By Canadian Press

The Friday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Dec 22, 2017 | 3:30 PM

Highlights from the news file for Friday, Dec. 22

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CANADA GAINS EXTRA BRONZE FROM THE 2014 OLYMPICS: Canada’s luge relay team is in line to get a bronze medal from the 2014 Olympics. It’s because of Russian athletes being stripped of medals over doping allegations. It’s Canada’s first Olympic luge medal. The International Olympic Committee ruled on Friday on the last 11 of 46 current doping cases and says all have been disqualified from the Sochi Games and banned from the Olympics for life.

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OUTDOOR RINK IN B.C. COMMUNITY OPENS AFTER TRAGEDY: Volunteers in Fernie, B.C. have opened an outdoor rink near an arena where three men died in an ammonia leak this year. The Fernie Memorial Arena remains closed indefinitely but local officials say the outdoor rink has been a huge step in the healing process. They say it’s a place where residents can gather again and get youth programming back on the ice.

International Spotlight

P.A.'s Howe one of 4 Sask. born players named to Canada's World Junior roster

10h ago

National

Ottawa to remove 30% investment cap for Canadian pension funds

14h ago

Budget woes

Golf and curling centre faces grim season without financial boost

17h ago

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PHOENIX PAY SYSTEM COULD CAUSE CHRISTMAS HUMBUG: Federal government managers have been warned about a possible surge in emergency pay requests from public servants over the holidays due to new problems with the troubled Phoenix pay system. Managers were to get lists of “low pay or no pay employees” and were being encouraged to contact those who might need help. The memo was issued Wednesday after problems were discovered in processing of pay requests for the final payday of the year, Dec. 27. Officials said some transactions entered into the pay system last month weren’t processed, creating a new backlog of problem files.

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LOBLAW’S HANDLING OF BREAD PROBE MEETS WITH SKEPTICISM: Loblaw is taking flak over going public with an admission of guilt in an alleged bread price fixing scheme. Loblaw and its parent company George Weston Ltd. revealed Tuesday they alerted the Competition Bureau after discovering a 14-year-long bread price-fixing arrangement. They offered customers a $25 gift card that can be used at its grocery stores across Canada. Some some early visitors to the sign-up page said the bare bones site looks like a phishing attempt by savvy scammers. Other retailers were named in court documents filed by the competition bureau. One of them, Sobeys, issued a statement saying that Loblaw and George Weston’s statement “was unfair, unsubstantiated, and quite possibly defamatory.

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NORTHERN MANITOBA TOWN THANKS CANADIANS FOR SUPPORT:  Churchill, Man. is thanking everyone who has helped the community since it lost its rail service. Mayor Michael Spence issued a news release noting that many people from across Canada and the world have reached out.  The town on Hudson Bay lost its only land connection to the south last spring when severe flooding damaged the rail line. Railway owner Omnitrax has said it will not repair the track because of the cost, leaving the community to rely largely on air transportation.

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FIRST NATION WARNS OF CARIBOU HERD IN JEOPARDY: A First Nation says a herd of caribou on a northern Ontario island is weeks away from being killed off by a pack of wolves. Michipicoten First Nation is working with the provincial government to get the animals moved to a safe location. The First Nation says that four years ago there were nearly 700 caribou on Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior, but now there are only about 30. The province has announced plans to move some of the animals by helicopter to a safer location in the new year, but Michipicoten First Nation Chief Patricia Tangie says more swift action is needed.

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EXPERT WONDERS WHY OFFICIALS ARE SLOW IN RECALLING LETTUCE: A Canadian expert in food distribution says it’s surprising how long it is taking for a recall to be issued after one death and dozens of illnesses in recent weeks have been linked to romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli. Sylvain Charlebois, a researcher in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, says such outbreaks are particularly dangerous during the holiday season, when people generally do not watch what they eat. The E.coli outbreak has been detected in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Health officials have said consumers should consider other types of lettuce until more is known about the outbreak and the cause of contamination.

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NEW SANCTIONS LEVELLED AGAINST NORTH KOREA: The UN Security Council has unanimously approved tough new sanctions on North Korea in response to the latest launch of a ballistic missile that Pyongyang says is capable of reaching anywhere on the U.S. mainland. The new sanctions adopted Friday include sharply lower limits on North Korea’s oil imports, the return home of all North Koreans working overseas within 24 months, and a crackdown on ships smuggling banned items to and from the country.

The Canadian Press