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Federal Court dismisses applications against Trudeau’s 2020 firearms ban

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

OTTAWA — The Federal Court today dismissed a legal challenge to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s May 2020 regulations banning some 1,500 styles of firearms.Justice Catherine Kane says in a decision released today that the applicants raised issues around the matter of guns and public safety but the court only explored the question of whether Trudeau’s cabinet went beyond its powers in passing the regulations.A few weeks after a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 22 people in April 2020, the Liberals announced they were banning 1,500 models of firearms that it considered too dangerous to be society.The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights and other gun organizations challenged the regulations in court arguing the government lacked the authority to enact the order-in-council that banned the weapons including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14. In her decision Kane says issuing the order-in-council and subsequent regulations did not exceed the power of Trudeau and his cabinet. She also s...

Canadian Solar to build $800 million solar panel factory in southeastern Indiana, employ about 1,200

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Ontario-based Canadian Solar Inc. will build an $800 million solar panel factory in southeastern Indiana that will employ about 1,200 workers once production is fully ramped up, the company said Monday.Canadian Solar said it will build the new photovoltaic cell factory at the River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville, an Ohio River city located just north of Louisville, Kentucky.Production is expected to begin by the end of 2025, with the plant producing the equivalent of about 20,000 high-power solar panels per day, said the company, which is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario.The finished solar cells will be shipped to Canadian Solar’s module assembly facility in Mesquite, Texas.“Establishing this factory is a key milestone that will enable us to better serve our U.S. customers with the most advanced technology in the industry,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, founder and CEO of Canadian Solar.Canadian Solar said it plans to begin hiring for new positions in...

Google CEO defends paying Apple and others to make Google the default search engine on devices

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Testifying in the biggest U.S. antitrust case in a quarter century, Google CEO Sundar Pichai defended his company’s practice of paying Apple and other tech companies to make Google the default search engine on their devices, saying the intent was to make the user experience “seamless and easy.’’The Department of Justice contends that Google — a company whose very name is synonymous with scouring the internet — pays off tech companies to lock out rival search engines to smother competition and innovation. The payments came to more than $26 billion in 2021, according to court documents the government entered into the record last week.Google counters that it dominates the market because its search engine is better than the competition.Pichai, the star witness in Google’s defense, testified Monday that Google’s payments to phone manufacturers and wireless phone companies were partly meant to nudge them into making costly security upgrades and other improvem...

Prosecutor takes aim at Sam Bankman-Fried’s credibility at trial of FTX founder

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A prosecutor began cross-examining Sam Bankman-Fried at a New York City trial on Monday, attacking his credibility by highlighting public statements he made before and after the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded filed for bankruptcy late last year when it could no longer process billions of dollars in withdrawals.Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon confronted Bankman-Fried with instances in which he’d promised customers that their assets would be safe and that they could demand those assets to be returned at any time.Repeatedly, Bankman-Fried answered the series of questions with a rapid “Yep.”Bankman-Fried, 31, has been on trial for the past month on charges that he defrauded his customers and investors of billions of dollars. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that carry a potential penalty of decades in prison.The California man gained a level of fame from 2017 to 2022 as he created the Alameda Research hedge fund and FTX, building a cryptocurren...

5 arrested during rally at Toronto factory that protesters claim helps arm Israeli military

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

Five people were arrested as demonstrators calling for ceasefire in Gaza rallied outside a factory in North York on Monday morning.Toronto police say the arrests were made during a demonstration outside the INKAS Armored Vehicle manufacturing plant near Weston Road and Finch Avenue. Organizers of the rally claim the company is helping arm the Israeli military.Police tell CityNews five people were arrested and removed from the premises. They were all released with a provincial offence notice for trespassing.DEMONSTRATION:Weston Rd + Fenmar Dr– At a private business – Demonstrators were asked to leave the property by officers– 5 people were arrested for trespassing, removed from the premises, and released with a Provincial Offence Notice– No reports of injuries^lb— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) October 30, 2023The group ‘World Beyond War’ say the protest was organized to demand the Canadian federal government call for an immediate...

What Trump can say and can’t say under a gag order in his federal 2020 election interference case

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A gag order in Donald Trump’s election interference case in Washington is back in place, restricting the former president’s inflammatory rhetoric as he prepares for trial and campaigns to return to the White House in 2024. Trump’s lawyers are vowing to fight the order in higher courts, setting up a legal battle over what restrictions can be placed on the speech of a defendant who is also running for America’s highest public office. Here’s a look at what’s allowed and what’s not under the gag order and what’s expected next:WHAT DOES THE GAG ORDER PROHIBIT? The order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan bars Trump and anyone else involved in the case from making public statements targeting prosecutors, court staff or “any reasonably foreseeable witness.” The order does not name potential witnesses who are off-limits, but many of them are obvious, as it was publicly reported they testified before the grand jury that in...

Music Review: Taemin is back with another sultry K-pop EP, his fourth mini album ‘Guilty’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

The prince of sultry K-pop is back! The gothic, fall season is here and the prolific Taemin returns with some appropriately atmospheric music on a new EP titled “Guilty.” It is his first release since completing his mandatory military enlistment in the South Korean army in April 2023.Taemin cut his teeth in the spotlight by starting out in boy band SHINee but has emerged as a strong solo artist in the last nine years, with four previously released full-length albums under his belt. “Guilty” marks his fourth mini album — and proves that it only takes Taemin six tracks to realize a robust comeback. Dramatic, mysterious, sometimes unsettling but always dreamy, “Guilty” is an offer one can’t refuse.It would be inaccurate to say he’s back and better than ever, because he was never not excellent. “Guilty” is Taemin just being just Taemin, surpassing himself not by being better but by being different. This EP is a pivot from the cool, synth-wave Taemin who explored themes of Stockhol...

Joran van der Sloot is sent back to Peru after US trial and confession in Holloway killing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Dutch citizen who recently admitted to killing U.S. student Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005 is being sent back from the United States to Peru where he will serve out a sentence for the killing of a Peruvian woman.Joran van der Sloot is scheduled to arrive Monday afternoon in the Peruvian capital of Lima, Interpol agent Hilda Manosalva told The Associated Press.Van der Sloot was temporarily extradited to the U.S. to face charges linked to Holloway’s disappearance, a case that has drawn international attention over the course of two decades.A few days ago, he admitted that he killed Holloway and disposed of her remains. The disclosure came as he pleaded guilty to charges of trying to extort money from Holloway’s mother in return for information about the location of the body. U.S. authorities do not have jurisdiction to prosecute van der Sloot for the 2005 slaying on a beach in Aruba, where the statute of limitations for murder has expired. But the re...

Montenegro, an EU hopeful, to vote on a new government backed by anti-Western and pro-Russian groups

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — After months of political bickering, the parliament in NATO member and EU candidate Montenegro is set to vote Monday on a proposed new government that will hinge on support from pro-Russian and anti-Western groups.A recently formed centrist “Europe Now” coalition that advocates the small Balkan country joining the European Union won early parliamentary elections in June, but without enough support to form a government on its own.Following months of negotiations, the winning coalition received backing from staunchly anti-Western groups under the condition that one of their leaders, Andrija Mandic, was elected as the speaker of parliament — an influential political position.The coalition agreement also includes the condition that the pro-Serbian groups will join the government within a year with their government ministries.Mandic had called for close ties with Russia rather than the EU, criticized Montenegro’s NATO membership and was against splitting from...

Feds ban WeChat, Kaspersky apps from government-issued devices over security concerns

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:20:49 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is banning WeChat and Kaspersky applications from its phones over security concerns.WeChat is a social network, messaging and payments app from Chinese company Tencent, while Kaspersky was founded by Russian entrepreneur Eugene Kaspersky and offers cybersecurity and antivirus software.The government says both apps will be removed from its devices today and users will be blocked from downloading WeChat or Kaspersky products in the future.It says it made the move because the chief information officer of Canada determined that the WeChat and Kaspersky apps present “an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”The officer says the apps’ data collection methods provide considerable access to the contents of any mobile device they’re on and the government wanted to ensure their networks and data remain secure.The government says it has no evidence that information has been compromised as a result of employees using the apps...