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Former reality TV star who was on ‘Basketball Wives LA’ sentenced to prison for fraud

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former cast member of the reality TV show “Basketball Wives LA” was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for 15 fraud-related felonies, including schemes connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.Brittish Williams, 33, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty in May to five federal counts of misuse of a Social Security number, four counts of bank fraud, three counts of making false statements to the IRS and three counts of wire fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke said the actions took place over roughly a decade, and the crimes continued even after Williams was indicted.U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey also ordered Williams to pay restitution of $565,000.“You knew what you were doing. You knew it was wrong and you did it anyway,” Autrey said.Federal authorities said Williams illegally obtained loans meant for businesses hurt by the pandemic. They said she also used false Social Security numbers to defraud banks and credit card companies, submitted fake medical ...

Woman killed by husband had filed police complaint, Quebec coroner’s inquest hears

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

MONTREAL — A Montreal woman killed along with her two young sons by her estranged husband in 2019 told police more than a year earlier that she had received death threats and believed her husband was mentally ill.In August 2018, Dahia Khellaf had filed a domestic violence complaint with Montreal police, detailing incidents in which Nabil Yssaad twisted her arm and tried to bite her upon leaving a bank meeting and another when he threatened her with scissors.She told police she wanted to separate from her husband, wondered if he was suffering from schizophrenia and feared for her own safety — but not that of her children.A Montreal police investigator, Det.-Sgt. Caroline Raza, outlined the allegations during the second day of a coroner’s inquest into the killings of 42-year-old Khellaf and her sons, four-year-old Adam and two-year-old Aksil.Police homicide investigators concluded the three were strangled by Yssaad before he took his own life by leaping from a hospital window.Th...

Montreal fire department carries out hundreds of inspections after deadly March blaze

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

Montreal’s fire department says that since a fire in Old Montreal killed seven people in March, it has carried out 460 targeted inspections as part of a push to secure potentially hazardous buildings. The operation initially focused on heritage buildings in the city core but was later expanded to include other high-risk buildings and buildings subject to citizen complaints, which tripled following the March 16 blaze.The fire department says it identified 2,042 elements that did not conform to the fire safety rules and issued 13 notices to property owners demanding immediate changes.The 460 targeted inspections through the end of September were in addition to 5,292 regular building inspections that the fire department carried out between January and September.Fire department assistant director Chantal Bibeau said today the operation is part of an updated fire prevention strategy that takes into account such challenges as an aging population and building stock.The Montreal polic...

Illinois mother recuperates after Palestinian American boy killed in attack police call a hate crime

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — A Palestinian American woman whose 6-year-old son was killed in what police are calling a hate crime in a Chicago suburb has asked the public to “pray for peace” as she recuperates from her injuries. Hanaan Shahin issued a statement Tuesday through the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations after meeting with the group’s executive director a day earlier. The written statement marked her first public comments since the brutal Oct. 14 attack that left her with more than a dozen stab wounds and stitches on her face. Authorities said the family’s suburban Chicago landlord singled them out because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the escalating Israel-Hamas war. “Pray for peace,” Shahin said, thanking authorities, doctors and others. She was released from the hospital last week and has declined interviews with reporters. Shahin, who works as a caregiver to seniors, lost her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, in the attack that has contribut...

Liberian president Weah to face opponent Boakai for 2nd time in runoff vote

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberian President George Weah will face off against challenger Joseph Boakai for the second time in a Nov. 14 runoff vote, election officials in the West African nation said Tuesday.The results of the first round announced by Liberia’s National Elections Commission are the closest runoff since the end of the country’s back-to-back civil wars. Weah, a former international soccer star, failed to win an absolute majority and took 43.83% of the first roundvote, the commission announced. Boakai led a crowded field of challengers with 43.44%. The two politicians last faced off in the 2017 vote, when Weah ultimately won 60% of the vote in the second round. It was the first democratic transfer of power in the West African nation since the end of the country’s back-to-back civil wars between 1989 and 2003 that killed some 250,000 people.Weah won that election amid high hopes brought about by his promise to fight poverty and generate infrastructure develo...

California regulators suspend recently approved San Francisco robotaxi service for safety reasons

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California regulators have revoked the license of a robotaxi service owned by General Motors after determining its driverless cars that recently began transporting passengers throughout San Francisco are a dangerous menace. The California Department of Motor Vehicles’ indefinite suspension of the Cruise robotaxi service comes just two months after another state regulator, the Public Utilities Commission, approved an expansion that authorized around-the-clock rides throughout San Francisco — the second most dense city in the U.S.That approval came over a chorus of protests, including some lodged by police and fire officials who asserted the driverless vehicles had been impeding traffic in emergencies during a testing phase. Now Cruise is being forced to slam on the brakes on its operations after the DMV concluded its robotaxis posed “an unreasonable risk to public safety,” according to a statement issued by the agency.The DMV didn’t elaborate on the s...

Province asks court to prevent feds from intervening on Highway 413, Ontario Place

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

Ontario is asking the courts to stop the federal government from using the impugned Impact Assessment Act to prevent the province from moving ahead with Highway 413 and Ontario Place construction.The Supreme Court of Canada found earlier this month that the law dealing with environmental impacts of major developments is unconstitutional because it regulates activities that fall under provincial purview.But it was an opinion, rather than a decision, so Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey says the province is now asking the courts to officially declare the vast majority of the act to be of no force and effect, after the federal minister has said he’ll continue to use the law. Related: NDP claims evidence is mounting that process for Ontario Place redevelopment was ‘rigged’ Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has said the Supreme Court’s opinion doesn’t strike down the law and won’t change how federal assessments have been conduc...

Former N.W.T. priest sentenced for indecent assault on child in 1980s

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

FORT SIMPSON, N.W.T. — A former priest is beginning a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to indecent assault on a child in the 1980s.Camille Piché, now 85, was sentenced Monday in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, after an agreed statement of facts was read out in court. The statement says Piché was the priest in Fort Simpson during the early 1980s when he befriended the family of a then eight-year-old girl.Court heard that on two occasions, Piché visited the family at their home and sat beside the girl on the living room couch.The statement says the girl was covered by a blanket when Piché reached under it and touched the girl inappropriately. The assaults happened while the girl’s father was in the room. Piche told the girl not to say anything about the assaults. The Canadian Press

Freeland says feds will strike ‘challenging’ balance in fall budget update

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government’s fall economic statement will focus on housing and affordability within a fiscally responsible framework.In an news conference today, Freeland acknowledges it will be a challenging balance to strike, but says the Liberals are committed to it.The federal government’s financial statements were published today, revealing the deficit for the 2022-23 fiscal year came in at $35.3 billion.That’s $7.7 billion lower than projected in the spring budget.The federal government is facing pressure to rein in spending after the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as the economy slows.However, it is also facing considerable pressure to address the national housing crisis, as polling shows support for the governing Liberals is taking a hit.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2023.The Canadian Press

Very ‘clear rules’ on undercover operations, former intel unit member tells jury

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:37 GMT

OTTAWA — A former employee of an RCMP intelligence unit says members would never directly contact targets of a criminal investigation.Dan Morris told the Ontario Superior Court trial of Cameron Jay Ortis, who also worked in the unit, that senior RCMP decision-makers would need to approve such an action.  The Crown alleges Ortis anonymously sent secret information in 2015 to people who were of investigative interest to the RCMP.Ortis, 51, has pleaded not guilty to violating the Security of Information Act by allegedly revealing secrets to three individuals and trying to do so in a fourth instance. Under questioning from the Crown, Morris said there are “very clear rules” on how undercover operations can be performed within the RCMP and who can do them.Reporters and the general public were excluded from the courtroom for Morris’s appearance Monday and a transcript of his testimony was released today.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2023....