City in brief
The city of Montreal is launching a public consultation on the future of eastern Lachine, according to Global News. The Lachine Mayor, Maja Vodanovic, wants to rebuild the industrialized 50-hectare area in the neighborhood in the next 20 years.
The Onyx restaurant on St. Jacques Street in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough burned down on Thursday morning, according to the Montreal Gazette. Nearby residents were evacuated from their homes, close to 2 a.m. There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but has been deemed “suspicious” according to firemen.
A suspect for contraband tobacco trafficking began a police chase in the West Island last Wednesday, when Sureté du Québec tried to arrest him, according to Global News. The chase started on Autoroute 40, close to Baie D’Urfé, and ended with the suspect crashing into two cars on Autoroute 13.
A new bylaw passed on Tuesday in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough will limit the distribution of short-term vacation home rentals, such as Airbnbs, according to CityNews Montreal. Following several complaints of noise and disruption, these rentals will be limited to St. Denis Street and St. Laurent Blvd.
An asylum seeker in Montreal was given a court date last Wednesday for Jan. 1, 2030, according to Le Journal de Montréal. The asylum seeker’s lawyer was shocked by the date, and said it could be a mistake, since it’s also a holiday. Le Journal also reported this isn’t the first time such a date has been set.
Nation in brief
Canada will host a conference on international trade later this month with 13 “like-minded” countries, not including the United States, according to Canada’s International Trade Diversification Minister, Jim Carr. He said the conference will gather “those who believe that a rules-based system is in the interests of the international community” to discuss the World Trade Organization, before “[moving] out into those who might have been more resistant,” according to Global News.
Canadian physicist, Donna Strickland, was one of three scientists awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics last week for their work in laser physics. Strickland is also one of three women to have won the prize in its history, according to CBC.
Following his election defeat, outgoing Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard announced his retirement from politics. Couillard’s Liberals won just 32 seats in the national assembly on Oct. 1, compared to the Coalition Avenir Québec’s 74. Couillard was quickly replaced by Pierre Arcand, member of the national assembly for the Mont-Royal-Outremont riding.
The People’s Party of Canada recruited more than 20,000 members, and amassed nearly $338,000 in donations in the two and a half weeks after its founding on Sept. 14, according to a report by Le Devoir. By comparison, the federal Green Party currently has about 20,000 members, according to the same article.
An Amber Alert for a 14 year-old Edmonton girl was lifted on Friday, the same day it was issued. She was found safe one day after being forcibly abducted in a red sedan, according to CBC. A 47-year-old suspect is now in custody.
World in brief
The United States Senate approved Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the supreme court, following a 50-to-48 vote on Saturday. Just two senators voted against party lines, according to The New York Times: Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against Kavanaugh’s confirmation, while Democrat Joe Manchin III of West Virginia voted in favour of it.
The head of the International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, went missing on a visit to China. The South China Morning Post quoted an anonymous source saying Meng Hongwei was “‘taken away’ for questioning by discipline authorities ‘as soon as he landed in China,’” although it is not clear why.
A framed Banksy painting suddenly shredded itself just moments after being auctioned for over USD $1.4 million in London. The anonymous British artist posted a video of the incident on Instagram, saying he installed the shredder into the frame himself, in case the painting ever went up for auction, according to Hyperallergic.
Australia may effectively eliminate cervical cancer within two decades, according to a study published last week in the medical journal The Lancet. The study estimated that the rate of diagnoses in the country could drop below four cases per 100,000 women in that time frame, thanks in part to a national screening program that was introduced in 1991.
An eight-year-old Swedish-American girl pulled a pre-Viking-era sword from a lake while visiting Sweden over the summer. Local archaeologists, who believe the sword to be about 1,500 years old, asked Saga Vanacek and her family to keep the discovery a secret while they trawled the rest of the lake, according to The New York Times.
Graphic by @spooky_soda.
