National News

SURREY, B.C. — Police say a Canadian gang leader who escaped to Puerto Rico and posed as a businessman has been returned to Canada to face trial for his alleged role in a 2009 homicide in Vancouver.

HAWKESBURY, Ont. — Ontario Provincial Police and Montreal police say they've struck a blow to car thieves with the arrest of 34 people in the Montreal area on outstanding warrants for vehicle thefts and other serious crimes in Ontario.

OTTAWA — Nearly a year after Health Canada issued a draft recommendation to designate an entire class of chemicals as toxic, environmental experts say it's time to actually do something about it.

MONTREAL — Brian Mulroney's three sons say there's no doubt their father would have been thrilled by this week's public tributes honouring his life. "He would have loved it.

TERREBONNE, Que. — Quebec provincial police say one man is dead and another badly injured after a brawl at a strip club in Terrebonne, Que., just north of Montreal. Police say the fight occurred about 2:30 a.m. and no one has been arrested.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today...

Ultra-endurance athlete Nick Pelletier knew the Hawaiian channel he planned to swim had plenty of sharks, but he should have been worried about the jellyfish. Pelletier, who's from Kelowna, B.C.

OTTAWA — A framework for a national school food program has landed on the desk of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, and with the federal budget just weeks away advocates hope the proposal will get the green light.

TORONTO — When Dr. Garth Graham thinks about health misinformation on social media platforms, he envisions a garden.

A group convened by the federal government to study the legislation that made cannabis legal is recommending the country review one of the industry's biggest gripes: excise taxes charged to pot producers.