Jafar Panahi among several artists, sports stars detained for speaking against regime Acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi was released on bail Friday, two days after starting a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment last summer, his supporters said. Panahi was arrested last July and later ordered to serve six years on charges of propagandizing against the government, a sentence dating back to 2011 that had never been enforced. He is among a number of Iranian artists, sports figures and other celebrities who have been detained after speaking out against theRead more

A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. “[It’s] like you’re undesirable because of your gayness as a donor … It feels like such an arbitrary rule,” said Aziz M, the man who is pushing to change the rules. Out of concern for his privacy, CTV News has agreed not to use his full name. Currently, a Health Canada directive prohibits gay and bisexual men fromRead more

A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall theft. Taylor-Anna Kobinger, a resident of Laval, Que., listed her 2011 Black Audi A4 on Facebook Marketplace in January as a means to raise the funds needed for a down payment on a home. On Jan. 29, Kobinger said a man responded to her ad and came to her home in order to test drive the vehicle. She said he took the car outRead more

There came a point during the pandemic, about nine months ago, when the staff at a pediatric clinic in Toronto was turning away at least 100 callers per day who were looking for a primary care provider. At the same time, Kindercare Pediatric’s rostered patients were waiting longer than they should to see their own doctors. The way Kindercare owner Dr. Dan Flanders describes it, the scene was one of desperation. “It became very, I don’t know, distressing for everyone. Like, here we are, we have doctors and there’s justRead more

Across the country, Canadians are turning up the thermostat as frigid temperatures and snow squalls creep in. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, as of Thursday morning there were extreme cold or winter storm warnings active from coast to coast, with the harshest extreme cold warnings stretching from northern Alberta all the way to Nova Scotia. Regions of British Columbia are expecting significant snowfall, with Peace River set to receive 25-50 centimetres by Saturday morning. In Fort McMurray, Alta., the wind chill will make the air feel like -40 degrees CelsiusRead more

121 intact pieces stamped with hotel’s insignia found in Vancouver forest On a cold, wet day in late December, Christian Laub and Julien Hicks slogged their way through a Vancouver forest in pursuit of a hot tip. Hicks, an actor by trade and newcomer to the hobby of bottle digging, had learned of an old abandoned car in the area. Hicks had enlisted Laub, a film location scout with years of bottle digging experience, who knew that where there was an old car, there was often antique bottles to be found. OnceRead more

Dances offer something to look forward to in the winter Indigenous communities are celebrating being able to host in-person cultural dances after three years of online virtual events. COVID-19 meant no big public events — including cultural events — but round dances and kahomni dances are now coming back. Elder Pete Bigstone, who usually celebrates his birthday by hosting a kahomni, had to put plans on hold for the past two years. A kahomni is a dance where two people will two step to songs made specifically for the dance and sometimesRead more

Body of Susan Cadieux, 5, found in January 1956 after she left a schoolyard with an unknown man WARNING: This article contains content about child sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it. A group of amateur detectives in London, Ont., hopes their renewed interest and research into a 66-year-old cold case will shed new light on the death of a five-year-old girl. Susan Cadieux was playing outside St. Mary’s School at 345 Lyle St. on Jan. 6, 1956, with her two brothersRead more

Company says the pulp line at its Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill will be phased out by the end of March B.C. forestry giant Canfor Pulp says it is permanently closing the pulp line at one of its Prince George mills, which will result in about 300 jobs lost. The move comes as several forestry companies around the world are downsizing their operations due to changes in the market. Kevin Edgson says the lack of raw material for creating market pulp led to the decision. “In recent years, several sawmills have permanentlyRead more

Mounties acted ‘reasonably’ while enforcing injunction, B.C. legal defence says The RCMP denies it conspired with a natural gas pipeline builder and a private security firm in a campaign designed to harass Wet’suwet’en people off their unceded territory in northern British Columbia, court filings say. The RCMP, Coastal GasLink and Forsythe Security, named as defendants in a lawsuit three Wet’suwet’en members launched last June, all deny the allegations. The $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline project is designed to carry fracked natural gas to a $40-billion LNG terminal in Kitimat, B.C., for export toRead more