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Security committee of parliamentarians begins latest foreign interference study

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

OTTAWA — The committee of parliamentarians that oversees national security says it has begun a study of foreign interference, following a request from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.In a statement, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians says it will examine the state of foreign interference in Canada’s democratic processes since 2018.That will continue the work done in its previous review of the government’s response to foreign interference, which covered the period from 2015 to 2018.The committee says it will also consider the independent report by former public servant Morris Rosenberg on the federal protocol for monitoring foreign interference attempts during the last general election.The committee, chaired by Liberal MP David McGuinty, plans to consult other review bodies to avoid duplication as it develops its terms of reference for the latest review.“Foreign interference and influence have been identified as significant threats to the r...

Yeti recalls 1.9 million coolers and cases for magnet hazard

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

U.S. product regulators said Thursday that Yeti has recalled 1.9 million coolers and gear cases because magnets can come detached from them, posing a risk of serious injury or death.The Consumer Product Safety Commission said consumers should immediately stop using the four recalled products and contact Yeti for refund information.The closures on the recalled products can fail, resulting in detached magnets, the CPSC said. If swallowed, two or more high-powered magnets can attract to each other or to another metal object and get stuck in the digestive system. The CPSC said if that happens, it can cause perforations, twisting and blockage of the intestines, potentially resulting in infection, blood poisoning and death.The products being recalled are the Sidekick dry gear case, M20 soft backpack cooler and M30 soft cooler, version 1.0 and 2.0.The coolers and gear bags were sold at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ace Hardware, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Yeti and other stores, including Amazon...

Budget highlights Biden’s ‘values’ as he eyes 2024 campaign

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — With Republicans in control of the House, there’s no chance that President Joe Biden’s new budget plan will become law as it stands. Instead, the financial blueprint that he’s announcing in Philadelphia on Thursday will serve as a political talking point for a president preparing to run for reelection. “When you look at the budget, it’s a statement of the president’s values,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.Many of the key proposals are designed to draw sharp contrasts with Republicans. Some of the highlights of Biden’s plan:THE TOP LINEBiden’s budget covers the next 10 years. Overall, he expects an additional $4.7 trillion in tax revenues and $800 billion in savings from making changes to government programs. Biden also wants $2.6 trillion in new spending. That leaves him with an estimated $2.9 trillion reduction in the deficit. The president emphasized fiscal responsibility as he prepared his budget, portraying Republic...

RCMP watchdog investigates force how B.C. unit handles resource project protests

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

OTTAWA — The RCMP watchdog has launched a systemic investigation of the national police force’s British Columbia unit that deals with protests against logging and pipeline projects.Civilian Review and Complaints Commission chairperson Michelaine Lahaie says in a statement issued today that the investigation will look into the activities and operations of the RCMP “E” Division Community-Industry Response Group.The group is tasked with providing a co-ordinated response to public order events related to large-scale resource-based industrial projects in British Columbia.Protesters against old-growth logging on Vancouver Island allege police have used excessive force, such as pepper-spraying people’s faces at close range, as well as shoving and throwing them to the ground.The complaints commission plans to assess if the group’s procedures followed the law and its own polices.It also intends to look at whether the group’s polices, procedures and trainin...

Former Trump lawyer censured for falsehoods about election

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Jenna Ellis, a former attorney for Donald Trump ‘s reelection campaign and a prominent conservative media figure, has been censured by Colorado legal officials after admitting she made repeated false statements about the 2020 presidential election.Ellis acknowledged making 10 “misrepresentations” on television and Twitter during Trump’s fight to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, according to the censure from the office of attorney regulation counsel in Colorado, where Ellis is from. The statements include claiming on Jeanine Pirro’s Fox News show on Dec. 5, 2020 that “we have over 500,000 votes (in Arizona) that were cast illegally” and telling the conservative network Newsmax on Dec. 15 that Trump was “the true and proper victor.”On November 20, 2020, Ellis appeared on the Newsmax show of former Trump spokesman Sean Spicer and said: “with all those states (Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia) combined...

Illinois woman leads police on 120 mph chase

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

WHEATON, Ill. -- A 23-year-old woman has been charged after leading police on a high speed chase Tuesday.According to the DuPage County State's Attorney Office, an Illinois State Trooper pulled over Tianna Bryson, of Sleepy Hollow, just before 12:30 p.m. Tuesday after she was reportedly going 107 mph westbound on I-88 in Naperville.Tianna Bryson, 23, of Sleepy HollowWhen the trooper attempted to walk up to Bryson's vehicle, she fled the scene at a high rate of speed. The trooper then reinitiated the pursuit. FBI release pics of suspects wanted for armored car robbery in Orland Park Bryson reportedly weaved in and out of traffic, driving on the shoulder of the road, reaching up to 120 mph. Authorities then terminated the pursuit for safety reasons.Law enforcement was able to identify Bryson as the driver. She later turned herself in Tuesday evening.Bryson appeared before a judge Thursday morning where her bond was set at $25,000.She has been charged with one county of aggravated fl...

Big cat in Cincinnati tests positive for cocaine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) -- A big cat found in a tree in a Cincinnati neighborhood has reportedly tested positive for cocaine.The Hamilton County Dog Warden was dispatched on a report of a "leopard" in a tree in Oakley, a neighborhood in east Cincinnati, on Jan. 28. Crews worked to retrieve the cat, named Amiry, and it was taken to Cincinnati Animal CARE.At first, the care team at the CAC facility believed Amiry was a "Hybrid F1 Savannah," which is legal to have and own in Ohio. A representative of the facility said a big cat expert who was consulted was "pretty certain" the animal found was not a leopard, but rather a "serval," which is illegal to own in the state. Weekend events around the Miami Valley: March 9-12 The CAC medical team who examined the big cat took a DNA sample and tested it for narcotics. The DNA test confirmed the cat to be a serval, and it reportedly tested positive for cocaine. It wasn't immediately known how the cat came into contact with the cocaine. Since the C...

Virginia man filmed allegedly shooting drive-thru worker through car door pleads guilty

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) – A man accused of shooting and injuring a fast food worker in Virginia pleaded guilty to two charges at an arraignment on Monday.Jose Hernandez, 23, was arrested in connection with the shooting in November, several months after the incident occurred. Video shows Utah traffic stop ending in barrage of gunfire Police say Hernandez had driven a blue Toyota sedan into the drive-thru of a Cook Out restaurant in Chesterfield County on July 31, 2022, and ultimately shot a gun through the door of the Toyota — toward the drive-thru worker — after receiving his order. The employee was shot and taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.Video of the incident previously made public by the Chesterfield Police also appears to show the suspect paying for his order before firing the gun at the worker, and shattering his own window in the process. He then quickly drove off, according to police.The suspect in the shooting of a Virginia drive-thru ...

Millions of Calico Critters children's toys recalled after 2 deaths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

PINE BROOK, N.J. (WXIN) – More than 3 million animal figure toys are being recalled after two children died after playing with them.The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said the recall involves all Calico Critters Animal Figures and Sets sold with bottle and pacifier accessories at Walmart, Meijer, and other stores. The toys were sold nationwide and online from January 2000 through December 2021.The recall was initiated after Epoch Everlasting Play LLC learned about three incidents, including two deaths, involving the pacifier accessory. One fatality involved a 9-month-old Japanese child in 2015, while another happened in New Mexico in 2018. YETI coolers recalled over injury risk According to a SaferProducts.gov report, the New Mexico case involved a 2-year-old girl who initially was thought to have choked on a piece of food. However, during an autopsy, the pacifier accessory was found in the child's bronchus. The toy was part of the Yellow Labrador Twins set within the to...

La Niña has ended — Here's what's next and when El Niño could begin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:58 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — For the first time in a year and a half, we're no longer in a La Niña phase, according to the Climate Prediction Center. As a result, the La Niña advisory has ended and the CPC has issued a Final La Niña Advisory, essentially putting a cap on the end of our most recent La Niña period and the third La Niña winter in a row.La Niña is the "cool phase" of the El-Niño-Southern-Oscillation or ENSO. It's marked by water temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean cooler than -0.5º C compared to the long-term average. These waters warmed to just -0.4º C compared to normal for the February monthly average, which takes us out of La Niña and into an ENSO Neutral Phase. Water temperature isn't the only component to measuring ENSO — how the atmosphere is acting or responding to the warmer or cooler water is also analyzed. There are some lingering signs of La Niña leftover in the atmosphere, but in general, even the atmosphere is trending toward a neutral phase.What's nex...