Mix-up adds to shock over hockey deaths

A man pays at a memorial, including a cross made out of hockey sticks, near the intersection of a fatal bus crash near Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada. Photo / AP

People from both Canada and the United States are sharing photos of hockey sticks left on porches as a tribute to players with the Humboldt Broncos hockey team and five others, including two coaches, who were killed in a bus crash in Canada https://t.co/eQV2iLcdO6 pic.twitter.com/c1JDGWv1FR

— CNN (@CNN) April 9, 2018

Canada: Families and friends already stunned by the deaths of 15 players and team personnel for Humboldt's youth hockey club got a new shock when authorities announced that one of the dead had been misidentified. The Ministry of Justice for Saskatchewan province said the mistake occurred partly because all the Broncos players had dyed their hair blond for the team's appearance in the playoffs and because all the young men had similar builds. The ministry said the body of Parker Tobin had been mistakenly identified as that of Xavier Labelle. It said Labelle was actually one of the 14 injured when the team bus was hit by a semitrailer truck last weekend. Drew Wilby, spokesman for the ministry, Wilby and the Office of the Chief Coroner apologised. Over the weekend, Tobin's family had tweeted that their son was alive. "This is one of the hardest posts I have ever had to make. Parker is stable at the moment and being airlifted to Saskatoon hospital," Rhonda Clarke Tobin wrote. Xavier Labelle's family had confirmed his death, with his brother Isaac writing in an Instagram post that he was heartbroken. "All I can say is miracles do exist. My deepest condolences to the Tobin family," Isaac Labelle posted on Facebook today.

United States: Facebook Inc chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has met US lawmakers individually and told US Congress in written testimony that the social media network should have done more to prevent itself and its members' data being misused. His conciliatory tone precedes two days of congressional hearings where Zuckerberg is set to answer questions about Facebook user data being improperly appropriated by a political consultancy and the role the network played in the US 2016 election.

Middle East: The family of prominent Palestinian protester Ahed Tamimi released excerpts from a video in which an Israeli interrogator threatens the then-16-year-old with the arrest of her relatives if she refuses to cooperate. The interrogator also comments on her body, fair skin and "eyes of an angel." The interrogator, identified as an agent of the Israeli military intelligence branch, at times moves within centimetres of the teenager, who doesn't respond and repeatedly asserts her right to remain silent. The Israeli military said a complaint of improper conduct on the part of the investigator, filed by Tamimi's lawyer, has been handed to the Justice Ministry and is being "thoroughly examined."

A video released to the public shows an Israeli interrogation session with jailed Palestinian teen activist Ahed Tamimi https://t.co/0fZHBVzmMB pic.twitter.com/MOD6UVIQfM

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 9, 2018

Russia: Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned along with her father, ex-spy Sergei Skripal, in Britain, is to seek political asylum, Russia's RIA news agency reports, citing a relative. "I know that Yulia Skripal's statement about political asylum is coming already," her cousin, Viktoria Skripal, said on a Russian TV talk show, according to RIA.

United States: A Fox News host says that a graphic showing the station lagging other cable news networks in trustworthiness was taken down because it was posted at the wrong time. Media Buzz host Howard Kurtz said on Facebook that the graphic was posted out of sequence. It was later used on the show. Kurtz was talking about a Monmouth University poll about whether the media regularly or occasionally report fake news. But the graphic showed results from another question about trust in cable news outlets. Fox News was last at 30 per cent.

Three Britons injured in Malta bus crash https://t.co/32aIPZZQG1

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 9, 2018

Malta: A 62-year-old Belgian man and a 37-year-old Spanish woman have been killed and six other tourists critically injured in Malta when a double-decker tourist bus hit low-hanging tree branches. Health Minister Chris Fearne said three of the badly injured were Britons — two boys aged 6 and 8, and a man aged 44. The others were a German woman, 31, an Italian woman, 72, and a 35-year-old man whose nationality is not yet known. The accident happened at Zurrieq, 16km from Valletta, on a road frequently used by tourist buses. Local media reported the branches may have been lower than usual because of damage from gale-force winds on Monday.

United States: Texas Governor Greg Abbott says his state will commit at least 1000 National Guard troops to the Mexico border in response to President Donald Trump's call. The Texas National Guard said at the weekend that it would send an initial deployment of 250 members. Arizona has boosted the number of National Guard troops it will send to the Mexico border to 338 from 225.

Australia: Australia's republican movement may have more work to do after a new poll revealed only half of citizens want a republic, in line with another poll conducted just eight months ago. The Newspoll shows 50 per cent of voters back Australia becoming a republic, with 41 per cent wanting to retain a constitutional monarchy and 9 per cent uncommitted, the Australian reported. Those in favour of a republic if Prince Charles takes the throne is higher, with 55 per cent in favour, 35 per cent against and 10 per cent uncommitted.

"Cocaine Cowboys" pilot Mickey Munday sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in stolen car ring: https://t.co/XymjEaIdw5 pic.twitter.com/6mhoH84jtd

— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) April 9, 2018

United States: A smuggler who flew loads of drugs for Colombian cartels during Miami's "cocaine cowboys" era in the 1980s was sentenced to 12 years in prison today for using his old talents in a sophisticated auto theft ring. District Judge Robert Scola imposed the relatively harsh sentence — more than four years higher than prosecutors recommended — because of the intricacy of the theft scheme, a total loss of about US$1.8 million and because 72-year-old Mickey Munday boasted and bragged constantly for years about his cocaine smuggling past. "All of his comments have involved braggadocio and zero remorse," Scola said at a hearing. Munday spent most of the 1990s in prison after pleading guilty to drug smuggling charges involving tons of cocaine from Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel and also the Cali cartel during the 1980s. Assistant US Attorney Joshua Rothstein said Munday transferred his abilities to evade law enforcement to the auto theft ring because he couldn't resist getting back into the criminal game. "It wasn't enough to talk about the past. He couldn't resist the urge to get back in the criminal action," Rothstein said. "He traded his wings for wheels."

Australia: Extreme weather is to blame for a "tragic domino effect" that lead to sheep dying in their own excrement and struggling to breathe during a voyage to the Middle East last year, Australia's Livestock Exporters' Council boss says. Simon Westaway has defended the nation's live export business which is under the microscope again after shocking footage from that ship was broadcast. He stood by "generally good standards" in the industry though admitted they were not reflected in the footage.

- agencies