Maple Express | October 24, 2026 | Toronto police name person of interest in search for missing mother and three children

1. Toronto police name person of interest as search continues for missing mother and three children

Source: CP24

Toronto police appealed to the public again on Saturday to watch for a young mother accused of taking her three children during a visit. Inspector Jeff Allington told a news conference that officers responded to a parental abduction call in Scarborough, in the area of Midland and Eglinton avenues, just after 11:30 a.m. on Friday. Somerda Miclescu, 22, was having a semi-supervised visit with the children at a relative's home when she took them.

The missing children are four-month-old Anastasia, three-year-old Irina and six-year-old Daniel. Allington said Miclescu does not have custody and her location is unknown, and that investigators are actively searching for her and the children and following up on every lead. Police are also looking for a 2017 white Ford Expedition with Ontario plate DJS 875, whose owner is 25-year-old Ionut Stroe.

Police said Stroe is wanted on unrelated matters and is a person of interest because his vehicle is believed to have been used in the abduction. He is described as five-foot-11, about 235 pounds, with a tattoo on his right forearm, and is also sought for failing to comply with a release order. Allington said the situation does not currently meet the threshold for an Amber Alert and there is no information suggesting the mother would harm the children, but anyone who spots the four or the vehicle should call 911.

2. York police sergeant charged with trafficking, other offences

Source: CP24

A York Regional Police sergeant is facing several charges, including possession for the purpose of trafficking and unauthorized use of a computer. In a news release, the force said an investigation by its members and Peel Regional Police led to the arrest of Sgt. Kin Pong Wong on Friday. No details about the investigation were released.

Wong is also charged with breach of trust, possession of property obtained by crime, attempt to obstruct justice, possession of a counterfeit stamp, and breach of trust by accessing data. Police said he has been employed since 2009 and recently worked as a frontline sergeant. He has been suspended with pay.

3. Fatal crash closes Highway 12 in Brock

Source: CP24

One person is dead and three others were taken to hospital after a collision on Highway 12 in Brock, Ontario Provincial Police said. The crash happened between Brock Concession Road 9 and Brock Concession Road 11.

In a social media post, OPP said one person was pronounced dead at the scene while three others were sent to hospital with various injuries. Police said the highway would likely remain closed into the evening until around 7 p.m. while they complete their investigation.

No details were immediately available on the possible cause of the crash or the identity of the person who died. Police urged drivers to avoid the area and use alternate routes, and said further details would be provided as the investigation continues.

4. Smith defends Alberta's appeal over duty to consult

Source: CP24

Alberta's NDP is calling on the UCP government to stop fighting First Nations in court, but Premier Danielle Smith said Saturday the appeal will move forward. The province is appealing a May ruling tied to a referendum on separatism, in which a judge found the government failed to consult First Nations.

NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said if the province wins its appeal, Albertans might have to vote again on separation. "None of us are served by this appeal," Nenshi said, adding the government should "just drop it today" because First Nations and taxpayers are both paying for lawyers. "Let's listen to what Albertans said on Monday and just drop it."

Speaking Saturday morning on her province-wide radio program "Your Province, Your Premier," Smith was defiant when host Wayne Nelson asked about the point of continuing the appeal. "We think there were errors made in law," Smith said, arguing the question is when a citizen petition campaign triggers a duty to consult. She said her position is that a citizen initiative petition carries no duty to consult, and that without that point resolved she "may as well just repeal" the legislation, because nobody would gather 177,000 signatures otherwise. The case was initially brought by the Blood, Piikani, Siksika and Athabasca Fort Chipewyan First Nations.

5. Calgary flood survivor set to testify as Canada's first youth-led climate trial opens

Source: CP24

Sadie Vipond was seven when her grandmother woke her in the middle of the night and they fled their home. Calgary was in the midst of its largest flood in more than a century; they went to a friend's place on higher ground, and the surging water cut the school year short. At the city zoo, she recalls, the water rose high enough for a hippo to swim out of its enclosure — a memory that stays with her 13 years later.

Next week she will testify in Canada's first federal youth-led climate trial, a lawsuit she joined at 13. She is one of 15 young plaintiffs in La Rose v. His Majesty the King, which will run for four weeks in Vancouver. The plaintiffs come from seven provinces, the Northwest Territories and Yukon, and were between 10 and 19 when the case began.

They argue Canada is putting young people's health, safety and futures at risk by supporting fossil fuel development while repeatedly missing its emissions targets, and they want the court to require a climate recovery plan that protects their constitutional rights. "This was a way to share my voice, to influence our governments without having the ability to vote," Vipond said. The case reached trial after seven years of motions and appeals, and Vipond is now a third-year environmental sciences student at UBC. Andrea Rodgers, deputy director of US strategy at Our Children's Trust, which supports the case, said one plaintiff has since become a mother and will testify in the trial's first week.

6. Two Pickering men charged in Cambridge break-in

Source: CP24

Two men were arrested after a break-in at a business on Boxwood Drive in Cambridge, Waterloo Regional Police said. Police said the two were seen entering a shipping container and stealing metal around 1:50 a.m. on Sunday, and were arrested in the same area.

The men, aged 40 and 26 and both from Pickering, were charged with break and enter to commit an indictable offence. Police said they also seized a vehicle as offence-related property.

7. Soldiers guard Milan as thousands march in cities across Europe

Source: CP24

Thousands of young people marched through several Italian cities on Saturday, including Milan, Rome and Turin, as authorities deployed large numbers of police and soldiers in a largely successful bid to prevent a repeat of last week's violent clashes and looting. The Milan demonstration remained peaceful, but there were brief clashes with police in Rome and Turin.

In Milan, thousands marched as soldiers were deployed and luxury boutiques were boarded up; by late afternoon most shops had reopened, Italian media reported. Premier Giorgia Meloni announced measures including sending an additional 500 soldiers to Milan and tougher penalties for minors, who police said made up a large part of last week's violent protesters. Police in Milan detained several minors as a preventive measure.

While protests in France drew most international attention, large demonstrations also took place Saturday from Milan to Rome, Madrid, Lisbon and Tirana, spanning issues from education and corruption to anti-war movements, pensions and housing. In Milan, crowds chanted insults at Meloni and held banners such as "No to lies of the state"; a group dumped manure outside Italy's energy regulator and burned a symbolic oversized electricity bill. The march ended peacefully outside the Milan Polytechnic, more than three kilometres from the city centre. Authorities said they were investigating a 30-year-old freelance journalist described as the "mastermind" of the newly formed October 17 movement. Milan police said last week's violence involved about 2,000 very young protesters, with 45 arrests over two days including 34 minors. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the soldiers deployed Saturday were only recently allowed to use plastic restraint ties, and only around train stations, and are not authorized to carry pepper spray or tasers.

8. A child's 9/11 thank-you note leads to a classroom reunion 25 years later

Source: CP24

Twenty-five years ago, a little girl named Emily Clark wrote to a firefighter after 9/11 and asked him to write back. FDNY Captain Tom Brown did more than that — he showed up at her school. Clark was a fourth grader when she wrote the card in the dark days after the attacks, and Brown kept it; it now sits in his basement, and in his heart.

"At the bottom it said 'please write back,' and it was... just sticks with you," Brown said. Twenty-five years ago he visited Clark's Levittown school and spoke to the class about bravery and gratitude. Now he has surprised another elementary school class, this one taught by Dr. Emily Clark, a fifth-grade teacher at the Meadow School in Baldwin. Brown tracked her down and found she was teaching in his own hometown. "It was that whole circle thing that put a chill down your spine," he said.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Clark said. "I just feel very lucky that I got to see this full circle, that my students got to experience it." Brown said a simple letter is powerful: "Too easy to go on our electronic devices. Write something down because that will last forever." Clark said the moment highlights the importance of taking time to say thank you, a lesson she now passes on as her students write notes to first responders.

9. Infantino says he has 'vast, vast majority' backing ahead of FIFA election

Source: CP24

FIFA's embattled president Gianni Infantino said he has the backing of the "vast, vast majority" of soccer despite his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup. Infantino is seeking re-election next year in the face of attempts to force him to stand down after the divisive proposal to sell World Cup profits through a commercial subsidiary, which infuriated leaders in Europe, North America and Asia.

In an interview released Saturday by the BBC at the Under-15 World Cup in Azerbaijan, Infantino brushed off calls for him to step down. "I was elected by 211 member associations from all over the world," he said, adding that an organization like FIFA can have different views but that if it is serious about democracy and about everyone having the same vote, "then we need to respect as well the views of the vast, vast majority."

Infantino is standing for a final term in March, with the deadline for opposition candidates on Nov. 18. His comments came after he apologized to FIFA's ruling council last week for "mistakes" in his secretive investment plan; European delegates said they left the meeting disappointed by what they saw as a lack of clarity. On Friday, the Asian Football Confederation endorsed him for another term, a turnaround from two months ago when it criticized him for a breach of trust.

10. Former NBA player Malik Beasley negotiating plea deal over gambling charges

Source: CP24

Former NBA player Malik Beasley is negotiating a plea agreement with the Department of Justice after initially pleading not guilty to charges that he altered his play in certain games in 2024 to enrich sports bettors and ease his own debts, his attorney said Saturday. Beasley entered the not guilty plea in New York federal court in July.

His attorney, Steve Haney, told The Associated Press in a text message that they were negotiating an agreement with the government "with an expected direction in the coming days." Beasley, 29, and sports agent Paolo Zamorano, 39, who has also pleaded not guilty, were among six people charged in an indictment unsealed this summer detailing a gambling scandal that has involved more than three dozen arrests. Zamorano formerly represented another co-defendant, ex-NBA player Ed Davis, who lent money to Beasley and is accused of acting as his "gatekeeper."

Beasley is accused of fixing or trying to fix his performance in at least four games while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024, under or overperforming bookmakers' expectations in exchange for bribes and reductions in his debts to Davis. Beasley has been out of the NBA since playing for the Detroit Pistons in 2024-25 on a one-year, $6 million contract, averaging 16 points per game that season.