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CRTC allows smaller internet companies to sell service over telecoms’ fibre networks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

TORONTO — Canada’s national telecommunications regulator says it will allow independent competitors to sell internet services over the large telephone companies’ fibre networks in Ontario and Quebec. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced the decision Monday at the Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto amid an ongoing review of third-party access to fibre networks in the hope of boosting competition and lowering prices for customers.In March, the CRTC announced it would lower some wholesale internet rates by 10 per cent as it launched its review into the rates that smaller competitors pay the major telecom companies for access to their networks. It included an expedited probe of whether big carriers should provide smaller competitors with access to their fibre-to-the-home networks.The CRTC says its review found there has been a significant competitive decline in Ontario and Quebec, where independent internet providers currently serve 47 pe...

Chile says Cuban athletes who reportedly deserted at Pan American Games haven’t requested asylum

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s government said Monday that it has received no requests for asylum from six Cuban athletes who reportedly abandoned their visiting national team after participating in the Pan American Games that ended over the weekend.Camila Vallejo, a Chilean government spokesperson, said “so far, none of these athletes have made any kind of request” to authorities. Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve cautioned against calling the situation a defection, saying that the athletes are lawfully in the country for up to three months.The alleged desertion involves five members of Cuba’s female field hockey team and one male track-and-field athlete, and was first reported by Cuban journalist Francys Romero. Romero wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday that the five hockey team players “left the accommodations around noon” after losing 3-0 against Uruguay. The sixth athlete who left was said to be a man who won a bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles....

Iowa to pay $10 million to siblings of adopted teen girl who died of starvation in 2017

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

Iowa will pay $10 million to the siblings of an adopted 16-year-old girl who weighed just 56 pounds (25 kilograms) when she died of starvation in 2017, according to a state board that approved the settlement Monday. Sabrina Ray was severely malnourished when authorities found her body at her home in Perry, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Des Moines. She lived with three other adoptive siblings as well as foster siblings. Her adoptive parents, Misty Jo Bousman Ray and Marc Ray, were convicted of kidnapping and child endangerment in her death and received lengthy prison sentences.Two of Sabrina Ray’s siblings, former foster care children who were also adopted by the Rays, sued the state, claiming authorities failed to protect them from severe physical abuse, torture and neglect. The siblings — identified only by initials in their lawsuit — had pushed for $50 million each but settled for $5 million apiece after mediation. “In short, the amount of abuse committed by th...

Conservative push to expand carbon tax carve out fails, as Bloc sides with Liberals

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

A Conservative motion to expand a carve-out from carbon pricing to all forms of home heating failed to pass the House of Commons on Monday, despite surprising support from the New Democrats. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his party backed the motion, but Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet had told reporters ahead of question period that his MPs would vote against it.The opposition motion was defeated by a vote of 186 to 135, with the Block and Liberals voting against it.The motion came about 10 days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suddenly announced a temporary, three-year pause from the carbon price for people who use home heating oil. The Liberals said the change comes as the cost of heating oil soared and people were struggling to pay to replace it with alternatives such as heat pumps.They also increased the amount of grant money available to help low- and moderate-income Canadians replace oil furnaces with electric heat pumps, and said the pause gives people more tim...

Canadian poet Rupi Kaur declines White House invitation over Gaza

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

TORONTO — Canadian poet Rupi Kaur says she’s turned down an invitation from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration because she opposes his government’s response to the Israel-Gaza war.Kaur says in an Instagram post that the administration invited her to Vice-President Kamala Harris’s Diwali celebration. She writes that she won’t attend because the U.S. government is funding Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.Kaur says she can’t accept an invitation from “an institution that supports the collective punishment of a trapped civilian population.”More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry there.The war broke out after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel last month, leaving upwards of 1,400 people dead.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2023.The Canadian Press<!– Photo: 20231106161116-6549583542...

Feds put $5M toward security for community groups who fear hate-motivated crimes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the government is spending $5 million on private security and other safety measures for community groups worried about an increase in hate-fuelled violence. LeBlanc says the added funding is a response to mounting concerns MPs have been hearing from constituents who say they fear for their safety as a result of recent international events.He offered no other specifics, but the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has sparked protests across Canada — and fear in both Jewish and Muslim communities. The funding, which has been added to an existing security infrastructure program, will allow community organizations apply for things like temporary private security services. The eligibility rules have also been expanded to allow access for daycare facilities, community centres and office buildings used by vulnerable communities. In the meantime, LeBlanc says he’s working with police and the security intelligence service to ensure ...

Protesters calling for Gaza cease-fire block road at Tacoma port while military cargo ship docks

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza blocked traffic Monday at the Port of Tacoma, where a military supply ship had recently arrived.Organizers said they opposed the Israel-Hamas war and targeted the vessel — the Cape Orlando — based on confidential information that it was to be loaded with weapons bound for Israel.Those claims could not immediately be corroborated. In an emailed statement, Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense, confirmed that the vessel is under the control of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and is supporting the movement of U.S. military cargo.“Due to operations security, DoD does not provide transit or movement details or information regarding the cargo embarked on vessels of this kind,” McGarry said.The Cape Orlando drew similar protests in Oakland, California, where it docked on Friday before it sailed to Tacoma. About 300 protesters delayed its departur...

Dozens indicted on Georgia racketeering charges related to ‘Stop Cop City’ movement appear in court

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Nearly five dozen people indicted on racketeering charges related to protests against a planned police and firefighter training facility near Atlanta appeared in court on Monday as their supporters rallied outside the courthouse.Protests against the proposed training center — dubbed “Cop City by opponents — have been going on for more than two years. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr obtained a sweeping indictment in August, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to target the protesters and characterizing them as ”militant anarchists.”Demonstrators and civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have condemned the indictment and accused Carr, a Republican, of levying heavy-handed charges to try to silence a movement that has galvanized environmentalists and anti-police protesters across the country.All 61 people indicted were scheduled to be arraigned Monday, that is to have the charges against them formally read in court....

Woman arrested after driving car into Indianapolis building she thought was `Israel school’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A woman who allegedly drove her car into a building in Indianapolis after watching coverage of the Israel-Hamas war told officers she believed the building was an “Israel school,” according to police and court records.One adult as well as four children — ages 7 months, 1, 2 and 3 years — were inside the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge at the time of late Friday’s crash, but no one was injured, police said.The 34-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and was being held Monday at the Marion County Jail on a preliminary charge of criminal recklessness in Friday’s crash. She had not been formally charged as of Monday afternoon, said Michael Leffler, a spokesperson for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.The woman “told one officer she has been watching the news and couldn’t breathe anymore. She referenced her people back in Palestine,” according to a news release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, which ...

Hamilton transit workers give strike notice for early Thursday

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 16:57:06 GMT

The union representing more than 900 Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) drivers, mechanics and other workers has given a Thursday strike deadline after rejecting the City of Hamilton’s latest contract offer.“Our members were infuriated with the latest proposal as it falls short of inflationary pressures and the cost of living,” a news release issued by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107 president Eric Tuck late Sunday.The statement said members voted 94 per cent against the City’s offer, which was described as a “final” one by municipal officials. If a strike occurs, it would begin at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.The union’s statement said a proposed 3.2-per-cent wage increase doesn’t “address the shortfalls” facing members, arguing non-union staff saw double-digit boosts. It also pointed to higher wages being paid at nearby transit agencies such as MiWay in Mississauga and Brampton Transit.“Our expertise and skills are in dema...