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Five stories in the news today, Jan. 25

Jan 25, 2017 | 2:45 AM

Six stories in the news for Wednesday, Jan. 25

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TORIES PREPARE FOR PARLIAMENT, LEADERSHIP 

Conservative members of Parliament are gathering in Quebec City today for two days of strategizing before next week’s return of the House of Commons and their final months with Rona Ambrose as interim leader. With the race to replace Ambrose ramping up and a change of government south of the border upturning the political status quo, the goal for the party’s 97 MPs is simple: stay focused on the singular goal of holding the prime minister to account.

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SENTENCE TO BE HANDED DOWN FOR TRAVIS VADER

A judge is set to deliver his sentence today for a man convicted of killing two Alberta seniors who disappeared on a camping trip in 2010. The penalty for Travis Vader, found guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann, could range from time already served to life in prison. The couple, in their late 70s, vanished after leaving their home in St. Albert, northwest of Edmonton, on a camping trip to British Columbia.

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JACQUES CORRIVEAU TO BE SENTENCED TODAY

An ex-Liberal organizer convicted of fraud related to the federal sponsorship scandal is expected to be sentenced today. A jury found Jacques Corriveau guilty of three charges in November: fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime. His lawyer is appealing the conviction.

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MORE HELP NEEDED FOR AGING INMATES: ADVOCATES 

Advocates for seniors in Canadian prisons say the corrections system is not doing enough to address the needs of aging offenders. Canada’s Correctional Investigator, Ivan Zinger, says his office has long received complaints from inmates who say they don’t have the access they need to specialists, medical devices or diets.

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LIBERALS SEE ANTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS PATH TO GROWTH

The federal Liberals are expected to use the upcoming federal budget to foster the development of cutting-edge artificial intelligence in the hope it will be a springboard to attracting investment and creating a highly skilled new sector of jobs. Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains and others see an opportunity for Canada to exploit its competitive advantage in a technology that is becoming ubiquitous across all sectors — from major companies such as Google or Microsoft to the banking and automotive sectors.

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DOCTORS SAVE WOMAN’S LIFE BY REMOVING LUNGS

Toronto doctors say they were able to save a woman’s life with a radical procedure they believe had never been done before — they removed her severely infected lungs and kept her alive on machines until she was able to have a transplant six days later. Melissa Benoit was born with cystic fibrosis and had developed a lung infection that had rampaged throughout her body and sent her into organ failure and septic shock.

The Canadian Press