LOCAL
Mayor Rob Ford’s occasional driver Allesandro Lisi was arrested Tuesday evening for reasons undisclosed. The police started following Lisi’s movements and actions after two news outlets reported in May that crack dealers tried to sell them an alleged video that purported to show the mayor smoking crack cocaine. [Globe and Mail]
Provincial opposition parties were shocked to learn that the Pan Am games has two budgets, neither of which includes the price of a $709-million athletes village. TO2015 issued a statement saying all expenses were within current guidelines. [Globe and Mail]
The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the puny, feckless Montreal Canadiens to start the NHL season off properly. There were five fights, including one where Colton Orr and George Parros got tangled up, fell to the ice, and Parros had to be removed from the game on a stretcher. [Toronto Star]
NATIONAL
Canadian businesses fear that hassles at the American border could ultimately hurt the Canadian economy. Essential services like border patrol, air traffic security, and airport security are continuing to work, but how long the massive shutdown will continue is uncertain, and becomes a larger threat as it goes on. [Toronto Star]
A topless protest against Quebec’s Charter of Values derailed question period in the province’s legislature. The women began disrobing and chanting against the presence of the crucifix in the chamber a phrase which translates loosely to, “Crucifix, get the hell out of here!” [Toronto Star]
A list in Arabic of alleged defences, including murder, that was signed by a Canadian held in an Egyptian jail without being charged is evidence of the coercion he faces, his sister says. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird warned Egyptian officials that relations are being jeopardized by the decision to jail two Canadians for almost seven weeks without laying charges. [Globe and Mail]
INTERNATIONAL
Congress closed a big swath of government Tuesday, sending home 800,000 workers in what President Obama called an “ideological crusade” by the GOP. Obama said an out-of-control faction of House Republicans threaten the country’s fragile recovery with an “economic shutdown.” [National Post]
The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech at the UN to warn the west not to drop its guard about nuclear weapons in the face of an Iranian “ruse”. Iranian President Rouhani has vastly improved relations with the US, having a 15-minute historic conversation with Obama last week, but Netanyahu says Iran is continuing to develop its nuclear program unabated. [The Guardian]
In Greece, the politicians in the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn were delivered to court in a dramatic scene, hauled away by black SUVs with riot police keeping onlookers away as agents in bullet proof vests and balaclavas ushered the politicians into court. The group leader, his second-in-command and four other MPs stands accused of murder, fraud, money-laundering, and illegal possession of arms. [The Guardian]
____
For more, follow us on Twitter @TorontoStandard and subscribe to our newsletter.
