Vandals who cut down Sycamore Gap tree sentenced in England to more than 4 years in prison
The tree stood for nearly 150 years before Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers carried out what a prosecutor called a 'moronic mission' and cut it down in the middle of the night, toppling it onto Hadrian's Wall.
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Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Police in Haiti seize a ton of cocaine in a boat raid that leaves 3 suspects dead
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Three suspected drug traffickers were killed in an exchange of fire as police in Haiti confiscated more than 2,300 pounds (1,000 kilograms) of cocaine aboard a boat, officials said Tuesday, in a rare drug seizure in the troubled Caribbean country. The police raid took place off the coast of northern Haiti near Tortue Island where traffickers are suspected of transferring drugs, Port-de-Paix prosecutor Jeir Pierre told Radio Caraïbes on Tuesday. Pierre said police have long postponed any action at that location because of a lack of resources, but noted that a regional police director recently requested a boat to use around Tortue Island. 'We have had this area in our sights for a long time,' Pierre said. Police approached a suspected drug trafficking boat on Sunday and ordered the suspects aboard to raise their hands, but they did not comply and instead opened fire at the officers, Pierre said. Officers returned fire, with two suspected drug traffickers jumping into the ocean and later dying. A third suspected drug trafficker died on shore while a fourth one, from the Bahamas, was injured and later arrested, Pierre said. Police said on X that one of suspects who died was a man from Jamaica. Pierre said no Haitian police officers were injured. The U.S. government has previously noted that powerful people in Haiti are involved in the country's drug trade. In August 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned former Haitian President Michel Martelly, accusing him of abusing his influence to facilitate the trafficking of drugs, including cocaine, destined for the U.S. 'Many of Haiti's political and business elites have long been involved in drug trafficking and have been linked to the gangs responsible for the violence that has destabilized Haiti,' the Treasury Department said.
Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across 10 states, union says
Published Jul 15, 2025 • Last updated 6 minutes ago • 2 minute read A family from Colombia is detained and escorted to a bus by federal agents following an appearance at immigration court Monday, July 14, 2025, in San Antonio. Photo by Eric Gay / AP WASHINGTON — Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days, according to the union that represents them, as the Trump administration pushes forward with its mass deportations of immigrants in the country. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents immigration court judges as well as other professionals, said in a news release that 15 judges were fired 'without cause' on Friday and another two on Monday. The union said they were working in courts in 10 different states across the country — California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Virginia. 'It's outrageous and against the public interest that at the same time Congress has authorized 800 immigration judges, we are firing large numbers of immigration judges without cause,' said the union's President Matt Biggs. 'This is nonsensical. The answer is to stop firing and start hiring.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Firings come with courts at the center of administration efforts The firings come as the courts have been increasingly at the center of the Trump administration's hardline immigration enforcement efforts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting immigrants as they appear at court for proceedings. A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which is the part of the Justice Department that oversees the courts, said in an email that the office would not comment on the firings. The large-scale arrests began in May and have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants appearing in court. In what has become a familiar scene, a judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings against an immigrant. Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are waiting in the hallway to arrest the person and put them on a fast track to deportation as soon as he or she leaves the courtroom. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Immigration court judges are also dealing with a massive backlog of roughly 3.5 million cases that ballooned in recent years. Cases can take years to weave their way to a final determination, with judges and lawyers frequently scheduling final hearings on the merits of a case over a year out. Unlike criminal courts, immigrants don't have the right to a lawyer, and if they can't afford one they represent themselves — often using an interpreter to make their case. Courts are getting a cash infusion Under recently passed legislation that will use $170 billion to supercharge immigration enforcement, the courts are set to get an infusion of $3.3 billion. That will go toward raising the number of judges to 800 and hiring more staff to support them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But the union said that since the Trump administration took office over 103 judges have either been fired or voluntarily left after taking what was dubbed the 'Fork in the Road' offers at the beginning of the administration. The union said that rather than speeding up the immigration court process, the Justice Department's firings would actually make the backlogs worse. The union said that it can take as long as a year to recruit, hire and train new immigration court judges. There are currently about 600 judges, according to the union figures. Immigration courts fall under the Justice Department. 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Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Federal grand jury indicts man accused of killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman
Published Jul 15, 2025 • 3 minute read Pictures of Mark and Melissa Hortman are set up inside the sanctuary at the Basilica of St. Mary's during funeral services for Mark and Melissa Hortman in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday, June 28, 2025. Photo by Alex Kormann / AP MINNEAPOLIS — A federal grand jury indicted a Minnesota man Tuesday on charges that he fatally shot a prominent Minnesota state representative and her husband and seriously wounded a state senator and his wife while he was allegedly disguised as a police officer. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The indictment handed up lists murder, stalking and firearms charges against Vance Boelter. The murder counts in the deaths of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, could carry the federal death penalty. The chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called the killings a political assassination. Prosecutors initially charged Boelter in a complaint with six counts, including murder, stalking and firearms offenses. But under federal court rules they needed a grand jury indictment to take the case to trial. Prosecutors say Boelter, 57, was driving a fake squad car, wearing a realistic rubber mask that covered his head and wearing tactical gear around 2 a.m. on June 14 when he went to the home of Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin. He allegedly shot the senator nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, but they survived. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Prosecutors allege he then stopped at the homes of two other lawmakers. One, in Maple Grove, wasn't home while a police officer may have scared him off from the second, in New Hope. Boelter then allegedly went to the Hortmans' home in nearby Brooklyn Park and killed both of them. Their dog was so gravely injured that he had to be euthanized. Brooklyn Park police, who had been alerted to the shootings of the Hoffmans, arrived at the Hortman home around 3:30 a.m., moments before the gunman opened fire on the couple, the complaint said. Boelter allegedly fled and left behind his car, which contained notebooks listing dozens of Democratic officials as potential targets with their home addresses, as well as five guns and a large quantity of ammunition. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Law enforcement officers finally captured Boelter about 40 hours later, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from his rural home in Green Isle, after what authorities called the largest search for a suspect in Minnesota history. Sen. Hoffman is out of the hospital and is now at a rehabilitation facility, his family announced last week, adding he has a long road to recovery. Yvette Hoffman was released a few days after the attack. Former President Joe Biden visited the senator in the hospital when he was in town for the Hortmans' funeral. Friends have described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views who had been struggling to find work. At a hearing July 3, Boelter said he was 'looking forward to the facts about the 14th coming out.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In an interview published by the New York Post on Saturday, Boelter insisted the shootings had nothing to do with his opposition to abortion or his support for President Donald Trump, but he declined to discuss why he allegedly killed the Hortmans and wounded the Hoffmans. 'You are fishing and I can't talk about my case … I'll say it didn't involve either the Trump stuff or pro life,' Boelter wrote in a message to the newspaper via the jail's messaging system. It ultimately will be up to Attorney General Pam Bondi, in consultation with the local U.S. attorney's office, to decide whether to seek the federal death penalty. Minnesota abolished its state death penalty in 1911. But the Trump administration says it intends to be aggressive in seeking capital punishment for eligible federal crimes. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Boelter also faces state murder and attempted murder charges in Hennepin County, but the federal case will go first. Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined mourners at the Hortmans' funeral June 28. Gov. Tim Walz, Harris's running mate on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket, eulogized Melissa Hortman as 'the most consequential speaker in Minnesota history.' Hortman led the House from 2019 until January and was a driving force as Democrats passed an ambitious list of liberal priorities in 2023. She yielded the speakership to a Republican in a power-sharing deal after the November elections left the House tied, and she took the title speaker emerita. RECOMMENDED VIDEO NFL Editorial Cartoons Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Columnists
