Native Canadian women sold on U.S. ships, researcher says

An American researcher says First Nations women from Thunder Bay, Ont., have been sold on ships in the harbour at Duluth, Minn.

Christine Stark said the port at Duluth is notorious among First Nations people as a site for trafficking women.

The masters student at the University of Minnesota Duluth said she has anecdotal reports of women, teenage girls and boys, as well as babies being sold on ships for sex.

The Ontario Native Women's Association says it also has anecdotal reports of women being trafficked across borders, or provincial boundaries, into the sex trade. (Istock)

"The women and children — and I've even had women talk about a couple of babies brought onto the ships and sold to the men on ships — are being sold or are exchanging sex for alcohol, a place to stay, drugs, money and so forth.," Stark said. "It's quite shocking."

Stark said the sex trade on ships has been going on for generations, and includes Indigenous women from Canada.

Strong link between Thunder Bay, Duluth

"I have spoken with a woman who was brought down from Thunder Bay on the ships and talks about an excessive amount of trafficking between Canada and the Duluth-Superior harbor," Stark said. "There is a very strong link between Thunder Bay and Duluth."

Her current research is an offshoot of a 2007 report on prostitution in Minnesota, in conjunction with the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition. That report included interviews with 105 indigenous women in Minnesota who have been trafficked in the sex trade.

Stark said the stories that "women get brought out onto the boats and never come back" that she heard as part of that study begged further exploration. She's currently conducting interviews with 15 people to learn more about what happens on the ships.

The Ontario Native Women's Association (ONWA) said it also has anecdotal reports of women being trafficked across borders,or provincial boundaries, into the sex trade.

"We know that it's happening between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, and there have been reports of it happening in southern Ontario across the U.S. border," said Kezia Picard, the director of policy and research with ONWA.

Poverty, lack of housing make women vulnerable

But Picard said more funding is needed for more formal research into how women are being spirited away.

"Another thing we're really trying to advocate for is additional research to understand what's happening and what sort of programs help women in this sort of situation to prevent it from happening," Picard said.

However, Picard said some of the reasons First Nations women are vulnerable to sex trafficking are all too familiar in indigenous communites.

"The reason that indigenous women and girls are sometimes trafficked has to do with all of these ongoing issues like poverty," she said. "Another one of the large risk factors for indigenous women and girls is the lack of housing ... women will sometimes engage in survival sex, not of their choice, in order to have somewhere to live."

Picard said the ONWA hopes to work with organizations in Minnesota and Manitoba to learn more about the cross-border sex trade, and explore ways of keeping indigenous women and their children safe.

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Egyptian court orders Mubarak's release

Officials say an Egyptian court has ordered the release of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, following a hearing on charges against him of accepting gifts from a state-owned newspaper, the last case that has kept the ailing leader in detention.

Egypt's prosecutor will not appeal against a court ruling ordering the release of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from jail, the prosecutor overseeing the case said on Wednesday.

"The decision to release Mubarak issued today … is final and the prosecution cannot appeal against it," Judge Ahmed el-Bahrawi said.

The possibility of Mubarak going free is likely to fuel the unrest already roiling the country after the autocratic leader's successor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, was removed in a military coup last month.

Top prison official Mostafa Baz told Egypt's private CBC TV station that his offices will ask the prosecutors Thursday if Mubarak is wanted in other cases. If not, he would be set free.

'His release will cause chaos. It will be used by Islamists as proof of the return of the old regime.'—Rights lawyer Nasser Asim

The hearing was held in Tora prison, where Mubarak, 85, has been held for most of his detention since April 2011. Officials cited security concerns as the reason for holding it in the sprawling, tightly secured facility.

Mubarak is now on trial for the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising against him and other charges.

He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in Egypt's 2011 uprising. His sentence was overturned on appeal and he is now being retried, along with his security chief and six top police commanders. His trial resumes later this month.

He is facing a number of other corruption charges, but no other trial dates have been set.

The court officials spoke anonymously because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Rights lawyer and judicial expert Nasser Amin said procedurally Mubarak should have been released since his sentence was overturned, but that the political circumstances may delay letting him go.

"His release will cause chaos," he said. "It will be used by Islamists as proof of the return of the old regime."

Key Islamist figures detained

Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities have continued their crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, arresting the group's supreme leader and other senior figures and sending them to trial.

On Wednesday, cleric Safwat Hegazy, a fiery preacher from the ultraconservative Salafi movement and a top Brotherhood ally, was captured at a checkpoint near the Siwa Oasis in eastern Egypt and close to the border with Libya, according to the state-run MENA news agency. The cleric is wanted on charges of instigating violence.

This image released by Egypt's Interior Ministry shows Mohammed Badie the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood after being detained by Egyptian security in Cairo. (Egyptian Interior Ministry/Associated Press)

According to the website of the state-run Al-Ahram daily, Hegazy had shaved off most of his beard, dyed his hair and covered his face with a niqab, a head-to-toe woman's dress that leaves only a slit for the eyes uncovered.

But the head of local security where Hegazy was arrested denied he was disguised as a woman, saying the cleric had dramatically changed his looks, shaving his trademark white beard, dying it black and keeping only a black goatee, and dressing as a local Bedouin. Maj. Gen. Enani Hamouda was speaking to the privately owned Al-Hayat TV.

Egyptian state TV aired a photo showing him sitting next to army soldiers, clean-shaven and dressed in a white robe, without his prescription glasses and flashing a smile.

MENA said Hegazy, who joined ranks with the Muslim Brotherhood in campaigning for Morsi's presidential bid, showed no resistance during his arrest and was flown to a detention centre in Cairo.

Hegazy was a key speaker at the main pro-Morsi sit-in that was dispersed by security troops last week in Cairo's Nasr City suburb. He told protesters to hold their ground and promised to deal blows to the military. He is wanted on charges of instigating deadly clashes last month with security forces outside a Republican Guard building that killed 54 people, most of them Morsi supporters.

Also, an Egyptian security official said Mourad Ali, a spokesman for the Brotherhood's political party, was detained at Cairo airport while trying to catch a flight to Italy. The official said Ali's name was on the watch list in the airport for his involvement in the latest violence in Egypt. The official didn't elaborate.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

On Tuesday authorities detained the Brotherhood's supreme leader and spiritual guide, Mohammed Badie, dealing a serious blow to an embattled movement now struggling to keep up its protest campaign against the military's overthrow of Morsi and subsequent deadly assaults on pro-Morsi sit-ins.

Morsi and his top aides have been held incommunicado at unknown locations since the July 3 military coup. The ouster of Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, came after four days of mass protests in Cairo and elsewhere demanding he step down for abusing his power.

Scattered demonstrations

The Brotherhood arrests appear aimed at crippling the group and weakening its ability to continue putting pressure on the government.

Over the past three days, the group's campaign of near-daily protests has petered out, with scattered demonstrations in Cairo and elsewhere attracting mere hundreds, or even dozens, of protesters.

On Tuesday, several hundred Morsi supporters staged protests in Helwan, an industrial suburb south of Cairo, and in Ein Shams, a residential district on the opposite end of the city, shortly before the 11-hour curfew went into effect at 7 p.m. They also held a similar rally in the southern suburb of Maadi.

With files from Reuters

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Harper goes target shooting with Canadian Rangers in Arctic

Stephen Harper took up arms — albeit antique arms — on the Arctic tundra late Tuesday in a round of target practice meant as a show of solidarity with Canadian Rangers.

Both the prime minister and newly appointed Defence Minister Rob Nicholson went shooting with the First World War vintage .303 Lee Enfield rifles.

They are the standard issue weapon for the aboriginal reservists — or part-time soldiers — who patrol the vast, desolate tundra.

Harper clearly relished the bonding exercise, firing from several different positions, including laying down.

Shots from the rifle demonstration reverberated for kilometres over the empty limestone and sand landscape.

But it was as much a political statement as a chance to share the rigours of Northern life for a prime minister whose mantra has been to assert and defend Canada's claim to the Arctic.

"Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic. We either use it or lose it," Harper said in July 2007 speech, which helped lay the foundation for the Conservative government's Northern Strategy.

The tough rhetoric and thundering military photo-ops have gradually faded with each successive summer tour of the Arctic, which Harper undertaken religiously since becoming prime minister.

Harpers camp with entourage

The latest trip has led him to this wide-open, chilly nook of Nunavut's King William Island, infamous as the potential resting place of the lost Franklin Expedition of the 1800s.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife, Laureen, enjoy a bonfire at a Canadian Rangers camp near Gjoa Haven, Nunavut late Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

With four cabinet members in tow, Harper and his outdoors-loving wife set up camp on remote stretch of beach about 20 kilometres from Gjoa Haven, birth place of Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

A group of enthusiastic Rangers helped him build an inukshuk, the stone landmark synonymous with the Inuit. They also showed him how to erect a traditional tundra shelter made of animal hide.

As the sun set close to midnight, Harper inspected drying Arctic char hung on string between wooden posts, and watched a demonstration of the lighting of qulliq, an Inuit oil lamp that is set ablaze using the spark of two flint rocks.

The army has been trying to replace the Lee Enfields for years because there are so few manufacturers left who make spare parts for the rifles, first introduced to the British Army in 1895.

The fact that they don't freeze up or jam in the Arctic is part of their charm.

At a stop in Hay River, N.W.T., prior to arriving in Nunavut, Harper acknowledged National Defence was still looking for an appropriate replacement.

"I am told there is no difficulty in servicing the weapons at this time, but this is a concern and we believe it is time," he said. "The Department of National Defence is in the process of scoping out the program for replacement and I expect that to happen over the next few years."

The weapons the Rangers are using were purchased in the 1950s.

Public Works put out a tender last fall for 10,000 replacement rifles, but defence industry sources have said that the program has been held up over concern about who holds the design rights on certain weapons.

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Is the cronut burger to blame for CNE visitors' illnesses?

At least a dozen Canadian National Exhibition patrons reported feeling ill and five of them were taken to hospital after eating at the annual Toronto fair Tuesday night.

Toronto Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were called to the CNE — the Ex — after 12 people reported gastrointestinal problems, including stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, after eating at the annual summer fair.

For most of those dozen cases, the symptoms were minor, but five people were taken to hospital with what has been described as a minor gastrointestinal illness. None of the cases is life-threatening.

EMS could not confirm what the patients ate or whether they had visited the same food vendors.

It appears, however, that some felt ill after eating the fair's much hyped cronut burger — a hamburger with a croissant-doughnut mix for a bun, topped with a maple bacon jam. Optional toppings include egg and extra bacon.

CBC News was contacted Wednesday by two people who claim they became ill after eating a cronut at the Ex. One said his wife became sick after eating a cronut burger, seafood chowder fries, ice cream waffles and a smoothie at the CNE. He, however, did not fall ill after eating a cronut burger.

Another man told CBC he felt ill after eating a cronut burger at the Ex and a slate of other high-fat snacks that included a Canuck burger, sweet potato fries, poutine and a Philly cheesesteak

Both the CNE and Toronto Public Health are investigating.

The Ex opened Friday and runs through Sept. 2.

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Bradley Manning gets 35 years in WikiLeaks case

Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for giving hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in one of the nation's biggest leak cases since the Pentagon Papers more than a generation ago.

In a brief hearing at Fort Meade, Md., military judge Col. Denise Lind didn't offer any explanation for the sentence she gave Manning. Manning will be dishonorably discharged from the U.S. military and forfeit some of his pay, she said.

The former intelligence analyst was found guilty last month of 20 crimes, including six violations of the Espionage Act, as part of the Obama administration's unprecedented crackdown on media leaks.

But the judge acquitted him of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, an offense that could have meant life in prison without parole.

Manning could have gotten 90 years behind bars. Prosecutors asked for at least 60 years as a warning to other soldiers, while Manning's lawyer suggested he get no more than 25, because some of the documents he leaked will be declassified by then.

Manning digitally copied and released more than 700,000 documents, including Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and U.S. State Department cables, while working in 2010 in Iraq.

He also leaked video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that mistakenly killed at least nine people, including a Reuters photographer.

A potentially more explosive leak case unfolded as Manning's court-martial was underway, when former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was charged with espionage for exposing the NSA's Internet and telephone surveillance programs.

At his trial, Manning said he gave the material to the secrets-spilling website WikiLeaks to expose the U.S. military's "bloodlust" and generate debate over the wars and U.S. policy.

During the sentencing phase, he apologized for the damage he caused, saying, "When I made these decisions, I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people."

His lawyers also argued that Manning suffered extreme inner turmoil over his gender identity — his feeling that he was a woman trapped in a man's body — while serving in the macho military, which at the time barred gays from serving openly. Among the evidence was a photo of him in a blond wig and lipstick.

Defense attorney David Coombs told the judge that Manning had been full of youthful idealism.

"He had pure intentions at the time that he committed his offenses," Coombs said. "At that time, Manning really, truly, genuinely believed that this information could make a difference."

Prosecutors did not present any evidence in open court that anyone was physically harmed as a direct result of Manning's actions. But they showed that al-Qaeda used material from the helicopter attack in a propaganda video and that Osama bin Laden presumably read some of the leaked documents, which were published online by WikiLeaks. Some of the material was found in bin Laden's compound when it was raided.

Also, government witnesses testified the leaks endangered U.S. intelligence sources, some of whom were moved to other countries for their safety. And several ambassadors were recalled, expelled or reassigned because of embarrassing disclosures.

Prosecutors called Manning an anarchist and an attention-seeking traitor, while supporters have hailed him as a whistleblower and likened him to Daniel Ellsberg, the defense analyst who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers, a secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, to The New York Times and other newspapers.

That case touched off an epic clash between the Nixon administration and the press and led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the First Amendment.

The Obama administration has charged seven people with leaking to the news media, while only three people were prosecuted in all previous administrations combined.

Among those seven is Snowden, whose leak has triggered a fierce debate over security vs. privacy and strained U.S. relations with Russia, which is harboring him despite demands he be returned to this country to face charges.

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'Canadian Caper' no secret to some in Iran

Canada's rescue of several Americans from the 1979 Iran hostage crisis was always thought to have been carried out in complete secrecy.

But an investigation by CBC's French service, Radio-Canada, reveals several senior Iranian officials were aware of the six Americans hiding out at the Canadian Embassy during the 444-day-long hostage crisis.

An interview with a former high-ranking Iranian official reveals that some people within the Iranian government knew more than they let on.

But those Iranian allies, who opposed the hostage-taking, kept quiet because they knew that speaking out would mean risking their own lives at the hands of radical groups.

Students take Americans hostage

The hostage situation that unfolded in November 1979 began when about 600 student protesters took the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by storm. The protesters were angry with the U.S. for allowing Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the deposed shah, into the United States for cancer treatments.

The frustrated students took more than 70 U.S. Embassy staff hostage, and demanded that the Pahlavi be returned to the Iranian government to face justice.

During the chaos, six Americans — four men and two women — fled to the Canadian Embassy and hid there for three months as the crisis unfolded. Those Americans eventually escaped in an operation dubbed the "Canadian Caper," and popularized by the film Argo.

In true made-for-Hollywood fashion, the Americans were smuggled aboard a plane disguised as a film crew and flown to Frankfurt, Germany.

When the story broke in Canada, the minister for External Affairs, Flora MacDonald, said they were able to evade detection because of the tumultuous scene in Iran.

Ahmad Salamatian, who was an official with the Iranian government during the hostage crisis, says speaking up would have meant risking his life. (CBC)

"The country was preoccupied with its own internal elections — there were many things going on in Tehran — and we were therefore able to move with less notice than we might have otherwise," MacDonald said.

But they might not have been as discreet as she imagined.

Iranian officials knew, but did nothing

Ahmad Salamatian, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs during the hostage crisis, says he knew about the Americans but kept it to himself.

"It was absolutely certain that the people in charge at Iran's foreign affairs ministry, particularly the protocol department, knew there were diplomats in the Canadian Embassy," he said.

Salamatian, who was responsible for negotiating with the United Nations, says there were several officials who, like him, knew the secret but kept it quiet. They knew they would be risking their lives if they spoke in favour of freeing the hostages.

'It was absolutely certain that the people in charge at Iran's foreign affairs ministry ... knew there were diplomats in the Canadian Embassy'— Ahmad Salamatian, former Iranian vice-minister of foreign affairs

U.S. diplomat Bruce Laingen was one of three Americans held hostage at the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry during the crisis.

He says he even told an Iranian official about the six missing Americans, hoping they would be able to help them escape.

In an interview with Georgetown University, Laingen said that while the officials couldn't help, they never revealed what they knew.

"They never divulged the fact that they were there. They knew it, but kept it secret and I give them credit for that, " he said.

Dr. James Devine, assistant professor in politics and international relations at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., says he isn't surprised some Iranian diplomats were in the know.

"I think in 1979, the perception of Iran in the West was of a very homogenous, very radicalized, very aggressive country where everybody hated Westerners," he said.

But, he added, not everyone in the country was on the same page.

"The idea that the negotiators and the Americans would be talking about this frankly is not that surprising," Devine said. "The problem wasn't the negotiators and the official government, it was [Ayatollah Khomeini] and the radical groups."

Even Ken Taylor, the Canadian ambassador seen by many as a hero for his role in the escape, says he was aware the Iranians knew something.

"I think there was some suspicion among Iranians that some U.S. diplomats were out of the embassy," he said. "I don't think they took it seriously enough to pursue it, and certainly it didn't govern our thinking."

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William, Kate release new photos of baby George

Prince William and his wife, Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have released two new photographs with their newborn son, Prince George.

In a release issued Monday, Kensington Palace said the photographs were taken by Michael Middleton, Kate's father, in early August in the garden of the Middleton family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, England.

William and Kate with Prince George in the garden of the Middleton family home. (Michael Middleton)

Prince George was born July 22 in a London hospital. He is third in line to the throne after Princes Charles and William.

By releasing informal photographs taken by Kate's father, the royal couple have opted to go against a more traditional photograph, even if it left some people wanting a better look at Prince George.

"They do like to do things in their own way and that is not a bad thing, but in this particular instance they may come in for a bit of flack over this," Joe Little, the managing director of Majesty magazine, told Reuters.

"People would have liked a better look at George and you can't see his face clearly. These are not much more than family snapshots and they are not of a professional standard," Little said.

The release of the photos came a day after William described his son as a "little bit of a rascal" during a television interview.

In an excerpt from his first official interview since the birth of George, William told CNN his son and his wife are both doing well, adding that she is doing a "fantastic job."

"He's a little bit of a rascal, let's put it that way," William said in his first official interview since his son's birth. "He either reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger — I'm not sure — but he's doing very well at the moment."

CNN plans to air the full interview on Sept. 15.

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Canadians deserve cheaper mobile rates, James Moore says

Canadian consumers deserve to pay less for their cellphone plans and only increased competition will give them lower bills, Industry Minister James Moore says.

Beginning a roadshow that will see him speak across the country, Moore on Monday defended the federal government's policy on telecom, saying it is designed to increase competition in the sector.

"I think that the public instinctively knows that when they have more choices that prices go down and more competition they're well served by that," he told CBC News in Vancouver on Monday. He also spoke to CBC Radio One in Saskatoon.

He said he's "pushing back a bit" against the big three wireless carriers – Telus, Rogers and Bell – which have launched their own campaign to convince consumers Ottawa has it wrong.

At issue are the conditions the federal government has set to auction off four blocks of public spectrum the telecoms can use to carry data and voice and the rules over sale of small-scale competitors Wind and Mobilicity.

The big three carriers say those rules favour Verizon, an American competitor that has not yet decided whether it will enter the Canadian market.

Verizon, if it decides to enter Canada, will be permitted to bid on two of the four blocks of spectrum on offer, while the big three will scrabble for the other two. The U.S. firm also could decide to buy Wind or Mobilicity, with the big three having been blocked from doing so.

Bell, Rogers and Telus are trying to generate public support against Verizon, arguing its entry into the market will cost Canadians jobs. They've accused Ottawa of not providing a "level playing field" and say Verizon is a giant that will roll right over the Canadian industry.

Moore said the mobile carriers are just interested in protecting themselves.

"The noise that we're hearing is about you know companies trying to protect their company's interest," he said. "Our job as a government is larger than that, our job is to serve the public interest and make sure that the public is served in this so that's one of the reasons why I'm pushing back a little bit."

He said current policies will protect jobs, while setting conditions that allow more competition into the marketplace. That should lower Canadians cellphone bills, he said.

Moore is also promoting a new Conservative Party website called www.consumersfirst.ca. The website puts forward the government's policy positions on wireless competition and includes a list of "myths vs. facts" about the wireless market.

The telecom firms have responded by joining debates on the issue across the country.

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Officer charged in Sammy Yatim shooting arrives at court

The Toronto police officer charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Sammy Yatim aboard a streetcar last month made a brief appearance at a downtown courthouse Tuesday morning.

Const. James Forcillo appeared at Old City Hall ahead of a bail hearing expected to happen at a separate courtroom this afternoon no earlier than 2 p.m. ET. Forcillo did not speak during his morning court appearance. He was ordered to be held pending the bail hearing.

Forcillo arrived for his first court appearance at Old City Hall court shortly after 8:30 a.m. ET. He arrived in a van forced to drive past throngs of reporters and photographers as it turned into the courthouse.

Speaking outside the courthouse after his morning court appearance, Forcillo's lawyer Peter Brauti told CBC News that his client is upset, describing the charge as "a life-changing incident" for Forcillo.

Forcillo, 30, entered custody earlier in the day at an undisclosed location in an arrangement made with his lawyer and the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario's police watchdog. In a Twitter message issued Monday, the SIU said it opted for the secret surrender because death threats have been made against Forcillo on social media.

On Monday, the SIU announced it would file second-degree murder charges against Forcillo for his role in the July 27 shooting that killed Yatim, 18, an incident captured on videos that have been viewed more than a million times online.

On videos of the shooting, nine shots can be heard, seconds after shouts for Yatim to drop a knife. The final six shots appear to come after Yatim had already fallen to the floor of the streetcar, and he is then Tasered.

It's not known how many of the shots hit Yatim, but the SIU has said he was shot multiple times.

The videos sparked outrage and prompted hundreds to take to the streets in two separate marches, demanding justice for Yatim.

His family released a statement Monday saying they are relieved by the charge, but hope the SIU will look into the actions of the supervising officers and other officers who were on scene "for their lack of intervention in this tragedy."

"Over 20 uniformed police officers were present and no one stepped forward to stop the gun shots or offer any mediation," the family wrote.

"Moving forward we expect complete transparency and accountability. We want to work now to ensure that Sammy's blood wasn't wasted and to prevent any other families from enduring such a tragedy."

The family plans to speak about the charges at a news conference scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday.

'No winners in this,' says police union president

Toronto police union president Mike McCormack said Monday that Forcillo is upset about the charge, but neither he nor Forcillo was surprised. Forcillo was suspended with pay following the shooting.

"There's no winners in this," McCormack told CBC News. "It's a lose-lose situation for the family and our officer. Our officer is definitely a casualty of this incident."

This is only the second time a Toronto police shooting has led to a second-degree murder charge. The first was in 2012 in connection with the death of Eric Osawe during a raid at an apartment in 2010, and also followed an SIU investigation.

However, the judge at Const. David Cavanagh's preliminary hearing threw out the murder charge and also discharged the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Second-degree murder implies intent to kill the victim. The Crown brings a manslaughter charge when it does not believe the killing was intentional.

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Elmore Leonard, Get Shorty crime novelist, dies at 87

Acclaimed American crime novelist Elmore Leonard, whose witty, gritty and undeniably cool stories were turned into Hollywood hits such as Out of Sight, Get Shorty and TV's Justified, has died at the age of 87.

Leonard "passed away this morning at 7:15 AM at home surrounded by his loving family," according to an update posted Tuesday on his website.

The famed writer and U.S. National Book Award winner, born in New Orleans but based for decades in Bloomfield Township, Mich., suffered a stroke in early August and had been recovering in hospital.

At the time, his longtime researcher, Gregg Sutter, had said Leonard's family was guardedly optimistic about his condition and noted that he had been at work on his 46th book.

The film Life of Crime, based on Leonard's story The Switch, is slated to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

More to come

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