Five stories in the news today, March 24

Five stories in the news today, March 24, from The Canadian Press:

PRIME MINISTER PROPOSES EXTENDING ISIL MISSION

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is proposing to expand and extend Canada’s war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to include airstrikes on extremist positions in Syria. In a statement today in the House of Commons, Harper says the terrorist group’s power base, heavy military equipment and capital is located across the border from northern Iraq. PHOTO.

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COURT PREPARED TO HEAR OMAR KHADR BAIL APPLICATION

An Edmonton court is set to hear a bail application from former Guantanamo Bay inmate, Omar Khadr. He wants to be released from the Bowden Institution in Innisfail, Alta., where he is more than half-way through an eight-year sentence. Khadr, now 28, has admitted to five war crimes committed as a 15-year-old in Afghanistan in July 2002, but has said he only pleaded guilty to get out of Guantanamo.

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COMPLAINANT TO RESUME TESTIMONY AT PATRICK BRAZEAU TRIAL

A woman, whose name is shielded by a publication ban, is scheduled to resume her testimony today at the Gatineau, Que., trial of suspended senator Patrick Brazeau. The woman described in graphic detail Monday how Brazeau allegedly assaulted her during a violent confrontation two years ago. Brazeau has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and sexual assault.

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SON OF EX-HELLS ANGELS KINGPIN LEAVES PRISON EARLY

A search continues for the son of former Hells Angels kingpin Maurice (Mom) Boucher after he left a Montreal prison prematurely. Francis Boucher’s 117-day sentence for uttering death threats against police officers was due to be completed at the end of May. But Boucher, 39, walked out of Bordeaux Prison Monday at about 11 a.m.

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BUILDING KING RICHARD III’s COFFIN A PRIVILEGE, SAYS CANADIAN KIN

A Canadian-born cabinetmaker whose DNA helped identify the remains of King Richard III after they were excavated from under a British parking lot is now helping to ensure his famous ancestor has a resting place fit for royalty. Michael Ibsen, 57, has personally designed and built the coffin in which the controversial 15th-century monarch will be reinterred later this week.

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ALSO COMING IN THE NEWS TODAY …

— Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil and New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant make a joint announcement on inter-provincial collaboration.

— Trial of Alexander Lisi on charges tied to an alleged attempt to retrieve a cellphone “crack video” showing then-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apparently smoking the drug.