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Suspects conspired with ServiceOntario employees in auto theft spree: Police

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

Toronto police arrested seven people and laid just over 70 charges in an ongoing auto theft investigation that allegedly involved ServiceOntario employees conspiring with the suspects.Police said Project Safari was initiated in Feb. 2023 to “identify and arrest members of a suspected auto theft ring responsible for numerous motor vehicle thefts throughout the city.”The investigation revealed that several suspects were conspiring with ServiceOntario employees, who allegedly trafficked driving and vehicle data from Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation database. Police determined that ServiceOntario employees would provide suspects with vehicle and driver information, including addresses. The suspects would then steal vehicles.Employees at ServiceOntario would also supply the accused with fraudulent vehicle registrations and vehicle identification numbers (VIN). It’s alleged suspects would place the fraudulent VIN on the stolen vehicle – referred to as re-...

Environmentalists pin satirical Fossil of the Day award on Alberta at climate meeting

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

A global network of environmental groups is giving its satirical Fossil of the Day award to Alberta.The Climate Action Network, which includes 2,000 organizations from around the world, bestowed the mock honour at the COP28 climate meetings in Dubai.The groups say Alberta earned the award, in part, for coming to the meetings with an entourage of oil and gas executives, failing to inform Indigenous communities of leaks from an oilsands mine and pausing approvals for renewable energy.The network says the award is rarely given to non-national governments.It says the rare exception was made because of Premier Danielle Smith’s particularly egregious actions. Government spokespeople did not immediately respond to news of the award. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 6, 2023. The Canadian Press

Peel police to bolster presence at Square One in effort to reduce holiday season theft

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

Jingling handcuffs could don the wrists of shoplifting Scrooges at Square One this holiday season after Peel Regional Police announced plans to crack down on retail theft at the popular Mississauga mall.In a release, Peel police said they’re collaborating with Square One’s Loss Prevention team “on an initiative to reduce retail theft this holiday season.”“Throughout December, investigators will be at Square One Shopping Centre conducting foot patrols and responding to emergency calls for service while making themselves available to Security and Loss Prevention in the event that arrests are made,” the release states.Police say the initiative will help employees and loss prevention officers, who are often ironically handcuffed when it comes to dealing with the problem.A survey conducted last May by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found store theft and break-ins to be the top issues for Canadian businesses.The survey found theft or sh...

US finds both sides in Sudan conflict have committed atrocities in Darfur

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday it has determined that both sides in the ongoing conflict in Sudan have committed atrocities in the African nation’s western region of Darfur and elsewhere, saying the fighting “has caused grievous human suffering.”The State Department said the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces are responsible for either war crimes or crimes against humanity, or both, in Darfur, where fighting that began in the capital earlier this year has descended into ethnic violence in recent weeks.“Based on the State Department’s careful analysis of the law and available facts, I have determined that members of the SAF and the RSF have committed war crimes in Sudan,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “I have also determined that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.”The finding does not include sanctions being imposed on leaders or members of either...

52 sea turtles experiencing ‘cold stun’ in New England flown to rehab in Florida

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Fifty-two endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles suffering from “cold stun” are rehabbing at four facilities in Florida after a flight on a private jet from the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts. The turtles arrived in Tampa on Tuesday, and 16 were sent to Clearwater Marine Aquarium, officials said in a news release. All of the turtles were experiencing a condition known as cold stun from the frigid New England waters.The other turtles were taken to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, The Florida Aquarium in Tampa and Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Jupiter.“This is a regular occurrence each winter and we’ve participated in the continued care of these turtles since 2016,” said Shelly Marquardt, a veterinarian for the Clearwater facility. “We know that their time in rehabilitation here makes a difference for the future of this endangered species, and we are proud to be able to contribute to their conservation efforts.”Sea turtles are cold-blooded...

CP NewsAlert: Oil and gas emissions cap coming Thursday, targets 2026 start date

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

OTTAWA — Canada is poised to outline a federal emissions cap on the oil and gas sector using a cap-and-trade framework that would begin as early as 2026, says a federal government source.The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public, tells The Canadian Press that a framework for the cap will be published Thursday, with draft regulations now expected by mid-2024.More coming.The Canadian Press

The Justice Department is investigating the deaths and kidnappings of Americans in the Hamas attack

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is investigating the deaths and kidnappings of Americans during the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday.Garland’s comments came as he announced a war-crimes case filed against four Russian soldiers accused of torturing an American during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The charges are the first filed under a nearly 30-year-old law that allows U.S. prosecutors to charge people over the inhumane treatment of Americans during war. “Hamas murdered more than 30 Americans and kidnapped more” during the attack, Garland said. “We are investigating those heinous crimes and we will hold those people accountable.”Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took captive some 240 men, women and children in the attack. Two months of Israeli bombardment and ground assaults have killed more than 16,200 people in Gaza — most of them women and children — and wounded ...

Michigan high court declines to immediately hear appeal of ruling allowing Trump on primary ballot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court refused Wednesday to immediately hear an appeal of a lower court’s ruling that would allow former President Donald Trump’s name on the state’s presidential primary ballot.The state Supreme Court said the case should remain before the state court of appeals, and not immediately move to Michigan’s highest court as a liberal group had requested.The court said in its order that it “is not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court before consideration by the Court of Appeals.”Dozens of cases hoping to keep Trump’s name off state ballots contend that his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol ran afoul of a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents anyone from holding office who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution.In Michigan, attorneys for a group of an activists asked the state Supreme Court on Nov. 16 for an “immediate and expedited consideration” for app...

OpenText divesting AMC business to Rocket Software for US2.3 billion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

OpenText Corp. says it’s divesting its AMC business to Rocket Software, Inc. for US2.275 billion in cash.The Waterloo, Ont.-based company says it has reached a definitive agreement with Rocket, a Bain Capital portfolio company.test

Facebook blocks grieving families from sharing obituaries as Online News Act dispute rages on

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:10:25 GMT

Hayley Wilson got some heartbreaking news in August. Her beloved grandmother passed away at the age of 81 after living a long and fruitful life. Phyllis Jeannie Lindsay was known as a “social butterfly” who loved sports, family, gardening, and life.When she passed, Wilson and the rest of her family, wrote up an obituary and sent it into the Hamilton Spectator, which posted it to their obituary section on the newspaper’s website.Wilson, caught up in her own grief, wanted to let her friends know about the loss but could not call them all so she tried to share the obituary on Facebook. She was met with a message stating, “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content cannot be shared.”That legislation is the recently-passed Online News Act, which will require tech giants like Google, Facebook and Instagram to pay news organizations for content that is shared or otherwise repurposed on their platforms. In response to the bill, Meta removed news fro...