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Canada monitoring potential Chines suspected ‘spy balloon’

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spy balloon

Canada’s national defence confirmed a potential incident of a suspected spy balloon on Friday and said that officials are monitoring it.

“A high-altitude surveillance balloon was detected and its movements are being actively tracked by North American Aerospace Defense Command NORAD,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

“Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including monitoring a potential second incident,” the statement added.

Officials from NORAD, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence, and other partners have been assessing the situation and working in close coordination, it said.

The national defence command said that the Canadian intelligence agencies are working with American partners and “continue to take all necessary measures to safeguard Canada’s sensitive information from foreign intelligence threats”.

“We remain in frequent contact with our American allies as the situation develops,” the national defence said.

This alert from Canadian defence officials comes just hours after the US military said it is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude spy balloon as it makes its way over the northern United States.

Pentagon spokesperson brigadier general Patrick Ryder said the US has so far decided against shooting down the surveillance balloon.

“The balloon is currently travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground,” Mr Ryder said.

A senior defense official told Pentagon reporters that the US has “very high confidence” it is a Chinese high-altitude balloon and it was flying over sensitive sites to collect information.

The balloon was spotted over Montana, among of the places, where one of the US’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

Estimated to be the size of three buses, the suspected spy balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana, on Wednesday. It entered the US after flying in over the Aleutian Islands and made its way through Canada.

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Inter Miami star Lionel Messi draws a crowd for arrival at Toronto’s BMO Field

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TORONTO – Argentine star Lionel Messi was on the bench to start Inter Miami CF’s game in Toronto on Saturday.

With first place in the MLS’s Eastern Conference already secured, Miami coach Tata Martino opted to keep Messi and fellow stars Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez and goalkeeper Drake Callender among the substitutes to start.

Security was tight around BMO Field prior to the match.

The southwest corner of the lakefront stadium was cordoned off, so the Miami team bus could approach the stadium unhindered. Police cars blocked the road with hundreds of fans lined up on either side as if waiting for the Santa Claus parade.

Security officials cleared a balcony at the highest level of the stadium overlooking the bus arrival spot. The stadium essentially went into lockdown when the Miami bus pulled up.

Resale tickets on StubHub for the game, Toronto FC’s regular-season finale, ranged from $400 to $7,700 before kickoff.

The first group of Miami players in the team’s trademark pink took the pitch to inspect the playing surface to the sounds of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer.”

Messi and Miami (20-4-8) were coming off a 3-2 mid-week win in Columbus that clinched the Supporters Shield that goes to the team with the best regular-season record.

The 37-year-old Argentine scored twice in Columbus, earning player of the matchday honours for the fifth time this season.

The only others to have won the award at least five times in the same season are Carlos Vela (six in 2019), Thierry Henry (five in 2012), Jason Kreis (six in 1999), and Cobi Jones (five in 1998).

Given Miami has already clinched first place overall, Miami could afford to rest Messi. The league’s single-season points record was on the table, however. With two regular-season games remaining prior to Saturday, Miami had 68 points. The league point record is 73, set by New England in 2021.

Messi, the league’s highest-paid player at US$20.5 million, came into Saturday’s game with 17 goals and 15 assists in 17 league appearances.

Messi is not the first world star to draw a crowd here. David Beckham, now co-owner of the Miami franchise, was always a star attraction at BMO Field when he played for the Los Angeles Galaxy from 2007 to 2012. Injuries and international duty, however, limited the England star’s appearances north of the border.

A Toronto icon was welcomed before the game.

Former star striker Sebastian Giovinco was unveiled as a Toronto FC special adviser and ambassador. The Italian forward played for Toronto from 2015 to 2018 and remains the franchise’s leading scorer with 83 goals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2024.

Follow @NeilMDavidson on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Messi comes on in the second half and Miami scores late winner in Toronto

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TORONTO – Leo Campana scored in stoppage time to leave Toronto FC‘s playoff hopes hanging by a thread after a 1-0 Inter Miami win Saturday.

The Ecuador forward controlled a Luis Suarez cross with his leg, turned and hammered a shot past goalkeeper Sean Johnson for a highlight-reel winner in the 93rd minute — his eighth goal of the season.

Toronto entered weekend play in ninth place in the East, the last available post-season berth, needing a win over Miami and help elsewhere to keep its playoff hopes alive. The game ended with TFC knowing a win or draw by either Philadelphia (at Columbus) or D.C. United (at New England) later in the day would end its post-season hopes.

Toronto outshot Miami 15-4 (7-2 in shots on target).

It looked like the game was destined to end a scoreless draw with an understrength Miami side keeping Lionel Messi and other stars on the bench to start.

The 37-year-old Argentine captain was the main attraction, prompting chants of “Messi, Messi” and turning up the volume when he finally came on in the 61st minute at BMO Field.

He drew cheers when he paused to allow a young pitch invader to take a selfie with him in the 86th minute. An older fan did not get the same welcome seconds later when he ran on the pitch.

With an Oct. 19 bye, Toronto (11-9-4) will have to watch the league’s final regular-season slate of games from the sidelines.

Miami (21-4-8) arrived on a high, coming off a 3-2 mid-week win at Columbus clinching the Supporters’ Shield that goes to the team with the league’s best regular-season record.

The win means Miami, with 71 points and a game remaining, is still on track for the league’s single-season points record of 73, set in 2021 by New England.

With first place in the MLS’s Eastern Conference already secured, Miami coach Tata Martino opted to keep Messi, Suarez and fellow star Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and goalkeeper Drake Callender among the substitutes to start. With a combined salary of some US$33 million, it made for a big-ticket Miami bench.

But Messi’s pink Miami and blue Argentina jerseys, as well as a few from his FC Barcelona era, were on display in the crowd. And all eyes were on the Miami bench rather than the starters when the players came out.

The BMO Field crowd rose and cheered in the 48th minute as Messi left the bench to warm up with the other Miami substitutes.

Messi and Busquets came on to cheers together. Suarez entered the game 10 minutes later, in the 71st minute.

While Messi’s every touch drew a response from the announced crowd of 30,217 — his blocked shot drew aahs in the 68th minute — that was about the only drama in a drab game.

Toronto’s lack of a cutting edge was evident up front, with Federico Bernardeschi suspended and an ailing Lorenzo Insigne restricted to an 11-minute cameo. Still Toronto offered more in attack than the makeshift visitors’ side.

Miami made 10 changes to the starting lineup that defeated Columbus in a game that mattered.

Messi, Suarez and Busquets did not take part in Miami’s 2-1 win at Vancouver on May 25, disappointing an announced crowd of 51,035 at B.C. Place Stadium. The three started in Miami’s 3-2 win in Montreal on May 11 before 19,619 at Saputo Stadium.

Messi and Suarez arrived with 35 league goals between them, just five fewer than Toronto’s entire total for the season.

Messi, who had played the last five games after returning from injury, joins Argentina next for World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela next week during the FIFA international window.

Toronto was three points behind CF Montreal which had played one fewer game. Philadelphia and D.C. United (both 9-13-10) were also on 37 points — trailing TFC on a tiebreaker (most wins) — but also had a game in hand.

The eighth- and ninth-place clubs meet in a wild-card playoff with the winner advancing to face the conference’s top seed — Miami in the East — in a best-of-three first-round matchup.

The best Toronto could do was win Saturday and hope others stumble in the final stretch. But there were more bad scenarios than good.

Toronto coach John Herdman made five changes to his starting lineup, slotting in Franklin, Nicksoen Gomis, Sigurd Rosted, Matty Longstaff and Alonso Coello.

Toronto was also without injured defenders Kevin Long (concussion) and Kosi Thompson (knee).

Toronto had lost three of it last four league outings (0-3-1) and gone 3-5-1 since a 3-1 loss at Miami on July 17.

Miami was unbeaten in its last nine league outings (6-0-3). Its last league defeat was July 6, a 6-1 loss at Cincinnati.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2024.

Follow @NeilMDavidson on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

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Vancouver police boost presence at protests, schools for Oct. 7 anniversary

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VANCOUVER – Police in Vancouver say more officers will be deployed at what they call “strategic locations” including faith-based schools and places of worship leading up to Monday’s one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.

Vancouver Police Chief Const. Adam Palmer says planned and unplanned protests across the city are posing a “significant” risk of disorder, and officers trained specifically for large-scale events will be deployed.

In addition, Palmer says tactical response and uniformed officers will be placed at “key locations” in consultation with leaders of both the Jewish and Muslim communities.

He says uniformed school liaison officers will be highly visible during student pickup and drop-off at faith-based schools on Monday, while a VPD Mobile Command Centre has been posted outside the Jewish Community Centre at Oak Street and West 41st Avenue.

The Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and saw 250 abducted, triggering an Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza that the health ministry there says has left more than 41,000 dead.

Among the groups planning rallies and events over the weekend and on Monday is pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, which is promoting its events on social media by referring to the Oct. 7 attacks as “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the Hamas code name for the operation.

The “week of action” includes what Samidoun calls a “teach-in” about the operation and a rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Monday, as well as attending an Oct. 8 court appearance the group says will be made by Samidoun organizer Charlotte Kates.

Vancouver police say there have been 344 protests in the city related to the Israel-Hamas war, amounting to more than 3,000 overtime shifts by police and costing $4.1 million in policing.

“In the first 100 days following the Oct. 7 attacks, we saw a 62 per cent increase in reports of antisemitism,” Palmer said at a briefing.

“Members of our Muslim and West Asian communities are also hurting,” he added. “For some, their sense of safety and belonging has been impacted by Islamophobia, things like hateful encounters with strangers and hurtful graffiti written on walls of schools and community centres.”

Palmer says policing protests related to the Israeli-Hamas war was one of the main cost pressures that would put the VPD around $6 million over budget by the end of the year. That is equivalent to about 1.5 per cent of the entire police budget.

He says police have proactively reached out to protest groups and organizers, and the responses have been mostly — but “not always” — co-operative.

“We will facilitate that, when people have lawful protests,” Palmer says. “But what we will not put up with is violence or hatred or crimes against other people. There’s no criminality, no violence, no unlawfulness allowed. So that’s where we draw the line.”

Samidoun director Kates was arrested last year in a hate-crime investigation after praising the Oct. 7 attack as “heroic and brave” in a speech at a rally.

The BC Civil Liberties Association wrote to the VPD in June to express concern about her arrest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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