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Women’s Equality Coalition applauds sex-work ruling, calls on Ottawa to do more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

OTTAWA — A coalition of women’s groups that support Canada’s laws criminalizing some aspects of prostitution are calling on the federal government to do more to support and protect vulnerable people in the sex trade.Last week, the Ontario Superior Court dismissed a Charter challenge to prostitution-related criminal offences brought in by the former Conservative government of prime minister Stephen Harper in 2014.The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, which launched the challenge, had argued the laws, which prohibit paying for sexual services, violated the rights of sex workers by fostering stigma and preventing them from obtaining meaningful consent before engaging with clients.The Women’s Equality Coalition had been an intervener in the case, arguing that sex work is a form of violence by men against women and that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms should not be there to protect it.That coalition is welcoming the ruling by Justice Robert Goldstein that up...

Joel Embiid decides to play for USA – not France – in Paris Olympics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

Joel Embiid will wear red, white and blue in Paris next summer — not rouge, blanc and bleu.The NBA’s reigning MVP and scoring champion has told USA Basketball that, after more than a year of deliberating, he has picked the Americans over France as his team for the Paris Olympics.The Philadelphia 76ers’ star let USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill know his mind was made up and then made the decision public on Thursday. And one of the reasons Embiid cited in what had him pick the U.S.: His son is American.“I’ve been here for such a long time,” Embiid said in Fort Collins, Colorado, where the 76ers are having training camp — and where Embiid met with Hill this week. “For the past few years, every decision I’ve made has been based on just family. My family, my son, and having the chance to represent a country like the U.S., with my son being born here … I love my home country, but I really wanted to play in the Olympics.”France had given Embiid an O...

‘Unacceptable’: Group says government ignored process in awarding Afghan monument

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

OTTAWA — An architectural group that was chosen by a jury to build a monument to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan says the government’s decision to award the contract to a different group is outrageous and anti-democratic.Veterans Affairs Canada announced the approximately $3-million commission in June, awarding it to a team led by Indigenous artist Adrian Stimson.“This is so anti-democratic,” said Renée Daoust, a spokesperson for Team Daoust, which placed first in the competition. “They’re not respecting their own procurement rules that they have set up, and to us that’s really unacceptable,” she said The team included the firm Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker, artist Luca Fortin and former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour, who acted as an adviser on the mission in Afghanistan.Daoust said they learned they won the competition just a couple of hours before Veterans Affairs Canada held a press conference on June 19 — and then they were ...

Man encouraged by chatbot to kill Queen Elizabeth II sentenced to 9 years

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

A Star Wars fanatic who was encouraged by a chatbot “girlfriend” to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for taking his plot to Windsor Castle, where he scaled the walls and was caught with a loaded crossbow nearly two years ago.“I’m here to kill the queen,” Jaswant Singh Chail, wearing a metal mask inspired by the dark force in the science fiction and fantasy franchise, declared on Christmas Day in 2021 when a police officer on the grounds of the castle asked, “Can I help, mate?”As a Sikh Indian, Chail wanted to kill the monarch to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre when British troops opened fire on thousands of Indians gathered in Amritsar and killed hundreds, a judge said in reciting the facts of the crime.Chail said the assassination was his life’s mission, something he’d thought about since adolescence, but had only shared with Sarai, the artificial intelligence-generated “girlfriend” he created on Replika, whic...

FBI releases video of armored car robbery attempt near south suburban Walmart

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, Ill. — The FBI has released video and surveillance images of a shootout outside a south suburban Walmart earlier this week. The gunfire exchange occurred during an attempted armored truck robbery in Country Club Hills. The shootout involved armored vehicle personnel, Walmart security personnel and unknown offenders, according to County Club Hills police.Video shows a sedan approaching at a high rate of speed as armored guards conduct a money transfer in front of Walmart in the 4000 block of 167th Street. The male suspects fired upon the guards, who returned fire. A security guard from within the store also began firing at the suspects. Though nothing from the truck was taken, the male suspects escaped by taking a nearby vehicle by force. FBI Special Agent Siobhan Johnson told WGN News on Monday that the carjacking victim did not appear injured. One of the attempted robbery suspects may have been wounded, she added. Read more:...

2023 on track to be hottest year on record, data indicate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

(The Hill) -- This year is on track to be the hottest on record, following a summer of record-breaking temperatures and a particularly warm September, according to the European climate agency. Last month saw "unprecedented" temperatures, pushing 2023 on its way to becoming the warmest year by an estimated 1.4 degrees Celsius, or 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial average temperatures, according to Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The data come as a warning sign, with Imperial College of London climate scientist Friederike Otto calling it a "death sentence." “This is not a fancy weather statistic,” Otto said in an email to The Associated Press. “It’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems. It destroys assets, infrastructure, harvest.”Copernicus confirmed that last month was the warmest September on record, with an average temperature of 16.38 degrees Celsius, 61.48 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the old record set...

Will Adnan Syed be sent back to prison? Maryland Supreme Court weighs victims' rights

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland Supreme Court on Thursday scrutinized a hearing last year that vacated Adnan Syed's murder conviction and released him after 23 years behind bars, as the victim's family says they weren't given adequate opportunity to take part in the proceeding.Chronicled in the hit podcast "Serial," the case has been fraught with legal twists and divided court rulings for decades. The oral arguments that took place in Annapolis before Maryland's highest court were no exception.Among the issues discussed were whether Syed's 2000 murder conviction should remain reinstated after a recent appellate court decision, and the extent to which Maryland crime victims have a right to participate in hearings on whether to vacate a conviction. Ultimately, Syed's freedom hangs in the balance. Adnan Syed murder conviction reinstated The panel of seven justices will release their ruling in the coming weeks or months.Outside the courthouse after the hearing, Syed said he was loo...

House Speaker turmoil imperils future Ukraine funding 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

The ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker is throwing the future of U.S. aid for Ukraine in the air.The assistance had already faced a tough path to passage, as more Republicans have come out in opposition to additional aid. But as the race to replace McCarthy heats up, the road ahead has only become rockier. “It was clearly a challenge before, but we were going to get it done,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday. “It really depends on exactly what emerges from this next round for Speaker.”While no clear front-runner has emerged in the Speakership race yet, buzz has been building around candidates to fill the empty chair — and their position on further aid to Ukraine.Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), who heads the biggest conservative caucus in the House and is a possible contender, wouldn’t commit to bringing aid for Ukraine to the floor if elected Speaker, in remarks to reporters Wednesday.“I think that the...

Austin Energy to use 360-cameras, artificial intelligence for wildfire detection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin City Council approved a contract between an artificial intelligence company and Austin Energy Thursday to better protect the community against wildfire. Pano AI, a company out of San Francisco, will use both cameras and artificial intelligence to detect fires earlier, notify emergency crews so they can get there sooner, and protect crews from possible downed power lines. The company uses 360-cameras, which will be put at high points such as cell towers throughout Austin Energy's coverage area, which includes Travis County and parts of surrounding counties, to detect smoke and alert authorities. Austin Energy says it worked with the Austin Fire Department to get the program to Austin and that it will help alert fire crews earlier, especially in more rural parts of Travis County. "We can also monitor and see where it [a fire] is in relation to our infrastructure, and so if we do have something going towards our infrastructure we might be able to shut off the po...

Sheriff: Hays County 15-year-old dies from suspected fentanyl poisoning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:00 GMT

HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The Hays County Sheriff’s Office said a 15-year-old died from a suspected fentanyl poisoning Monday. Hays County Deputy Anthony Hipolito said the sheriff's office got a call about a juvenile possibly deceased. When they arrived with EMS, they found the teen dead.Deputy Hipolito said it is a suspected fentanyl poisoning, but they are still waiting to get the toxicology report back. "If it does turn out to be a fentanyl poisoning that resulted in death, that investigation will be worked backward, essentially to try to figure out where this juvenile got the suspected fentanyl from," said Hipolito.It's a tragedy the community is seeing time and time again. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Sheriff: Hays CISD student dies from fentanyl overdose days into 2023 The loss of six studentsIn May, Hays CISD said in an email to parents that six students have died due to suspected fentanyl overdoses since summer 2022.Last school year, the district launched its fighting fe...