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Ex-Minneapolis officer sentenced to nearly 5 years for role in George Floyd’s death

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Former officer Tou Thao listens as prosecutor Erin Eldridge speaks during his sentencing hearing in Hennepin County District Court on Monday in Minneapolis. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune/The Associated Press) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Tou Thao, the last former Minneapolis police officer convicted in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd, was sentenced Monday to four years and nine months — even as he denied wrongdoing. Thao had testified he merely served as a “human traffic cone” when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine-and-a-half minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” At the sentencing hearing, Thao spoke at length about his growth as a Christian during his 340 days behind bars. He said he was “distressed” by Floyd’s death but denied any role in it. “I did not commit these crimes,” Thao said. “My conscience is clear. I will not be a Judas nor join a mob in self-preservation or betray my God.” Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill responded that he was hoping “for more than preaching” from Thao. “After three years of reflection, I was hoping for a little more remorse,” the judge said. Thao’s lawyer, Robert Paule, said afterward that they will appeal. He declined further comment. Home CCTV Camera in Brmapton Tou Thao, who was a nine-year veteran of the Minneapolis police force, leaves the courtroom after his sentencing hearing on Monday in the death of George Floyd in May 2020. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune/The Associated Press ) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Assistant Attorney General Erin Eldridge said during the hearing that Floyd’s final words “reverberated across the globe.” Floyd, she said, “narrated his own death over the course of a restraint that lasted more than nine long minutes until he lost consciousness, stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating.” Thao, she said, “stood by and allowed it to happen” and stopped others from moving in to help the dying man. “He knew better, and he was trained to do better,” Eldridge said. Floyd’s killing touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning of police brutality and racism. Cahill found Thao guilty in May of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In his 177-page ruling, Cahill said Thao’s actions separated Chauvin and two other former officers from the crowd, including an emergency medical technician, allowing his colleagues to continue restraining Floyd and preventing bystanders from providing medical aid. “There is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao’s actions were objectively unreasonable from the perspective of a reasonable police officer, when viewed under the totality of the circumstances,” Cahill wrote. He concluded: “Thao’s actions were even more unreasonable in light of the fact that he was under a duty to intervene to stop the other officers’ excessive use of force and was trained to render medical aid.” Thao had rejected a plea bargain on the state charge, saying “it would be lying” to plead guilty when he didn’t think he was in the wrong. He instead agreed to let Cahill decide the case based on evidence from Chauvin’s 2021 murder trial and the federal civil rights trial in 2022 of Thao and former officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng. That trial in federal court ended in convictions for all three. Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges instead of going to trial a second time, while Lane and Kueng pleaded guilty to state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter. The sentence Cahill handed down Monday will run concurrently with Thao’s three-and-a-half-year sentence on his separate conviction on a federal civil rights charge, which an appeals court upheld on Friday. His state sentence was more than the four years recommended under Minnesota state guidelines. The sentence will be served at federal prison with credit for time served before Thao is transferred to a Minnesota prison to serve out the remainder. Lane and Kueng received three and three-and-a-half-year state sentences respectively, which they are serving concurrently with their federal sentences of 2 1/2 years and 3 years. Thao is Hmong American, while Kueng is Black and Lane is white. Minnesota inmates generally serve two-thirds of their sentences in prison and one-third on parole. There is no parole in the federal system but inmates can shave time off their sentences with good behavior. Best CCTV Security Services in Brampton Former Minnesota police officer J. Alexander Kueng is seen in a booking photograph at Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis, Minn., on June 3, 2020. Kueng, who is already serving a federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison on a state charge of aiding second-degree manslaughter. (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office/Reuters) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton J. Alexander Kueng sentenced on state charge of aiding 2nd-degree manslaughter The former Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s back while another officer kneeled on the Black man’s neck was sentenced Friday to three-and-a-half years in prison. J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty in October to a state count of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. In exchange, a charge of aiding and abetting murder was dropped. Kueng is already serving a federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, and the state and federal sentence will be served at the same time. Kueng appeared at his sentencing hearing via video from a federal prison in Ohio. When given the chance to address the court, he declined. Floyd’s family members had the right to make victim impact statements, but none did.  Attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the family, said in a statement before the hearing that Kueng’s sentencing “delivers yet another piece of justice for the Floyd family.” “While the family faces yet another holiday season without George, we hope that moments like these continue to bring them a measure of peace, knowing that George’s death was not in vain,” he said. Floyd died on May

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Canada says Armenians face ‘deteriorating humanitarian situation

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton A checkpoint of the Russia peacekeeping force is seen on a road towards the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenia, March 14, 2023. (Vahram Baghdasaryan, PHOTOLURE via AP) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton OTTAWA – The Canadian government is again blaming Azerbaijan for escalating tensions in its Nagorno-Karabakh region, saying it is concerned about the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” for Armenians living in that region. Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it is mostly populated by Armenians, and neighbouring Armenia has fought for control of the region for decades. Tensions rose in the area last fall, when the region’s main access road was blocked by groups of people suspected of being affiliated with the Azerbaijan government, and then by officials who have limited vehicle access. Azerbaijan insists the region isn’t under a blockade, despite Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch saying food and essentials are severely restricted. Last week, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it’s been denied access to all routes into the region, resulting in shortages for medicine, food and baby formula. Canada is planning on sending two officials to support a European monitoring mission that is aiming to prevent another war in the region. The Red Cross expressed alarm about Azerbaijan’s blocking of the area shortly after that country’s foreign ministry cited the group’s access to the area as proof that there was no blockade. The Red Cross said last week it has been able to evacuate “more than 600 people in urgent need of medical care since December 2022,” but still has trouble accessing the region in order to provide medical services. Global Affairs Canada said in a social media post Tuesday that Azerbaijan should comply with the International Court of Justice’s order to allow the “unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo” into the region. Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry noted that the court order still allows for the inspection of vehicles entering the territory, and has alleged that the route has been used by elements affiliated with Armenia to smuggle weapons into the area. Canadian MPs heard testimony in January about limited access to the region, but the House of Commons foreign affairs committee hasn’t completed its study or issued an interim report on how Canada should respond. The federal government plans to open an embassy in Armenia shortly, and Liberal officials often attend Armenian diaspora events. Canada is sending two officials to support a European mission that is aiming to prevent another war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The unarmed European Union mission in Armenia is a project involving a hundred civilian monitors who keep tabs on the security situation at the border with Azerbaijan. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has announced that Canada will contribute to the mission and send two recruited experts. The mission follows heightened tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an area that is mostly populated by ethnic Armenians but is internationally recognized as being part of Azerbaijan. Joly said in April that she was “deeply concerned” about Azerbaijan escalating the long-running dispute with Armenia over the province by blocking its main access road. Canada has joined similar European Union missions in the past, with military and civilian projects deployed to places such as Afghanistan and the West Bank. The move comes just months before Canada aims to open a full embassy in Armenia this fall. It also follows unconfirmed reports that Canada may loosen its arms embargo against Turkey, which Ottawa barred from receiving weapons after Canadian sensors showed up in drones Azerbaijan used in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in a 2020 war. Tensions rose in the area last fall, when the region’s main access road was blocked by groups of Azerbaijanis who insisted they were independent environmental activists opposed to mining. The Azerbaijan government claims it has no ties to the groups, but others have disputed that assertion. In recent months, the two countries have lowered the temperature in their long-running dispute, but access to the region is reportedly still limited, affecting the availability of food. In April 2022, former foreign minister Stephane Dion presented a report to Joly on supporting Armenian democracy, as part of his role as the Liberals’ special envoy for Europe. The report said Ottawa should prioritize developing Armenia’s “fragile democracy” by helping efforts to fight corruption. It noted that Russia’s influence in the region is waning as Moscow diverts military resources to its invasion of Ukraine, which has put some of its neighbours on edge. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that “strictly technical” issues remain in resolving one of the main disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, neighbours that fought a war over a contested territory. Putin met in various formats in Moscow with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, discussing a dispute over a winding road called the Lachin Corridor. That’s the only authorized connection between Armenia and the contested territory, Nagorno-Karabakh, and it’s a lifeline for supplies to the region’s approximately 120,000 people. Aliyev and Pashinyan, in a broader regional summit meeting Putin hosted in Moscow, lashed out at each other for their positions regarding the land corridor. But Putin said that on the “principal issues, there is an agreement,” and later said all that remained were “surmountable obstacles,” calling them differences in terminology and “strictly technical.” He said representatives of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan would meet in a week to try to resolve the differences. According to the Russian state news agency Tass, Pashinyan said last Wednesday that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other’s territorial integrity within Soviet administrative borders. It added that on Monday, Pashinyan said the territory of Azerbaijan that his government is ready to recognize includes Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan said Thursday: “I want to confirm that Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity, and on this basis we can say that we are moving quite well towards settlement of our relations.” For his part, Aliyev said Thursday that the Armenian leader’s statements ensure that

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2 U.S. Navy sailors arrested and accused of spying for China

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Best CCTV Camera in Brampton The USS Essex is shown in a Sept. 27, 2018 photo. One of two men charged with spying for China this week was assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, and was arrested Wednesday while boarding the ship. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew Freeman/U.S. Navy/Getty Images) Two U.S. Navy sailors were charged Thursday with providing sensitive military information to China — including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material. Both men pleaded not guilty in federal courts in San Diego and Los Angeles. They were ordered to be held until their detention hearings, which will take place Aug. 8 in those same cities. U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman for the Southern District of California said the charges reflect that China “stands apart in terms of the threat that its government poses to the United States. China is unrivaled in its audacity and the range of its maligned efforts to subvert our laws.” The cases are separate, and it wasn’t clear if the two were courted or paid by the same Chinese intelligence officer as part of a larger scheme. Federal officials at a news conference in San Diego declined to specify whether the sailors were aware of each other’s actions. Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested Wednesday while boarding the ship. He is accused of passing detailed information on the weapons systems and aircraft aboard the Essex and other amphibious assault ships that act as small aircraft carriers. Prosecutors said Wei, who was born in China, was approached by a Chinese intelligence officer in February 2022 while he was applying to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, and admitted to the officer that he knew the arrangement could affect his application. Even so, at the officer’s request, Wei provided photographs and videos of Navy ships, including the USS Essex, which can carry an array of helicopters, including the MV-22 Ospreys, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. The indictment alleges Wei included as many as 50 manuals containing technical and mechanical data about Navy ships as well as details about the number and training of Marines during an upcoming exercise. Wei continued to send sensitive U.S. military information multiple times over the course of a year and even was congratulated by the Chinese officer once Wei became a U.S. citizen, Grossman said. He added that Wei “chose to turn his back on his newly adopted country” for greed. Home CCTV Camera in Brmapton U.S. Attorney Randy S. Grossman for the Southern District of California, centre, speaks during a press conference Thursday in San Diego detailing the charges. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune/The Associated Press) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton The Justice Department charged Wei under a Espionage Act statute that makes it a crime to gather or deliver information to aid a foreign government. After pleading not guilty in San Diego, Wei was assigned a new public defender who declined to comment following the hearing.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard told the judge that Wei had passed information to Chinese intelligence as recently as two days ago. He said Wei, who also went by the name Patrick Wei, told a fellow sailor in February 2022 that he was “being recruited for what quite obviously is [expletive] espionage.” Sheppard said Wei has made $10,000 US to $15,000 in the past year from the arrangement with the unnamed Chinese intelligence officer. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison. The officer instructed Wei not to discuss their relationship, to share sensitive information and to destroy evidence to help them cover their tracks, officials said. The Justice Department also charged sailor Wenheng Zhao, 26, based at Naval Base Ventura County, north of San Diego, with conspiring to collect nearly $15,000 in bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for U.S. naval exercise plans, operational orders and photos and videos of electrical systems at Navy facilities between August 2021 through at least this May. The information included operational plans for a large-scale U.S. military exercise in the Indo-Pacific region, which detailed the location and timing of naval force movements. The indictment further alleges that Zhao photographed electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system stationed on a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan. Prosecutors say Zhao, who also went by the name Thomas Zhao, also surreptitiously recorded information that he handed over. If convicted, Zhao could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Best CCTV Security Services in Brampton Best CCTV Camera in Brampton At the Pentagon, Brig.-Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that, “I think we have clear policies and procedures in place when it comes to safeguarding and protecting sensitive information. And so if those rules are violated, appropriate action will be taken.” He declined to discuss any specifics of the cases. But the pair of cases also comes on the heels of another insider-threat prosecution tied to the U.S. military, with the Justice Department in April arresting a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman on charges of leaking classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other sensitive national security topics on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. Beijing rejects American claims as ‘information warfare’ Home CCTV Camera in Brmapton Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton In this photo provided by Chad Fish, the remnants of a large balloon drift above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, on Feb. 4. The  appearance of a series of unidentified objects in the sky over a week that were subsequently shot down has prompted questions about why there seems to be a sudden rash of such incidents. (Chad Fish/The Associated Press) The Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial spy program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration said Thursday, citing imagery from

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Hamilton city staff apologize for ‘minimizing’ health impacts of insect and rodent infestations

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, apologized for comments her staff made that minimized the health impacts of pest infestations on residents. (Samantha Craggs/CBC) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Public health staff have apologized to residents for not enforcing the city’s pest rules for over four years and recently making comments that minimized the health impacts of living with insect and rodent infestations. Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, the city’s medical officer of health, made the apology on Thursday, following CBC Hamilton’s story. “I want to apologize on behalf of the City of Hamilton as well as public health services to those in the community who felt our level of service for not addressing pest control complaints was not up to their expectations,” Richardson told reporters. Public health manager Matthew Lawson previously told CBC Hamilton there’s little evidence to suggest rats, cockroaches and bedbugs carry diseases.  Lawson also apologized Thursday, acknowledging pests can affect people’s physical and mental wellbeing, and cause allergic reactions, infections related to scratching, as well as anxiety and insomnia. “I take the health and wellbeing of those in Hamilton very seriously,” Lawson said. “That’s why I’m here today to extend an apology to those who felt pain based on my comments in a recent media story minimizing the negative impacts pest infestations can have on community members.”  Earlier in the day, Mayor Andrea Horwath urged city staff to apologize.  Home CCTV Camera in Brmapton Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Following their apology, she told CBC Hamilton she was shocked when she read the story and said residents felt diminished and insulted. “I want to articulate how sorry I am,” Horwath said. “People need to know the city is on their side. When they call with issues, we need to respond and if we’re not able to, we need to know why.”  A bylaw officer will be in charge of responding to new pest complaints starting next Tuesday, while also working through hundreds of cases the city has yet to respond to, Richardson said.  Horwath said she expects the city to contact every resident who has lodged a complaint and find ways to expedite the process.  Kevin McDonald, a city public health director who oversees the healthy environments division, previously said Hamilton’s public health division paused pest control in early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started.  That means landlords who fail to keep buildings free of cockroaches, bedbugs or rats, as required under the city’s property standards bylaw, haven’t faced bylaw orders or fees. Public health says enforcement paused during the pandemic and a bylaw officer will pick it up next month CBC Hamilton is investigating the living conditions that tenants face and what responsibility the city has to uphold property standards. This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Parts 2 and 3 will run in the coming weeks. The cockroach and bedbug infestations in Tammy Brown’s Hamilton apartment have all but destroyed her life, she says. Roaches have taken over her fridge and stove, contaminating her food and making it impossible to cook for her two adult daughters, one of whom lives with a disability, and her four-year-old grandson.  Brown has thrown out nearly all their clothes and furniture in an effort to rid her home of the pests. “We have nothing left,” she said.  Brown, a member of the tenant advocacy group ACORN, has called the city four times in under a year, begging for it to order the landlord at 221 Melvin Ave. to fix the pest problems. She said neither public health nor bylaw has ever responded.  “Nobody from the city gives a shit,” she said. “Pardon my French, but the job is not being done.”  There’s a reason she hasn’t heard back. The City of Hamilton isn’t enforcing its own pest control rules — and hasn’t for over four years, staff told CBC Hamilton. That means landlords who fail to keep buildings free of cockroaches, bedbugs or rats, as required under the city’s property standards bylaw, haven’t faced bylaw orders or fees. Kevin McDonald, a city public health director who oversees the healthy environments division, said in an interview the decision to pause pest control happened in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, when staff were reassigned to respond to the emergency.  Pest control was determined to be a low priority at that time, McDonald said. The public was notified of the change through a report prepared for the Board of Health and the previous mayor in June 2020. In that report, it does not list services — like pest control enforcement — that were put on hold, but rather services that would continue. Pest control was not on the list. Public health lifted its state of emergency related to COVID-19 over a year ago. “We appreciate and are not trying to minimize the presence of pests in someone’s home can be extremely stressful, frustrating and concerning,” said McDonald. “And depending on the type of pests, that can have a mental and physical impact on individuals.”  Best CCTV Security Services in Brampton Brown and her family live at 221 Melvin Ave. in Hamilton’s east end. (Samantha Beattie/CBC) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton However, according to public health manager Matthew Lawson, there’s little evidence to suggest rats, cockroaches and bedbugs carry pathological diseases, and the idea that residents could experience negative mental health impacts is a “novel, developing notion” that began in 2008 when bedbugs started making a resurgence in Hamilton. “I couldn’t agree with you more that nobody wants to live with pests,” said Lawson. “But pests in the modern form aren’t necessarily presenting a health hazard.”  Hamilton public health received 1,365 pest complaints from 2019 to this month, as shared with CBC Hamilton. There were fewer than five orders issued by the city in that time. A corporate landlord found guilty of violating the city’s pest control rules may face fines of up to $100,000. McDonald said enforcement will begin again by mid-August, after one bylaw officer is reassigned and trained. The bylaw officer will respond to pest control complaints, which residents can file by calling the city’s customer contact centre, he said.  “Everyone deserves

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Manitoba restaurant owner lends kitchen to Ukrainian refugees for serving Ukrainian cuisine

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Olha Mashyna, right, and her husband, Oleksandr Mashyn, have been using the kitchen at Le Goûter in Albert Beach, Man., every Monday and Tuesday for free. (Gavin Boutroy/Radio-Canada) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Being a cook might be Olha Mashyna’s destiny. After she and her family fled the war in Ukraine and moved to Winnipeg earlier this year, a chance encounter with a Manitoba restaurant owner brought her back to doing the thing she loves — serving Ukrainian cuisine. Mashyna and her husband, Oleksandr Mashyn, have been cooking and serving Ukrainian cuisine at a restaurant called Le Goûter in Albert Beach, Man., every Monday and Tuesday. The owners, who normally close the restaurant down on on those days, offered up their kitchen for Mashyna and her husband to use — free of charge. Mashyna says it’s been a way for them to gain valuable work experience and earn some income. “It’s far from our home, but it’s … experience. It’s big experience,” Mashyna told CBC. She moved to Winnipeg’s Transcona neighbourhood with her family in March.  They came from a village close to Zaporizhzhia — about 10 kilometres from the front lines of the war that started when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 — where they owned two stores and ran a cafe. She said it was difficult to adjust after leaving her life behind in Ukraine.  “We work hard every day. In Ukraine, we have everything. We have two apartments … two cars. We have money. We have life,” she said. “I really missed my store. It’s my love.” But as fate would have it, Mashyna met Lise Bourassa, the owner of Le Goûter, at a food handling course in April. “We started talking, and I realized we have a lot in common,” said Bourassa, who owns the restaurant in Albert Beach, on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, with her husband. The couple also owns Saffies General Store, which is right across the street from the restaurant.  “We just kind of hit it off right away,” she added. Bourassa said she and her husband were planning on closing the restaurant down for a couple nights a week anyway, since they were low on cooks.  “The restaurant’s here and this is a gift that we can give them, as the community really gave to us when we first arrived,” she told CBC. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Mashyna and Mashyn are looking for a restaurant or kitchen to rent after Le Goûter closes for the season in September. (Gavin Boutroy/Radio-Canada) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton And Mashyna’s menu — which includes perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht, meatballs and other Ukrainian staples — has been a hit so far and it is because she loves serving Ukrainian cuisine.  “They always say ‘thank you’ and ‘it’s delicious,’” she said. “It’s amazing.” People even drive in from Winnipeg, about 100 kilometres to the south, to dine on the nights Mashyna works, and the food usually sells out each evening, Bourassa said. “It’s amazing how many people are coming and learning about it,” said Bourassa.  Mashyna isn’t sure if she’d move back to Ukraine, since so much has been destroyed. Instead, she’s looking for a kitchen or restaurant to rent in or around Winnipeg by September, when Le Goûter closes down for the season. “I really like Canada. I see how I can work here,” she said. “It’s my destiny, maybe. I cooked in Ukraine and cooked here.” Mashyna said she’s thankful for Bourassa and her husband for helping them as much as they have. “If I need something, they help us. They always help us,” she said. Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Olena Gordiyenko and daughter Anna have been living in Winnipeg since September. Gordiyenko’s husband and son are still in Ukraine. (Alana Cole/CBC) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton In the year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of people arrived in Manitoba after leaving their homes and lives behind to flee the war.  Some have already returned to Europe. Others are hoping to stay in Canada permanently. Then there are those, like Olena Gordiyenko, who are still facing uncertainty around what comes next.  “Of course my heart is in Ukraine,” she said, sitting in her new apartment located near the University of Manitoba where she’s working on a one-year contract.  Gordiyenko arrived in Winnipeg with her nine-year-old daughter Anna last September.  A provincial spokesperson said Tuesday more than 17,200 Ukrainians have presented to Manitoba’s reception and welcoming centre since the start of the war. Roughly 13,200 provincial health cards have been issued.  The federal government launched the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel program last March, which allowed Ukrainians to come to Canada quickly to work or study for up to three years. Those who want to become permanent residents may be able to apply for other programs, the government says.  Gordiyenko said she wasn’t planning to leave Ukraine. She had her family, a home and a good job in Zaporizhzhia, where she’s from.  “Everything was perfect and I was absolutely happy,” she said of her life in Ukraine. “Now I understand it, that I was absolutely happy because I’ve had the chance to compare.” When the war started everything changed. Gordiyenko and her family made the decision for herself and Anna to leave Ukraine, while her husband and 21-year-old son stayed behind.  Though there are exceptions, men between the ages of 18 and 60 were barred from leaving Ukraine. Her son is currently finishing his university studies online.  “It was very difficult to make a choice, but … this decision was made by our family together,” said Gordiyenko.  “The main thing was that my daughter, now, she is safe. She is not in war, she sleeps OK, she is absolutely happy here.”  Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Olena Gordiyenko and her family in Ukraine in December 2022. Gordiyenko and her daughter are living in Winnipeg, while her husband and son remain in Ukraine. (Submitted by Olena Gordiyenko ) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Gordiyenko said her contract at the U of M where she’s

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At least 20 dead and 27 missing in floods surrounding China’s capital Beijing, thousands evacuated

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton A resident looks out over an area inundated by flood waters in the Miaofengshan region on the outskirts of Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton BEIJING – At least 20 people were killed and 27 are missing in floods surrounding China’s capital Beijing, with thousands of others evacuated to safety, state media reported Tuesday. Days of heavy rains have prompted authorities to close train stations and evacuate people in vulnerable areas to school gyms. Homes have been flooded, roads torn apart and cars piled into stacks by the rushing waters. The level of rainfall is rarely seen in Beijing, which generally enjoys moderate, dry summers but has experienced record-breaking extended days of high temperatures this summer. Flooding in other parts of northern China that rarely see such large amounts of rain have led to scores of deaths. Seasonal flooding hits large parts of China every summer, particularly in the semitropical south, while some northern regions this year have reported the worst floods in 50 years. Indicating the level of urgency, President Xi Jinping issued an order for local governments to go “all out” to rescue those trapped and minimize the loss of life and damage to property. State media reported that 11 people died and 27 are missing in floods in the  mountains to the west of Beijing’s city center. Nine other deaths were reported in Hebei province, just outside the metropolis and the source of much of its food and labour. More than 500,000 people have been impacted by the floods, state broadcaster CCTV said, without saying how many had been moved to other locations. In early July, at least 15 people were killed and missing in floods in the southwestern region of Chongqing, and about 5,590 people in the far northwestern province of Liaoning had to be evacuated. In the central province of Hubei, rainstorms trapped residents in their vehicles and homes. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Home CCTV Camera in Brampton A traditional gate is seen inundated by flood waters in the Miaofengshan area on the outskirts of Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) China’s deadliest and most destructive floods in recent history were in 1998, when 4,150 people died, most of them along the Yangtze River. In 2021, more than 300 people died in flooding in the central province of Henan. Record rainfall inundated the provincial capital of Zhengzhou on July 20 that year, turning streets into rushing rivers and flooding at least part of a subway line. Employers across much of China were ordered Monday to limit outdoor work due to scorching temperatures, while the east and southwest were warned to prepare for torrential rain as the country struggled with heat, flooding and drought. Temperatures as high as 40 C (104 F) were reported in cities including Shijiazhuang, southwest of Beijing, the capital. Highs of 35 C (95 F) to 38 C (100 F) were reported in Beijing, Guangzhou in the south, Chongqing in the southwest and Shenyang in the northeast. The weather agency issued an orange alert, its second-highest warning, for heat across southern China and much of the north and northeast. That requires employers to limit outdoor work, though delivery workers for restaurants and online retailers still were working. The agriculture ministry warned Sunday that persistent hot weather could damage rice harvests and told local authorities to ensure adequate water supplies to prevent premature ripening of the crop. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water Resources warned the provinces of Shandong on the east coast and Sichuan in the southwest to prepare for heavy rain from Tuesday to Friday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It said multiple rivers were likely to rise above safe levels. Heavy rain triggered a landslide Saturday in the central city of Yichang in Hubei province that buried a highway construction site and killed one person. Authorities were searching Monday for seven missing construction workers, Xinhua reported. Business and schools in Heilongjiang province in the northeast were ordered Monday to close and shut down outdoor electrical equipment after 84 millimetres (3.3 inches) of rain fell in one hour, according to state TV. It said traffic police were ordered to close dangerous road sections. Tens of thousands of people who were driven out of their homes by earlier flooding moved to shelters in northern, central and southeastern China. Residents of some cities have moved into underground air raid shelters to escape the heat. Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high last Thursday, the third such milestone in the hottest week on record. Heavy flooding has displaced thousands of people around China as the capital had a relative respite from sweltering heat. Beijing reported 9.8 straight days when the temperature exceeded 35 C (95 F), the National Climate Center said Monday. Such a streak was last recorded in 1961 — decades before most Beijing residents had air conditioning or even fans. A lack of rainfall may be contributing to the heat, with the typically dry capital receiving even less than usual this year. While temperatures have since moderated — Monday’s temperature at midday was 33 C (91 F) — they are expected to rise again this week to as high as 39.6 Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) in Beijing and other parts of the country, authorities said. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people were urgently moved to safety due to flooding in the central province of Hunan, the Xiang’xi Emergency Management Bureau on Sunday. Around 70 houses collapsed, 2,283 were damaged and farm fields were flooded. Losses so far have been estimated at least 575 million yuan (US$79 million). To the north in Shaanxi province’s Zhenba county, authorities reported the worst flooding in 50 years had washed out roads and damaged homes. No deaths have been reported from the floods thus far but several are missing in floods. The heat this year has been unusual, although China has regular summer flooding. Eleven provinces — around

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