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RCMP official accused of leaks was acting on secret info from foreign agency: defence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

OTTAWA — A lawyer for Cameron Jay Ortis, a former RCMP intelligence official accused of leaking classified material, says Ortis was acting largely on secret information passed to him by a foreign agency. Lawyer Mark Ertel told a jury in Ontario Superior Court on Thursday that Ortis would testify about what he did and why he did it. “He protected Canada from serious and imminent threats,” he said.But Ertel cautioned that Ortis would be limited in what he could say, as he has a problem that defendants in other criminal cases do not face.“His actions were in large part a result of secret information communicated to him by a foreign agency,” Ertel said. “And he’s going to be forbidden from telling you what the information was or what the foreign agency was. So he’s defending himself with one hand tied behind his back.”Following Ertel’s remarks, reporters and the general public were excluded from the courtroom for Ortis’s appear...

More funding, laws can stop anti-Muslim online hate from causing violence: senators

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

A Senate committee says anti-Muslim hate needs to be met with the creation of new criminal offences, more education and less bias in federal tax audits.A report by the upper chamber’s human-rights committee says Islamophobia is being spread online and over the airwaves, and argues this is contributing to a rise in documented hate crimes against Muslims.Committee head Sen. Salma Ataullahjan says communities across the country have experienced incidents that seem to violate criminal laws but are not prosecuted.The senators say they’d like to see ramped-up efforts to weed out bias within the Canada Revenue Agency, following audits of Muslim charities that advocates argued were excessive.Ataullahjan also says the government’s special representative on combating Islamophobia needs a budget beyond the $5.6 million over five years that was allocated in January, saying there is a clear need for better public education.The committee says it wants federal human-rights bodies...

US announces $440 million to install solar panels on low-income homes in Puerto Rico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that it will disburse $440 million to install solar panels on low-income homes in Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory struggles with ongoing power outages and a crumbling electric grid.Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who is visiting Puerto Rico for the sixth time this year, said the department has selected a group of nonprofits and solar companies for the project, which will target up to 40,000 homes. Eligible households would be located in impoverished communities that experience frequent power outages or have a person with a disability that depends on power, such as a dialysis patient.Granholm said $400 million will be awarded to three solar companies and $40 million to five nonprofit organizations. The first installations are expected to start by early next year, according to the Department of Energy.“Right now, Puerto Rico is number five in the country in terms of per capita of solar installations. W...

South Carolina has lethal injection drug but justices want more info before restarting executions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s highest court apparently is not ready to allow the state to restart executions after more than 12 years until they hear more arguments about newly obtained lethal injection drugs as well as a recently added firing squad and the old electric chair.The state Supreme Court set a Feb. 6 date for a hearing over a lawsuit by four death row inmates out of appeals who initially argued dying by electrocution or bullets to the heart is cruel and unusual punishment.South Carolina has not carried out an execution since 2011 after the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs expired and companies refused to sell them more unless the transaction could be kept secret.The state passed a shield law earlier this year to hide the identities of drug companies, the names of anyone helping with an execution and the exact procedure followed. In September, prison officials announced they now have the sedative pentobarbital and changed the method of executi...

Wisconsin could become first state with an official cocktail: What they're picking

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

(WFRV) — There is no hiding that the state of Wisconsin has plenty of residents who indulge in a couple of drinks over the weekend. After all, Wisconsin is home to the most excessive drinkers in the country.Whether it's a Miller Lite, a Bloody Mary, or an Ice Cream Drink, Wisconsinites love their alcohol, and state lawmakers are playing along.State lawmakers are proposing a resolution declaring the Wisconsin-style Old Fashioned the official state cocktail. Your Old Fashioned won’t be the same in Wisconsin: Here’s why If you aren't from Wisconsin, you're probably wondering how an Old Fashioned could be any different in the Badger State compared to any other. It's all because of brandy. There are three alcoholic bases you'll typically find in an Old Fashioned: gin, bourbon, and whiskey, with the latter being arguably the most popular. Except in Wisconsin, where for some reason or another, it's brandy you'll most likely find in your Old Fashioned.It's also muddled, a process that's l...

Uber and Lyft will pay $328 million to settle wage theft claims in New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft will pay a combined $328 million to settle wage theft claims in New York, Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday.James said the settlements resolve investigations into the companies improperly charging drivers sales taxes and other fees when the costs should have been paid by customers.Uber will pay $290 million and Lyft will pay $38 million. The money will be distributed to current and former drivers, she said. The companies have also agreed to provide drivers outside of New York City with paid sick leave and a minimum wage of $26 per hour.“Rideshare drivers work at all hours of the day and night to take people wherever they need to go,” James said in a statement. “For years, Uber and Lyft systemically cheated their drivers out of hundreds of millions of dollars in pay and benefits while they worked long hours in challenging conditions.”Tony West, chief legal officer for Uber, said the agreement “helps put to rest ...

Taylor Tomlinson to host new CBS late-night show in James Corden's old time slot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

(NEXSTAR) – Comedian Taylor Tomlinson has been tapped to host CBS’s upcoming series “After Midnight,” a new late-night show scheduled to air in the time slot previously filled by “The Late Late Show With James Corden.“After Midnight,” which is based on the former MTV series “@Midnight,” will debut in early 2024.Tomlinson, 29, announced the news alongside late-night host Stephen Colbert during a taping of “The Late Show” on Wednesday.“I’ve never had a real job,” Tomlinson told Colbert. “I’ve been doing stand-up since I was 16, which is not a job.”Taylor Tomlinson performs on "The Tonight Show" in 2020. (Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)Colbert, who will also be producing “After Midnight,” revealed during the segment that he had helped pick Tomlinson for the gig.“Happy birthday,” he told Tomlinson, who celebrates her 30th birthday on Saturday. “I got you a network show. Matthew Perry had repeatedly said this 1997 movie was his 'best' In a CBS Entertainment press ...

Dad killed in front of his children while passing shootout at Tennessee restaurant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

MEMPHIS Tenn. (WREG) -- A Memphis father was killed in front of his young children over the weekend while driving past a shootout outside a restaurant, according to authorities.The parents of 31-year-old Tedarius Day said he was trying to take three of his four children -- ages 2, 3 and 5 -- to a park when he was fatally shot in the head Sunday. "That was my child, my only child," said Day's mother, Veronica Neely. "Tedarius mattered. His life mattered. His children matter. And this was not necessary."The Memphis Police Department said Day was caught in the crossfire of a shootout at the Tha Table restaurant, where people were reportedly trying to steal cars in the parking lot. Police said the restaurant's owner, Alfonzo Turner, fired shots at the suspects as they were leaving the scene. The suspects returned to the business and opened fire on Turner, who later died at the hospital, according to authorities. Restaurant owner killed in Memphis shooting Darion Banks, 20, was arreste...

1 dead, 1 missing in Kentucky coal preparation plant collapse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

MARTIN COUNTY, KY (WOWK) -- Officials on Wednesday gave an update on the 11-story building collapse that killed one person in Martin County Tuesday evening.During a press conference, Martin County Judge Executive Lon Lafferty said the call first came in around 6:30 p.m. and crews from Martin, Pike and Floyd counties responded.The two men, both from Pike County and believed to be working for Skeens Contracting from Pikeville, were trapped under tons of concrete and steel in the building, a former coal preparation plant, at Martin Mine Prep Plant near Middlefork Wolfe Creek Road, according to Judge Executive Lafferty. Gov. Andy Beshear declared a State of Emergency following the collapse.Gov. Beshear confirmed the death of one earlier on Wednesday, and Lafferty said the other worker is still trapped. There were more than two workers in the building when it collapsed, Lafferty said at the press conference on Wednesday.Lafferty described the scene as "horrific" and compared it to the 9/...

Dean's First Look: The Beatles last new song 'Now And Then'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:00:48 GMT

Dean gave a quick look at the new Beatles song, 'Now and Then' released Thursday. Titled “Now and Then,” the almost impossible-to-believe track is four minutes and eight seconds of the first and only original Beatles recording of the 21st century. There's a countdown, then acoustic guitar strumming and piano bleed into the unmistakable vocal tone of John Lennon in the song's introduction: “I know it’s true / It’s all because of you / And if I make it through / It’s all because of you.”Full song here: The Beatles - Now And Then (Official Audio) - YouTubeMore than four decades since Lennon's murder and two since George Harrison's death, the very last Beatles song has been released as a double A-side single with “Love Me Do,” the band's 1962 debut single.“Now and Then” comes from the same batch of unreleased demos written by Lennon in the 1970s, which were given to his former bandmates by Yoko Ono. They used the tape to construct the songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” r...