TORONTO - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been awarded some of the court costs he was seeking after defending himself in a libel case last year. Boardwalk Pub owner George Foulidis took Ford to court, accusing him of making defamatory comments during the 2010 mayoral campaign over a leasing deal Foulidis reached with the city to run the cafe. An Ontario judge dismissed the $6-million defamation lawsuit against Ford in December, ruling that Foulidis failed to prove the comments in question were directed at him or that they were defamatory.

SARNIA, Ont. - Premier Kathleen Wynne appeared to back off Friday from her tough talk about possibly intervening at Toronto City Hall if Mayor Rob Ford doesn't deal with what she called his personal problems. Wynne's comment Thursday that she would take action to deal with the controversy surrounding Ford "if and when it is appropriate" angered many city councillors, including the mayor's brother. Doug Ford angrily called Wynne an unelected premier and said she should deal with scandals at the provincial level before getting involved in the city's business.

By Julie Gordon TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford lost two more staff members on Thursday, two weeks after allegations first surfaced that the leader of Canada's largest city was caught smoking crack cocaine on camera, something he has strongly denied. Security ushered policy advisor Brian Johnston out of city hall around midday on Thursday, and he told reporters he had resigned. Kia Nejatian, the mayor's executive assistant, also left his job, the city confirmed in a statement sent to local media.

TORONTO - A Toronto city official says the mayor's office didn't ask municipal staff to destroy any documents — the latest allegation to surface in the ongoing crack cocaine scandal surrounding Mayor Rob Ford. A report published in the Toronto Star said that telephone and email records belonging to three former aides were ordered deleted. The report did not specify where the alleged order came from. The newspaper cited anonymous sources, and said one of the people it spoke to expressed concerns that evidence related to the drug controversy could be wiped out.