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‘They haven’t had water for the last week:’ Vancouver resident says of family in Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

After four days trying to call his family in the Gaza Strip, Vancouver resident Omar Mansour said he was able to hear his brother’s voice for a few minutes Monday morning.Those minutes with his brother, Firas, were a relief: his family had survived the blackout.Israel temporarily knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday a “second stage” in the three-week-old war and said Israel is determined to bring back 239 hostages taken by the militant group during its murderous Oct. 7 incursion. Four of the hostages have been released.Mansour, who works as an IT consultant, said Firas’s voice sounded “robotic” because the 2G network in the Gaza Strip is under immense pressure from families trying to contact each other at the same time. “I call them 50 times and they only get a connection once out of these 50 times.”His family of 11, including his parents, who are in their...

‘Freedom Convoy’ trial resumes with more testimony from police liaison officers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

OTTAWA — The testimony of police liaison officers is set to continue in the trial of two high-profile “Freedom Convoy” organizers today. Sgt. Jordan Blonde, who described himself as the “secondary” police contact to Chris Barber, will resume his testimony, and is expected to be cross-examined by defence lawyers. Barber and Tamara Lich face multiple charges including mischief, counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation in relation to the 2022 protests against COVID-19 public-health measures. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey ordered access to heavily redacted internal police documents on Tuesday so that she can determine whether they should be admitted as evidence. Defence lawyers said they will not be able to complete their cross-examination of liaison officers until she rules on the admissibility of the documents, which the Crown and Ottawa Police Service argue are covered by solicitor-client privilege.Three police liaison officers who had direct cor...

China critic says he’s the target of deepfake ‘spamouflage’ attack by Beijing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

VANCOUVER — The YouTube video appears to show a person who looks like Liu Xin making unfounded remarks about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying among other things that “he is a man who loves porn.”But Liu, 60, a prominent online critic of China’s government who lives in Burnaby, B.C., says he didn’t say anything of the sort.The video is a deepfake creation according to Liu and an Australian security think-tank that analyzed it, and is part of an extensive “spamouflage” campaign that Global Affairs Canada believes is connected to China.The video and others making accusations of “criminal and ethical violations” by Canadian politicians were posted on the social media accounts of MPs across the political spectrum, Global Affairs says, including Trudeau and Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre.But Liu says it was he, and not the maligned politicians, who was China’s main target in the campaign, which Global Affairs says involved a b...

Reasons for releasing Chinatown stabbing suspect should be public: B.C. Review Board

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man accused of a triple stabbing in Vancouver’s Chinatown in September has lost his bid to seal a document that identified him as a “significant threat” before he was released from a forensic psychiatric hospital.A B.C. Review Board panel said the presumption of the board’s open process overrides Blair Donnelly’s concerns that releasing the documents would invade his personal privacy or prejudice an upcoming trial. News of Donnelly’s history led to significant public attention, including Premier David Eby calling him “a violent, psychotic individual” and questioning how he was allowed to be released. Eby appointed former Abbotsford, B.C., police chief Bob Rich to investigate the circumstances. Media outlets, including The Canadian Press, argued against the proposed publication ban in a submission, but the panel said it was not necessary to reference those arguments because Donnelly wasn’t able to sh...

UK summit aims to tackle thorny issues around cutting-edge AI risks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

BLETCHLEY PARK, England (AP) — Digital officials, tech company bosses and researchers are converging Wednesday on a historic estate near London to discuss and better understand the extreme risks posed by cutting-edge artificial intelligence. So-called frontier AI refers to the latest and most powerful systems that take the technology right up to its limits, but could come with as-yet-unknown dangers. They’re underpinned by foundation models, which power chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard and are trained on vast pools of information scraped from the internet. Some 100 people from 28 countries including China are expected to attend British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s two-day AI Safety Summit, though the British government has refused to disclose the guest list. One of the most high-profile delegates is U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s scheduled to attend the summit’s second day after making a separate speech on AI in London on Wednesday.T...

Live updates | Foreign passport holders enter Rafah crossing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

Dozens of people entered the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt on Wednesday. It appeared to be the first time foreign passport holders have been allowed to leave the besieged territory since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than three weeks ago. Early Wednesday, providers Paltel and Jawwal reported a “complete disruption” of communications and internet services in Gaza, the second major cut in five days. Humanitarian aid agencies have warned that such blackouts severely disrupt their work in an already dire situation in Gaza.The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,525, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 122 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them civilians slain in the initial Oct. 7 Hamas rampage that started the fighting. In addition, around 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group. One o...

Daily horoscope for November 1, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

Moon Alert: Caution: Avoid shopping or making important decisions from 8:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. EDT today (5:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Gemini into Cancer.Happy Birthday for Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023:You are dynamic, active and passionate. You like things to be happening! This is an exciting year for you, because it’s the beginning of a new nine-year cycle, which means you need to keep an open mind, be adventurous and be ready to explore new directions! Travel is likely.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★Tread carefully, because today is full of confusion and indecisiveness. Therefore, recognize these limitations and postpone important decisions for another day. Don’t agree to anything important. If you want to shop for anything other than food and gas, check the Moon Alert. Be smart. Tonight: Family discussions.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★Most of this day is a Moon Alert, which means things are too loosey-goosey for important decisions. For your sign i...

Commission services sign administrative arrangement with Italian media regulator to support enforcement of Digital Services Act

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

The Commission services have signed an administrative arrangement with the Italian media regulator (Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni, AGCOM) to support the Commission's supervisory and enforcement powers under the Digital Services Act (DSA).The arrangement aims to develop expertise and capabilities that will help the Commission to identify and assess systemic risks under the DSA, including risks related to the spread of illegal content and disinformation as well as negative effects on minors. It will contribute to organising the practical exchange of information, data, good practices, methodologies, technical systems and tools with the regulator.AGCOM was appointed the Digital Services Coordinator for Italy and will thus become part of the Board for Digital Services, to be established by February 2024 and composed of one competent authority per member state.The Commission service responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the DSA, the Directorate-General ...

Miss Manners: They’re demanding we vacation every year in the back of beyond

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My in-laws retired and moved to a remote part of the country that is quite expensive to fly to, and would take several days to drive to.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: You better believe the guests notice when the bride has a different meal Advice | Miss Manners: I used to be flattered by this response. Not anymore. Advice | Miss Manners: Our argument about her restaurant behavior ended our friendship Advice | Miss Manners: It’s absurd that I’m the go-between because my kids’ friends don’t have phones Advice | Miss Manners: I don’t find it adorable what she has trained her dog to do We visited when they first moved two years ago, but no one has really visited them since.We received a letter stating there would be a family reunion at their property, along with a list of all the expensive things they have done in preparation for this reunion.Not a sin...

Largest Christian university hit with record $37.7 million fine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:40 GMT

By Collin Binkley | Associated PressWASHINGTON — The country’s largest Christian university is being fined $37.7 million by the federal government amid accusations that it misled students about the cost of its graduate programs.Grand Canyon University, which has more than 100,000 students, mostly in online programs, faces the largest fine of its kind ever issued by the U.S. Education Department. The university dismissed the allegations as “lies and deceptive statements.”“Grand Canyon University categorically denies every accusation in the Department of Education’s statement and will take all measures necessary to defend itself from these false accusations,” the school said in a five-page statement.An Education Department investigation found that Grand Canyon lied to more than 7,500 current and former students about the cost of its doctoral programs.As far back as 2017, the university told students its doctoral programs would cost between $40,000 a...