Top News Advisory for Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 – CP

Source: The Canadian Press
Nov 4, 2015

Wednesday, Nov. 4

6:10 a.m.

Here are the latest Top News stories from The Canadian Press. Entries are subject to change. This includes projected word counts and the estimated timing of stories and updates, both of which can be affected by news developments and other matters. All times are Eastern unless otherwise stated. Contact the National Desk at 416-507-2150.

TOP NEWS: TRUDEAU-CABINET:

Trudeau cabinet to launch new era immediately after swearing in ceremony

Trudeau-Cabinet

OTTAWA _ It’ll be a busy day for Justin Trudeau and his new cabinet. Following Wednesday morning’s swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall, the new Liberal prime minister and cabinet are scheduled to hold their first meeting in the afternoon. They are widely expected to take immediate action on their campaign promise to reinstate the long-form census, signalling the start of a new era that will be starkly different than the decade of Conservative rule under Stephen Harper. 381 words. Will be updated

Editors:

Gov. Gen. David Johnston presides over the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau. The PM will also name his cabinet 10:45 a.m. (10:30 a.m. at Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ballroom).

COVERAGE PLANS:

–Main story (Trudeau-Cabinet) by Joan Bryden: What does the new Liberal cabinet say about the direction of the next government?

–Newsmaker on the new finance minister, by Andy Blatchford.

–Separate story on women in cabinet, by Jennifer Ditchburn.

–Sidebars on new ministers and policy challenges as warranted. (eyeing environment, defence, foreign affairs)

–Winners and Losers: who got the most surprising big new job, who was the most surprising omission. Alt format. By Stephanie Levitz.

–QuickQuotes

–QuickSketches of high profile appointments.

— Five Things on what happens now

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TOP NEWS OTHER NEWS

NDP caucus prepares to meet in person for first time since election defeat

NDP-Caucus

OTTAWA _ New Democrat MPs will meet face to face in Ottawa on Wednesday for the first time since the party went from the orange crush to the orange crushed. Tom Mulcair, who has remained out of the public eye since the election, will meet his caucus on Parliament Hill on the same day Justin Trudeau takes the reins as prime minister and unveils his front bench. In his Wednesday address to caucus, Mulcair is expected to point out the election results were not what the party hoped, but it accepts its mandate with its head high. 620 words. By Kristy Kirkup

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Tata can count on up to US$500 million in annual financing from EDC

EDC-Tata

MONTREAL _ Canada’s lead export funding agency will provide Tata companies with up to US$500 million a year to support the Indian conglomerate’s expansion and growth in Canada. Export Development Canada says is will underwrite loans primarily to help small- to medium-sized companies within Tata’s global network. The agreement can be renewed annually. Tata has invested more than $1.3 billion in Canadian operations over the past five years, including $355 million in 2014. It operates several Canadian divisions in the beverage, steel, consulting, chemicals, communications, technologies and interactive sectors that employ about 3,000 workers. 230 words. By Ross Marowits

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‘High-risk’ arguments resume in case of B.C. man who killed his children

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NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. _ Legal arguments will continue in a British Columbia court today as the province attempts to have a “high-risk” designation applied retrospectively to a mentally ill man who killed his three children. Allan Schoenborn was found not criminally responsible for stabbing his 10-year-old daughter and smothering his eight and five-year-old sons in their Merritt, B.C., home in April 2008. 164 words. Will be writethru

TOP NEWS: INTERNATIONAL

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At least 25 killed in cargo plane crash near airport in South Sudan capital

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JUBA _ A cargo plane taking off from the South Sudanese capital of Juba crashed along the shore of the Nile River, killing at least 25 people. An Associated Press reporter at the scene of the crash saw the bodies, including those of children. Parts of the plane were scattered in a bushy area populated with a few homes on the east side of the Nile. It was not clear if some of those who died had been on the ground.

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Activists and state media: Syrian troops wrest control of key northern road from Islamic State

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DAMASCUS _ Syria’s state news agency and activists say government troops have wrested control from Islamic State militants of a major road linking the contested northern province of Aleppo with the country’s central provinces. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory said government troops on Wednesday routed IS extremists from the Khanasser-Atharayya road, southeast of the city of Aleppo, after nearly two weeks of fighting. PHOTO

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Romanian government to resign following protests over deadly nightclub fire.

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BUCHAREST _ Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced the resignation of his government Wednesday following huge protests in the wake of a nightclub fire that killed more than 30 people. “I’m handing in my mandate, I’m resigning, and implicitly my government too,” Ponta said in a statement. He said he would stay on until a new government is in place. PHOTOS

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The Latest: French security official says 200 human-trafficking gangs stopped this year

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ATHENS _ The latest as tens of thousands of people flood into Europe in search of a new life. All times local.

10:40 a.m. France’s top security official says 200 human-trafficking networks have been dismantled since the beginning of the year, including 30 in the tense Calais region where thousands of migrants are hoping to cross the Channel for a better life in Britain. PHOTOS

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Erdogan’s aide says Turkey could revive bid to change constitution for a strong presidency

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ANKARA _ President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman has suggested that the ruling party will revive a push for constitutional changes to increase the powers of the president following Sunday’s electoral success. Ibrahim Kalin told reporters Wednesday that Erdogan believes a presidential system would make Turkey “jump up a league” and said the issue could be taken to a referendum.

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Afghan official: Woman, 22, stoned to death after being accused of adultery

AS-Afghanistan

KABUL_ A 22-year-old Afghan woman was stoned to death by men identified as Taliban insurgents after she was accused of adultery, an Afghan official said Wednesday. The woman, identified only as Rokhshana, was forced to stand in a deep hole in the ground during the Oct. 24 attack in a village in remote Ghor province of western Afghanistan, said Abdul Hai Khateby, spokesman for the governor.

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US first lady Michelle Obama calls for funding, societal change to support girls’ education

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DOHA, Qatar _ U.S. first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday called on the world to fund and promote societal change to support girls’ education. Speaking at the 2015 World Innovation Summit for Education in Doha, Qatar, Obama said more needs to be done to ensure girls know their bodies “are a source of pride, not pain or shame.”

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3 killed in suicide bombing at police club in Egypt’s north Sinai, IS claims responsibility

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CAIRO _ A suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives at the main gate of a police club in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula early Wednesday, killing at least three police and wounding 10 others in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. Five of the wounded in the attack in the city of el-Arish were civilians and five were police, state news agency MENA reported, citing an unnamed Interior Ministry source.

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Egypt’s president defends sweeping security laws ahead of UK meetings on terror, trade

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LONDON _ Egypt’s leader has defended anti-terror legislation enacted in August, arguing that the country needs stability and time to achieve a democratic future for his nation. In a BBC interview before his first official visit to Britain on Wednesday, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi batted away questions on human rights concerns and said he wanted to carry out the will of the people. El-Sissi led the July 2013 military ouster of former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

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Spain: 2 arrested on suspicion of recruiting militants to join Islamic armed group

EU-Spain-Terror-Arrests

MADRID _ The Spanish Interior Ministry says police have arrested two people of Moroccan origin on suspicion of recruiting militants and spreading propaganda for the Islamic State armed group. A ministry statement said the two, one of whom has Spanish nationality, were arrested Wednesday in Cornella de Llobregat town, just outside the northeastern port city of Barcelona.

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Asia defence meeting fails to issue joint declaration as South China Sea tensions spill over

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia _ Divisions within Asia over China’s claims in the disputed South China Sea spilled over Wednesday to a meeting of U.S. and Asian defence ministers, where China insisted the group make no public mention of the strategic waters in a joint declaration intended as a public display of unity. As a result, a joint statement was cancelled. Both host Malaysia and U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter discounted the significance of the failure, which reflected a split with China and other Asian nations over the South China Sea issue. PHOTOS

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APTN Interview: N. Korean official says bold action by US could end peace treaty impasse

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LONDON_ North Korea says the United States needs to end its “nuclear-based threats and blackmail” and respond to the North’s recent diplomatic overture to formally end the decades-old Korean conflict. Fighting ended in 1953 without a peace treaty, leaving North and South Korea still technically at war. Speaking in an interview Tuesday in London with Associated Press Television News, senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official Jong Tong Hak said a permanent peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula first requires a North Korean-U.S. agreement. PHOTOS

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Bosnia and Serbia hold first session of their governments; aim to improve their relations

EU-Bosnia-Serbia

SARAJEVO _ Seeking to improve their relations and contribute to the stabilization of the Western Balkans, the Bosnian and Serbian governments are holding their first joint session since their conflict started 25 years during the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The session on Wednesday in Sarajevo will produce co-operation agreements on finding missing persons, telecommunications, protection of cultural heritage and sustainable development. PHOTOS

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Tens of thousands march in pro-Kremlin rally to mark Russia’s Unity Day

EU-Russia-Unity-Day

MOWCOW _ Tens of thousands are marching in a pro-Kremlin rally in central Moscow to mark Russia’s Unity Day. The celebrations were scrapped in St. Petersburg as Russia’s second-largest city mourns the victims of Saturday’s plane crash in Egypt that killed 224 people. Authorities in Moscow, however, went ahead with the rally, which culminated in a pop concert on a central street. The organizers opened the concert with a moment of silence for the victims of the crash, most of whom were Russian holidaymakers. PHOTOS

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News that Volkswagen overstated carbon dioxide efficiency sends share plunging

Volkswagen

FRANKFURT _ Volkswagen shares are falling after the company said it had understated carbon dioxide emissions for 800,000 cars, widening its scandal over cheating on U.S. diesel emissions tests. The company’s ordinary shares slid 9.7 per cent Wednesday to 100.80 euros in morning trading in Europe. The carmaker said Tuesday after the European market close that it found “unexplained inconsistencies” in carbon dioxide emissions in some vehicles. PHOTOS

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BUZZ

The quiet Canadian spymaster that inspired James Bond

FILM-Bond-Cda

TORONTO _ One of the world’s greatest spies was an operative for England with an affinity for martinis, a suave rapport with elite power players, and an uncanny ability to infiltrate and eliminate threats. This isn’t the fictional James Bond we’re talking about, but the real-life Sir William Stephenson _ a quiet Canadian code-named Intrepid who many believe inspired author Ian Fleming to create his over-the-top British spy hero. 1148 words. By Cassandra Szklarski. PHOTO

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Canadian start-ups target wearables for elite athletes that go beyond step counting

Wearables-Professionals

TORONTO _ Canadian startups are building new wearable technology that goes well beyond the simple heart-rate monitoring and calorie counting of activity trackers familiar to the average fitness buff. While devices from companies such as Fitbit, Jawbone and Garmin monitor basic information like steps taken and sleep cycles, many of the sports gadgets on display at the Wearable Entertainment & Sports Toronto conference on Tuesday were designed for the pros _ offering advanced telemetry that helps professional athletes avoid injury and optimize training routines. 437 words. By Peter Henderson

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Elvis songwriter Mac Davis honoured at BMI Country Awards

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NASHVILLE _ Songwriter Mac Davis, who wrote the Elvis Presley classic “In the Ghetto,” was honoured at the BMI Country Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday with tributes from Luke Bryan and Little Big Town. Davis was given the BMI Icon award for penning five decades of hits in the pop and country worlds including “Memories,” ”A Little Less Conversation,“ and ”Texas in my Rearview Mirror.“ PHOTOS

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Puff Daddy celebrates birthday by releasing free music; calls project ‘sonic motion picture’

US-Music-Puff-Daddy

NEW YORK _ It may be Puff Daddy’s birthday, but the music mogul is giving out the gifts: The rapper is planning to release free music on Wednesday. Puff Daddy, born Sean Combs, debuted new music late Tuesday in New York City and announced that a mixtape called “MMM” would be available for free at 7 a.m. Eastern. He is calling the project “a sonic motion picture” and songs include collaborations with Lil Kim, Future, Wiz Khalifa, Jadakiss, French Montana and others. PHOTOS

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New chief ranger at South Africa’s biggest wildlife park faces tough task of protecting rhinos

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JOHANNESBURG _ A new chief ranger has been appointed at South Africa’s biggest national park, a major tourist attraction whose managers are struggling to stem record levels of rhino poaching. South Africa’s national parks service said Tuesday that Xolani Nicholus Funda, a former ranger who has also been a university lecturer in nature conservation, took over the top ranger post at Kruger National Park this month.

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INDEX: ADVISORIES NATIONAL