ordered a total travel ban on all roads in the southern part of the state, while the subway system closed for the first time in history due to snow.

Chris Jones, a clerk at Whole Foods in Manhattan, said he watched in amazement as customers stocked up on hundreds of dollars worth of food after the mayor warned of major snow accumulation.

"He overly exaggerated," the 22-year-old Jones said. "Everyone said it would be dozens of inches of snow and as you can see, there's nothing like that. All of that craze for nothing."

Others were more forgiving.

"They went by what they knew. It's better to be safe than to underestimate it and people get stuck or hurt," said Brent Bounds (46) a New York City psychologist sledding with his two young sons.

Cuomo defended the decisions, saying he favored "a lean toward safety."

"I have seen the consequences the other way," he said. "I would rather be in a situation where we say 'We got lucky.'"

A blizzard warning was cancelled on Tuesday evening for much of Massachusetts but remained in effect for parts of Maine.

Boston's record snowfall of 27.5 inches (69.85 cm) was set in February 2003.

"Roads will remain snow-covered and slippery ... Gusty winds will continue," the National Weather Service said on its website. "This is a serious life-threatening storm!"

More than 4,700 US flights were canceled on Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com, with more than 80 per cent of scheduled flights at airports in New York, Philadelphia and Boston affected.

The New York Stock Exchange, owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc, opened as usual. Nasdaq OMX Group and BATS Global Markets had normal operating hours on Tuesday.

Reuters

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Families will have to pay more to play hockey under proposed 2015 budget - CityNews

The cost of playing hockey in Toronto could go up if the proposed 2015 city budget passes, but Mayor John Tory says that's not a guarantee.

The proposed 2015 budget calls for a five per cent increase to indoor ice permit fees in addition to a 2.25 per cent increase on general parks and recreation user fees to cover the costs of inflation. That would bring the cost for ice time rental up by 7.25 per cent.

Scott Oakman, the executive director of the Greater Toronto Hockey League, said the proposed hike is worrisome.

"It's really concerning when you're talking about increases above inflation," he said. "We've really been given no explanation as to why the increases are happening."

Oakman said that over the last five years fees have increased 28 per cent and there's very little to show for it.

"I don't think anybody could ever justify or explain away an increase in that nature that's well beyond any inflationary rates," he said "We've not seen any obvious signs that those increases have improved the infrastructure in the city facilities so that's concerning as well."

Tory told reporters on Tuesday the five per cent increase is to bring fees in line with others across the region.

"If you're at the middle of the pack there is some reason to thinking they could be taken up," he said.

Tory said the current fees don't fully cover the cost to operate the rinks. But he stressed fee increases are part of a proposed budget that has yet to be approved.

"To me it's all on the table," Tory said, adding he is amenable to making changes.

"We are having a six week exercise to examine this budget line by line, category by category and what's right for the people."

Coun. Mike Layton empathizes with parents' concerns about the rising cost of the sport but said it's a necessity.

"No one wants to increase user fees for programs," Layton said. "It's unfortunate that there is an increase in the cost of delivering them… but we want to make sure that we can keep delivering that service while maintaining the city's policy for user fees."

He added that the proposed increase will largely affect ice rinks that are in high demand and usually come with higher maintenance costs.

"They're looking at those that demand the most valuable time at the rinks and trying to make sure that we keep all of the ice time at a reasonable cost, collecting fees where we can to make sure that it reflects that that's the prime time available on the best rinks in town," said Layton.

Watch a live stream of the budget committee meetings this week on citynews.ca and 680news.com.

Oakman said that he hopes the increase doesn't dissuade parents from signing their children up for hockey.

"Ice time is the key component to any hockey program and with increase in ice cost it really puts a strain on a program in a sport that's already pushing the limits in terms of affordability," he said. "At the entry level where kids are just playing recreationally I think it's a very affordable sport still."

The mayor said, "I'm making sure that what we don't do is create an obstacle to people being outside, doing healthy things, playing games as opposed to sitting on the couch playing video games."

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City-wide boil water advisory catches Winnipeggers by surprise - CBC.ca

The city-wide boil water advisory that was issued  Tuesday night elicited a number of interesting reactions from Winnipeggers.

Many headed out and cleared store shelves of whatever water supplies they could.

Shoppers at this Sobeys in Winnipeg's Sage Creek area were snatching up bottled water Tuesday night after a boil-water advisory was issued for the entire city of Winnipeg. (Cameron MacIntosh/CBC)

"I got the last four," said Kurt Armstrong, who said he felt "a little guilty" after managing to nab the last sources of water for sale at a local store.

Oliver Thomas and his fellow soccer players at the University of Winnipeg Health and RecPlex were budgeting their energy, hoping to not work up too much of a sweat. Water fountains there and in public areas across the city were shut down after the advisory was issued.

"There's no water in the bottle," said Thomas. "And I usually bring water from home but they usually tell us not to, so I usually use the water fountain."

The advisory also affected many business and restaurants.

Talia Syrie, owner of The Tallest Poppy, said the advisory meant her restaurant had to stop serving water to patrons.

"We took away everybody's drinking water and uh ... suggested they drink beer instead," said Syrie. "We served a lot of caesars, a lot of beer and caesars, yeah. Hasn't been the worst thing.

"It would be unpleasant if it lasted for a few days … we have to serve coffee."

The advisory also had an impact on Winnipeggers' views of their municipal water system.

"They've recently made upgrades to the water filtration system I believe," said Al Freynet. "I'm not sure where it went wrong."

At a press conference around 6 p.m., Mayor Brian Bowman announced the city was extending the advisory to all of Winnipeg, after initial reports had limited the advisory range to the eastern part of Winnipeg.

"In an abundance of caution and because of our engineer's expertise in our water distribution system, the City of Winnipeg has decided to issue a proactive water boil advisory for the entire city," said Bowman.

Kristin Pauls said she thought the city was doing a decent job of managing the problem.

"I feel the city is doing the best they can with the information they have, that they're trying to be safe rather than story," said Pauls

And while many Winnipeggers did opt to stock up on store-bought water, others like Phil Baerg and Harry Paine chose to follow the advisory and simply boil water at home.

"I'm prepared to boil my water and not too worried about how to drink it," said Baerg.

"We're Winnipeggers, tough, so we deal with it," said the 81-year-old Paine.

The city said new water tests will be in by Wednesday afternoon. The boil water advisory is in effect at least until then, and the city will be updating the public at a press conference at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.

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It took leaving Israel to stop running from the Holocaust - Haaretz

Jewish leaders should change their slogan from "Let my people live""---**--- to---**----""Let my people leave"" The EU Jews should know that their enormous contributing to European cultures and nations was a boomerang for the Jews. The Jews leaders should change the slogan before it will be too late for many: ""Let my people leave"" And better as soon as possible. In Israel,the Jewish country, they will contribute to their culture, build for prosperity and defend their own nation along with historical contributing to the world prosperity and culture – as the defending Israel does. I know that is challenging and demands courage–but is your duty for your children future.

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Mother of Islamic State's Japanese Hostage Makes Plea for Son's Life - Wall Street Journal

TOKYO—The mother of Islamic State hostage Kenji Goto made another plea for her son's life Wednesday after a new video said Mr. Goto and a Jordanian captive would be killed within 24 hours unless Jordan agreed to release a prisoner.

Junko Ishido, the mother of Mr. Goto, a freelance journalist, asked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to exert every possible effort in negotiations with Jordan to free her son.

"I can't think of...

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Montreal woman born in Auschwitz returns to site of death camp for liberation ... - CTV News

CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Monday, January 26, 2015 7:18PM EST
Last Updated Monday, January 26, 2015 10:25PM EST

Angela Orosz was born in Auschwitz, but her earliest memory of the death camp was imprinted in her mind years later. 

As a Grade 1 student in Hungary, she was asked about her birthplace in school. 

"Can you imagine (having) to write down 'Auschwitz'? I hated it," the 70-year-old Montreal resident said. "This is how I met Auschwitz."

Against all odds, Orosz was born in the concentration camp on Dec. 21, 1944, a bitterly cold day. Two hours after giving birth, her mother had to walk outside in the snow, without shoes, for the regular prisoner count. She left her newborn daughter on the highest bunk, not knowing if the baby would still be alive when she returned.

"If she wasn't counted, that was the end of the story for her and me," Orosz said in an interview with CTV News.

By some miracle, their story didn't end there.

Orosz was a weak baby who didn't cry, so her mother managed to keep her hidden from their Nazi captors until Soviet forces liberated Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 1945.

Orosz was one of only two babies born in the camp who survived. Even though her mother was severely malnourished and subjected to horrendous experiments in Auschwitz, she managed to breastfeed not only her daughter, but the other infant survivor – a boy named George who now lives in Hungary.

All these decades later, Orosz is travelling to her dreaded birthplace for the first time to mark the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

"I'm petrified," she said. "Every centimetre, there is somebody's blood on it."

Orosz said she avoided travelling to Auschwitz for other milestone anniversaries. But this time, her daughter and son convinced her it was time to go.

Her daughter, who is coming along, told Orosz, "We have to go there. We have to show them what we became and what my grandmother created."

Orosz's mother died of cancer in 1992. Orosz believes her mother, like many other Holocaust survivors she knew, developed cancer because of the experiments they endured in Auschwitz. 

Orosz, who has seven grandchildren and another one on the way, will join other Canadian Holocaust survivors in Poland Tuesday for a sombre line-up of events to commemorate the day they were freed.

Miriam Friedman Ziegler, a 79-year-old survivor from Thornhill, Ont., has also returned to Auschwitz for the first time this week. She was nine years old when the Red Army arrived and freed everyone who survived the camp.

Orosz plans to visit the barrack where her mother and other Hungarian Jews were held, although the exact place where she was born was demolished and rebuilt. She will say a prayer and light a candle.

"My mother will be there. I feel it," she said.

With a report from CTV's Peter Akman

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Sherman resigns as Liberal Leader - Medicine Hat News

By Collin Gallant on January 27, 2015.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com

A strong series of aftershocks was felt Monday, about one month after the political earthquake of mass floor-crossing in the Alberta legislature.

The repercussions as well as angling ahead of a possible snap election reached the southern corners of the province.

In a series of announcements, Raj Sherman announced he would step aside immediately as leader of the Alberta Liberals, while two Progressive Conservative ministers as well announced they won't run in the next election.

Former busy lobby critic Derek Fildebrandt said he would seek the Wildrose Party nomination in Strathmore-Brooks to challenge current MLA Jason Hale (See Page A5).

However, Sherman's announcement he would leave politics at the next election — widely rumoured to take place this year— caught local party officials in Medicine Hat off-guard.

"I'm surprised and a little disappointed," said Dick Mastel, president of the party association for Cypress-Medicine Hat. "Particularly with an election rumoured, its a tough time to be looking for a new leader, plus organizing for an election at the same time … (but) I would hope that this would generate some interest in the party heading into an election."

The next election had been set to take place in 2016, though most parties are moving to put candidates in place now ahead of a surprise call.

Sherman is the third party leader to step aside in the last six months.

See Wildrose, Page A2

The Wildrose party was left leaderless when Danielle Smith changed affiliation in December, joining the PCs with eight colleagues. Rachel Notley took over as head of the Alberta New Democrats in September from Brian Mason.

The Wildrose will hold its leadership contest in June, while the Liberals haven't announced the plan to replace Sherman.

"There's a lot of turmoil," said Jim Groom, a political science instructor at Medicine Hat College of the general political landscape.

"I'm a bit surprised that the Wildrose will hold off until June but there's always a trade-off and they have their strategy. Do they have a convention early in case there's a spring election, but does that spend all their money before an election?"

The Liberal party has dropped in local popularity over the past decade, from strong second-place showings before 2008 to a distant fourth in 2012.

Since then, some local Liberals expressed their dissatisfaction with Sherman, a medical doctor who had left the PC party after publicly criticizing health care in the province.

He was elected leader in late 2011.

In the next spring election the party dropped from nine seats to five, and along with Sherman, two other current Liberal MLAs are expected to resign so they can run for the federal party.

Mastel said he felt the party was not compromised by Sherman's selection as leader.

"Raj has done a good job and raised some key issues in the area of health care," said Mastel.

The Alberta Liberals are still waiting for possible candidates to step forward for local riding nominations, said Mastel.

Currently, only Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes (Wildrose) and New Democrat Jason Soklofske in Medicine Hat, are confirmed candidates for their parties.

Both local PC associations are preparing for candidate nomination races.

Several notable Hatters have expressed interest in securing either PC nominations, including several who are expecting to challenge MLA Blake Petersen.

Local New Democratic president Wally Regehr told the News in late 2014 that a regional candidate for that party was in the works.

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Winter storm: Storm forecasts downgraded, New England could get hit worst - CBC.ca

Tens of millions of people along the East Coast hunkered down for a storm that for most failed to live up to predictions that it would be one of the worst they'd ever seen.

Forecasters originally said the storm could bring anywhere from 30 to 90 centimetres of snow and punishing hurricane-force winds. But early Tuesday, they downgraded most of those numbers, saying New England would fare the worst, but even then not as bad as expected.

Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service said Boston and Providence, R.I., could get the most snow, about 60 centimetres. New York could see 24 to 50 centimetres, Hartford, Ct., 30 to 60 centimetres, and Philadelphia and central New Jersey about 15 centimetres.

The National Weather Service over the weekend had issued a blizzard warning for a 400-kilometre swath of the region, meaning heavy, blowing snow and potential whiteout conditions.

On Monday, life abruptly stopped across the region as officials ordered workers to go home early, banned travel, closed bridges and tunnels, and assembled their biggest plowing crews.

"When you wake up in the morning, it is going to look like a blizzard," said Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, echoing the concern of many government leaders.

Light snow fell steadily early Tuesday in midtown Manhattan as a few municipal trucks rumbled down empty streets. The city had an almost eerie, post 9/11 feel to it: No airplanes in the sky. An unexpected quiet.

More than 7,700 flights in and out of the Northeast were cancelled, and many of them may not take off again until Wednesday. Schools and businesses let out early. Government offices closed. Shoppers stocking up on food jammed supermarkets and elbowed one another for what was left. Broadway stages went dark.

Mayor Bill de Blasio urged New Yorkers to go home and stay there, adding: "People have to make smart decisions from this point on."

Commuters like Sameer Navi, 27, of Long Island, were following the advice.

Navi, who works for Citigroup in Manhattan, said he takes the Long Island Rail Road every day and left work early Monday after warnings by local officials to get home before the brunt of the storm. "I did leave earlier than usual," he said.

In New Jersey, plows and salt spreaders remained at work on the roads Monday night in Ocean County, one of the coastal areas that was expected to be among the hardest hit. There was a coating of snow on the roads but hardly any vehicles were travelling on them, as residents seemed content to stay indoors and monitor the storm in comfort.

Most businesses in the area had gone dark, including some convenience stores and gas stations.

Earlier in the day, Nicole Coelho, a nanny from Lyndhurst, New Jersey, stocked up on macaroni and cheese, frozen pizzas and milk at a supermarket.

Can't see the tweet? See deserted Manhattan streets photo here

"I'm going to make sure to charge up my cellphone, and I have a good book I haven't gotten around to reading yet," she said.

Last minute shoppers filed into the Jersey City ShopRite Monday evening, looking to stock up before the brunt of the storm hit.

"I heard it's supposed to be snowing for two days straight, so we plan on staying inside and munching," said 18-year old Christian Waiters, who serves in the military.

On Wall Street, however, the New York Stock Exchange stayed open and said it would operate normally Tuesday as well.

Coastal residents braced for a powerful storm surge and the possibility of damaging flooding and beach erosion, particularly in New Jersey and on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Officials in New Jersey shore towns warned people to move their cars off the streets and away from the water.

Utility companies across the region put additional crews on standby to deal with anticipated power outages.

---

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for a huge swath of the U.S.'s Northeast corridor, from New Jersey up to Massachusetts, meaning potential white-out conditions as heavy snow swirls amid gusting wind

The weather service says a blizzard includes sustained or frequent wind gusts of 35 m.p.h. (56 km/h) or greater and considerable falling snow that lasts for at least three hours.

This storm is expected to last up to 36 hours in some locations, forecasters said. But another storm could be looming ahead of next weekend.

---

• February 2006: 68.3 cm
• December 1947: 65.5 cm
• March 1888: 53.3 cm
• February 2010: 53 cm
• January 1996: 51.3 cm

Source: U.S. National Weather Service

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Fidel Castro appears to lend support to Cuba-US relations in first comments on ... - ABC Online

Posted January 27, 2015 19:43:28

Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro appears to have lent his support to talks with the United States in his first comments since both countries agreed last month to restore diplomatic ties.

But Mr Castro stopped short of an enthusiastic endorsement of the rapprochement which was announced on December 17 by his younger brother and Cuba's current president, Raul Castro, and US president Barack Obama.

"I don't trust the policy of the United States nor have I had an exchange with them, but this does not mean ... a rejection of a peaceful solution to conflicts or the dangers of war," Fidel Castro, 88, said in a statement published on the website of Cuba's Communist Party newspaper Granma.

The US and Cuba held historic high-level talks last week in Havana that were expected to lead to the re-establishment of diplomatic ties severed by Washington in 1961.

"Any peaceful or negotiated solution to the problems between the United States and the peoples or any people of Latin America that doesn't imply force or the use of force should be treated in accordance with international norms and principles," Mr Castro said.

"We will always defend cooperation and friendship with all the peoples of the world, among them our political adversaries."

Mr Castro took power in a 1959 revolution and spent much of his 49 years in power railing against the US, which never succeeded in many attempts to oust him.

He was finally forced into retirement in 2008 by poor health and was succeeded by his brother Raul, who is 83.

"The president of Cuba has taken the pertinent steps in accordance with his prerogatives and the powers given to him by the National Assembly the Communist Party of Cuba," Fidel Castro said of his brother in the statement.

His silence on the issue had led to speculation over his health and whether he supported his brother's rapprochement with the US.

On January 12, he sent a letter to friend and retired Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona that squelched rumors he had died.

Reuters

Topics: government-and-politics, foreign-affairs, cuba, united-states

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Security tightened in Egypt on anniversary of 2011 uprising as activists mourn ... - Fox News

CAIRO –  Authorities in Egypt have tightened security in Cairo and other cities in anticipation of possible protests to mark the anniversary of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The stepped-up security Sunday comes a day after a female protester was shot dead in downtown Cairo while taking part in a gathering commemorating the nearly 900 protesters killed in the 2011 revolt. Activists blame the police for the death of Shaimaa el-Sabagh, a 32-year-old mother from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The government says it is investigating the incident.

Police have sealed off several main squares in Cairo and beefed up security at vital state installations.

Islamists opposed to the rule of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi say they intend to stage street protests to mark the anniversary.

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Re-introducing Danielle Smith — from leader of loyal opposition to loyal ... - Calgary Sun

HIGH RIVER — All right, Mr. Prentice, she's ready for her closeup.

The beginning of the campaign to rehabilitate the image of Danielle Smith begins with lights, cameras and action.

Here is Smith in her own riding, the former leader of the opposition who defected in December to the government along with most of the Wildrosers in the legislature.

Now Smith is a most loyal soldier in the political army of Premier Prentice.

She has survived the immediate wave of disgust over her betrayal of the party she led.

She appears to have a clean conscience, absolved in her mind and ready to run for re-election as a Progressive Conservative if the party faithful nominate her.

The premier is here as well, looking very relaxed and confident.

He sits right next to Smith. He praises Smith. In fact, this day we hear Danielle Smith's name more often than you hear the name of Santa in a shopping mall at Christmas.

Smith also praises Prentice big-time.

Prentice announces more money upfront for those with flood claims and the flood claims not yet closed will be closed faster.

Who did the premier speak with at length to make this momentous decision?

Of course, Danielle Smith.

The message is not lost on anyone.

See what happens when you join the winning team. You get things done.

Diana McQueen, an able member of Prentice's inner circle, is in the house.

So is Craig Snodgrass, the very practical High River mayor, who tells a room crowded with press how he supports Smith's defection to the government side.

"It's showing itself today with the progress we're making," says the mayor.

Three cheers for Danielle. Hip, hip …

You finish it.

Smith says she is sorry.

Sorry about what?

On Facebook she's sorry for not making the Wildrose a "viable, governing alternative."

But then it's not really her fault.

You see, Smith says of Wildrosers, "the membership was more interested in being a protest party than a governing party."

They wanted to be "an NDP of the right."

Smith is sorry she did not take more time to allow Albertans to debate the defections.

There needed to be more to-and-fro "to prepare Albertans."

Naturally Smith doesn't use the word "defections." Instead she uses the word "reunification." Sounds so much nicer.

But Smith isn't really sorry. She has an explanation.

Prentice wanted to start getting candidates in place in January so decisions had to be made fast.

The Wildrosers had to make their way into Toryland by Dec. 17 and Smith didn't talk to the premier until December.

What about the anger of people?

"I misunderstood just how angry people would be," says Smith.

How did she expect people to feel?

Gee, I didn't expect people to scream when I stuck a knife in their back.

Tone deaf or what.

Smith adds if she had more time "I think many people would have come to the same conclusion I did."

But they didn't have more time.

What does she think of higher taxes now?

Smith says before she "reunified" with the PCs she told Wildrose members of the legislature with $50 oil it is "just frankly dishonest to tell Albertans we can balance the budget without raising taxes, without going into debt and to pay off debt."

"I was very clear. We couldn't continue on taking that position. It's just frankly not possible to find $7 billion worth of savings within the current budget."

"You have to have a balanced approach. I'm been so grateful to the premier for being so upfront with Albertans about what we face."

Smith says higher taxes is not her first choice. She was the Wildrose leader after all.

"I don't think anybody wants to look at revenue options," she says.

"But when you're looking at $50 oil, for not just the short-term and the mid-term but potentially for the long-term, it would be irresponsible not to look at all the options on the table."

A bright newshound asks if this High River event is a convenient announcement.

"I will not apologize for advocating on behalf of my constituents," says Smith.

Sorry? She is unrepentant.

"I did what was best for my constituents. I did what was best for Albertans."

That's a wrap.

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Men become homicide suspects 4 years after shooting of Quebec liquor-store ... - CTV News

The death of a Quebec woman is considered Montreal's first homicide of 2015, even though she died of injuries sustained during a botched robbery attempt four years ago.

Hélène Leduc, 62, died this week, four years after she was shot in the neck while working at the Baie D'Urfe SAQ outlet in October 2010. She became paralyzed from the neck down as a result of the incident, which is believed to be a botched robbery attempt.

Montreal police report that a coroner has ruled that Leduc's death was a direct result of the shooting. They are also describing the 2010 shooting as the first homicide of 2015 because it is the first dossier they have opened this year. 

And now the men wanted in the shooting has become homicide suspects. 

In the months following the shooting, police arrested three suspects, but never laid charges due to a lack of evidence. To date, no one has been charged in the shooting of Leduc.

The suspects were described as about 25 years old at the time of the shooting, and English-speakers.

During the incident, one of the two shot at Leduc before both men fled the SAQ. Leduc was working alone in the store at the time. 

Ambulance officials transported Leduc to hospital after being alerted of her condition by the next customer who entered the store. Police made the surveillance tapes public in hopes of finding a man that might have witnessed the suspects enter the store.

Prior to 1998, suspects could not be charged with wrongful death-related charges if the victim died 367 days or more after the incident. 

That rule, known as a year-and-a-day provision, was abolished in an amendment to the Canadian Criminal Code in 1998. The provision, dating back to 14th century England, was also rescinded in the U.K. in 1996. 

With files from CTV Montreal 

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Newmarket man charged in death of 2-year-old son - Toronto Star

Homicide investigators have arrested a Newmarket man in connection with the death of his 2-year-old son.

Officers were called to a home on Longford Dr. in Newmarket on a report of an injured person at 2:22 p.m. Thursday, York Region Police said in a news release. They found a young boy who was not breathing and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The cause of death is not being released as police continue their investigation.

On Saturday, police arrested the boy's 29-year-old father. Mario Wint is charged with second-degree murder.

Neighbours described Wint to the Star as a loving, caring father of two young boys. They say he recently got full custody of the 2-year-old and an older son a neighbour believed to be 4.

Nicole Grove, who lives behind Wint's home and has known him for more than a decade, said he was always playing with the children, "buying things, whatever they needed. He was a picture of a dad."

She alluded to problems with the law in the past by both Wint and the child's mother. However, "He's turned his life around. He's a good guy," she said.

"I'm not sure what happened with the child," she added, "but I'm sure that he tried to prevent his death. There's no way that he [killed the child]. He's not that type of person.

"He never had a violent history — nothing like that."

Wint is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket on Sunday.

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Two US flights land in Atlanta after 'credible' bomb threats - Irish Times

Bomb threats against two US airline flights prompted North American fighter planes to scramble to accompany them to their destination in Atlanta, an airport spokesman said.

The planes landed safely at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, no bombs were found aboard either and the Atlanta airport has returned to normal operations, said airport spokesman Reese McCranie.

Threats against Delta Air Lines flight 1156, coming from Portland, Oregon, and Southwest Airlines flight 2492, from Milwaukee, had been deemed "credible", Mr McCranie said.

Several media outlets reported that a Twitter user going by the name Zortic wrote of planting bombs on the two planes, stating in a message to a Delta Twitter account, "I have a bomb on one of your planes, but I forgot which one when I left the airport. Can you help me find it?"

Those tweets have since been deleted.

Neither the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the investigation, nor the airport confirmed the source of the threats.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled fighter jets from McEntire Joint National Guard Base in South Carolina, said NORAD spokesman Preston Schlachter. A pair of fighter jets accompanied each aircraft as it landed, he said.

Southwest said in a statement 86 passengers were aboard its flight, and they were being rescreened.

A Delta spokesman said its plane was carrying 180 passengers.

The incident comes five days after bomb threats were made against two other Delta flights. One was arriving at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York from San Francisco, and another was departing the New York airport for Tel Aviv.

Reuters

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Japan calls apparent ISIS execution of hostage 'outrageous and impermissible' - Haaretz

REUTERS - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday called the apparent killing of a Japanese captive by Islamic State militants "outrageous and impermissible," and again called for the group to release a second Japanese national they are holding.

Abe, speaking to public broadcaster NHK, said chances were high that a recording and an image of what appeared to be the decapitated body of captive Harman Yukawa, which emerged late on Saturday, were authentic.

The Japanese leader called for the immediate release of the remaining Japanese captive, reporter Kenji Goto, and said he was putting top priority on saving Goto's life.

But he reiterated that Japan would not give in to terrorism.

"Such an act of terrorism is outrageous and impermissible, which causes me nothing but strong indignation," Abe said.

"Again, I strongly demand that Mr. Kenji Goto not be harmed and be immediately released. The government of Japan will, in its entirety, do its utmost in order to have him released."

The sudden escalation of the hostage crisis has become a test for Abe and the dominant news story in Japan since Tuesday, when Islamic State militants released a video showing Goto and Yukawa kneeling with a knife-wielding, masked man demanding a $200 million ransom for their release. The 72-hour ransom deadline set in the first video expired on Friday.

In the latest apparent recording, Goto says Yukawa was "slaughtered in the land of the Islamic Caliphate." But the journalist said the Japanese government could save him by working through Jordan where Abe earlier this week set up an office to coordinate the government's response to the hostage situation.

Goto says the militants would free him in exchange for the release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi held in Jordan. He says the militants have dropped the ransom demand.

"I am filled with disappointment, that it has finally come to this," Yukawa's father, Shoichi, told NHK. "I feel pained, that he (Goto) risked his life out of concern (for my son) and ended up being captured. I hope he can be released as soon as possible, and return to Japan to continue his activities."

Goto's mother, Junko Ishido, told NHK: "Of course, first of all, I wish it weren't true, that it's some mistake. I'm a mother so it's unbearable. What I want to tell Islamic State is that Kenji's ideal is world peace."

Abe told NHK that he had spoken to Jordan's King Abdullah about the situation, but he had no comment on the Islamic State demand for the release of al-Rishawi.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that Japan was making every effort on the assumption Goto was alive. He said the government had no warning before the new recording emerged.

U.S. President Barack Obama condemned Yukawa's murder in a statement released by the White House, which did not address how Washington had confirmed his killing.

The Obama statement, issued while he was en route to India, said: "The United States strongly condemns the brutal murder of Japanese citizen Haruna Yukawa by the terrorist group ISIL," using an acronym to refer to Islamic State.

Humanitarian aid

Yukawa, 42, was seized by militants in August after going to Syria in what he described was a plan to launch a security company. Goto, 47, a veteran war correspondent, went into Syria in late October seeking to secure Yukawa's release, according to friends and business associates.

The new recording, released on YouTube late on Saturday before being deleted, showed an image of a gaunt Goto in an orange t-shirt with audio of what appeared to be him making a statement in English.

"I would like to stress how easy it is to save my life," the recording says. "You bring them their sister from the Jordanian regime, and I will be released immediately. Me for her."

Al-Rishawi was arrested shortly after she failed to blow herself up in one of three deadly hotel bombings that hit the Jordanian capital in 2005.

Japan paid $6 million to Japanese Red Army hijackers after a 1977 kidnapping, but in recent years has moved toward the U.S. government's hard line against paying ransoms. Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said last week that responding to demands set by the Islamic State would mean "giving in to terrorism".

Japan's pacifist constitution also rules out any military response. A briefing paper prepared for Abe's office on Friday and reviewed by Reuters said Japan would not have the legal authority to strike the Islamic State even after proposed legislation loosening military restrictions that the prime minister is seeking to pass later this year.

Abe has said Japan will press ahead with plans to offer over $200 million in humanitarian aid to help countries combating Islamic State, including aid for displaced refugees.

Abe announced that aid a week ago in Cairo during a trip through the Middle East when he also called Islamic State a threat to the region and to international order.

Abe told NHK that Japan did not intend to join the U.S.-led military operation against Islamic State, but wanted to continue to provide humanitarian aid. The decision by Abe, who took power in 2012 pledging to bolster Japan's global security role, to give aid specifically to countries contending with Islamic State has raised some eyebrows.

"I think it's unavoidable if they (Islamic State) took this as support for their enemies and view Japan as an enemy," Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the small opposition People's Life Party, told NHK, adding the government appeared not to know how to respond.

The Islamic State has executed five British and American aid workers and journalists in recent months. Yukawa's capture by Islamic State fighters outside Aleppo in August was the first time a Japanese citizen has been held by the group.

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Former Ontario premier Ernie Eves now heading up Jamaican medical ... - National Post

TORONTO — Ernie Eves has gone from politics to pot.

While other politicians tend to join law firms, become consultants or work on various other staid pursuits, the former Progressive Conservative premier of Ontario has chosen to branch out.

He has joined Timeless Herbal Care — a Jamaican medical marijuana company with ties in Canada and Israel — as its chairman.

But Eves says his medical marijuana work shouldn't be construed as support for broader use and he insists he hasn't sampled the merchandise.

"No, my standard response to that was only for (Toronto Argonauts football) games, but that was about 40 years ago when the Argos were brutal," the 68-year-old says, laughing in a telephone interview. "I could say for (Toronto Maple Leafs) games today I suppose, but no, I do not use it."

Timeless Herbal Care is run by Courtney Betty, formerly a Toronto-based lawyer, and through mutual friends Eves says he got on board.

Eves was Ontario's premier from April 2002 to October 2003 and led the province during some rocky times, particularly the SARS crisis and the blackout of 2003. Eves is on several boards, but he admits this one is a bit different.

"Everybody presumes that medical marijuana means sitting around smoking pot and that really isn't what it's all about," Eves says.

"There's something like over 140 different types of marijuana, which not many people appreciate and different strains are used to treat different conditions and illnesses. I think it could be quite a high-growth area in terms of medicinal use."

Timeless Herbal Care is well positioned as Jamaica steps "ahead of the curve," Eves says.

Jamaica's cabinet has approved a much-anticipated bill of drug law amendments that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot and pave the way for a legal medical marijuana industry there. Debate could start before the end of the month in the pot-steeped country where the drug, known popularly as "ganja," has long been culturally entrenched but illegal.

Timeless Herbal Care is not a full-time gig for Eves, who says he visited Jamaica once in his capacity as the company's chairman and met with the justice minister.

Meanwhile, former Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty was hired this week as a senior adviser by business consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers.

— with files from The Associated Press

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Tory's budget plan calls for councillor raises, office spending increases - Toronto Sun

TORONTO - 

As Torontonians are asked to stomach a 2.25% tax increase, Mayor John Tory plans to increase his office budget by $316,000.

And city councillors will receive a pay hike and an increase to their office spending as outlined in proposed in the 2015 documents released earlier this week at City Hall.

If approved by city council in March, it will see Tory's office budget move to nearly $2.2 million, up nearly 17% from $1.88 million in 2014 when that amount was split between then Mayor Rob Ford and Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, who had Ford's statutory powers and most of his staff in the wake the crack cocaine scandal in 2013.

The proposed increase in Tory's budget is $800,000 more than the $1.55 million budgeted to the mayor's office in 2012, the last full year Rob Ford had all of his powers and a complete staff.

The majority of the increase in the budget is for staffing, the mayor's office will have 20 staff members if the 2015 budget is approved, up from 17 last year.

Mayor John Tory's spokesman Amanda Galbraith defended the increase in an e-mail statement to the Toronto Sun. The mayor employs "talented, experienced staff who are working on behalf of the people of Toronto to cut traffic congestion, keep taxes low and improve city services. They are compensated accordingly," she said.

City councillors will also see their office budgets jump according to an increase based on the Consumer Price Index of 2.5%. That means that $772 will bring their office budgets to $33,997.

Councillor pay will also jump by $2,649 to $116,562.

Councillor Rob Ford told the Sun he will be donating his pay increase back to the city. He also disagrees with the proposed hike to Tory's office budget and thinks the mayor could run his office for under $2million a year.

"Why can't he do what I did?" Ford said. "Why can't he have 16 or 17 staff, and $2 million. It's more than enough money to do it. More than enough staff to do the job."

"I'd even go down to $1.8 (million), but you know what, I'll give him a cushion."

Galbraith said Tory won't be taking lessons from Ford on how to run an office.

"I can assure you one thing we don't do is hire old football buddies and pay them six figure salaries," she said, alluding to Ford's former director of logistics David Price, who became a lightning rod for criticism during his brief period of employment. 

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Saudi ruler is buried as new King Salman moves younger generation closer to ... - Washington Post

After nearly two decades leading the oil rich kingdom, Saudi King Abdullah was laid to rest Friday while his successor, King Salman, promised to continue the policies of his predecessors.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia's new king joined in prayers Friday before the simple burial of the country's late ruler, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, even as attention shifted to the new map of royal succession that puts a younger generation closer to the throne.

King Salman acted quickly to clarify the top tier of the Saudi hierarchy, seeking to project stability and resolve at a time when the country faces challenges on multiple fronts, including threats from Islamist militants and a political breakdown in neighboring Yemen.

[Obituary: Abdullah, a wily king who embraced limited reform]

Salman's decisions also acknowledged an important generational shift underway in the kingdom, as he named the country's 55-year-old interior minister as the deputy crown prince. That puts him just behind Salman's younger brother, Prince Muqrin, 69, in line for the throne.

The appointment of the interior minister, Mohammed bin Nayef, represents the first time the succession ranks have grown beyond the sons of the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz, to the generation of his grandchildren.

Heirs to the Saudi throne

The move underscores the country's demographic realities. Close to half of Saudi Arabia's population is under 25 years old, and the young often straddle two worlds: ultraconservative rules at home and freewheeling ideas online.

The Arab Spring upheavals across the region in 2011 did not directly touch Saudi Arabia, but the speed and scope of the changes forced by young protesters did not go unnoticed by the Saudi elite.

[Read: Abdullah's death sets up complex succession process]

"We will continue adhering to the correct policies which Saudi Arabia has followed since its establishment," Salman said in his first address after taking the throne.

The message suggested to Western allies that there would be no major shifts in policy — and hinted to the country's youth that Salman would stick with Abdullah's pattern of slow-yet-steady reforms. The changes­ under Abdullah's nearly decade-long rule included creating greater educational options for women and granting women the right to vote in local elections planned for later this year.

But everything in Saudi Arabia must first pass through the powerful Islamic religious establishment, which gives the House of Saud legitimacy to rule in the land of Islam's holiest sites. The country's morality police remain a potent force, and some reforms remain out of reach, such as lifting a ban on women driving.

Saudi Arabia's strict codes have faced global condemnation, most recently for the sentencing of a blogger to 1,000 lashes for posts deemed insulting to Islam. The public punishment has been suspended after one round of flogging.

Salman's speech further suggested that he will seek to continue Saudi Arabia's increasing role in regional affairs, which has occasionally put it at odds with Washington. In one key break with their U.S. allies, Saudi leaders expressed dismay when Washington opted not to launch airstrikes against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2013.

"The Arab and the Islamic nations are in dire need of solidarity and cohesion," the 79-year-old king said.

Array of challenges

Salman takes charge amid an array of challenges. Saudi Arabia is deeply worried about the apparent collapse of the government in neighboring Yemen and the rise of rebels believed backed by Iran, the main regional rival of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi leadership has also pressed for greater international aid for Syrian rebels seeking to topple Assad.

Inside the kingdom, Saudi officials have stepped up security measures and surveillance on suspected Islamist militant cells.

The death of Abdullah, 90, was announced early Friday in Saudi Arabia. He had been undergoing treatment for pneumonia.

In the capital, Riyadh, Salman took part in prayers Friday with royal family members before the burial of Abdullah, whose body was wrapped in a simple shroud and placed in an unmarked grave in accordance with the kingdom's conservative Islamic traditions.

[View: The Saudi royal family tree] .

The ceremonies and burial were attended only by family members and an inner circle of aides and friends, who still numbered in the hundreds. Pallbearers from his family carried a litter holding the king's shrouded body to the public al-Oud cemetery, a sandy field with small, undecorated marker stones within sight of shabby apartment blocks.

The cemetery was guarded by soldiers stationed around the perimeter. Crowds stood for hours as military helicopters hovered overhead.

Graffiti sprayed on the cemetery wall said in Arabic: "Death is a door through which everyone must pass."

"I'm so sad about this; he was a good king," said Ibrahim al-Dosry, 29, a Saudi man who stood in a crowd near the cemetery entrance. "It is our duty to be with the king in his last moments."

Dosry and others watched as a steady stream of shiny black SUVs, Range Rovers, Bentleys and other luxury cars carrying royal family members and other dignitaries drove by, escorted by police cars with flashing lights.

Tributes from around the world poured in for Abdullah, a key Western ally. The White House announced that Vice President Biden would lead a U.S. delegation to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to pay respects to the king's family.

Salman, meanwhile, took further steps to consolidate the ranks of Saudi leadership.

He appointed his own son, Mohammad bin Salman, to succeed him as defense minister and to the position of head of the king's royal court, replacing Abdullah's longtime chief.

While that does not place Mohammad bin Salman in the direct line of succession to the throne, it solidifies the power of Salman's closest relatives inside a royal family that is riven by political maneuvering.

Khaled al-Maeena, a columnist for the Saudi Gazette newspaper, said Saudi tradition sets aside three days for mourners to pay condolences and pledge support to the new king.

That began Friday night as hundreds of top officials, tribal leaders and family members attended a ceremony at a Riyadh palace to offer their allegiance to Salman. Maeena said people outside Riyadh would go to regional governors' offices to make that pledge.

"It's not like he's Caesar," Maeena said. "It's just for people to show that they are with him."

Kevin Sullivan is a Post senior correspondent. He is a longtime foreign correspondent who has been based in Tokyo, Mexico City and London, and also served as the Post's Sunday and Features Editor.

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ISIS begins countdown clock as deadline expires for 2 Japanese men - CBC.ca

Militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group have posted an online warning that the "countdown has begun" for the group to kill a pair of Japanese hostages.

The posting which appeared Friday shows a clock counting down to zero along with gruesome images of other hostages who have been beheaded by ISIS.

The militant group gave Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a 72-hour deadline — which expired Friday — to pay a $200 million ransom for the two hostages. The posting on a forum popular among Islamic State militants and sympathizers did not show any images of the Japanese hostages.

Muslims in Japan pray for the release of two Japanese citizens being held captive by Islamic State militants, during Friday prayers at a mosque in Tokyo. (Toru Hanai/Reuters)

In the past the website has posted ISIS videos very quickly, sometimes before anyone else. Nippon Television Network first reported the message in Japan.

The status of efforts to free the two men was unclear. Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga, when asked about the latest message, said Japan was analyzing it.

Mother apologizes for 'trouble my son has caused'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened his National Security Council to discuss how to handle the crisis, as the mother of one of the captives appealed for her son's rescue.

"Time is running out. Please, Japanese government, save my son's life," said Junko Ishido, the mother of 47-year-old journalist Kenji Goto.

"My son is not an enemy of the Islamic State," she said in a tearful appearance in Tokyo.

Ishido said she was astonished and angered to learn from her daughter-in-law that Goto had left less than two weeks after his child was born, in October, to go to Syria to try to rescue the other hostage, 42-year-old Haruna Yukawa.

"My son felt he had to do everything in his power to try to rescue a friend and acquaintance," she said.

In very Japanese fashion, Ishido apologized repeatedly for "all the trouble my son has caused."

The national broadcaster NHK reported early Friday that it had received a message from ISIS "public relations" saying a statement would be released soon.

Lacking clout and diplomatic reach in the Middle East, Japan has scrambled for a way to secure the release of the two men, one a journalist, the other an adventurer fascinated by war. Two Japanese who said they have contacts with a leader in the Islamic State group offered Thursday to try to negotiate, but it was unclear if the Japanese government was receptive to the idea.

Ishido said she had not had any contact with the government.

This image taken from an online video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group's al-Furqan media arm on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, purports to show the group threatening to kill two Japanese hostages that the militants identify as Kenji Goto Jogo, left, and Haruna Yukawa, right, unless a ransom is paid within 72 hours. (Associated Press)

The militants threatened in their video message to kill the hostages unless they received $200 million within 72 hours.

Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga reiterated Friday that Japan was trying all possible channels to reach those holding the hostages, and that its policy of providing humanitarian aid for those displaced by conflict in the Middle East was unchanged.

"We are doing our very best to coordinate with related parties, including through tribal chiefs," Suga said.

Suga confirmed Thursday that the government had confirmed the identity of the two hostages, despite obvious discrepancies in shadows and other details in the ransom video that suggest it may have been altered.

Ransom debate

Japanese officials have not directly said whether they are considering paying any ransom, but said their lives were the top priority.

Japan has joined other major industrial nations of the Group of Seven in opposing ransom payments. U.S. and British officials also said they advised against paying.

There was no sign the government had taken action on an offer to try to negotiate with ISIS by Ko Nakata, an expert on Islamic law and former professor at Kyoto's Doshisha University, along with freelance journalist Kousuke Tsuneoka.

Nakata and Tsuneoka, who both are converts to Islam, said Thursday that they have a contact in the Islamic State group and were prepared to go.

Nakata and Tsuneoka, who was released after being held hostage in Afghanistan in 2010, visited Syria in September in an unsuccessful attempt to gain Yukawa's release. Goto was seized sometime after late October when he entered the area.

Since Japan's military operates only in a self-defence capacity a home any rescue attempt would require help from an ally like the United States.

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Science demonstration sends students, teacher to hospital - CBC.ca

One teacher and three students were treated for minor injuries after a science demonstration went awry in a private school's parking lot. 

Emergency personnel were called to Royal Crown Academic School near Bayview Avenue and Finch Avenue shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday for what was originally described as a chemical explosion. 

It turned out to be a failed science demonstration in the school's parking lot. A plastic pop bottle containing a drain-cleaning substance had tipped and ruptured, spraying two girls, a boy and the teacher. 

The teacher drove them to North York General Hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries. 

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US pulls more staff from Yemen embassy amid deepening crisis - Reuters

By Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:05pm EST

1 of 4. A general view of the U.S. embassy compound in Sanaa May 8, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has pulled more staff out of its embassy in Yemen, U.S. officials said on Thursday as Washington scrambled to cope with the collapse of a government that had been a key ally in the fight against al Qaeda.

The scaling down of its presence in Yemen is the first sign that the latest turmoil there will affect U.S operations in a country that President Barack Obama hailed just four months ago as a model for "successful" counter-terrorism partnerships.

The U.S. diplomatic contingent in Sanaa was drawn down due to the deteriorating security situation in the Yemeni capital, the officials said. They insisted there were no plans to close the embassy, which could been seen as erosion of U.S. resolve in counter-terrorism operations in the volatile Arab country.

However, current and former U.S. officials say the chaos engulfing Yemen has already threatened the administration's strategy against a powerful local al Qaeda branch.

Word of the withdrawal of more U.S. personnel came on the day that Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi stepped down, throwing the country deeper into chaos days after Iran-backed Houthi rebels battled their way into his presidential palace.

The crisis marks another setback for U.S. Middle East policy when Obama is already struggling with unsteady partners in a campaign against Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria. At the same time, Washington seeks to limit Iranian influence in the region.

The Obama administration was caught off guard by the resignation of Hadi, who had backed American strikes against al Qaeda militants. During Obama's six years in office, U.S. drones have killed hundreds of militants but also dozens of civilians in Yemen, which has stoked public anger in the country.

"We are still assessing the implications," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The State Department had already reduced staff at the embassy in recent months to essential personnel, mostly related to security matters, as the fighters from the Shi'ite Houthi minority seized control of the capital.

"While the Embassy remains open and is continuing to operate, we may continue to re-align resources based on the situation on the ground," a senior State Department official told Reuters. "We will continue to operate as normal, albeit with reduced staff."

INCREASING ALARM IN WASHINGTON

U.S. officials had hoped that Hadi's announcement on Wednesday that he was ready to make concessions to the Houthi movement would calm the situation but that prospect fell apart just a day later.

Washington is concerned that the chaos in Yemen could create conditions that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) will exploit to strengthen its base of support there and use the country to plot attacks on Western interests. AQAP claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Paris early this month.

The events in Yemen will "absolutely" limit U.S. drone strikes and counter-terrorism operations in the country in the short-term, a former senior U.S. official said. The official added that if the Houthis ends up in full control of the government they will demand a halt to the drone campaign.

"They hate al Qaeda," said the official, referring to the Houthis. "But they also hate the United States."

Some U.S. officials believe that while the Houthis are determined to wield more power in Yemen the movement may not want to assume responsibility for actually governing the divided, impoverished country.

But overall the Obama administration appears to have few contacts with the Houthis and remains concerned that their emergence as the country's main powerbrokers will mean greater influence for Shi'ite Iran in Yemen's affairs, a prospect that also worries neighboring Sunni power Saudi Arabia.

U.S. officials say Iran has backed the Houthi rebellion with financial and political support and that shipments of Iranian weapons have also been found destined for the group.

Senator John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee and a frequent Obama critic, said events in Yemen reflected misguided U.S. policy and called for a full evacuation of the embassy there. Obama's earlier hailing of Yemen as a counter-terrorism success, he added, showed the president "is either delusional or misinformed."

The crisis poses another major challenge to Obama's efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A U.S. official said Washington had no intention of repatriating any of the nearly four dozen Yemeni detainees already approved for transfer from the internationally condemned jail while the security situation remains unstable in Yemen.

Obama lifted an moratorium on sending Yemenis home nearly two years ago and has no plans to reinstate it, the official said. But he has yet to send a single Yemeni home from Guantanamo since ending the ban, instead transferring a handful for resettlement in other countries.

(Additional reporting by Jason Szep, David Rohde, Arshad Mohammed, and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Yara Bayoumy in Dubai.; editing by Stuart Grudgings)

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Bank of Canada interest rate cut: At least 1 bank won't lend for less - CBC.ca

Canadians have been left wondering whether they'll enjoy lower rates on mortgages and other loans in the aftermath of a surprise interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada on Wednesday,

Canada's five biggest banks are deciding whether to cut their prime lending rate, which affects the interest on some mortgages, lines of credit and other financial products.

Already, TD Bank has decided not to cut its prime rate, at least not for now.

"Our decision not to change our prime rate at this time was carefully considered and is based on a number of factors, with the Bank of Canada's overnight rate only being one of them," said Alicia Johnston, a spokewoman for TD, in a statement sent to CBC News.

Royal Bank of Canada has not yet announced a decision on whether its rate will change.

"While we don't have any product announcements to make at this time, we are considering the impact of yesterday's Bank of Canada decision," said RBC spokesperson Ka Yan Ng.

Scotiabank and CIBC are also still weighing their options.

"No decision has been made on a prime rate cut," Scotiabank's Sean Hamilton told CBC News.

"Like others, we are reviewing our prime rate in light of the surprise decision by the Bank of Canada yesterday," said CIBC spokesperson Kevin Dove.

As of 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, Bank of Montreal had not responded to a request for comment from CBC News.

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada cut its target for the overnight lending rate from an already low one per cent to 0.75 per cent, in light of the risk posed to the Canadian economy by slumping oil prices. Here's how the overnight rate affects the prime rate:

• The overnight rate is the interest percentage paid by banks and other institutions to lend money to each other, which they do on a daily basis.
• This rate is set eight times a year by the Bank of Canada as a means of influencing monetary policy.
• A bank's prime lending rate is set at a given percentage above the overnight rate.
• All five of Canada's biggest banks have set their prime lending rates at three per cent since September 2010, when the Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate by 0.25 per cent to one per cent.
• Historically, the large Canadian banks have adjusted their prime lending rates in tandem, tracking the Bank of Canada's overnight rate.

The major banks don't always adjust their prime lending rates in lockstep with the Bank of Canada's overnight rate, however. For example, in December 2008, the Bank of Canada cut its overnight lending rate from 2.25 per cent to 1.5 per cent, a reduction of 0.75 per cent. Canadian banks cut their prime lending rates by just 0.5 per cent.

The price of lending money is ultimately up to the banks that lend it, explained David Madani, Canada economist at Capital Economics. "If they perceive perhaps there's some increased risk in lending to households or businesses," the banks will decide not to reduce their prime rate in order to mitigate that risk.

"Given how high household debt is right now, given how frothy the housing market looks in terms of valuations … it's understandable that the banks are perhaps now being a bit more cautious," said Madani.

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