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GTA Palestinian families urge Trudeau to demand ceasefire and help for Canadians

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

Palestinian families in the GTA whose relatives remain in Gaza gathered in Mississauga to urge the federal government to do more to help Canadians.In a press conference Thursday, many pleaded for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to demand an immediate ceasefire, a humanitarian corridor, and a safe passage for Canadians to exit the war zone.From anger to anguish, speaker after speaker expressed their fear as they watch this war unfold from the GTA, knowing their family members are in life-death situations.“We implore the Canadian government to use its diplomatic influence to help broker an end to this conflict, to put an end to the suffering and to bring about justice to the people of Gaza who are facing a severe humanitarian crisis,” said Nora, who has family in Gaza.Mansour, a Canadian living in Southern Gaza who joined the press conference live, said he sees ambulances daily and they are running out of supplies.“Almost half of the hospitals or clinics have stopped w...

Man arrested after trespassing twice in one day at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s home in Los Angeles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

A man was arrested after trespassing twice in one day at the Los Angeles home of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., police confirmed Thursday.Police first responded to a call about the 28-year-old man trespassing at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Drake Madison, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.The man was served an emergency protective order and released, but he returned to the property later that day, prompting police to arrest him for violating the order. He remained in police custody Thursday.Kennedy’s campaign said in a statement that the man climbed a fence at the candidate’s home but was detained by the candidate’s private security company. Kennedy, who is running as an independent, was home at the time of both arrests, the campaign added.The incidents come over a month after an armed man accused of impersonating a federal officer was arrested at a Kennedy campaign event. Kennedy and his campaign have repeatedly argued that he nee...

Indian company that makes EV battery materials to build its first US plant in North Carolina

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

BOLIVIA, N.C. (AP) — An Indian company that produces a key ingredient for long-range batteries in electric vehicles said Thursday it would build its first U.S. plant in southeastern North Carolina, creating hundreds of jobs. Executives at Epsilon Advanced Materials Inc. and Gov. Roy Cooper announced the planned $650 million facility in Brunswick County that starting in 2026 would make synthetic graphite anode material necessary for batteries that power EVs and other energy storage systems. When fully operational by 2031, the facility will generate 50,000 tons (45,359 metric tonnes) of the product annually. “We’re proud to have North Carolina as the centerpiece of our U.S. manufacturing strategy,” EAM founder and Managing Director Vikram Handa said in a news release from Cooper’s office. “Having an environmentally friendly world-class facility in North Carolina will allow EAM to provide synthetic and natural graphite anodes to the growing EV battery industry faster, more ...

Gulf oil lease sale postponed by court amid litigation over endangered whale protections

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A sale of federal Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases that had been scheduled for Nov. 8 was delayed Thursday by a federal appeals court, pending court arguments that focus on protections for an endangered whale species. The Biden administration announced the sale in March and originally scheduled it for Sept. 27. But, in August, the administration reduced the the area available for leases from 73 million acres (30 million hectares) to 67 million acres (27 million hectares), as part of a plan to protect the endangered Rice’s whale. The changes from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, also included new speed limits and new requirements for personnel on industry vessels in some of the areas to be leased. Oil and gas companies sued, resulting in a Lake Charles-based federal judge’s order throwing out the changes. The administration appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The appeals court initially set the sale for Nov....

City hoping to move forward with Waterfront East LRT plans without Union Station tunnel design

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

As development continues along the Waterfront East, the push to get transit built in the area has intensified. The City of Toronto is slowly moving plans forward but has left one key portion left behind.The updated construction cost for the Waterfront East LRT is $2.57 billion over 10 years, but only 30 per cent of design has been mapped out. City planners are looking for an additional $63 million to further it along to 60 per cent designed, but in phases.“[For the] tunnel connecting Union Station to Queens Quay. They’ve suggested not to further that design and my understanding from reading the report is that engineers are suggesting that that project [is] the most complex and the most expensive,” said Tim Kocur, executive director of the Waterfront BIA.A statement from Toronto’s Transit Expansion Division said, “Balancing the City’s current financial pressures with City Council’s direction to expedite Waterfront East LRT construction, the&nbs...

Ontario NDP leader under fire for removal of rookie legislator

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

The Ontario NDP is facing division among its ranks after party leader Marit Stiles booted a rookie legislator out of caucus, dousing one political firestorm, but in turn sparking another.Earlier this week Stiles kicked Sarah Jama out of caucus after a series of events that began with a statement on the Israel-Hamas war that failed to mention or condemn the attack on Israeli civilians, though the ouster ultimately came after a series of moves from Jama that either publicly defied Stiles or caught her unaware.There’s no road back to caucus at the moment for Jama, Stiles said Thursday.“The member put us in a very untenable position and I had to make a very difficult decision and I know that there’s going to be some hurt out there and we have a lot of conversations to have and I’m listening,” she said.NDP legislator Jill Andrew defended Jama, saying she did not support kicking her out of caucus and questioning Stiles’ statement on the matter.“Th...

Man accused of drunken driving can sue Michigan police officer who misread a breath test

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

A man from Japan wrongly accused of drunken driving can sue a Michigan police officer who grossly misread a breath test and conceded during the stop that she had “no idea” what she was doing, a federal appeals court said Thursday.The man blew a 0.02 on the breath test, but it was mistakenly read by the Fowlerville officer as 0.22 — nearly three times over the state’s blood-alcohol limit for driving.A blood draw subsequently revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.01. Charges of driving while intoxicated were dropped days later in 2020 when the lab results came in. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the man’s lawsuit, alleging a violation of constitutional rights, can proceed against Officer Caitlyn Peca.The man, a 37-year-old native of Yonago, Japan, was in the U.S. on a work visa.“It would be evident to a reasonable officer that (the man) was, quite apparently, sober,” Judge Jane Stranch said in a 3-0 opinion. “So a reasonable jury could conclude that (the) arrest was not...

Federal justice minister orders review of Quebec man’s 2002 sex assault conviction

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal justice minister has ordered the Quebec Court of Appeal to review the conviction of a man found guilty of sexual assault more than two decades ago.Justice Minister Arif Virani says in a statement there is “a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred,” based on new information not available during the Quebec man’s trial or his appeal.The man is identified only by the initials M.R. because the case involved the alleged sexual assault of a minor under his care.Virani says that following an extensive review, he has referred the case to the Quebec Court of Appeal to hear a new appeal according to conviction review provisions in the Criminal Code.In February 2002, M.R. was convicted in provincial court in Quebec City of sexually assaulting a minor between 1998 and 2000 and was sentenced to two years less a day.The Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed M.R.’s appeal on Sept. 1, 2004, and in April 2005, he was denied l...

Gunman opens fire on city of Buffalo vehicle, killing one employee and wounding two others

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A city of Buffalo employee was killed and two others were wounded Thursday when the city pickup truck they were in was struck multiple times by gunfire from a passing vehicle, state police said. The shooting in the southbound lanes of Interstate 190 just north of downtown Buffalo was reported at 11:20 a.m. State police were searching for a dark-colored Jeep Grand Cherokee believed involved in the shooting and asked other motorists who might have been traveling on the busy highway at the time to come forward with dashcam video. “We have several leads that we are working on, but currently we do not have a motive for the shooting,” state police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said at a news conference. “This is believed to be an isolated incident and we have no information that there is a threat ongoing to the community at this time.”The victims were employees of the Buffalo Sewer Authority and had just finished a job when they were shot as they drove back to the Sewer Au...

National Air Races get bids for new home in California, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:32:41 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Leaders of the National Championship Air Races held in Reno since 1964 plan visits later this year to six Western cities that have submitted bids to host the annual competition beginning in 2025 in California, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado or Wyoming.Organizers of the event announced early this year that the races held last month would be the last in Reno because of a variety of factors, including rising insurance costs and encroachment of housing around Reno-Stead Airport where the races have been held for more than a half-century.Three of the cities that have submitted proposals to become the competition’s new home are in states neighboring Nevada — Wendover, Utah, on the Nevada line along Interstate 80; Thermal, California, southeast of Palm Springs; and Buckeye, Arizona, on the western edge of Phoenix.The others are Roswell, New Mexico; Pueblo, Colorado; and Casper, Wyoming.Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the Reno Air Racing Associat...