ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp

MONTREAL — Almondo Sewell is hitting the free-agent market a little early. The Montreal Alouettes announced Thursday that they have granted the veteran defensive lineman's request to be released. CFL free agency begins at noon ET on Tuesday.

Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe is denouncing the burning of a local author's book by a prospective U.S. Republican lawmaker.

QUEBEC — The Quebec government tabled legislation Thursday to continue shielding the province's secularism law — known as Bill 21 — from court challenges over Charter violations.

LAVAL — Two white balloons floated into the sky on Thursday, as a community north of Montreal gathered to remember two young children who were killed exactly a year earlier when a bus smashed through the front of a Montreal-area daycare.

MONTREAL — BCE Inc. is cutting nine per cent of its workforce and making sweeping changes at its media division, including the sale of 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.

MONTREAL — Lightspeed Commerce Inc. reported a loss of US$40.2 million in its latest quarter as its revenue rose 27 per cent compared with a year earlier. The Montreal-based e-commerce technology company, which keeps its books in U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juraj Slafkovsky met with Slovakia's ambassador to the U.S.

MONTREAL — BCE Inc. is cutting nine per cent of its workforce or about 4,800 jobs, including journalists and other workers at its Bell Media subsidiary. It is also selling off 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.

SHERBROOKE, Que. — Peter Repcik and Sam Oliver each had two goals and an assist as the Drummondville Voltigeurs routed the Sherbrooke Phoenix 11-1 on Wednesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

LAVAL, Que. — Police in Laval, north of Montreal, have opened an investigation after the bodies of two men were found inside an apartment Wednesday morning. According to sources, the deaths are being looked at as a murder-suicide.