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White House: Xi raised case of Huawei CFO in recent call with Biden

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The White House on Monday said a near-simultaneous release of a top Huawei executive and two Canadians detained shortly after her arrest was not a prisoner swap, but said the moves came up in a call between the Chinese and American presidents weeks before.

On Friday, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou flew home to China from Canada after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her, a point of tension between China and the United States.

Within hours of the news of the deal, the two Canadians who were arrested shortly after Meng was taken into custody were released from Chinese jails and were on their way back to Canada. Beijing had denied that their arrests were linked.

When asked if the White House was involved in brokering a “prisoner swap,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki rejected the premise.

The deferred prosecution agreement with Meng was “an action by the Department of Justice, which is an independent Department of Justice. This is a law enforcement matter,” she said, adding, “There is no link.”

But Psaki also confirmed that in a call on Sept. 9, two weeks before the announcements, Chinese President Xi Jinping brought up Meng’s case and U.S. President Joe Biden pressed for the release of the two Canadians, businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who had been held in China for more than 1,000 days.

“It should not come as a surprise that President Xi raised the Huawei official, but …there was no negotiation on this call. These two leaders raised the cases of these individuals but there was no negotiation about it,” Psaki said.

When asked, Psaki said she had no information on whether Biden knew about the status of the negotiations between Meng’s lawyers and the Justice Department.

Meng had been arrested at Vancouver International Airport in Canada on a U.S. warrant, and was indicted on bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC in 2013 about the telecommunications equipment giant’s business dealings in Iran.

The years-long extradition drama had been a central source of discord in increasingly rocky ties between Beijing and Washington, with Chinese officials signaling that the case needed to be dropped to help end a diplomatic stalemate.

Psaki emphasized the deal announced on Friday did not indicate a softening of U.S. concerns about Chinese behavior.

“Our policy has not changed, our policy toward China,” Psaki said. “We are not seeking conflict. It is a relationship of competition and we are going to continue to hold the PRC to account for its unfair economic practices, its coercive actions around the world and its human rights abuses,” she said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

 

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Steve Holland; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Heather Timmons)

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RCMP arrest second suspect in deadly shooting east of Calgary

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EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.

Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.

Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.

Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.

Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.

RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.

Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.

“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.

But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.

“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.

While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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26-year-old son is accused of his father’s murder on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast

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RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.

Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.

The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.

It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.

Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.

The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Metro Vancouver’s HandyDART strike continues after talks break with no deal

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VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.

Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”

However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.

McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.

He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.

The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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