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Victims allege sex abuse in Maryland youth detention facilities under new law allowing them to sue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — In the months since Maryland eliminated the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims, more than 100 victims have filed a slew of lawsuits alleging horrific treatment inside the state’s youth detention facilities.State lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act with the Catholic Church clergy abuse scandal in mind after a scathing investigative report revealed the scope of the problem within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which filed for bankruptcy to protect its assets from the impending wave of lawsuits.With claims against the diocese now relegated to bankruptcy court, an unexpected spotlight has settled on the state’s juvenile justice system.At least 50 plaintiffs sued the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services in early October, when the new law took effect. Rather than effectively rehabilitating at-risk youth, the department “locks them inside a cage to become the prey of sadistic staff whom they cannot escape,” according to one of six lawsuits that were...

Study shows colonials forced Indigenous woolly dogs into extinction

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

VANCOUVER — For thousands of years, a breed of white, woolly dog played an important and cultural role for Coast Salish people in Western Canada but when colonists moved in the animal quickly became extinct, a new study says.It started with a dog named Mutton that died in 1859. Its pelt had been in a collection at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. DNA analysis on the pelt, coupled with traditional knowledge from the Coast Salish people, provided new insights on the dog once bred for its unique woolly coat.The study in the journal Science released Thursday says the dog was believed to be introduced in the Americas about 15,000 years ago, and the Coast Salish peoples carefully maintained the genetic integrity of the animal leading up to colonization. Audrey T. Lin, a post-doctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the lead author of the study, says their study highlights the “direct and devastating” ...

Senate bill would require age verification for Canadians accessing porn sites

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

A Senate bill that would require Canadians to verify their age online before accessing porn is moving through the House of Commons without the support of the Liberal government. Independent Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne, who sponsored Bill S-210, says it is difficult to understand why 133 Liberal MPs voted against the bill on Thursday as other parties agreed to send it to a committee for further study. A spokesperson for the Canadian heritage minister told The Canadian Press earlier this year that the government was working on its own approach to dealing with online harms, and the Senate bill overlapped with their work. Quebec Liberal MP Anju Dhillon made similar comments last month when Bill S-210, which passed in the Senate in the spring, was first debated in the House of Commons. Dhillon says the bill is closely linked to the government’s ongoing work to ensure a safer online experience for Canadians, particularly for children and youth. Pornhub is fighting...

Andre Braugher died from lung cancer, rep for ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ and ‘Homicide’ star says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andre Braugher died from lung cancer, a representative said Thursday. When the Emmy-winning actor who starred in the series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street” died Monday at age 61, his representatives said only that he had been through a brief illness, but his publicist Jennifer Allen gave the cause on Thursday. Braugher generally revealed little about his private life, and his death was unexpected for many of his co-stars. He told the New York Times in 2014 that he stopped smoking and drinking years ago. The Chicago-born Braugher had his Hollywood breakthrough in the 1989 film “Glory” acting alongside Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. He went on to play Det. Frank Pemberton, the lead role in the NBC police drama “Homicide: Life on the Street,” for seven seasons. He would win the first of two career Emmys for his work on the show. Braugher was nominated for Emmys 11 times, four of them for the comic turn he took as Capt. Ray Holt on “Broo...

Barbra Streisand to receive lifetime achievement award at SAG Awards

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barbra Streisand will receive the lifetime achievement award at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards. The “Yentl” and “The Prince of Tides” star will be the 59th recipient of the SAG-AFTRA tribute on Feb. 24 at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall, the guild announced Thursday. This year’s SAG Awards, coming on the heels of the longest strike in SAG-AFTRA history, will be streamed live on Netflix. In November, the 81-year-old Streisand published “My Name is Barbra,” a well-received nearly 1,000-page memoir that chronicles her rise from working-class Brooklyn to global fame. “Ever since I was a young girl sitting in the Loew’s Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, I dreamed of being one of those actresses I saw on the screen,” Streisand said in a statement Thursday. “The movies were a portal to a world I could only imagine. Even though I was an unlikely candidate, somehow my dream came true. This award is especially meaningful to me beca...

Police say thief used child as decoy in Markham break-in

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

York Regional Police are warning the public about a break-in theft that involved the ruse of a child searching for a lost ball to distract the homeowner.Investigators say the theft took place on Wednesday, December 13 at around noon.According to police, a boy between the ages of 10 and 12 rang the doorbell of a home near Rodick Road and 16th Avenue in Markham, telling the homeowner they had inadvertently kicked a ball into their backyard and wanted help getting it back.The homeowner agreed and walked with the boy into the backyard to look for the ball.When they couldn’t find it, police say the child left.But when the homeowner returned to the front of the house, they noticed an adult male exiting the residence.“The investigation revealed that as the complainant brought the child to the backyard, an adult male emerged from a hiding spot and snuck into the residence through the unlocked front door,” a police release explained.“The suspect went through some room...

NDP and Liberals set new deadline for introduction of pharmacare bill

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

The NDP and Liberals have agreed to a new March 1 deadline for the federal government to introduce pharmacare legislation in the House of Commons, as part of their supply-and-confidence deal.The minority Liberals had promised to pass a law by the end of the year that would set the foundations for a future pharamcare program, as part of their political pact with the NDP to secure support on key votes.But so far, the parties have not been able to come to a consensus on exactly what that framework should look like, which has stalled negotiations.New Democrats say they have insisted on a universal, single-payer program, while the Liberals have repeatedly cited the need to be fiscally responsible.NDP health critic Don Davies says in a statement that the parties must get the legislation right, especially given the high cost of living many Canadians are struggling with.The House of Commons is scheduled to rise for the holidays by Friday and return on Jan. 29.

Residents cleared to return home as Quebec dike declared safe after repair work

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

MONT-LAURIER, Que. — Authorities say work carried out by government engineers has stabilized a dike northwest of Montreal that was at risk of bursting.With the Morier dike in the Laurentians region deemed safe, hundreds of residents from the municipalities of Chute-Saint-Philippe and Lac-des-Écorces can return home after being forced out 11 days ago.The two communities were under an emergency preventive evacuation order after signs of erosion were detected during a monthly inspection of the dike.Authorities had initially said the evacuation order would be in place at least until Sunday, but they said today that while work and monitoring will continue over the coming days, it no longer presents a danger.Nearly 1,900 properties were affected by the evacuation order, and more than 1,000 residents had registered with local officials after leaving their homes.The provincially owned dike was built in 1954 and has the capacity to retain 382 million cubic metres of water, the equivalent of ...

Ex-FBI counterintelligence official gets over 4 years in prison for aiding Russian oligarch

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A former top FBI counterintelligence official was ordered Thursday to spend over four years in prison for violating sanctions on Russia by going to work for a Russian oligarch seeking dirt on a wealthy rival after he finished his government career. Charles McGonigal was sentenced to four years and two months in prison in Manhattan federal court by Judge Jennifer H. Rearden, who said McGonigal harmed national security by repeatedly flouting sanctions meant to put economic pressure on Russia to get results without military force. He was also fined $40,000.She imposed the sentence after a prosecutor cast McGonigal’s crime as a greedy money-grab that leveraged the knowledge he gained in his FBI career to cozy up to a notorious Russian oligarch, billionaire industrialist Oleg Deripaska.Deripaska has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 for reasons related to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.Given a chance to speak, McGonigal told the judge in a voice that sometimes got shaky...

Black child, 10, sentenced to probation and a book report for urinating in public

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:24:51 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A 10-year-old Black child who urinated in a parking lot must serve three months’ probation and write a two-page book report on the late NBA star Kobe Bryant, a Mississippi judge has ordered. Tate County Youth Court Judge Rusty Harlow handed down the sentence Tuesday after the child’s lawyer reached an agreement with a special prosecutor. The prosecution threatened to upgrade the charge of “child in need of supervision” to a more serious charge of disorderly conduct if the boy’s family took the case to trial, said Carlos Moore, the child’s attorney. “I thought any sensible judge would dismiss the charge completely. It’s just asinine,” Moore said. “There were failures in the criminal justice system all the way around.” The child’s mother has said her son urinated behind her vehicle while she was visiting a lawyer’s office in Senatobia, Mississippi, on Aug. 10. Police officers in the town of about 8,100 residents, 40 miles (64 kilometers) s...