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Montreal police warn of rising number of sextortion cases targeting youth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

Montreal police are warning young people to be careful online after the number of sextortion cases they’ve seen has risen dramatically.The force says its child sex exploitation unit has already received more than 100 complaints this year, compared to about 30 at the same time last year. Police say victims are most often young men between the ages of 14 and 17 who are contacted online by people posing as teen girls.The perpetrator builds the victim’s trust before asking for intimate photos or videos, only to threaten to publish the images or send them to family and friends if a payment isn’t sent.Police are suggesting that young people use a pseudonym online, and should not reveal their true age, hometown or interests.Officers are also warning people not to undress in front of a camera and to cease communication with the extorter and contact police if they are targeted. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2023. The Canadian Press

UK air traffic control says it has fixed a technical problem that sparked delays and cancellations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of air travelers faced delays on Monday after Britain’s air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown that slowed takeoffs and landings across the U.K. on one of the busiest travel days of the year.More than three hours after it reported the “technical issue,” flight control operator National Air Traffic Services said it had “identified and remedied” the problem and flights could begin to return to normal. But scores of flights were canceled, and Heathrow Airport said its schedules would be “significantly disrupted” for the rest of the day.NATS said the outage had hit its ability to process flight plans automatically, meaning the plans had to be input manually, a much slower process. It did not disclose the cause of the problem.The service said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety” but that U.K. airspace remained open.After fixing the problem, NATS said it was “working closely with airlines and airports to manage the fl...

Stock market today: Wall Street gains ahead of busy week of closely-watched economic reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose broadly in morning trading on Wall Street Monday as markets shift their attention from the Federal Reserve to more corporate and economic reports.The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to keep upward momentum from its first winning week since July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172 points, or 0.5% to 34,518 as of 11:19 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq rose 0.5%.Wall Street is wrapping up its latest round of earnings reports. Best Buy and Costco will report their results this week.3M jumped 4.2% following reports that the company had agreed to a $5.5 billion settlement over faulty earplugs, a lower figure than expected. Boston Scientific rose 4.7% after giving investors an encouraging update on a study for a heart device.Shares of Hawaiian Electric jumped 34% as the utility pushed back against accusations it is responsible for causing the wildfire that devastated the community of Lahaina. The company said power to the lines in the area of the fire had been cut off hour...

Police in Ohio fatally shot a pregnant shoplifting suspect

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

BLENDON, Ohio (AP) — Police in a Columbus suburb fatally shot a pregnant woman in an Ohio supermarket parking lot after she accelerated her car toward an officer, police officials said.Ta’Kiya Young, 21, of Columbus, died Thursday evening in Blendon.A supermarket employee told officers who were at the store on an unrelated matter that multiple people were fleeing from the store with stolen items, Blendon Police Chief John Belford said. That included Young who had allegedly taken multiple bottles of alcohol. One officer went to the driver’s side of Young’s car and told her to stop, Belford said, while the other officer moved in front of the vehicle.Young then put the car in gear and accelerated forward, Belford said, and the officer directly in the vehicle’s path fired one shot through the front windshield. Young’s car then traveled about 50 feet before coming to a stop on the sidewalk outside the store. She was pronounced dead a short time later. Young was due to g...

Trump and 18 others charged in the Georgia election case are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted along with him in Georgia are scheduled to be arraigned next week on charges they participated in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election. All 19 defendants, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have been scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 6, when they may enter pleas as well, according to court records.A Trump spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether the former president intended to waive his appearance. The defendants met a Friday deadline to turn themselves in at the Fulton County Jail. Trump was booked Thursday evening — scowling at the camera in the first-ever mug shot of a former president.All but one of those charged had agreed to a bond amount and conditions with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ahead of time, and they were free to go after booking.Willis, who used Georgia’s rack...

Coroner confirms names of Quebec children police say were murdered Saturday by father

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

NOTRE-DAME-DES-PRAIRIES, Que. — The Quebec coroner’s office has confirmed the identities of two children who police say were murdered on Saturday by their father, who then allegedly killed himself.A coroner’s spokesman says the victims were Antoine and Tristan Lamontagne, both three years old. The body of Ian Lamontagne, 46, was found with those of his two children at the scene in Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Que., a town of about 10,000 people northeast of Montreal. Quebec provincial police declined to offer further details this morning and refused to comment on reports that Lamontagne had been arrested and released two days before the killings.The mayor of Notre-Dame-des-Prairies said in a statement that the tragedy has shaken the community and left behind unimaginable pain.Suzanne Dauphin says the killings show that mental health problems can strike anyone, and she’s encouraging people to take care of their loved ones if they show signs of psychological distress. Th...

TTC announces increased service schedule ahead of fall ridership surge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

The TTC has announced changes to its schedule in the fall with students getting ready to head back to class and more people expected to return to the office after Labour Day.Beginning on September 5, the TTC will be restoring 126 school trips for elementary and high school students and adding more vehicles to nine routes that serve colleges or universities.“This is the week where families are getting ready to get their kids back to school,” said Mayor Olivia Chow, making the announcement on Monday morning alongside TTC officials at Scarborough Town Centre. “A lot of people are now planning how long will it take for my kids to get to school.”“People rely on the TTC and they deserve a reliable, fast public transit system that works for them.”In addition to more frequent bus trips to help students, the transit agency says the following changes will be implemented on Sunday, September 3:Increase service based on ridership demand and added capacity on ...

S&P/TSX composite up more than 150 points, U.S. stock markets also rise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

TORONTO — Strength in energy stocks as the price of oil topped US$80 per barrel helped lead a broad rally on the Toronto Stock Exchange as Canada’s main stock index rose more than 150 points, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.The S&P/TSX composite index was up 174.94 points at 20,010.69.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 162.97 points at 34,509.87. The S&P 500 index was up 16.94 points at 4,422.65, while the Nasdaq composite was up 67.10 points at 13,657.75.The Canadian dollar traded for 73.57 cents US compared with 73.50 cents US on Friday.The October crude contract was up 58 cents at US$80.41 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up 10 cents at US$2.76 per mmBTU.The December gold contract was up US$6.00 at US$1,945.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up less than a penny at US$3.79 a pound.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)The C...

Black offensive coordinators remain rare even as major college football coaching staffs diversify

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

Oklahoma State’s Kasey Dunn has spent three decades as an assistant football coach, a career that spans nine schools, a couple of NFL teams, four positions and all three phases of the game.It took Dunn almost 25 years to become an offensive coordinator, and he is now one of just seven Black coaches to hold that position at the 69 schools that play at the highest level of college football. That’s 10% of the total in the Bowl Subdivision, where nearly half the players are Black.“I don’t really notice it from the standpoint that, like, I’m carrying a torch or something,” Dunn said. “But I do have the respect that if I don’t succeed, that’s going to hurt, I think, a little bit the next guy, you know?”The dearth of Black coaches leading major college football programs routinely draws scrutiny. This season, 14 of 133 programs in Division I’s top tier, including seven of 69 Power Five conference teams, will have a Black head coach. Just as notable is how...

Toronto police seize 28 handguns from hotel room, man faces over 130 charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:18:37 GMT

Toronto police announced the results of a firearm investigation that involves one Ottawa man facing over 130 combined charges stemming from the seizure of 28 handguns in his hotel room.The investigation commenced around 3 p.m. on August 21 after police received a call about several firearms found in a hotel room in the York Mills Road and Don Mills Road area in North York.It’s alleged that staff from the hotel were cleaning a room and found three firearms. After police arrived, they located several handguns, eventually leading to authorities discovering an additional 25 guns in the hotel room.On Monday, police revealed that they had seized 20 Glock Pistols, four Springfield Armory Pistols, three Smith & Wesson Pistols and a Sig Sauer Pistol, including multiple rounds of ammunition.Photos: Open Gallery4 itemsActing Staff Superintendent Shannon Dawson and Superintendent Steve Watts announced that 30-year-old Ahmed Farah of Ottawa was arrested.Farah faces several firearm-rela...