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Biden announces executive order to increase background checks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden announced an executive order Tuesday in Monterey Park, California, that aims to increase the number of background checks before gun purchases.Biden said the executive order directs the attorney general to push the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation by clarifying the statutory definition of who is “engaged in the business” of dealing guns.The executive order also moves to improve public awareness and encourage the effective use of “red flag” laws. According to the Biden administration, 19 states and the District of Columbia have enacted “red flag” laws that allow trusted community members to petition a court to determine whether someone is dangerous and then remove their access to firearms for a certain amount of time. Biden announces nuclear-powered submarines for Australia Biden announced the move in Monterey Park, where he traveled to grieve with families and community members impacted by a J...

Vegas terrorism suspect sentenced for sexually abusing girl

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas man with ties to a far-right extremist group advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government has been sentenced to federal prison for sexually abusing a young girl.Stephen Thomas Parshall, 38, was ordered to serve 33 years in a federal prison Monday, court records show. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey in Las Vegas also sentenced Parshall to lifetime supervision upon his release.The yearslong sexual abuse, which prosecutors say began when the victim was younger than 10, was uncovered in 2020 while police and federal agents were investigating Parshall and two other men in connection with an alleged terrorism plot targeting protests in Las Vegas against racism and police violence.Parshall pleaded guilty in October 2022 — one day before a federal jury trial in the abuse case was set to begin — to two counts of sexually exploiting a child, one count of coercion and enticement and one count of receiving and distributing child pornography. “He has had a cha...

Toronto announces housing plan to hit target of 285,000 new homes by 2031

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

The City of Toronto has officially released its plan to build 285,000 new homes by 2031, the provincial housing target for the city.The city’s housing plan is a multi-pronged approach that is expected to get underway later this year with a wide range of actions. These include removing zoning barriers to build housing, leveraging public and to increase housing supply and preserving existing rental homes.As soon as April, a number of initiatives will be brought forward from this report.A recommendation to enable zoning for multiplexes in all neighbourhoods and a framework to support the growth of community housing is among them. A new dashboard will also be available on the city’s website soon that allows residents to track affordable rental homes, approved, under construction and built homes, and homes that have been demolished and replaced through rental replacement policies.“This is an incredible opportunity during this council term to update and modernize housing...

Flair missed ‘millions’ in payments on seized planes, leasing company says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

MONTREAL — The leasing company that seized four planes from Flair Airlines over the weekend said Tuesday the carrier routinely missed payments over the past five months.Flair found itself down by more than a fifth of its fleet after the Boeing 737 Maxes were confiscated by Airborne Capital Inc. on Saturday, forcing the airline to cancel multiple flights.Flair has deemed the actions “extreme and unusual,” with CEO Stephen Jones telling reporters Monday the company is now 100 per cent caught up on its leases after being “a few days in arrears” with about $1 million owing on the jetliners.Jones also claimed the seizure was the result of another carrier’s attempt to undermine Flair following “behind the scenes” negotiations between a major Canadian airline and Airborne Capital.In a statement, the Dublin-based company said it “strongly rejects the allegations” by Flair.“The leasing of the four Airborne-managed aircraft was termi...

Sexual assault survivor working to make publication bans a choice for victims

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

A sexual assault survivor is fighting for all survivors to be given a choice on whether they would like to speak out about their experience rather than be silenced by a court-ordered publication ban.Morrell Andrews was sexually assaulted by a 64-year-old man when she was 18 years old and subsequently lost her voice to a gag order when her abuser plead guilty.Now at 28 years old, she is now closer than ever to accomplishing what she and many others have has been asking for for years.She didn’t ask for a publication ban and only found out about it when she wanted to share her victim impact statement. Andrews was told she couldn’t. Her choice was taken away first by the assailant and then again by the courts.“You can’t talk about it and if you do you can be fined $5,000 or go to jail for two years,” explained Andrews. “I couldn’t talk about my experience, that is the most crushing thing to be told,” Andrews told CityNews.“Fundamenta...

$3.28-billion Indigenous-led LNG project gets B.C. environmental certificate

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

VICTORIA — The Haisla First Nation on British Columbia’s northern coast has been granted a provincial environmental assessment certificate for a floating liquefied natural gas facility.The B.C. government says the nation, in partnership with Pembina Pipeline Corp., proposes to use electricity to operate the LNG facility and export terminal. The $3.28-billion terminal will be supplied with natural gas from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is still under construction. A statement from the province says Environment Minister George Heyman and Energy Minister Josie Osborne made their decision after considering a report by the Environmental Assessment Office. The ministers say in a joint statement that the project takes “all possible measures currently available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the lowest feasible level.” The ministers say they agreed that the Cedar LNG project also supports reconciliation with the Haisla Nation, and that they received letters of...

Princeton student charged with joining mob’s Capitol attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

A Princeton University student was arrested Tuesday on charges that he joined other rioters in pushing against police officers guarding an entrance to the U.S. Capitol during a mob’s attack, court records show.Larry Fife Giberson, 21, of Manahawkin, New Jersey, was at the front line of the mob’s fight against police in a tunnel when one of the officers was briefly crushed between rioters and tunnel doors, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Giberson waved other rioters into the tunnel before joining a second round of “heave ho” pushing against police, the agent said.Giberson tried in vain to start a chant of “Drag them out!” and then cheered on rioters using weapons and pepper spray against police in the tunnel, according to the FBI. Giberson remained in that area for roughly an hour on Jan. 6, 2021, the affidavit says.Giberson was arrested in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, on charges including a felony count of civil disorder, according to a court filing. He fac...

Ontario woman charged in doula scam, false pregnancies and stillbirths

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

A 24-year-old Brantford woman is facing several charges, including three counts of sexual assault, after she allegedly sought out registered doulas from across Ontario for false pregnancies and stillbirths.Police say the alleged scams occurred between June 19, 2022, and February 17, 2023. A doula is a woman employed to guide and support a woman during labour, often done virtually and in person.On March 13, the woman was arrested and charged with offences alleged to have happened in multiple communities within Ontario. Police say there are believed to be multiple victims.The accused was identified as 24-year-old Kaitlyn Braun of Brantford. She was charged with 10 counts of criminal harassment, 12 counts of false pretenses, four counts of fraud, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of committing an indecent act.Police say they released Braun’s name, hoping it will lead to more victims coming forward.

16 migrants detained after cargo ship jump in Puerto Rico

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Federal authorities are investigating a group of at least 16 migrants who apparently were stowaways aboard a cargo ship headed to Puerto Rico and jumped into the ocean as it neared the U.S. territory on Tuesday.The incident occurred in San Juan Bay and was recorded by onlookers as all but two migrants hurled themselves into the water and were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Two female migrants who remained aboard the cargo ship also were detained, Jeffrey Quiñones, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told The Associated Press.The cargo ship had departed from Jacksonville, Florida, but officials suspect the migrants might have scrambled aboard the ship in waters near the Dominican Republic after abandoning a small boat in that area, Quiñones said.Authorities had not yet determined where the migrants are from or why they jumped into the water, but they were in good condition overall, he said. The Associated Press

MP Yasir Naqvi drops parliamentary role in possible provincial Liberal leadership bid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:56 GMT

OTTAWA — Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi has stepped down from his role as a parliamentary secretary in order to possibly run for leadership of the provincial Liberals.Naqvi will continue to hold his Ottawa Centre seat but will no longer act as the parliamentary secretary for both the president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and the minister of emergency preparedness.His office confirmed in a written statement that Naqvi is taking the step as he “explores the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.”Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair wished Naqvi well in a tweet, saying the pair had “worked to strengthen emergency management in Canada.”Naqvi was elected federally in 2021 but had served for nearly nine years at Queen’s Park, including as Ontario’s attorney general and labour minister.The Ontario Liberal Party has had an interim leader since last June’s provincial election, and has yet to set a date for selecting the party’s...