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‘Darkest day of our life’: Tibetans say Dalai Lama video was misinterpreted

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

Toronto is home to the largest community of Tibetan diaspora in Canada and a controversial video of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has them speaking out about what they say are gross misinterpretations of their cultural practices.In a now viral video, a young boy asked to hug the Dalai Lama at a public gathering back in February.During the interaction, the Dalai Lama is seen kissing the child on the lips and heard saying “suck my tongue.” Online backlash was swift, with accusations of paedophilia and grooming. The Dalai Lama issued an apology thereafter.Last weekend, a peace and prayer march organized by the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of Toronto (RTYC) took to the streets in support of the Dalai Lama. Around 1,500 Tibetans participated in the march, urging people not to judge him based on a short video clip taken out of context and asking media to “tell the truth.”“For the past 60 years he’s been traveling around the world spreading ...

Montana man faces prison in threats against U.S. Sen. Tester

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A 46-year-old Montana man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to threatening to murder U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.Kevin Patrick Smith of Kalispell faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after admitting to threatening Tester’s life in voice messages left at the Democratic lawmaker’s office. Prosecutors said Smith made the threats because he was upset with Tester’s political decisions.In late January, Smith made numerous phone calls to Tester’s office, including one in which he challenged Tester to contact the FBI, according to court documents.The FBI contacted Smith on Feb. 1 and told him to stop threatening the senator. But 10 days later, the threatening calls resumed, and he was arrested on Feb. 22, the documents show. Smith’s public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.A second count of threatening the senator would be dropped under a plea deal.Associated Press, The Associated Press

Mexican man beaten, burned to death for stealing broccoli

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An impoverished man who went into a field to steal a pair of broccoli stalks was beaten and burned to death by a mob in central Mexico, prosecutors said Thursday. Local police managed to take the man away from the village of San Miguel Tianguistenco, but he died later of his injuries. The area is just east of Mexico City.The chief prosecutor for the central state of Puebla vowed Thursday to find and punish those responsible for the killing. “A poor person, out of necessity, went into a field to take a pair of broccolis, and according to the preliminary information I have, that gave rise to them abducting him, beating him and burning him,” prosecutor Gilberto Higuera said.Julio Huerta, the state interior secretary, said an estimated 150 townspeople participated in the brutality. Initial reports suggest that some beat the man with a baseball bat and others doused him with gasoline. The man was identified only by his first name, Apolonio, in accordance with Mexico...

Police investigate theft of more than $20M of gold, goods at Toronto Pearson Airport

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Peel Regional Police say they are investigating the theft of more than $20 million worth of gold and other valuable items from Toronto Pearson Airport.Duty Insp. Stephen Duivesteyn says an aircraft arrived at the airport Monday evening, was subsequently unloaded and cargo was transported from the airport to a holding facility.Duivesteyn says the high-value shipment was stolen from the facility.The Peel police airport division has been leading the investigation.Police have not revealed any information about potential suspects or say which airline shipped the cargo or where the gold was headed.Duivesteyn says the “very rare” theft is isolated and there are no concerns for travel safety at the airport.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2023.The Canadian Press

Investigators: Gunmen fired into crowd at Sweet 16 party

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Investigators said five people charged in a deadly shooting at Sweet 16 birthday party had fired guns into the crowd at the celebration. Investigators wrote in court documents filed Thursday that they believe the five were present at the party and “discharged firearms into the crowd” resulting in the deaths of four people. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced two additional arrests on Thursday, for a total of five people facing facing reckless murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting. The shooting at the Sweet 16 birthday killed four young people, ranging in age from 17 to 23 and shocked the small east Alabama city of Dadeville. Besides the four slain, 32 others were injured, four of them critically. The party, at a dance studio just off the town square, was in full swing when gunfire erupted. Investigators have not discussed a motive or what they believe led to the shooting. Tyreese “Ty Reik”, 17, of Tuskegee and Travis McCullough, 1...

Restricting news links to Canadian users remains on table as Google opposes C-18

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

OTTAWA — A senior executive says Google hasn’t made a final decision whether it will limit journalism links from Canadians if the federal government’s online news bill passes. Earlier this year, Google ran a five-week test that prevented 3.3 per cent of its Canadians users from seeing news links when searching for journalism on its search engine. It affected more than one million IP addresses, Google confirmed.While the test ended in March, it remains a longer-term option for Google in response to the bill, which it opposes.“We are continuing to raise concerns … we think there’s a better model,” said Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer, while testifying Thursday at the Canadian Heritage committee. “We have not reached a final decision as to what business actions we might have to take.”The online news bill, also known as Bill C-18, would require tech giants to pay Canadian media companies for ...

Families fear more delays in Texas school shooting case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Family members of those killed and injured during a 2018 attack on a Texas high school in which 10 people were fatally shot expressed concern Thursday the case against the accused gunman — delayed for years over questions of his mental competency — could be further held up pending removal of the trial judge, facing allegations of bias and prior legal ties to the defendant.“We don’t even have any confidence we’re ever going to trial at this point,” said Scot Rice, whose wife Flo, was one of 23 people shot and injured during the attack at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018.Scot and Flo Rice, who was a substitute teacher, spoke after a court hearing over motions filed by lawyers for Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 22, the accused shooter who has been at a Texas state hospital since December 2019, when he was found incompetent to stand trial.Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder. Eight students and two teachers were killed at the school, located about 35 miles ...

‘Our data has never been stored in China,’ TikTok CEO tells Ted Talks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

VANCOUVER — The CEO of TikTok dropped into a Ted Talks in Vancouver to address concerns over data security on his social media platform. Shou Zi Chew told Chris Anderson, the head of Ted Talks, that TikTok data has never been stored in China and while they have some legacy data to be deleted on their servers in the United States and Singapore, that will be completed this year.TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, has been under intense scrutiny over concerns it could hand over user data to the Chinese government or promote pro-Beijing propaganda. Both the Canadian and U.S. governments have banned TikTok’s app on government-issued cellphones and other companies around the world have done the same. Chew says his team has already built an unprecedented project which allows them to store U.S. data on “American soil by an American company, overseen by American personnel.”At the end of the conversation, Chew and Anderson made a TikTok video together, ...

'I'm cancer free': White Sox closer Liam Hendriks is in remission

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

CHICAGO — The White Sox along with all of Major League Baseball got some great news from one of the best closers in the game on Thursday.On his Instagram account, Liam Hendriks posted that he's in remission and is cancer free after undergoing treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma during the first part of 2023.Along with a collection of videos and photos from his treatments, Hendriks wrote: "How It Started VS How It’s Going….REMISSION. It’s official. I’m cancer free." Liam Hendriks' positive update on his cancer treatments on Opening Day The closer, who has been with the White Sox since 2021, announced that he was diagnosed with disease back on January 8 and began treatment the next day. On April 5, Hendriks announced that he completed his chemotherapy sessions, posting a video of himself ringing the "victory bell' along with a lengthy tribute to his wife, Kristi, and medical personnel.The White Sox had a number of efforts to show support for the closer during his cancer fight, inc...

Twins roster movement expected after Thursday’s loss

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:59 GMT

BOSTON — Even before Kenta Maeda was struck by a batted ball in Thursday’s game, putting his availability in the near-future in question, the Twins’ pitching plans had some moving pieces. The team was already planning on calling up a starter from Triple-A to make a start, possibly this weekend, breaking up a stretch of 13 games in 13 days to give their starting pitchers some extra rest.Now, the Twins will wait to see how Maeda feels but will need bullpen reinforcements in the coming days. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said based on how Thursday’s game went and their desire to give some guys an extra day, he was expecting some roster movement.“It may be Kenta-related or other, but we’re kind of in a little bit of a long run here and now we’ve kind of burnt up and now we have a guy go down with an injury,” Baldelli said. “We’ll see what the coming days look like.”Maeda aside, the Twins have not yet announced a starter for Sunday’s game, which would be Sonny Gray’s day to start. If the ...