LOCAL
A stolen taxi officially numbered 666 was recovered by the police after it was reported missing Wednesday. Police were concerned that it was being operated illegally by an unlicensed driver, and are searching the taxi for evidence. [National Post]
Cyclist Meg Norton launched a social media campaign seeking to regain her stolen bike, and it worked. She made posters and took to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and within hours she connected with a person who bought it off a woman on the street for $100, who sold it claiming she needed to leave town to be with her pregnant sister. [Toronto Star]
A 51-year-old male cyclist has been rushed to hospital with life threatening injuries after a collision with a vehicle at Dundas and Manning. The cyclist was transported unconscious to a local trauma centre. [CBC]
NATIONAL
The railway company responsible for the disaster in Lac-Megantic that killed 47 and destroyed its downtown is refusing to clean up the mess. They received a legal notice demanding that the companies follow a provincial law that holds businesses accountable for environmental disasters, but the small railway company claims they can’t pay it and have filed for bankruptcy protection. [CBC]
Canada Post, one of Canada’s biggest employers, could run out of cash as early as the first quarter of 2014. Total volumes were down by 136 million and more pieces in the first three months of the year because people now pay bills online. [National Post]
Former press baron Conrad Black is banned from acting as director of a U.S. company and must pay $4.1-million in restitution in a settlement with the U.S. securities regulator. Black, who resides now in Toronto, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. [National Post]
INTERNATIONAL
Egypt’s health ministry says 578 were killed and thousands wounded in what is the worst day of civil violence in the history of the most populous Arab state. In response, President Obama has cancelled upcoming military exercises with the Egyptian military, which receives $1.3-billion in American aid. [Globe and Mail]
Rap mogul Russell Simmons has apologized for a parody video of historical figure Harriet Tubman in a sex tape that appeared on his recently-launched YouTube channel. The clip features an actress portraying Tubman having sex with her white slave master as someone films it so the abolitionist can bribe her boss. [Globe and Mail]
A Sunni group takes responsibility for a bombing attack in Southern Beirut that killed 20 and wounded 120. The attack came amid sectarian tensions between Shia Muslim Hezbollah and Sunni rebels in Syria’s civil war. [Guardian]
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