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How TikTok built a ‘team of Avengers’ to fight for its life

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was certain to face a blistering onslaught when he testified before the U.S. Congress.And so as he prepared to face the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, Chew enlisted all the right people to help him get ready.The Singaporean executive was prepared by former committee staffers and aides to Speaker Kevin McCarthy and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He received counsel from Andrew Wright, former director of legal policy for the Biden-Harris presidential transition and now a partner at the well-connected law firm K&L Gates. Ahead of the March 23 hearing, Chew scheduled meetings on the Hill with help from several former lawmakers, including Republican Jeff Denham, Democrat Bart Gordon, a former E&C member, and Joe Crowley, who was once a senior member of Democratic leadership.But despite hiring a large group of savvy friends, Chew and his company failed to win over the panel. The sheer number of seasoned Washington operatives and ...

Russia arrests Wall Street Journal reporter for espionage

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top security agency says a reporter for the Wall Street Journal has been arrested on espionage charges. The Federal Security Service (FSB), the top domestic security and counterintelligence agency that is the top successor agency to the Soviet era KGB, said Thursday that Evan Gershkovich was detained in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg while allegedly trying to obtain classified information.Gershkovich is the first reporter for an American news outlet to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since the Cold War. His arrest comes amid the bitter tensions between Moscow and Washington over the fighting in Ukraine. The security service alleged that Gershkovich “was acting on the U.S. orders to collect information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex that constitutes a state secret.”The FSB didn’t say when the arrest took place. Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of espionag...

In The News for March 30 : Automatic tax filing on the way for Canadians

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of March 30 …What we are watching in Canada …The Canada Revenue Agency will pilot a new automatic system next year to help vulnerable Canadians who don’t file their taxes get their benefits.This week’s federal budget says the Canada Revenue Agency will also present a plan in 2024 to expand the service, following consultations with stakeholders and community organizations. The move toward automatic tax filing, first promised in the 2020 speech from the throne, is one of several budget measures the Liberals say are meant to help Canadians with the cost of living.Experts and advocates have called for automatic filing, noting many vulnerable Canadians miss out on benefits to which they are entitled.Canadians are generally not required to file tax returns every year unless they owe money, but the federal gover...

2 US Army helicopters crash in Kentucky, deaths feared

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two military helicopters crashed Wednesday night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission, the U.S. Army’s Fort Campbell said in a statement.The status of the crew members was unknown, it added.The two HH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday in Trigg County, Kentucky, according to the statement, which was posted on Facebook.“The command is currently focused on caring for the servicemembers and their families,” the statement said.Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear wrote on Twitter that “fatalities are expected,” adding that police and emergency officials were responding.The crash is under investigation.The Associated Press

Final report to be released today into 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

TRURO, N.S. — The public inquiry that investigated the April 2020 mass murder of 22 people in Nova Scotia is releasing its final report today.The federal-provincial inquiry examined the events surrounding the 13-hour rampage that began in the community of Portapique and ended when the RCMP gunned down the 51-year-old killer at a gas station about 55 kilometres south.Its report will be released today in Truro, N.S., and will include recommendations to improve community safety across Canada.The inquiry’s mandate included examinations of the police response, the killer’s access to firearms, gender-based violence, the assistance offered to those most affected and the steps taken to inform the public as the murders unfolded.On April 18, 2020, the killer assaulted his spouse, loaded his illegal firearms into a replica RCMP vehicle and shot 13 people.He managed to escape police capture and on April 19 murdered nine more people, including RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson — whose car ...

‘It’s going to take the community’: Yukon faces Canada’s worst toxic drug death rate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

When the doors close at night at the administration office at Yukon’s Carcross Tagish First Nation, a van hits the road and drives through the communities to offer naloxone to reverse overdoses, drug testing kits, food and even a friendly face to help those struggling because of the opioid crisis.The nation’s director of health and wellness, Stacey Robinson-Brown, said the new outreach van — a common tool in larger Canadian urban centres — is run three days a week to get more “boots on the ground” after-hours and connect with people who might need support in the communities with a population of just over 700 people.“Not all crises happen before 5 p.m.” she said.Robinson-Brown said they want to meet people where they are and perhaps help pull them back from deep waters to start a healthier life. “Even if we could change the lives of some people in terms of maybe some of their use, I think that would make a world of difference.”While Yukon fac...

As Canadians miss out on benefits, Ottawa promises automatic tax filing is on the way

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency will pilot a new automatic system next year to help vulnerable Canadians who don’t file their taxes get their benefits.This week’s federal budget says the Canada Revenue Agency will also present a plan in 2024 to expand the service, following consultations with stakeholders and community organizations. The move toward automatic tax filing, first promised in the 2020 speech from the throne, is one of several budget measures the Liberals say are meant to help Canadians with the cost of living.Experts and advocates have called for automatic filing, noting many vulnerable Canadians miss out on benefits to which they are entitled.Canadians are generally not required to file tax returns every year unless they owe money, but the federal government is increasingly relying on the Canada Revenue Agency to deliver income-tested benefits to individuals.That includes Canada Child Benefit, as well as the recent top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit an...

Winnipeg judge to give decision for retired priest charged with indecent assault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg judge is expected to give her decision on whether a now-retired priest is guilty of indecent assault after a residential school survivor accused him of forcing himself on her more than 50 years ago. Victoria McIntosh says she was assaulted by Arthur Masse in a bathroom of the Fort Alexander Residential School north of Winnipeg sometime between 1968 and 1970.McIntosh and Masse were the only witnesses who testified in the two-day judge-alone trial earlier this month. The First Nations woman told court the alleged assault lasted about a minute and Masse told her afterward not to tell anyone. Masse, who is 93, testified that he did not assault McIntosh and said he had no recollection of interacting with her when she was a student. McIntosh first reported it to police in 2015 and has said it took her several years to feel she could speak about what happened.  The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school su...

Regulator defends finding that Alberta’s largest earthquake was caused by oilpatch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

EDMONTON — Alberta’s energy regulator has defended its finding that the province’s largest recorded earthquake was caused by oilpatch activity, saying the pattern of temblors since last fall clearly points to a water disposal well even though there’s no suggestion rules were flouted. “The connection between the earthquake sequence and the disposal well injecting into the deeper Leduc Formation was clear,” says a timeline of the research conducted by the Alberta Geological Survey, a branch of the Alberta Energy Regulator. The release of the timeline comes three days after Obsidian Energy, a Calgary-based oil and gas producer, openly challenged the regulator’s attribution of a 5.6 magnitude quake last November to operations of the company’s deep disposal well near the town of Peace River.“Since we have not seen any data or other evidence for the (regulator’s) conclusions, we cannot — and do not — agree with these conclusions,” said...

Vatican: Pope has good night in hospital despite infection

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:24:54 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis spent a good first night in the hospital after being admitted for a respiratory infection, a Vatican official said Thursday.Further medical updates were expected later in the day. Francis was taken to Rome’s Gemelli hospital for tests on Wednesday afternoon after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days. The 86-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, does not have COVID-19 but will remain in the hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said. His audiences were canceled through Friday.Francis is scheduled to celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend, and it wasn’t clear how his medical condition would affect the Vatican’s Holy Week observances, which include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and finally Easter Sunday on April 9. His hospitalization was the first since Francis had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed and spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital in July 2021.He said soon after the sur...